Sweet as Pie

Posted on June 2, 2012 by bilrob

By Pamela Berger
sweetpeachblog.com

Sweet as Peach Pie

It’s hard not to like a sweet peach. You feel lucky when you find one as it immediately satiates and delights. So when I was trying to find the best peach pie for this month’s cover shoot, master baker, Maggie Sweeney of Cake Hag (cakehag.com) was the only one to call.

Upon my request, Maggie upped the ante with a Brandied Peach Pie recipe that is incredibly scrumptious and perfectly Southern. The crust is distinctly homemade with depth and a wonderful flaky texture. A touch of brandy added to the sweet peaches surprises and soothes.

Maggie suggests using Freestone peaches which are easily found at your local grocery store. Firmer and less juicy, these peaches are excellent for baking. She recommends keeping the dough cold (great tip is to cool your hands in ice before kneading) and not overworking the dough. Less is always more. Maggie also warns against using aluminum pie pans as the heat transfers too quickly and can compromise the overall taste. As Maggie says, “A good glass or ceramic pie pan isn’t expensive. Use one.”

Cake Hag is a whiz with the pie, but as the name implies, Maggie also makes incredible cakes, such as Carolina Carrot, Red Wine Velvet and Jameson’s Irish Whiskey Pudding Cake. Everything is delicious.

Brandied Peach Pie

Filling

2 1/2 – 3 pounds ripe peach meat (off the pit, skin removed – amount needed depends on depth of pie plate – deep dish needs requires more peach) in medium thin slices

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons corn starch

1 teaspoon good quality ground cinnamon

Zest of 1/2 lemon

Juice of small lemon

1/3 cup brandy

1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

Crust

2 1/2 cups all natural, unbleached all-purpose flour + flour for rolling

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

8 tablespoons unsalted butter in small cubes

4 oz cream cheese in small cubes

2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar or lemon juice

3 – 6 tablespoons of milk, as needed

350F oven

Equipment

9” Glass pie plate

Pastry cutter or food processor

Plastic wrap

Instructions

Chill cubed butter and cream cheese in freezer until butter is hard.
Sift all dry crust ingredients together in medium bowl.
Sift granulated white sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon together (filling ingredients) and set aside.
Begin cutting chilled butter and cream cheese into the dry crust ingredients until the mixture consists of crumbled small, pea-sized crumbs. Alternately, pulse ingredients in a food processor until the same consistency is achieved.
Add vinegar, followed by milk, in tablespoon increments until mixture just begins to come together.
Separate crust mixture into halves – quickly form a rough disk of each halve, working the dough as as little as possible, wrap each disk in plastic wrap and put in freezer to chill.
In a large pan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons unsalted butter. Add peaches, brown sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt and cook until peaches just begin to soften.
Using a whisk, add the sugar/cornstarch/cinnamon mixture and continue cooking until the liquid begins to come together and bubbles.
Add brandy before removing mixture from heat. Thoroughly mix brandy into peach mixture, remove from heat and set aside or place in fridge to cool.
Using a smoothly floured surface and a lightly floured rolling pin, begin rolling out the larger disk of chilled dough until it reaches an even thickness throughout and about 12” in diameter – at that point fold crust in half and transfer to pie plate, making sure the crust overlaps the plate edges once the crust has been evenly placed.
Roll out the second disk the same way. At this point you can cut strips to lay a lattice top, roll out a full top crust cutting vent holes, or roll out a full top and use a stylized cutter – in all cases making sure to seal the edges of the crusts together and pinch-flute the crust circumference around the pie pan.
Combine 1 egg white with 2 tablespoons of whole milk and lightly brush crust with this mixture using a pastry brush. Then sprinkle crust with granulated or sanding sugar.
Place pie on a sheet pan in the center of the middle rack of the heated oven. The pie will take from 35-45 minutes to bake but begin watching the pie at 20 minutes, in 5 minute increments, to make certain the crust isn’t browning too fast before the pie cooks completely. If the crust is browning too quickly lay a sheet of foil gently over crust until the pie has finished baking.

TIPS

The crust does best when it is kept cool and worked the least – use the freezer as needed to chill or re-chill the crust or crust ingredients.
Freestone peaches will be easier to remove flesh from the pit, and yield more meat-per-peach.
Remove the skins before slicing peaches by blanching the peaches in boiling water for 15-30 seconds and quickly placing them in ice water. Skin comes off beautifully and on a freestone peach, the flesh separates quickly from the pit.
Smell each peach butt before buying it. If they don’t smell like peach heaven, even if they feel ripe, they won’t have great flavor.
Use the best ingredients you can, from butter to flour to peaches to produce a fantastic peach pie.
Freezing your own skinned, sliced peaches, just covered in peach juice, will equal a delicious peach pie in the off-season.
Pie crust can be fragile and it does sometimes tear. If that happens just quickly patch it without over working the dough. It’s way more important to have a delicious crust then a pretty crust.

To read more about Cake Hag and to see more photos, check out our June print or digital edition.

baking with Bill & Sheila

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You can't go wrong with lemon and herbs in super-easy chicken bake

Posted on May 20, 2012 by bilrob

You can’t go wrong with lemon and herbs in super-easy chicken bake

Readers often call me, looking for ideas to feed a crowd or unexpected guests.

One of my standards is Chicken with Lemon and Herbs. I came across the recipe years ago in Fine Cooking magazine. I’ve tweaked it here and there, using different herbs, chicken breasts instead of thighs and red or sweet onions in place of shallots.

I like it because it’s super easy. Take chicken thighs, brine them if you like and bake with lemon and herbs. That’s it. It’s a great main dish if you’re hosting a bridal or baby shower, or for just about any other occasion. Add a mixed vegetable and salad, and it’s a complete meal.

This dish also is relatively inexpensive to make for a crowd. For quick cooking, remove the bones. Allow extra baking time if you leave the bones in.

Also, leave the skin on the chicken. It makes the meat more flavorful, and it gives your guests the option of removing it or not.

Beyond the ease of making it, this dish has great flavor. You can’t go wrong with lemons and fresh herbs — they’re a natural match. Today’s recipe calls for thyme and rosemary, but you can use other herbs, such as parsley or basil. If using rosemary, don’t worry that it will be too strong. It won’t be. And roasting the lemons mellows out the tartness.

When it comes to buying lemons, I usually go for a whole bag because it’s cost-effective. A bag generally has at least six lemons and costs about $3. Sold separately, lemons can cost 70 cents each.

Choose lemons with bright skins and no hint of green, a sign of under-ripeness. The lemons should feel heavy for their size. They will keep in the refrigerator for two to three weeks in a plastic bag. If left out at room temperature, they’ll last about a week.

If I have leftover lemons, I zest and juice them. I freeze the zest in plastic bags and the juice in ice cube trays. Once frozen, pop out the cubes and put them in a plastic bag. You can also simply freeze lemon slices on a tray and place the frozen slices in a bag. They are terrific on the grill or roasted in the oven.

At some stores, you might see a variety called Meyer lemon. These have a thinner, smoother rind than a traditional lemon and are lower in acid. Their sweet flavor is often described as tangerine-like. They also tend not to have a lot of seeds.

Contact Susan M. Selasky at 313-222-6432 or [email protected].

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Start with baked tofu, end with vegetarian banh mi

Posted on May 17, 2012 by bilrob

Start with baked tofu, end with vegetarian banh mi

Baking tofu is a terrific and healthful alternative to frying. Marinate it in a gingery soy and chili sauce mixture, spread it on a baking sheet, sprinkle with scallions, peanuts, and ginger, and send it into the oven. Thirty minutes later you have tofu with crisp edges and a caramelized topping. While it bakes, stir-fry carrots, cabbage, asparagus, and watercress and set both over wide rice noodles.

Save some tofu for banh mi, the delicious Vietnamese sandwich that typically contains pate and meat. Here it takes a vegetarian turn, but retains the sweet, hot crunch of the traditional dish with mayonnaise and chili sauce on the bread, which is layered with pickled carrots and daikon, fresh cilantro, and cucumbers. Try to find crackly baguettes because French bread in Vietnam, made with some rice flour, is especially light and crisp. After you make it once, you may find yourself tucking all kinds of other leftovers into banh mi, until the sandwich becomes your house specialty.

Shopping list

Continue reading below

(For tofu, banh mi)

2 blocks (1 pound each) extra-firm tofu

3 large carrots

2 daikon

½ Savoy cabbage

1 pound asparagus

1 bunch watercress

½ English cucumber

8 scallions

1 lime

2 jalapeno peppers

½ bunch fresh cilantro

1½ teaspoons dark brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

1 piece (2 inches) fresh ginger

1?
loaves French bread

Salt

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 cup distilled white vinegar

?
cup mayonnaise

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup sweet red chili sauce

¼ cup dry-roasted peanuts

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 package (6 ounces) wide rice noodles

Try BostonGlobe.com today and get two weeks FREE.Sally Vargas can be reached at [email protected].

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Almond-Coconut Cookies

Posted on May 15, 2012 by bilrob

Almond-Coconut Cookies

What are Cookies?

In the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small, flat, baked treat, usually containing fat, flour, eggs and sugar. In most English-speaking countries outside North America, the most common word for this is biscuit; in many regions both terms are used, while in others the two words have different meanings. A cookie is a plain bun in Scotland, while in the United States a biscuit is a kind of quick bread similar to a scone. In the United Kingdom, a cookie is referred to as a biscuit, although some types of cookies maintain this name, such as the American-inspired Maryland Cookies, which are also sold there. In South Africa they are called biscuits, and the word cookie refers to cupcakes.

Cookies are most commonly baked until crisp or just long enough that they remain soft, but some kinds of cookies are not baked at all. Cookies are made in a wide variety of styles, using an array of ingredients including sugars, spices, chocolate, butter, peanut butter, nuts or dried fruits. The softness of the cookie may depend on how long it is baked.

A general theory of cookies may be formulated this way. Despite its descent from cakes and other sweetened breads, the cookie in almost all its forms has abandoned water as a medium for cohesion. Water in cakes serves to make the base (in the case of cakes called “batter”) as thin as possible, which allows the bubbles – responsible for a cake’s fluffiness – to form better. In the cookie, the agent of cohesion has become some form of oil. Oils, whether they be in the form of butter, egg yolks, vegetable oils or lard are much more viscous than water and evaporate freely at a much higher temperature than water. Thus a cake made with butter or eggs instead of water is far denser after removal from the oven.

Oils in baked cakes do not behave as soda tends to in the finished result. Rather than evaporating and thickening the mixture, they remain, saturating the bubbles of escaped gases from what little water there might have been in the eggs, if added, and the carbon dioxide released by heating the baking powder. This saturation produces the most texturally attractive feature of the cookie, and indeed all fried foods: crispness saturated with a moisture (namely oil) that does not sink into it.

Almond-Coconut Cookies

1. Whisk white whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Beat sugar, oil and butter in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer on high until smooth, scraping down the sides. Add eggs and almond (or coconut) extract and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides. Add the flour mixture and almonds; mix on low speed until just combined.
3. Place half the dough on a large piece of plastic wrap and shape into a 10-inch log (it’s OK if it’s not perfectly round). Repeat with the remaining dough. Wrap and freeze until just firm, about 45 minutes. Reroll the logs to make them rounder and return to the freezer until very firm, at least 1 hour more.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
5. Remove one roll of dough at a time from the freezer and let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. Unwrap the dough and slice crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rounds, turning the dough a quarter turn after each slice to help keep the cookies round. Place 1/2 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. If your cookies aren’t as round as you want them to be, shape the dough with your fingers. Sprinkle each cookie with a little coconut and gently press it into the cookie to help it adhere.
6. Bake 8 minutes for soft cookies or 10 minutes for crisp cookies. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining roll of dough, if desired.
Tip: White whole-wheat flour, made from a special variety of white wheat, is light in color and flavor but has the same nutritional properties as regular whole-wheat flour. It is available at large supermarkets and natural-foods stores and online at bobsredmill.com or kingarthurflour.com. Store it in the freezer.
To Make Ahead: Store wrapped rolls of dough in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Cinnamon-Sugar Cookies

Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

1. Whisk white whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Beat 1 cup sugar, oil and butter in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer on high until smooth, scraping down the sides. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined.
3. Place half the dough on a large piece of plastic wrap and shape into a 10-inch log (it’s OK if it’s not perfectly round). Repeat with the remaining dough. Wrap and freeze until just firm, about 45 minutes. Reroll the logs to make them rounder and return to the freezer until very firm, at least 1 hour more.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
5. Remove one roll of dough at a time from the freezer and let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. Unwrap the dough and slice crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rounds, turning the dough a quarter turn after each slice to help keep the cookies round. Place 1/2 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. If your cookies aren’t as round as you want them to be, shape the dough with your fingers. Combine the remaining 1 teaspoon each cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl and sprinkle each cookie with a little.
6. Bake 8 minutes for soft cookies or 10 minutes for crisp cookies. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining roll of dough, if desired.
Tip: White whole-wheat flour, made from a special variety of white wheat, is light in color and flavor but has the same nutritional properties as regular whole-wheat flour. It is available at large supermarkets and natural-foods stores and online at bobsredmill.com or kingarthurflour.com. Store it in the freezer.
To Make Ahead: Store wrapped rolls of dough in the freezer for up to 3 months.

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Illinois law allows sale of home baked goods, jams, jellies at farmers markets

Posted on May 12, 2012 by bilrob

Illinois law allows sale of home baked goods, jams, jellies at farmers markets

Though it opened three years ago, something has always been missing from the Melting Pot Market in Granite City.

“Jams, jellies, pies, cookies, breads,” rattled off Brenda Whitaker, the market master, as she excitedly explained new products able to be sold at the market, and farmers markets across the state, thanks to the Cottage Food Law that went into effect this year. The law allows non-potentially hazardous foods, like apple pie, dried oregano or peach preserves, to be produced in a home kitchen and sold at open-air farmers markets like the Melting Pot Market and Edwardsville’s Land of Goshen Community Market. Until this year, that was illegal in Illinois.

About five years ago, the state department of health clarified that it was illegal to sell home produced goods at farmers markets because home baking was not compliant with state standards for food safety and handling.

Crusty breads, jams and fruit butters were removed from farmers markets, unless they were produced in a state-inspected commercial kitchen.

“We’ve had a number of people over the years that were not allowed to continue participating because of health department actions, people who have switched to health inspected kitchen who will probably switch back to cottage food,” said Sherry Chase, market master Goshen Community Market, which opens May 12.

The cost to build or rent a commercial kitchen is out of the question for cottage food producers, who are often home cooks looking to make a little extra cash or farmers trying to supplement their income during the off-season.

The Cottage Food Law makes it easier and cheaper to sell homemade foods at farmers markets. Cottage Food producers must register with their county health department, which costs $50, and pass a 15-hour food sanitation course, also at a cost. But that’s far cheaper than renting or building a commercial kitchen, which costs tens of thousands of dollars. The Cottage Food bill was drafted with the goal of creating scale-appropriate regulations to encourage entrepreneurship, said Wes King, policy coordinator for the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, a nonprofit organization that promotes local food systems and sustainability.

“Ideally we’d hope to see the baker who got a great recipe for a baked good testing it out and being so successful using the Cottage Food Law they will want to expand,” King said. “It creates an opportunity for entrepreneurs.”

For 222 Artisan Bakery in Edwardsville that was the case, said Chase.

“They started selling coffee at the market and that evolved into a storefront and bakery,” she said. “Cottage foods allow you to experiment and test products, talk to customers directly, and develop a business plan.”

Word of the law is slowly spreading in Madison County. Whitaker said 15 people have contacted her about becoming cottage food vendors. Some producers have expressed reservations, Chase said, because of a section on the Madison County Health Department’s registration application states the county can investigate a home kitchen “in the event of a consumer complain or food-borne illness outbreak.”

“They understand the law says the health department is required to inspect,” Chase said. “Their concern is about how much latitude is given to that inspection. It feels like an invasion of privacy.”

“We will not be inspecting the cottage food vendors. Only if it comes to our attention that someone is violating,” said Mary Cooper, Madison County Health Department environmental health services manager. She added that inspections could come in the form of random compliance checks at markets.

There are strict regulations on what cottage food producers can sell: jams, jellies and preserves; fruit butters; breads, cookies, cakes, pastries and high-acid fruit pies; and dried herbs and teas. Products with pumpkin, banana and dairy are among those prohibited for sale. Additionally, all cottage foods and jams have to sport a label with several requirements including the statement “This product was produced in a home kitchen not subject to public health inspection that may also process common food allergens.”

The required food sanitation course covers everything from cross contamination to microbiology.

“This is the same class that the restaurants, schools, hospitals and delivery men in the state of Illinois have to take,” Cooper said. She said she thinks the class is comprehensive enough to ensure cottage food producers keep a sanitary environment and make safe food.

Contact reporter Sarah Baraba at 618-344-0264, ext. 133

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Baked eggs for Mom are cheesy-good

Posted on May 10, 2012 by bilrob

Baked eggs with toast for dipping and fruit salad (AP photo)

Baked eggs for Mom are cheesy-good

In France, this basic methods of baked eggs is called oeufs en cocotte which means “eggs baked in ramekins.” People love this dish. Baked eggs are both comforting and sophisticated. The eggs come out looking beautiful in their individual ramekins and are easy to serve.

For individual servings of baked eggs, use baking dishes (ramekins, custard cups, individual soufflé dishes, or small oval bakers) that just fit the eggs plus the flavoring, food, or liquid. You can bake eggs nestled in other foods such as rice, vegetables or sauces. These foods should be heated before the eggs are added for faster and more even cooking. Make indentations in the heated food with the back of a spoon, about 2-inch diameter.

Mother’s Day is, of course, the day you serve the hardworking mother in your life a delicious breakfast in bed. And these baked eggs are a fantastic – and easy – way to do that.

If you aren’t inclined to serve them in bed, they are just as at home on the brunch table. Accompany them with buttered toast for dipping and fruit salad.

- Alison Ladman,

The Associated Press

Mother’s Day

Eggs en Cocotte

Serves: 4

Preparation: 25 minutes

4 tablespoons heavy cream, divided

4 tablespoons shredded prosciutto

4 eggs

4 tablespoons herbed chevre (soft goat cheese)

Ground black pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh tomato

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Heat the oven to 375°. Arrange four 4-ounce ramekins in a baking dish. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil.

Pour 1/2 tablespoon of cream into the bottom of each ramekin. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the shredded prosciutto into each, then top with an egg. Top each egg with 1 tablespoon of the goat cheese and another 1/2 tablespoon of the cream. Sprinkle each lightly with pepper.

Pour enough boiling water into the baking dish around the ramekins to come halfway up the sides of the dishes, being careful not to get any in the ramekins.

Carefully move the baking dish to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until the egg whites are just set. Remove the ramekins from the baking dish and top each with 1 tablespoon of tomato and a sprinkle of thyme. Serve immediately.

Cheese & eggs with Bill & Sheila

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Home-baked bread

Posted on May 5, 2012 by bilrob

Home-baked bread

Brett Kelley, curator of The National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, is baking bread in an outdoor oven to demonstrate how bread was baked for troops during the Civil War.

He got the idea from his brother in Vermont.

View full sizeDonald GillilandNational Civil War Museum curator Brett Kelley bakes bread in an outdoor oven to demonstrate how Union soldiers got warm bread on the front lines during the siege of Richmond.

“Every time I go back to visit, he’s out there baking, happy as a clam,” Kelley said.

As manly pastimes go, the barbecue is out and the backyard bread oven is in, according to Carl DePaulis, a retired food service professional and amateur baker from New Bloomfield. “It’s what men do now,” he said.

You can watch Brett Kelley baking bread in his outdoor oven every day through Saturday. Kelley is living the life of a Civil War soldier in a log hut behind The National Civil War Museum in Reservoir Park, off State Street in Harrisburg. He begins mixing dough in the museum’s professional kitchen shortly after sunrise. By 10:30 a.m., he has the ovens fired and crusty loaves baking away. The bread is being donated to the St. Francis Soup Kitchen.

1. Welcome respite from hardtack

When Union soldiers were encamped for an extended time, the government baked them “soft bread” — a welcome break from the standard ration of hard crackers known as “hardtack.” John D. Billings, in his 1887 memoir “Hard Tack And Coffee,” recalled that at one point during the war, “the vaults under the broad terrace on the western front of the Capitol were converted into bakeries, where sixteen thousand loaves of bread were baked daily.” Gen. Ulysses S. Grant ordered bakeries built at City Point, Va., during the siege of Petersburg and Richmond in 1864. Those bakeries, according to Billings, produced more than 120,000 loaves of bread a day, and because of specially built railroad supply lines near the bakeries, soldiers often got warm loaves on the front lines.

2. Simple ingredients, complex flavors

View full sizeDonald Gilliland

Basic bread is simply flour, salt, yeast and water, but a range of flavors can result from altering the type of flour and process of letting the yeast grow. Bread flour has more gluten, which gives the dough elasticity. Whole wheat and rye flours add more complex flavor as well as nutrients. Modern bakers increasingly use instant yeast, which is mixed with the dry ingredients. Sourdough breads employ a liquid yeast “starter” that has been kept growing for months and sometimes years. In between are “artisan” breads that often “pre-ferment” a portion of the dough. Salt controls the growth of the yeast and adds flavor.

3. Kneading: A workout

View full sizeDonald Gilliland

“You know how to kill a volunteer!” DePaulis told Kelley last Saturday. DePaulis was kneading a large batch of dough to develop the springy texture necessary for bread. The dough must be elastic so that it will expand as it traps the gasses (mainly carbon dioxide) released by the yeast as it eats sugars in the flour. “It’s all organic chemistry,” DePaulis said. (Warm temperatures for the yeast to thrive and time for the dough to rise.) After an initial rise, the dough is carefully divided and shaped into loaves. Round or oblong, the shape is largely a matter of tradition and personal preference. The key is for the loaf to have surface tension so as it rests — or proofs — it will rise.

4. Firing the oven

View full sizeDonald Gilliland

Bread requires a hot oven. Outdoor brick ovens are fired with wood. A fire is built inside the oven and stoked until the surrounding brick is good and hot. The fire is then allowed to go to coals, which are raked out of the oven. A quick swabbing with a wet mop clears the way for the loaves, which are cooked by the residual heat from the surrounding bricks. Kelley built his outdoor oven based on Daniel Wing and Alan Scott’s 1999 book “The Bread Builders” and several how-to videos on YouTube.com. For the less ambitious, the kitchen range produces good results as well.

5. The baking begins

View full sizeDonald Gilliland

Steam is the key to a crusty bread. A wet mop helps create steam in the outdoor oven, as well as wet towels over the door. In the home kitchen, simply heat the oven to 500 degrees and place a steam pan below the shelf where the bread is to bake. Add a cup of water to the steam pan when the loaves go in, and reduce the heat to 450 degrees. Loaves are done when they are golden brown and emit a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.

The Recipe:

National Civil War Museum curator Brett Kelley took his bread recipe from Peter Reinhart’s award-winning 2001 book “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.”

Pain de Campagne is a simple, old-fashioned loaf that he said was probably quite similar to what Civil War bakers would have produced.

The recipe employs the two-step fermentation process, in which a part of the dough and yeast is allowed to develop in advance of the main batch. This adds flavor and flexibility to the result, as the “starter” can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days after the initial rise.

For the starter:
1 1/8 cup each of unbleached all-purpose flour and unbleached bread flour
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of instant yeast
3/4 cup of water at room temperature

Mix all the dry ingredients. Add water, and knead for 4 to 6 minutes until slightly tacky but not sticky. Add a little extra water if dough is too dry. Put it in a greased bowl and allow to ferment for two hours. This can be used immediately or stored overnight (and up to three days) in the refrigerator.

For the main batch:
If refrigerated, allow the starter to return to room temperature. Cut starter dough into pieces and place into mixing bowl with dry ingredients:
1 3/4 cups unbleached bread flour
1/3 cup whole wheat or rye flour
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast

Mix starter and all dry ingredients together.

Add 3/4 cup of lukewarm water and knead for 8 to 10 minutes until elastic and satiny. Put dough in greased bowl and let rise for two hours.

Remove from bowl gently, and divide into three parts being careful to let as little gas escape from the dough as possible. Shape into loaves gently, then cover with wet towel or cling film and let loaves proof for another hour.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place an empty steam pan below loaf rack. Pour a cup of water into steam pan, add loaves, reduce temperature setting to 450 degrees and bake until golden brown (bread should hollow when tapped on bottom), about 25-30 minutes.

Bread Making with Bill & Sheila

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Pear & Cinnamon Bundt Cakes

Posted on April 26, 2012 by bilrob

Pear & Cinnamon Bundt Cakes

A bundt cake is a dessert cake that is baked in a bundt pan, shaping it into a distinctive ridged ring. The d in “bundt” is assimilated into the t. The term is used chiefly in North America.

It would appear that “bundt” is derived from the German Bundkuchen (in Southern Germany and Austria called Gugelhupf, in Switzerland Gugelhopf), a ring-shaped tea-time cake. The word bundt appears as early as 1901 in The Settlement Cookbook, written by Lizzie Kander of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Bundt is used instead of bund in a recipe for “Bundt Kuchen.”

The aluminium bundt pan, a version of the ceramic cake forms that were used in Germany, Austria, and Hungary to make the ring-shaped cakes, was trademarked in 1950 by H. David Dalquist, founder of Nordic Ware, based in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Dalquist developed the bundt pan at the request of members of the Hadassah Society’s chapter in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The old-world pans, with fluted and grooved sides, made of delicate ceramic or cast iron, were heavy and therefore difficult to use. Dalquist modified some existing Scandinavian pan designs and fashioned his bundt pan out of aluminium.

With the change in the weather and a new kitchen, I can’t help but want to bake enough cakes for a small country cake stall. These little cakes would be snapped up in a flash if they were on a stall because they look so pretty and, best of all, taste divine. If you have some spare time this weekend, try this recipe.

Buon appetito!

RECIPE: Pear & Cinnamon Bundt Cakes

Makes about 20 mini cakes
380g self-raising flour
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 eggs, lightly beaten
50ml milk
240g unsalted butter, melted
180g brown sugar
3 tbsp golden syrup
3 pears, peeled and grated
Coating:
200g caster sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease mini bundt tin well and set aside. In a clean bowl, mix flour and cinnamon. In a jug, mix eggs, milk, butter, sugar and syrup. Pour wet mix into dry mix and fold together with a spatula. Once combined, fold in grated pear.

If the mix is quite stiff, add a dash more milk. Spoon mix into bundt tin. Fill to three-quarters full. Pop into oven and bake for 20 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Remove from oven and turn out straight away.

In a small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon. Roll each cake in mix and place on serving platter. Best served warm straight from oven.

Tip: If you’re not serving straight from oven, bundt cakes keep well in a airtight container. To serve, just re-roll in sugar mix.
Source: au.news.yahoo.com

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Baking a Swiss Roll

Posted on April 26, 2012 by bilrob

Baking a Swiss Roll

I’m the first to admit that baking sponge cakes of any description scares the bejesus out of me, so whenever I attempt to bake them (which is rarely), I’m a nervous wreck.

A Swiss roll or jelly roll is a type of sponge cake roll. The thin cake is made of eggs, flour and sugar and baked in a very shallow rectangular baking tray, called a sheet pan. The cake is removed from the pan and spread with jam or buttercream, rolled up, and served in circular slices.

The origins of the term “Swiss roll” are unclear. The cake originated in Central Europe, but not in Switzerland as the name would suggest. It appears to have been invented in the nineteenth century, along with Battenberg, doughnuts and Victoria sponge. The shape of the Swiss roll has inspired usage of the term as a descriptive term in other fields, such as in optics.

Buon appetito!

RECIPE: Jam Roll

Serves: 6-8
3 large eggs, separated
115g caster sugar
2 tbsp warm milk
115g self-raising flour, sifted 3-4 times
150g strawberry or raspberry jam
60g extra caster sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 200C and line a baking tray, 20x30cm with 1cm-high sides, with baking paper and sprinkle with half extra the sugar and set aside. In a clean bowl, and using electric beaters, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. With the beaters still running slowly, add the 115g of sugar, making sure it dissolves into egg whites. Once this happens, add the egg yolks and continue beating for another 7-10 minutes or until mix is pale and has thickened. Slowly add the warm milk, mixing as you go. Then, using a spatula, fold in flour, working quickly so you don’t knock any air out of the egg mix.

Once combined, pour out on to prepared tray. Spread evenly all the way into the corners. Pop into oven and bake for 7-10 minutes or until sponge is springy to touch. While sponge is baking, place a piece of baking paper just a bit bigger than your baking tray on benchtop and sprinkle with remaining extra sugar.

Remove sponge from oven and immediately turn out on to sugared paper. Gently peel off the baking paper on which it was baked. While still hot, roll up your sponge with paper, rolling from the short side. Leave rolled up for 10 minutes before unrolling. Once you have unrolled sponge, cover surface with jam and roll up again but this time without paper. Allow to cool before transferring to serving platter. Serve with lashings of cream.

Tip: For best results, cover sponge with jam while still warm. The swiss roll can also be made from chocolate cake with a chocolate cream filling and’or coated with chocolate.

Source: au.news.yahoo.com

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Blueberries - the perfect fruit for baking

Posted on April 19, 2012 by bilrob

Blueberries – the perfect fruit for baking

Vaccinium Cyanococcus are perennial flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium (a genus which also includes cranberries and bilberries), with indigo-colored berries. Species in the section Cyanococcus are the most common fruits sold as “blueberries” and are native to North America (commercially cultivated highbush blueberries were not introduced into Europe until the 1930s).

They are usually erect but sometimes prostrate shrubs varying in size from 10 centimeters (3.9 in) to 4 meters (13 ft) tall. In commercial blueberry production, smaller species are known as “lowbush blueberries” (synonymous with “wild”), and the larger species are known as “highbush blueberries”.

The leaves can be either deciduous or evergreen, ovate to lanceolate, and 1–8 cm (0.39–3.1 in) long and 0.5–3.5 cm (0.20–1.4 in) broad. The flowers are bell-shaped, white, pale pink or red, sometimes tinged greenish. The fruit is a berry 5–16 millimeters (0.20–0.63 in) in diameter with a flared crown at the end; they are pale greenish at first, then reddish-purple, and finally dark blue when ripe. They have a sweet taste when mature, with variable acidity. Blueberry bushes typically bear fruit in the middle of the growing season: fruiting times are affected by local conditions such as altitude and latitude, so the height of the crop can vary from May to August depending upon these conditions.

Sweets need to be more than just sweet to interest my palate. There needs to be an interesting contrast in flavors, such as the addition of something a little tart and tangy but with a nice edge of sweetness.

Blueberries fill that role in baked goods in a delectable way, their sweet-tart juices bleeding into batters as they bake. Or used raw as an alluring blue garnish, they offer crisp, sweet-tart distinction.

Article Tab: california-filled-fresh-a

Five uses for fresh blueberries

1. Add to tossed green salads dressed with blue cheese vinaigrette.

2. Layer between scoops of ice cream in a tall parfait glass, placing a mound of fresh berries on the top. Or layer fresh berries and ice cream, frozen yogurt or sherbet in a crunchy ice cream cone.

3. Pile in half of a ripe seeded cantaloupe and add a dollop of sweetened Greek vanilla yogurt and a sprig of fresh mint. I like to add a good sprinkle of ground cinnamon.

4. Combine blueberries with fresh strawberries for a colorful fruit salad. Add a little orange liqueur and minced fresh mint to the strawberry-blueberry mixture and you’ve got a dessert fruit compote.

5. Drop a few fresh (or frozen) berries in a large glass of iced sparkling water to create a refreshing alternative to soft drinks. I like to add some quartered fresh strawberries or cubes of watermelon, too.

April is the start of the California blueberry crop, a short season that generally ends in June, when domestic blueberries are sourced from Oregon and Washington through early July. East Coast blueberries are picked June through August. That region is the source for wild blueberries that are very sweet and, unlike cultivated varieties, are blue inside and out. Wild blueberries are delicious, but way more expensive.

The rest of the year most blueberries found in our marketplace are grown in Mexico, Central America, South America and New Zealand.

I like the idea of using California-grown blueberries over the next couple of months, because they are a more local source and the price is often lower. Here are some tips for buying, storing and baking with fresh blueberries:

How to buy: Look for deep-blue berries with a silvery bloom on the exterior, which is a blueberry’s natural protective coating. Lift the see-through container up and tilt it back and forth. If the berries move freely and there are no signs of mold, they’re fresh.

How to store: Do NOT wash before storing. Remove bruised or moldy berries and refrigerate dry berries in the clamshell container they came in; the container has holes at the top and bottom to help air circulate (which helps to prevent deterioration). Rinse with cold water before using.

To freeze: Place them in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and place in freezer. When frozen, transfer to freezer zipper-style plastic bags (pushing out the air before sealing) or in freezer containers. If using frozen in baked goods, additional baking time is usually required.

Cooking with blueberries: When cooked, fresh blueberries sometimes change color. Berries often turn red when combined with acids such as lemon juice or vinegar. In batters containing large amounts of baking soda, blueberries might turn a greenish-blue. These color changes do not affect their flavor.

For pancakes or waffles: Blueberries should be added as soon as the batter is poured on the griddle or iron. If frozen blueberries are used, make sure they are heated through before serving.

Fresh blueberries and raspberries make tasty and colorful garnishes in this red velvet layer cake, both inside pressed into the filling and shown off atop the frosting. The stunning contrast of red cake and fluffy white cream cheese frosting has made this treat a Southern tradition for festive occasions. Mixing a touch of cocoa powder with the buttermilk and vinegar creates a reddish brown color, but it’s the red food coloring that earns this cake its name. For an even deeper red color, add an extra tablespoon of food coloring.

Recipe: Red Velvet Cake with Blueberries and Raspberries

The idea for dipping warm muffin crowns in a little melted butter then in cinnamon-spiked sugar, comes from cooking expert Marion Cunningham in her 1987 “Breakfast Book” (Knopf, out of print). The process creates a beautiful cap on the muffins and I like the way the cinnamon tastes (I often double the amount of cinnamon from 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon). Some bakers like to transfer batter to muffin tin using a large spoon sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. That system works fine. I like to use my mother’s old orange-handled ice cream scoop that measures out a little less than one-quarter cup of batter. Note that at the end of Step 3, you shouldn’t see large pockets of flour, but a small, occasional small bit of flour may remain; do NOT overmix.

Recipe: Blueberry Muffins

I like to serve this cake with molasses-enhanced whipped cream. To make it, whip 1 cup of chilled, heavy whipping cream with 1 tablespoon powdered sugar until stiff, then gently fold in 1 tablespoon molasses (some streaks of molasses will be visible). It is also delicious served with ice cream. If you prefer to use frozen blueberries, add 5 to 10 minutes of baking time because the cold berries slow down the process.

Recipe: Blueberry-Cornmeal Bundt Cake

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