Irish Soda Bread...

Camera guy filmed this video of me making Irish Soda Bread.  This is a quick bread so it is completely different than many of the breads I've been making lately. Spread it with some butter (salted) and some nice jam or marmalade...and enjoy!  It is quick, easy and inexpensive!

Ingredients
3cups all-purpose flour
1cup cake flour
1 1/2teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2teaspoons cream of tartar
1 1/2teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2cups buttermilk
1 tablespoon melted butter
Instructions
1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees and adjust a rack to the center position. Place the flours, soda, cream of tartar, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub it into the flour using your fingers until it is  incorporated and the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and add the buttermilk. Work the liquid into the flour mixture using a wooden spoon or dough whisk  until the dough comes together in large clumps. Dump  the dough onto a work surface and knead briefly until the loose flour is just moistened. The dough will still be rough and uneven.

2. Form the dough into a dome shape about 6 to 7 inches in diameter and place in a cast iron skillet. Score a 1 inch deep  cross on top of the loaf and place in the heated oven. Bake until nicely browned and a tester comes out clean when inserted into the center of the loaf, about 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and brush with a tablespoon of melted butter. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Until we bake again...
Penny

Boston Cream Pie...Really a cake - not a pie...why?

According to wikepedia...A Boston cream pie is a cake that is filled with a custard or cream filling and frosted with chocolate.  Although it is called a Boston cream pie, it is in fact a cake, and not a pie.  It was created by Armenian-French chef M. Sanzian at Boston's Parker House Hotel in 1856.
The Boston cream pie is the official dessert of Massachusetts, declared as such in 1996.  However, it is not mass produced in Boston...strange.....

This month I am taking part in the Avid Baker's Challenge, or ABC, a monthly baking group. We are going to make a trip to the oven each month with a King Arthur Flour recipe.

Take a look at the King Arthur Flour blog for how they did this recipe....I did it a little differently and I made my own pastry cream.  If you can,  make your own pastry cream- It is worth it!
Here is the recipe for my Pastry Cream

Pastry cream
Six extra large egg yolks at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon Brandy -I used Cointreau

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the egg yolks and sugar on medium high speed for about three minutes, until the mixture is light yellow and falls back into a bowl in a ribbon.
On low speed, beat in the cornstarch. Bring the milk to a boil in a large saucepan and, with the mixer on low, slowly pour into the egg mixture. Then pour the mixture back into the saucepan.

Cook over medium heat stirring constantly with a whisk or a spoon until the mixture is thick about 10 minutes. Bring to a boil and cook on low heat 2 to 3 more minutes.  Remove from heat, mix in the butter, vanilla extract and Brandy and strain into a large bowl or pan. Place plastic wrap directly on the custard and refrigerate until called.

I need to tell you about this fabulous baking pan I bought- Chicago Metallic.  It has straight sides and bakes everything beautifully.

 To prepare the pan, spray it with oil and lay parchment on the bottom, then spray again,  It will release from the pan easily!

 Enjoy this pie..ummmm.cake.  Camera Guy gobbled it up!

Until we bake again...
Penny

 

Anadama Bread - Now it's personal....

The bell rang and I ran downstairs.  The postman handed me the package that I had been anxiously waiting for since Rebecca told me she mailed it.   I carried it to the dining room table like a Fabergé egg...even though it had probably  been tossed around in the mail, but now it was mine and I would treat it with love and care.  I slowly unwrapped it.  I am not quite sure what kind of tape she used but wow it was difficult to unwrap...

But let's start at the beginning.  I live in this great country, Canada.  I have travelled from coast to coast but I still feel like I have only seen a little of it.  I live in the bustling city of Toronto and Rebecca and Lawrence live in rural Manitoba.

Take a look at this video...

I

Reebecca is a colleague of mine at TPI (Travel Professionals International) and she and her husband Lawrence grow wheat in Manitoba. 
We were just in the Dominican Republic together last week,  Here is a photo of them relaxing in the pool.

Lawrence grew the wheat and Rebecca ground it for me!

 

Here is what was in the package...
This is amazing for me!  Flour! Flour! Flour!  And Canadian Flour - wheat grown on Rebecca and Lawrence's land, then ground in their kitchen and sent to me and now I am going to bake bread from it!!!!!

I  posted Peter Reinhart's Anadama Bread in May of 2009.  You can see the different stages here.

Here are some pics with the flour that Rebecca and Lawrence sent me.

It rose so beautifully...smooth like a baby's bottom...

First I divided it to make two loaves.  Then I flattened it a bit to make a rectangle.

 

And started rolling it up

I know it is not perfect but that is ok!

I placed it in a lightly greased loaf pan

And covered it with plastic wrap...and waited...

 

Wow...I waited a little too long.  I should have baked it when it just crested over the pan...oops!

It still came out nice!

 But more important...it was deeeeeelicious....Camera guy loved ...loved..it!

Thank you so much Rebecca and Lawrence...this bread was amazing!

Here is the recipe: (It is best to weigh the ingredients, so a  scale is good to have if you plan on baking bread often...just sayin....)

Anadama Bread
Adapted from Peter Reinhart’s Bread Baker’s Apprentice
Makes 2- 1.5 pound loaves
I needed to add more flour to obtain a supple and tacky, not sticky, dough, but try not to add too much extra flour.

Ingredients:
Soaker
1 cup (6 ounces) coarse cornmeal
1 cup (8 ounces) water, room temperature

Dough
4 1/2 cups (20.25 ounces) unbleached bread flour
2 teaspoons (0.22 ounce) instant yeast
1 cup (8 ounces) water, 90-100F
1.5  teaspoons (.38 ounce) salt
6 tablespoons (4 ounces) molasses (100 ml)
2  tablespoons (1 ounce) shortening or unsalted butter, room temperature

Cornmeal for dusting

Directions:

1.) (The night before) Mix the cornmeal and the water for the soaker in a small bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit overnight at room temperature.
2.) The next day, combine the soaker, 2 cups flour, yeast, and water in a mixing bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit and ferment for 1 hour or until it begins to bubble.
3.) Add the remaining 2.5 cups  flour, salt, molasses, and shortening or butter to the sponge. Mix on low speed with the paddle attachment (or stir) until the dough forms a ball. Add water if necessary to make a soft, slightly sticky mass.
4.) Switch to the dough hook or turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead by hand (about 10 minutes) or with the dough hook (6-8 minutes), adding flour as needed to form a dough that is tacky but not sticky which is “supple and pliable.”  form into a ball.
5.) Transfer the dough to a lightly-oiled bowl rolling it around to coat in oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for about 90 minutes or until doubled in size.
6.) When dough has doubled, divide it into 2 equal pieces of 24ozs each. Shape into a loaf and place in a lightly-oiled loaf pan (9×5 inch pan).  Mist the top with spray oil, and loosely cover with plastic wrap.
7.) Allow the loaf to proof at room temperature 60 to 90 minutes until the loaves  have fully crested the tops of the pans.
8.) Preheat the oven to 350F with the oven rack in the middle shelf. Place the pans on a sheet pan and remove the plastic wrap. Mist the tops of the loaves with water and dust with cornmeal.
9.) Place the sheet pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan and continue baking for 20-30 minutes. Loaf should be golden brown on all sides, register 185-190F in the center, and sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.
10.) Remove the loaves from the pans immediately and cool on a rack at least one hour before slicing or serving.

Enjoy!
Until we bake again
Penny

Oh My...Beautiful Home Made Hamburger Buns and...

... Camera Guy's homemade burgers (pure beef)  as well as home made fries!  I am drooling just writing about it.   It has been such a long time since I had home made french fries.  My mom (Sadie) used to make them all the time and I am sure many of you grew up with those words of warning..."Be careful around the hot oil!!!!"  I remember one time my sister Lorna and I decided to make fries when my mom was out....we were young - ok maybe not that young but anyhow...we had this fear of the hot oil so we had the oil on low...needless to say we were wondering why hours later they were still not ready and definitely not like mom's!  A few weeks ago I was at my friend Anne's house and she made fries, which brought back memories, (they were amazing) so when I had some friends over  this week, I decided to make them. 

I also made the buns.  They were a little small but they were quite impressive. They fit the burger though! I used the recipe from Canadian Living and it was easy!

 They looked so pretty...  I think I am in love with dough...sorry Camera Guy....

Sprinkled the sesame seeds on top...

and Voila......

Until we bake again
Penny

May 2012 Daring Bakers' Challenge....Challah

May’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge was pretty twisted – Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood challenged us to make challah! Using recipes from all over, and tips from “A Taste of Challah,” by Tamar Ansh, she encouraged us to bake beautifully braided breads.

And we did!  I love making Challah...it looks beautiful and is delicious.  I would say one of my favourites is Peter Reinhart's- from either the Bread Baker's Apprentice or Artisan Breads Everyday -  I was a recipe tester for that book so it is very special to me!

I keep on trying different recipes though, just to see the differences and I  just bought a new book called 

Inside the Jewish Bakery: Recipes and Memories from the Golden Age of Jewish Baking. 

I bought it at the Cookbook Store  in downtown Toronto.  This really is my go-to store for cookbooks and is an independantly owned store so I encourage you to go check it out if you live in Toronto or are visiting the city!

It really has some great stories about the history of Jewish baking.   I wouldn't recommend it to a novice baker though, as it often skips steps and assumes you are familiar with the process.  I made the Challah and it was very good.  I also made the Double Knot Rolls which we used as hamburger buns and they were amazing! The combination of  Camera Guy's fabulous hamburgers and these buns  was the best!  I will post about them another time, but you can use the same dough you use for the Challah/egg bread.

Here is a photo of the rolls:

I didn't use the following recipe that Ruth suggested for this challenge as I have my favourites above, but other Daring Bakers loved it, so I wanted to share it with you.

In July, Elliot (my son) and his girlfriend Leah are coming to Toronto to visit.  I can't wait!   I think I will have to make...Challah...French toast...buns..and so the list begins....

Enjoy!

Until we bake again...

Penny

Here is the recipe:

Challah (Honey White)

(from Tammy’s Recipes)
Servings: 2 loaves
Ingredients
1 ½ cups (360 ml) warm water, separated
1 Tbsp. (15 ml) (15 gm/½ oz sugar
2 Tbsp. (2-2/3 packets) (30 ml) (18 gm) (2/3 oz) dry active yeast
½ cup (120 ml) honey
1 Tbsp. (15 ml) oil (light colored vegetable oil, or olive oil if you prefer)
4 large eggs
1 ½ tsp. 7½ ml) (9 gm) (1/3 oz) salt
5 cups (1200 ml) (700 gm/25 oz) all-purpose (plain) flour, plus more as needed (up to 8 or 9 cups total)

1 egg beaten with 1 tsp. water

Directions:
1. In mixer bowl/large mixing bowl combine ½ cup warm water, 1 Tbsp. sugar and 2 Tbsp. yeast. Allow to proof approximately 5 minutes until foamy.
2. To the yeast mixture add the remaining water, honey, oil, eggs, salt and 5 cups of flour. Knead (by hand or with your mixer’s dough hook) until smooth, adding flour as needed. Knead for approximately 10 minutes.
3. Transfer dough to a clean, oiled bowl, turn to coat or add a bit more oil on top. Cover bowl with a kitchen/tea towel. Leave to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 ½ hours.
4. Punch down the dough, divide it into two sections. Use one half to make each loaf (shaped or braided as desired).
5. Place loaves on parchment lined or greased baking sheets, cover with a towel, allow to rise 30 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
7. Brush tops loaves with egg wash. (Sprinkle with seeds or toppings here if wanted.)
8. Bake loaves 30-40 minutes until done.
9. Cool on wire racks.

Better butter butter Tarts..We are Canadian!

We are Canadian!

Did you know that butter tarts are Canadian?  They consist of pastry shells that are filled with a sweet mixture of butter, brown sugar and eggs.  The perfect butter tart...well, that is a matter of opinion.  First the crust - it is usually firmer and not the typical flaky crust.  It is a Pate Brisee, which is a short crust pastry.  Then the filling...do you like it firm or runny?  Sometimes there are nuts and sometimes raisins...or plain.  Camera Guy makes faces when there are raisins....He really doesn't like them!

Fern, Camera Guy's mom, loved them! Come back to visit us Fern and I will bake you more!

I was taking a walk with Camera Guy about a month ago - it was during a new season we had this year- Sprinter!  Don't really know what is was because there was little snow and it wasn't cold...but it felt strange...

We were talking about Canadian Awesome moments and came up with a few...what are your Canadian awesome moments?

Holding hands with mittens
Making angels in the snow
Watching big snowflakes falling
And of course - coming into a warm house...then eating a warm butter tart fresh from the oven...

Here is the recipe
It will yeild enough filling for 24 butter tarts.

Crust
1 cup  cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces.

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup water

In a food processor combine butter , flour, sugar and salt and process or combine with a pastry cutter.

Add water and combine just until dough holds together.

Press the dough to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 20 mins

Roll out and cut into 4 inch rounds to fit into standard muffin tins

Fit the pastry into the tins and refrigerate for 10 -15 mins

Filling

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup dark corn syrup

1 tsp. vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup pecan halves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Using an electric mixer or whisk, combine eggs , sugar, corn syrup, vinegar, vanilla extract and salt.

Beat until well combined, but not frothy.

Stir in the melted butter.

Place a pecan half in each prepared pastry-lined muffin cup

until the filling is just set and the crust is golden. Make sure to keep an eye on them.

Carefully pour the mixture into each muffin cup, being careful not to fill them more than three-quarters of the way to the top (if you fill them more than that they may overflow).

Put the muffin tin on a baking tray just in case there are spills.

Bake the tarts in the centre of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes 

Remove from the oven and let cool completely, well not completely-you want them a liitle warm....now this is an awesome Canadian moment.

Enjoy!
Until we bake again!
Penny

St.Patrick's Day Cookies - The Luck of the Icing to you!

Lately I have been working on my cookie decorating...in fact I think I am driving Camera Guy a little crazy- icing everywhere-food coloring stains on my fingers, face etc., and cookies cooling everywhere. Then I look at cookie blogs like Sweetopia and Sugarbelle, just to name a few, and I realize I have a long way to go. I keep trying over and over. I finally have Camera Guy trained to eat only the ugly cookies! As I am writing, I just caught him taking one that isn't filled in yet...our first cookie argument! One day they all will be beautiful, but right now - not so good.

I decided to make St. Patrick's Day cookies. It starts with a good sugar cookie recipe- one that doesn't spread a lot and maintains its shape. That is pretty easy. The trick is to roll the dough when it is cool and cut out the cookies when the dough is cool also. Once the cookies are baked, they need to cool completely. That is a lot of cools , but anyhooooo.

Without icing, these cookies are like chips- you can just keep eating them!

Now for the Royal Icing. the recipe is pretty straight forward and everywhere I turn, cookie people talk about the 10 second rule....I watch them move a knife (about an inch deep) through the icing and it makes a line, then you are supposed to count until 10 and only then, not before, the icing should disolve together.

I think this is used to outline because when you fill in or "flood" a cookie with this consistency I can't get it smooth - even with shaking it! Flood consistency should make a very smooth surface. I think I need the 5 second rule for my flooding!

First I outlined them with a disposable pastry bag and a number 2 tip, then I filled them in.

On some I used a squeeze bottle to flood them. I liked it.

Check out the little tag on the sidebar for the University of Cookie! Maybe one day I will be a cookie professor:)

I had fun doing these. I will keep you posted on my cookie developments. In the meantime here is the recipe I used for the sugar cookies and for the Royal Icing.

Get away from the cookies Camera Guy until I take pictures of them all! I would also like to clear up something. Camera Guy doesn't take my baking photos...I do! He may take the occasional one, but this kind of photography is just not his thing. He bought me a camera so I don't grab his professional cameras and lenses with my floury, buttery hands...that's ok...I understand....I still love him.

Happy St. Patick's Day Everyone!

Until we bake again....
Penny