A Bread By Any Other Braid

Don't ask me what called to me about this one.  I just woke up in the morning, sort of tired and was struck by a great desire to bake bread.  And, wouldn't you know, the library brought that baking book back to me.  Finally and at last!  I can make some progress through that darn book!

But what sort of bread should I craft?  Sure, I could make plain white bread and not buy it at the store.  Actually, that would be quite a good move for me.  But what if I end up with air bubbles everywhere?  That would be extremely sad.  Taking a flipping roll through 'The Art and Soul of Baking', I landed on Challah.  It’s a beautiful, braided, golden bread that I have seen so many times in the bakery and, though it has aroused my curiosity, I have only had it once at Christmas dinner when one of my zias brought it over.

So I broke out the eggs to get started... And dropped them on the kitchen floor.  I stood in the kitchen looking down at that egg and was quite beside myself with a quite temper.  I cleaned the darn thing up (not quite broken everywhere for the membrane on the inside had not given way) and heaved a heavy sigh. 

The grocer was pretty kind about giving me more eggs to use and laughed with me about my clumsiness.  That made it feel much better.


Baking 101 with 'Sur La Table'
Chapter 1: Yeast Bread and Rolls
Dairy Challah Bread

I did not follow Kosher law in that I used milk in place of water to activate the yeast.  I did, however, still use oil.  I'm pretty sure it was canola, but it might have been extra light olive.  What can I say?  They sit all cozy next to each other on the shelf and look sort of the same.  Mind you, I am running a little low on olive oil lately... Still, I'm pretty sure that it was canola oil.

Whatever.  That's probably not all that important at the end of it all.  I can be a real stickler on the details sometimes.  Just ask my boss - takes eternity to get any writing out of me because I continually hate everything!  Honestly, it’s a miracle I can turn a recipe and a picture or two into a blog.

Activating the yeast with warm milk and some honey
I have to say that any occasion to break out the honey is a fantastic adventure for me.  I warmed the milk in a glass measuring cup using short bursts with a microwave.  I don't have a thermometer, so I did this until it felt warm to the touch and tasted a little creamier.  Also, I used skim milk because that's what I drink.  (That, and soy milk.  Right, not so important that one.)  Mix the milk and honey in a mixing bowl and then sprinkle in the yeast.

I didn't take a picture of this because, at the time, the yeast didn't seem to be going off like gangbusters in the milk with the frothing and so forth.  I didn't quite think this would be successful... So I didn't take a snapshot for you.  I didn't really think that this post was even going to happen.

Swamp-fingers and the First Rise
Not much to say here besides the fact that the swamp fingers made a triumphant return tour.  Despite oiling of the hands, the dough was still quite loving.  Unlike the last time, however, this one just gathered into a pretty complete ball.  After some delicate massaging to knead the dough, I dumped it in a plastic tub and let the sucker rise.  Thank goodness for plastic bins with lids.  (Go Rubbermaid!)

No Knead, The Second Rise
No kneading the second time around (thankyouthankyouthankyou)!  Lightly flouring a working surface, plop the dough and smack it down to release the air bubbles but, as the book says, don't knead it (or you'll make it much harder for yourself and you'll have to wait for it to rise again).  You split the dough into three pieces and roll it out into even strands.  For me, this was a combination of rolling it against the counter with flat palms and also by squeezing along the length.  It isn't too tricky if you flour your hands first because then it won't stick to you too much.

Pinching at one end, you braid down and pinch the other.  Tuck the pinches underneath and cover it with plastic and let it take a deep inhale.  Second Rise!

After braiding the bread, you cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit for 40-50 minutes.  My oven was making my tiny kitchen quite warm so it took a little less time.  And I was scared that I had killed the yeast... They came through for me all the same! ^__^

Glaze and Bake
Beat an egg briefly in a dish until well mixed.  Using a gentle brush, brush the entire surface of the loaf with the egg wash.  Be careful that it doesn't go pooling in the braid because that is quite a trick to even out (paper towel helps but not much).  Sprinkle the top with poppy seeds or, if you're like me and you don't have poppy seeds (read: I have poppy seeds and was unable to find them on wanting to sprinkle), I used chia seeds for the same effect. 

Chia seeds are pretty similar except that poppy seeds are globular and Chia seeds are very slightly elliptical.  Also, Chia seeds are slightly lighter in colour with a brownish tint and the odd one is an off-white.

Bake it in the oven until it’s a deep rich brown (even on the bottom).  Seeing if the bottom is brown is a little tricky.  I baked on parchment paper so I just lifted up one of the corners to look through it for a darker brown colour.

Cool it entirely on a wire rack (on the windowsill if you want to show off just a little bit more) and the nom it down!

Fresh baked bread on the windowsill.  The window was, however, closed because it was blinking hot outside and it wouldn't have served me any good.  Plus, I couldn't have a mischievous imp running off with it!

I have to say that, all in all, this bread recipe was definitely much higher on my list than the previous bread recipe.  I'm not sure why exactly.  No, that's a lie.  I liked this recipe more because I didn't have to knead the bread a second time and have it stick all over my fingers... again.  I also love that braided look and the deep brown colour.  Given, bread doesn't smell as awesome as cookies in the kitchen.  It does, however, taste awesome with butter, jam... almond butter, Nutella  (They had samples at Costco.  Brilliant!).

Next time I make this bread, there will be bread pudding... Oh, yes.  There will be bread pudding.

Enjoy your baking and keep on being awesome.

I wish you peace, I wish you love and I wish you lots of awesome baking in the kitchen!

Baked Zebra for Valerie

It's not what you think!  Well, if you were thinking that I baked Zebra as a meal for my sister, that is.  Given I don't live on the same continent as zebras, you can imagine this would have been quite a feat.  There is, however, the zoo.  Somehow, I don't think I'd be posting here if that were the case.  Zookeepers tend to frown on that sort of behaviour.

I guess there's the black market.  Given I don't even know where to start looking for that sort of thing, I think we can eliminate that possibility as well.  It would be probably just as tricky as finding Diagon Alley.

Back to it though, yeah?

It was my sister's birthday yesterday.  In a nutshell, she's pretty wicked.  She's creative, fashion-forward, friendly, and ridiculous sometimes.  She is, however, great for a laugh.  Even at our parents' expense.

And, because it’s a birthday, that means cake!  In our family, this always used to be ice cream cake.

I'm not that developed in the dessert field.  Maybe we'll come back to this in the future.  (Given the amount of space - both for moving and for working, this may be in the distant future.  So, don't hold your breath.  I need readers, 'kay? ^__^;; )

I could have gone plain, flavoured, two bowl (wet/dry) cake that comes together and bakes quietly away.  I could have really saved myself a lot of time.  I didn't take the easy way.  I chose to do something a little bit trickier without the guaranteed outcome. Taking the hard way this time was so worth it.

An internet search of 'Zebra cake' will give you a million and more different pictures of an awesome striped cake.  I was having doubts that it would be achievable.  Then, in the corner of my eye, I behold my special cake pan.  I purchased it on sale when I was on holidays.  It is supposed to be a green pan and cook well, etc.  Whether this is true or not, I couldn't say.  It does, however, bake a mean cake and I won't lie to you about that one.

So, I bring to you, the Zebra Cake for Valerie in celebration of her birthday!


Zebra Cake For Valerie
As Put For by The Girl Who Bakes (original recipe here!)

That chocolate icing conceals something amazing underneath.  A striped cake, I should say.  A great surprise!

What You'll Need:
For the main cake part:

• 2 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup drained applesauce (I use baby food when I have to applesauce... I don't eat a lot of applesauce and its either a small container or a jar.  The plastic cups just sort of sit there in my pantry and make me feel guilty because I'm not eating them.  Besides, baby food give these little resealable containers that are quite handy in my lunch. Uh, anyway...)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup spelt flour
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 cup plain yogurt

For The Different Stripes:

• 1/2 cup coconut, toasted then divided*
• 1/2 tsp coconut extract
• 3 tbsp cocoa
• 20g dark chocolate (I used two squares of Lindt 85% chocolate that I recieved as a gift)

* For the coconut, toast the coconut until it is a light brown colour.  Set it aside to cool.  Remove 1 tbsp from the browned coconut and stick it in a bowl elsewhere; it will come in handy later.

For The Icing:

• 3 tbsp margarine
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp cocoa
• 2 tbsp skim milk
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

How It's Done:
1. Preheat the baking machine (read: oven) to 350F.
2. Grease the cake pan according to the instructions that you get from the company that makes it.  (I say this because the recipe I'm referencing says grease.  Some people like to grease and flour.  My pan suggests just a little bit of oil and it will kick butt.  So probably grease will work wonders.)
3. In one bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (we're talking the baking powder and flours).
4. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat the eggs, whites and sugars until you go from the yellow of the yolk to a lighter yellow colour.  (I borrowed from the colourful people at Behr.  When it comes to colours, they know their junk.  So, basically,going from Marigold yolks to a Neon Light liquid that's even in color.)

5. When you get that really nice colour, add the yogurt, vanilla, oil and applesauce (baby food) then beat until homogeneous.
6. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix it all together to make it even.
7. Separate the batter into two even portions.
8. Fold in the toasted coconut and extract into one batter portion and set that aside.
9. In the other bowl, mix in the cocoa and the finely chopped chocolate to the other batter and let that bowl keep the other one company.
10. Get yourself two spoons, one for each batter on the exclusive.  (You don't want to be mixing the batters before mixing the batters... Yeah, that was confusing.  Don't go making a light brown cake in one bowl from mixing schools.)

Two bowls, two spoons and one cake.  Trust me, you don't want to go mixing up the batters.  Also, don't worry if your spoon drips by accident.  I'm a bit of a perfectionist, but the cake will still come out okay and, as my mom commented, even zebras themselves don't have perfect stripes.

11. Alternate with two spoonfuls of each batter into the prepared pan.  You don't have to wait for the batter will spread, spooning it in will get that done for you.  Keep adding until all the batter is gone.
12. Stick the cake into the baking machine (go oven!) and bake for 30-40 minutes, making sure to toothpick test it.  (I bake for the minimum time then check and adjust with more time.  I'm not sure if that's how it’s done, but that's how you do).
13. Remove the cake when it’s done and let it cool completely.  (Trust me on this one.  If you try to ice it when its warm... You know?  Take my word for it and just don't.  Yeah, we won't go into it further than that.)

Hot out of the oven with a slight crack and some imperfections.  All in all, the cake is still pretty solid.

Okay, this was my first time making icing that actually came out right.  Is that a startling statement?  I am not in the habit of icing a lot of stuff and we all know I cheated on Yu-Han's cake a while back.  I owe Girlwhobakes a huge thanks on this one.  She not only had an amazing recipe but I actually made icing that worked.  Right, icing.

1. Measure the margarine into the dish and add 1/4 cup of the icing sugar.
2. With a hand mixer, mix on high until it is well-combined and light in appearance.
3. Soft cocoa into the bowl and 1 tablespoon of milk.
4. Mix again until coloured completely throughout.
5. Add the remaining icing sugar and beat until it is light and creamy.
6. Add the vanilla and mix until it is all together as an icing.
7. Spread the icing over the cake in an even layer.
8. Finish the cake by sprinkling over the reserved toasted coconut.

I used margarine here and, after I added the above, I didn't need to add any more milk.  If you choose to use butter (the real way), check out Girlwhobakes and the original recipe! ^__^

Birthday served up moist and striped.  Don't front like you don't want a piece of this glory!

Let me tell you, what a cake!  Girl Who Bakes really brought the rain on this one.  Her original recipe is for this cake on the skinny.  Given that I added a boatload of chocolate and coconut, I think its pretty obvious that the beast I created is not exactly on the skinny any longer.  My bad.  I just couldn't resist!  But, for cake on the skinny (without chocolate and coconut), check out the link over yonder.

Too Much Milk, Not Much Time

So I'm thinking of changing my address to the abyss.  Mostly because, well, I've been missing a hell of a lot haven't I now?  This was not an intentional absence though.  Admittedly, I haven't had much spare time what-so-ever to do a whole lot besides eat and sleep outside of work.  I haven't even been to yoga in over a week.  How horrid this is!  How un-zen my week has been!

My week?  In a nutshell, I'm pretty sure I've dropped more things than imaginable and dinged my elbows more times than is logically permissible on ledges hard enough to make my forearm sing.

Also, no progress in the bread world or the 'Art and Soul of Baking'.  Believe it or not, it isn't because I have been terribly lazy.  The library repossessed its book and, wouldn't you know, someone else put the darn thing on hold.  And you know what?  I saw their hold and raised them a hold.  Let's see *them* cook *their* way through that business!  I jest, though my progress in that field is temporarily on hold until that book graces the holds shelf with my last name on it.  Can't wait!

Down to the grit of the matter, I'm posting today with some dessert that should be eaten with a spoon instead of with hands.  It is not a bar nor a cookie nor ... pizzelle.  Okay, I did make pizzelle (double chocolate with a kiss of orange) but we've already discussed that one.  Thusly, I was forced to make something else.

I was sitting with a ridiculous surplus of milk and, while I love it, I wasn't going to be able to drink it all even with some marathon chugging.  Solution: bake/cook something.  Wait, there's a problem.  What recipe can I possibly come up with that uses a lot of milk all in one go?

Yeah, that took a whole lot of Google.  More than I have ever committed before.  The results were totally worth it!

I give you one creamy pudding that knocks the rice out of the ballpark with its amino acid compliment.  Not to mention that it didn't seem to require the same amount of care as rice usually does.  Rice can be quite a tricky mistress!

Quinoa "Rice" Pudding
As presented by Mommy Chef 27 on Food.com (click for recipe!)

Quinoa pudding on the stove-top?  Nailed it.

What You'll Need:

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 1/8 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups skim milk, divided
• 1/4 cup sugar (I used palm sugar here because I wanted to use it up! Fascinating stuff, that; gives it a faint nutty flavour.)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp margarine

How It’s Done:

1.  Dump the uncooked quinoa in a pot with the 2 cups of water.
2.  Toss the spices into the pot and mix briefly.
3.  Cover the pot and bring the quinoa to a boil.  (Okies, the instructions on my quinoa say "Bring to a boil, turn heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes or until cooked." So, that's what I did.  Afterwards, I 'fluffed' it and let it sit for a short time before continuing).

Quinoa, simply cooked with water and spices.  Awh, yeah!

4.  Pour the milk and sugar into the cooked quinoa, bring the element to medium heat and cook down the liquid until it becomes thick and pudding-like.

Oh, no! Where did the quinoa go?  No worries, its in there.  I'll just stir it up and give you a look-see.

See?  I didn't lie to you about the quinoa.  Look, mom, my hand is famous! ^__^

5.  In a measuring cup, measure the milk and beat the egg into it until the mixture is homogenous and light yellow.
6.  Add the egg/milk mixture to the creamy quinoa and continue to cook until thickened once again.
7.  Once thickened for a second time, mix in the butter and vanilla.
8.  Make sure that everything is all mixed together thoroughly and dish it out for some sweet eats!

Supposed to serve eight, but it can serve more or fewer depending, of course, on how much you like whom you share this with.  It may also serve one multiple times if you choose not to share!

p.s. Enjoy!

Homeless Banana

Wow!  Sorry that it has been such a long time since we last spoke.  I've been experimenting with feeding myself something other than tuna from a can, quinoa and frozen vegetables.

I hate to admit some bad nutrition, but that's what happens when you get busy doing other things and then you realize you're hungry.  And I don't mean hungry in the way of "you know, I think food might be a good idea in the near future" sort of way, but the "wow, my stomach is digesting itself slowly" sort of way.  Yeah, that happens a lot.  Tuna, bread and vegetables are a pretty quick fix.  Then I eat strawberries and am extremely pleased!

Anyway, getting back to the baking business.  Wouldn't you know that I got off-handed someone's banana recently.  It wasn't even really at the edible point.  I'm a full supporter of all bananas spotted brown like giraffes, but tiger streaking?  That's a tad too ripe, even for me.

So what to do with this banana that no one wants?

Well, one banana does not a great loaf of banana bread make.  And I know that bananas can replace oils sometimes in recipes I've learned.  Where do you go with one over-ripe banana that needs a purpose other than to line the rubbish bin?

I decided to make cookies.  Chocolate ginger cookies.  After a lot of browsing on the internet - what *can't* you find on the web, seriously? - I came across Anja's Food 4 Thought recipe for 'Crispy Ginger Chocolate Cookies'.  I scrapped the olive oil and replaced it with the banana.  It came out to what appeared to be a little over a third of a cup.  I wouldn't say heaping, but it wasn't a third of a cup flat.

I think they came out okay.  I find them pretty tasty and will try to post back with an update.  I have to have more opinions; my opinion just doesn't cut it in my kitchen.  Then again, I'm the girl who eats tuna from the can and frozen vegetables.  By no means do I think my palette is sophisticated!

If you have a banana kicking about that needs a use other than the rubbish bin, maybe give this one a try sometime.

Oh!  I should probably also mention that I put these babies in a container after they were all cooled off and they didn't stay crispy.  I'm mentioning this because I don't want you to get upset if it happens to you.  I get extremely upset when this happens to me... ^__^;;;



Crispy Ginger Chocolate Banana Cookies
Adapted from Anja over at Anja's Food 4 Thought (<- Click for original recipe!)

So not really thin and crispy but more like chewy and puffy.  These cookies puffed right up given that I used banana and no oil.  I have seen crispiness increase when using oil when making pizzelle as well.  It happens.

What You'll Need:

• 1 1/8 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 medium banana
• 1 egg

How It's Done:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, ground ginger and cocoa powder.  Whisk until it is evenly distributed in colour and consistency.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar and banana.  Beat the sugar and banana until it is creamy; it likely won't get too fluffy because there is a lot of moisture in the banana.
4. Add the egg to the sugar-nana mixture and beat until fully mixed.
5. Stir in the dry ingredients until well mixed.
6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop the dough by teaspoon full onto the sheet.
7. Pop the tray in the oven for 12 minutes and pull them out when they are domed and slightly dark on the bottom.
8. Let them cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transfering them to a wire rack to cook completely.

Makes about 22 cookies.

Get Into The Groove

Okay, before we get into the experience here, can I be frank with you?  I can't afford a stand mixer.  For this reason, when recipes say:

"Place [insert ingredients here] into the bowl of your stand mixer and mix on low for [insert number here] minutes until light and fluffy."

I respond with a little bit of envy for people who have stand mixers and... a whole lotta resentment because, if they're telling you to do it in a stand mixer, it’s going to be tricky doing it by hand.

With that out of the way, I made bread for the first time ever.  It was hard.  I cursed a lot, especially when I took my hands away from kneading and I looked like the Swamp Thing.  Multiple times.  Wash hands, re-flour hands, dive back in.  Got over the kneading with more flour (be forewarned, you might need more flour!).

With bread, the rising of the yeast is something I always found pretty fascinating.  When I was a kid, I talked my mom into making sourdough.  Turns out, at that age, I hated sourdough bread.  It was not, however, the end product that I was interested in.  I was fascinated by the starter; I had seen it on the tv on some program.

So, let's rehash about baking up some bread.  'Cause I totally took pictures during each stage.  One thing though: the initial mix before the 'resting', I took a better picture without the flash and it came out really nicely.  Then I accidentally deleted it off my camera.  I cursed, I cried and then I felt incredibly silly about the whole thing.



Baking 101 with 'Sur La Table'
Chatper 1: Yeast Breads and Rolls
Nine-Grain Whole Wheat Harvest Bread

I was attracted to this one first because my parents are trying to eat healthier and I wanted to see if I could make them better bread than the stuff that they can buy in the store.  Don't get me wrong; I love my Dempster's rye bread just as much as the next guy, but sometimes a switch up is nice too.

Fascinating detail about this recipe is the use of 9-grain hot cereal mix to get that grainy goodness.  When I went to bulk foods, I could only get 6- or 12-grains.  So I flipped a coin and it came out 12-grains.  So, while this is called 9-grains, it actually should technically have 12-grains.  Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say 12-grains-and-seeds mix.

Activating the yeast with warm water and a bit of sugar
Throw these three together and let the mixture sit for a bit and you get something foamy and bubbly.  It smelled a little bit like when my dad used to make wine in our cellar.  I'm not sure if that's right, but it was certainly bubbly and foamy.

It's alive!  *Insert maniacal laughter here*

Swamp-Thing fingers, the first time 
Yeah, this is the photo that I accidentally deleted so you can only have the flash version.  Sorry, my bad.  Color is a little bit washed out, but it was incredibly sticky and you can see that in the picture.

Yeah, this doesn't make bread look too appealing, but don't lose heart!  It gets better. ^_^

Return of the Swamp-Thing fingers
Kneading by hand the first time was even more frustrating than the first amount of kneading.  What is one to do?  It leads to first rise, however, which is incredibly sweet.  Shown below are before and after photos, just like a dough makeover!

For some reason, the rising of dough like this is something that I find absolutely fascinating.  I am an adult and every time that I watch bread rise I feel like a child seeing something for the first time.  It is sort of an amazing feeling.

Abusing the dough
Turning it out onto a well-floured (and naked) countertop, you smack it down into a disk.  Working carefully (or, in my case, with a little bit of an edge after kneading sticking dough), you bring the edges to the centre and pinch.  You then pick the ball up, turning it over so that the tuck-side is away from you, and continue to tuck under.  Cindy says this is 'creating tension' because, if you don't do it, the shape will be wonky when it rises.  If you like classic movies, you can skip this and you get a blob.  I did not know this.  See, mum, I'm learning!
After that you let it rise again so that it puffs out.

See previous caption.  Needless to say, I really had to resist the temptation to touch it and poke at it!

Bake the bread, baby!
Okay, so the dough takes a breath and then it gets baked.  Below is my loaf that came out as a result of everything.  I was wigging out (in the "I can't believe THIS is what I get for trying SO hard!" kind of way) because my loaf came out a few shades darker than 'golden brown'.  I swear, it’s my oven’ fault for the dark colour.  As further proof of my innocence in the matter, note that the loaf is darker at the back end despite being in the middle.  Anyway, rest assured, it came out okay!  The dark stuff you see is a layer smaller than half of a millimetre (sorry, I don't know the inch conversion! x_x;; ).  My mum described it best as being like the shell of an egg; the darkness that you see is like a very, very thin shell and then the inside emerges evenly and the bread has a nice taste.

This experience has taught me that baking bread doesn't smell quite as awesome as say Banana Quick Bread when it bakes.  The awesome smells come afterwards as it cools on a wire rack in your kitchen!

All in all, props for a great recipe!  It was definitely a great learning experience.  I think one more lesson in bread might be instructive before moving on to the next chapter.  All considerations aside, I'm terrified of layered pastry!

Dear Canadian buddies, I'm sorry its Monday already, but hopefully your long weekend allowed you to bake some awesome or catch some zzz's.  Both are equally awesome activities.

To my American friends, Happy Independence Day!

p.s. I definitely was rocking out to the Madonna song while typing this up.  I figured if I was going to make the reference, I might as well go the whole nine yards about it.  And not in the Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry way. ^_~

Losing The Blog Game

Oh, man.  Where have I been?  It feels like ages since I've posted and it feels good to be back here once again!  I'm hoping that you can overlook this bout that I've had with falling off the face of the earth.  It happens sometimes, particularly when life gets a little bit crazy.  And, for clarification, I mean planet-falling metaphorically; I've not yet been able to master the entire defying gravity scene quite yet!

These past few weeks have been a little nuts.  Firstly, I'd just like to say that - in between reading 'The Girl Who Played With Fire' - I finally got through all the introductory information in my CIA baking textbook.  Yes, its printed by Wiley.  That definitely makes it a textbook.  (Brief aside: What don't they publish?  I mean, really...).  Plus, too, it’s published by the Culinary Institute of America (you know, the other CIA).  I have to say that it was extremely information dense, but I learned some pretty useful stuff.  Like why I've been sniffing honeydew melons since I was six.  Apparently, my dad isn't as crazy as I had initially surmised.

When it came down to baking though, I'm afraid I had to shelve this book.  It is certainly designed for an industry baker.  After all, what does a home baker do with six loaves of bread?!  I believe in generosity, but if I'm baking my way through a book, I think people are eventually going to catch on that I've baked oodles.  And oodles.  And, for emphasis, even more oodles.  I could do the math, of course, but even their own introduction states that simply cutting ingredients in half is not sufficient for recipe success; the recipe must be tested several times.  That would result in even more bread... Yeah, that wasn't going to work.

So I heaved the brick back to the library and set off into the baking/cooking section once more.  Perhaps, when I am old and retired, I will finally own a bakery and I'll return to this book.  Or, in all likelihood, a succeeding edition.  That's right, I dream about owning a really tiny bakery in some small town.  With a really nice ornate store-front like the one in the following picture that I passed while driving to a rented cottage with my parents in Canada!

Isn't it awesome?  I mean, maybe a fixer-uper, but the windows are simply darling!

Anyway, back to baking.

Round 2 of self-teaching is going to be conducted with Sur La Table's "The Art and Soul of Baking" (conveniently located also at the bookstore and! on Amazon => linkage!).  I've read through the introduction and, so far, I have to say that I'm a little more at ease with this book in hand.  The introduction makes the baking seem just as serious as the CIA, but has a more approachable method of communicating as much.  Plus, the recipe yields seem a little more manageable!

Can I confess something else?  I haven't been entirely faithful to baking chastity.  Actually, I've failed horribly and completely!  While, yes, I did break a promise to myself (bad news bears), it resulted in some yummy things!

First off, I didn't eat my bananas fast enough one week.  So I had to selfish-bake - not my first SB and won't be my last - to make sure they went to better use than padding the bottom of my green bin.  What sort of selfish bake, you say?  Banana Oatmeal Cups with Dark Chocolate (I used 80%.  Its pretty bitter, but very satisfying.).  Thanks, GreenLiteBites!

I locked myself out of my apartment and my mom had to drive over with the key.  That, in itself, wouldn't be so bad if she didn't live so far away.  So, in an attempt to demonstrate great gratitude, I whipped up a batch of Lemon Poppyseed Madeleines using not a madeleine sheet but a slightly different one that my mom inherited from her mother.  They turned out nicely, though I have yet to master the art of keeping them slightly crunchy.

Secondly, it was Martin's birthday.  I had no idea what to get him.  Guy friends, I've decided, are impossible to shop for.  "I don't want anything special, really."  Gee, thanks. =/

So, what was I going to do?  What does any sane person do when they don't know?  They ask more questions.  This didn't occur to me until much later.  I baked.

I whipped up Joy The Baker's Browned Butter Strawberry-Banana Loaf in a 9-inch cake pan.  This made me incredibly anxious, which resulted in my hanging out for the entire baking time with a book in front of the oven during a heat wave.  Crazy?  Probably.  But this is one of my bff's we're talking about and, for a birthday, you better believe this thing was going to be better than perfect before I was actually happy about the whole thing. 

The baking didn't stop there, though.  Everyone gets cake on their birthday, don't they?  Even if its Black Forest Cake (which, in theory, sounds like a good plan but I, for one, am not a fan.  Chunks of cherry?  Where does that get fun?).  Decidedly, I had to change the game.  I also baked something a little more experimental on my part.

Ugh... okay, so sugar cookies aren't really all that 'experimental' per se.  I used Emily's awesome recipe for sugar cookies from her blog (which you ought to check out, for serious).  I know, not really all that racey and awesome.  I tried to bump it up a notch with some red food colouring, but ultimately they turned out vaguely more orange.  You can't really see it in the photo, however, I think that might have more to do with my camera.  I'm going to have to pillage my sister once again. 

But, you're right, the cookies.  I used coconut extract instead of almond, which makes them smell amazing!  So my slightly pink, coconut-ey sugar cookies hung out in the fridge while I contemplated how to make them a little more exciting.  Until I noticed an uneaten dark chocolate orange from Christmas.  Brilliant.  I broke it up into small pieces and folded the dough around it.  The result?  Awesome cookies (thanks totally to Emily!) with a dark chocolate surprise on the inside.  Score!

The Great Blog Round-Up: Showing you pictures of the trouble I got up to because when I said I failed at keeping away from the oven, I failed in a major way.  Okay, clockwise starting at top right:  Lemon Poppy-seed Madeleines for the mum who will drive miles just to let me back into my apartment because her daughter forgot (repeatedly) to stash a second key elsewhere; the SB Banana-Oatmeal-Chocolate muffins (even better when frozen and then thawed in the micro); the Brown-Butter Strawberry-Banana Loaf in a cake pan (my first time browning butter!!!); and, lastly, the evolution of the sugar cookie (from harmless blob, it crawled from the watery depths and devoured some chocolate).

Bff's birthday.  Awesome.  Wicked mum?  Well, there's just no topping that.

p.s. The cake went over amazingly.  Millions upon millions of thanks, Joy! <3

Temporary Loss of Groove

I've been gone a while, its true.  I had high hopes of not slacking on my commitment to delivering some sort of recipe every little once in a while, but I've let that one go in a major way.  The fact of the matter is, well, I've lost my groove.

The cake you saw in the previous post just passed the border into the realm of success.  If you believe it, I nearly tossed it and made box-mix cupcakes instead.  Yes, I nearly did.

Since then, I attempted to make Sophistimom's Cherry Panettone (with other dried fruits like sultanas and cranberries because my relationship with candied zest is tart at best) and they dried out in a major way.  My mom told me they were supposed to be that way.  I'm still not so sure about that one.

I did Whole Food Market's Carrot-Walnut Cookies (except I used almonds instead because walnut are not my favourites).  Those turned out great for the oven but, as time went by, they got moist again.  Not a deal breaker, but my kitchen is a little on the warm side and, after a week of baking, they started to grow again and needed to be tossed.

Feeling more than a little bit defeated, I fell back on the tried and true.  I baked up Baking Bite's Lemon Poppyseed Mini Muffins (yum! ^_^) and, feeling a little bit better after that, I baked a batch of Smart Cookies (Alton Brown's The Chewy - baked previously - with Smarties substituted for chocolate chips! ^_~)

All of these haphazard events in the kitchen and I got to thinking about what I know about baking.  I mean, what I really know about the topic.  Turns out that I figure I know nearly almost absolutely nothing!  Not a shock really,  since most of my fav. recipes have been found by trial by fire sort of deal.  Nearly literally.  Well, with the exception of the open flame.

So!  As a student, what is the one thing I know how to do to get knowledge?  Use the bibs.  I got myself down to the library and am now sitting pretty with a copy of 'Baking and Pastry: Mastering the Art and Craft'.

Courtesy of Amazon.com (There is also a link above in the text!)

Written by the CIA (the Culinary Institute of America, silly you!), the first five chapters are all about laying some ground rules.  Looks to cover just about everything from the mix to the bowls, so we'll see just how much of this knowledge my brain can soak up and how much of it is going to come through experimentation.  Either way, this should be pretty sweet.

My original plan was to sit down, read, and then bake a few recipes from each chapter as I go through the book.  The problem that arises is that the recipes are provided in weights and not cups.  Weight can be a little touch and go depending on the ingredient so I'm going to read through those first five informative chapters and then make the call on whether to bake or not.

To bake or not to bake?  The true question to ask is 'To bake now or later'?

Keep smiling and stay safe with the oven!


p.s. The 'About Me' page is proving tricky.  Plus, I'm trying to talk my sister into taking my picture.  I think its going to require a batch of Chai Snickerdoodles.  Coercion con cookies?  Yes.  Definitely, yes.

I Think A Cake Is In Order

People use cakes for pretty much every special occasion.  I mean, you have your typical birthday and wedding cakes.  There's also Christmas cake, Easter cake, Bar Mitzvah cake, Graduation cake, Retirement Cake, Halloween Cake, Baby Shower Cake, and Carrot cake.  Okay, maybe not everyone celebrates vegetables on a regular basis.

Basically, what I'm aiming to confer to you is that, if there is a special occasion, someone would have considered getting a cake for it.

You know what an awesome reason for cake is?  Successfully defending a thesis and earning the right to put 'Ph. D.' after your name on flipping everything as well as 'Dr.' before you name on everything.  So, when Ashly's defense came up, what better reason could there possibly be to make a cake?  Ashly's a hard-working, blindingly intelligent girl who deserves all the best and better.

One thing though, she doesn't like sweets.  Now, normally that would prove a little tricky because a lot of cakes are all about the sugar (which, when you think about it, is kind of ironic because Ashly's a carbohydrate chemist).  However, due to the advent of the internet, it is not an insurmountable challenge.  Yeah, Word of the Day calendar, ftw.

Enter the Vanilla Chiffon Cake (from Kirbie's Cravings), dressed up with a little Dream Whip and (duh) fresh strawberries.  I cut the cake in half, spread strawberry jam on both sides, spread the cream and layered strawberry slices in the center and then loaded the top up there.

Wrapping and transport (left) can be really tricky!  I can fully appreciate cake boxes now because, man, I would have killed for one to take this sucker into the office.  To the right, you can see the filling much better.  This cake taught me many things but, among them, I learned that strawberries don't like my mandolin!  T___T  That's okay, of course, because I also have a wicked paring knife.  The strawberries were no match for Big Blue!

I won’t lie to you on this one.  Making cake from scratch is hard stuff!  Its especially hard when you don’t have the right pan.  I ended up using a spring form and had problems like you wouldn’t believe.  If I had to make the choice in this situation, I’d make the same call again though I might make cupcakes instead.  For future successful defences, however, it will be cupcakes.  Cake can be tricky to dish out and safely transport between locations. 

I can definitely say that I have a whole new respect for cake bakers (professional or otherwise).  You guys must have the patience of Buddhist monks!

Notes!

(1) Okay, with the cake.  I pretty much, more or less, followed the recipe.  But (please, you knew that was coming!) I substituted the all-purpose flour for sifted cake flour in the hopes of giving this baby some extra rise.  Also, I used superfine sugar when doing the egg whites because it dissolves much better in the whites than the granulated sugar does.

(2) Dream Whip makes an awesome dressing for cakes!  As a side note for using it, in order to get an 'icing' on the thicker side, I used a little less than the 1/2 cup of milk they tell you to use and then just beat the living day lights out of it.  I used the leftovers from the cake to enjoy the rest of the strawberries! ^__^

Best Italian Family Memory?

Oh yeah!  Though, sadly, back down to low-def. pictures again.  The sister's camera is on lockdown...

Wow, how long has it been?  A month you say?  I’d say it’s a good thing you aren’t plants or fish (fishes?), otherwise, we’d have some issues!

The past month (x__x) has been a little turbulent to say the least.  April is the month of last-ditch stress before the end of the semester.  As such, that means assignments are due, marking needs to be done, exams and anything else in life that decides it doesn’t want to be neglected.  Like one’s health.  Yeah, I got a cold on top of it.  That happened.

Because I was sick (with a nose like a faucet), I figured it was in everyone’s best interest that I not bake.  Sure, the heat of the oven would probably kill anything bringing me down but I didn’t want to run the risk.  If it was a selfish bake, I would have anyway.  However, baking should be for sharing!

My birthday also came up during all this madness.  While I personally do not like my birthday (I’m not going to tell you when it is for that reason), I don’t mind getting the gifts!  My gift this year?  A pizzelle press!  Just imagine my bliss!

Pizzelles were sort of like a childhood fixture for me when I was growing up.  Every Sunday when we went to visit my Nonna at her house, dinner would be followed by coffee, cookies and a big tub of pizzelle.  But it didn’t stop there.  All family gatherings, those beautifully browned wafflesque cookies seemed to appear.  There would be plates of little desserts and then an unassuming white Rubbermaid container filled with pizzelle that my Nonna had made with a press. 

How do I know she made them?  I know she made them because, when I slept over, sometimes we would make them for hours in the afternoon.  Aside from the use of a really hot press, this activity was incredibly fun.

My Nonna passed away a few years ago.  She was a fantastic lady and I miss her every day.  When you lose someone near and dear, I think it’s important, even if it’s painful, to keep cherished memories of them alive.  One of those cherished memories for me was the pizzelle.  They have been missing from family gatherings from quite some time now and sometimes I get the feeling that, despite no one having mentioning it, some of my relatives think about it.  It wasn’t the cookies that were important; the tradition itself was comforting.

I had some mixed feelings, admittedly, about receiving a pizzelle maker.  I was excited because it was something that I’ve wanted for quite a while now and because, honestly, it brought back the memory of my Nonna’s kitchen; the way it smelled sort of like zucchini fritters she’d make on the stove, the rosemary growing in water on the window sill, a fresh apple pie sitting patiently on the table to be eaten.  Oh, I could keep going on forever I’m sure, but we should probably get back to the business.

Okay, I was excited, but I was also apprehensive and still am.  I am going to take pizzelle with me to Christmas dinner this year.  However, I want my relatives to know that I am not trying to replace my Nonna.  That’s impossible.  I just want to keep her memory alive.

The pizzelle maker that I have is a Cuisinart and, smart people that they are, they include a small booklet with a few basic recipes.  What’s great about basic recipes?  Making your own variations, of course!  So far, I’ve made Vanilla-Chai, Chocolate Mint, and Traditional variations.  And I can’t wait to try more flavour combinations! 


Basic Pizzelle

Courtesy of the great folks at Cuisinart 

What You’ll Need:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3 large eggs, room temperature (ish)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted* (microwave!)
• 1 tbsp vanilla or anise extract**

How It’s Done:

1. Set three eggs in a dish of warm water before starting so that they can warm up a bit before you get into everything.  (I usually wait until the water feels as though it’s about the same temperature as my hand and then lower the eggs into the water.  I leave it on the counter while I get everything together.)
2. Mix flour and baking powder in a small bowl, whisk to combine and then set aside.
3. Turn on the pizzelle maker and set it to the appropriate setting for making pizzelle.
4. Put the butter in a microwaveable container and zap it for about 45 sec (or until liquid).  (For this one, I do it right in a Pyrex measuring cup and then leave it in the microwave so that it stays warm.)
5. Put the sugar in a bowl, add the three eggs and, using a hand mixer, beat at medium speed until thicker.  Make sure to move the mixer about so that everything gets dragged into the mix.  (The mixture will get lighter in colour and won’t look runny like it does inititally.  I have found that this usually takes about 1 min 30 sec or so.  I set a timer and just stop when the timer runs out at it usually turns out.  It might vary a little bit for you so maybe set a timer for two minutes and see how it goes?)
6. Stop the mixer briefly to free up your hands.
7. Remove the butter from the microwave, stir in the extract of your choice.
8. Resume mixing at low speed with the hand-mixer in one hand and, with the other hand, add the butter in a slow, steady stream.
9. Stop the hand mixer and clean it off.
10. Add the flour mixture and mix with a spoon until just combined. (I used a folding technique and rounded it out with some straight mixing.  The instruction book is all about the yelling about the over mixing.  “Do not overmix.”  So bluntly.  This.  Terrifies.  Me. X_X)
11. Turn your attention to the pizzelle press and drop the batter onto the press by the heaping teaspoon.
12. Remove the pizzelle to a rack to cool completely.  (This is sort of important.  The first rack I used had rungs that were too far apart.  I got really nice wavy pizzelle that sort of looked like ruffled chips.  That was not, however, what I was shooting for…)
13. Let those patterned beauties cool completely (completely completely) and then shove them in a tin.

Notes!
*About the butter/margarine exchange:  I’ve made these both with margarine and with butter.  With butter, the pizzelle come out a little more cakey and lighter.  If you use margarine, you will get a bit of a crispier pizzelle that’s crunchier and snappy.
**Extracts:  Vanilla or Anise are pretty standard additions.  My mom likes the anise ones because that’s the way that my Nonna used to make them.  I have to side with her on this one; there is a really nice liquorice taste to them.  When I make them with anise extract oil, I still use a little bit of vanilla because I think it rounds out the flavour nicely.

I hope that, if you have the desire and the will to get a pizzelle maker (or maybe you have one), you have fun making these.  If you don’t have one, no worries.  It’s a bit of a specialty thing and I don’t hate on not wanting to buy specialty kitchen gadgets.  You can, however, pick these up sometimes at the Italian grocer, especially around Easter and Christmas.  Whichever way you fly, be brilliant!

Birthdays and Baking and Biscotti, Oh My!

Would you look at that?!  It has been seventeen days (give or take maybe a handful of hours and minutes) since we chatted about baking.  And, as much as I would like to say it was just because I was busy, that’d be a little bit of a lie.  Actually, I think it would be better to state that it would be a lie of omission.  I have been busy, however, I have also been sick, sleepy and sore.  Stressed, sick, sleepy and sore do not a baking mood create.

So why, do you ask, am I posting?  Well, I’m certainly not throwing an internet-wide pity party (that’s for sure!).  I’m posting because, in the spirit of celebrating birthdays, I was quite the busy baker.

This past weekend was my father’s birthday!  Remember we had been talking about biscotti?  Why, why haven’t I baked more biscotti since Christmas?  How could I be so cruel not to make more biscotti?  Oh, I’m such a horrible daughter!

You can imagine the shock (followed by happiness) that greeted the biscotti that I baked up as a gift.  That is one thing that I must say I adore about baking; you can always bake to your heart’s content and then give the results as gifts!

I didn’t, however, just stop at cookies.  A good birthday has cookies.  A great birthday calls for cake!  Apple cake as a matter of fact.

Long story short, the coconut biscotti went over really very well.  I should probably mention that I never actually got to eat one of the biscotti.  Don’t get me wrong, I totally munched on the crumbs on the baking sheet, but it seemed cruel to eat part of a batch of cookies that I intended to give as a gift.  That’d be like opening the packaging of something before giving it away (in my opinion).  I fully intended to swipe one after they were opened though.  My dad, however, hid the tin and refused to share.  And you can’t guilt someone out of something that you gave them!  Gah!

I can say that the apple cake turned out absolutely lovely.  I give fully credit to my mandolin.  That little sucker is the newest addition to my arsenal of … random kitchen gadgets that I have always sort of wanted.  Next up, I dream of pizzelle maker.

Before I wrap this up completely, its probably worth mentioning that a student in our lab also had his birthday this week but 'didn't want to make a big deal about it and bother people'.  I mean, I can relate, but only because I really have a jar full of hate for my birthday; that majority of them over the years have been, shall we say, of a less-than-stellar nature.  But I digress.  Long story short, I cranked up the oven late at night to bake him a batch of short-cut cookies.  Is there nothing that Quaker Oat's Oatmeal Cookie Mix can't fix? ^__^


Oh, I should also mention, because I rambled so much, I hid the recipes behind a cut.  I didn’t want to be a spammer.  My bad!

'Hey There!' From The Abyss

Woah, the last little while has been a miasma of activity!  How's that for a two-dollar word.  Blame my word-a-day calendar for that one.

I have, however, somehow managed to do some baking in between.  Before I get right into things, though, I just wanted to say 'sorry!' for having delayed in doing a lot of writing to you guys.  I think I might be coming down with something (again).  Man, have I been tired lately!  Thankfully, the sniffling, nose running, can't-get-out-of-bed-to-save-your-life sickness hasn't descended.  Come on, let's rally, immune system!  Lay on the O.J.!

Right, baking.  I did attempt to be healthier this time around.  I tried really desperately very hard to be healthy.  Really.  I was going to bake cupcakes and then, when I thought about how much icing I would have to make (because inevitably I'd be doing a lot of cleaning with my tongue) and then how much further I'd have to push myself, I wimped out.  Cut me a little slack, though.  Its bitter cold outside!

So, I fired up the laptop and set my internet search skills to work (read: google).  Somehow, I came across apple quinoa cake from 'Anja's Food 4 Thought' .  Quinoa in a cake?  Intrigued...  Also, I'm a huge apple fan so finding a 'large apple' to use simply requires me to open the fridge to the bounty of apples from the farmer's market!  (In a word, awesome.  And the farmers who sell them are totally rad too.  Win-win!)

So, I baked 'em up just as the recipe online said to do.  Aren't you proud?  Okay, don't be too proud because I left out the sunflower seeds (allergic, my bad) and raisins (none in the pantry, bummer).  I even picked up some palm sugar that, let me tell you, smells wicked.  Sort of like a more buttery, coconut-y version of brown sugar in a powder form.  I think we will have other cullinary adventures together in the future.

Those muffins were reserved for personal use.  They freeze pretty okay, too.  I just let them cool completely then wrapped in saran, placed them into a Chinese take-out container and shoved 'em in the freezer.  Somehow, that sounded a lot more succinct in my head.  Why freeze them?  Well, those muffins were a bit of a selfish bake.  They made the apartment smell awesome and were for my nom-ing purposes.  Since I started this blog for the recipes that I share, I'm going to skip over copying that recipe here.

Okay, I did say that I baked some things so I still owe you guys a shared adventure right?  Very yes.

Do you guys eat PB?  I grew up on the stuff (Kraft, the one with the teddy bears on the jar, and Skippy, I think, intermittently).  Combined with jam, I really can't make a lot of complaints.  Also, peanut butter cookies with a few chunks of actual peanuts are lovely (Tim Horton's classic, anyone?).  Growing up, however, my love for the PB has really died.  The final nail in the coffin was figuring out how they make the commercial stuff.  Its was like figuring out that atoms don't have discrete shells of electrons; don't get me wrong, the math is cool, too, but I liked the shell concept while it lasted.

Okay, given that I gave up PB.  I switched to almond butter and am much happier.  Its just a richer, nuttier flavour without needing like a ton of it.  Buying a big jar of almond love, however, was not my smartest move.  It separates and, if you don't eat it quickly enough, it can go bad.  So I had a jar that needed some using up.  I was worried it would go bad and, honestly, good AB shouldn't go to waste.  The solution?  Skip the bread and make some cookies.  Oh wait, first, check that you won't kill anyone in the work place *then* bake some cookies.  'Cause some people are allergic, you know.  Just saying.




AB&J Cookies 

From wet crumbles, to crumbs before arriving at baked awesome!  I was scared that this might not turn out because the almond butter was inherently a little bit runnier than your standard PB.  I mean, when you have to mix the crap out of something to get it spreadable as opposed to I-opened-the-jar-for-use, things are going to be a little different.  I think this might be why mine spread more.

What You'll Need:

• 1 cup almond butter, properly stirred (You can't have it all separated, after all.)
• 1 cup sugar 
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• jar of your best preserves, my kind sir (or ma’am) (I'm kidding, any jam you use will do nicely.  Like the jar of preserves your mum made you about a year and a half ago... ^__^;;)

How It's Done:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Line a couple baking sheets with some foil.  (You can use a greased cookie sheet, but I love my pyrex pan a little too much to gum it up just yet.)
3. In a bowl, combine the AB and sugar with a mixer until its well combined.  (Basically, you want to mix it up until it looks even and, turning it over, you don't find any sugar hiding from you.)
4. Add the egg and baking soda and mix again for 2 minutes.
5. Add the vanilla and mix briefly to get it throughout; it will come out a little crumbly.  (For this, my batter looked much like the sand that you find on the beach underneath the dry powdery stuff; it looked pretty damp and crumbly.)
6. Grab a cloth and set near the mixing bowl.  (This is pretty key; it will come in handy later!)
7. Using your hands, form balls of dough and drop them on the sheet.
8. With a finger (or your smallest measuring spoon), press a small hole in the top of each ball.
9. Give you hands a wipe with the cloth to clean them off a bit so you don't get batter everywhere.  (Because I used the almond butter, my hands had some of the almond oil there so the towel was pretty handy.  Told you it would come in handy.)
10. Drop a bit of jam in each little well.
11. Stick the cookies in the oven for 10-12 minutes.  (I found for mine that they needed about 11 minutes but, as I'm sure I've mentioned, my oven is tricksy!)
12. Once they're done, cool them on the sheet for five minutes then transfer to a rack to cool. (I let mine cool a little longer than usual because it took the pan a little longer to cool too.)
13. When you're done, tin 'em up and separate layers with wax paper.  Or just enjoy!  (But wait for them to cool.  As I quickly learned, hot cookies not only crumble all over the place but stick and burn.  Its a yummy burn, but it makes tasting a little tricky for a while! =P)

I found the recipe for these beauties on Joy's webpage.  Originally, it's done with peanut butter and, I have to say, her cookies look a lot cuter than mine.  T__T;;;  Jealous!  I think the reason is that the almond butter had more natural oil than solids (probably because my mixing skills were lacking once when I went to use it).  They still turned out okay so I guess I shouldn't belly-ache.  =P

What To Do On Family Day

What do you do with one whole day to spend with your fams?

Well, I got up early in the morning and got on the interwebs, hot cup of Caramel Cream coffee (love!) in clutches, to do some reading of the blogs when I stumbled across a recipe for a quick bread that uses olive oil.  This, to me, was really interesting because olive oil was always first and foremost for one thing when I was growing up; browning onions when making pasta sauce.  But cake?  Really?

I mean... Really?

I was so curious that, with that same coffee in hand, I printed out a copy of the recipe and got to baking.  Besides, I thought, I had a lemon that was begging for use.  Only one problem though: at that hour, no grocer near the house is open and my fridge was Greek-Yogurt-less.  I do, however, have an abundance of Activia in several flavors including blueberry... Done!

The fams and I sat down for another cup of coffee (I had tea this time around) in the afternoon and enjoyed this a lot.  If you make it, I hope you enjoy too!

So, without further delay (because its been almost a week!), I'll get on with it!


Lemon Blueberry Olive Oil Loaf

A little crispy around the edges but still soft (and warm!) on the inside.  I should note that, because I used blueberry yogurt, the inside is not perfectly yellow but has a slight tinge to it.  I can't quite describe the color to you, but it still tasted quite good!

What You'll Need:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• grated zest of one lemon (I usually juice it too, but the lemon had been sitting in the fridge for a little while...)
• 1/2 cup of yogurt (I used the Activia like I mentioned and this ended up being about 1.5 of the serving cups.  I used one blueberry and enough vanilla to get it roughly to 1/2 cup.)
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract (I added extra extract because the fams and I are lemon fans.  You can totally leave this out if you want to do so.)
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (I use Bertolli but any good extra virgin works.)
• 1/8 tsp kosher salt (At measurements like this, its pretty much like a pinch.)

How It's Done:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Pull out the eggs and let them hang out to get near room temperature.
3. Prepare a loaf pan by lining tightly with tin foil.
4. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a bowl and set it off to the side.
5. Zest the lemon and rub it into the sugar you're using with a wooden spoon (or spatula).
6. Mix in the yogurt, r.t.* eggs and extracts.
7. Throw in the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated.
8. Pour in the olive oil and continue to fold the batter over until the olive oil is fully integrated.  (I admit that you're going to have a bilayer system going on in your bowl for the first little while, but it comes together after several folds so don't stress!)
9. Carefully pour the batter into the lined loaf pan and place it in the oven for 50-55 min.  (I set the timer for 45 minutes because it tends to bake oddly sometimes but ended up adding an extra ten minutes.  The toothpick test inserted into the middle will definitely let you know when its done.  All I can really say about this one is that you know your oven so use your best judgement!)
10. Let the loaf hang out on a rack to let it cool.  (One of the best things about lining with tinfoil is how easy it is to pull the loaf out of the pan.  'Nuff said.)

Like I had mentioned earlier, I came across the original recipe on the food blog 'Nuts about food' while I was randomly browsing on the internet.  Actually, I'll be perfectly honest, I was looking at all the beautiful pictures on Tastespotting (and getting camera envy) when I saw the picture and description of this cake.  Because I can't stick to a recipe to save my life (I just can't resist the urge to add or substitute when I don't have stuff), this version's a little different.  However, I hope to get a little bit better at it in the future!

Just Imagine My Bliss

Hey there, guys!

I'd say it’s me again but, with internet posting, you're kind of aware of the fact that it is me.  Then again, I guess someone could be posting as me, but I am doubtful that it would happen.  Besides, you'd know; the tone of it all would be wonky and it wouldn't seem like me.

Just like the over-thought going on right here.  Right, enough of that.  Let's jabber about chocolate!

Remember a short while ago when I was so high on getting to bake flourless brownies?  If not, brief refresh: I was pumped to bake flourless brownies, I gathered the ingredients then realized that there were absolutely no cocoa in my pantry and cried a little.  To soothe my disappointment, I baked cookies and prepared some mini-desserts for my week.  It really soothed my will to create, but left a well because it didn't involve chocolate.  You can chuckle, but I (<3) my chocolate.

So, this past weekend (not to be confused with the one that has technically started), you can bet I made sure to have chocolate - or, rather, I got myself some cocoa.  Good cocoa.  And, frankly speaking, enough to make plenty of haystacks and brownies for a good while.

Oh, cocoa and butter...  A pondering for another time!

I had my doubts about this recipe: could brownies still be good if they didn't have a lot of butter and no flour?  You have to understand, I grew up with traditional baking and, really, the healthier versions always tasted like cardboard.  For the really good cookies (meaning the ones you only got at Christmas when people feel more generous with their time) were made with sugar, butter and flour.  Shortbreads?  Three ingredients in that one.  Banana bread?  Butter, flour and sugar!  Muffins?  BFS!  So, when looking at this, I wasn't sure it was going to work out.  I was 'approaching with caution' as they say.

And...

They turned out pretty darn good!  Moist, chocolaty and approved by office mates.  Healthier options, in this case, scores some bonus points!


Flourless Brownies

Is there anything greater than chocolate?  Personally, I like my chocolate dark.  I don't even get out of bed for anything less than 60%.  I jest (of course) because its black coffee for which I'm getting out of bed!  On a serious note, next time I make these, I'm going to leave them out and make sure that they are totally cool.  As you can see, mine went a little shinny even though they seemed cool.  Then again, my kitchen is a little small and retains heat incredibly well...

What You'll Need:

• 1 (19-oz) can black beans (I used the Unico brand because they were taking some pocket change off of them but I don't think this recipe is too picky about that one.)
• 3 large eggs (I brought them to room temperature before I used them.)
• 1/3 cup melted margarine (Kitchkem in the ... kitch with a microwave and a glass bowl.  Somehow, this "Clue" reference seemed a lot cooler in my head.)
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (For the win, I might add.)
• 1/8 tsp kosher salt (At that small a measurement, its pretty much equivalent to a pinch, really.)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

(Note: Walnuts can be used here but I left them out because I find them yucky.  Yes, that is the technical term.  If you want to use them, the original recipe says 1/3 cup.)


How It's Done:

Okay, before we start off with how it’s done, I just want to say that I don't have a food processor so this recipe was a little trickier than I had initially intended it to be.  I mashed the black beans by hand and then proceeded onto the mixing.  I suppose this note in a nutshell is that if you don't have a food processor, its still do-able.  I also made these more like 2-bite brownies so the instructions are going to be a little different than the original recipe.  Sorry!

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Drain the black beans in a sieve and rinse briefly with water.  (Gotta toss these about a bit so that most of the water will actually come out but not so roughly that the beans get squished.)
3. Toss the black beans in a large mixing bowl and mash until beans are as homogeneous as possible.
4. With electric mixer in hand, slowly add in the eggs, one at a time and fully incorporate.
5. Add in the melted margarine and continue to mix.
6. Slowly pour in the sugar to the mixture and mix until the sugar is incorporated throughout.
7. Add cocoa powder, salt and vanilla to finish off the mixing.
8. Line the cups of a miniature muffin tin with liners and half-fill the cups.
9. Drop in 2-3 chocolate chips in each cup.
10. Fill the cups until near the top, covering the chocolate chips previously added.
11. Transfer the tray to the oven and let it bake for 13-15 minutes. (The poke test should come out crumbly but not wet.)
12. When they're done baking, let them cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  (The 'cooling completely' is pretty key here as the brownie gets this hardness on the surface to disguise the chewy goodness underneath.)

Makes a total of 32 two-bite-sized brownies for your enjoyment!


The recipe is courtesy of Whole Foods Market, whose site has a bunch of different recipes not only for baking but for cooking as well.  Like I mentioned before, their recipe uses a food processor that I don’t have but these still turned out regardless (so no worries all you food-processor-deprived persons like me, you can still pull it off!  And, I might add, no one knew the difference or noticed that there were black beans in there!).  I’ve never had the chance to physically go there because there isn’t a location near my house, however, an acquaintance mentioned what the interior was like in the New York branch so I wanted to at least check out their website.  I’m thinking I want to see if there’s one nearby my zio’s house so maybe I can stop there on the way home after a visit!