Rocky Road Cookies

Posted on January 4, 2012

And now it’s January. How did that happen? Time is starting to go by way too quickly. The new year reminds me of what I have not done in my life yet. It frustrates me. I’m starting to feel old. It’s 2012! That means that I’m going to be 25 this year. Remember on newlyweds when Jessica Simpson had a break down because she was turning 23 and that’s half way to 25, which is half way to 30. I’m starting to feel like that. Except I’m going to be 25! And I haven’t made my millions and bought a mansion in the hollywood hills with a ruggedly handsome man yet. What was she freaking out about?

Regardless of feeling old and not where I thought I would be by now, I know one thing… I make a mean cookie. I found a recipe that worked for me about 5 years ago and I adjust it depending on what I have on hand or what I feel like.This time I decided to make rocky road cookies… And then I decided that I wanted a more brownies like chocolate cookie that has a shiny exterior instead of a cocoa based chocolate cookie that my standard recipe would produce. I kept looking for recipes and they all had white chocolate chips instead of marshmallows and I was really disappointed. I wanted the gooey marshmallows in mine! In the back of my head I knew there was a reason for not baking marshmallows… they dissolve into a puddle of sugary goop in the oven. I know this. But still… I wanted them in there and maybe if my cookies weren’t in the oven too long they would survive. And if they don’t I’ll use some white chocolate too so at least they have the white chunks to visually look like rocky road.

I ended up finding a recipe for “outrageous chocolate cookies” by Martha Stewart and just changed what I added into the cookies to make them rocky road. The marshmallows melted as expected. But these still tasted delicious! And the marshmallow that spilled out while baking caramelized and became crunchy and a sliver lining to the melting. Totally on my make again list.

Recipe (adapted from Martha Stewart)

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup walnuts

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup mini marshmallows

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Heat chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second increments, stirring between each, until almost melted; do not overheat. Let cool
In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla into the melted chocolate.
Mix in flour mixture until just combined.
Stir in white chocolate, marshmallows and nuts.
Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets.
Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 minutes.

Cool on baking sheets 10 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely… or eat them hot and burn your mouth like me!

P.S I’m going to be a better blogger starting now! Football season is over and I can no longer use my excuse of being in Hawaii for the holidays as an excuse. Get ready to see a lot more of me!

check these out on http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/

Povitica

Posted on November 15, 2011

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!

Caramel Brownies

Posted on October 5, 2011

The last few weeks have been very stressful. Things are moving a mile a minute and I’m juggling more things than ever and it’s somewhat overwhelming at times. Maybe it’s just the time of year, or maybe it’s this whole being an adult thing. Either way… life is really getting in the way of baking. When Friday night rolled around, I was excited to bake. While everyone else my age was getting ready to head out to the bars I threw on sweat pants preheated my oven and turned on the embarrassing teen dramas I secretly DVR.

I was going to make brownies. Not just any brownies, but caramel filled brownies for my boyfriend’s sister. She was recovering from surgery, and let’s me honest, how can brownies not make someone feel better? Just making them makes me feel better. I think it’s the smell of chocolate melting, or licking the bowl, or the smell of them baking, or all of the above that I love so much about making brownies.

While I’m usually quite modest, I have to say… my brownies are beyond awesome. I haven’t made them in a few months and I was surprised when I was eating them that I forgot how good they are! I found a recipe a few years back that was very successful for me and played around it with it many times to come up with a recipe of my own. I basically upped the amount of chocolate in the recipe, added a tiny bit of instant espresso and played around with different types of chocolate until I found what I think tastes best. I like to use a combination of milk and semisweet chocolate instead of only semi sweet or unsweetened. I think it makes a better tasting, more universally liked treat. I also like to add different things to the center, not mixed in.

I tried something different this time and put some Ghirardelli caramel filled squares in the center. These were amazing. The caramel oozes out of the brownies as you eat them, even when they are no longer warm. And when they are warm they are extra gooey. I’m thinking of trying this with the raspberry filled squares next or peppermint patties. And it will not be a few months before I make another batch.

Recipe

3/4 cup butter

1 1/3 cup (8oz) chocolate (half milk, half semi sweet)

1/2 teaspoon instant espresso

3 eggs, room temperature

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cup flour

9 Ghirardelli caramel filled squares

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 8 x 8 inch pan and line with parchment paper. The parchment paper will let you lift the brownies up out of the pan so you can easily cut them
Melt the butter and chocolate together in a glass bowl over boiling water
Stir in the espresso
as the chocolate mixture cools, In a separate large bowl whisk the eggs and sugar.You want the eggs to get light and fluffy and increase in volume a bit.
add the vanilla.
Make sure the chocolate is about body temperature (yes by sticking your finger in it – and licking clean) and add to the eggs. mix well
Next add the flour and salt. Mix until everything is barely incorporated. Do not over mix your brownies.
pour half of the batter into the pan
next place the 9 caramel filled squares on top
cover with the remaining batter and place in oven to bake for about 45 minutes.
let the brownies cool for about 30 minutes before lifting them out of the pan and cutting them.

Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake Loaf

Posted on September 20, 2011

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.

Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Cookies

Posted on September 4, 2011

I have tried and failed enough times over the years to say I know what I’m doing when it comes to the cookie. A few years back I stumbled across a recipe for chocolate chip, I don’t remember where, but it was perfect. It was chewy in the center, a crunchy edge and a nice buttery flavor. I stopped looking for a better recipe once I found this one. I have tinkered with the types of chocolate, method and cooking time to fit my preferences, but never strayed far from the foundation of the recipe.

I love this recipe because I know I can whip out a batch of scratch made, love filled cookies in under an hour. The secret is getting your ingredients room temperature without sacrificing the integrity of them. #1 butter – when it is in the wrapper, you can microwave it for about 7 seconds at a time flipping it to get it soft without completely melting one side. #2 eggs – to get them luke warm right out of the fridge, put them in a bowl with hot water for about 5 minutes. Works like a charm every time. I use the tricks all the time with cookies, cakes, anything I’m making without the forethought to take things out of the fridge hours before.

Anyways, my mom really wanted cookies. But lately I’ve wanted to make things that I can work on making better. So I stepped out of the chocolate chip box and went for oatmeal – Oatmeal dark chocolate currant to be exact. I used my basic chocolate chip recipe with some tweaks. The results were pretty good, but I feel like there is room for improvement. Next time, I will use another egg – the dough seemed to dry, and I feel like the finished product could have been fluffier with the addition of an extra egg.

Recipe (my own)

½ cup (1 stick) butter

½ cup sugar

½ cup molasses

1 egg

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1 cup oats

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

6 oz (1 cup) dark chocolate chunks

1 cup currants (or raisins)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F, line 2 cookie sheets with parchment or silpats and take all cold ingredients out of the fridge to bring to room temperature.
In a small bowl mix flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside
Beat butter sugar and molasses together with a hand mixer until light and very fluffy (about 5 minutes)
Add egg and vanilla extract and beat for another 5 minutes. You want the mixture to look like a butter cream.
Add the dry ingredients, and mix until almost everything is incorporated
add the chocolate and dried fruit
beat until everything comes together, but do not over mix (makes for a tough cookie)
using an ice cream scoop that is between 1½ and 2 inches large, scoop cookies into the prepared baking sheets. The cookies will come out of the scoop easiest, if you wet the scoop first.
gently flatten the cookies with wet hands (once again, this prevents the dough from sticking)
Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes (depending on your oven) rotating about halfway through
When taking the cookies out of the oven slide the parchment or silpat off the sheet right away, this will help the cookies stop cooking.
Let cool… or not

Chocolate Class at the Culinary Institute in Napa

Posted on August 18, 2011

I don’t have a great cake or pastry recipe to write about today. I would usually be disappointed that I did not have something new and interesting to share, but I today I have something rather unique. This past weekend I took a class at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena (in the Napa Valley) all about chocolate and confections at home.

I have been going to cooking classes my whole life. When I was 9 or so on a trip to Paris with my family I took a pastry class at the Ritz hotel and it made a lasting impression on me. I still remember exactly what we made that day – fruit tarts with pastry cream brushed with apricot jelly and flourless chocolate cake (that ended up all over my little brother’s face). In retrospect, that day may single-handedly be responsible for my fearless approach to trying new complex recipes.

Since that day in the belly of the Ritz kitchen I have been hooked on cooking classes. I’ve found myself anywhere from L’Academia Barilla in Parma, Italy to the local Sur La Tables and other stops in between. These experiences have been some of the most memorable days of my life, and this past weekend is no exception.

I picked this chocolate and confections class because I don’t know as much as I’d like to when it comes to chocolate. I knew what tempering was, but was not versed in the techniques and science behind it. And no matter how much you read, sometimes it really helps to see a professional chef do things the right way.

The class consisted of 6 recipes – 3 confections prepared by the Chef (Peanut brittle, English toffee and almond dragees) and 3 different chocolate truffles (recipes below) prepared by the students that were broken up into teams of 2. The chef also demonstrated techniques in tempering, sculpting and air brushing. All in all, it was an amazing day. If you have ever considered taking a class like this, I highly recommend it. Right now I’m looking into the week-long pastry bootcamp. Anyone want to join me?

Below are as many pictures as I was able to take when my hands weren’t covered in chocolate.

Below the chef is tempering chocolate

This technique is called tabling. The goal is to cool about 1/3 the total melted chocolate by pouring it out onto cold marble and moving it around (the marble absorbs the chocolate’s heat) until it is “fudgy”.

You then add the cooled chocolate back into the non-tabled melted chocolate and mix it together. And you mix a lot, or “agitate” to create the proper structure necessary in chocolate to create the sheen you see on expensive truffles, chocolate bars and sculptures.

Don’t you just want to stick your finger in it? You should! To “test the temperature” of course – it has to be between 89° – 91° F to properly set. (A thermometer should be used, but it just doesn’t seem as fun)

This tempered chocolate was used throughout the class in various ways: to coat the english toffee and truffles, to make chocolate curls, and the day before the instructor made an amazing chocolate sculpture.

This sculpture is solid chocolate, with small accents made of modeling chocolate. It’s possible because when you temper chocolate properly it becomes extremely strong. The chef finished the piece during the class by spraying it with more tempered chocolate to give it texture and sheen.

This class really was amazing. I was skeptical of how much I would learn or get out of the instruction, but the teacher and his TA were both very helpful and more than willing to answer all types of questions. (He even gave me advice about shaping my bread). And we got a goodie box to take home – deadly in an 8 hour drive back to so Cal.

And of course as we left the Napa Valley I had to visit any aspiring baker’s mecca – Bouchon Bakery. At 730 in the morning, with an 8 hour drive ahead of us, the 20 minute line seemed daunting, but it was so worth it! The macarons were the size of the palm of my fist! and the croissants were a beautiful golden color. And then donuts; a true example of deliciously edible art.

We loaded up on caffeine a few muffins and pastries. Each time someone would take a bite it was followed by “this is the best ______ I’ve ever ate”. And I now have a new goal: conquering the pain aux raisin.

For all of you out there that cannot make it to the CIA (in Napa or New York) I have included the recipe for peanut brittle. It’s amazing. Dare I say better than See’s.

Enjoy!

Recipe (Peter P. Greweling)

Peanut Brittle

1 lb Sugar

4 oz Water

12 oz Light corn syrup

1 lb Unsalted blanched raw whole peanuts

1 tsp Salt

1 oz Butter, unsalted, soft

1 ½ tsp Vanilla extract

1 ½ tsp Baking Soda

Directions

Lightly oil a 10 x 15 inch sheet pan and an offset palette knife

Combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil and stir constantly. Cover and boil for 4 minutes.

Remove the cover, insert thermometer, and cook without stirring till it reached 240° F.

Add the Peanuts and cook while stirring till 320° F, or until the batch is light brown.

Remove from the heat, mix in the salt, butter, vanilla and baking soda thoroughly.

Pour onto the prepared pan and spread to the edges using the oiled palette knife.

Allow to cool to room temperature. Break into the desired size pieces and store in an airtight container.

Grape Focaccia

Posted on August 8, 2011

Bread amazes me. It’s the under appreciated universal dietary staple. You can go anywhere in the world, and there is some type of chewy cooked leavened dough. Every country, even region has their own unique take on it. Think about how amazing this is – baguette, lavash, naan, chinese steamed mantou and even pita are all yeast raised doughs that were developed thousands of years ago.

After some research I discovered that the first “bread” was eaten over 30,000 years ago in areas of Europe. It was a mixture of grains ground down between rocks and mixed with water, most likely cooked over fire. There are records of Egyptians buying a flat bread in 1,200 BC and Sumerians eating a barley flat cake around the same time. Ancient civilizations from all over the world all created their own versions of bread out of their indigenous grains – maize in the Americas, rice in the far east, and sorghum in sub-Saharan Africa. (I don’t know why I think this is so fascinating but, but I’m truly astonished) All of these ancient civilizations separately discovered that leaving the dough to rest resulted in it rising! I know I probably sound like a mad scientist going off on a weird tangent, but I think it’s amazing that so many civilizations separated by mountains and oceans and thousands of miles all developed leavened bread. It’s pretty cool.

Now, it is much more convenant to go to the store and pick up a loaf of white spongy preserved stuff than make your own. But its really not hard to make a great tasting bread. In all seriousness, if neanderthals could make bread, any person reading this blog is capable too!

I think the best way to start is with one of the more basic breads out there, Focaccia. I like this bread for many reasons: you can put what ever you want on it, you can forget that it’s proofing for hours without any serious consequences to texture or flavor, and you don’t have to shape it. It’s also great to take a bbq, pot luck or party. Homemade bread just screams impressive.

Recipe (adapted from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice)

4 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons instant yeast

2 cups water, at room temperature

6 Tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon sourdough starter (optional)

20 grapes, halved

2 springs fresh rosemary

1/2 cup olive oil

Directions:

Mix flour, yeast and salt in large mixing bowl
In a separate bowl mix water, olive oil and starter if using
Pour the liquids over the dry ingredients and mix with hands (or stand mixer) to incorporate. The dough will be shaggy at first, but keep mixing and it will come together. Add up to an extra cup of flour of it seems to sticky.
Transfer the dough to a clear container (so you can check the rising) and place in a warm, draft free place.
every hour or so check on the dough. If its risen above your container fold it over its self by using damp hands to pull dough from the bottom of the mass up and over onto the top. Let it proof and fold it over its self for around 6 hours. Or you can refrigerate the dough overnight to develop a deeper flavor. It will look like this when ready:
Pour 1/4 cup of olive oil into a rimmed 11 x 17 inch baking sheet. Pour the dough out onto the pan as well.
Pour an additional 1/4 cup of olive oil over the dough and use your fingers to spread the dough out as much as possible. Let the dough relax for 10 minutes and continue to spread the dough out.
Place the grapes and rosemary on the focaccia ( I recommend cut side up, as the ones I had with the Skin up burnt)
Preheat the oven to 500 F and let the dough rise for about 30 minutes while the oven heats. Bake focaccia untill crisp and golden brown – about 25 to 30 minutes.

Grape and Rosemary Focaccia

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Posted on July 27, 2011

I love to find the most complicated recipe in a book and spend hours in the kitchen. It’s the way I prefer to spend my nights, weekend, and sometimes early mornings before work. I don’t believe in box mixes, canned frosting, or dough from a tube – I probably haven’t used any of those products since I was in grade school. I’ve never been scared of making anything from scratch, and I think that my mom’s family recipe for Chocolate Sheet Cake is the reason.

I remember my mom supervising me making this cake since my eyes could barely see over the sauce pan on the stove. After the frosting was poured on, she would carefully place pecans on only half the cake (since us kids didn’t like nuts) and we would eat it warm with the frosting barely set.

When I think of this cake, I can taste it. I know exactly how gooey it feels in my mouth with the glaze-like frosting melting into the cake. And then there’s that hint of cinnamon that makes the whole experience feel like you’re 6-years-old getting a giant hug from your mom standing on her knees.

This recipe is the closest thing that side of my family has to heirloom. It’s written on a piece of paper by my aunt who passed away and has a sketch of her husband in the corner. It’s been kept behind the cover of my mom’s original yellow Pillsbury cookbook for years and is covered in kitchen stains and is wrinkled on the edges. I’m always fearful one day I’ll go to look for it and it won’t be there, so I figured my blog would be the perfect place for safe keeping. And sharing…