Egg Yolk Doughnuts

This evening, I made one of my favorite kinds of bread: doughnuts. My students and I were discussing sweets in class yesterday. They were trying to convince me that I would like Crispy Cream Doughnuts, and were incredulous when I told them I like to make my own doughnuts. After a long day of teaching and studying today, the thought of doughnuts sounded so inviting that I made half a batch of my Mom's recipe for Egg Yolk Doughnuts with freshly grated nutmeg. The apartment smells heavenly! It's amazing how the scent of frying doughnuts brings back so many lovely memories of home. They taste amazing, too! And I was even able to restrain myself to the extent that I have enough leftover to share with my students tomorrow.

Maple Nut-Cardamom Rolls

It's a hot day in August. Christmas music accidentally chiming from the I-pod on my stereo brings a celebratory mood to the atmosphere of my apartment as the scent of cardamom lingers in the air. That's right, I made cardamom rolls, not cinnamon. All I can say about the source for this recipe is that the inspiration for it came from Better Homes and Gardens Comfort Food (1992), because I changed the whole recipe.
Maple Nut-Cardamom Rolls
In a saucepan, heat until butter melts:
1 1/4 cups milk
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup butter
Allow milk mixture to cool, transfer it to a large bowl, and stir in until combined:
1 cup whole wheat flour
Cover with a plate or plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, remove dough from refrigerator, and add:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, and on high speed for 3 minutes.
Stir in unbleached white flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until it can no longer be stirred. Turn out on floured surface, and knead in enough unbleached white flour to make a moderately soft dough. Place in an oiled bowl, and turn dough over once, so that entire surface of dough is covered with oil. Cover; let rise about 1 hour.
Meanwhile, mix together in a bowl:
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
When dough has risen, punch it down, and divide it in half. Roll each half into an 8 x 12 inch rectangle. Spread each half with:
1 Tablespoon butter
Sprinkle each half with half of the pecan mixture, and roll up with a long side facing you. Pinch closed, and slice each half into 8 pieces. Place rolls cut side down in a greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Let rise 30 - 45 minutes. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 - 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, for Maple Glaze combine in a small bowl:
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon Maple syrup
Enough milk to make of drizzling consistency (2 - 3 teaspoons)
When rolls are finished baking, remove them from the oven, and drizzle them with the Maple Glaze.

Farmer's Tomato Pie

It's almost time for school to begin again, which means attending meetings and teaching classes, but August is not quite over yet, and we're just beginning to enjoy the tomato bounty, one of the wonderful gifts of the end of summer.
I've made this tomato pie from Better Homes and Gardens 2001 Recipe Annual three times over the past couple of weeks. It's delicious! Use your favorite pie crust recipe, bake it, and fill it with divine tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, garlic, and bread crumbs, bake it, and then sprinkle it with fresh basil leaves. Amazing!

Farmer's Tomato Pie
1 1/3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
4 coves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. fine dry bread crumbs
2 lb. ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges (about 6 cups)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 - 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
Baked 10-inch pie shell
Layer first four ingredients in baked pie shell. Sprinkle with salt. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh basil leaves, and allow to stand for 10 minutes.
I have simplified the instructions. If you want the original recipe, find it in the August section of the Better Homes and Gardens 2001 Recipe Annual. Their recipe also calls for cherry tomatoes, which would also be good, but they're not necessary.

Apple Muffins

I had fun making Apple Muffins for breakfast this morning. These lovely sugar-and-cinnamon topped muffins have half a teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg in them. They made my whole apartment smell like freshly fried doughnuts, and they were really tasty, too!

Ruhbarb Cheese Pie and Lemon Curd Tartlets

I've been on a baking spree lately. A few days ago, I decided it was time to use up some frozen rhubarb in my freezer. I bought the rhubarb for the "Springtime Cheese Pie" recipe from Pillsbury's 17th Annual Bake-Off (1966). If you try this recipe, you certainly won't regret it. Man, I really need to buy a house up in the northern states, so I can plant a garden, and grow rhubarb for free every year; this rhubarb and cream cheese pie is too tasty to pass up.
Today, I was feeling a little blue, and the rhubarb pie was almost gone, so I decided to cheer myself up again with one of my favorite activities - baking! :-D I had made this pastry two days ago, and it was all ready and waiting to be rolled out, so I took it out of the refrigerator, and broke off small pieces of it to fill these 3-inch tart pans. Then, I made "English Lemon Curd" from Volume 10 of The Family Creative Workshop (1975). I improvised a double boiler using a 3-quart saucepan, and a heavy aluminum souffle pan. That worked like a charm! I was thrilled when my two jars of lemon curd sealed unintentionally, even though I didn't buy new vacuum lids. This is so much fun!

Five Grain Bread

Here s my own recipe for Five Grain Bread. I whipped up a batch this morning, and I'm all done by 12:30. I started out with 2 cups warm water, 1/2 teaspoon yeast, and enough whole wheat flour to make a thick batter. Then, I let it sit while I cooked a 1/2 cup of whole millet. While the millet was cooling, I added to the batter: 2 Tablespoons wheat bran, 1/2 cup barley flour, and 1/2 cup spelt flour. When the millet was cool, I added it to the batter as well, along with: 1 egg, 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast, 1 Tablespoon corn oil, 2 Tablespoons raw honey, and 1 teaspoon salt. I stirred this together, and then added enough whole wheat flour to make a soft dough, kneading and adding more flour until it was only slightly sticky to the touch. (It's best not to add too much flour to whole grain breads; they only get too heavy for the yeast to work.) I put the dough into a clean, oiled bowl, and let it rise for one hour. It nearly lifted the plate off the bowl! Then, I formed the dough into loaves, and put them in two greased pans. When they had risen, I baked the loaves at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, and then lowered the oven temperature to 375, and baked them for 30 minutes. I check to see if the loaves are done by removing them from the pans, and tapping he bottoms to see if they sound hollow. If they sound hollow, they're done. There you have the recipe. I'm going to go eat warm-from-the-oven bread. Enjoy!

Golden Pumpkin Twists II

Here is the result of my second Golden Pumpkin Twist attempt. I used poppy seeds on half, and sesame seeds on the other half this time. Mmmmmmm!

Golden Pumpkin Twists

I know what you're thinking: Melanie has just moved to a new apartment, and come down with a nasty cold, so she hasn't had time to start any bread baking escapades. Actually, the kitchen is my favorite room in the house, so it was the first room I put together; and what's a little bronchitis to a dedicated break baker? I love my new apartment so much, I could have kittens, as my brother would say, and I've already baked two batches of break in my new, cozy kitchen. I made Rosemary Raisin Bread, which I only got one piece of before it disappeared at a friend's house, and then I made my favorite Banana Bread recipe - my Grandma's. I ask you, what good is a cold if you can't gain a pound or so on your Grandma's rich Banana Bread recipe?
Today, I decided to try my hand at my Mom's Golden Pumpkin Twist recipe again, just to get the baked pumpkin out of the freezer - or some of it anyway. I followed the recipe up though heating the milk and the butter on the stove. Okay, so I didn't melt the 1/2 cup butter before I put in the cup of milk. Then, I added about a cup and a half of whole wheat flour, and 1/2 teaspoon of yeast to make an extra thick sponge. Sure, technically a sponge wouldn't have any oils in it, but who said I was playing by the rules? I only wanted to soften the wheat anyway. I can't wait to see how it turns out after my meeting with my dissertation adviser this morning. :-)

Golden Pumpkin Twists

There's nothing more fun than sharing recipes with those you love. My Mom gave me this recipe a few years ago, and I finally got around to trying it today, namely because I have a nasty cold, and I couldn't stand to study anymore. Hot pumpkin rolls sounded a lot more intriguing than the Christianization of Iceland in 1000 A.D. I even almost followed the recipe. I cut down on the sugar by half, the yeast by a teaspoon, and used mostly whole wheat flour. They still turned out really puffy and light. The recipe says to sprinkle them either with poppy seeds or sesame seeds. I didn't have any poppy seeds, so I sprinkled some with sesame seeds, and the rest with cinnamon sugar. I have yet to taste the sesame ones, but the hint of cinnamon on the others is delicious! Now, I'm going back to my hot water bottle, and my tea. Good night!

Baked Goods

I just filled out a store survey, which included the question: Where do you buy your breads and baked goods? I don't buy breads and baked goods; I bake them. Purchasing baked goods would spoil the fun of making them myself. I buy various grains and flours at a food co-op, which is as close as I come to buying bread. I recently counted 10 different grains/flours in my kitchen that I use to bake my favorite bread recipes: whole wheat flour, unbleached white flour, millet, cornmeal, oatmeal, etc. Then, there are the extras I like to add, like sesame seeds, herbs, and nuts. I found it surprising that there's a whole category of food stuffs that I don't buy at the grocery store. Now, that I come to think of it, sometimes I don't even buy the grain there! My Dad grinds dried sweet corn from our fields that I turn into naturally sweet Johnny Cake. He also grinds whole kernel wheat. I can't always get out to the farm though to acquire the grains I need for bread. That's why I'm grateful I can get them in bulk from my local food co-op. Happy baking!

Herb Bread

This morning, having put the kettle on to boil for coffee, I kneaded the rest of the ingredients into the Herb Bread.
1 1/2 tsp. yeast,
1 cup unbleached white flour
4 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. rubbed sage
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 eggs
4 Tbsp, butter, melted
1 tsp. salt
Enough whole wheat flour to make a moderately stiff dough.
I kneaded this for several minutes, and then covered it up in an oiled bowl to let it rise while I worked on my Latin homework. Since it had been in the fridge all night, the dough was rather cold, so I knew it would take at least two to three hours to rise. It had risen emphatically when I came downstairs again, so I punched it down, and shaped it into loaves, putting them into greased loaf pans. I let them rise again, at room temperature, as before, and came back about an hour later to bake them. I baked them at 400 degrees F. for 10 minutes, and then turned the heat down to 375, and baked the loaves for another 25 minutes. To test to see if your loaves are done , remove a loaf from the pan, and tap the bottom of the loaf with your fingers. If it sounds hollow, it's done.
This recipe makes twice the batch that the original Better Homes & Gardens recipe did, and I also used half the yeast that they did. If you want to try using more yeast, be my guest.

Sponge for Herb Bread

What a long day! I worked all morning and long into the afternoon on my Huckleberry Finn paper. It's quite an interesting topic. I learned that Mark Twain's (aka Samuel Clemens) views toward black Americans changed as he matured. Having grown up in a household in which slaves were a mark of refinement, Clemens used to find it acceptable. As he grew older, however, he came to view slavery, as well as bigotry against black Americans as reprehensible and unacceptable in himself as well as in others.
After getting to page nine on my paper, my study group decided it was time to call it a day, partly because it was getting awfully loud at the coffee shop, partly because we'd been there for several hours. I went to do my recycling, and work out. An evening bout with Latin had me so tired, I decided it was time for some bread baking... something really delicious, so I started one of my favorite breads: Herb Bread from Mom's old Better Homes & Gardens Encyclopedia of Cooking. As usual, I changed the recipe considerably, but the herbs are still the same, so I give them credit for this delicious bread.
Sponge:
1/2 teaspoon yeast
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup water
Enough whole wheat flour to make a sponge the thickness of pea soup
After dissolving the yeast in the liquids, stir in whole wheat flour with a wire whisk until you have a not-too-thick batter, about the thickness of pea soup. Stir thoroughly, and cover with a plate or plastic wrap. To give the yeast time to work, leave it on the counter for an hour before putting it in the fridge overnight.
Overnight, the liquids soften the whole wheat, so that the dough rises better, and so that you get a finer crumb. Bread made from a sponge makes a really nice, fine-textured loaf.

Sour Cream Waffles

This reminds me of evenings when I was growing up, when Mom would bake waffles in her big waffle iron. She always set the table with a jar of peaches she had canned, sweetened whipped cream, and a jar of the maple syrup that Dad made every other year from our maple grove. She always made sure the waffles were done until they were just crispy on the outside.
I was so hungry when I came home from my Latin class today, that I decided to use up a cup of sour cream that was going begging in my fridge, by baking a batch of waffles. I topped a waffle with yogurt, strawberries, and chopped walnuts. It was delicious!

Colossal Philly Cheesesteak

My boyfriend made this colossal sandwich from the new Whole Wheat Bread recipe I tried. It is topped with thinly sliced deli roast beef, provolone cheese, and pizza sauce. He put the open-faced sandwich under the broiler for a few minutes to melt the cheese, and then turned on the oven to get it all good and hot. He then topped it with sauteed onions and red peppers. It was delicious!
Obviously, this is one gargantuan sandwich. We cut off slices of it for lunch. It was really filling, and there's still at least half of it left!
We were inspired to try this recipe by the sandwich episode of The Frugal Gourmet. We made a few minor changes, such as using homemade bread, deli roast beef, and sauteed red peppers, but we feel sure that Jeff Smith would have appreciated our culinary creativity. ;-)
Happy munching!

Bread in the In-Between

Okay, I made bread today, but I don't have a photo of it. I tried a new "Whole Wheat Bread" recipe from the Bread Winners cookbook by Mel London. I haven't even tasted it yet!
Here's the story: I started a sponge two days ago - on Sunday evening. I was going to add more to it on Monday morning, but overslept, and ended up having to leave it until evening. Needless to say, the sponge didn't look very happy to be left alone all that time. Anyway, I was exhausted after a long day at school yesterday, but it was relaxing to pour the rest of the ingredients into the sponge mixture, and stir it up: 2 Tbsp. honey, 1/4 cup millet, 1 tsp. salt, 1 Tbsp. oil, and a mixture of white and whole wheat flour. I wanted to make a lighter loaf this time for a special recipe I want to try for a broiled steak and provolone sandwich, with sauteed onions on top. Therefore, I used some white flour. The dough was taking it's time about rising in the bowl last night, so I put it back in the fridge with a plate over it, and took it over to my boyfriend's house in the morning. I asked him to put it on a greased cookie sheet, and let it rise. Four hours later, when I came back from school for a pause before my last class, it was ready to bake. It smelled really good, baking in the oven, while I typed my linguistics paper on Verner's Law.
I've decided, it's much nicer to have bread baking in the oven while you're doing your homework than just doing the homework without the aroma of baking bread, and the anticipation of tasting a nice, fresh-from-the-oven loaf of bread, (even though I haven't tasted this one yet).

Bread baking pans

Here is my small collection of bread baking pans. I bake all my breads in these pans, unless I'm baking a free-form loaf on a cookie sheet. The stainless-steel pans are from an antique shop, owned by the former milk man, who used to bring milk to my parents every day on his rounds. I bought a beautiful, antique kerosene lamp from him. When I saw these stainless-steel pans, I said I wanted them, too. He said, "Those come with the lamp!" Since then, I have made many loaves of bread in these trusty pans. The little can is just an emptied and washed fruit or vegetable tin that I use mainly for quick breads, but it also comes in handy for that odd bit of extra dough. The fluted pan is for rich brioche. It makes a decorous loaf of bread. The piece of green pottery is made by a couple in Albert Lea, Minnesota. They fire these bread-baking bowls at a really high temperature, so that they'll be safe for bread baking. It makes a lovely, crusty loaf of bread. The enameled pan in front is the pan my mother used to keep on the counter full of coupons and recipe clippings. This pan, too, makes a nice, crusty loaf.

Split-Top Cracked Wheat Bread

I had some whole wheat kernels to use up when I started this batch, so I put them in my spice grinder, and whirled away. The recipe calls for 31/2 cups water, 2 tsp. yeast,1/2 cup cracked wheat, 1/2 cup raw oatmeal, 1/2 cup wheat germ, 1 teaspoon sugar, 2 Tbsp. oil, 2 Tbsp. brown sugar, and 2 tsp yeast. I threw in 1 cup unbleached white flour just to help it rise, since it has a lot of grains in it. The rest is whole wheat flour. After making the sponge, and letting it rest, I kept kneading it, and adding whole wheat, until I had a soft, still-sticky dough. Then, I oiled my big bread bowl, and placed the dough in it to rise, flipping it once to oil the whole surface of the dough. I covered it with a plate, and let it rise for two hours. Then, I shaped it into three shapes, as you see from the photo, let it rise again, and let it bake for 45 minutes. The small one took less time.
I enjoy my set of bread baking pans. The large round loaf is made with a pottery bowl that was made just for bread. It makes a beautiful loaf with a nice crust all over. The oblong loaf is made with an antique, enameled pan that my mother had sitting on the counter for years with recipes and coupons in it. It used to have a wooden serving tray with it, but that disappeared several years back. This pan, too, makes a nice crust. The small, round loaf is made using an empty tin of some long-forgotten vegetable of fruit. I keep the largish tin around for leftover pieces of dough, or to make quick breads for gifts.

Spelt Bread

This is actually the second batch of bread I baked this week. It was that kind of a week. I've been buying store bread (It's been that kind of a semester.), and on Wednesday, I was so tired of stale-tasting bread that I started a sponge for Herb Bread before school, and then took it out of the fridge to knead, rise, and bake it after I arrived back home in the evening. Never mind that I was invited out to the visiting professor's farewell dinner in the evening. I told them I was going to be elbow-deep in dough, and, was delighted to have unwittingly created an excuse to stay home from an unexpected event, and relax after an exhausting day. The Herb Bread turned out sublime, so I froze one loaf for finals-week emergencies, and started another batch of bread on Friday - this time Spelt Bread, since Mom gave me an ice-cream bucket full of spelt flour at the end of Christmas vacation.
This bread has two teaspoons of yeast, two tablespoons of honey, and 1/2 cup of dry oatmeal flakes. There's no wheat flour in this bread, and although I've read that spelt does not have as much gluten as wheat flour, I've never had any trouble with it rising. It rises like a dream, and, although it has just a little more crumbly texture than my whole-wheat bread, it is quite tasty.

Sesame Bran Bread

Here is the result of the sponge from the last post. This is a really nummy loaf of bread! After I added the rest of the ingredients, I let the dough rise for two hours at room temperature, and then punched it down. I then shaped it into loaves, and placed the loaves in a slightly warm oven to rise. I baked the loaves at 375 for 45 minutes. Mmmm! Steaming, fresh-from-the-oven bread!

Sesame Bran Bread

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Here's one of my favorite bread recipes from Mel London's Bread Winners (1979). If you ever happen to find this cookbook, I highly recommend having your own copy. I have had endless fun experimenting with the recipes of London's Bread Winners. This one was submitted by a ballerina by the name of Noelle, but, of course, I made my changes to it.
This is a picture of the sponge I made after I took it out of the refrigerator. It has 1 cup water, 1 1/2 cups milk, 1/2 teaspoon yeast, and enough whole wheat flour to make a thick pea-soup-consistency.
I then added another 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast, two eggs, 1/2 cup melted butter, 1/2 cup bran, about 1/2 cup sesame seeds, and enough whole wheat flour to make a very sticky dough. Then, I turned it out on the floured counter top, and poured on about another 3/4 cup of sesame seeds, and more flour, which I kneaded into the dough. I kneaded the dough until it was a heavy dough, but still quite sticky. Now, it's rising in the oven. I can hardly wait to have hot bread for supper!