Biscuits (Back to Basics)

This months bakers challenge was hosted by  Audax from Audax Artifex. In many ways he is the backbone among us; always the first to complete the challenge and  always providing insightful tips on how to make the challenge more successful. There is never a challenge that he doesn’t seem to take to the limit, pushing flavor boundries to the edge. So it was somewhat of a surprise that when it was his turn to host he chose biscuits. In his native Australia, they are known as scones, but here in North America they are called baking powder biscuits, or biscuits.  What I love about this challenge is that while it appears so simple and basic, it is so elusive in reality. How many times have you been to someone’s house and were served hockey pucks that were disguised as biscuits- or worse- how many times have you served them to guests??

With all this being said, you must go visit his site and read up all about his  trial and errors. He has some wonderful and interesting things to say on the subject that are not to be missed.

For mine, I baked up the basic version and a cheddar cheese version. The latter I brushed with garlic butter and dried parsley as soon as they came out of the oven which made them taste just like the cheddar bay biscuits served at Red Lobster (mmmm). Many others in the Daring Bakers crew added raisins or fruit so you should check it out, but I like my biscuits without such things. I did try a gingerbread version but decided I like gingerbread cake, not gingerbread biscuits.

We go through spurts of baking biscuits, so they are no stranger to this house. I love this recipe, which is so good with breakfast, but Audix has provided a lovely version as well. There are a few things that will definitely take away with me from this challenge. 1) Grate frozen butter with a box grater (this virtually cuts out blending with your fingertips). 2) use half butter, half shortening 3) let the dough rest before and after cutting

Biscuits are one of those staples that everyone should know how to bake. So give it try and bake on!

Baking Powder Biscuits

1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm/5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (⅓ oz) fresh baking powder
¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1½ gm) salt
2 tablespoons (30 gm/1 oz) frozen grated butter (or a combination of shortening and butter)
approx. ½ cup (120 ml) cold milk
optional 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops (which I don’t do)

Cheddar Cheese variation: Add 2 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese to the dry ingredients. When fresh out of the oven brush immediately with garlic butter and sprinkle lightly with dried parley.

 Preheat oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9
 Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. 
Rub the frozen grated butter (or combination of fats) into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones.
 Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be! Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 10 minutes.
 Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)

 Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle by about ¾ inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2 cm thick). Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer and cut two more scones (these two scones will not raise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire. 
Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Pop them back in the fridge for another 10 minutes.

Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden colour on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones. (I never do either of these things)
 Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly coloured on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.
 Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm. Enjoy!

National Pie Day

Since today is national pie day, I thought I would get in the spirit and bake a little pie. I mean that literally. A 9 inch pie is just too much for just us without company coming over, so I made 12 mini pies so we could give some away. With a pie crust in the freezer (see, things like this do come in handy), and a regular muffin tin, this was quite quick to put together.  If you don’t have a large, round cutter, you can flip a small bowl over and use that as your template. The crust should only come halfway up the sides of the muffin cup, unless you want a very deep dish pie.

So, do you part and bake a pie today… or at least eat one. Bake On!

Chocolate Banana Coconut Pie

Makes one 9 inch pie or 12 small pies

You will need one recipe for flaky pie dough. (you will need 1/2 this recipe)

Chocolate Ganache:

3/4 Cup (6 oz) heavy cream
6 Ounces Bittersweet chocolate
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until almost boiling and then pour over the chocolate. Let this sit for 3 minutes. Whisk together until smooth and creamy (this will take less than a minute), then stir in the extracts until well blended. Set aside to set up for 30 minutes (my pie crust was thawing during this time).

*Preheat your oven to 350F*

Filling:

1/4 Cup (2 oz) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 Cup (4 oz) dark brown sugar
1/2 Cup (4 oz) granulated sugar
1/2 Cup (4 oz) whole milk
2 small, very ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
1 1/2 Cups (6 oz) sweetened shredded coconut

Beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the egg, milk ,mashed bananas, and vanilla and beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. It will look slightly curdled- don’t worry. Stir in the coconut. Set aside.

Assembly:

Roll out you pie to 1/8 inch thickness and cut out twelve 4 inch circles. Press each circle into a muffin space so it is evenly and firmly in the bottom well. It will be halfway up the sides.

Drop a tablespoon’s worth of the chocolate ganache into each little pie shell.

Cover with a very large spoonful (about 1/4 cup) of the coconut filling. When you use up all of the filling, each of your little pie shells will be very full. That is what you want; the filling will settle as it bakes.

Place in your preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes . Let cool completely. Run a sharp knife around the edges to loosen before taking them out of the pan.

Potato Bread

Baby it’s cold outside… like -22F I mean (and lower at night!). Doesn’t seem believable but sadly it’s true. What’s a girl to do in  weather like this? Bake , of course. And make it comfort food please. Like soups, stews, chocolate chip cookies, and fresh bread. Warm out of the oven fresh bread. That should help a little with this kind of cold. And it does. Needless to say I haven’t been outside much this past week. It’s been crazy cold like this for the past week so there has been a lot of home time, which can be really nice sometimes. My daughter and I have been able to play a lot of games together this week and I have had the chance to bake this wonderful bread. Potatoes are used two ways in this bread. First, the potato water, or I should say, the water that the potato is cooked in. It is rich in starch and flavor. Second, the boiled potato itself. This make the bread moist and supple with a crisp crust. So good.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite bread books Bernard Clayton’s  New Complete Book of Breads. I picked it up a long time ago at a local book sale for $3C. Worth every penny, and then some. No fancy pictures, but simple to follow instructions. These are recipes, so it’s not about  techniques or the science behind bread baking, which is why I like it so much. I am not an advanced bread baker with knowledge about the percentage of moisture in my starter. Maybe one day I’ll get there. I just know that I like to bake bread. A lot. This book gives you three methods for every recipe; by hand, by standing mixer, and by processor. It’s a real every mans kind of book. Wait, I mean, every bakers kind of book. So, Bake on!

* A small note about yeast in this recipe. I have made this using 2 different kinds of yeast with different rising times. When I use active dry yeast, I measure out 1/2 cup of the potato water and let it sit until it is 100F. I then add the yeast and proof it for ten minutes before adding it to the flour with the hot potato water mixture. This first rise takes about 1 1/2. This particular time I used instant dry yeast (SAF gold) and followed the recipe below with my rise only taking 50 minutes. I can’t say I could taste any difference, especially since they weren’t side by side. In other words, use what you have on hand!

Potato Bread

This recipe makes 2 loaves and freezes beautifully. I made braided loaves but you can also use 2 loaf pans

2 small to medium potatoes or 1 large one (which is what I used)
2 cups water
5 cups all-purpose flour, approximately
4 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast, or 2 packages
1 Tablespoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 Cup unsalted butter

Peel the potato (es) and bring to a boil with the water in a medium-sized pot. Cook until tender. Drain, saving the water, and rice or mash the potato. Set them both aside. You should have 1 3/4 cups potato water left; if not add some tap water if necessary.

Stir together  3 cups of flour, the yeast, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl.

Place the riced potato, potato water and butter back into the pot. Stir in all together and heat, if necessary, to 120F (yes, this is hot). Add to the flour mixture. Using the dough hook attachment (or beat by hand using a wooden spoon), add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time. The dough will be sticky at first, but this will change as you sprinkle in the flour. The dough will clean the sides of the bowl and form a ball. Knead the dough for 10 minutes. Place the ball of dough into a large, greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in volume. This will take 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, depending on your yeast*

Punch down the dough and divide into 2 equal pieces ( a kitchen scale is quite handy and I recommend everyone treat themselves to this very useful item- otherwise, just eye it as best as possible). If you want to make a braid, divide one of your pieces into 3 more equal pieces. Let the dough rest for about 5 minutes and then roll the pieces out into 14 inch ropes and braid then, making sure to pinch the ends together tightly. I like to slightly roll the ends under.  Repeat with the other piece of dough and place these on a large, parchment lined baking sheet with about 4 inches of space between them. Cover with a clean towel and let rise for 40 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 400F 30 minutes before baking.

Bake for 15 minutes and then turn your oven down to 350F and bake for an additional 25 minutes. If they brown too quickly, cover them loosely with a piece of foil. They are fully baked when they bottom of the bread sounds hard and hollow when tapped with your finger.

Cool on a wire cooling rack (for as long as you can wait, which was only about 10 minutes in our house).

Enjoy!

P.S. While it has been frigid cold all week it is supposed to up to the mid forties by next week. Life in Rockies!!

Happy New Year

Yes, I know, I know, I know. It’s been 6 weeks since my last post. I’m not making any excuses for myself. I have been in New York visiting my mom for the holidays and just didn’t make time to fit it in. Everyone needs a break, right? Not that I have taken a break from baking. Far from it. I have baked more in the last 6 weeks than I have in months. I’m just too tired at the end of the day to write about it! Here is a small sampling of what has been going on in the kitchen….

Sugar cookies, Stollen bites,

cashew caramel cookies, cocoa blocks

Cranberry Turtle bars, Brandied Fruit Squares*, Creole pecan bars

Skinny Peanut Wafers*, Peanut Madness Chunks**,

Vanilla  Sugar Cookies, Red Velvet shortbread

Chocolate covered sandwich cookies with dulce de leche, Brioche

Double Chocolate Chunk cookies, Red Velvet swiss roll with rasberry cream cheese filling

And so I want to wish everyone a wonderful beginning to a New Yearfilled with love and baking!

* From Maeda Heatters Great book of Cookies

** From Baking by Flavor by Lisa Yockelson

Sans Milan

By the time this posts, I will be sitting in my mothers living room in New York for my annual Christmas pilgrimage back home. Since it is late at night and I just remembered I need to type this up (and I’m tired and stressed), this will probably end up a little clumsy, so please forgive me.

This months Bakers Challenge was brought to us by Catherine of Munchie Musings. She chose two Phillipino desserts to try. I wish I could say that I made both of them. But I didn’t. I have been baking cookies to put in the freezer for my better to eat and share while we are away. So please, go to her site and check out the other, very interesting dessert, which is called Bibinka.

The one that I made  is a Sans Rival cake. “Sans rival” means “without rival” and any Filipino will argue with you that this is true. Although it’s one of the most popular desserts in the Philippines, its origins are certainly French. In the 1920’s to 30’s there were many Filipinos who went abroad to study. A good number went to France and learned many French cooking techniques which they then brought home. A Sans Rival is made with layers of dacquoise, typically using crushed cashews, with very rich French buttercream frosting. The dacquoise is allowed to bake and dry to a crispy layer so that there is the crunch of pastry and nuts with the buttery, silky frosting.

For my version, I made an almond chocolate meringue with a coffee buttercream. Not very imaginative but really decadent and delicious. I will, without a doubt, be making again in the next few weeks. Maybe even for Christmas dessert. It was that good. And easy (ish). You can make this any shape and size you want; I chose cut the meringue recipe in half and made small circles. the end result was individual sized portions. I also made a slightly (4 inch) larger one and it is safely nestled in the freezer for him to eat when he chooses.

SANS RIVAL
Ingredients (FULL RECIPE):

10 large egg whites, room temp
1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm) (8 oz) white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (3 gm) cream of tartar
¼ cup (60 ml) (20 gm) (2/3 oz) Dutch processed cocoa
2 cups (480 ml) (240 gm) (8½ oz) toasted, slice almonds (grind 1 1/2 cups and save 1/2 cup sliced for decoration)

Note: You will need four layers which will mean that you might have to bake in two batches. Be sure to use fresh parchment paper and cooled pans for each batch.

1. Preheat oven to moderate 325°F/160°C/gas mark 3.
2. Line cake pan bottoms with parchment paper and butter and flour the sides really well.
3. In a large clean, dry glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites on medium until foamy (2 mins.). Sprinkle with cream of tartar. Gradually add sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, continuing to beat now at high-speed until stiff shiny peaks form. (about 7-10 mins.)

Fold in cocoa powder and finely ground nuts (1 1/2 cups) Remember, the sliced nuts are for decorating the finished cake.

5. Divide meringue into four equal parts. Spread in pans,evenly to the edges,  or like I did,and draw templates on the underside of a piece of parchment paper so you can do whatever size  you choose. If doing batches, use fresh parchment paper and cooled pans for each batch.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the meringue from the baking pans while still hot; allow to cool slightly. Peel off the parchment paper while it is still warm, it is difficult to remove sometimes when they have completely cooled.

7. When cool, trim edges so that all 4 meringue layers are uniformly shaped. Set aside.

French Buttercream:

Ingredients
5 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm) (8 oz) white granulated sugar
1/4 cup (60 ml) water
1¼ cup (300 ml) (2½ sticks) (285 gm) (10 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
Optional Flavorings: 2 oz (55 gm) unsweetened chocolate, melted, or 1½ teaspoon (7 ½ ml) almond extract, or 1½ teaspoon (7 ½ ml) vanilla extract, or any flavor you like

Directions:

1. Put the egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Beat at high-speed until the yolks have doubled in volume and are a lemon yellow.
2. Put the sugar and water in a heavy pan and cook over medium heat, stirring the sides down only until all the sugar is dissolved and the syrup reaches 235°F/112°C (or thread stage).
3. With the mixer on high, very slowly pour the syrup down the sides of the bowl, until all has been added. Be careful as the very hot syrup could burn you if it splashes from the beaters. Continue beating on high until the mixture is ROOM TEMPERATURE (about 15 mins). Still on high, beat in the soft, room temperature butter a tablespoon at a time. Add flavoring after you beat in the butter. Refrigerate the buttercream for at least an hour, and whip it smooth just before you use it.

Assembly:

Set bottom meringue on cake board with a dab of butter cream to hold it in place. Spread a
thin layer of buttercream and then place another meringue on top. Repeat with a thin layer of
buttercream, meringue, thin layer of buttercream, meringue, and finally buttercream the top and
sides. Decorate with reserved nuts.

Refrigerate until ready to serve. It is easier to cut cold. May freeze.

Pumpkin Pie Scented Popovers

Here in Canada, Thanksgiving was celebrated well over a month ago, but since I will always be a New Yorker, the real Thanksgiving for me is this week. I was planning on doing a big dinner here since we have had requests from a few of our Canadian friends looking to get in on a big U.S. Thanksgiving foodfest, but I am getting to feel too rushed since I am leaving for NY next week. I won’t make it in time for the holiday, so here is my little tiny pumpkin treat. These are lovely at breakfast with a little maple butter.

Popovers are an American treat that are a direct descendent to Yorkshire pudding. the only real difference is that Yorkshire pudding is baked in one large pan that is coated with the drippings of roast meat, and popovers are individual portions with the pan coated in melted butter (or in this case, PAM). Popovers are crisp and puffy on the outside, custardy on the inside; truly a delightful treat, whether you serve it with coffee in the morning or with roast beef in the evening (just delete the sugar and spice)

Check out this recipe for popovers.  It is from 1877! Other than a few tiny tweaks that have been made in various cookbooks over the years, it is still essentially the same recipe that is still followed today. Talk about longevity! Or how about the saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”!.  Bake on…

Pumpkin Pie Scented Popovers

1 Cup  all-purpose flour (I prefer unbleached)
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon if you prefer)
1 1/4 Cup milk
2 large eggs
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon superfine sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Sift together the flour, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk together the milk, eggs,sugar, melted butter and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients and whisk until just incorporated. The batter should still be slightly lumpy. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes (or up to 3 hours. Don’t you just love make ahead recipes?). Okay, that was easy enough, now onto the slightly more tricky part.

Preheat your oven to 400 F.
You need to do this 30 minutes before you plan to bake your popovers. You need a good, hot oven for the “pop” in popovers.

Get you popover tray (or muffin tray, though you won’t get as much height) and spray the bottom of each mold with PAM. Place it in the oven for 10 minutes before baking.

After the popover pan has been heating up in the oven for 10 minutes, get a potholder and quickly take the pan out of the oven (close the door again). Quickly divide the batter between the six popover molds. It will sizzle when you pour in your batter.

Place the pan back in the oven and turn the heat up to 425F. Bake for 25-30 minutes . Do not be tempted to open the oven door to check on the popovers until the last 5 minutes to avoid deflating them. Remove them from the oven and unmold them onto a cooling rack. Puncture the side of each one with a small knife to let the steam inside them escape. Dust with confectioners sugar, if desired. Enjoy!

Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze

I was just in the mood for a bundt cake. Baking is my form of relaxation therapy (though sometimes it seems so stressful…) and I had a container of sour cream just calling out to be put into a cake. A chocolatey cake. In a pretty pan. Yes, a bundt cake. Now all I can think of is, “why don’t I bake these more often”? What a showstopper to bring out at the end of a meal with friends – or how about as a gift to say “thank you” to someone special?

This one is rich and chocolatey, but not overly sweet at all. As I get older I like my chocolate to taste more like chocolate, and less like sugar.  The best part of this recipe is that is actually tastes better as the days go on. In fact, don’t eat it the day you make it. Bake it the day (or two) before you need it and  let the flavors really develop. The chocolate sauce enrobing the cake keeps it beautifully moist and flavorful. Bake On…

Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake

1 Cup (8 oz) unsalted butter
1/2 C + 2 tablespoons cocoa powder (I like to use a mix of black cocoa and dutch process)
3/4 Cup strong coffee
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
1 Cup (8 oz) sour cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 Cups (8 oz) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 10 cup bundt pan (I actually just use PAM)

In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter with the cocoa powder. Whisk occasionally to get out any lumps. Take off the heat and whisk in the coffee, sour cream , eggs and vanilla. Stir in the sugar.  Transfer the liquid mixture to a mixing bowl. Sift in the flour, baking soda, corn starch and salt. Beat with a mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes (or by hand for 4 minutes) until smooth and shiny. Pour into your prepared cake pan and bake for 35-40 minutes. Now, whenever I read the recommended bake time on a cake I always set my timer for 5 minutes before (in this case 30 minutes) and test the cake by sticking it with a wooden skewer to see how done it is and then every 5 minutes after that so that I never overbake my cake.

Let the cake cool in the pan, on a cooling rack, for 25 minutes before inverting the cake out onto the cooling rack.

Make the Glaze:

* If you do not have Nutella on hand (or want to use it) just increase the bittersweet chocolate to 9oz)

1 Cup (8 oz) heavy cream
6 Ounces dark chocolate
3 oz Nutella

Finely chop the dark chocolate. Place in a medium sized bowl and set aside. Heat the cream over medium heat to a simmer. It should be hot but not boiling. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate; let this sit for 3 minutes. Add the Nutella and whisk until everything comes together and makes a smooth, shiny sauce. It will look a little curdled at first but just keep whisking and suddenly it will be gorgeous.

Final Assembly:

Place a sheet of wax paper (or parchment) under the cooling rack. This is to catch the extra sauce as you are pouring it over the cake; it keeps your counter clean and makes it easy to pour back into your bowl.

Slowly start pouring the warm chocolate sauce over the cake. You can start in a zig zag pattern and just keep overlapping as you go around. Ultimately, in the end, you want the entire cake enrobed in a layer of chocolate sauce. Mmm… now doesn’t that sound good?  You will be glad about that sheet of wax paper catching the drippings at this point. Any leftover sauce (you should have about 1/2 cup left) is excellent on ice cream (or maybe just with a spoon?…).

Transfer the cake to a cake stand and sprinkle with some swedish sugar (totally optional, but pretty).

Enjoy!

Happy Halloween 2011

No Recipes today, just wishing everyone a safe and happy Halloween. Here are a few pictures of some of the cookies I have been decorating for the season. The skull in the bottom right hand corner is actually a 3D white chocolate mold filled with gumdrops. I got the mold for $1.50 (!!!) at Michaels the other day; it is made by Wilton.

I also found these super easy to use transfer sheets for $1.49. It contained 8 transfers, so I thought that was a really good deal. These were purchased at Winner’s, which is the Canadian equivalent to TJ Maxx or Marshalls. The message here? always be on the lookout !!

What I really love about these is that ANYONE can do this- no previous experience necessary. What’s better than that? Baking from Scratch couldn’t be easier when you find fun decorating tools like this. Bake on!

Now off to prepare the little one for tonight…..

Povitica

This months Bakers Challenge was hosted by Jenni from  The Gingered Whisk. She chose a fabulous eastern european  holiday bread called Povitica. I was really excited for this challenge since I attempted it last Christmas and wasn’t that excited over the results. I now know why.

Last years attempt

The secret to this amazing bread  is in the final rolling and assembly of the bread. It must be stretched paper thin and then you can roll it any number of ways to get exciting patterns on the inside when you slice it. I loved it so much I made it three different ways. The first go was filled with cream cheese and raspberries. It was like a yummy danish. The 2nd go was a savory version filled with carmelized onion, cheddar cheese and bacon. The entire loaf was devoured in one sitting by my husband and his friend! The 3rd go around was filled with a black cocoa paste, dark and chocolately without being sweet. All were divine and I will definitely be making this again (and again).

The recipe provided makes a staggering amount of dough, providing you with 4 loaves. I made the 1/2 and 1/4 versions, much more manageable for me (otherwise I would eat all four!). To get the full recipe please go to Jenni’s site to retrieve it. The traditional filling is made with ground walnuts so be sure to try that as well. The method to make the half and quarter batches are the same, just measure out your ingredients accordingly.  This looks long and complicated but I promise, it really isn’t complicated at all. Just read through everything before making it. Bake On!…

Carmelized Onion, Cheddar and Bacon

Half Batch Dough Ingredients (Makes two loaves each 1.25 lbs/565 grams)
To activate the Yeast:
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/4 ½ gm) Sugar
½ Teaspoon (2½ ml/1½ gm) All-Purpose (Plain) Flour
¼ Cup (60 ml) Warm Water
1 Tablespoon (15 ml/7 gm/¼ oz/1 sachet) Dry Yeast

Dough:
1 Cup (240 ml) Whole Milk
6 Tablespoons (90 ml/85 gm/3 oz) Sugar
1½ Teaspoons (7½ ml/9 gm/1/3 oz) Table Salt
2 Large Eggs
¼ Cup (60 ml/60 gm/½ stick/2 oz) Unsalted Butter, melted
4 cups (960 ml/560 gm/19¾ oz/1¼ lb) All-Purpose Flour, measure first then sift, divided

Topping:
¼ Cup (60 ml) Cold STRONG Coffee
1 Tablespoon (15 ml/14 gm/½ oz) Granulated Sugar
Melted Butter

Quarter Batch Dough Ingredients (Makes one loaf 1.25 lbs/565 grams)
To activate the Yeast:
½ Teaspoon (2½ ml/2¼ gm) Sugar
¼ Teaspoon (1¼ ml/¾ gm) All-Purpose (Plain) Flour
2 Tablespoons (30 ml) Warm Water
1½ Teaspoons (7½ ml/3½ gm/0.125 oz/½ sachet) Dry Yeast

Dough:
½ Cup (120 ml) Whole Milk
3 Tablespoons (45 ml/43 gm/1½ oz) Sugar
¾ Teaspoon (3¾ ml/9 gm/0.17 oz) Table Salt
1 Large Egg
1 tablespoon (30 ml/30 gm/¼ stick/1 oz) Unsalted Butter, melted
2 cups (480 ml/280 gm/10 oz/0.62 lb) All-Purpose Flour, measure first then sift, divided

To Activate Yeast:
 In a small bowl, stir together the specified amounts above and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 5 minutes

To Make the Dough:
 In a medium saucepan, heat the milk up to just below boiling (about 180°F/82°C), stirring constantly so that a film does not form on the top of the milk. You want it hot enough to scald you, but not boiling. Allow to cool slightly, until it is about 110°F/43°C.
 In a large bowl, mix the scalded milk,  sugar, and the salt until combined.
 Add the beaten eggs, yeast mixture, melted butter, and half of the flour. Blend thoroughly and slowly add remaining flour, mixing well until the dough starts to clean the bowl. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead, gradually adding flour a little at a time, until smooth and does not stick.

 Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces if you are making the half portion.
 Place into an oiled bowl (s) , cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

 

Chocolate version

Fillings

Raspberry Cream Cheese Filling

1)
1 1/2 Cups fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons corn starch mixed with 4 teaspoons cool water
juice of 1 lemon

Bring the raspberries and sugar to a boil over medium heat; let gently boil for 5 minutes. Add the cornstarch water mixture and stir continuously for another 2 minutes. It will thicken slightly. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Strain through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. Set aside.

2.)
8 oz block Cream Cheese, softened
1 egg yolk
1/2 Cup granulated sugar

Blend all together until smooth. When ready to assemble, spread the cream cheese mixture gently over the dough with an offset spatula. Repeat with the raspberry filling.

 

Chocolate filling

3 Tablespoons black cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons dutch process cocoa powder (if you can’t get black cocoa just use all dutch process)
1/2 Cup (4 oz) granulated sugar
1/4 Cup (4 oz)  heavy cream
1/4 Cup (4 oz) butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons espresso powder
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the cocoa powder, sugar and  cream. Make sure to get out any lumps. Add the melted butter, espresso powder, and salt. Bring to a low boil, stirring occasionally. Let this cook for 2-3 minutes. Take off the heat and stir in the vanilla. Set aside to cool completely.

To Roll and Assemble the Dough:
 Spread a clean sheet or cloth over your entire table so that it is covered. Sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons to a handful of flour (use flour sparingly). Place the dough on the sheet and roll the dough out with a rolling pin, starting in the middle and working your way out, until it measures roughly 10-12 inches (25½ cm by 30½ cm) in diameter. Spoon 1 to 1.5 teaspoons (5ml to 7 ½ ml/4 gm to 7 gm) of melted butter on top.I did not do this step as instructed. I own a very large plastic cutting board (20 x 26 inches) which worked perfectly for this and the dough did not stick to it at all.
 Using the tops of your hands, stretch dough out from the center until the dough is thin and uniformly opaque. You can also use your rolling pin, if you prefer. As you work, continually pick up the dough from the table, not only to help in stretching it out, but also to make sure that it isn’t sticking. When you think it the dough is thin enough, try to get it a little thinner. It should be so thin that you can see the color and perhaps the pattern of the sheet underneath. This is actually pretty easy to do

Spoon filling (see below for recipe) evenly over dough until covered

Lift the edge of the cloth and gently roll the dough like a jelly roll, or the way I prefer, rolling in at each end until they meet in the middle. Experiment to your heart’s content! Once the dough is rolled up into a rope, gently lift it up and place it into a greased loaf pan in the shape of a “U”, with the ends meeting in the middle. You want to coil the dough around itself, as this will give the dough its characteristic look when sliced. Cover pans lightly will plastic wrap and allow to rest for approximately 15 minutes.
 Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark.

Remove plastic wrap from dough and place into the preheated oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes. Turn down the oven temperature to slow 300°F/150°C/gas mark 2 and bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until done. Remove bread from oven and brush with melted butter. ( I did not do this for the savory version)
 Check the bread at 30 minutes to ensure that the bread is not getting too brown. You may cover the loaves with a sheet of aluminum foil if you need to. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes, still in the bread pan. Remember, the bread weighs about 2.5 and it needs to be able to hold its own weight, which is difficult when still warm and fresh out of the oven. Allowing it to cool in the pan helps the loaf to hold its shape. It is recommended that the best way to cut Povitica loaves into slices is by turning the loaf upside down and slicing with a serrated knife

Notes:
• You do not need to use an electric mixer for this recipe, but you can prepare the dough in one in you prefer.
• Scalded milk is an important step. It used to be used to pasteurize milk, so if your milk is raw, please make sure you do this step. If your milk has been pasteurized, scalding the milk will help to make the bread tender.
• The recipe calls for using a sheet on top of your workspace. This is not necessary, but you will find that it was easier to roll out the dough with one. The dough is very sticky, and using the lightly floured sheet helps to keep the dough from sticking too badly. It also helps that you can move the sheet around as you work, and you can also move to a clean area of the sheet for each loaf that you roll out. You will also find that you will be able to roll the dough out thinner with the use of a sheet. The sheet is also used for rolling the Povitica up, but again, it is not necessary. And all the dough and filling goo washes out perfectly, so no problems there! If you decide not to use a sheet, a pastry scraper will come in very handy when you roll up your dough.
• There are two ways that you can roll the dough up. If you watch this video , you can see that the sheet is lifted and used as momentum for rolling the dough up. This technique takes a bit of finesse, but I encourage you to try it out. However, the dough can be rolled up by hand, like you would if you were making cinnamon rolls.
• There are several different ways that you can finish off your loaves before baking it. You can use either egg whites or melted butter,  or brush it with strong coffee and sugar like in the original recipe.

Raspberry Cream Cheese

Eggnog Pumpkin Angel Biscuits

Busy baking? Yes
Lazy blogger? Always
I swear, I’ve been baking. We had a small army of tomatoes from the community garden so I made a pate brisee dough, placed half in the freezer for a later use, and rolled the other half out and into a tart pan. No need to blind bake with this one. I brushed the bottom of the shell with a smoky red pepper spread, then a layer of ricotta cheese (mixed with a few egg yolks and some grated parmesan), and topped the whole thing off with layers of thickly sliced tomatoes. It was baked in a 375 oven for 40 minutes, till it was hot and bubbly. Soooo good for dinner with a tossed salad. Oh, and did I mention all of the Halloween cookies that I am getting ready? That will be a post for next week….

I still had some pumpkin puree left over from the Thanksgiving pumpkin pie that needed to get used. I kept thinking that I would make a pumpkin cranberry bread pudding, but I just was not in the mood for something sweet (what???). Angel biscuits are what I made instead. I am calling these Eggnog pumpkin angel biscuits since I just started making these and realized I didn’t have buttermilk for the liquid, but what I did have in the fridge was eggnog! It’s been a long time since I made these so I can’t give an actual taste comparison but I can tell you that they are outstanding when made with eggnog. There are many reasons to love these biscuits. You can whip up the dough the night before and wake up the next morning and bake them fresh out of the oven. I actually did it two ways. First I made the dough, placed it in the fridge for 1 hour, rolled it out, cut them and placed half in the oven for dinner. The other half (already rolled,cut,and  brushed with butter) in the fridge over night and baked them the next day. Equally delicious. these are also great because they are not sweet so they are great with some butter and jam,  as a cream cheese/jam sandwich (which is how my daughter likes them), or filled with smoked  Bavarian sausage (which is how my hubby liked them). I think they  would be great with sliced brie and pears…

Now, there are two ways to bring this together. You can mix it altogether in a food processor, or you can use a pastry blender. You know, it’s that half circle tined tool that you might not be sure of what to do with it. It’s perfect for cutting butter into flour. Unfortunately mine broke a while back , so I used the food processor, but I would never hesitate using that handy tool and you shouldn’t either. Bake On…

EGGNOG PUMPKIN ANGEL BISCUITS

Yields 17 large biscuits or 24 small biscuits

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 Cup  warm water (about 100 F)
5 Cups All purpose flour
1/4 Cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 Cup (4 oz) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes
1 Cup eggnog (or buttermilk)
1 Cup pumpkin puree
1 Tablespoon melted butter (for brushing the tops)

Dissolve the yeast in warm water in a small bowl; set aside .

Whisk together the flour, sugar, pumpkin-pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl (or food processor). Cut the butter into the flour mixture  using your processor (or pastry blender) until your butter pieces are incorporated, but you want to see several small pea size pieces sprinkled throughout. That is what gives you a light and flaky biscuit. If you are using a processor, transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree and the buttermilk until smooth. Add it to the flour mixture along with the yeast mixture. Stir everything together until just moistened. Like all biscuits, you want to use a light touch at this stage of the game.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour (or overnight).

Preheat your oven to 450F. Spray two 10 inch cake rounds with PAM (or use a large baking sheet).

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured workspace and knead a few times. I said a few – don’t manhandle it. Roll it out to 1/2 inch thick and cut with a 3 1/4 inch round cutter (or 2 inch for smaller biscuits).Gather up the scraps and reroll it. Place the biscuits in the prepared pans. Brush the tops with a little melted butter and bake until golden, about 12 minutes. Serve warm with butter or cold with sandwich meats/cheese. Enjoy!