Pebble bread

My not-so-flat, flat bread. 

I kind of liked it not-so-flat.  It reminded me of pizza dough: chewy and light, a little tangy from the long rise.  And since it was flat bread I could eat it all by itself without any guilt.   But I did serve it with some optional dips: an olive spread (delicious) and a tofu tahini spread (not so delicious).

And, wow, did this recipe make a lot.  I halved the recipe and wound up making eight rounds of dough. (It should have been four.)  This leads me to believe that maybe I did not halve the water in the beginning and accidentally made a full recipe anyway.

Overall, it's a fairly simple recipe that I may make again in the future when I feel like having pizza dough but no pizza.  Check out other bakers' takes at Tuesdays with Dorie.  

And Rhiannon….

Mocha Brownie Cake

This sounded like my kind of cake… a brownie cake.  As previously mentioned in this blog (with every cake recipe), I am not a cake fan.  I am a huge brownie fan however.  So, if there is a cake out there I might like, a brownie cake just might be it.  (I am slightly exaggerating as there are a few cakes out there I have enjoyed and would even eat again (Rhubarb Upside Down cake is one of them).  This cake, however, was more cake and less brownie.  A great one for cake lovers.  A tolerable one for brownie lovers.

It has some redeemable qualities worth mentioning:

- the ganache frosting/ filling is delicious and super easy to work with (I will dog-ear the recipe for this alone.)

- the recipe comes together easily

- the ganache has coffee in it

- the recipe outlines a simple and effective way to assemble a layer cake which was new to me, utilizing the spring form pan used to bake it

- there is never a bite without the ganache

I must confess that this may have been a bit more brownie-like had I baked the cake for less than the stated time.  As it was, the first time I checked it, the cake was already done and possibly a bit dry, but this was hard to tell given all that delicious ganache which lent moisture to every bite.  I will be curious to see how my fellow bakers baked this one up.  Check theirs out at Tuesdays with Dorie.

Rhiannon- a cake eater

Buttermilk Scones

Scones are one of those things I had a love affair with about a decade ago.  I could not go into a coffee shop and not get a scone.  Well, I actually could, but it was very difficult to do so.   At one point in this addiction, I realized I was spending way too much money on these pastry nubbins and decided to make them on my own dime.  It took fiddling with a few recipes here and there, before I settled on one that satisfied my coffee shop cravings.  Simple enough, one of the key components for me in a scone is the crackly top sprinkled with turbinado sugar.  Another is the crumb- dense but flaky at the same time (is that even possible?).  This one from Baking with Julia comes pretty close.  The buttermilk lends a tenderness to the scones I appreciate, yet does not weight it down.   The butter flavor comes through and the added lemon zest brightens everything without being "lemony".   It may just rekindle my old flame. 

Perfect with peach jam.

Rhiannon approves of this one.

Chocolate Mascarpone Cheesecake

Oops.  There will be no picture of the finished product this time, only a few steps in the making.  But, I absolutely had to take a picture of some of the ingredients required for this recipe.  I have never been a cheesecake aficionado (much like regular old cakes),so I have never actually made one.  I was simply astounded at the ingredient list: sour cream, mascarpone, cream cheese, chocolate.  All for one cake.   For some reason this was more shocking to me than the butter baby we used for croissants. Nonetheless, I forged ahead knowing that it was bound to be rich and in all likelihood, great.

The great part of this recipe wound up being the making of it.  It went so easily, so smoothly.  Much easier than a regular, traditional cake. 

The product, on the other hand, was just ok.  Now, to be fair, I am not sure if it was because I don't love cheesecakes or if it was indeed the recipe.   You'll have to check out my fellow bloggers' posts to see what they all thought.   

And Rhiannon's picture is also amiss until next time…

Onion Bialys

Okay, so they look more like onion rolls, than bialys.  No matter, they still tasted absolutely delicious.  Similar to a bagel in texture but a bit more chewy and dense.  Basically, the dough was my perfect idea of comfort white-bread-food.   If there was more nutrition in these, I would eat them everyday.  I made these early in the day on Super Bowl Sunday and they made solid bases for our layered sandwiches.

They came together quite easily.  The dough was sticky as it was kneaded in my mixer but firmed up with a chill in the fridge (its second rise).  Shaping them was fun but obviously I did not prick the centers enough with a fork.  I also halved the recipe which made everything a bit easier to deal with.  Although right now, I wish I had 6 more stored up in my freezer…

With a smear.

Rhiannon in a rare Portland snow.

Country Bread

This basic bread recipe required an entirety of a day (+) to finish. 

Here's a quick recap:

Sunday night: Return from sledding on the mountain.   

Mix up sponge (no rye flour, substitute with more wheat flour). Put in fridge to let rise/ ferment over night.

Monday morning:  Forget to take out sponge. Run.  Take out sponge. 

Go to doctor appointment for the first born while sponge warms up.

Shots!

Return. Mix sponge into dough with more yeast, flour, salt and water. 

Let rise.  Go to tumbling for the second born, Rhiannon.

Go home. Fold bread and shape for the third rise.

Rhiannon naps.  We play with legos.

Slash and bake. (I couldn't envision an added decorative braid this time.)

Monday night: Dinner.

It was actually a simple loaf, despite its time requirements.  The crust was chewy and rustic, contrasting nicely with the soft center portion. It turned out a bit flatter than I expected, not so round and gorgeous as I was dreaming all day.   I believe my loaf lacked the extra flavor the small amount of rye flour could add and I would not miss it next time.  It did keep well, as it had nice texture and moisture the second day out from baking without any special storage.    

Rhiannon in the snow; still not a fan this year.

Gingersnaps

These little cookies required making a very simple dough, a very sticky simple dough.  Even after time in the fridge it was still a bit sticky to handle.  I followed the advice of fellow Tuesday with Dorie bakers and switched the process a bit.  Instead of rolling and cutting out shapes, I simply rolled it into a log and sliced the cookies from that.  It made a rather few small round gingersnaps.

They made odd gingersnaps as they were not too gingery and they lacked any snap.  They were more molasses-y  and chewy.  They were ok but not my first or even third pick in any given holiday cookie line up.

Addendum: I made a second batch of these with the leftover frozen dough.  We cut them out into gingerbread men and frosted and decorated a few.  They were much better this way.  I think it removed them from the "gingersnap" category and put them into the "gingerbread cookie" category in my head, which just made a lot more sense.

Rhiannon!

Challah

I went through a bread baking phase about 20 years ago.  Regardless of my efforts the loaves turned out quite dense and rather bland.  All of them, except Challah, which always came out soft, moist and flavorful.  And the braid was always beautiful.  So for awhile, I went through a phase of making Challah.

This past Thanksgiving weekend brought back memories of green bean casseroles and buttery mashed potatoes and delicious pumpkin pies.  I have let most of those recipes trail off in the past years, favoring them for newer, fresher dishes and desserts.  But like, Challah, maybe some of those are worth bringing back.

And here's Rhiannon.

For links to fellow baker's creations in the Tuesdays with Dorie cooking group, click here.

Double Chocolate Cookies

Ok, so I slacked on the Pumpernickel loaves from two weeks ago, but I could not pass up Double Chocolate cookies even it is nearing the crazy prep time of Thanksgiving.   I have been baking endlessly it feels like, just not on the Tuesdays with Dorie schedule as of late.   My freezer is full of pizza dough balls, galette rounds, pie crust rounds... all awaiting their Thanksgiving debut.

But onto Double Chocolate cookies.  These are pretty incredible cookies, definitely brownie-like in their crumb and filled with melty chunks of chocolate.  And not too much more difficult or time-intensive than a regular cookie recipe, especially with the use of a mixer to whip up the eggs and sugar.  The recipe calls for quite a bit of chocolate lending a richness to these, and the hint of coffee with instant espresso powder adds nice depth.

This may make it into my keeper book of recipes...  and that is hard to do.

the whipped sugar and eggs

the melted butter and chocolate

the end product prior to baking

To see other's bakers' renditions of this recipe, check out Tuesdays with Dorie for their links.

Rhiannon painting away.

X Cookies

So I am a little behind with the baking group, Tuesdays with Dorie, but not as behind as my blog shows.  I did do the X cookies from about a month ago but was too late in posting.  I did bail on the Pumpernickel; maybe I will do that one when I have a little bit of extra time.  The X cookies were enough of a challenge.

They required putting two recipes together- the dough and the filling.  Neither one is very difficult, and the dough is the same one we used for Pizza Rustica which I just loved.  It has this sweet flavor to it that is irresistible.  The filling I had to improvise a bit as I forgot the figs at the grocery store.  I put them in a bag, was weighing them and then had to scramble to stop my kids from sticking their hands into the bulk bins.  In that scramble, I forgot the figs.  I didn't have enough dates either, so I used cranberries and added lemon zest to make up for my lack of candied orange peel.  The filling was less than stellar the way I made it.  I would like to try these again with the proper filling as I absolutely love fig newtons and if these are anything like them....

The eldest wanted to help with this recipe; he added his own flare by making some of the cookies into candy canes.  He is getting ready for the holidays.

And the youngest, Rhiannon:

Danish Braid

This recipe took me awhile.  I had it on my "to-do" list for the past two weeks but somehow it eluded me.  Things kept getting in the way or rather things were always higher on the "to-do" list, exciting things such as laundry or sorting through winter clothes.  I was having a conversation about this with one of my friends today; how the things I like to do or want to do, often get shoved down on the priority list or maybe not even purposefully shoved down but circumstantially bumped.  I am uncertain how to remedy this for the long term (the answer I am sure, is far greater than the scope of this blog) but yesterday and today I decided to put this at the top of the list and get it done.

The recipe actually requires three recipes or three components: the danish pastry dough, the fruit filling and the "other" filling.  I decided on an apricot filling (I was short on apricots so added in cherries as well) and the almond filling.  The dough I made a day or two ago and just used a pastry cutter to cut in the butter instead of the recommended food processor.  Thank goodness at this point, I took the time to read some of my fellow bloggers' blogs as I would have skipped all the turns (the rolling and the folding) required for this dough.  

The final turn.

Once the dough was chilled and ready, it all came together rather easily.   Fillings were spread into the center, diagonals cut and braided over, egg wash applied and sprinkled with sugar  (I didn't have the almonds).   A short rise and into the oven.  

I imagine this to be a crowd pleaser (I didn't have a crowd to feed it to this time round).  It looks quite fancy and tastes like a perfect breakfast pastry.  And the best part is, I have another dough sheet all ready in the freezer ready to go, for the next time my priorities get rearranged.  

Rhiannon, now 2!

Espresso Profiteroles

This was a three in one recipe.  Yes the recipe states espresso profiteroles only, but embedded in it are three separate recipes: the profiterole itself, cinnamon ice cream and chocolate sauce.   I did by chance happen to read this recipe ahead of time, so I was not left with a trifecta of recipes to do the day before our posts.  Phew.

I made the chocolate sauce a week ahead of time (and snacked on it all week).  This was by far, my favorite part of the three-part-recipe and so easy to make.  I will stash the recipe away as a stand-by chocolate sauce, although I would use less sweetener than called for, as I like the chocolate to come through a bit more than it did.  

I simplified when it came to the ice cream part.  As I do not have an ice cream maker, I simply softened some vanilla ice cream I had and added a teaspoon or so of cinnamon and refroze it.

The profiteroles were surprisingly easy to whip up.  They are made by first making a paste called pate a choux.  I have never made anything quite like it.  It requires heating up milk with sugar, butter to a boil, adding flour and then whipping in eggs one at a time.  And every time an egg is added it all falls apart, but with mixing it comes back together just in time to add another egg.  This paste is then piped warm onto a sheet and baked, making profiteroles.  Now these are petite profiteroles and I wonder what method is use to make the larger ones that I am more familiar with?  Or it's cousin (I am assuming they are related) the cream puff? (Wisconsin State Fair anyone?)  And these profiteroles had a hint of espresso flavor due to a touch of coffee and instant espresso added to the heated milk mixture.

To put all three recipes together was simple.  Slice a profiterole, sandwich ice cream in between top and bottom and drizzle all with warm chocolate sauce.   It was quite delicious all put together: cinnamon, coffee, chocolate.  Seriously difficult to mess up with that combination.

And despite my efforts at being on top of things with this three part recipe, I only managed to take a few not-so-great late night pictures of the whole thing put together.

This post participates in Tuesdays with Dorie.  

Rhiannon almost 2!