BYOB Roundup 11 ~ July 1 (7), 2009

Chrystal and Amir of the Duo Dishes baked a Cinnamon Cranberry Wheat Bread that looks down home and delicious, flecked with oats on top and studded with ruby red cranberries. And . . . cookies, cookies, cookies. You've been warned.

Trisha of the Zest makes a gorgeous panini out of pizza dough. And she's kind enough to provide some delicious-sounding suggestions for alternate toppings that should keep us busy in the kitchen for a while.

Judy of No Fear Entertaining made a yummy-looking Ciabatta for the BBA group challenge. She shows it with an herbed dipping sauce that makes it look indispensable for your next Italian-themed meal. Mmm!

If you're in the mood for a unique quick bread, check out the loaf Sophie of Sophies Foodiefiles created. Her Energetic and Healthy Breakfast Bread is loaded with oats, almonds, figs, and raisins, and is laced with lavender honey. Does that sound incredible or what?

Kim of Stirring the Pot brings us Pretzel Rolls! The second I saw these, I thought, "What would I do with a pretzel roll?" And immediately, my internal recipe finder started flipping through all those sandwich topping and dipping sauce recipes I've set aside for "the perfect roll." Can't wait to experiment!

Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook made Cinnamon Chip Oatmeal Scones! Since I love every single word in that recipe title, alone or in combination, I was excited by this one. They look delectable, and adapted, as they are, from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours, they're bound to be as good as they look. {I'm sure the smell alone was therapeutic ~ and I hope J. has made a full recovery!}

Beth of Kitchen Courage baked up some oven love for Father's Day in the form of ABin5 Light Whole Wheat Bread. Go for the bread, folks; stay for Beth's fam-tastic pics and post. :)

Sarah of Que Sarah Sarah rustled up some Italian Slipper Bread, aka ciabatta, for some pretty darn good-looking sandwiches. She makes it look so easy! Go, see, you'll want some for lunch today.

As for me . . .
This post, delayed by a commando baking operation (20 loaves, 20 rolls, 3 batches of granola . . . in two days) and a brief, delicious vacation, is evidence that hardcore bakers bake on through the heat of summer. When my own kitchen reaches temps above 100 degrees in spite of the central air-conditioning's best efforts and I have to relocate the chocolate chips to cooler climes belowstairs, I remind myself that I. CAN. STAND. THE. HEAT. Bread awaits! Bake on, bakers!
All best,
Sandy :)

English Muffins ~ Rose Levy Beranbaum's Way

English muffins are one of those items that I've always felt obligated at least to attempt, if not to master. Even so, I put it off for a while, mainly because English muffins have never been at the top of my "beloved baked goods" list. The vast majority of store-bought English muffins I've sampled always seem to have a certain unpleasant, overly yeasty aroma (I hate to say it, but I'm going to: they just smell funky) I never cottoned to. (And I feel the same about store-bought tortillas, but that's a post for another day).

Oh, sure, I'd eat them if we went out for eggs Benedict, and I'd buy them for tuna melts and the like, but I couldn't bring myself to cozy up to an English muffin with butter or cream cheese next to my breakfast coffee. But now that I've finally baked my own, I can see why so many people are crazy for nooks and crannies. Give me a pile of these pillow-soft scratch-made tasties any day!

For my first endeavor in the making of English muffins, I decided to use the recipe from Beranbaum's excellent, The Bread Bible. This is a wonderful book ~ one of those resources that both novices and old hands will find themselves pulling off their shelves over and over. If you don't already have this book, I suggest you get a copy for your personal baker's library. Take it out of the library first, if you'd like ~ I like to "test drive" my cookbooks this way before buying them.

The English Muffin recipe begins on page 167, and progresses over four pages. But don't let that intimidate you ~ the recipe is clear and fully explicated. This is not a challenging bread to bake.

Beranbaum's English Muffin recipe uses a sponge starter, which offers some flexibility in timing the process. You can ferment the sponge for 1 to 4 hours at room temperature, or 1 hour at room temperature, then 8 to 24 hours in the refrigerator. I've done this different ways, and it's turned out beautifully each time.

Once the flour mixture is added, there are other points in the process that allow for flexibility in the timing of this bread, so this is one of the more forgiving yeast bread recipes you'll come across.

No oven necessary to finish things off: English Muffins are griddled, not baked. I buttered my electric skillet lightly ~ about 1 teaspoon per side for 4 muffins ~ and the resulting degree of browning was perfect. And that small bit of butter contributes a heavenly aroma that filled the kitchen while these were on the griddle. That's right ~ these English muffins actually smell good. Delicious even!

The muffins are then cooled on a rack and fork split ~ the crumb inside was open and generously pocked with nooks just waiting to be puddled with melted butter. The next time I make these, I'll probably make a double batch, as these were gone way too quickly. If you're hesitant to try your hand at English muffins, go ahead and give these a go. You don't need any special equipment. I used a 3 1/2-inch ring cutter, but if you don't have one, you can use a round cookie cutter, a biscuit cutter, or even a clean tuna can with the top and bottom removed (be careful of sharp edges).

Enjoy!

BYOB Roundup 10 ~ June 15, 2009

Ning of Heart and Hearth baked this wonderful Basil and Cheddar Bread to pair with a bottle of homemade salsa a friend had given her. Her gift is ours too, it turns out . . . this bread looks like a real winner!

Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook triumphed with her own puff pastry! How awesome! Once you've got that bad boy in your baker's arsenal, you're geared up for countless applications that use puff paste ~ go and see, then maybe try it yourself!

Judy of No Fear Entertaining made a visually stunning (read: giant muffinlike) Casatiello for the BBA challenge group. Looks great, and I bet this would be lots of fun to serve at a brunch!

Jennifer of The Lollipop Kids made . . . Pizza! Her whole-wheat crusts are gorgeous (and she grinds her own flour), and make pizza downright virtuous!

Sarah of Que Sarah Sarah made Bagels! And they're beautiful! And if I had one right now, I wouldn't be here getting this roundup ready, I'd be standing in front of the toaster, impatiently waiting for my bagel to be toasted!

Brace yourselves: Chrystal and Amir of The Duo Dishes have shared a towering colossus of deliciousness with us! Okay, well, it's a bit more delicate than "towering" would suggest and maybe not exactly a "colossus," but seriously, their Almond and Coconut Cream Fruit Cakes are absolutely drool-worthy. Go, see.

Kira of Blogs from a Homesick Aussie made a delicious-looking homemade pizza! And not only the crust ~ she made the sauce from scratch too! And boy does it look good. Who needs takeout?!

Jude of Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate shows off an absolute stunner of a sourdough rye ~ a Leinsamenbrot crusted with black sesame seeds. Even if you have no intention of baking this, go see, just for the pictures!

If you're looking to make burger buns for your next cookout, Frieda of
Lovin' from the Oven has you covered! Her Feather Wheat Roll hamburger buns look like they're just dying to host your next burger (beef, turkey, salmon, or veggie ~ however you like your patty!).

As for me, I've been baking pretty much nonstop. So much so, in fact, that I haven't had as much time as I'd like to post about it. (You might have noticed that the last post I put up here was the June 1 roundup. Sorry!) But I have many, many great recipes and photos for you, and I promise to get them up here as soon as I can. Really! In the meantime, bake on, bakers!

All best,
Sandy

BYOB Roundup 9 ~ June 1, 2009

Kim of Stirring the Pot made a beautiful loaf of Tyler Florence's Wonderful White Bread. Kim says it was "really good and easy" and a hit with her family. Looks like a PB&J just waiting to happen!

Ning of Heart and Hearth put together an absolutely delectable Whole Wheat Pizza with Shrimp, Olives, and Tomato Pesto. And if you think that sounds delicious, go have a look at the pictures!

Trisha of The Zest (welcome to BYOB, Trisha!) debuts with a picture-perfect Whole Wheat Brioche ~ and yes, folks, it has a tete! Ooh-la-la!

Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook has been busy in her kitchen! She made strudels for the Daring Bakers challenge ~ one savory and one sweet (and they both sound wonderful). And she made a simply gorgeous loaf of Greek Celebration Bread for the BBA group. I bet her kitchen smelled heavenly all month!

Amy of Maison Belle brings us a sweet and a savory as well! Check out her pretty pastel cupcakes and cookies ~ and I'm certain her pics will make you want to pull up a chair and join her tea party. She also brings us a Rustic Italian Herb Bread! Looks great, Amy!

My oven has been busy-busy this month. I, too, am a Daring Baker and have taken on the BBA challenge. But I didn't make this month's DB challenge (yet) and I have yet to post my Anadama pictures. So much bread, so little time for posting about it! But I did enjoy it, both the baking aspect and the eating aspect, and I'm working on a new set of recipes for spring. And yes, a set of posts to go with them! Still going to get those English muffins up here ~ really! In the meantime, bake on and let us know what's coming out of your oven!

Happy June!
~Sandy

Lime Melting Moments

When I first came across this recipe, I had no idea that “melting moments” was an actual type of cookie. I thought it was just a cute name that had been given to these exceptionally tender cornstarch shortbreads. All it took was a little bit of research to discover otherwise. Now I’m wondering how I’ve lived this long ~ and read as many cookie recipes as I have ~ without learning this critical fact! So much lost time to make up for!

These delicate lime cookies came about after I stumbled across this recipe for Strawberries and Cream Melting Moments on one of my favorite food blogs, No Recipes. Those pretty pink sandwich cookies looked so delectable to me, I craved them immediately. I could practically taste that magical combination of tender shortbread and buttercream ~ it was love at first sight.

I rifled through my cabinets, searching for ingredients to make these work. Although I could come up with no desiccated strawberries, I did have something else to experiment with.

I have a bag of King Arthur Flour’s fabulous lime juice powder, and a bottle of their pure lime oil, neither of which I’d ever used before. They were just sitting there, patiently waiting to find their way into something wonderful and perfect for a spring dessert.

These Lime Melting Moments are elegant and refined-tasting. They'll be perfectly at home on even the most uppity bone china saucer at teatime. But they’re also perfect for popping in your mouth straight out of the refrigerator, too. Please though, do exercise caution: these are highly addictive.

I’m excited to play around with the basic formula ~ there are so many possible flavors and flavoring agents available. In the meantime, have a go at these, and enjoy!

Lime Melting Moments

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon KAF lime powder (or to taste)
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

Lime Buttercream Filling:

• 1/3 cup (about 5 tablespoons) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon KAF lime oil
• Green food color gel, if desired

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or an electric hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until very pale and fluffy. Sprinkle the lime powder over and mix to incorporate.
3. Sift the cornstarch and half of the flour into the mixing bowl and beat until combined. Sift the remaining flour into the dough and beat until just incorporated. {Taste a small piece of the dough. It should have a pleasing and recognizable lime flavor. Don’t go overboard with the lime powder or your cookies will take on a sour taste.}
4. Using a teaspoon-sized cookie scoop or a small melon baller, scoop balls of dough into the palm of your hand and roll into nicely shaped spheres. Place the dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Leave about 2 inches between each ball of dough. Carefully press the balls into 1/4-inch thick patties with your fingers.
5. Bake in the center of your oven for about 15 minutes, but do not let the cookies brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool for a minute on the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat until all the cookies have been baked.
6. To make the Lime Buttercream Filling: Beat softened butter, confectioner’s sugar, and lime oil together using an electric hand mixer or a whisk until smooth and fluffy. Add a little bit of food color, if desired, and whisk again. Taste and adjust lime oil, if necessary.
7. When the cookies are completely cool, spread buttercream on the flat (bottom) surface of one cookie and top with another cookie to form a sandwich, top surfaces facing out.
8. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

BYOB Roundup 8 ~ May 15, 2009

Ning of Heart and Hearth brings us this absolutely delectable-looking but easy (she says) Beer Bread! With its buttery golden brown crust, this seems perfect to serve alongside soup or as a snack. It's actually a quick bread ~ the beer and baking powder take on the job as leaveners here.

Lucky for us, Chrystal and Amir of The Duo Dishes have been busy bakers. They offer melt-in-your-mouth Buttermilk Biscuits, the perfect blank canvas for your favorite homemade jam or local honey. And, Lemon Ginger Cream Cheese Muffins ~ You may very well want to make these the next thing you bake for breakfast!

Mia of Stoned Knitter was fortunate enough to have a friend teach her how to make Indian Chaphati, a flatbread I could easily eat every single day. Check out her pictures!

Shirley of Plum Bush Cottage made . . . Beignets! That's right ~ plump little pillows of deep-fried deliciousness. You know you want some!

Liz of Just Me Eating was busy in her kitchen, making Whole Wheat Buttermilk Sandwich Bread (and how good does that sound!?) and Close Enough Rolls. If you have (and use) a bread machine, you won't want to miss that buttermilk loaf recipe!

Frieda of Lovin' from the Oven brings Buttery Breadsticks (and step-by-step instructions!) to the BYOB party. Her photos and careful directions are a huge help if you've never made these before. Go check them out! You'll be so happy you did, especially when you've got a pile of these buttery, garlicky babies on the table in front of you.

Kate of Warm Olives made a couple of really interesting things to share with us: Stealth Cinnamon Rolls and Banana Blueberry Breakfast Bread. You'll never believe these beauties ~ both yeast breads ~ start with . . . a boxed cake mix!
Kim of Stirring the Pot made Almost Famous Breadsticks just like the ones you'd find at the Olive Garden (you know the ones ~ yeah, those). They look pretty yummy, Kim!

Laura of Real Good Food made shallot-studded Hamburger Buns, and let me tell you, I feel inspired to plan a cookout just to feature these babies. (Great call on the shallots, Laura!) And if you want to check out how those burger buns look on active duty, click here.

Jude of Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate made gorgeous ~ gorgeous ~ Anadama Bread for the new Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge group (which, btw, I am also a member of ~ yay!). Jude shows us an incredibly beautiful Anadama crumb. Go. See!

As for me, I've been baking up a storm, and in inverse proportion, falling behind on my posts. I apologize. What I've got coming up for you will (hopefully) make up for it. Homemade English muffins, lime buttercream-filled melting moments, banana chocolate chip streusel muffins, and a few other little yummies. In the meantime, enjoy the cooler days for baking before the summer is upon us!

Best,
Sandy

4. Bananas Foster p. 206 {B@H/CIA}

Bananas Foster is an iconic dessert dish right up there with Cherries Jubilee and Peach Melba. Created in the early 1950s by New Orleans chef Paul Blange for Brennan’s NOLA restaurant, it has become a classic in fine-dining restaurants all over the world.

As a dessert, Bananas Foster is more than the sum of its parts, which are relatively few and uncomplicated ~ the basics being butter, sugar, bananas, and rum. Together, they transform over heat into something far more elegant than this simple list would suggest.

Generally speaking, I’m not much of a cooked-banana girl. By far my favorite way to eat a banana is freshly peeled, barely yellow, and firm enough to provide resistance when I bite into it. When I do cook with bananas, I prefer mine in muffins, cakes, and quick breads. So, Bananas Foster isn’t a dessert I would typically choose off a restaurant menu. However, its presence in the Baking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America book combined with the presence of nearly 10 pounds of ripe bananas on my counter inspired me to choose it now.

This recipe wasn’t difficult to prepare, and the smell that filled my kitchen while this was cooking was absolutely ambrosial (think hot buttered rum). It’s the kind of dessert that you can prepare for company, while your company is sitting around with their coffee ~ it takes only a few minutes from start to finish. Bananas Foster is traditionally flamed before serving, but the B@H/CIA cookbook doesn’t include instructions for that stage, so I didn’t flame mine either.

I chose to serve the warm Bananas Foster over Philadelphia-style vanilla ice cream, with a sprinkle of crushed toasted walnuts to garnish. The banana slices were sweet and just faintly tart, enrobed in the thick, rum-kissed caramel sauce, which was nicely complemented by the creamy coolness of the ice cream. The crunch of the walnuts provided the perfect counterpoint to the textures of the ice cream and fruit.

It’s something different to have in your dessert repertoire, a “grown-up” treat for a special occasion, maybe. I liked this one, and I’d make it again. Please take note of the modifications I list in my Baker’s Notes section; I did make some significant adjustments to the recipe.

Baker’s Notes

• Although the recipe calls for “medium-high” heat, the first batch I made burned almost immediately ~ yes, I took pictures; no, I won’t show you. The second time around, I turned down the heat to medium, which was perfect.
• The recipe calls for white sugar but I found that the white sugar caramelized (read: burned) too quickly to converge with the butter into a decent caramel. The second go-round, I replaced it with brown sugar ~ perfection.
• When choosing your bananas, don’t go for overripe, baking-ready bananas. Instead, choose those that you’d pick if you were eating them raw ~ medium-firm and yellow. If you start with bananas that are too soft, you’ll end up with mush instead of nicely defined slices.
• Although the classic Bananas Foster presentation uses bananas sliced lengthwise and quartered, I really like the slices. They’re nicer, I think, to serve over ice cream, and they’re less awkward to eat with a dessert spoon.
• Next time, I think I’ll try using Malibu brand coconut-flavored rum and sprinkling with toasted coconut. Mmmm.