Happy Birthday Lucy

Today it is my sister's dog Lucy's birthday.  I have been totally smitten with her ever since she was a puppy.  She went through kind of a hard time because she broke her leg when she was only about three months old.  Everyone in my family became super attached to her.

My sister threw her a little birthday party and she asked me to make a cake for the people.  It was a Funfetti cake with lemon curd filling and fluffy white buttercream frosting.  I was having difficulties with my cake baking this weekend, so I was lucky that I was able to get anything that even closely resembled a cake to the party.  Even then, the lemon curd filling make the top layer slide off the bottom once the cake was cut.  I use the Martha Stewart recipe for lemon curd, however, I am concerned that it does not set up properly for me and perhaps I should try a different recipe.  I have made that particular recipe several times and not had a lot of success with it.

Variations on a familiar theme

When I was a little girl, the fifth grade was the year you could join the band.  The real band.  Not the plastic recorder band, the real band with real instruments.  There was a day when you go and try out all of the instruments and the band director sort of guides you as to what instrument you should play based on what instrument you can make a noise out of.  I became a flutist.  We each got little purple books with songs to practice each week after lessons.  One of the first songs that we learned was "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."  After that there were songs labeled "Variations on a Familiar Theme" which were just more complex versions of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."  Those versions had slightly more complicated tempo, maybe a few eighth notes mixed in with the quarters and half notes.  Enough variation to make you feel special, like you could play something more complex.

This bread is like that.  I took the wonderful white potato bread recipe I have made a hundred times and jazzed it up, just a little.  Enough to taste more complex than it is.  A little healthier, a little deeper in flavor, but just as wonderful as the original.  I love this bread because is utilizes leftovers, but is just as tasty if you only have instant mashed potatoes.  I made two variations, because I had a lot of leftover mashed potatoes from Easter.  Both have the same directions, the ingredients are just a bit different.

Original
1 cup mashed potatoes
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 eggs
2/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
4-6 cups all-purpose flour

Variation 1
1 cup mashed potatoes
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups water
2 eggs
1 cup whole wheat flour
4 cups all-purpose flour

This variation is very mild.  The only change was the addition of some whole wheat flour, which I always think adds a delicious flavor and a bit of healthiness without sacrificing softness.

Variation 2
1 cup mashed potatoes
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups water
2 eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

This was the second variation I made and I decided to increase the amount of whole wheat flour to see if the bread would still be as soft.  I also changed the white sugar to honey because I am experimenting with substituting honey for sugar where I can.  In certain things it just is not the same, but it seems to work well in bread.  In this variation, I seemed to need more flour.  I attribute it to the fact that the honey is liquid at room temperature where the sugar is a solid and thus the honey absorbs more flour.

Directions:
Mix ingredients together until all incorporated.  I used the paddle attachment of my KA mixer until it got too firm and then I switched to my dough hook.

Knead with dough hook or by hand until dough is a smooth ball.  I actually like to leave this dough a little sticky at this stage because I always end up incorporating more flour at the second kneading

Allow the dough to raise until double.  Put dough on floured bread board and shape as desired.  I always make this bread in loaf pans.  Its a loaf pan kind of bread.  Allow to raise until it just reaches the top of the pan.

Bake at 400 degrees until done.  This takes about 40-45 minutes with regular sized loaf pans.  I also like to use mini loaf pans which only take about 25 minutes to bake.

Allow to cool and enjoy with some butter or jam as desired.  This bread is quite sweet and I typically enjoy it for breakfast.  I suppose you could use it as a sandwich bread, but it does not hold up particularly well to a lot of weight.

No Knead Bread

I know, I know, everyone has posted about no knead bread.  Up to this point I have ignored all the hype about no knead bread.  To me, it felt like a cop out.  Like I wasn't putting enough effort into the bread by not kneading it, how could it possibly be as good?  But it is GOOD.  Really really good.  I was totally stunned.  This beautiful crusty loaf with a soft chewy middle actually required very little effort on my part.  Now, you do need to do a bit of planning because it is yeast bread and does have more than just one step.  However, your efforts will be rewarded.  This loaf tastes like something from a restaurant.  It is delicious on its own, but puts me over the moon when eaten with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and garlic.

I got this recipe from the April issue of Martha Stewart Living. (Yes, I read the actual magazine...the photographs are just amazing!)  She was doing and interview with Jim Lahey, coauthor of My Bread.  This was the recipe he shared.

No Knead Bread-adapted from Martha Stewart Living
12 ounces bread flour
4.3 ounces whole wheat flour
1 1/4 teaspoons table salt
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 cups room temperature water

Stir ingredients together in a bowl.  Cover and leave at room temperature for 12 to 18 hours.  The next day, lightly knead the dough.  The dough will be stringy and sticky and so it is imperative to flour the bread board that you knead your bread on.  Shape into a boule and allow the dough to raise for another two hours.

Preheat your oven 475 degrees with the Dutch oven inside.  When the oven is sufficiently preheated then roll the dough into the hot Dutch oven.  Bake covered for 30 minutes and then uncovered for an additional 15 minutes.  The color of the crust is a nice dark brown.

Immediately remove the bread from the pan and allow to cool.

100 Percent Whole Wheat Bread

For Christmas, my sister-in-law got me Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Bread's.  Until now I have been too busy to even sit down and read it, let alone make anything out of it.  I have been interested in getting into whole grain breads for a little while now, several people, both friends and family have to switch over to whole wheat bread for health reasons.  Store bought whole wheat bread still has much of the same softness that white bread does and a lot more flavor.  However, I have tried making whole wheat bread before, and to me it tastes like eating my horse's grain.  It's ok, but only when slathered with butter, therefore negating some of the health benefits of eating whole wheat bread.

Peter Reinhart's book is interesting, in that he explains that the job of the baker is to evoke that best possible flavor from the grain.  He challenges us to use different methods to do this.  The recipe for the above bread is for his 100 percent whole grain sandwich bread.  This bread uses a soaker and a biga starter.  The idea behind the soaker is to start the activation of enzymes in the whole wheat flour.  Those enzymes start to break down the carbohydrate chains to release the sugars.  The biga is made separately with a little bit of yeast to start the process of fermentation.  Both the biga and the soaker are made on day one of the bread making process.

100 Percent Whole Grain Bread adapted from Whole Grain Breads

Soaker (day 1)
8 ounces whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 plus 2 Tablespoons milk (I used 2 percent milk cold, unscalded)  You can optionally use water

I mixed the ingredients together in a glass bowl with a metal spoon.  In the cookbook, Peter Reinhart states that the book that the soaker should be a firm ball.  My soaker however was more like a thick paste.  I am not sure if I used too much liquid or what.  I covered the soaker with plastic wrap and left it at room temperature overnight.

Biga
8 oz whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp instant yeast
6 oz water (I used room temperature filtered tap water)

I mixed these ingredients together in a metal bowl with a metal spoon until they came together into a ball.  I then kneaded it by hand for 2 minutes and let it rest for 5 minutes.  I then kneaded it for an additional minute, covered it with plastic wrap and stuck it in the refrigerator.

In theory, I was going to make this final dough the next day.  However, life got in the way and so I did not get around to making it until a couple days later.  If that is the case, just stick your soaker in the fridge along with your biga.  The soaker will get gross if you leave it out on your counter for 3 days.

Anyway, the day that you want to make your final dough, take both the soaker and the biga out of the fridge a couple of hours early to take the chill off.

Final Dough
All of the soaker
All of the biga
7 Tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
3 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Chop up the biga and soaker into pieces into your bowl.  Add the additional ingredients and mix together until the ingredients form a ball.  Here Peter Reinhart recommends autolaysing the bread for a few minutes to allow the gluten to start forming on its own.  When I made this bread I was dog sitting my sister's 1 year old lab and she managed to break the line she was tied out on and I had to chase her around the neighborhood.  Thus my bread autolaysed for 10-15 minutes, not the recommended 5.  However, it seemed to work out fine.  The directions in the book also indicate that you should only have to knead for 1 additional minute after the autolayse, however, in order to pass the windowpane test I had to knead (with my KA mixer) for more like 7 minutes.  I then let it raise for about an hour and a half.

After that additional hour, I kneaded it for about 1 minute and shaped the bread into a boule.  I then let it raise for another hour.  I baked the bread at 425 degrees for twenty minutes and then reduced the temperature to 350 degrees and baked for another 10 minutes.

This bread turned out so much better than I was anticipating.  It was soft and subtly sweet.  The sweetness was similar to that of breads I had made before with much more honey or sugar.  I believe that the soaker and the biga really contributed to the sweetness.  This bread is a great choice for some breakfast toast or for a sandwich. 

Happy Birthday Grandma

Today is my grandmother's 75th birthday.  Tonight her family is going to get together to eat lasagna and celebrate her life.  She is the mother to six children and the grandmother to five.  Recently she has even acquired a couple of great-grandchildren.  I have been an incredibly lucky girl, because I grew up only twenty minutes away from my grandmas.

This was the grandma who used to bake with us.  For Easter, we attempt to make elaborate Easter basket cakes and at Christmas, lots of sugar cookies.  She would find things in magazines that she thought we would like to create and save them until we came for a visit.

She was the grandma who used to let us do really messy crafts in her house.  The ones with glitter and glue and Popsicle sticks.  Anything we could come up with was fair game.  There was always a craft to be done.

This was the grandma who lived on a farm, with a creek, whose grandchildren had to play in the creek and catch toads and fish.  She even let us come in her house after that.

So these cookies are for her.  Literally.  Because as I stated above, I am a lucky girl and she lives close. 

Mini Cheesecakes

I made these mini cheesecakes for my sister's bridal shower last weekend.  They tasted fantastic and went over really well.  They were the perfect size and nice and creamy.  I was skeptical about making cheesecakes in muffin tins, because I always have anxiety over regular cheesecake (is it done, is it overdone, is it too wiggly still?)  These, however, were really easy and they did not take very long to bake at all.  The two hour baking time is another drawback of regular cheesecake.

I found the recipe in a wedding magazine from Martha Stewart, however it is also on her website here.  The hearts were such a cute addition and so easy.  All that was done, was drop some raspberry puree onto the top prior to baking and drag a toothpick through the middle.  The most difficult part was straining all of the seeds out of the raspberry puree!

These cheesecakes did not bake these in a water bath and I did not run into any difficulties, however, I did fill some of the tins too full of batter and it puffed up and cracked.  It is best to keep the tins only about 2/3 full.  Also, this leads to the best ratio of crust to cheesecake.  Another thing to note, as with all cheesecake, cream cheese does not melt so it is imperative to have the cream cheese at room temperature to be able to successfully beat all of the lumps out of it.

For practice the week before, I decided to try Taretlette's goat cheese cheesecakes.  These too were phenomenal.  The earthy flavor of the goat cheese was just the right compliment to the sweetness of the cheesecake.  I had been looking for a goat cheese cheesecake recipe ever since I tried it at The Turf Room, a restaurant my husband and I ate at for our anniversary a year ago.  This one really hit the spot.  Blood oranges are not available in my area, so we just ate them naked.  I ran into a bit of trouble with the muffin papers sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Tartelette specifically mentions spraying the pan before putting the muffin papers in, however, I failed to follow these directions.  The mistake was corrected when I made the above cheesecakes and had no problems pulling them out of the pan.

Overall, mini cheesecakes always seem to be a hit and are defiantly going to be made again.

Wordless Wednesday