Milk Chocolate Caramel Tart

Milk Chocolate Caramel Tart
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

For the August Daring Baker challenge, we were given the Milk Chocolate Caramel Tart recipe from Eric Kayser’s Sweet and Savory tarts. I was invited to lunch at a co-worker's home with a bunch of other women fairly early in the month, so I decided to attempt this recipe for the luncheon.

For the recipe, please see the related entry in Veronica's Test Kitchen, one of the hostesses for this month's challenge.

Tarts can look deceptively easy, particularly when dealing with caramel, and dry caramel at that. This recipe caused some frustration, but no tears this time. Just laughter - at myself, at the potential ruin of yet another pan, and realizing that it was probably wise to pick librarianship over baking as a career path.

For my first feat, I tried making a crust recipe in a food processor that was about 4 cups too small. I forget that I don't have the biggest one and that most recipes are probably written for a larger bowl. Halfway through I had to dump everything into a bowl and mix it by hand. It seemed to work okay, but was pretty dry. After chilling the dough, it didn't want to roll out very easily - I was able to make most pieces equally thin at least, as you can see in the crust, but had to piece it together quite a bit. One benefit to this recipe was the use of hazelnuts - I had a few cups of hazelnuts in the freezer, left over from the annual bag my Mom sends me from Oregon so I can make holiday treats with the same flavors I grew up with. It was nice to have a reason to use them, although lately I've been sneaking handfuls for snacking, so I imagine the rest won't last long.

For my first batch of caramel, I did as the recipe instructed and didn't stir the sugar. Since there was an entire cup, the bottom of the sugar got extremely hot before it all dissolved. As a result, adding the cream made the mixture seize up. I knew it was possible that continuing to stir the mixture might bring it back together, but I decided to quit while I was ahead. Batch #1 - in the trash.

This batch of caramel goes in the "I should have known" category. Promptly after washing the pan and wooden spoon, I went about trying another batch of caramel, but the spoon still had water in it. Hello, sugar crystals. Another batch bites the dust.

At this point I decided it couldn't hurt to try one more time. I didn't have any karo syrup so I couldn't try the "wet" method of making caramel that one of the Daring Bakers had suggested. So this time I used a different utensil, stirred a little at the beginning, got a few crystals, but simply strained them out as I poured the mixture into the pan. The color seemed right, a golden brown, so I decided to try baking it.

To my pleasure, the caramel layer seemed to bake up nicely. The crust also didn't get too brown, which was nice.

The next step was making a milk chocolate mousse. So many good chocolates are out there to select from, and this time I used Lindt Extra Creamy. I was making this tart the night before, and didn't want the crust to get soggy. I decided to make the mousse ahead of time and store it in the fridge until the next day, which unfortunately meant that it set up a great deal. Here you see the texture of the mousse the next morning as I tried spreading it on the tart. It eventually warmed to the touch of my fingertips and I was able to press it down somewhat smoothly, but it lacked the creamy texture it would have had if I had spread it right after making it. It still tasted really good!

The end result was a pretty tart, which I cut into 16 pieces to serve. I agree with the other Daring Bakers about the cinnamon in the crust being overpowering. One co-worker friend said that she thought the slightly browned sugar taste in the caramel added a lot of depth to the taste, and I would agree. Another co-worker said that if I had added peanuts to the caramel layer, it would have tasted like a Snickers bar.

My original intent was to make a dark chocolate version, but I was not impressed with the crust, and the event I was planning to bring it for was cancelled. So for this one, only one whole dessert, but three batches of caramel!

This entry was brought to you by the Daring Bakers. Please check out other renditions of this tart by going to the blogroll listed on the left menu of my blog.

Categories: Caramel, Chocolate, Daring Bakers, Mousse, Tart

Creme Bruleed Chocolate Chiffon Bundt Cake

Creme Bruleed Chocolate Chiffon Bundt Cake
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

I have been hearing about this recipe from my co-worker for several months now, so when it came time to pick a dessert to bring for our French-themed International Dinner Night, it was a no-brainer.

The book Baking With Julia is a cookbook I think everyone should have, particularly aspiring bakers, so I'm not going to copy the recipe here. (Ha HA!). I think the end result was good enough to try for the actual recipe, but you could probably mimic it with recipes you already have and end up with a similar result.

The first step is to make a custard, similar to what you would make for creme brulee, only not broiling or toasting it on its own. The egg yolks and sugar are cooked over simmering water until thick and creamy.

I made the custard a day ahead.

The cake batter is a typical chiffon cake, where you fold in whipped egg whites at the end. I am the proud owner of a new mesh strainer so I was all over sifting the dry ingredients. I usually skip this step but it definitely helps create a nice texture.


To help the egg whites not loose their volume, they have to be gradually folded into the batter. Only about 1/3 is added at first, to lighten the batter, and then the batter is folded into the egg whites. I took pictures of every step, just for kicks.


I smiled when I took the cake out of the oven, because the recipe said it should have a crack on the top and be just starting to pull away from the edges. Check! You'll also see my well-used bundt pan that I found for 50 cents at a garage sale - the same day I bought a $1 cake saver. Love garage sales for baking supplies.


After the cake has cooled, and right before serving, raspberries have to be tossed with Chambord and spooned into the middle of the cake. Chambord is SO yummy with chocolate, and using fresh raspberries really kicks up the flavor of the liquor.


The custard comes into play now, as it gets poured over the berries and over the sides of the cake. As you can tell, mine was probably not quite thick enough, and drained through the berries pretty quickly. The hostess at the party had a culinary torch, so the resident chef (NOT me) did the broiling of the sugar on the top of the custard. It didn't matter ultimately that the custard sunk through - you can put sugar on anything and broil it!




Here is a bigger picture of the finished project. It may have looked more impressive with a thicker custard, but I like seeing the raspberries peeking through.


The recipe says to serve it right away, and I did. With the number of people there, we quickly made it disappear.


I would make this recipe again. It wasn't difficult, it is just time consuming and some things need to be done ahead of time. The cake had an amazing flavor and was nice and light.

Categories: Cake, Chocolate, Custard, Raspberries

Aggression Cookies

Aggression Cookie Dough
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

This recipe dates back to my childhood, where we had a cookbook called Kids in the Kitchen that I remember making recipes out of from way back. This recipe has stuck with me through the years, part because of the fun, and part because the recipe is so easy to remember.

Aggression cookies are like they sound - a way to release your aggressions, or stress, or whatever mood you are feeling too much of. You mix them with your hands, of course (hopefully clean ones). I have to admit that I don't think the cookies are that spectacular except straight out of the oven, but that is SO not the point here. Plus there are no eggs, so this is a recipe that it is safe to eat the dough of.

You can either follow this recipe or use the basic formula or the same amount of sugar, flour, and butter plus twice the amount of oats, the same teaspoon amount of baking powder as cups of the sugar/flour/butter amounts, and whatever random additions you want to make.

Aggression Cookies

1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, room temperature
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 cups oats
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Chocolate chips, raisins, M&Ms, whatever you want to add

Dump all ingredients into a bowl*. Mix together with clean hands. Mash it! Knead it! Smash it! The longer and harder you mix it, the better it tastes.

Form into flat discs. Bake at 350 F for 10-15 minutes.

*I recommend leaving out the additions such as chocolate chips until the batter has been well mixed.

Blueberry Lemon Curd Tart

Blueberry Lemon Curd Tart
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

I go hunting for recipes based on ingredients that I either have on hand or think sound good together. I recently went blueberry picking at The Happy Berry in Pickens, SC. I made blueberry muffins and had been eating them with oatmeal, but wanted to do something special. In my blueberry recipe hunting I found that almost everything included lemon. So, lemon and blueberry started me thinking on a blueberry and lemon curd idea, being a big fan of lemon curd.

This recipe held the most promise, but I have to confess I cheated extensively. What I will share with you is my cheating recipe, in hopes that you will feel inspired to whip one up and share it with your friends. (If you don't feel like cheating, and want to make the crust and lemon curd from scratch, by all means follow the link to the recipe above!)

Blueberry Lemon Curd Tart
1 pie or pastry crust
1 jar lemon curd
1 pint blueberries
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Line tart pan with crust, prick with fork, and bake until golden. Allow to cool. Spread lemon curd along bottom of cooled crust. I would use a healthy layer - I probably used about a 1/2 cup.

In a saucepan, heat blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, and water over medium heat, until mixture has thickened to desired consistency and berries have started to burst.* Allow to cool.**

Spread berry mixture over lemon curd.

To serve, sprinkle with powdered sugar or garnish with fresh blueberries and mint sprigs. I just left it as is, thinking the colors spoke for themselves.

*Depending on what kind of berries you use, they might not burst by the time the mixture thickens, and that's okay. Smaller berries seem to stay firm longer, but still taste good.

**I make a variety of this blueberry mixture, just adding a couple of cinnamon sticks, as an easy dessert sauce that is wonderful over vanilla icecream. This could also make a good crepe filling.

Jenny's notes: I want to try this soon with blackberries, because I also love blackberries and lemon curd!! It also begs the trial of other jams and jellies in a similar way. Tarts seem to be an easy way to put together a dessert without having to use a lot of extended heat during an already hot summer!

Categories: Blueberry, Lemon, Tart

Second Time is a Charm - Strawberry Mirror Cake

Strawberry Mirror Cake - side view
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

The day after the Big Cake Disaster, I decided that I still had most of the parts - the cake, the soaking liquid, the strawberry juice, and the strawberry puree with added gelatin - I had to at least try twice.

I remember when making the original recipe, I thought medium was too high for cooking the eggs and milk mixture since it specifically said not to let it come to boil. I followed the recipe instead of my instincts, which happens more than I like to admit. The second time, I followed my instincts and ended up with a frothy, thick bavarian cream mixture to fold in with the whipped cream. It actually cooked really quickly too, not a lot of stirring required.

Knowing I would let the bavarian cream set up overnight this time, I didn't wait as long as I could have for the mixture to firm up in the ice bath. I also figured that since the strawberries had been sitting in the gelatin overnight, that was bound to add some firmness to the cake. And it seemed to be fine.

This challenge, by the way, is the monthly challenge for the Daring Bakers. We are an ever-growing group of bakers who do one challenge together every month. If you want to see the host's blog for this month and also to see the recipe, please go here,. The recipe is much too long to copy and paste over. The overview though - a white cake, brushed with a flavored simple syrup, cut smaller than the springform pan, layered and surrounded by a strawberry bavarian cream, and topped with a strawberry gelatin mirror. The only modification I made to the recipe was to replace the kirsch with strawberry extract. I didn't want the mother-to-be to have to worry about consuming alcohol, no matter how negligible of an amount it would have been. (Strawberry extract was surprisingly hard to find - only one grocery store out of four that I went to had it!)

We were allowed to decorate the top as long as you could still see the mirror. I was making this for a baby shower at work, and decorated it accordingly.


Like many of the other Daring Bakers, I think the cake looks more impressive than it tastes. The gelatinous layer on top was a little strange, and I thought the bavarian cream could have had SO much more flavor. The worst part was the cake - it really didn't have much flavor, even with the soaking syrup, and I would probably use a different cake recipe if I were to make this again.

Here is a picture of the cake on a plate with other treats from the baby shower. It ended up looking pretty uniform on the side view, even if the outside was pretty lumpy. The theme of the shower was pink pink pink, and the cake definitely fit the bill in that regard.

One thing I am most impressed by when looking at some of the other Daring Bakers blogs is how perfect what they have made looks. I really want to start focusing in on finessing the look of what I make. I could have spent more time smoothing the surface of the bavarian cream before pouring the gelatin, for instance, and been more careful when cutting the circles of cake. I want things to look good, not just taste good!

I'm glad I stuck with it and followed the recipe through. Next time I won't wait nearly as long before trying the recipe for the first time, and I'll also pay attention to my instincts!

Brought to you by the Daring Bakers. Please look at other DB blogs on the list to the left!

Categories: Cake, Daring Bakers, Strawberry

Baking Disaster - Strawberry Mirror Cake, Attempt 1

Curdled bavarian cream mixture
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

Part of being a Daring Baker is trying things that might not turn out. This night has turned into a comedy of errors and what I had hoped would be a post about a lovely strawberry mirror cake has ended (hopefully temporarily) with a picture of my extremely curdled bavarian cream.

I ran out of sugar and gelatin, but I'm hoping I can salvage my cake circles, strawberry puree, strawberry juice, and everything else I have already made and try finishing it tomorrow. Not quite on time, but I can't stop now, can I?



Otherwise, I might drink strawberry juice for breakfast and call it good.

Categories: Daring Bakers, Disaster

Harry Potter Desserts

Treacle Tart
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

I'm breaking my usual posting schedule (every Monday) to post about the Harry Potter themed treats I made to bring to work today. One day I was bored and went through and wrote down all the mention of food in the Harry Potter books, in case I ever wanted to do a themed meal. I started poking around and discovered that fantastically named items such as treacle tart were real desserts, with real recipes. I honestly thought it was made up!

These days, an excellent source for Harry Potter recipes and party ideas is PotterParties.com. I made a treacle tart and pumpkin pasties last night. The treacle tart recipe was this one from the BBC web site, but it has already moved once so I'll post it again.

Ingredients

For the pastry

• 225g/8oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 110g/4oz butter, chilled, diced
• 1 medium free-range egg, lightly beaten

For the filling

• 450g/1lb golden syrup
• 85g/3oz fresh breadcrumbs
• generous pinch ground ginger
• 1 lemon, zest, finely grated and 2 tbsp of the juice

To serve

• clotted cream or double cream

Preparation method

1. In a bowl, rub the butter into the flour with your fingers until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Mix in the egg with a knife, then knead on a clean, lightly dusted work surface to form a smooth dough.
3. Use the dough to line a 23cm/9in loose-bottomed tart tin, prick the base all over with a fork and leave to rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
   
4. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
   
5. Line the pastry with parchment paper and weigh down with rice or ceramic baking beans. Bake the pastry blind for 10-15 minutes, remove the paper and rice or beans and return the pastry case to the oven for a few minutes more, until light golden-brown.
   
6. For the filling, mix together the filling ingredients in a bowl and pour into the pastry case. Return to the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. Serve hot or cold with clotted cream or double cream.
   

Treacle is another name for golden syrup, which is like a light golden molasses - almost the color of corn syrup, but with a much nicer flavor. It is the key ingredient to many desserts in the UK, including sticky toffee pudding, which I was tempted to make instead. But I couldn't pass up the chance to make Harry Potter's favorite dessert!

This recipe includes lemon and ginger, and these flavors combined with the treacle create a dessert I imagine would be much more pleasing to the adult palate than a child's, but wizards may have different tastes than muggles. You can make this with a shortcrust recipe, but as there isn't much difference between that and pie crust, and I had already made a huge batch of pie crust for the pumpkin pasties, I used the same thing. I wish I had spent more time with what I put on the top... it looks a little horrid, but it tasted good. The treacle mixture becomes chewy which is a nice contrast to flaky crust. Definitely try this recipe!!


Pumpkin pasties are something I had read about and came up with my own recipe for them. I'm sure they're not much different from the other recipes you might find, but they are delicious and simple. One student said they were like mini pumpkin pies, which is a good way of looking at it. Pasties in general are hand-held pies, but these are even tinier than that!

Pumpkin Pasties
Pie crusts (can use store bought if desired)
1 can pumpkin pie filling*
1 egg mixed with 1 tsp water
Granulated sugar

Roll out pie crusts and cut into circles. Brush one side with egg wash. Put small amount of pumpkin pie filling in center. Fold over and pinch together. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Bake at 375 F 15-20 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

*If you can't find pumpkin pie filling, if it's not "in season" - combine canned pumpkin with spices and a little brown sugar, and you'll be fine.

White Chocolate Brownies

White Chocolate Brownies
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

I found this recipe on one of the baking blogs I frequently read. Tartlette is a formally trained pastry chef who makes the most beautiful things, and her photographs are always stunning as well. She is the type of baker I aspire to become, maybe after another 10-15 good years of practice.

These brownies are not the typical blondies - they are made by melting white chocolate and mixing it with other ingredients. I was impatient and cut them before they were completely cool, but if I made them again I would force myself to wait.

They are sweet, light, and wonderful.

Categories: Chocolate, Cookies

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes (vegan)

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes (vegan)
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

I have been thumbing through the new cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World for probably a month now. I needed to gather all the necessary ingredients and pick a flavor - you won't believe the amazing cupcake recipes in this book. Tiramisu, smore, mocha hazelnut, etc. - everything sounded delicious and fun. The main ingredient I didn't have was vegan non hydrogenated shortening. I don't stock shortening in general, much less vegan or non-hydrogenated. But if you can't use butter, shortening is sometimes a necessary evil.

Pawing through my cupboards I realized I still had some mint extract, so I went with chocolate mint cupcakes. For the cake part, it is the recipe for "Your Basic Chocolate Cupcake" with mint extract added. That is the recipe I'll include here, but really, go out and buy this amazingly fun book.

Your Basic Chocolate Cupcake
from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

Ingredients:
1 cup soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp other flavored extract, or more vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
2. Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, and extract(s) and beat until foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are okay).
3. Pour into liners, filling three-quarters of the way. Bake 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and cool completely.

I used a variation of the Fluffy Vegan Buttercream recipe, which was basically:

1/2 cup shortening (vegan, non trans fat, etc)
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 pound box powdered sugar (roughly 3 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 tsp extract (I used mint + vanilla)
1/4 cup soy milk or creamer (i used 3 tbsp soy milk, I didn't want it too thin and my kitchen was warm)

Cream together, spoon into a pastry bag, and pipe onto cupcakes. Or spread with knife. I did some in zigzags, some in flowers, and some in spirals. I melted some chocolate chips in another ziploc bag, cut a small part out of one corner, and drizzled some on top in patterns to match. Some of the cupcakes have chocolate sprinkles.

Jenny's notes: I have to admit that the cupcakes pictured in the cookbook were all a little too small and flat for me, so I may have added extra baking powder for a little more height. As a result I had some slightly messy cupcakes, but they still taste amazing. There is nothing noticably vegan in these cupcakes. They taste chocolately, minty, and the "butter"cream icing is actually very good, despite my predisposation against shortening.

I also didn't have apple cider vinegar, so I used white distilled. I find I can only have so many flavors of vinegar on hand, you know? At last count, I had five, and apple cider was just not one of them. It's okay to substitute one vinegar for the other since you are using it for its chemical properties, not its flavor, when you are baking. Just be careful not to use one that has a pungent flavor where it might not belong. Chocolate mint cupcakes would not have been balsamic-friendly, for instance.

I found these to be a little melty, and not just the ones I put in the light to photograph. This means I'll have to find room in my fridge overnight for them, which is not that great of a scenario at the moment. Next time I would add more powdered sugar, or just forget the milk entirely in the icing. I also needed to bake these longer than 20 minutes, probably more like 23, but I did have more batter than recommended.

Categories: Chocolate, Cupcake, Mint, Vegan

Bakery Review - Strossners

Strossners - Baileys Ganache Cake
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

Strossners Bakery is located in Greenville, SC. It seems like one of those bakeries that has been around a long time (and the web site says over 50 years) - most of what they make is traditional bakery fare - bread, danishes, cakes, pastries, cookies, etc.

Our first experience with them was about a year ago - we had just moved to town and it was going to be my birthday, so we stopped by and picked up a cake. They have so many full-sized cakes ready to go at all times that it took some time to decide, but I remember getting the Triple Chocolate Torte. It was okay, but I've never been a fan of the fudgy icing since my cake decorating days (it tends to be a little plastic in texture).

Since then we have been back to eat at the deli, pick up an occasional breakfast pastry (the almond danish is highly recommended, best I've had), etc.

This year for my birthday I picked the Bailey's Ganache Cake. Both my husband and I like the flavor of Bailey's, and I thought it would be amazing with chocolate. Inside the cake are three chocolate cake layers, spread liberally with Baileys, filled with chocolate ganache and the outside is topped with a whipped ganache.

It was really good. The downfall of commercial bakeries is that they have to add ingredients to things like icing to make them last longer, so the outer icings were a bit rubbery in texture, but I felt the flavor made up for it.

Categories: Bakery, Baileys, Cake, Chocolate

Daring Bakers Monthly Challenge - Bagels

Daring Bakers Blue Logo
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

The Daring Bakers have struck again! This month the challenge was bagels - not the kind you would get from the grocery store, which is just circle shaped bread, but the authentic Jewish bakery kind, chewy and malty.

The recipe for Real Honest Jewish Purist's Bagels can be found by clicking here. It's too long to post here.

This was my first bagel endeavor, never attempted before because I thought the process would be too long and complicated - what? Boil bread? Weird. So I felt I had to block a bunch of time out to make them. I was surprised by how quick the process took in the end.

First, the ingredients.

Yeast is pretty ordinary, but the amount used was more than I am accustomed to (although I don't often bake bread, so what do I know). Barley malt syrup was much harder to find, and in fact was only one place in my town of 80,000. The jar says you can substitute it for molasses in any recipe, which I'll have to do with the rest now that I'm done with the challenge.

The first step that struck me as different than other baking is the amount of time the yeast soaks at the beginning - ten minutes.

It soaks into the water and honey, and after ten minutes is already a growing, living organism. Bread flour gets mixed in gradually by hand, in diminishing amounts, allowing for the absorption of the moisture. I don't think I added as much as I could the first time around, and this is one of the contributors to my breadier bagels.

I know some people are afraid to knead dough, but that is my favorite step in the process. I feel my stress leaving and my blood pressure lowering, and just feel great afterwards. I also think it teaches you a lot about what dough should feel like, helps you know when it is ready to rise, etc.

Here is the dough after kneading:


And here it is just 30 minutes later. Luckily I had put the malt syrup water on to boil right at the beginning of that time, because by the time it was simmering, the dough was ready to be punched down.


The next step is to divide the dough and form the bagels. There are two methods - one where you handmake a disc and punch a whole in the middle with your thumb, and the other where you form a rope and push the ends together.

Here you see both. The bagels closest to the camera are the disc-punch method, and the bagels farther away were ropes first. I see pros and cons to both methods - the disc-punch method makes a more uniform bagel, but unless you boil them quickly they might rise too much and the hole gets too small. In the rope method, the dough is a better texture because of extra handling, but I had a hard time keeping them from coming apart in the water.

Ah, the water. This was the part I was most nervous about. The bagels are supposed to sink first, and then float, but every single bagel in my first batch was a floater. They turn blobby and fatty and look outrageously disgusting, but I decided to tough it out and try baking them even after they looked like this.


After they are drained on a kitchen towel, they can be baked plain or covered with toppings. I did half and half, and here is the plain:


You might notice that they do decrease in size in the oven. They actually turned a little flat on me, which was amazing considering the obvious aggression of the yeast. Here is a pic of the poppy seed and sesame seed bagels:

I really liked the flavor of the sesame seed bagels, I have to say.

Over all, I feel my first batch wasn't quite there. They were a little bready and were just huge. Half of them molded before we ate or froze them, unfortunately.

A few weeks later, I decided to try making flavored bagels, and to see if I could improve on the texture. I made a half batch this time. I had cheddar cheese in the fridge and parsley, so that's what I used..... I tend to be a "what's in the fridge" type cook. :)

My goal was to add all of the flour to try to increase their density, but on this particular day the dough would just not accept it. I punched it and forced it but only got 3/4 of the flour into the dough. The same thing happened with the parsley and cheese - not all that I wanted in there made it in.


I decided based on some feedback from other Daring Bakers to try the rope method with all of them, to try to really punch out some of the air. I was so rough with them, or so I thought, but the bread dough is really resilient.


Another thing I decided to do was turn the water up a little more. The directions are a little confusing, because they say the water should be barely moving. But in my first batch I wasn't convinced the water was hot enough. So I turned it up to where I could see more action under the surface, but only to the bagels demise, I think. I ended up with croissant-shaped bagels, which my household now refers to as "croiggels." This particular picture is a croiggel after it has been boiled but before being baked.


So the finished product for this batch was a little more uniform, a little denser, and had a hint of cheese flavor.


I gave most of these away to co-workers, who said they enjoyed them, which makes me wonder if I might just not be a fan of "authentic" bagels. I guess it happens.

To read more about what the other Daring Bakers did, follow the many links on the side of my blog.

Categories: Bagels, Bread, Daring Bakers, Yeast

Papaya Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

Papaya Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

These are adapted from a recipe adapted by my in-laws to turn a breakfast bread into cookies. They travel a lot, and eating cookies in the morning makes sense.

I'll give you the basic recipe, and please realize you can try almost anything with it. The main point is to not use white flour or sugar, use a lot of fruit, and be creative! The texture is a little like baked oatmeal, and I'm trying to make it breadier without adding too many bad things. The oatmeal texture is okay with me, but it might be foreign to you.

Healthy Breakfast Cookies
2 cups oat flour *
1 cup oats
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp assorted ground spices (cinnamon is good, in this I used allspice and cloves)
1/2 tsp salt
8 (ish) medjool dates, pits removed
1 1/2 cups liquid (rice milk, apple juice, soy milk)
2 medium apples (peeled and chopped) **
1/4 cupish molasses ***
2-3 tbsp agave syrup
crunchy things, dried fruit, or fresh fruit

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a bowl, combine dry ingredients.
3. In a blender, blend fruits and liquids until smooth.
4. Mix dry ingredients, wet ingredients, and sweeteners to taste. Stir in crunchies. Mixture will be rather moist, but you can add extra oat flour or oats if you're concerned.
5. Make uniform heaps onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Bake 30-45 minutes and cool on wire rack.
6. Freeze extra or chill up to 4 days.

* Oat flour is made by grinding up oats, not quick ones, but regular. 2 cups oats = roughly 1 1/2 cups oat flour, so allow for extra
** Papaya was on sale, so I substituted papaya for apple, just about two cups. I would try almost any fruit!
*** I left the molasses out this time, to try for a fruitier cookie. Just experiment!

Here is a picture of the original version made by Al during their visit:

They threw in some walnuts and organic chocolate chips.

Here is a picture of some of the weirder ingredients:



Categories: Blueberries, Cookies, Papaya, Vegan

Coffee Banana Chocolate Chip Scones

Coffee Banana Chocolate Chip Scones
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

The last time I had bananas sitting around, I decided to try to find a scone recipe that could include them. I also had some random chocolate chips sitting around (white and semisweet).

The original recipe can be found here but since I altered it quite a bit to make it richer, the recipe below is my own version.

Coffee Banana Chocolate Chip Scones

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tsp instant coffee granules
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup miscellaneous baking chips (optional)

Directions:
In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Gently heat cream in separate bowl (or glass measuring cup) and stir in instant coffee until dissolved. Stir in vanilla and banana; add to dry mixture, stirring lightly to make a moist dough. Stir in chips (optional).

On lightly floured board, knead dough lightly for about 30 seconds. Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thickness; cut into 3 inch rounds and place on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake in 425 F oven for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes about 10 scones.

Jenny's notes: I used a scone pan for mine, so it made 8 scones. You could also just pat the dough into a circle and cut it into wedges. I used three bananas, so my mixture was a little more moist and the scones had to bake longer because of this.

I used 2/3 cup white chocolate chips and 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips, because that's what I had. The next time I make these I will try adding peanut butter chips too because even though there are many many flavors here, peanut butter would have just kicked the entire recipe up to pure heaven.

I feel obligated to say that my husband thought there were too many flavors going on here, and that the flavor was too intense. You could start with half the amount of coffee if you were concerned, but for me, the more flavor the better.

Categories: Banana, Chocolate, Coffee, Scones

Pretzels

Finished Pretzels
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

I can see myself veering away from super sweet stuff to yeasty items. I made my first post about the Daring Bakers two weeks ago, but they've been together longer than I've been a part of them.

Last year one of their challenges was to make pretzels. Recipe can be found here. I can't say enough about these. They were so easy, and so delicious. And perfect with mustard or plain.

As you can see, mine are a bit pale, and I could have used an extra 2-5 minutes, but they were still good. This was the first time this month I wished I had a pastry brush (the last step includes brushing the pretzels with melted butter) but not the last!

This was the first time in a long while I had kneaded dough by hand - probably not since the day the industrial mixer broke down on challah day, back when I worked at a bakery. I had forgotten how great it feels, both during and after, and don't plan on using the silly dough hooks on my mixer again any time soon. I also have a lovely island in my kitchen now which is perfect for kneading and preparing dough.

A picture of them before baking:


The only thing I can say about these - I wish I hadn't baked them all at once. They get a little soggy and tough after a day or so, and I could have stopped after the last step before baking, and frozen the dough. At least, that's what I'll try next time unless I'm baking for a crowd.

Categories: Bread, Pretzels, Savory, Yeast

Pie Challenge!

A Muffin Story's pie challenge
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

A_Muffin_Story on LJ declared this week pie week! My goal is to make at least three pie type dishes this week, and not all sweet!

I had some leftover diplomat cream from the pastry challenge I did last weekend, and found a banana cream pie recipe that could use it. The recipe was from a cookbook I've had for a while but never tried anything from - the Roselyn's Cookbook. When I lived in Indiana, I heard story after story about Roselyn's - a historic local bakery that had unfortunately closed by the time I lived there, but they had sold recipes and continued selling some of their products under the Roselyn's name.

The banana cream pie is nothing difficult - I used a graham cracker crust, soaked the 3 bananas in pineapple juice, filled the crust with the diplomat cream, topped it with bananas, and put whipped cream on the top.

The piece I took doesn't look pretty (really I should have used a somewhat different cream that would have set up more) but it tasted good!

Hooray for pie week!


Categories: Banana, Cream, Pie