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Tag Archives: Baking
This classic brioche recipe was easier than I ever imagined it would be and it was light, delicate and ultra buttery; simply perfect!
A huge majority of the foodie peeps that we follow on Twitter have all been a Twitter about #BBA. I was not sure what it was but everyone was throwing out terms such as yeast, flours, butter, sponges, rising to the occasion, etc… I knew I had to get in on the action! I finally sent out a loud Tweet, about how I wanted to find out what #BBA was and what was I missing??? Jennifer over at Foodbat was the first to answer my call of distress and she told me to head right over to Pinch My Salt to find out from Nicole about the latest and greatest!
BBA Challenge is a group of crazy home bakers that are trying to work their way through Peter Reinhart‘s book, The Bread Bakers Apprentice. The great thing about this challenge, unlike some of the others I participate in, is that I am not required to make all of the breads, I don’t have to post on a certain day (it will be the same week as everyone), and I am able to go at my pace; the only requirement is that I own the book and I cannot post the recipe (if you want the recipe, this is where you can get the book). The journey will bring us all together to share, cry, learn and enjoy what each other bakes. We had the honor of meeting Peter, a couple months ago and from what I learned, I am sure this challenge will make Peter proud!
I jumped in on week four, which was the Brioche. I was glad to jump in at this time, as I love brioche. I love plain and simple brioche with butter and marmalade or one with dried fruits tucked inside. As well, this classic, makes a wonderful sandwich bread or hamburger and hot-dog buns. I have always wanted to make brioche but was scared, I figured it would be too time consuming and/or too hard. I was partly wrong, it does take some time but overall was very straightforward and easy. Peter’s book offers three versions of the basic brioche recipe: Rich Man’s Brioche, Middle Class Brioche, and Poor Man’s Brioche. The Rich Man’s Brioche calls for the most amount of butter and since I was low on butter, I went with the Middle Class Brioche as it only called for 8 ounces of butter, there is also a recipe for the Poor Man’s Brioche as it calls for less and is probably more healthy!
The recipe starts out with a basic sponge which is incorporated with eggs, flour and very little sugar. After it sits for awhile to allow the gluten to break down, the fun begins. I started with a rather stiff dough but once I started working the room temperature butter in, slices at a time, the dough softened up and became sticky. I was really amazed as when I started the process, I was sure it was not on the right path, I never imagined it would become so pliable. I let my dough sit overnight in the fridge. It did rise somewhat but not a lot, which I was kind of worried about, but it all worked out.
I woke up early in the morning and shaped my dough into cute little balls with the token ball on top. I wished I had the beautiful fluted brioche pans, but they are not part of the budget right now, so I used muffin pans. Muffin pans worked out just fine. After shaping the dough, I let it proof for 2 hours. I probably should have only gone for an hour and a half as the dough did rise a bit too much and my brioche ran together a little, but the dough, that I let rise in a loft pan, looked beautiful – I was so excited! I baked the brioche for about 25 minutes and the entire time, I was reminded me of the French Boulangerie that was below the apartment we rented in Paris, a couple years ago. I always knew when it was 5 am because they would start baking the bread, I loved that smell!
Our brioche came out beautifully, not picture perfect and dainty with fluted edges but still beautiful. It was light, buttery and not too yeasty, really perfect. I served it with deep dark espressos and Chez Pim’s Marmalade, Bouquet des Fleurs, which is bitter and so very fragrant, absolutely delicious! Want to learn about these marmalades, read on….
Pim, over at Chez Pim, makes these outstanding artisan marmalades, here is a bit about them, that I took from her site: “Pim’s artisan marmalades are made from rare, exotic citrus grown sustainably in the hills of Watsonville, California. Each small batch is handmade from a single varietal to preserve its own distinct qualities, adding only minimally refined organic sugar, and using the pectin naturally extracted from citrus – because commercial pectin is only for the timid.”
I have tried making marmalade once, which I admit was good but I loved the texture of Pim’s so much more. She uses these beautiful long strips of citrus and it is cooked just enough, as not to break down the fruit too much. It went perfectly with fresh brioche from the oven. If you would like to try some of Pim’s marmalades, be sure to check out her online store.
If you would like more information on the BBA Challenge besure to check out Nicole’s wonderful site, Pinch My Salt, you will find the BBA Blogroll there as well; there are some GREAT brioche out there! If you are interested in continuing the BBA journey with Chez Us, please sign up for The Daily Dish, our newest (and improved) newsletter, here.
The easiest Parisian Apple Tartlet recipe ever! Dorie Greenspan of Baking, from my home to yours, hit it right on, again with this easy tart recipe: puff pastry lined with apple chunks, brown sugar and dots of butter, baked to perfection! A great recipe to have on hand for when you need an easy dessert in a hurry.
Jessica of My Baking Heart is the hostess for this week’s Tuesday With Dorie challenge and she picked the perfect Parisian Apple Tartlet. As soon as I saw the recipe, I had flash backs to one of our favorite restaurants in Paris, Au Gamin de Paris. They have by far the best apple tart I have ever had (little secret I am not a big apple pie fan), it is not overly sweet, the crust is not too flaky and it has a layer of caramel sauce which is so subtle but compliments the apples so incredibly well. I knew that this recipe would become our Au Gamin de Paris tart and I was absolutely right!
I was going to make my own puff pastry but due to time, I used my favorite frozen brand, Dufour. As well I opted to use a fluted tart pan as I wanted it to be somewhat elegant; we were taking it for friend’s for dessert. I used tart Granny smith apples, which I quartered and kept in chunks and I melted the butter and brown sugar together to form a glaze, which I brushed over the apples and crust before baking. We served the tart with homemade vanilla bean ice cream (recipe will come separately) and a burnt grey sea salt caramel sauce – it was fantastic!
You will definitely want to over indulge today and check out the TWD site for more Parisian Apple Tartlets!
Recipe: Parisian Apple Tartlet
This recipe as well as all of the Tuesday with Dorie recipes can be found in this book, which I highly recommend. If you only need to have one go to cookbook on baking, this is it! Or you can visit Jessica’s site.
Recipe: Burnt Grey Sea Salt Caramel Sauce
1 cup sugar, prefer raw and unrefined
1/4 cup water
1 stick of butter, unsalted
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
grey sea salt, to taste, don’t over salt
In a heavy saucepan set over low heat, combine the sugar and water and cook over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Add the butter and bring it to a boil. Cook until it reaches a deep golden brown color. Do not let it smoke or burn. Keep stirring until it reaches the color you desire. Remove from the heat and add the cream. Be careful, it will splatter. Whisk to combine. Put it back on the stove over low heat, add the salt and stir to combine. Bring the temperature to medium and to a boil, then lower the heat and continue to cook for about 10-15 minutes, just until it is creamy. Serve with your favorite dessert or eat with a spoon!
I love baking Hot Cross Buns, it is sort of my thing, that I do on Easter. I like them because they are not heavy and they are only slightly sweet. This year, I should have followed tradition and baked our buns on Friday as we had some mishap. I waited until Saturday afternoon, to whip up this batch of buns. They are basically pretty easy to make. A simple yeast dough that is normally flavored with lemon zest and raisins. I used blood orange zest and cardamon this time. As well I used currants. This was a great choice. The dough was slightly sweet, fresh and a little spicy.
I was pressed for time and after the first rising, I decided to let them rise overnight for the final one. This morning they were all smooched together and had lost that cute little bun shape. Normally before baking you are suppose to cut a cross into the buns and fill with a filling of flour, sugar and milk. I don’t bake the cross into the buns. I just egg wash them before baking and then add the cross after they have cooled. Regardless of the failure with rising, this recipe is usually fail proof, this is the first year, that they went from being cute little buns to squares. They still tasted great!
Recipe: Hot Cross Buns
1 envelope (1/4-ounce) dry yeast
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups warm milk
1 stick of butter, melted
1 egg
1 tablespoon blood orange zest
1/2 cup currants
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
3 1/2 cups bleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Combine the yeast, sugar and milk in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Beat on low speed for 1 minute. Add the butter, egg and currants. Mix for 1 minute. Add the salt, cardamom and flour. Beat on low speed until all of the flour is incorporated, about 1 minute. Then, beat at medium speed until the mixture forms a ball, leaves the sides of the bowl, and climbs up the dough hook. Remove the dough from the bowl. Using your hands, form the dough into a smooth ball. Lightly oil a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and turn it to oil all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and set-aside in a warm, draft-free place until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
Remove the dough from the bowl and invert it onto a lightly floured surface. Pinch off 12 equal sizes of dough and roll each into a smooth round ball. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the rolls on the baking about /2-inch apart. With a pastry brush, brush the beaten egg evenly over the bread. Cover with plastic wrap and set-aside in a warm, draft-free place until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake until lightly brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly on a rack. In a mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar and cream, mix until smooth. Ice each bun with the frosting in the shape of a cross. Serve warm.
Buttery Coconut Thins are a simple cookie recipe to have on hand as they are a delight not only to eat but to make.
*disclaimer .. the shortest post we have ever made & we are apologizing now.
Tuesdays with Dorie time … how we love Tuesdays! Jayne of the Barefoot Kitchen Witch picked Coconut Butter Thins for this week’s challenge. I was going to sit it out, only because we are swamped at work, but when I read the ingredient list, I knew I had to make it – coconut, lime zest & macadamia nuts. I love the three together. Reminds me of a tropical drink on a sunny beach.
Unfortunately, when I went to the store to get all the ingredients, they were out of the nuts. The only other addition I made was cardamon, I thought it would go great with the coconut and the lime – I was right! As well, the recipe called for cutting the cookie dough into squares, but I thought they would be fun to make circles. So I rolled the dough into a log and let it chill over night – easy bake slice cookies.
The cookies are lightly crisp, buttery and scented just like a tropical day at the beach. They reminded me of a new and improved girl scout cookie – will definitely be making these again!
Another simple Souffle, this time using Blue cheese. It not only is a lovely dinner but would be fantastic as a light lunch or brunch dish. French food does not have to be hard to make.
You are not seeing things. There has been two souffle nights at our house. The first one was so good that I had it on my mind all day. Laudalino is out of town so I figured I would make some light and why not another souffle. This time it was blue cheese.
Yesterday, I was hanging out with my favorite god-child and on our way home from a St. Paddy’s day celebration, she mentioned that we had to stop by the store for some black beans – she wanted black beans for lunch. I told her if there was parking by Bi-Rite we would stop. Our lucky day as there was parking right in front. Now, we had all intentions of picking up black beans and a head of lettuce. Once we got into the store, the soon to be “foodie” that she says she is, took over. We were soon in the cheese isle and her little eyes glistened as she proclaimed that we needed to have some “butter cheese” (otherwise known as blue cheese of any kind). She fondled the packages, turning them around, looking for the bluest ones. Then she turned around and said we needed a baguette, she gave them all a little squeeze and found the softest one. We were set …. a fantastic blue cheese, a soft baguette, black beans, lettuce and two pieces of the darkest chocolate they had at the counter.
I knew the remainder of this blue cheese would be great either alone or in a souffle (that part was only a thought on my way home tonight). It was perfect served along side a lightly tossed green salad with an herbed dressing. Sorry Laudalino, I will make for you another time!
Recipe: Blue Cheese Souffle
* serves 2
20 grams of butter, plus a little extra, softened
17 grams of AP flour
125 ml milk
2 eggs, separated
60 grams blue cheese, the stinker the better
sea salt
cracked black pepper
Preheat oven to 400 F. Brush 2 (1 cup capacity) ramekins or oven proof bowls with melted butter. Place on a baking tray and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Slowly add the milk, stirring continuously for 2 – 3 minutes or until thickened. Stir in the blue cheese, remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks and sea salt and pepper. Beat egg whites with electric mixer until firm peaks form. Gently fold through the cheese mixture. Fill the ramekins two-thirds full. Cook for 18 – 20 minutes or until puffed and golden. Serve immediately. Eat.
Okay, hold on one minute, don’t skip this post because you see the “S” word. Trust me! Souffles are not hard to make. I love souffles. We have a tendency to only make sweet ones as I forget about the savory guys. This recipe I found in a past addition of the Donna Hay magazine is “simple made simple”.
We wanted something different for dinner tonight as well whenever Laudalino is getting ready to leave for a trip (off to LAX for biz) I like to make something memorable! As well we wanted something meatless, light and filling. This recipe was just that. We had a lovely souffle on the table in less then 60 minutes. The base was a cheddar cheese filling with a parmesan cheese base crust. I served it with a very fresh baguette and a nice glass of french wine. A lovely dinner for two!
Recipe: Cheese Souffle with Parmesan Crust
*adapted from Donna Hay
* serves 2
25 grams finely grated parmesan cheese (I used a mixture of grated and shaved)
20 grams of butter, plus a little extra, softened
17 grams of AP flour
125 ml milk
2 eggs, separated
60 grams coarsely grated cheddar
sea salt
cracked black pepper
Preheat oven to 400 F. Brush 2 (1 cup capacity) ramekins or oven proof bowls with melted butter and dust with the parmesan cheese. Place on a baking tray and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Slowly add the milk stirring continuously for 2 – 3 minutes or until thickened. Stir through cheddar, remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks and sea salt and pepper. Beat egg whites with electric mixer until firm peaks form. Gently fold through the cheese mixture. Fill the ramekins two-thirds full. Cook for 18 – 20 minutes or until puffed and golden. Serve immediately.
TWD: French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze. Gateau au Yaourt, is the first cake a French child learns to make. The measuring for this cake is all done by using the container that the yogurt comes in, which is approximately 1/2 cup, and in France the yogurt containers are glass and adorable (I have over a dozen that I use for various things from puddings to candle holders).
I was going to sit out this week of Tuesdays With Dorie (TWD) just to give my waistline & thighs a break from all the flour products. Then I heard it was a French Yogurt cake. I have had French Yogurt cakes when in Europe and have always wanted to make one but never have, so here we are another Tuesday and another delightful recipe from Baking From My Home to Yours.
Dorie’s recipe called for the option of using 1/2 cup of ground almonds, which I gladly added. I love the sweetness of almonds as well I thought the nutty texture. I also used an unprocessed sugar, which is a deep brown color, it gave the cake a nice golden color. As well I opted not to use lemon as the recipe said and I used blood orange zest and blood orange marmalade that I had left from when I made it last year. The cake came out delightful. A wonderful afternoon treat especially with a nice espresso!
Thank you Liliana of My Cookbook Addiction for picking out a simple and tasty recipe for this week’s Challenge. Be sure to check out what the other bakers from TWD came up with!
A few months ago I made a Tuesdays with Dorie Banana Bread, while it was very good, it was not as good as my friend Evelyn’s banana bread. I have received a few requests for this recipe so I decided now was the time to share the secret! The addition of cream cheese and sour cream make this bread ultra moist. The chocolate chips, well, you just cannot go wrong with chocolate! This bread makes a wonderful weekend breakfast when served with coffee and fruit. As well it is great as a light dessert or snack.
Recipe: Ultimate Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup butter
3 oz. cream cheese
1 cup brown sugar
2 ripe bananas
1 egg
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips (I like to use bittersweet chocolate chips if you can find them)
Heat oven to 350. Lightly grease a loaf pan and dust with flour.
Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the bananas, egg and sour cream and mix until smooth. Add dry ingredients. Stir in chips. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 60 – 75 minutes, until golden and not doughy in the middle.
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