Tag Archives: brunch

Blueberry Muffins

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This whole not having a job at month’s end thing is really starting to hit me. Did I really just do that? Why yes, I did! I have been given a nice exit plan of about 4 weeks, and I have been trying so hard to stay involved and be worth my weight around the office and not let too many people know too far in advance that I’m leaving. Word is starting to get out and I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised with my co-workers’ reactions. First, I should probably disclose that I’m the Chairman’s daughter and when the chairman’s daughter resigns it has a chance of hurting company morale. Anyways, everyone that knows I’m leaving the company has been nothing but supportive and truly happy for me that I’m going to be doing what I love and I could not be more grateful for their kindness. It is making the transition much easier, although the lightening of my workload has left me bored and there are only so many articles I can read in one day….

It gives me a lot of time to think about all aspects of my life and I think I’m going to be do just fine. After all, the biggest fear I have about this life change is not being able to take full advantage of the USC football season tickets I was so proud to buy for myself that I now will have to travel 300 miles to use. And that whole how to avoid living in a dorm thing… it wasn’t for me when I was 18, I don’t think it will be when I’m 25 either.

This boredom also gives me time to read a lot of recipes and research things I’ve been wanting to try… like coconut oil. I bought a jar a while back and have been wanting to use it but didn’t have any ideas. I starting researching and found that you can basically replace butter in any recipe with it so I gave it a try last night with some blueberry muffins. This time of year my fridge fills up with berries and they seem to go bad quicker than we can eat them all so it seemed like the perfect way to test this mysterious coconut oil in my pantry.

My big discovery from this experiment is that these make the house smell really good. Right out of the oven they had a really strong blueberry and cinnamon smell, but after they cooled and the next morning the coconut became more prominent. Also, the batter was extremely dry and I ended up adding more liquid than usual to the batter, I have a feeling it is because I used 2/3 whole wheat white flour and 1/3 regular flour and it was not because of the coconut oil/ butter exchange. I think the added liquids also might be why the muffins came out with really pretty tall domed tops and later fell (But it was probably because of too much leavening).

I’ll revisit coconut oil again with a control batch… maybe my classic chocolate chip cookies. Just to see if it was the whole wheat flour making things to dry creating the need for extra liquids or not.  These muffins are worth a try in the meantime… they’re actually really good… I just want some answers to my chemistry question.

Recipe

Muffin

1/2 cup Coconut Oil

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla, or both)

1 cup whole wheat white flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup buttermilk (or more if too dry)

1 pint of blueberries

Crumb topping

1 stick butter, Melted

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

  • Preheat over the 350°F and line a muffin tin with paper cups
  • Mix the flours, baking powder, baking sod and salt together. (The recipe has less leavening than I used so this should be correct)
  • Beat the coconut oil and sugar together, add the eggs and extract.
  • Add half of the flour and mix lightly
  • Add the buttermilk mix until everything is incorporated and add the last amount of dry ingredients. If it looks more like cookie dough than cake batter now is the time to add more buttermilk, or milk or water (which ever you prefer) by the tablespoon.
  • Carefully incorporate the blueberries. IF you have been using an electric mixer i recommend switching to a spatula so the berries do not get smashed.
  • Using an ice cream scoop evenly divide the batter between the muffin tins, you should have enough for 12 or a little extra.
  • Next make the crumb topping, mix all the ingredients together with your fingers to gent a nice crumb. If the topping looks too much like wet sand add a little extra flour until it feels drier, but you can still create a ball that stays together out of the dough.
  • Sprinkle the crumb topping over the muffins and place in the oven
  • Bake for about 20 – 30 minutes depending on the size of your muffins.

Something fantastic from scratch

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Today I did what any rational 20 something college graduate with a decent job and foot up on the corporate ladder at a prestigious marketing agency would do… I resigned. I thought I would cry (because that’s what I do in uncomfortable situations), I thought I would screw up the speech I had been rehearsing in my head for the past several weeks, I thought I would chicken out.

I have been struggling to find happiness in a job I spend 10-12 hours a day at for the past two years, and for the first time in a very long time something made me smile… an acceptance letter from the Culinary Institute of America.

I’m still a little in shock that in about 3 weeks I will not have a steady source of income (or a use for my degree from a top 25 university) and that I actually had the guts to leap off the cliff (probably because I’m still falling and don’t know yet if the deep warm Mediterranean ocean is at the bottom of the cliff like I hope) but I did it.

I received the acceptance letter the week before I took the GMAT (needless to say,studying became a lot harder) and as I was in my kitchen doing math drills while treats were in the oven I had an epiphany… in culinary school my homework would be baking! I called my mom and we both just starting laughing because we knew right then and there that studying for the GMAT was irrelevant to my future (I still took the test and the score can get me into a great business school if I ever chose – options to appease my father).

I’m going to have so much more time to bake a blog! This is going to be amazing…. Now to make up for lost time I have a fantastic recipe. It is inspired by the morning buns at Tartine in San Francisco. Basically it’s croissant dough, with cinnamon sugar and a hint of orange. I hate orange, with a passion. If people ask… i’m allergic (yes, i’m one of those people). So I created a peach version. Enjoy! My mom did…she ate 3 in one day!

Recipe (my own):

Croissant dough (this is a simpler version that does not use levain and poolish like the straight croissant dough in a previous post):

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½  cup sugar
  • ½ cup warm water
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 Tablespoons butter melted
  • 1 package yeast
  • 1 teaspoons vanilla
  • 100 grams butter
  • 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • All-purpose flour for rolling
Peachy Sugar coating:
  • 2 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1 – 1.5 oz package of freeze dried peaches (i used just peaches – you can also sub with a different fruit)
  • 4 tablespoons melted butter

Directions

  • Pour the milk into a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast and mix
  • Add the flour, salt, sugar, melted butter and vanilla. Mix again with your hands until all flour is incorporated (or use a stand mixer with a dough hook and deprive your arms of the fine sculpting they will get from lots of kneading) Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.
  • Transfer dough to a clear container and let the dough undergo its bulk rise/ fermentation in a warm 75- 80 ° F place for about 90 minutes
  • Every 30 minutes give the dough a turn: dampen your hands (so the dough doesn’t stick) with warm water and gently pull dough up from the bottom of the bowl and fold onto the top a few times – this takes the place of kneading the dough.
  • Transfer the dough to a large plastic bag, press to flatten in a rectangle and chill in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours (or freeze).
  • While dough is chilling prepare the butter. Cut the cold butter into cubes and pound the cubes with a rolling pin until they come together into a sheet about 8” x 12”. While doing this incorporate the ½ cup of flour. You want the butter mass to be similar in consistency to the dough, and to be slightly pliable without getting to warm. Once you have your rectangle place on parchment paper and keep cool until ready to use.

  • When you are ready to begin laminating take the dough out of the fridge and roll out into a rectangle about 12 “ x 20” on a very well floured surface.

  • Work quickly to place the butter block in the center of the dough. Fold the right and left portions of the dough over the butter as if folding a letter.

  • Immediately turn the dough 90 degrees and roll it again into a rectangle about 12” x 20”. Fold the dough over itself like a letter once more. (This is the first “turn”). Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but not long enough for the butter to re-harden.

  • Take the dough out and on a well floured surface turn the dough a second time; roll it out into a 12” x 20” and fold the dough over itself like a letter.
  • Refrigerate for an hour and repeat the turning process again. But this time after you fold up the dough (you should have about 8” x 12” block about 2” thick) wrap in plastic wrap or parchment and freeze for about 1 to 2 hours. If you plan on baking them in the morning keep the dough in the freezer until just before you go to bed and transfer to the fridge for the night.
  • Make the peach sugar by placing the freeze-dried peaches in the food processor and pulsing until a fine powder (it may help to add some of the sugar because of its abrasive nature).
  • mix ground peaches with the rest of the sugar and cinnamon.
  • Roll the croissant dough out to about a 18″ x 12″ rectangle on a very well floured surface.  Make sure you are constantly rotating the dough so it does not stick, or worse the butter breaks through the bottom or top layer and gets very sticky!
  • Once the dough is rolled out to size pour melted butter over the dough and sprinkle with enough of the sugar mixture to make a thick paste like coating. (you want about half of the sugar mix left to coat the final baked buns)
  • Roll the dough up into a log, like rolling cinnamon rolls and cut off the scraggly ends.
  • Cut the remaining dough into 12 equal pieces.(you may want to put the log in the refrigerator to stiffen up a little to make slicing easier).
  • Grease a regular-sized muffin tin.
  • Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces and place in a the greased muffin pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temp for an hour or in the fridge to bake-off early in the morning.
  • When ready to bake, preheat the over to 425°F and let the buns come to room temperature for 30 minutes if they have been in the fridge.
  • Bake at 425°F for 10 minutes then reduce heat to 375°F and bake until golden brown. You make want to rotate the pan to keep the cooking even. 
  • coat each bun with the remaining sugar (they should be buttery enough to stick, but enough a little extra butter only makes them better)

Another Beauty for Yeastspotting!

Pineapple Crumb Cake

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Oh pineapple. My favorite fruit, my favorite flavor, quiet possibly my favorite food. My mom said she ate ridiculous amounts of pineapple when she was pregnant with me, and she thinks I’m predisposed to love it. I probably go through a pineapple a week. I wish that was an exaggeration, but it’s not.  I grab a piece as I’m running out the door to work, when I’m bored and looking for something too much on, or chop it up to put in mashed sweet potatoes for dinner.

When I go visit my parents that are living in Hawaii, I always find new and interesting ways to incorporate pineapple into everything I’m making or eating. The Passover/ Easter holiday gave me a chance to go see my parents and BAKE! This pineapple crumb cake is a hybrid of all things my family loves, a sweet yeast dough, pineapple and irresistible crunchy sugary buttery crumb topping (with Macadamia nuts)!

This cake works for all the right reasons. The dough isn’t overly sweet like one from a cake batter with a high ratio of sugar to flour. The pineapple is sweet, but tart has the perfect brightness, and the topping… well its sugar and butter and represents everything that is right in the world.

As I was making this cake I realized that there’s a chance some people might be scared of this cake. I realized there is a reason why most pineapple upside cakes have perfect little canned pineapple rings… most people don’t know where to start when it comes to cutting a pineapple! My father is living proof. He swears by this “pineapple cutter” that he twists into the fruit and it mushes and mangles the thing to a pulp… literally. So here’s a quick tutorial on how to make the nice little slices that are perfect baking and even better for snacking on.

Step 1: Cut the ends off

Step 2: “Peel” the fruit with a sharp knife by cutting all of the skin off the fruit.

Step 3: Cut the pineapple into a half then quarters

Step 4: Remove the core. It’s my favorite part to snack on with baking and doesn’t break down during baking like the rest of the fruit.

Step 5: Slice it up!

Now lets talk cake! I make sweet yeast dough for cakes all the time and I use the same basic recipe that you can find here!

Recipe 

Cake dough:

3 cups all-purpose flour

½  cup sugar

½ cup warm water

½ cup milk

3 Tablespoons butter melted

1 package yeast

1 teaspoons vanilla

1 pineapple sliced

Streusel

1 ½ cups flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

6 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup macadamia nuts (optional, but highly recommended)

Directions:

To make cake:

  • Mix flour and sugar together on a large mixing bowl
  • Place warm water, warm milk and yeast in a small bowl and let proof 
  • Pour yeast mixture into the flour and add the extract and butter. Mix together. I prefer to use my hands (t’s the way I learned to make it), but you can do this in a stand mixer with a dough hook
  • Add more flour if needed to create a dough. You want it to spring back and not be too sticky
  • If mixing by hand knead a few times on a floured surface (this is my favorite part) when you poke the dough it will spring back at you if it is ready.
  • Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl in a warm, draft-free place to rise for about an hour, or until doubled in size
To make streusel:
  • Mix the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl.
  • Add the butter and mix together into it is crumbly
  • Add the macadamia nuts

To assemble:

  • Roll the dough out into a rectangle the size of your pan (about 9″ x 13″) or just press it into the pan.
  • Layer the pineapple on top of the dough. I like to take the slices right after chopping and keep them in their neat little row so I can simply spread them out.
  • Lastly sprinkle the streusel over the pineapple, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about 45 minutes while the oven heats to 375° F.

Bake the cake for about 45 minutes until the top is crunchy and brown and the cake is done. Slice and serve, it’s the perfect treat to go with some Kona Coffee!And check out other delicious yeast treats over at yeastspotting!

Cherry Danish

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Have you ever craved the smell of something? I know this might sound extremely weird, but sometimes I just want to smell a certain thing. usually its the smell of a sweet yeast dough cooking. Something about the smell makes me feel loved and comforted. everyone knows this smell. It’s what draws people to the cinnabun and pretzel stands at malls. It’s what makes waking up on Sunday mornings as a kid memorable. It’s one of the few things I remember my mom making when I was a kid.

The past week I’ve struggled with work and life and all of these adult things that now fill my life. I went and saw a movie only to cry for a solid 2 hours (note to all – The Descendants is not what I expected out of a film with Mr. Clooney existing in Hawaii). I knew only one thing could shake the mood I was in, baking.

I felt better as soon as I started to smell the yeast blooming in the milk. Any remaining tension disappeared while kneading the dough. How could the problems of my life really be so bad if I still have everything I need to bake?

I didn’t really know where I was going when I made the dough. Maybe a cake? Maybe sweet rolls? Maybe something different. As the dough proofed I investigated the pantry and made the best discovery: sour cherry jam! from there I just went with what ever came to mind, and I have to say…. the end product surprised and impressed me.

It might have been a restless 5:30 this morning when my cherry creation went into the oven, but it was worth it. There’s no better smell coming out of a kitchen in the morning than one of these!

Recipe all my own

Pastry Dough:

1 Cup milk

1 Package instant yeast

1/2 Cup sugar

3 Cups flour

1/2 cup almond meal

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 stick butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

Cherry Filling

1 8.5oz container of sour cherry jam

1 cup frozen cherries

1/4 cup flour

juice of 1 lemon

Topping

1 egg

1 tablespoon cream

1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon honey, or as needed

Directions

  • Warm milk to about 100 degrees, add a pinch of a sugar and the package of yeast. Let bloom
  • In a large bowl mix flour, almond meal, sugar and salt
  • Once the yeast is activated add the milk mixture  and the melted butter to the dry ingredients. mix to combine
  • transfer the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth
  • place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour
  • while the dough is rising make the filling. Place the jam and frozen cherries in a bowl and microwave until the jam is loose. add the lemon juice and the flour mix and set aside.
  • get out your largest kitchen towel and cover generously with flour.
  • place the risen dough on the towel and begin rolling until the dough is about the size of the cloth.
  • spread the filling out over the entire surface of the dough
  • gently roll the dough up into a log
  • to shape the dough make the log into a U-shape and the twist
  • place the dough on a lined sheet pan cover with plastic wrap and let rise for at least an hour, preferably over night. It will double to triple in size
  • When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400° and mix the egg and cream together. Brush the egg mixture over the entire dough.
  • sprinkle the almonds over the pastry and place small cubes of the butter throughout the topping.
  • last, drizzle about a tablespoon of honey over the almonds
  • place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes rotating half way through, if the dough looks dry, drizzle more honey over the danish
  • let cool before slicing

Check out other awesome pastries over at Yeastspotting!

Povitica

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I have been a horrible blogger this month. Not only have I not had time to post anything, I have barely had time to bake. I have been amazingly busy a work the past several weeks, USC football has taken over my Saturdays and I recently became a fan of an exercise class (bizarre and totally out of character). I have been obsessed with the Bar Method; It’s Pilates, yoga and ballet all mixed into an hour leaving my limbs feeling like jello. I really like it but it’s having adverse effects on my baking… My arms were so sore as I was kneading a dough this past week!

Since I felt so bad about not making anything for a while I decided to try something I’ve seen all over the food universe, Povitica. It has every element of baking I love all combined into a beautiful swirled package. Yeast, check. Eastern European, check. Some crazy technique I’ve never tried before, check. What is there not to love? I even forgot the part about chocolate! This really might be one of the better things I’ve ever made. It’s similar to a babka, but the dough is flakier. My oh so poetic father called it a giant rugelach. Regardless of what you compare it… It’s delicious! And I promise it is worth following each step of the directions very carefully.

This most important part of making this is the rolling of the dough. The recipe does not make a large quantity of dough, but it rolls out to be incredibly large! This is all due to rolling the dough out on a kitchen towel. I had my doubts about this… I was about to start flouring my counter to use as a work surface at first, but then I kept reading the directions. You want to roll the dough out so thin that you can see the pattern of the towel underneath. When you think the dough can’t get thinner, roll it out more. I’ve never rolled a yeast dough out that thin, so I wanted to try it. I got my towel out, floured it, placed the ball of dough down and went to work.

This was AMAZING. The dough was paper-thin by the time I finished. The recipe wasn’t anything out of the normal, so I knew it wasn’t the ingredients that let the dough get so thin. It’s the towel underneath! It seems like the towel helps the dough stay in place as it gets thinner. It really is remarkable to watch what is happening as you roll each time. I made a batch of croissant dough the next day using a towel as a work surface and it worked brilliantly there too.This bread went very quickly. I made a second loaf (that is what the pictures are of) on Saturday as it was pouring rain outside. It turned out well, but the rain affected the dough a bit and it was not as flakey as the first.Also I think the proofing time between the shaping and baking is very important. If your dough is to dense, it will not cook through all the way and be doughy in the center (like my pictured second loaf).

Povitica (recipe from passionateaboutbaking)

Ingredients

To activate the Yeast:
½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp warm water
1½ tsp dry yeast
Dough:
½ Cup  2% milk
¾ Cup sugar
¾ tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 vanilla bean,scraped
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 cups all-purpose flour
Topping:
1 egg white, beaten with fork
1½ tsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp melted butter
Filling Ingredients:
1¾ cups (10 oz) walnuts, ground
¼ cup 2% milk
¼ Cup unsalted butter
1 egg yolk beaten with fork
½ vanilla bean, scraped
½ Cup sugar
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Directions
  • In a small bowl, stir sugar, flour, and the yeast into warm water
  • Allow to stand for 5 minutes.
To Make the Dough:
    • In a medium saucepan, heat the milk up to just below boiling (about 180°F/82°C), stirring constantly so that a film does not form on the top of the milk. You want it hot enough to scald you, but not boiling. Place the half vanilla bean in the milk.  Allow to cool slightly, until it is about 110°F/43°C.
    • one it is cool enough to handle take the vanilla bean out and scrap the seeds on the inside out with a small sharp knife.
    • In a large bowl, mix the scalded milk,vanilla, sugar, and the salt until combined.
    • Add the beaten eggs, yeast mixture, melted butter, and 2 cups of flour.
    • Blend thoroughly and slowly add extra flour, mixing well until the dough starts to clean the bowl
    • Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead, gradually adding flour a little at a time, until smooth and does not stick.
    • Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover loosely with a layer of plastic wrap and let rise an hour and a half in a warm place, until doubled in size. I usually put mine in the oven so there is no draft.
To Make the Filling
    • In a large bowl mix together the ground walnuts, sugar and cocoa. {I whizzed the walnuts, cocoa, and sugar in the food processor}
  • Heat the milk and butter to boiling, add the vanilla bean, and scrape into the hot liquids like for the dough.
  • Pour the liquid over the nut/sugar mixture.
  • Add the egg yolk and mix thoroughly.
  • Allow to stand at room temperature until ready to be spread on the dough.
  • If the mixture thickens, add a small amount of warm milk {This is important}
To Roll and Assemble the Dough:
  • Spread a clean sheet or cloth over your entire table so that it is covered.
  • Sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons to a handful of flour
  • Place the dough on the sheet and roll the dough out with a rolling-pin, starting in the middle and working your way out, until it measures roughly 10-12 inches in diameter
  • Spoon 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of melted butter on top.
  • Using the tops of your hands, stretch dough out from the center until the dough is thin and uniformly opaque. You can also use your rolling pin, if you prefer.
  • As you work, continually pick up the dough from the table, not only to help in stretching it out, but also to make sure that it isn’t sticking.
  • When you think it the dough is thin enough, try to get it a little thinner. It should be so thin that you can see the color and perhaps the pattern of the sheet underneath. I mean seriously… in relation to my large rolling pin you can see how huge this rolls out to be! and it’s only 2 cups of flour!!
  • Spoon filling evenly over dough until covered.
  • Lift the edge of the cloth and gently roll the dough like a jelly roll
  • Once the dough is rolled up into a rope, gently lift it up and place it into a greased loaf pan in the shape of a “U”, with the ends meeting in the middle. You want to coil the dough around itself, as this will give the dough its characteristic look when sliced
  • Brush the top of the loaf with the beaten egg white and sprinkle with granulated sugar. 
  • Cover pans lightly will plastic wrap and allow to rest for about 15 minutes.
  • Heat oven to moderate 400°F.
  • Remove plastic wrap from dough and place into the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.
  • Turn down the oven temperature to slow 325°C and bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until done. {Check the bread at 30 minutes to ensure that the bread is not getting too brown. You may cover the loaves with a sheet of aluminum foil if you need to.}
  • Remove bread from oven and brush with melted butter.
  • Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes, still in the bread pan. Remember, the bread is heavy about 2.5 and it needs to be able to hold its own weight, which is difficult when still warm and fresh out of the oven. Allowing it to cool in the pan helps the loaf to hold its shape.
  • It is recommended that the best way to cut Povitica loaves into slices is by turning the loaf upside down and slicing with a serrated knife.

Off to Yeastspotting it goes!

Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake Loaf

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I’ve stopped following recipes lately. I think I like testing myself to see if my baking intuition is as good as I think it is. Sometimes… well sometimes things just aren’t blogged about. Other times… I get a huge ego boost when people ask “where did you get the recipe?” and I get to say, “oh its nothing special,  I just threw some things together, poured it in the pan and crossed my fingers”.

Of course what those people don’t know is that there have been flops – even when I follow recipes. I have a tendency of forgetting baking powder or salt, one time I even forgot oil. Because of this, I appreciate when things turn out the way I want them to (or even better than I hoped for on occasion).

My secret is I read. A lot. I read recipes, I read other blogs, I read almost every page in all the monthly food magazines to pick up tips and secrets. Once you realize the purpose of all the ingredients, it becomes much easier to throw things together successfully. For example beating the butter and sugar together first before adding the other ingredients helps make a tender and fluffy cake. The eggs are the glue that holds everything together, and flour… well… it pretty much is the mass of the cake. If you want more information on what role ingredients play in baking I recommend this link.

This loaf cake was something I made up as I went along. My family has had a bundt cake that was a box of yellow cake mix with a chocolaty-cinnamon swirl through the center which was my inspiration. I thought a vanilla cake with this swirl and a cinnamon crumb topping would be a hit at the house and just went with it. I pulled some non-traditional ingredients into the mix for fun as well like fresh ricotta and black cocoa. I used the ricotta for two purposes, as a butter substitute and also for moistness instead of sour cream or water or only milk. The black cocoa was out of necessity… I bought a few months ago and have been scared to use it. It was expensive and I haven’t found any great black cocoa recipe. But I didn’t have any normal cocoa powder and it worked in this application. Also, I separated the egg whites from the yolks and whipped them and folded them into the batter as the last step to add more lift to the cake.

Lastly…. my secret to an evenly cooked pound cake was used. Start with a cold oven, put the cake in and then turn to the correct temperature. My gut tells me that this helps the cake cook evenly the same way starting with cold water boils potatoes or eggs evenly. I’m not 100% sure on the reason, but it works beautifully. I recommend it for any dense cake.

Recipe

cake

1 stick butter, softened

4 oz ricotta

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs, separated

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup ricotta

1/2 cup milk

Chocolate cinnamon swirl

1/4 cup cocoa

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Crumble topping

2/3 cup flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 stick butter, melted

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

  • grease a 9″x5″ loaf pan with butter or line with parchment paper
  • mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.
  • Beat the first amount of Ricotta and butter together
  • Add sugar and beat until fluffy. You want it to look like a whipped frosting consistency.
  • add the egg yolks and vanilla (i used vanilla paste because I had it in the pantry and I really like the bean specks it creates in the batter)
  • add half of the dry ingredients to the batter
  • add the second amount of ricotta and milk to the mixture
  • add the last amount of the flour and set aside
  • with clean beaters, whisk the egg whites in a small bowl until you have soft peaks. I like to wipe the bowl down with half a lemon as the acid helps make sure that the eggs with whip up. 
  • gently fold the egg whites into the batter. set aside.
  • in a small bowl mix the cocoa and cinnamon together
  • in a different small bowl make the crumb topping by mixing all ingredients together. If ti does not look chunky enough add a tablespoon more flour. 
  • assemble cake by pouring half of the batter into the prepared pan, followed by sprinkling the cocoa mixture over the layer and following with the rest of the batter. Next sprinkle the crumb topping over the loaf.
  • Place in a cold oven, close the door and turn the oven up to 350°F.
  • Let bake for about an hour 10 minutes, or until the loaf is set and a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

Plum Cake

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 I wait all year for Italian Prune Plums season.  I try my best to be patient, but I get antsy. I try to use other stone fruits in an old family cake recipe, and while the cakes are great, they just aren’t plum cake.

This recipe is family treasure. I have talked about it before. It’s one of the few things I hope my future children will learn and keep passing down the way my dad’s mom taught my mom and she taught me. I feel like I’m part of a bigger picture when I make this cake. I know where it comes from, and it came a long way. The original recipe was written down in Hebrew with measurements in handfuls and made with what was available. My grandma translated and standardized the recipe in terms of cups and ingredients when she moved to America.

Theres a special tang to this cake. The mixture of lemon, butter, sugar and plums is not quite sour, but creates a little pucker. The dough underneath is sweet and yeasty. The fragrance of the sweet yeast, and tart plums overwhelms you as you take it out of the oven.  It’s always a game to see how long it takes for my dad to find his way to the kitchen when one of these are baking – usually somewhere in the range of the oven door opening and the cake being placed on the counter.

My dad refer’s to this as “the holy grail”. His mom used to make one in late summer and freeze it until his birthday on Christmas. Legend has it, my grandfather would keep a knife close by the cake and cut sliver by sliver to eat, until half was gone in a day. My dad has continued the tradition. He eats it for breakfast, after lunch, for mid-afternoon snacks and dessert…how he is not overweight is beyond me.

While my dad has never baked a single thing in his life, he loves to supervise the plum cake process. “Make the dough sweeter”… “you need more lemon” and my personal favorite, “Make a nice DRY dough” are some of his usual contributions as he steals my halved and pitted plums out of the bowl they sit in with lemon juice. (I threaten to take fingers off when he does this, but I’ve started to realize it’s a battle not worth fighting).

He really loves this cake. I make several of them during the 2 or 3 week window around late August to September when they are available. I really should freeze one this year for his birthday, or maybe freeze the plums. But I have a feeling he would find it and eat it before then.

I’m scared generations of German grandmas are rolling over in their graves as I share this recipe that has never been shared with non-family members, but how could I not share my favorite thing ever. This one is going to yeastspotting too!

Recipe 

Cake dough:

3 cups all-purpose flour

½  cup sugar

½ cup warm water

½ cup milk

3 Tablespoons butter melted

1 package yeast

1 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Plums

2 lbs italian prune plums, or as many as fit in your pan

½ cup sugar

juice of 1½ a lemon

6 Tablespoons melted butter

Directions:

To make cake:

    • Mix flour and sugar together on a large mixing bowl
    • Place warm water, warm milk and yeast in a small bowl and let proof 
    • Pour yeast mixture into the flour and add the extract and butter. Mix together. I prefer to use my hands (t’s the way I learned to make it), but you can do this in a stand mixer with a dough hook
    • Add more flour if needed to create a dough. You want it to spring back and not be too sticky
    • If mixing by hand knead a few times on a floured surface (this is my favorite part) when you poke the dough it will spring back at you if it is ready. 
    • Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl in a warm, draft-free place to rise for about an hour, or until doubled in size
Plums:
    • Cut plums in half, remove pits and place in a bowl with lemon juice 
Assembly:
    • Grease a 13 x 9 glass baking dish
    • Take the dough out of the proofing bowl and roll out into a rectangle and press into the baking dish 
    • arrange the plums on top of the dough pressing them down firmly 
    • pour the lemon juice over the plums along with the butter
    • Sprinkle with sugar
    • Cover with plastic wrap; let proof for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350° F
    • After it has risen for a second time bake for 35 – 45 minutes or until the top is golden, the juices are bubbling and the dough the glass is nicely browned
    • Serve warm, or have it room temperature for breakfast the next morning, or really anytime