December 2007 Archives
These cookies are pretty easy to make, but it is a little messy. I made these for the cookie exchange at work. I've looked at many recipes, made a few changes, and came up with something I like. Some of the recipes lack vanilla; I think vanilla helps bring out the chocolate flavor. I prefer vanilla beans for flavor, but paste or extract will also work. I added some orange to the recipe for additional flavor.The cookies are almost brownie like in their texture. The addition of rolling the cookies in powdered sugar gives them a fantastic look. When the cookies are baking, they fall and the sugar cracks on the surface. I made my first batch with a hand mixer - I advise against this. the final batter is incredibly thick. I almost burnt out the motor in my hand mixer - so I recommend a stand mixer for this recipe.
Having a square or rectangle baking dish may speed up the formation of the cookies. I thought of this on my second batch. I lined the dish with plastic wrap, then spooned the dough into the dish. I folded over the plastic wrap and pressed the cookie dough flat. This makes it much easier to cut and shape even cookies. I laid out a 1x1 grid across the top and used a bench scraper to cut the dough. I cook them on silpat, if you don't have that, use parchment paper.The first batch I made cooked for 20 minutes. They taste good, but they are a little soft in the middle for my taste. My wife loved the moist texture when they were warm, but it was a little unappealing once they cooled. The addition of two minutes took care of this - they have a consistent cooked texture throughout, while staying moist.
Here's the recipe:- 4 oz unsweetened chocolate
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 Cups Sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp orange extract
- 1/2 vanilla pod or 2 tsp vanilla extract/paste
- Confectioners sugar for rolling.
Add half the flour in small portions. Scrape down the sides, and then add the baking powder and mix to combine. Slowly, add the rest of the flour. When all the flour is added, mix for 1 minute. Transfer the dough to a plastic wrapped baking dish, cover and press flat. Cool in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, they can sit overnight.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Grid out the cookies and cut the dough into 1X1 squares. The dough is sticky! Coat your hands in powdered sugar and take the squares and form into balls. Roll the dough in the powdered sugar and place on the prepared cookie sheet (silpat or parchment). Place the cookies two inches apart, as they cook, they will fall and spread out.
Cook for 22 minutes. Rotate the pans halfway for even cooking.
I've been cultivating a seed starter for a few days, and I'm ready to convert it into a barm. Did that make any sense to you? If so, you have some sourdough experience. If not, then let me explain it.
To make sourdough bread, you need locally cultivated wild yeast in a mixture of doughy gunk - that is the seed starter. It is a 4 to 5 day process if you are lucky. I think the cold weather slowed mine down, but it is finally where it needs to be. To make the starter, you start with rye flour and water. that's all. You mix the two together and place it in a jar. By leaving the jar open, the natural yeasts in the air will come and set up shop. The first few days of building a starter can be very complicated. The yeast needs an acidic and oxygen rich environment to thrive.
Most flours contain leuconostoc mesenteroides bacteria. This little bugger actually inhibits the growth of yeast, while, at the same time, masquerades as yeast. On Day two, you mix in flour and more water. At this stage, the culture is supposed to double in size overnight. Well -- those pesky leuconostocs give off a ton of CO2. This makes the starter 'rise' -- you think everything is going well... then --- nothing. My starter rose maybe 2 cm the next day. The one advantage to this -- the bacteria makes the dough very very acidic. This helps kill the bacteria - leavignthe acid, and at the same time, starts to feed the yeast.
Most people apparently give up on day four because they think they killed their starter. I almost did. I halved it and fed it again - not much happened the next day. I decided to give it a rest in a warmer room. After 24 hours we started getting a little activity. Not quite the doubling we were supposed to get, but it had started. I thought it looked a little soupy, so I stirred in a little bread flour. The next day it looked quite happy, but, I didn't have any flour left. So it sat for another day. I was ready to convert it to a barm the next day, but I didn't feel well - so one more day to ferment.
The starter smells like sourdough, that tells me the lactic acid is doing its job.
After going through this process I stumbled across the authors blog. He talks about inherent problems with his starter recipe. 1. it needs to be stirred 2 or 3 times a day to replenish the oxygen (this also circulates the acid and kills anything on the surface.). 2. The first two days acidity levels are too low for it to work. He suggests using pineapple juice to boost the acidity, then going back to water afterwards.
Well, I'm past both of those, and mine seems to be working.. so .. go figure. Tonight I will convert it to a barm. That is where you significantly increase the flour and water mixture. This will setup in 4 hours, and can be immediately used for sponge making (the sponge is the "starter" for the actual bread). Or it can be packaged and stored to live in the refrigerator. with bi-weekly feedings, these 'yeasties' can live forever. When you feed your barm, it is typical to discard half of it. When you do this - you can feed both halves, and give away one as a gift to another baker, or you can use the half to make the sourdough sponge.
If it doesn't work.. I still have time to start from scratch and have it ready for the holidays.
To make sourdough bread, you need locally cultivated wild yeast in a mixture of doughy gunk - that is the seed starter. It is a 4 to 5 day process if you are lucky. I think the cold weather slowed mine down, but it is finally where it needs to be. To make the starter, you start with rye flour and water. that's all. You mix the two together and place it in a jar. By leaving the jar open, the natural yeasts in the air will come and set up shop. The first few days of building a starter can be very complicated. The yeast needs an acidic and oxygen rich environment to thrive.
Most flours contain leuconostoc mesenteroides bacteria. This little bugger actually inhibits the growth of yeast, while, at the same time, masquerades as yeast. On Day two, you mix in flour and more water. At this stage, the culture is supposed to double in size overnight. Well -- those pesky leuconostocs give off a ton of CO2. This makes the starter 'rise' -- you think everything is going well... then --- nothing. My starter rose maybe 2 cm the next day. The one advantage to this -- the bacteria makes the dough very very acidic. This helps kill the bacteria - leavignthe acid, and at the same time, starts to feed the yeast.
Most people apparently give up on day four because they think they killed their starter. I almost did. I halved it and fed it again - not much happened the next day. I decided to give it a rest in a warmer room. After 24 hours we started getting a little activity. Not quite the doubling we were supposed to get, but it had started. I thought it looked a little soupy, so I stirred in a little bread flour. The next day it looked quite happy, but, I didn't have any flour left. So it sat for another day. I was ready to convert it to a barm the next day, but I didn't feel well - so one more day to ferment.
The starter smells like sourdough, that tells me the lactic acid is doing its job.
After going through this process I stumbled across the authors blog. He talks about inherent problems with his starter recipe. 1. it needs to be stirred 2 or 3 times a day to replenish the oxygen (this also circulates the acid and kills anything on the surface.). 2. The first two days acidity levels are too low for it to work. He suggests using pineapple juice to boost the acidity, then going back to water afterwards.
Well, I'm past both of those, and mine seems to be working.. so .. go figure. Tonight I will convert it to a barm. That is where you significantly increase the flour and water mixture. This will setup in 4 hours, and can be immediately used for sponge making (the sponge is the "starter" for the actual bread). Or it can be packaged and stored to live in the refrigerator. with bi-weekly feedings, these 'yeasties' can live forever. When you feed your barm, it is typical to discard half of it. When you do this - you can feed both halves, and give away one as a gift to another baker, or you can use the half to make the sourdough sponge.
If it doesn't work.. I still have time to start from scratch and have it ready for the holidays.
Homemade cinnamon buns. They are pretty easy to make, but the process can be time consuming, The first batch I made with the KitchenAid, it was pretty straight forward, minimal hand kneading at the end. The second batch was all by hand. I creamed the butter eggs and sugar with a metal spoon, hand mixed the buttermilk and flour, etc. I actually preferred this method. It was really easy to gauge the batter. When using a stand mixer, you can over flour the dough, when mixing by hand, it is easy to get the desired consistency.I had some vanilla sugar, so I used that in the recipe, and I added a little orange extract to the sugar at the beginning. There are a few schools of thought for the filling of the buns. I've done the butter/sugar/cinnamon filling. Granted -- this tastes great, but it is incredibly messy, and it doesn't add that much to the final flavor. The added moisture reduces the lifespan of the rolls. I prefer a dry method - cinnamon and sugar - that's it.
When cooked, these buns have a strong, warming, cinnamon aroma and flavor. The buns are not overly sweet, and they can be topped with a quick glaze. I think the last batch made 20 buns, the reheat very well, and taste so much better then the canned kind.
If you want them fresh baked in the morning - you may have a problem. If you retard the rising in the refrigerator, they need 4 hours to come to temperature and rise. Otherwise, they need 2 hours to proof the second time. the last time, I rolled and cut the buns, then dropped them in to chill for a few hours. At 1:30 in the morning, I placed the two covered baking sheets on the counter. They rose for more then the allotted time, but they came out perfectly when baked.
Recipe is adapted from The bread Bakers Apprentice
Buttermilk Cinnamon Buns
- 6 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 5 1/2 tbsp butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 1/2 cups bread flour
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 9 ounces buttermilk
- 1/4 cup cinnamon sugar mixture
- glaze
Cream the salt, butter, an sugar together. Add the lemon zest and any other base flavorings (orange, vanilla, etc). Add the egg and mix to thoroughly combine. Add the flour and yeast, then add the buttermilk. Mix slowly by hand until a ball forms. Knead the dough on a flowered surface for 12 to 15 minutes. The dough should pass the windowpane test. You may need to knead the bread for a longer period of time. Mine took about 20 minutes (including a little time for the dough to rest).
Place the dough into a bowl and coat with oil. Turning the dough so all sides are coated. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let sit for two hours. It should double in size.
Transfer the dough to a counter and begin to roll it out into a rectangle. You may need to dust the dough with flour if it starts to stick. Once it is at a desired thickness (1/4 to 3/4 inches thick), generously sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly across the rectangle, leaving 1/2 inches untouched at the top.
Tightly roll the dough to form a log. Place the seam side down and cut the rolls. Make sure that they are evenly cut. For cinnabon style buns, cut them just under 2 inches thick. For something you might be able to finish - about 1 inch to 1 1/4 inches thick.
Place them on parchment paper or silpat, about 2 inches apart.
Allow the buns to proof for 90 minutes. I like mince to be separate, if you want them clustered, you can cram them in closer. about 1/2 inches between each-other. They will double in size. If you decide to cut and place the buns, then place them in the refrigerator, it will take 4 hours for them to come to temperature and rise.
Bake the cinnamon buns for 20 to 30 minutes at 340 degrees.
let cool for 10 minutes before glazing and serving.
To reheat -- about 30 seconds in the microwave. We store the leftovers in the fridge.
I've been baking a lot recently. In the last two weeks I've made white dinner rolls, Tuscan bread, buttermilk cinnamon rolls, French bread, biscotti, and French macaroons (macarons). Everything was, at least, acceptable. My Tuscan bread was pulled a little early - 2 more minutes in the oven would have been perfect. Two of my French loaves split lengthwise and tore open, but the biscotti and macarons were excellent. I'll focus this post on the Tuscan boules.
Tuscan bread is made with no salt, so it lacks a certain flavor most bread eaters are used to. It doesn't have the wide gaping air holes that French breads have, but it has a distinct cooked flour taste. The crust turns a nice orange brown color. Many people complain about Tuscan bread. The lack of salt is a big turn off, but part of the aversion may have to do with how the bread is made. Recipes go all over the board here. Some use a yeast starter, and additional yeast in the bread mix, and some don't even use a starter. I looked for an authentic recipe, and ended up turning to my trusted bread companion: The Bread Makers Apprentice (For those amateur bakers who don't have this book -- GO GET IT). I found concepts I didn't see anywhere else.They use a flour paste. The major complaint with Tuscan bread is lack of flavor. Most standard recipes taste like lifeless flour, but the recipe I tried mixes boiling water with the bread flour. The shock of heat cooks the flour - this imparts a roux like smell to the paste. Then you let the paste sit at room temperature for 24 hours. This resting lets the flavors develop a little - you are not trying to collect natural yeast. From here it looks like a typical recipe, though it has the addition of a little olive oil. When the bread is cooked, you can, just barely, smell the olive oil. It makes a great addition to the recipe.
Is it on par with French bread? No, not even close, but for people who like bread, or those with low salt diets, this is a great alternative. Many Italian recipes call for Tuscan bread, the lack of slat, and neutralness to the bread help to not overpower the dish. Ribolitta and pappa al pomodoro are two soups that showcase the difference bread can make as a core soup ingredient.
I'm going to make a small alteration to the recipe and see if I can develop a little more flavor without taking away the essence of a Tuscan bread. I'll come back with new pics and news on the second attempt.
If you want the recipe, I can email it to you.
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