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Puff pastry ain’t no joke, SON.
This one was a request from my SO who loves turnovers, and was my excuse to try my hand at puff pastry.
What is puff pastry? It is a laminated pastry dough (meaning layers separated by butter or other fat). Creating the layers involves a lot of folding and rolling, folding and rolling, while chilling in between folds to ensure the butter does not melt (which would destroy the layers). There are a few different ways to create a laminated dough, but this recipe I used by the Brown Eyed Baker called for the blitz method, which is the easiest and quickest way to incorporate the fat (butter in this case) with the other dough ingredients to make the dough. With this method you can avoid having to beat out a block of butter into the same consistency of your initial-stage dough and folding it in, which leaves a lot of room for error (is the butter too warm? too cold? thicker than the dough? thinner?). For a beginner like me, I’d probably recommend the Blitz method the first time around.
I learned that I greatly need to work on my dough kneading and rolling skills. I’m never sure when I knead if I am doing it correctly, or enough. When I roll the dough I can’t quite seem to accomplish a rectangle - instead I get an ellipse shape (which, you might argue, is cooler than a rectangle - but not in this case).
In any case, I was able to manage through the recipe and produce a pretty good result (for a first-timer). The dough was definitely flaky as a puff pastry should be (be careful not to under or over-bake).
The filling was very good - the shredded apple method ensured that the filling was evenly distributed throughout the pastry. Great mix of apple, cinnamon, sugar and a bright burst of lemon. In the future I might make more filling, so I can be more generous with each pastry’s portion.
All in all, it was a great experiment and I’m not as afraid of more complex pastry.
If you are afraid of puff pastry - don’t be! Give it a try.
BLITZ IT.
Holy Schicht! it’s a Schichttorte!
This is probably one of the more involved bakes I’ve ever done in my short-lived baking ‘career.’ For this, I followed the recipe from Paul Hollywood as seen on the Great British Baking Show.
For starters, the recipe ingredients are listed in British vernacular - things like Vanilla Bean Paste and Cornflour I could figure out (vanilla bean paste durr, corn starch), but golden syrup - wut?
As I walked the aisles of Whole Foods searching for Golden Syrup, I asked assistance from the bakers, who were confounded. They had no idea. SO I had to make it myself since I did not want to wait 2+ days for an online order to process and ship. So I made some, using this recipe from Omnivores Cookbook as reference. The above photos are the result - I only ended up needing a little and now I have a whole jar of it for future needs. Ta Da!
Now for the cake - this takes a lot of prep, including weighing the batter and dividing it by 20 to determine how much to add for each layer to obtain 20. I messed my math up in the beginning and added more - which is why the layers on the top are slightly thicker than the layers on the bottom (I flipped the cake after finishing so the bottom is the top in the photo).
You also cannot go anywhere while it is in the broiler - which is 2-3 minutes (depending on dark layer or light layer) for 20 layers. You end up babysitting this cake for over an hour.
After letting it cool, I spread the apricot jam over the top, and then the glaze. I did not have rum so left it out. Not knowing what golden syrup was for, I learned that it gives glaze that glossy finish - and it looks very nice!
The cake ended up being rather dry - I may have over-whisked the egg whites; as a n00b to whisking, I am still learning the difference between ‘soft peaks’ and ‘stiff peaks.’
Anyway - it’s definitely worth a try.
SCHICHT! TORTE!
Almond Sponge Cake!
Simple, light, moist and huge almond flavor.
When in Italy two years ago on an adventure with Keyrow Tours , I was fortunate to have the chance to enjoy a slice of home-made almond cake while dining at a family’s villa in Florence. It was baked by the grandmother of the family, and it was probably the most delicious cake I’d ever had. It was dense and light at the same time and the flavor was out of this world good.
Trying to recreate that cake, I happened upon a recipe from Giada de Laurentis for an almond sponge cake. This cake calls for cornmeal and cake flour, which I had never really used before. I’ve only used All Purpose flour so far, so it was a chance for me to experiment with a different type of flour. I’d also only ever used cornmeal in corn bread, so I was very curious how it would affect the texture of the cake.
The results were amazing - light and fluffy and yet moist at the same time. Very spongy (I could push on the top and it would spring back) and yet very firm (it held its structure and held its shape outside of the pan).
The first time I made this recipe, I did not grease the cake pan well enough and it fell out in crumbles. Big mistake. BE SURE TO GREASE YOUR PANS, LIKE ALOT.
Lesson learned.
Second time, I greased AND floured my cake pan, and it ended up coming out mostly in tact (a few patches of the exterior still got stuck). I also used ¾ cups cake flour and ¼ cup cornmeal the second time around, to reduce a little of the subtle grittiness from the cornmeal. It wasn’t bad enough to change it, but since I was taking another crack at it, I wanted to see how it would change the texture.
This is in no way, shape, or form similar to the amazing cake I experienced in Italy, but the flavor was great and the texture was light. It would be great for a light dessert accompanied by vanilla bean ice cream and/or breakfast accompanied by a nice cup of coffee.
TRY IT. YOU WILL LIKE IT.
BLUEBERRY. LEMON. MUFFINS.
Lately I’ve been on something of a baking streak these past weeks, trying things that I have never baked before. Instead of just cookies/brownies/short pastries, I’ve been experimenting with laminated pastry and even tried making macarons, which turned out okay. But of course, I didn’t document any of this activity with photos.
So, where do the blueberry muffins come in, you ask?
This whole week I’ve been craving blueberry muffins (maybe it’s because they taste like summertime?). Not just any blueberry muffins, but juicy, explode-in-your-mouth (that’s what she said) blueberry muffins. BUT, I also wanted the bright, sunny flavor of lemon. Lemon and blueberry together = deloycious, as Jean Ralphio of Parks n’ Rec would say.
I didn’t want to add just a *little* bit of lemon, but a whole buttload. I don’t want just the *zest* or a *hint*, I WANTED A WHOLE LEMON IN MY FACE.
So, I found a recipe that called for just that by Go Go Gourmet. Great, easy-to-follow recipe that included helpful tips such as coating the blueberries in flour so as to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin.
In the future, I will try topping them with some sugar or crumble-type crunchiness so as to make them more interesting.
Overall, the thirst for bright, citrus-y summer was temporarily quenched, and the muffin craving was satisfied.
HUZZAH.
FUNFETTI BISCOTTI!
I was cruising Reddit the other day and came across the recipe on the Baking Subreddit (check that shiz out) and it was a Wednesday so I thought, “HEY. I’ve never made Biscotti before. I FREAKING LOVE BISCOTTI. WHY NOT?!”
I had TONS of sprinkles left over from the RollerSkateFunfetti-Gate so, I couldn’t come up with a legit reason NOT to make these.
BEHOLD FUNFETTI BISCOTTI!
They turned out pretty well! Great recipe, and a lot of fun to make (AND DUNK IN BEVERAGES AND STUFF MY FACE WITH).
I need to start coming up with my own recipes. Someday, maybe! Gotta start reading that ginormous baking textbook I got.
A ROLLER SKATE CAKE!
I made it for my league, The Windy City Rollers’, last home team game for the Ivy King Cup Championships. My team, the Double Crossers, got their FIRST WIN of the season. It was glorious, hard-fought, and much joy ensued.
This cake was a pain in the ass, and was my first endeavor into the world of cake decorating. Ho-lee-shite. It was a combination of a Funfetti cake recipe for the structure, chocolate icing, and the vanilla icing from the Funfetti recipe died various colors with food coloring.
Step one: I got the skate cake pan
Step two: I bought all the ingredients.
Step three: Bake the cake
Step four: all hope lost when cake will not separate from pan
Next day
Step five: cake leaves the pan after a little more finagling
Step six: make the frosting and color it
Step seven: make the chocolate frosting to cover the majority of the cake
Step eight: make a huge damn mess and struggle immensely to get the frosting to cover the cake.
Step nine: ghetto piping for the shoelaces and XX logo using a ziplock baggie with the corner snipped off.
Step ten: put on a tray in a box for transport to game
This cake was a real struggle to make. I couldn’t even eat it because I was too emotionally exhausted with it. Next time I will use more non-stick agents for the cake pan so that I can skip step four.
WOOOO
Another recipe from The Boozy Baker: 75 Recipes for Spirited Sweets! These are amazing because they combine hazelnuts, Frangelico (yum) and chocolate. They are amazing and you should totally buy the book and make them also. FILL THE WORLD WITH HAZELNUT FRANGELICO COOKIES. There would be no more hate. NO more strife.
TA-DAH!
So, I like to drink, and I like to bake. Simple as that.
One of my good buddies, Pete, gifted me the perfect cookbook for Christmas. It’s The Boozy Baker: 75 Recipes for Spirited Sweets by Lucy Baker.
I wanted to try my hand at some of the simpler recipes before I dove into the more complicated things (pies, torts, etc) so naturally I went straight to the cookie section.
These beauties are called Old Fashioned Snickerdoodles. My favorite drink in a cookie. They turned out amazingly!
Note: I did not use the Koval in them, I just used it for a nice photo. I made these so long ago I forgot what I did use in them. Erp. Probably Maker’s Mark if I had to guess.
Anyway, 10 out of 10, would cookie again
Soooooooooo I am way behind updating this Tumblr. These are Peppermint Bark Brownies from back during the holidays! Can’t believe it’s already April!
They turned out really moist and gooey. I was pretty dang proud o’ myself, making the peppermint frosting and everything.
Next year I’ll try to make them less of a gooey mess and firmer. YUM.
Recipe:
http://bromabakery.com/2014/12/peppermint-bark-brownies-2.html
5 Rabbit Vida y Muerte beer donuts!
This past weekend I decided to try my hand at making donuts! I wanted to include beer as an ingredient, because I love the dimentions, textures and flavors it adds to baked goods. I also wanted to find a recipe that involved baked donuts, rather than fried. 1. for health reasons (I love a good fried donut but, hey, I like to try and be a little health conscious sometimes) and 2. because I don’t have a proper way to fry the donuts and didn’t care to light my apartment building on fire!
So what I found was this recipe for Guinness boozy donuts.
Instead of Guinness, I wanted to experiment and add an amazing beer, 5 Rabbit’s Vida y Muerte. It’s a Marzen-style beer, bready, with a spicy twist. It is similar to a pumpkin ale minus the pumpkin (although the esthers present can conjur the flavor of pumpkin depending on what else you’ve been tasting with the beer!).
I love experimenting with different beers, and I found that this recipe really brought out some banana esthers from the beer; I never tasted banana in it before, but when I tasted the beer with the donut, it was there. Really cool.
Instead of an Irish cream glaze, I decided to top these donuts with cinnamon and sugar, to compliment the spicy notes of the beer. It was a good call - the flavors were great.
The recipe only made 6, but, as this was an experiment, that was totally fine with me! Next time I’ll make more. And share.
Almost all vegan cinnamon rolls!
I made these for Thanksgiving breakfast, and they were my first venture into the vast world of vegan baking, as well as first experience using yeast. The rolls are completely vegan - the frosting has cream cheese. I could have made vegan frosting, but I’ve never had tofutti cream cheese so I panicked a little.
These were fairly easy to make - I had a lot of fun kneading and playing with the dough. For the cinnamon bit, I used some spiced sugar from the Chicago Spice House, along with plain ol’ ground cinnamon.
The recipes I used were:
for the rolls: http://minimalistbaker.com/the-worlds-easiest-cinnamon-rolls/
for the frosting: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Perfect-Cinnamon-Roll-Icing/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=cinnamon%20roll%20icing&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page&soid=sr_results_p1i1
They turned out great. Better than Pillsbury (in my opinion!).
Spent grain cookies. Made with the spent grain from one of Nathan’s homebrews earlier that day. Such a great way to use spent grains instead of throwing them out. They are tasty, people. Tasty.
Baked 3/2014, but definitely wanted to post these. They turned out really well - I can’t remember the recipe I used, but it was similar to this:
http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/recipe/spent-grain-white-chocolate-chip-cranberry-cookies
I love that Deschutes posts recipes. I’ve made their mac ‘n cheese before as well as their chocolate stout cake. Didn’t take a picture of either, though. Womp womp. I’ll try making them again soon.
I only used chocolate chips instead of cranberries/white chocolate chips.
10 out of 10, would spent grain again. Looking forward to experimenting with more spent grain baking!
Chocolate espresso stout cupcakes with chocolate ganache frosting and dark-chocolate covered pretzel garnish
baked 11/8
Beer Used: Brooklyn Brewery’s Black Chocolate Stout
I was super excited with how these turned out. It was my first time making cupcakes. I didn’t have an ice-cream scoop, the recommended method for measuring consistent amounts of mix into each cup, but overall they were pretty consistently sized.
They were extremely moist, and the stout’s robust roasty flavor really made the chocolate flavor pop. Didn’t get a lot of espresso flavor, but it worked with the other flavors to enhance the chocolatiness.
The ganache was creamy and MOAR chocolaty. Pretzels added a nice salty/crunchy note to cut through the chocolate, but one taster commented that they could have used a little more salt to balance out the huge chocolate roasty flavor.
Overall. WIN. Yes! Success.