Bake Day

Last week was bloody hot.   It was between 85 and 95 degrees and humid for 5 days straight.  It's just plain wrong to use the stove or oven in this kind of heat.  

I had joined Swapbot Baking Week #13, but just couldn't bring myself to turn on the oven.  The weather finally broke but the next heat wave will hit on Sunday.   So, this evening Bill and I are having a baking marathon.    I made chocolate chip cookies, and Bill made baba ganouj (recipe follows) with gorgeous eggplants he bought at his favorite produce market for 39 cents a pound.

I decide to test a small batch recipe, adapted from Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Topped Cupcakes on the Not Eating Out Blog.  Oh yes, you must check out the post.  It's such a brilliantly evil idea to top cupcakes with cookie dough.  Someday I will make it as intended, but tonight I pressed the dough into a large disc and slid it into the oven.

Small Batch - Big Cookie
1/4 C brown sugar
1 T sugar
1/4 C butter, softened
1 tsp powdered egg whites + 1 1/2 tsp water (1 heaping T of beaten egg)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C flourpinch salt
handful of mini chocolate chips
handful of walnuts

Combine sugar through vanilla in zip top bag.  Squish the bag to mix.  Add flour and salt.  Squish until it looks like cookie dough.  Add nuts and chips.  Squish to combine.  Form into one Great Big Chocolate Chip Cookie (or 6 "normal sized" cookies).  Place on a cookie sheet or small pan lined with parchment.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes (8 minutes for "normal sized") or until golden brown. 

Prep Ahead:  Combine all dry ingredients in a quart sized ziptop bag.  Label it with "add 1/4 C butter, 1 1/2 tsp water, 1/4 tsp vanilla."  Store in your cabinet until you are ready to bake a quick batch.

The Verdict:

The cookie rose a bit, but was crispy and chewy as a good cookie should be.  You could really taste the butter in this recipe.  It was delicious, and I will definitely make it again.  It's the perfect size for dinner for 4.  Prepping the dry ingredients ahead of time allows you to make a batch at the spur of the moment.  I decided to mix it right in the bag because Bill's baba project needed a bit more space, and we have limited countertops.  It really worked well though.  Baking it as one big cookie is less fussy.  I think I would make this for company.  Serve it family style: place the cookie in the center of the table and let everyone break off pieces.

The Dish Bitch

Measuring cup

Measuring spoon

ziptop bag (yes you can wash and reuse!)

7.5" baking pan

ABOUT A BABA

Bill loves eggplant, especially baba ganouj, a roasted eggplant dip of Mediterranean origin. He makes it in large batches. He likes to make it over a wood fire, or by burying the eggplants in the coals of a wood stove. Since we do not have access to a wood fire at the moment, he roasts the eggplants in the oven at 400 degrees.  He doesn't have a recipe, just adds things and keeps tasting until it's right.

It was late when we started, and I went to bed after taking this picture.  Unfortunately, he was too hot and tired to snap shots of the eggplants after roasting. 

Black Beauties ready for the oven.

Barnacle Bill's Baba
5 medium eggplants
tahini
lemons
garlic
salt

Prick the eggplants with a fork and place in a baking dish.  Roast the eggplants over a wood fire or in the oven at 400 degrees, until completely soft. Scoop the meat from the skin into a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients, and mash everything together with a potato masher. Serve with crackers, bread or matzoh. Yield: 4 1/2 cups.  More than enough for company and a week of no cooking.

The finished product.

Barnacle Brownies (Baking Week #10)

One of my favorite things: my grandmother's cake plate. I'm told it was a wedding gift, which would make it ca. 1939. It's got a few dents, from years of use and multiple moves.  Usually it sits on top of my refrigerator, empty.  I love the embossed oak leaves and the wooden acorn handle.  It's marked, "Product of the West Bend Aluminum Company" on the bottom.

In deciding what to bake this week, I rummaged through the pantry.  I found a box of Ibarra Mexican Chocolate that I bought when it was still cold enough to want hot chocolate.  It is a combination of cocoa nibs, sugar and cinnamon pressed into round tablets that are divided into 8 wedges, wrapped and packaged in an hexagon shaped box.  It is usually melted with hot milk or water to make a convenience version of traditional Aztec and Mayan chocolate drinks.

It has good flavor, but the texture is coarse and quite gritty. Chocolate is chocolate, but in this case, the application of heat is essential. It seemed to have potential for a good batch of brownies.

Ibarra table chocolate: in the box, the tablet, with and without wrapper.

1/2 stick butter

3 tablets (about 3 oz each) Ibarra Mexican Chocolate
2 eggs
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 C flour
1/8 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
pinch of cayenne

Melt butter and chocolate.  Let cool for a few minutes, then stir in vanilla.  Meanwhile, combine flour, salt cinnamon and cayenne in a small bowl, whisk to combine.  Beat eggs in medium bowl.  Add a spoonful of melted chocolate to the eggs, stirring thoroughly to combine.  Add remaining chocolate mixture, and stir to combine.  Add flour to chocolate and eggs.  Pour into buttered muffin tin and bake until your house smells like chocolate and the center is set to your liking, about 10 minutes.

Barnacle Brownies unveiled.

The Verdict
The brownies were chewy and pleasant without being overly sweet.  I think the recipe would benefit from a little more salt and cayenne.  And orange zest.  Also, I will take them out of the oven sooner. 

Dish Bitch
small pot for melting butter
2 bowls
whisk
measuring cup
muffin tin
disher (small ice cream/cookie scoop) to fill pan

Cornbread

For 52 Weeks of Baking Week #7, I made Cornbread in a cast iron "wedge" pan.  The recipe is from the Lodge Cast Iron Cookware website. 

1 1/4 C cornmeal
1/2 t salt
1T baking powder
2/3 C flour
1/4 C sugar
1 egg
1 C milk
1/4 oil
3 T mayonnaise

Preheat oven to 425.  Spoon a dollop of shortening into a skillet and place in oven while preheating.  Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Combine wet ingredients in a large liquid measuring cup.  Pour wet ingredients into dry, mix well.  Remove skillet from oven.  Pour batter into skillet and bake 20-25 minutes.

What I Learned
1.  This recipe makes enough batter for a larger pan, most likely an 8" square or a 10" skillet.  I overfilled the cups and still had about 1/2 C of batter left.  Next time I will fill the cups less and pour the remaining batter in a cornstick pan.  I like the circus tent/ flower/ wheel of the year effect that resulted from the over filled cups. 

2. Surprisingly, it was fairly easy to remove using a pancake turner type spatula. Just cut along the score lines with the spatula, then gently wiggle it between the straight edge of the pan and lift up the cornbread.  I did follow the directions to heat the pan in the oven.  I did not have shortening, so I greased the pan with sunflower oil prior to heating.  I took care to get into the corners of the pan, and greased the top of the spokes.

3. I used stoneground white cornmeal.  This gave the bread texture, but it was a bit gritty.  Next time I will try a finer grind.

4.  I think the recipe could be improved with a bit more sugar.  I think 1 T would do the trick, either added to the batter or sprinkled on top of the batter before baking.

5.  Mayonnaise.  Weird.  You could taste a hint of it.  I think an extra tablespoon of sugar will counteract the slight flavor.

Braided Loaf with Muhammara

This week I'm a bit short on time, so I decided to make a loaf of bread using the dough I stashed in the freezer a couple of weeks ago. 

Braided Loaf

1/2 recipe of challah bread dough, frozen (link to recipe here)

olive oil

salt

herbs (optional)

If the dough is frozen, let thaw in the fridge overnight.  Let the thawed dough rest on the counter for 1/2 hour.  Divide dough into three portions, and roll each into a long snake.  Braid the snakes into a loaf, starting at the center and braiding to the end, then turning the loaf around to braid the other half.  Brush with olive oil on both sides, and place on baking sheet.  Cover with a towel, and let rise in a warm place until the dough looks ripe and nearly doubled.  Sprinkle with salt  and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 40, or until it is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.   

What I Learned:

Despite the mummified appearance, the loaf had a good crust and even crumb.  Next time I will take a picture of the cut loaf.  Frozen dough didn't seem to rise as quickly as freshly made dough.

UPDATED 5/8

I did take a picture of the sliced bread: here it is topped with Mahammara (recipe below)

Muhammara (Pomegranate and Walnut Spread)

1 1/2 C walnuts, toasted and chopped

2 1/2 T Turkish seedless red pepper paste (used Mamoun's)

1 1/2 T pomegranate molasses

1 t crushed garlic

1/2 t salt

1/2 t cumin

1/3 C olive oil

Blend 1/2 C walnuts, molasses, garlic, salt, and cumin in blender or food processor, gradually adding oil.  Combine with remaining walnuts in a bowl.  Serve with toasted pita bread, crackers or as a condiment.

Six Minute Chocolate Cake

As you may recall, I've been participating in 52 Weeks of Baking Swap on Swapbot.  I'm really enjoying this swap!  It's a great opportunity to sort through the pile of 'to try' recipes.  I've been intrigued by this recipe for chocolate cake.   It's vegan, thrifty, and made with ingredients that most people have in their pantry.  For those of you who share my dislike of dirty dishes: YOU MIX IT RIGHT IN THE PAN!  The recipe and my evaluation are below.

The recipe is included in Moosewood Restaurant Cooks At Home by Mollie Katzen, who credits a 1976 "House and Garden" magazine as the source.

Six Minute Chocolate Cake
CAKE
1 1/2 C unbleached white flour
1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 C sugar
1/2 C vegetable oil
1 C cold water or coffee
2 t pure vanilla extract
2 T vinegar

GLAZE (optional)
1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate
3/4 C hot water, milk, or half and half
1/2 t pure vanilla extract    

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

    Sift together the dry ingredients directly into an ungreased 8" square or 9" round baking pan.  In a 2 C measuring cup, measure and mix together the oil, water or coffee and vanilla.  Pour the liquid ingredients into the baking pan and mix the batter with a fork or a small whisk.  When the batter is smooth, add the vinegar and stir quickly.  There will be pale swirls in the batter where the baking soda and the vinegar are reacting.  Stir just until the vinegar is evenly distributed throughout the batter.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.  Set the cake aside to cool, and if you choose to make the glaze, reset the oven to 300 degrees.

    For the glaze, melt the chocolate in a small ovenproof bowl or heavy skillet in the oven for about 15 minutes.  Stir the hot liquid and the vanilla into the chocolate until smooth.  Spoon the glaze over the cooled cake.  Refrigerate the cooled cake for 30 minutes before serving.

What I learned:

Instead of sifting, I whisked the dry ingredients together in the pan. It worked well. Just be gentle or you will have a cloud of flour. The batter came together easily. The weirdest thing was the yellowish streaks from the vinegar and baking soda reacting. It looked strange but posed no difficulties. The cake rose evenly in the oven, and kept it's nice high crown even though I accidentally slammed the oven door.

I did not make the glaze, although recipe is included below. The recipe suggests dusting with powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, or your favorite frosting and to serve with whipped cream, ice cream, fresh fruit, or orange compote.

I am totally pleased with this recipe. It's a simple and elegant chocolate cake with a firm yet tender texture. It was delicious plain. Glazed or served with any of the above suggestions will make a fine choice for company. I plan to stock the pantry with bittersweet chocolate for the next time.

DISH Bitch: LOW
8" cake pan
2 C liquid measuring cup
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
whisk
thin bladed spatula to help release the cake from the pan

Modest Cinnamon Rolls

I joined the 52 Weeks of Baking Swap on SwapBot. If you are in need of inspiration for cooking, arts and crafts, I highly suggest checking it out.

For this project I decided to bake bread. Since we are a small household, I divided the dough, and froze half for baking later in the week. I divided the remaining dough in half.  Last night I baked a braided wreath. Of course I forgot to take a picture.  So this morning I used some of the remaining dough to make cinnamon rolls.

After checking The Pioneer Woman's glorious recipe, I came up with my own. Hey, I've nothing against butter, but DH and I do not burn the calories of a pioneer family.

CINNAMON ROLLS

In the picture above, you can see the finished product (click picture for a larger image). The top 4 rolls are bottom side up and the other 2 show the naked tops. Feel free to glaze with powdered sugar mixed with milk, maple syrup or orange juice. Since the dough is not sweet, glaze will provide you eye candy and a sugar rush.

Take the dough (see recipe for challah below: I used 1/4 batch for 6 rolls, full batch will make 24) out of the refrigerator and let sit for 1/2 hour. Roll out to a rectangle, and fill with 1 T butter, a handful of brown sugar, sprinkle with about 1/2 tsp cinnamon then roll into a log, pinching the seam to seal. A little water will help this. Cut into 6 pieces, and place in a 6 cup muffin pan (or a round cake pan). Cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Bake at 375 until you can smell it (15-20 minutes). Let stand 5 minutes then remove from pan. If you wait longer, the filling will cement the rolls in the pan...not good!

What I Learned:
-Powdered sugar is excellent to use when rolling out cookie dough, but changes yeasted dough into a slimy blob. I do not recommend it.
-You may store the dough in the refrigerator and bake up to one week later.  Just take it out, bring to room temperature before shaping.  The let the shaped dough rise before baking.

Challah (adapted from The Art of Jewish Cooking by Jennie Grossinger)

1 package of yeast (used Red Star)

2 t sugar

1 1/4 C warm water

4 1/2 C flour (used high gluten)

2 t salt

2 eggs

2 T oil

1 egg yolk + sesame or poppy seeds, non pareils, fancy sprinkles whatever.

Combine 1/4 c water, yeast and sugar in a 2 c measuring cup.  Meanwhile, combine eggs, salt and oil in the bowl of stand mixer using paddle attachment.  Add yeast mixture to bowl, and measure 1 c of warm water in cup, swirling to rinse out all yeast residue, and add to bowl.  Set mixer to low speed, and let mix while you measure flour.  Add about 1/3 of the flour, then change to dough hook.  Add remaining flour, and let mix for 5 minutes. 

Shape into a ball, place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel.  Let rise til doubled about 1 hour.  Separate dough into 2 pieces.  Wrap one well, and freeze.  Divide remaining dough ball in half.  Wrap half loosely and place in fridge.

Shape remaining half into a braid, ring loaf whatever.  Cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel and let rise x 1hr.  Brush with egg yolk (give leftover to A Most Grateful Cat) and sprinkle with seeds of your choice. Bake 350 about 30 minutes.