February 2012 Daring Bakers' Challenge - Quick Breads

  The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – 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.

I used this challenge to make Banana Bread.
Oh, wait a minute! Before you yawn and  click away, I used the banana bread to make yummy French Toast. I served it for dessert and my guests loved it! I made the banana bread and kept it for a couple of days (ok I did eat a few slices) allowing the bread to get a bit stale. Then I made French Toast...super easy and served it with Sweet Scoops Frozen Ginger Yogurt and a drizzle of maple syrup. Then, because the french toast was so quick and easy, I had time to make some caramel and coat some banana slices for a crunchy garnish.


Banana Bread

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 each eggs, large sized
2 cups bananas, very ripe and mashed
2/3 cup buttermilk, room temperature
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the loaf pans by spraying with food release. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
 Cream butter in a mixer with the paddle attachment. Add sugar slowly and beat for about five minutes.
  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the bananas.
Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk  beginning and ending with the flour.
 Pour batter into prepared pans and bake until a tester toothpick comes out clean when inserted.
 Remove pans to a rack for about ten minutes. Remove bread from the pans and cool on a rack until room temperature.

Banana Bread French Toast:

8 slices Banana Bread, 3/4 inch thick
3 eggs
1 cup Half and Half
1 1/2 teaspoons light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon fresh nutmeg, ground
2 tablespoons butter
Maple Syrup
 Arrange slices of banana bread on platter to air dry fro several hours.
 Beat eggs and brown sugar together in a medium bowl with a whip until just incorporated. Add the Half and Half and the nutmeg.
 Arrange the French Toast on plates and garnish with maple syrup, frozen ginger yogurt and caramelized bananas, if desired
 Serves 4

January Daring Bakers - Scones

THE DARING BAKERS' JANUARY, 2012 CHALLENGE: BACK TO BASICS: SCONES (A.K.A. BISCUITS)
 Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!
I never knew that scones were actually biscuits or maybe I should say that biscuits are actually scones.
The challenge this month was lots of fun. The ingredients were not unusual and the method was fairly straight forward. As  a girl raised in the South, I was always a bit embarrassed by my biscuits. I knew from my upbringing in Alabama what a biscuit was supposed to taste like...I just could not make mine taste that way. When I moved up North, I was constantly asked to make biscuits or give biscuit advice. It was not pretty.
With the sound advice of Audax faraway in Australia, I now feel capable of turning out a really great biscuits/scones. He made many batches of biscuits, tweaking here and there to give us not only a great recipe with variations, but some terrific advice as well. I am sure I will be quoting him next time I am asked about making light biscuits.
I serve them at almost every meal now and really keep them quite basic. I may venture into a more exotic biscuit/scone but for now I am relishing the notion that I still have a bit of the South at my fingertips.
Thanks Audax. You are a fine gentleman!

Scones / Biscuits

Ingredients:1cup (240 ml) (140 gm/5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour

2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (1/3 oz) fresh baking powder

¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1½ gm) salt

2 tablespoons (30 gm/1 oz) frozen grated butter (or a combination of lard and butter)

Approximately ½ cup (120 ml) cold milk

Optional 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones

Frozen grated butter-Genius!

Directions1. Preheat oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.

2. Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. (If your room temperature is very hot refrigerate the sifted ingredients until cold.)

3. Rub the frozen grated butter (or combination of fats) into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones.

4. Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be!

5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)

6. Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle by about ¾ inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2 cm thick). Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer and cut two more scones (these two scones will not raise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire.

7. Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden colour on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones.

Ready to Bake

8. Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly coloured on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.

9. Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm

Back of the Box Blog 1-2-3-4 Cake

I have been fascinated with the recipes on back of the boxes and bottles that I buy. I will buy butter and inside the box are a few recipes that, on sight, look good. I started trying a few here and there and found that more often than not, the recipes were accurate and delicious.

This week I made a vanilla  cake recipe from the back of the Swans Down Cake Flour box. There was a recipe for a vanilla cake, chocolate cake and pound cake. I was impressed that they would cover the three main bases and got a good feeling about the recipe right away. Also, the ingredients and method were very appealing. I had thought that I might like to give such a plain cake a little oomph with a little almond extract only to find that ingredient already listed in the recipe.  I was really set on making it.
Making the cake is a breeze. It is as straight forward as its name. Here are a couple of things I do for cakes though to give them their best shot at yumminess. I sift the dry ingredients together as the recipe requires but then I use a wire whip and stir the flour mixture for about a minute more, ensuring that the leaven is well distributed and the mixture is aerated for a light cake. I read this trick from BakeWise by Shirley Corriher. While I like her explanations of the hows and whys of baking, I find her recipes too sweet and too  cumbersome.

The recipe for this cake called for three  9- inch pans. I do not know too many people who have this pan set up in their home kitchen. I don't and I have a lot of pans. I teach cake decorating and all of our practice cakes are 8-inch pans. I was making this cake for a class so I used  two 8-inch pans. The cakes rose beautifully. They took 30 minutes instead of the recipe's 20  minutes but that was expected. I just kept hovering after 20 minutes. The cakes did cling to the sides of the pan but that happens with almost every vanilla cake I have ever made. I let the cakes cool 10 minutes and then use a thin, flexible spatula to loosen the sides.
This cake smelled wonderful coming out of the oven. It was a beautiful color. It tasted really great if you like the almond flavor. I made a second batch using 1/4 teaspoon almond extract. It was much better with just that hint of almond.

My big test for a vanilla cake is the next day. Cakes such as these seem to deteriorate on flavor  perhaps due to their simplicity, they don't have much there to keep them fresh. I found this cake to be almost better the next day. The almond flavor  of the first batch was not as noticeable. The second batch had no real discernible almond flavor, just a richer taste.   Both batches had a bright aftertaste as opposed to that heavy tongue coating flavor that usually happens when cake goes bad.
The cake is soft in texture, I should add. Many of the vanilla cakes I make are a bit dense. I try not to refrigerate vanilla cakes if possible. I find it changes the texture a lot. But if I need to chill them, I try to choose a really creamy, flavorful filling to compensate.

I am going to keep this recipe for sure. I  plan to play with flavorings, maybe add a little orange zest here or espresso powder there. I think this recipe will adapt well. Here is the recipe with the adjustment for the almond extract.

1-2-3-4 Cake      

 adapted from the Swans Down Cake Flour box

8 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 cups cake flour, sifted
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pans by spraying with food release and lining bottoms with parchment paper.

 Cream the butter in a large bowl. Gradually add the sugar, creaming until light and fluffy. Sift the cake flour with baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, one at a time, to the creamed mixture beating well after each addition. Add the flour alternately with the milk and flavorings blending after each addition until smooth. Do not over beat. Pour into prepared pans.

 Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with loose crumbs attached.

 Cool cakes in pans on a rack for about 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool to room temperature before decorating.

December Daring Bakers Challenge: Sourdough Bread

 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 .

This challenge was like a science experiment. I never quite felt in control of the situation and that was a bit unnerving.  It is cold here now and that did not help my sourdough starter in the least. I made a rye starter and a wheat starter...twice. The wheat starter showed signs of life the second time around so I tried making some bread with it. My son came home from school that day and asked what the smell was in the house. It was my baking loaf of sourdough and I had to laugh. I had envisioned an aroma much like that of Merita Bread Company that baked bread in my hometown and made me hungry even if I had just eaten.

My bread made me open a window and light a scented candle.

The bread tasted flat and very sour. It was very heavy and I am sure I should have proofed it longer and baked it longer. I did not have the time or enough starter for a second batch. I will not give up though. I think I  will wait until the weather gets warmer here and then give it another try. I love the thought of having a sourdough starter in the fridge, making cakes, pancakes and especially pleasantly fragrant bread.

Until then, I am relying on Iggy's Bread,my local favorite, to see keep the sourdough love alive.

It's ALIVE!

Cake Pops Snowmen

I have had cake pops on my "to do" again list because I wanted to experiment with the chocolate consistency and see if I could achieve an easier dip to coat the pops.
I decided to make some snowmen and I used the Pops!Sweets on a Stick  book  as a guide and inspiration.
Making the cake for the pops, I use a super simple batter adapted from the 500 Cupcakes book. It makes a really dense cake which is just what I need for making pops. You can substitute your favorite pound cake recipe for similar results.  A  half recipe listed below makes about 14 snowmen.

Here is the recipe  for the cake:
4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2  eggs
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup buttermilk
1.Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl. With the paddle attachment or beaters, mix on low to incorporate. Then beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth and light colored, about 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Put into pans and bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned and center spring back. You may also use the toothpick test of inserting a toothpick into the center and checking to until a few loose crumbs attach when removed.
3. Remove cakes from oven when done and cool in pan for ten minutes. Turn onto rack and cool completely. Put cake into a large bowl and crumble into tiny bits with your fingers. Set aside.

For the icing, I made a small batch and had more than enough for mixing into the pops and decorating on top. Here is the recipe I used:
4 ounces(1 stick) unsalted butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Beat all ingredients together in a medium bowl on low speed to incorporate and then medium speed for about 3 to 4 minutes until icing is smooth and creamy. Use immediately or keep covered and re-whip slightly to restore creaminess before use.

 Depending on your climate(warmer may need less liquid and cooler may need more), you want a consistency that is spreadable, about the consistency of softened butter.

Mix together the cake crumbs and 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the icing. Now you have to mix this with your hands so take off those rings and bring out your best "mud pie" behavior. I find that if you really mush up the mixture and blend, it will take on almost a cookie dough appearance and feel. This is an important part. You do not want any large cake crumbs in the mix at this point because that will cause your pops to crumble and fall apart later.

 Roll your mixture into balls. I used 1 1/2 inch  for the snowman body and 1 inch balls for snowman heads. Set the balls  on parchment  or wax paper  lined cookie sheet with raised sides and chill for at least 30 minutes. I am impatient so I chilled for 15 in the freezer. Longer chilling is better!
 Dip cookie sticks (I used 6-inch sticks)  in melted white chocolate or candy melts and then insert about a 1/4 inch into the pop. I found that the deeper I inserted the stick, the less stable the pop was for dipping. It needs to be deep enough to hold the pop but not deep enough to crack the pop. The pops that I did push the the stick in to deeply cracked later.  Allow the pops to chill for at least 20 minutes. During pop production, try to keep the pops chilled when not working on them.

I used Wilton White Candy Melts for dipping the pops. I find that I have to add oil to thin the coating enough for dipping.  I melted the wafers first and then added the oil (canola for me-just don't use a fragrant oil like sesame or olive) a tablespoon at a time to reach a smooth dipping consistency. You can use a pop to experiment. There is a fine line between dipping to coat smoothly versus dipping and having all the chocolate slide right off the pop. If you cross that line, add some more candy melts and adjust till you feel you have a nice coating. You can also use chocolate but I am used to the melts and like that I can get them already colored.

I lined a Styrofoam block with foil to catch any drips and sprayed a wire rack with food release spray  for  the heads. I dipped the bodies first and then used a toothpick to hold the heads and dip them. I dipped some of the heads twice to get a nice even coating. Little imperfections are nice because they give the guys a bit of personality.The melts harden quickly and here in the northeast, I left them on the counter for about 10 minutes and they were solid.Then I dipped the base of the  heads in melted white chocolate(I used the dipping chocolate and it was fine) and attached the heads to the bodies.

I had some pre-colored fondant which made life real easy.I used  the Wilton Ribbon Cutter and Embosser Set,  I cut some rolled fondant into 1/4 inch by 5 inch strips that were 1/8 inch thick. I attached these around the necks for scarves dabbing a little melted chocolate from the tip of a toothpick as glue. If you do not have the set, you can use a ruler and exacto knife (just be careful of the cutting surface-you don't want to cut up your counter). Then I took a 1 inch size ball of fondant, massaged it well with my hands to make it smooth and pliable. I rolled into a smooth ball and then a cone shape altering its droopiness for the hats. I flattened the wide end slightly and , dipped it in melted chocolate and placed on top of the heads.  I used some Wilton neon orange fondant to make little tiny cones for the carrot noses. I made these in different sizes and shapes to give each guy his own look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I colored some of my reserve buttercream with black icing gel color and put it in a decorating bag with a Wilton #3 tip.  I made dots for eyes and  mouths. I loaded some white icing into another bag with a Wilton #14 tip. Using a zigzag motion, I covered the seam between the hat and head. Then I added a star at the top of the hat to look like a pom.

I let the snowmen sit in the counter for about an hour allowing the icing to crust up a bit and then loaded them into a pop container.

I loved making these pops. They are  great afternoon project. I loved that I could walk away, do other things and come back to it. If the melts hardened,putting them in the microwave a few seconds  put me back in business.

I hope you have a chance to make these!

Let It Snow!

November Daring Bakers Challenge - Sans Rival

Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a traditional Filipino dessert – the delicious Sans Rival cake! And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog. Please stay in touch for a December post for the Bibingka.  I am making salted eggs for it and that takes a few weeks.
 
I have made both dacquoise and French Buttercream before. I opted for my Meringue Buttercream recipe for this challenge though because I did not want the dessert to be too rich for my Thanksgiving guests.  I have posted the Meringue Buttercream recipe already so follow the link for it and add 2 ounces of melted bittersweet chocolate after adding all the butter. I used Scharffen Berger chocolate. It is one of my favorites.
 
The dacquoise was very easy to make. The key is to add the sugar slowly and beat it on high til you see those shiny stiff peaks. The recipe advised putting it in cake pans but I used my usual method of drawing circle guides on parchment and filling in with the meringue mixture. It worked fine. The cooking time varied from my previous recipes. I pulled one out for testing at the prescribed time and felt that it was not quite done enough  so I left the others in for about 10 more minutes making the total cooking time about 40 minutes. The layers were nice and crunchy with a little give on the interior. They crisped up a little more as they dried. It was raining buckets that day ( meringues do not like rain as they absorb moisture from the air- a cool clear day is best for making meringues) so I let the meringues rest in a cold oven overnight and they were good to go the next day.
There were a lot of cashews in this recipe. We could not really taste them too much in the dacquoise...just a nice toasty, nutty flavor with a lovely cashew aftertaste. The cashews on the outside felt like overkill and next time, I will put on my thinking cap and add something else. Let me know if you have suggestions!
The overwhelming response to this dessert was, "I didn't think I was going to like it and I loved it!"
Although there were a lot of desserts offered, almost everyone had a second helping of the Sans Rival.
 
Thank so much,Catherine, for sharing your challenge and your culture with us. Our waistlines are a little bigger for it but our horizons are even broader for it.

Sans Rival

Ingredients:
1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm) (8 oz) white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (3 gm) cream of tartar
¼ cup (60 ml) (20 gm) (2/3 oz) Dutch processed cocoa (optional and not traditional)
2 cups (480 ml) (240 gm) (8½ oz) chopped, toasted cashews - I used half , finely ground for the meringue and half coarsely ground for finishing the the sides of the cake at assembly.



Directions:
1. Preheat oven to moderate 325°F/160°C/gas mark 3.
2.Using an 8-inch cake pan, outline the diameter of the pan in pencil on parchment. Flip the parchment paper over and use as a line guide.

3. In a large clean, dry glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites on medium until foamy (2 mins.). Sprinkle with cream of tartar. Gradually add sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, continuing to beat now at high speed until stiff shiny peaks form. (about 7-10 mins.)

4. Mix cocoa powder with the nuts.Fold nut mixture into egg mixture.

5. Divide meringue into four equal parts. Spread onto parchment rounds and spread gently with a metal spatula.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the meringue from the baking pans while still hot; allow to cool slightly. Peel off the parchment paper while it is still warm, it is difficult to remove sometimes when they have completely cooled.

Perfectly cooked one on the left and slightly undercooked one on the right

7. When cool, trim edges so that all 4 meringue layers are uniformly shaped. Set aside.

Make Meringue Buttercream! add 2 oz. melted, cooled bittersweet chocolate to buttercream after all butter has been added. Flavor with vanilla extract or other flavoring.

Assembly:

Set bottom meringue on cake board with a dab of butter cream to hold it in place. Spread a thin layer of buttercream and then place another meringue on top. Repeat with a thin layer of buttercream, meringue, thin layer of buttercream, meringue, and finally buttercream the top and sides. Decorate with reserved nuts.

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Romanesco

Romanesco showed up at the farm stand and who can resist this look? Not me!
I thought it was the wildest looking vegetable I had ever seen and would surely shock the family.

Romanesco is compared to cauliflower but it tastes more like broccoli. It has an almost nutty flavor to it.
I steamed the whole head stalk side down as I read online to do and it cooked easily. I made a topping of tomato concasse, chopped garlic and a little olive oil simmered for about 20 minutes and seasoned with salt and pepper. Then I tossed on some fresh basil  I got at the store because our crazy weather has killed off the basil outdoors.

I served this with a little penne that I buttered and shaved some fresh Parmesan on top. It was a light dinner and perfect for leaving room in my tummy for Halloween candy! The boy racked up the chocolate on his neighborhood tour of Halloween duty. He does not like candy so it is up to me to get rid of it!

I have included a link about Romanesco which is supposed to be around through November. I think it would look great on that Thanksgiving table. Maybe I could sculpt some alien looking garnishes to set around it....yeah, maybe I should cut back a little on the sugar.