Shortbread ‘Bake Off’

Holiday season is the time for sharing and Peta of Peta Eats is sharing a dozen cookies, some classics and some of her own, from all over the world with us.

I was thrilled to see that this months Daring Baker’s was Christmas baking!  I love Christmas baking!  It is the one time of the year where there is a ‘good excuse’ to make 15 different cookies and squares without feeling guilty!

Peta provided us with 12 different recipes to choose from, something for each of the “12 Days for Christmas’.  Our requirement was to pick at least one of the recipes provided and one of our own favourite Christmas treats.   Of the recipes provided I chose to make the Brown Butter Shortbread.  I chose the shortbread because I thought it would be fun to make a different version of shortbread then we are used to.  Around here it just isn’t Christmas without Mom’s Shortbread.  Regular readers are probably thinking, ‘your Mom’s shortbread?’ Yep! There are 2 things Mom bakes, her famous Rice Crispy Squares and her amazing Shortbread. She will generally make a Rice Crispy Square when ever the request is made, BUT will only make her shortbread at Christmas.  Thank goodness she makes A LOT, they freeze well and last well into the new year.

I will start with Mom’s Shortbread in this “Shortbread Bake Off”

Mom’s Christmas Shortbread

½ cup cornstarch
½ cup icing sugar
1 cup flour
¾ cup butter
red and green cherries

Directions:

1. Chop candied cherries into small pieces

2. In a large bowl measure your butter

3. Sift in remaining ingredients

4.  Blend until soft and smooth.  (Sidenote: you could use a spoon, Mom uses her hands to mush is all together.  She has never done it any other way and they are ALWAYS amazing, so why mess with perfection)

It will be crumbly, but keep going…

This is what you are looking for

5. Shape dough into small balls, place approximately 1 inch apart.

6. Press with a floured fork

7. Top with a chopped cherry

8. Bake at 300 F for 20-25 mins or until the edges start to turn golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.

Look at that! Amazing as always!

Mom’s shortbread are like none I have had before.  She refers to them as being ‘very short’.  They are not very sweet as you might assume from a cookie.  They have a much more dense texture then most shortbread I have tried, like the whipped ones and rolled varieties. Despite the ‘snap’ when you bite into it and the ‘dense’ texture they simply melt in your mouth, they are the best shortbread ever! Now, having said all that, I have yet to find someone who can duplicate this recipe and get it to taste like Mom’s.  It is not like she is withholding a secret ingredient because I watch her time and time again.  I have just come to accept that it is ‘Mom’s Love’ that makes them so darn good!

Now onto the Brown Butter Shortbread, they have a tough act to follow.  I had worked with brown butter once before, on another Daring Bakers Challenge, Baked Alaska.  The cake in the baked Alaska was a brown butter cake, it was delicious!  I was excited to try it in a shortbread.

Brown Butter Short Bread

1 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
2 teaspoons  pure vanilla bean paste
1-2/3 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
2 teaspoons table salt

Browning Butter

1.Cut the butter into small pieces and place in a saucepan over a low heat.

2. Melt the butter and cook until it starts to brown and gives off a warm, nutty aroma.   Stir from time to time to make sure the butter browns evenly. As it gets close to being browned enough it will foam up and you will see little brown bits in the foam.

3. Remove from the heat and pour into a heatproof jug or bowl.   Set aside to cool slightly and then refrigerate until it starts to set again but is not too firm. It should be the consistency of softened butter. Don’t strain out the little brown bits they taste great.

Cookies

1.Preheat the oven to moderate 300°F/ 150°C/gas mark 2.

2. Line 2 large baking sheets with silicon baking paper.

3. Add the sugar and vanilla to the browned butter and beat until very light and fluffy and the sugar is dissolved.

4. Add the flour and salt and mix for at least 2 – 4 minutes to form a soft dough.

It seemed to go all crumbly

So, Mom resorted to her method of mixing

Much better

5. Roll into small balls and press with a fork

6. Bake at 300 F, until edges start to brown.  Remove from the oven and leave the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

These shortbread were ok.  I shouldn’t say that, as a shortbread they were ok, as a cookie they were pretty good.  They did not share any of the same qualities that I would associate with a shortbread.  They were very sweet and a little ‘grainy’ as though the sugar did not fully dissolve.  It kind of reminded me of the texture of graham cracker crust.  Once I turned my thinking around and thought of them just as a cookie, they were pretty good.  We did decide that we may, one day, try the browned butter in Mom’s recipe and see how it turns out.  All and all a good recipe.  It was fun to compare the two,  I think we will be sticking to our original shortbread recipe though.

Thank you Peta for a great challenge!!

Daring Bakers do Empanadas

Patri of the blog, Asi Son Los Cosas, was our September 2012 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she decided to tempt us with one of her family’s favorite recipes for Empanadas! We were given two dough recipes to choose from and encouraged to fill our Empanadas as creatively as we wished!

This was an interesting challenge for me.  I had heard of empanadas but, I had never had one or seen one for that matter.   So I had to do a little research to see what I was getting myself into.

An empanada  is a stuffed bread or pastry that is either baked or fried.  Empanadas are made by folding dough around stuffing, which usually consists of a variety of meat, cheese, vegetables or fruits.  Instantly what I thought of was ‘pizza pockets’, same kind of thing.

It was manditory that we use one of the dough recipes provided and we were able to use any filling we wanted.  When I was researching what exactly and empanada was, I found many different ideas.  There was ham and cheese, pizza,  etc, BUT, I decided to go with something a little more traditional as I had never made them before.  I did a savory one and (of course) a sweet version.

Empanadas!

Dough Recipe

5-1/3 cups bread flour (I used all purpose)
2 cups  of lukewarm water (about 85°F/30ºC), approximately
1 satchel (1 tablespoon) (15 gm) dry yeast
2 teaspoons  salt
4 tablespoons  oil
1 large egg, for egg wash

Directions:

1.  Shift the flour into a big bowl

2. make a well in the middle. Rub the yeast in with your fingers.

3. In a small bowl, mix the water and the salt.

4. Now, using your fingers or a wooden spoon, start adding the water and mixing it with the flour-yeast mixture. Keep on working with your fingers or spoon until you have added enough water and all the flour has been incorporated and you have a messy ball of dough. On a clean counter top, knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes
You could do all the above using a stand mixer, in that case mix the ingredients with the paddle attachment until mixed and then switch to a dough hook and knead on low for about 6 minutes.

5. Clean and oil the big bowl you used for mixing and place the kneaded dough in it. Cover it with a napkin or piece of linen and keep it in a warm, draught-free place for approximately 40 to 50 minutes.

Now is a good time to start your fillings!

I chose to do a Beef recipe.  I used the recipe shown here, that I found when looking up how to make empanadas

Groud Beef Empanadas

• ¾ cup ground beef
• 1 tsp oregeno
• ¾ tsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp pepper flakes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ¾ tsp cumin
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• ½ cup green peppers
• 1 cup onions
• 3 tbsp oil
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 2 medium potatoes, chopped

Directions:

1. Mix dry spices with ground beef and set aside

2. In a large pan heat oil, cook, peppers, onions and garlic until golden

3. Add tomatoe sacue and bring to a boil

4. Add meat mixture, Cook 15 mintues on medium low

5. When everything starts to bubble cover

6. Cook 15 mintues then add potatoes

7. Cover again and cook an additional 15 minutes

8. Stir

9. Cook on low for 15 minutes more – stir every 5 mintues until potatoes are tender

10. Cover and set aside to cool – approximitly 15-20 minutes

Preparing the Empanadas

1. Once risen, turn the dough back into a floured counter and cut it in half. Cover one half with the napkin to prevent drying.

2. Spread the other half of the dough using a rolling pin.  Depending on the shape of your oven pan or cookie sheet, you will make a rectangle or a round. **I made mine into individual pockets**
Now, the thinness of the dough will depend on your choice of filling and how much bread you like in every bite. For your first time, make it about 3mm thin (about 1/10th of an inch) and then adjust from that in the next ones you make.

3. Cut circles depending on the size you want – this pot lid worked perfect

4. Add filling.  For this size I added a generous 1/4 cup of filling – was just perfect

5.  Fold over and press with a fork to prevent leaks

6. Brush with egg wash and bake at 375 F for 15 – 20 minutes

7. Bake until golden brown

This recipe was delicious!  I really liked the bread, it had a nice textrue.  It wasn’t like a ‘pastry’ like I was expecting, more like a cross between bread and pizza dough.  The filling was fantastic!  The spices in the beef gave them a hint of heat that left your mouth warm but not too hot.  I love the soft texture of the potatoes with in the pocket.  I prefered them as they cooled to room temperature.  The bread seemed to soften from the steam of the meat inside.  They did not go soggie as I expected, but became the texture of a bun.  They were rather crunchy right out of the oven.  As good as these were I will probably not make them again.  They were quite a lot of work. But I will be making the filling again, perhaps for tacos or wraps!

I decided to make a second filling, I had to make a sweet version, more of a baking challenge.  The savoury is more of a Daring Cooks Challenge, to me.  I decided to go with Apple Empanada’s .

Apple Empanadas

• 2 apples
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/3 cup caramel sauce
• Raisins

 Directiosn

1. In a large pan add water, apples, sugar and cinnamon.

2. Cook on medium until apples are tender and water has evaporated

3. Add caramel sauce and raisins

4. Simmer and stir until thickened

Set aside to cool

5. Follow steps 1-7 Preparing Empanadas above

Not sure why but all the apple ones opened, more like ‘Clams’

The apples ones were ‘ok’.  Because I HATE making dough I just used the left over from the savory empanadas, so it was kind of like eating an apple sandwich.  The filling was amazing, but I should have put forth the effort and made a sweet dough, it was very blah… I will not make these again.

Thank you to Patri from Asi Son Las Cosas for pushing me out of my confort zone in this great challenge!

Daring Bakers Are Crazy For Crackers!

I’m Baaaack!!!  It seems like forever since I have posted a Daring Bakers Challenge, I missed 2 months!!  That is unheard of for me.  I knew I had lots of spare time this month, as I am on Summer Holidays (WOO HOO!!), so I was very eager to see what the challenge was this month.

Our July 2012 Daring Bakers’ Host was Dana McFarland and she challenged us to make homemade crackers! Dana showed us some techniques for making crackers and encouraged to use our creativity to make each cracker our own by using ingredients we love.

For a moment I had another “really??” moment, “Crackers? Why not a sweet, delicious, rich, decadent dessert?”  Then I calmed down and dove right in.   I was quite excited, I had never thought of making my own crackers.  I love crackers!! If you have a good cracker, you don’t even need to put anything on it.  Don’t get me wrong, most of the time crackers are strictly ‘ladles’ for a delicious cheese spread or topping of some sort.  We all have our favourites that go with certain crackers.  A mild cracker goes with many cheese dips and spreads so you can fully enjoy the topping.  This is nothing better than a crisp fresh cracker with a thick slice of extra old cheddar cheese, (taste buds are going crazy just thinking about it!)

For this challenge we had free reign, our only requirement was that we had to make 2 different types of crackers, prepared two different ways.  They could be rolled, sliced, cut, pasta rolled, etc.  After much searching I decided to go with a sliced and a hand rolled variety.

Parmesan Rosemary Crackers
makes 20 crackers, adapted from Food and Paper

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary, plus 20 full leaves for decoration
3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup (2 1/2 ounces) finely grated Parmesan cheese
5 tablespoons sour cream
1 egg white, lightly beaten

1.Pulse flour, salt, pepper, and rosemary in the bowl of a food processor to combine.

2. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles a coarse meal.

3. Add cheese and pulse to combine

4. .Add 1 tablespoon of sour cream at a time, pulsing after each addition, until a well-combined dough comes together.

5. Transfer dough to a work surface and shape into a 2-inch-diameter-wide log. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.

6.  The next day. Heat oven to 325 degrees F.

7. Slice logs into 1/4-inch slices and place them on a parchment or silpat-lined baking sheet.

8.  Bake immediately, rotating sheet once, until crackers are golden brown, 25-35 minutes.

9. Transfer to a rack to cool.

10. Crackers can be made a day ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

These crackers were ok.  They were not quite what I was expecting.  I thought they would have been a lot crisper, like a cracker.  They were a little soft in the middles, more like a savory shortbread.  Maybe I could have cooked them a little longer or sliced them thinner, not sure if the results would have been different.  The flavour was ok, perhaps a little over powering. Probably will not make these ones again.

Cheese Nips

Adapted from Happy Simple Living

Right off the bat I am going to recommend these, they were amazing!!!  Make them!!

8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoon vegetable shortening (or substitute 1 tablespoon unsalted butter)

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup flour

2 tablespoons ice water

1. Combine the cheese, butter, shortening and salt in a food processor or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

I knew this recipe had to be good, 8 oz of sharp cheddar cheese! Had to stop my self from eating it.  Actually had to grate a little more, as the 8 oz keep dipping into the 7s.

2. Add the flour and pulse or mix on low-speed until the mixture is combined.

3. Add the ice water slowly with the mixer or food processor running. The dough will just start to come together, and should look something like this:

You may need to add a few more drops of water, but go slowly so you don’t overdo it

4.  Gather up the dough and pat it into three disc shapes. Don’t knead it or mess with it too much. Wrap the discs tightly in waxed paper or parchment and refrigerate for at least an hour, or until you’re ready to bake the crackers. The dough can be refrigerated like this for up to 5 days.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

6. Let the dough sit out at room temperature for about 20 minutes, and cut a piece of parchment paper to fit your favorite baking sheet.

7. Gently begin to roll the dough out directly on the parchment paper. At first it may seem a little unyielding…but just take your time and press the cracks back together as you go. ( I found it helpful to dust the parchment and rolling pin with a little flour)

8. Keep persevering, and roll the dough quite thin, to a thickness of about 1/8 inch.

9. Cut the crackers into 1 inch squares. I used my fondant cutter, worked perfectly!

10. Poke a hole in the center of each cracker with a skewer. Along with being decorative, the hole allows the steam to escape which helps your crackers bake up nice and crisp.

11. Use a sharp spatula to separate the crackers gently on the parchment paper and transfer the whole paper. I found it much easier to dip the spatula in flour, kept the nice square shape, no sticking.  Keep the scrap edges, they were quite tasty as well!

12. Bake the crackers for about 12 to 13 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. (Depending on how your oven cooks, your baking time may be more or less so watch the first batch carefully.)

Even the scraps!

13. Cool the whole sheet on a wire baking rack and repeat with the remaining dough. You can serve the crackers warm, or cool them completely and store them in a container with a tight fitting lid.  This recipe makes about 8 dozen crackers.

The verdict? These were delicious!!!  They were crispy and the shape cheddar really came through.  I would have to say they are better than the boxed variety you can buy.  Highly addictive, had to put them away so I would not eat them all in one sitting.  Also, nice with a dip, but I prefer to enjoy the wonderful ‘cheesiness’ on its own.  I will be making these many more times!

Thank you Dana, for such a wonderful challenge!!!  I would have never thought I could have made something better than a boxed cracker

Daring Bakers Make Armenian Treats

The Daring Bakers’ April 2012 challenge, hosted by Jason at Daily Candor, were two Armenian standards: nazook and nutmeg cake. Nazook is a layered yeasted dough pastry with a sweet filling, and nutmeg cake is a fragrant, nutty coffee-style cake.

I was thrilled to see this months challenge was not bread based, back to desserts!  This month was a true challenge for me, trying 2 new recipes from another culture.  I had never heard of Nazook or Nutmeg Cake, though both looked quite delicious.   I was quite late making this challenge, I had wanted to jump right in but had much going on.  When the Challenge was first posted it was during Lent (no junk for me), then Easter (made a few family favourites for our big dinner), then had a few cakes to make for Birthdays and Showers. I finally got around to it 2 days before I was to post!

We had the option of just picking one dessert to try, but how do you choose? So, I choose both!

Nutmeg Cake

Ingredients

1 cup (240 ml) milk (   1 teaspoon (5 ml) (5 gm) baking soda
2 cups (480 ml) (280 gm/10 oz) all-purpose
2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (1/3 oz) baking powder
2 cups (480 ml) (400 gm/14 oz) brown sugar, firmly packed
3/4 cup (1½ sticks) (180 ml) (170 gm/6 oz) butter, preferably unsalted, cubed
1/2 cup (120 ml) (55 gm/2 oz) walnut pieces, may need a little more
1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons (5 to 7 ½ ml) (5 to 8 gm) ground nutmeg
1 egg

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to moderate 350°F/175°C/gas mark 4.
2. Mix the baking soda (not baking powder; that’s for the next step) into the milk. Set it aside.

3. Sift together the flour and the baking powder into a large bowl. One sift is fine

4. Add the brown sugar. Go ahead and mix the flour and brown sugar together.

5. Toss in the cubed butter.

6. Mash the butter with a fork into the dry ingredients (you can also use your fingers if you want). You’ll want to achieve a more-or-less uniform, tan-colored crumbly mixture.

7. Take HALF of this resulting crumbly mixture into your springform (9”/23cm) pan. Press a crust out of it using your fingers and knuckles.

8. Crack an egg into a mixer or bowl.
9. Toss the nutmeg (I used mostly cinnamon and a little nutmeg) in with the egg.

10. Start mixing slowly with a whisk attachment and then increase to medium speed, or mix with a hand whisk if you’re doing it manually. Once it’s mixed well and frothy (about 1 minute using a standing mixer, or about 2-3 minutes of vigorous beating with a whisk), pour in the milk and baking soda mixture. Continue to mix until uniform.

11. Pour in the rest of the crumbly mixture. Mix that well, with either a paddle attachment, or a spatula. Or continue to use the whisk; it won’t make much of a difference, since the resulting batter is very liquidy.

12. Pour the batter over the base in the springform pan.

13. Gently sprinkle the walnut pieces over the batter.

14. Bake in a preheated moderate oven for about 30-40 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the top is a golden brown, and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

15. Allow to cool in the pan, and then release. Enjoy!

I thought he Nutmeg/Cinnamon cake was ok my parents really enjoyed it. I really liked the texture and the sweetness of it, but was not totally impressed with the taste, maybe the little bit of nutmeg I added (not a fan of nutmeg).

Nazook

Pastry dough
Ingredients

3 cups (720 ml) (420 gm/15 oz) all-purpose (plain) flour, sifted
2½ teaspoons (12½ ml) (7 gm) (¼ oz) (1 packet) active dry yeast                                                                                                            1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm/8 oz) sour cream
1 cup (2 sticks) (240 ml) (225 gm/8 oz) softened butter (room temperature)

Make the Pastry Dough
1. Place the sifted flour into a large bowl.

2. Add the dry yeast, and mix it in.

3. Add the sour cream, and the softened butter.

4. Use your hands, or a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, to work it into a dough.

5. If using a standing mixer, switch to a dough hook. If making manually, continue to knead for about 10 minutes, or until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl or your hands. If it remains very sticky, add some flour, a little at a time.

6. Cover the dough and refrigerate for 3-5 hours, or overnight if you like.

Filling (original recipe)

1 1/2 cups (360 ml) (210 gm) (7½ oz) all-purpose (plain) flour, sifted
1 1/2 cups (360 ml) (340 gm/12 oz) sugar                                                                                                                                                         3/4 cup (1½ sticks) (180 ml) (170 gm/6 oz) softened butter (room temperature)
2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract

Wash

1-2 egg yolks (for the wash; alternatively, some yogurt, egg whites, or a whole egg)

Make the filling
1. Mix the flour, sugar, and the softened butter in a medium bowl.

2. Add the vanilla extract.
3. Mix the filling until it looks like clumpy, damp sand. It should not take long. Set aside.

Make the nazook

4. Preheat the oven to moderate 350°F/175°C/gas mark 4.

5. Cut the refrigerated dough into quarters.   I made 4 different kinds

6. Form one of the quarters into a ball. Dust your working surface with a little flour.

7. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle or oval. The dough should be thin, but not
transparent.

8. Spread 1/4 of the filling mixture across the rolled-out dough in an even layer. Try to spread the filling as close as possible to the edges on the short sides, but keep some of pastry dough uncovered (1 inch/2.5 cm) along the long edges.

9. From one of the long sides, start slowly rolling the dough across. Be careful to make sure the filling stays evenly distributed. Roll all the way across until you have a long, thin loaf.

10. Pat down the loaf with your palm and fingers so that it flattens out a bit (just a bit).
11. Apply your egg yolk wash with a pastry brush.

12. Use your crinkle cutter (or knife) to cut the loaf into 10 equally-sized pieces. Put onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

13. Place in a preheated moderate oven for about 30 minutes, until the tops are a rich, golden brown.

Filling #2 Cinnamon

For these ones I used the filling we used back in October when the Daring Bakers made Povitica.

These were pretty good.

Filling #3 Cheese and Garlic

These were really good, kinda like a fancy cheese biscuit!  They would make a nice appetizer

Filling #4 Feta and Roasted Red Peper

These were also quite good! I think they were my favourite.

Over all it was a great challenge.   I love that I tried something different and new.  I probably will not make either again, but I really enjoyed this challenge.  Thank you Jason!

Daring Bakers Make Dutch Crunch Bread

Sara and Erica of Baking JDs were our March 2012 Daring Baker hostesses! Sara & Erica challenged us to make Dutch Crunch bread, a delicious sandwich bread with a unique, crunchy topping. Sara and Erica also challenged us to create a one of a kind sandwich with our bread!

Normally when I see that bread is our monthly challenge I am a bit disappointed. Firstly because I don’t like making bread and second I want to make ooey gooy treats!  This month I was grateful to see bread because it is Lent, and for Lent I give up ALL JUNK.  I don’t have any sweets (it’s killer really, I would give my eye teeth to have a Cadbury Mini Egg right now), chips, pop etc.  It is hard making a lovely baked good and not being able to eat it, so yipppy for bread!

I had never heard of Dutch Crunch Bread, it is also refered to as Tiger Bread.  Dutch Crunch doesn’t refer to the type of bread, but rather the topping that is spread over the bread before baking.  As the Dutch Crunch is more of a topping we were able to use any bread recipe we wanted and just had to add the topping.  I stuck with the recipe they provided in the challenge, seemed simple enough for me.

Dutch Crunch Braed

Dutch Crunch Topping

Servings: This recipe should make sufficient topping for two 9×5 loaves (23cmx13cm) or 12 rolls. If you make only 6 rolls in the first soft white roll recipe, you can cut the topping recipe in half.

We’ve provided this recipe first because it is the mandatory aspect of the challenge. Note, however, that you should not prepare the topping until the bread you’ve selected to bake is almost finished rising (~15 minutes from baking).

Ingredients ( I halved the recipe for 8 buns)

2 tablespoons (2 packets) active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105-115º F) (41-46°C)
2 tablespoons  sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ teaspoon  salt
1½ cups rice flour (white or brown; NOT sweet or glutinous rice flour) (increase by 1 cup or more for home-made rice flour)

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a whisk; beat hard to combine. The consistency should be like stiff royal icing – spreadable, but not too runny. If you pull some up with your whisk, as shown below, it should drip off slowly. Add more water or rice flour as necessary . Let stand 15 minutes.

(I had to ass at least a 1/4 cup more water to get it the right consistency, it was dry and crumbly)

Much better

2. Coat the top of each loaf or roll with a thick layer of topping. Just to use a spoon and kind of spread it around. You should err on the side of applying too much topping – a thin layer will not crack properly.
3. Let stand, uncovered, for any additional time your recipe recommends. With the Soft White Roll, you can place the rolls directly into the oven after applying the topping.
4. When baking, place pans on a rack in the center of the oven and bake your bread as you ordinarily would. The Dutch Crunch topping should crack and turn a nice golden-brown color.

Soft White Roll

Ingredients

1 tablespoon (1 packet) active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water (105-110º F) (41-43°C)
1 cup warm milk (105-110º F) (41-43°C)
1½ tablespoons  sugar
2 tablespoons  vegetable oil (plus additional olive or vegetable oil for greasing bowl during rising)
1½ teaspoons  salt
Up to 4 cups all purpose flour

Directions:

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer or large mixing bowl, combine yeast, water, milk and sugar. Stir to dissolve and let sit for about 5 minutes (The mixture should start to bubble or foam a bit and smell yeasty).

5 Minutes later

2. Add in vegetable oil, salt and 2 cups of flour. Using the dough hook attachment or a wooden spoon, mix at medium speed until the dough comes together.

3. Add remaining flour a quarter cup at time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

4. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 4 minutes, until smooth and elastic.

5. Place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled (or more) in size

6. Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 6 equal portions (if you’d like to make rolls) or 2 equal portions (if you’d like to make a loaf) (using a sharp knife or a dough scraper works well). Shape each into a ball or loaf and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet (try not to handle the dough too much at this point). ( I made 8 buns, they were a good size)

7. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 15 minutes while you prepare the topping.
8. Coat the top of each roll or loaf with the topping as described above. While the original recipe recommends letting them stand for 20 minutes after applying the topping, I got better results by putting them directly into the oven.

9. Once you’ve applied the topping, bake in a preheated moderately hot 380ºF 25-30 minutes, until well browned. Let cool completely on a wire rack before eating. ( I had to put oven on broil for a few minutes to get the nice brown top)

They looked perfect!

They were a little to heavy/dense for my liking, was expecting a softer roll,

but that could have been error on my part

The second aspect of the challenge was to showcase your Dutch Crunch Bread in a sandwich of your choice!  This was right up my ally, I LOVE sandwiches!!!  If I had to pick one type of food to life on for the rest of my life it would be sandwiches.

Brushed the cut bun with homemade garlic butter and toasted it on the bbq

BBQ pork tenderloin and grilled onions

Cheese and lettuce

This sandwich was delicious!  It was a good challenge, I will probably not make it again though, not a fan of making bread.

Thank you Sara and Erica

Daring Bakers make Quick Breads

The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

I was excited to see this months challenge, Quick Breads.  I love quick breads, they are so easy and are quite similar to cake!

Quick bread is an American term used to denote a type of bread which is leavened with leavening agents other than yeast. Quick bread includes many cakes, brownies and cookies, as well as banana bread, beer bread, cornbread, biscuits, muffins, pancakes, scones, and soda bread.

When the challenge was announced I had huge ambitions!  I wanted to make several different flavours such as banana, lemon, chocolate, pumpkin, cheddar and beer.  Then I realized, if I make all those I will eat them all, and I don’t need that!  I decided I would go with one, a recipe that I remember my Mom used to make when I was little, zucchini bread.

Mom did not do much baking when I was growing up.  She is an amazing cook but had no interest in baking.  This recipe was one that I remember her making quite a few times, quick, easy and delicious!

Mom’s Zucchini Loaf

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups shredded, unpeeled zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp salt 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven 350 F

2. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg

3.  In a large bowl beat eggs well

4. Add sugar, oil and vanilla – beat

5. Stir in zucchini

6. Add dry ingredients  and nuts (I dont like big pieces of nuts in my dessert but I like the flavour so I grind mine up) -  stir

7. Divide into 2 8×4 loaf pans and bake 50-60 minutes or until tester comes out clean

8. Remove from pans and cool on rack

The loaf turned out beautiful!  The aroma coming from the oven while it baked was amazing, just how I remembered when I was young.  The loaf was moist.  The flavour combination was wonderful!  I’m so glad I decided to go with Mom’s loaf.  I had not had it in probably 15 years, but I can see making it again sometime soon!

Thanks Lis for a wonderful challenge!

Daring Bakers Make Biscuits

It is a new year and I am ready to take on what ever baking challenges are thrown my way!  The first challenge of the year is Biscuits (or scones) depending on what part of the world you are from.  Here, in my area of Canada, we refer to these as biscuits.  When I first saw the challenge, I have to admit, I was a little disappointed, more breads?!?!?! We had just made sour dough bread (I have not made it yet).  Where are the cakes, the cookies the elaborate desserts?   Even thought it was not quite what I was expecting, I dove right in.

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

We were given a basic biscuit recipe, which we were required to make and after that we had free range to make what ever flavours we wanted.  I knew right off the bat I wanted to try to make a “sweet biscuit”.  My first memory of a “biscuit” is at my Great Gramma Carlow’s.  She lived in a big old farm house.  Thinking back, I have not been there in 20 years, it was the kitchen of my dreams.  The eating area was huge, within that area there was an old fashioned stove, the thing was beautiful!  There was a very large table, many chairs and even a couch and chairs.  This is where everyone always gathered.  Just off the main eating room was a small room “the pantry” where everything was kept.  I can still remember sitting at the table, about 5 years old, smelling the biscuits cooking in the old oven.  They had the same texture and appearance of a tea biscuit, but they were sweet!  We always topped them with her homemade strawberry jam, just heavenly!  I have yet to have anything remotely similar.  I only wish I had the recipe, but I am sure it was not written down.  So I made it my mission to try to come up with something similar.

The following is the basic recipe we were given which was the requirement:

Basic Scones (a.k.a. Basic Biscuits)
Servings: about eight 2-inch (5 cm) scones or five 3-inch (7½ cm) scones
Recipe can be doubled

Ingredients:
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 lard and butter)
approximately ½ cup (120 ml) cold milk
optional 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones

Variations on the Basic recipe
Buttermilk – follow the Basic recipe above but replace the milk with buttermilk, add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda, increase the fat to 4 tablespoons, in Step 3 aim of pea-sized pieces of fat coated in flour, in Step 5 fold and turn the dough, rounds are just touching in the baking dish, glaze with buttermilk.

Cream – follow the Basic recipe above but replace the milk with cream, add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda, in Step 3 aim of beach sand sized pieces of fat coated in flour, in Step 5 knead the dough, rounds are just touching in the baking dish, glaze with cream.

Sweet Fruit – follow the Basic recipe above but after Step 3 add ¼ cup (45 gm) dried fruit (e.g. sultanas, raisins, currents, cranberries, cherries etc) and 1 tablespoon (15 gm) sugar.

Batch #1 Buttermilk Biscuits

I decided to start with the buttermilk variation because I already had an open buttermilk in the fridge.

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.
2. Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl.

3. 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.

My butter was in the freezer, so I grated it frozen

4. 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!

**this is what mine looked like after adding the 1/2 cup milk as recipe stated

It was dry and very crumbly nothing like shown in the recipe.  Not really knowing what to do I added more buttermilk, another 1/2 cup.

It looked much more like it should, maybe a little wet.
5. 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.)
6. 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.

7. 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. 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.

8. 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.

9. Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm.

The Verdict: They were ok. I would not make that kind again.  The texture was off, kind of chewy and tough.  I think the addition of the extra milk to get the consistency right may have done something as well.  A learning experience!

Batch #2 Basic Biscuits

For my second batch I made the basic recipe Audax provided us with.

Basic Scones (a.k.a. Basic Biscuits)

Ingredients:
1 cup  flour
2 teaspoons fresh baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons (or a combination of lard and butter)
approximately ½ cup cold milk
optional 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to very hot 475°F
2. Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl.  (I only sifted ingredients once)

3. 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. (I did not freeze butter, it was just out of the fridge)

4. 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!

5. 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.)

6. 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.

7. 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. 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.

8. 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.

9. Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm.

The verdict – These biscuits were lovely.  They had a wonderful texture and chew.  I think they turned  out almost perfect.  I am told I am crazy as I like mine plain, no butter, no jam just the old fashioned biscuit flavour.  They were also enjoyed with butter and honey.  This recipe will be a keeper.

Batch #3 Sweet Biscuits

These biscuits were the same as the basic recipe, but I added 2 tablespoons of sugar after I mixed the butter in Step 3

These biscuits were ok.  Not quite what I was looking for.  Don’t get me wrong they were good, just not like the ones my Great Gramma used to make….that is my goal! I will keep trying

Batch #4 biscuits with Cream

These ones were the original Basic Biscuits with the substitution of Cream for the milk and the addition of  1/4 teaspoon of baking soda.

These biscuits were amazing! This will be my go to biscuit from now on.  It was everything I think a biscuit should be. This one went right into the recipe book!

I had a request to make it into a breakfast sandwich…

Batch # 5 More sweet biscuits

These Sweet biscuits were almost perfect.  I think I am 95% in getting them to tastes like my Great Gramma Carlow’s homemade biscuits.

She always just had free formed ones.  I just stirred and scooped them onto the tray.  Sprinkled with sugar

Look beautiful, the sugar gave them a crunchy texture

The texture was bang on.  It was a little different from the other tea biscuits, I assume from the amounts of sugar and addition of baking soda.

The perfect bite! Not quite like Gramma’s homemade jam, but it did the job.  Just out of the oven, cooled enough to eat with a big dollop of jam.  I was very happy how these turned out.  Mom said they were amazing! She said 99% to getting them like Great Gramma.  I look forward to getting 100%

Thank you Audax for this wonderful challenge! It has turned out to be one of my favourites as it brought back many wonderful memories for me.  It also pushed me to do something I have wanted to do for a long time, perfect Great Gramma’s biscuits!

My Top 10 of 2011!

Wow! Where did 2011 go?  Seems as I get older the years just fly by.  This year  I did a lot of baking, most were good, some were amazing and a few were total flops!  There were some  new recipes and others were tried and true favourites.  The Daring Bakers took me way out of my comfort zone as I was truly dared with some amazing recipes.  As for the “flops” I posted them too, not everything can turn out well.  I thought I would end the year with a “top 10″ list of my favourite recipes of the year.

 10. Perogi Day

Perogi Day was a day I will never forget! Mom, Etta, Jen and myself were at it for almost 12 hours.  We made 9 different flavours, used 25 pounds of potatoes, 7 tubs of sour cream, almost 2 bags of flour and a lot of bacon, cheese and onions.  We ended up with, get ready for it……471 perogies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They were delicious, not sure I will be able to go back to the frozen ones from the store.  It was a great day and the results were amazing! We all agreed that we would definitely do it again, just not anytime soon…

9.  Apple Sauce Muffins

These Apple Sauce Muffins were something I stumbled across when visiting Gramma one afternoon.  They were hot and fresh and delicious!  You can’t really taste the apple sauce, they are a little bit sweet and have an amazing texture.  I think I have made them at least 6 times since then.  A wonderful recipe with simple ingredients, Thanks Gramma!

8.  Baklava

This one was special for me.  I was asked to be the host of the June Daring Bakers Challenge!  Being host meant that I was able to pick any recipe and have all the members make their variations. I had always said, way back when I joined, that if I ever got the chance to host I was going to pick Baklava.  It was amazing to see the different variety of baklava that were made.  I was a little daring (mean) and had everyone make their own phyllo dough.  Some people enjoyed the process, a lot did not, but all in all it was a wonderful experience.  It was a true honour to be picked to be the June 2011 host.  My baklava was delicious.  I will definitely be making it again but, like many other members, I will probably use pre-made phyllo!

7.  Puppy Chow

Puppy Chow was new for me, I had never even heard of it.  Jen had come over to do some Christmas baking and she brought all the ingredients for Puppy Chow…hmmm.  I was pleasantly surprised!  Unlike the name this is a wonderful treat!!!  Very simple, cereal, chocolate, butter, peanut butter and icing sugar.  It is very addicting!  It was a great gift to give away in little Christmas sacks.  Thanks Jen for a great recipe that I will be using for many years to come.  I may have to come up with a more appealing name….

6. Cupcakes, Cupcakes and more Cupcakes!

This was a scary one! Making 130 cupcakes for Kris and Selena’s Wedding!  I had never done anything like this before.  I mean I had made cupcakes but never 130 in one day!  I was a nervous wreck, as I think the wedding cakes is a huge deal.  Sadly it’s the food aspects that people remember more at a wedding then the actual ceremony.  I thought if they don’t turn out I’d have people thinking “god, their cake was horrible”.  Thank goodness everything went smoothly and the cupcakes were a hit!  So much so that there was not near enough If there is a next time, I will know people will eat more than one! Thanks Kris and Selena!

5. Bachlorette Cake

When Coralee asked me to make Chrissy’s Bachlorette Party cake I was thrilled!  I had just recently taken the Wilton Fondant course and figured this would be the perfect opportunity to give my new skills a try.  For my first try at creating a formed fondant covered cake, I think it turned out pretty good.  I hope to make more in the future.  Unfortunately I fell ill that night and was unable to make the party, so I didn’t get to try it.  Hope it was good!

4. Wedding CakeS!

No, I did not make a typo in the title I meant for the ‘S’ to be big!  This was by far my biggest baking event ever, let alone in 2011.  I was asked to make the cakes for Jen and Martin’s Wedding.  At first I was terrified and think I even tried to talk her out of it, as I mentioned above, the wedding cake is a huge deal!  When I calmed down I was truly honoured and accepted the challenge.  Jen had a wonderful idea of having a cake on each table.  The cake would then be “the wedding cake”, centre piece and dessert.  It really was a good idea.  It was a ton of work but I enjoyed every minute of it and would do it again in a heart beat!  Thanks Jen!!

3. Povitica

This recipe was from the October Daring Bakers Challenge hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk.  She introduced me to something I had never heard of.  Povitica?? I could barely say it let alone make it.  As it was a bread recipe I was very hesitant in even trying it, bread and I do not get along well.  I was pleasantly surprised, it was an amazing dough and so versatile.  I was able to make both savory and sweet loaves out of the recipe.  They were delicious!! This one rang in on my top 3!  I will be making this a lot more in years to come.  Thank you Jenni!!

2. Whoopie Pies!

I was a little late jumping on the Whoopie Pie ban wagon.  Not sure what rock I had been living under but I just heard about these in July.  Apparently they were quite the craze a while ago.  There is even a “Whoopie Pie War” with two States as they both say they are the founder of the Whoopie Pie.  Well, I don’t care who came up with the idea, I’m just glad they did!!  These are little pieces of heaven!  Surprisingly they are not sweet, they have a lovely light texture and a wonderful marshmallow filling.  I have only made the “Classic Whoopie” but I have a book and plan on making many different kinds.  What a wonderful find!

Drum roooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllll…………………….

1. Salted Caramel Shortbread Bars

Without question this was my favourite recipe of the year!  I mean look at at…it’s not only the best tasting dessert bar ever, it’s also a thing of beauty!  This recipe was not even intended for me, haha.  When Jen came over to do some Christmas baking, it was for her to take to her baking exchange.  I had one bite and almost had to sit down.  It is one of those treats that after your first bite you have to stop before you start chewing and your eyes grow twice their normal size as you cant believe this piece of magic in your mouth.  It then turns into an eyes closed slow chew as you take in all the textures and tastes, and then it hits you…the salt!  Your taste buds jump into high gear.  It is like no other dessert experience I have ever had.  Don’t believe me, Try them!!!  Thank you Jen for my FAVOURITE treat of the year!  This recipe will remain at the front of my recipe book to be made time and time again!

I would like to thank my many followers for stopping by throughout the year to see whats up in my kitchen. When I first started this whole blogging thing, I really didn’t think anyone other then family would read.  I was shocked and so happy to see when I had over 20,000 hits!

Thanks again and Happy New Year!  Please come back to see what’s baking in 2012

Daring Bakers make Sans Rival

I love it when the Daring host challenges us with something I have never heard of.  It is a little intimidating  not having any idea what to expect, but also very exciting to try something new.   The challenge this month  was presented to us as a Filipino dessert.   To my knowledge, I have not had anything Filipino  so I was excited for this challenge!

Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a traditional Filipino dessert – the delicious Sans Rival cake! And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog.

Sans Rival:

Ingredients
10 large egg whites, room temp
1 cup white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
¼ cup Dutch processed cocoa (optional and not traditional)
2 cups  chopped, toasted cashews

Directions:
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.)  For some reason I forgot to take pictures of all this

I added the cocoa powder when I had soft peaks

4. Fold in nuts, reserving enough to use for decoration.

(Note the more finely ground for folding into meringue. The coarsely ground for is decoration of finished cake.)

5. Divide meringue into four equal parts. Spread in pans, evenly to edges. If doing batches, use fresh parchment paper and cooled pans for each batch.  **I wanted to make a different shape so I just piped my batter on parchment paper**

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 Butter Cream

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 butter cream for at least an hour, and whip it smooth just before you use it.

I melted the chocolate in a double boiler and added it to the frosting.  It seemed quite dull, not very chocolatly at all.

I ended up melting 4 more oz of chocolate and added it.  Turned out much better

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.

This desert was delicious!  Everyone loved it! I have already had requests for a repeat!  A few things went wrong, mine was not “crispy” it was fairly chewy, but I have to say I loved the chewy texture.  Next time I would put it in the fridge before cutting because it does not look very nice, but to be quite honest we couldn’t wait to try it.  The texture of this cake was amazing.  Mine was chewy, yet had the crunch from the chopped nuts.  The frosting was to die for,so silky and buttery.

Thank you Catherine for such a wonderful challenge and introducing me to Sans Rival!

Daring Bakers do Povitica

Povitica is something I had never heard of and it looked very intimidating.  I first saw it was bread, I thought ‘oh no!’ bread and I don’t get along very well.  Not sure what I do wrong, but it does not usually turn out.  As I kept reading I found that it was a ‘sweet bread”, never tired one of those before. I was definitely up for this challenge!

Povitica (pronounced po-va-teet-sa) is traditional Eastern European dessert bread that is traditionally served during the holiday season. It is also known as Nutroll, Potica, Kalachi, Strudia, just to name a few. Family recipes, and the secrets on how to roll the bread so thin, was passed down through generations of families. However, the tradition of baking this type of bread has become somewhat of a dying art form.

The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat!

This recipe makes enough dough to make 4 loaves.  We were required to make at least one of the original nut filling and the rest was up to us.  It took me a while to decide on flavours, I ended up doing the original nut filling, cinnamon, raison cinnamon and a cheddar garlic.

Povitica

Preparation time:
To make Dough: 40 minutes
Rising: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Rolling and Assembly: 20 minutes per loaf, a generous total of 1 hour
Baking: 1 hour
Cooling: 30 minutes
To Make the Filling: 15 minutes, including the grinding of the nuts

Povitica(makes 4 loaves)

Ingredients

To activate the Yeast:
2 Teaspoons (10 ml/9 gm) Sugar
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/3 gm) All-Purpose (Plain) Flour
½ Cup (120ml) Warm Water
2 Tablespoons (30ml/14 gm/½ oz/2 sachets) Dry Yeast

Dough:
2 Cups (480ml) Whole Milk
¾ Cup (180 ml/170gm/6 oz) Sugar
3 Teaspoons (15 ml/18 gm/2/3 oz) Table Salt
4 Large Eggs
½ Cup (120ml/115 gm/one stick/4 oz) Unsalted Butter, melted
8 cups (1.92 l/1.12 kg/39½ oz/2½ lb) All-Purpose Flour, measure first then sift, divided

Walnut Filling:
7 Cups (1.68 l/1.12 kg/2.5 lbs) Ground English Walnuts
1 Cup (240ml) Whole Milk
1 Cup (240ml/225 gm/2 sticks/8 oz) Unsalted Butter
2 Whole Eggs, Beaten
1 Teaspoon (5ml) Pure Vanilla Extract
2 Cups (480ml/450 gm/16 oz) Sugar
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/4 gm) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/3 gm) Cinnamon

Topping:
½ Cup (120 ml) Cold STRONG Coffee
2 Tablespoons (30 ml/28 gm/1 oz) Granulated Sugar
Melted Butter

Directions:

To Activate Yeast:
1. In a small bowl, stir 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon flour, and the yeast into ½ cup warm water and cover with plastic wrap.

2. Allow to stand for 5 minutes

Mine stood for more than 5 minutes, probably about 25 mins, you will see why later….

To Make the Dough:
3. 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.

4. In a large bowl, mix the scalded milk, ¾ cup (180 gm/170 gm/6 oz) sugar, and the salt until combined.

5. Add the beaten eggs, yeast mixture, melted butter, and 2 cups (480 ml/280 gm/10 oz) of flour.

This is what happened when I tried to melt the butter, and the reason my yeast was sitting for 25 minutes! I exploded in the microwave, that was a nice mess to clean up.

6. Blend thoroughly and slowly add remaining flour, mixing well until the dough starts to clean the bowl.

7. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead, gradually adding flour a little at a time, until smooth and does not stick. Note: I did not use all 8 cups of flour

8. it is ready when you poke it and it immediately bounces back

Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces (they will each weight about 1.25 pounds/565 grams)

9. Place dough in 4 lightly oiled bowls, cover loosely with a layer of plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel and let rise an hour and a half in a warm place, until doubled in size.

To Make the Filling

10. In a large bowl mix together the ground walnuts, sugar, cinnamon and cocoa.

11. Heat the milk and butter to boiling.

12. Pour the liquid over the nut/sugar mixture.

13. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly.

14. Allow to stand at room temperature until ready to be spread on the dough.

15. If the mixture thickens, add a small amount of warm milk.o

Roll and Assemble the Dough:

16. Spread a clean sheet or cloth over your entire table so that it is covered.
17. Sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons to a handful of flour (use flour sparingly)
18. 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.19. Spoon 1 to 1.5 teaspoons (5ml to 7 ½ ml/4 gm to 7 gm) of melted butter on top.

20. 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

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. Spoon filling evenly over dough until covered.24. Lift the edge of the cloth and gently roll the dough like a jelly roll.

25. 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.

26. Repeat with remaining three loaves, coiling each rope of dough in its own loaf pan.

Cheddar Garlic

Cinnamon

Forgot to take picture of Cinnamon Raison

27. Brush the top of each loaf with a mixture of ½ cup (120 ml) of cold STRONG coffee and 2 tablespoons (30ml/28 gm/1 oz) of sugar. If you prefer, you can also use egg whites in place of this. ( I did not do this)

28. Cover pans lightly will plastic wrap and allow to rest for approximately 15 minutes.

29. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4.

30. Remove plastic wrap from dough and place into the preheated oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes.

31. Turn down the oven temperature to slow 300°F/150°C/gas mark 2 and bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until done.

32. Remove bread from oven and brush with melted butter.

33. 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.

34. 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.

35. 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.

Cheddar Garlic

It was excellent! So tender and chewy.  Next time I would add more cheese

Cinnamon

This one was very good.  It was like a giant cinnamon bun, delicious!

Cinnamon Raison

and Finally The original Walnut Filling

Delicious! Wonderful! fantastic!

I really enjoyed this months challenge, it ended up being one of my favourites!  The dough was a dream to work with, and they turned out beautifully.  I really could not decide which one I like the best.  Everyone thought they were delicious.  I can see there will be a lot more Povitica  in my future.

Thank you  for a wonderful challenge and bringing Povitica into my life.