Daring Bakers: Cinnamon Rolls

This month the Daring Bakers kept our creativity rolling with cinnamon bun inspired treats. Shelley from C Mom Cook dared us to create our own dough and fill it with any filling we wanted to craft tasty rolled treats, cinnamon not required!

It has been forever since I have managed to do a Daring Kitchen challenge, and even longer since I have managed to post about it.  Well looks like Cinnamon rolls were enough to get me out of retirement.  When I first saw the challenge I was pretty sure I was just going to make your standard cinnamon rolls - nothing fancy.  Then I saw all the delicious looking variations and decided on the roasted banana cinnamon rolls with maple glaze. 

They went together very easily - the banana's roast while you are letting the dough rise on top of the stove.  I only had two issues:

1 - My daring twist to this recipe was boiling down the maple syrup.  A friend of mine gave me a jar of syrup from his maple trees - he had boiled it down some but still way too thin.  The only advise I would give to this - is make sure to keep an eye on it.  The syrup boiled all over my stove - lots of fun to clean that up.  The syrup was delicious though :)

2 - My other issue was that I put these together at night and baked them in the morning to bring to work.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to drive 45 minutes to work with fresh cinnamon buns in the car - almost impossible.

I did make it to work without even tasting one and my co-workers appreciated it.  They were gobbled up in short order and got lots of complements.  They were very good - loved the banana - just enough for some good banana flavor without being overwhelming - and the maple glaze added just a hint of maple flavor - a very nice combination.

Hopefully will be back posting more soon.  As always - if you you want to check out this recipe or any of the other great Daring Kitchen challenge recipes check them out here.

Daring Bakers: Polvitica

In a "celebration" of past Daring Baker and Daring Cook challenges, Lisa (CEO of The Daring Kitchen) challenged all of us to search through the Daring Kitchen archives and pick any one we'd like! The REAL challenge was picking which delicious recipe(s) to try!

Even if it is kind of a non-challenge - what a great challenge.  I almost went back to last months pie challenge that I missed since I really like pie and I really did not want to miss that one.  Looking back though, I found many challenges that I missed or were before I was a member that I wanted to try.  I have no idea why I didn't do this one the first time around but the Povitica from back in October 2011 really caught my eye. The original challenge was from Jenni of The Gingered Whisk.   Povitica is an Eastern European nut bread with many names depending on what country it came from.  It is a sweet bread and usually served around the holidays.

It is not the holidays now but we had a picnic potluck to go to with a bunch of other international adoption parents.  I thought, what better than an international dessert.  While making the dessert I figured out I was out of white flour.  I ended up using  a "white" whole wheat flout and I don't think it hurt it one bit.  Delicious sweet bread with lots of swirly nut goodness.  It was well received at the potluck and the whole family liked it too.

Thanks to Lisa for the challenge and to Jenni for the original challenge.  Check out the challenge recipe and all the other challenges in the Daring Kitchen archives.

Daring Bakers: Panettone

The December 2012 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by the talented Marcellina of Marcellina in Cucina. Marcellina challenged us to create our own custom Panettone, a traditional Italian holiday bread!

I always love the December challenge.  The December challenge always seems to be some traditional Christmas treat and this months challenge did not let me down.  There are probably more variations of a Christmas bread than there are countries and this one comes from Italy.

I started out making the candied orange peels.  I have done this many times now - two years ago for the Daring Bakers Christmas Stollen.  The bread was not difficult but it did take some time.  When you start reading a recipe and it contains seven sub-recipes (sponge, first-dough, second-dough, final dough, candied orange peels, and glaze) and some of the steps have multiple risings; you know it is going to take some time.

The other complication to the recipe is that is traditional cooked in a special paper "pan".  I wasn't sure of a local source and I was too cheap to pay $5 for shipping on a few sheets of paper so I followed Marcellina instructions for making your own.  It was a little bit of a pain and the papers did not look pretty for displaying the finished product, but it worked.

I ended up cooking my bread for 10 minutes longer than the recipe called for and it still came out a bit doughy.  I am cooking a second loaf now and will go even longer on this one.  I also think I followed the recipe by not really mixing the filling in much so the filling was kind of in pockets.  I notice a lot of the other pictures that people have posted show the filing more evenly distributed.  Not really sure which way is "right" - it was good with the pockets of filling but i am sure it would be good with the filling more even too.

I also used double the orange peel like Marcellina suggested as candied citron is expensive.  I made a glaze for mine but didn't follow the recipe.  Some of my family doesn't like the almond so I just made a similar glaze without the almond flour and added a little orange essence.

Even though the center was a little doughy it was still very good and it was a big hit on Christmas morning.  A nice sweet moist bread with a delicious filling.  Thanks for sharing these recipes Marcellina.

Daring Bakers: Armenian Nazook

The Daring Bakers’ April 2012 challenge, hosted by Jason at Daily Candor, were two Armenian standards: nazook and nutmeg cake. Nazook is a layered yeasted dough pastry with a sweet filling, and nutmeg cake is a fragrant, nutty coffee-style cake.

I am not sure if I have ever even had Armenian food but for this challenge we got to choose to make one or both of these Armenian sweets.  I would have loved to do both but I have been a little busy lately so I chose to go with the Nazook - it looked good and had a cool name!  The recipe is Jason's Aunt Aida's recipe and he even shared a video of her demonstrating how to prepare the Nazook.

This was real easy to put together.  It is a yeast dough but it never really needs to rise much.  You can put the dough together the night before then it is a snap to put it all together the next day.  The recipe says almost anything goes for fillings - but I chose to just stick with the vanilla filling in the recipe.

I made this for a little appetizer for my Easter dinner.  Kind of a strange appetizer but it was a big hit - everyone loved it.  Kind of crunchy and soft at the same time, and just the right amount of sweet.  Would definitely make this again and maybe be adventurous and try something different for the filling next time.

If you would like to try out the Nazook or the Nutmeg Cake come check out the recipes in the Daring Kitchen Recipe Archive.

Daring Bakers: Dutch Crunch Bread

 Sara and Erica of Baking JDs were our March 2012 Daring Baker hostesses! Sara & Erica challenged us to make Dutch Crunch bread, a delicious sandwich bread with a unique, crunchy topping. Sara and Erica also challenged us to create a one of a kind sandwich with our bread!

I had never heard of Dutch Crunch Bread before.  Apparently it is very popular as a sandwich roll in the San Francisco Bay area - I have been there are few times but have not run across this before.  As you can probably guess from the name, this bread originated in the Netherlands where it is known as tijgerbrood or tijgerbol (Tiger Bread) because of its strange appearance.  Well I love good bread and I love a good sandwich so I was all over this challenge.

The bread recipe was mostly a typical bread recipe until it came to the end.  Before you stick it in the oven you mix up a rice batter - like a bread dough recipe but very thin - and spread it on the rolls.  It is one of those recipes where you just have to wonder how someone ever came up with it.  In the oven the rice batter cracks as it dries and gives the bread a very distinct look.

I can't say my bread looked as nice as some of the others doing the challenge but it still looked cool.  Not sure if I would really call it a crunch but the topping does add a different texture and it also adds quite a bit of flavor to the bread as well.  It is also kind of a messy bread to eat as the topping kind of crumbles as you eat it.  I did enjoy it and will make sure to try to find some next time I am in San Francisco to see if what I made is anywhere close to the real thing.

The challenge was to make a unique sandwich with our bread.  Not sure I really made anything unique.  We are having such a beautiful early spring here in Minnesota so I just decided to grill up some chicken breast with Cajun spices and topped it with some avocado, tomato, and lettuce - not anything very original but it was delicious!

If you would like to try making Dutch Crunch Bread yourself check out the recipe titled "Lions, Tigers, and Bears, oh my" in the Daring Bakers Recipe Archive.

Daring Bakers: Pineapple Upside-down Quick Bread

This month on the Daring Bakers our host was our wonderful leader - Lis.  Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

So it turns out this is going to be another fairly simple challenge like the last few challenges.  I do like these - seeing all the creativity from the other Daring Bakers and Cooks but I have not really been very daring myself - I have just cooked one of the recipes given in the challenge.  It was hard not to do the same this month since Lis gave us some wonderful recipes to try - Pumpkin Bread with Maple Cream Cheese filling sounds especially good to me.  Well - not this time - I decided I was actually going to try to be at least a little daring myself.

I had a few thoughts but finally decided to turn one (or two ) of my favorite cakes into a quickbread.  I have always loved Pineapple upside-down cake and it seemed like a natural.  For a little twist I also added a bunch of toasted coconut to a fairly standard Pineapple upside-down base (or top).  I then used the basic quick bread recipe that Lis gave us - only I added a bunch of chopped pineapple to it.

I have to say I loved it - the cake was nice and soft and moist.  The topping worked great - just like a pineapple upside-down cake - but the addition of the coconut was very good - I love the texture and flavor it added.

Pineapple Upside-Down Quick Bread
Makes one 9" x 5" loaf
Recipe from A Cooking Dad

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup coconut, toasted*
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 slices canned pineapple
• 3 maraschino cherries
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar,
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk or soured milk*
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pineapple (approx 3 slices)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Pour melted butter into non-stick 9"x5" loaf pan.  Brush onto sides of pan and allow extra to coat the bottom of the pan.
3. Sprinkle toasted coconut evenly across the bottom of the loaf pan.  Next sprinkle the brown sugar evenly across the bottom of the pan.  On top of this arrange 3 pineapple slices and place 3 maraschino cherries in the center of the slices. Set pan aside.
4. Sift flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda into a large bowl.  Make a well in the center and set aside.
5. Lightly whisk buttermilk or soured milk, egg, oil, and vanilla to combine.  Pour into well and mix into a batter.  Before totally combined add chopped pineapple and mix until just combined.  Batter will still be lumpy and may show a few streaks of flour.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn onto plate and remove pan.

Note: To toast coconut - place raw coconut into skillet over medium heat.  Stir frequently until browned (about 3-5 minutes).
Note: To make soured milk, combine 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice and let sit for 10 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Sara Schewe - Basic Quick Bread

Daring Bakers: Letting Nature Do The Work

Our Daring Bakers Host for December 2011 was Jessica of My Recipe Project and she showed us how fun it is to create Sour Dough bread in our own kitchens! She provided us with Sour Dough recipes from Bread Matters by AndrewWhitley as well as delicious recipes to use our Sour Dough bread in from Tonia George’s Things on Toast and Canteen’s Great British Food!

I was a little disappointed when I first saw this months challenge.  I think I was expecting something a little more in tune with the holidays like last years Christmas Stollen.  Well I shouldn't have been disappointed since I have really had enough Christmas snacks to last me a year and this challenge was a lot of fun.

I probably first got into making sour dough when I was in high school.  Probably mostly just because it was fun and interesting - kind of half cooking and half science project.  I don't think I have made it sense then.  I don't really ever really remember making a sour dough bread I liked but I do like good sourdough that others make. Well this was my chance to give it another shot.

I decided to follow Jessica's recipe for the French Country Bread using the wheat starter.  I didn't have a good warm spot for the starter - not easy to find anywhere warm in Minnesota in December.  Because of that I took a little extra time letting the starter grow but in the end it looked and smelled just as it should - lots of bubbles and yeasty smell.  For flour I used King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour.  Everything seemed to be going great with the bread until I needed to turn it out on the pan.  At this point it seemed to flatten out a lot - not sure if I did anything wrong but it wasn't as high as I wanted it.  I was worried that it was going to be a rock but it actually turned out great.  It was not nearly as dense as I was worried and it tasted fantastic.  It is definitely the best sour dough I have made.  I could have eaten the whole load but I needed some of the loaf for the second part of the challenge.  

Yes - this was a two part challenge.  Not only did we have to make a sourdough starter and bread - we also had to feature the bread in another recipe.  I had some different ideas for what to do but these were dashed when the loaf came out so flat.  I decided to try another of Jessica's provided recipes - Welsh Rarebit.  I have made this before but not well.  This time it was made with the excellent sourdough bread and I picked up some decent Tillamook Sharp Cheddar.  The cheese sauce was delicious.  All we needed for supper was the cheese sauce on toast and a small salad.  It was surprisingly satisfying.

Thanks to Jessica for allowing me to try out sourdough again - it was a lot of fun.  If you would like to try the sourdough or the Welsh Rarebit please check out the Daring Bakers recipe archive - you won't be disappointed.

Daring Bakers: Croissants

When I read that this months Daring Bakers challenge was croissants I was both excited and a little worried. I was excited because I love croissants and thought it would be a challenge to make.  One of my first real jobs was at McGlynn's bakery - McGlynn's was a large bakery that provided baked goods to supermarkets (they have since been bought by Pillsbury).  The break room at McGlynn's was incredible - it had several rows of bakery cases full of all sorts of baked goods - still warm out of the oven.  I ate too many croissants when I worked there - not a good place to work while on a diet. 

I was a little worried because I did not know much about the making of croissants and assumed it was difficult.  The provided recipe and its 57 steps and 12 hour prep time didn't make it look too simple at first glance either.  Well turns out they are not really that difficult.  Most of the 57 steps are just fold and fold again - then stick in the fridge and wait a while.  I had assumed it would be more like phyllo where you have to roll many paper thin sheets and put butter in between.  A croissant is sort of the same effect - it is made flaky by the many layers of dough separated by butter - but it turns out all the magic happens in the folding technique.  

The croissants do take the better part of a day to make - but not really much hands on time.  They were easy to make - if you can make a pie or bread (and can count to 57) you can make croissants.  I made half plain and the other half I spread some Nutella on before I rolled up.  They were both really good.  Nice and flaky.  If you do make them go ahead and eat them all the same day - they are not nearly as good the next day.

Thanks to Sarah for this months challenge.  I loved the Julia Child video provided - check this out if you want to see Julia make croissants - I don't like coffee but I think even I think I could drink that Café au lait she makes at the end.  If you would like to try out the recipe check out the Daring Kitchen recipe archives here.

Daring Bakers: Christmas Stollen

On the Daring Baker's website there was a lot of discussion about what the December recipe would be this year. It is always something for the Christmas season and a lot of people seem to fear the possibility that someone would pick fruitcake. It turns out there are a lot of fruitcake haters out there. Well this year they did - sort of. They pick stollen. Stollen is a traditional German fruitcake - but it is more of a bread than a cake since it is made with yeast. Traditionally stollen is shaped more like a loaf (supposed to represent the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes) but we were to make ours in the wreath form you see above.

Well I am not a fruitcake hater. When I grew up my grandmother would make fruitcake every Christmas. I think it was pretty much a traditional southern fruitcake and I still enjoy it when I can get it. I have never made one myself though so I was excited at the thought of making the Stollen this month. The Stollen can be pretty easy to make if you use all store-bought ingredients but I decided to make a few of them.

I have not got out the candy thermometer in a while but I needed it twice for this recipe. The first thing I made was the candied citrus peels. These taste a lot better than anything you would buy and I used this recipe to make them.

The second thing I made was some marzipan. Marzipan is a traditional filling for a stollen and it was something I wanted to experiment with so I decided to make some. My father doesn't like the almonds that are in a traditional marzipan so I decided to experiment and use pecans in place of the almonds. I have never heard of anyone making pecan marzipan but I figured it was worth a try. I used this recipe - http://candy.about.com/od/nougatmarzipancandy/r/Basicmarzipan.htm as a starting point. Instead of grounding the pecans I just processed them in the food processor. I think that left them a little course and it ended up not being quite as much of a paste as a normal marzipan but it worked great in the stollen.

The only other modification I made to the recipe was that I used raisins, blueberries, cherries, and cranberries instead of just raisins and I also used a mix of cherries and pineapple in place of the glace cherries. I also substituted some course chopped pecans for the almonds.

The resulting stollen was fantastic. It looked beautiful in the wreath shape. It is a nice deep brown color and with all the powdered sugar on top it looked and tasted fantastic. I really liked the pecan marzipan - I like almonds but I think the pecans were really good in this. It is a heavy bread but nowhere near as heavy as a traditional fruitcake.

I thought it tasted pretty good but a week or so after I made it I made the discovery that elevates this above a traditional fruitcake for me. Like any fruitcake this is supposed to store well. Like a normal bread it does start to get a little dry after a while. Well many people had posted that it was normal to eat it toasted and normal to put butter on it. Well toasted with butter was incredible - like a good cinnamon raisin toast - only better. I was going to be saving some for Christmas to share with the family but I have finished off half the loaf (the other half went to a pot luck) myself. I still enough of the citrus peels and marzipan for another so I think I will try making a smaller loaf - maybe in the traditional shape so I can bring it to Christmas dinner at my mom's.

Thanks to Penny at Sweet Sadie's Baking for this months challenge. It was good to get everyone to try out a fruitcake - some found they liked it (an some found out they really didn't). Also thanks to Audax at Audax Artifex - He provided a lot of hints and I used recipes he provided for the citrus and marzipan. If you have not checked out his blog - do it - he takes all of the daring kitchen challenges to a whole new level. I think he has made at least 4 completely different stollen for this challenge.

Here is a pdf with the recipe used for the challenge.

Barefoot Bloggers: Popovers

The second Barefoot Blogger pick of the month was popovers. At first I was going to skip it since I didn't have a popover pan and didn't really want to get one. Then I read the recipe and it said I could use custard cups. Since they would go good with the potato chowder I was making I decided to give it a try.

They were very easy to make and came out perfectly. They are a little differently shaped than ones made in a popover pan, a little more short and squat, but they taste just the same.

Popovers

Source: Barefoot Contessa Parties, page 189

Make 12 popovers

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus softened butter for greasing pans
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups milk, at room temperature

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Generously grease aluminum popover pans or Pyrex custard cups with softened butter. You’ll need enough pans to make 12 popovers. Place the pans in the oven for exactly 2 minutes to preheat. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, salt, eggs, milk, and melted butter until smooth. The batter will be thin. Fill the popover pans less than half full and bake for exactly 30 minutes. Do not peek.

Valentines Day 2009

One of the things I have done most years since Lara and I were married 18 years ago was to make a Valentines day dinner.  I try to make something a little fancy and something Lara will like.  Especially this year with Valentines day on a Saturday I am sure going to a restaurant would be crazy.  

This year I picked something fairly simple to make, I think it still looks elegant though.  For the main dish I made a Chicken Piccata.  It was very easy, and since you pound the chicken into thin cutlets, it cooks very quickly.  The Chicken was good and lemony - it went well with the buttered angel hair pasta (one of Lara's favorites) that I served with it.

I also have been wanting to try my recipe for no-knead bread that was in a cookbook I got for Christmas.  The bread takes hardly any work at all.  You mix the ingredients together the night before - they just get stirred together with a spoon.  You then let it rise overnight on the counter. 

 The next day you knead the dough just 10-15 times (this is the secret step in their "no knead" dough) and let it rise as a ball for another couple hours.  You then cook it in a very hot pre-heated dutch oven and turn the oven down for cooking.  The ingredients were a little different than most bread.  I did not use bread flour, it called for very little yeast, and used a lot of liquid.  I think it came out looking beautiful and tasted even better.  It looked like an "artisan" loaf that you would get at a nice bakery.  My only issue was that it did come out a little dark on the bottom.  I might try lowering the starting temp a little next time.

To end the meal we needed an elegant desert.  Well - I am just going to tease you with that right now since desert was my Barefoot Bloggers recipe for the second half of January.  It was very good and very appropriate for Valentines so check back on January 22 to see how that turned out.

      

Chicken Piccata

(Source: Cuisine at Home sample issue)

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 Boneless, skinless breasts
• Salt and pepper
• All-purpose flour
• Nonstick spray
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1/4 c dry white wine
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. capers, drained
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• Fresh lemon slices
• Chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Cut chicken breast lengthwise to form two cutlets each.
2. Pound the chicken breasts into even 1/4 inch thick cutlets
3. Season cutlets with salt and pepper, then dust with flour.
4. Coat saute pan with non-stick spray, add oil, and heat over medium-high.
5. Saute cutlets 2-3 mins on one side then flip and saute 1-2 minutes with the pan covered.  Transfer cutlets to a warmed platter; pour off fat from pan.
6. De-glaze pan with wine and add garlic.  Cook until garlic is slightly browned and liquid is nearly evaporated, about 2 minutes.
7. Add broth, lemon juice, and capers.  Return cutlets to pan and cook on each side 1 minute.  Transfer cutlets to plate.
8. Finish sauce with butter and lemons.  When butter melts, pour sauce over cutlets.
9. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley.

Almost No-knead Bread

(Source: Cooks Illustrated, Jan 2008)

Makes 1 Large round loaf

Ingredients

• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting
• 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons mild-flavored lager
• 1 Tablespoon white vinegar

Directions

1. Whisk flour, yeast, and salt in large bowl.  Add water, beer, and vinegar.  Using rubber spatula, fold mixture, scraping up dry flour from bottom of bowl until shaggy ball forms.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.
2. Lay 12 by 18 inch sheet of parchment paper inside 10 inch skillet and spray with non-stick cook spray.  Transfer dough to lightly floured surface and knead 10 to 15 times.  Shape dough into ball by pulling edges into middle.Transfer dough seam-side down to parchment lined skillet.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature until doubled in size (about 2 hours).
3. About 30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest setting, place 6-8 quart heavy bottomed dutch oven (with lid) on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees.  Note:  Most dutch ovens come with handles that should not be used in 500 degree oven.  You can get metal handle from Le Creuset or I just used a metal cabinet door handle from Home Depot.
4. Lightly flour top of dough and, using a razor blade or sharp knife, cut a 6 inch long 1/2 inch deep slit in top of the dough.  Carefully remove pot from oven and remove lid.  Pick up dough using overhanging parchment and lower into the pot.  Cover pot and place into oven.  Reduce temperature to 425 and cook 30 minutes.  Remove lid and continue to bake until deep brown and instant read thermometer reads 210 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes longer.  Carefully remove bread from pot and cool on a wire rack for about 2 hours.