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!