Ruby Tuesday (4)

Staring contest.

Blog baking: Doughnut muffins, Soda bread, Fig bars

I suffer from recipe overload. Newspaper cut-outs, magazines clippings, post-it noted cookbook recipes, and oh the starred ones in my reader.... the ctrl c, ctrl v-ones in Word and the scribblings on scraps?

I try. I really do but between cooking and caring for my family and all the other things that are going on I have to admit that I get stuck at looking at recipes and never get to making.

With Blogger back on track I decided to start fresh. So far I can tick off three on my list! First I made Anita Chu's fig bars. I found the recipe online but my copy of her book is on it's way! They were so good I don't have pics. The recipe makes a ton, first my family got their fair share and I decided to take the rest into the office.... set the box in the little kitchen, pondered if I should

 leave a note to explain ... (I've just started the job and was a bit insecure if this was "strange") but I needn't worry. At 11 I came across munching men all through the building, 5.30 I had to go looking for my tupperware. Found it, almost empty; 4 left! Great recipe! 

Note: I used our Dutch soft dark brown sugar and that made the surrounding dough soft and crumbly, next time I'll try a mix of sugars to achieve firmness.

Next on the list was the soda bread recipe I found at Sass & Veracity, I know why I picked this particular recipe, Kelly's remark about the bite of baking soda! You don't want that in your bread (not in my muffins either btw). I know the boys love soda bread so that's what they got. Soda bread and soup for dinner and it was a hit! Although this one had quite some whole wheat, it still was fluffy, great ovenspring and was a bit crumbly but very very good. Again, no pics.

(Oh and we had a fantastic dip/spread from my Babe sister Natashya to go with it, soon to be blogged about).

And finally: yesterday inbetween making a huge pot of chili, a levain bread, several pots of pineapple ginger jam, (I'm getting back on track, slowly!) there was some time left to make these doughnut muffins, a 4 o'clock treat for all of us with a cup of tea and a packed lunch addition for the boys today. They were indeed nice and fluffy, but I would have liked some more flavour in the muffin itself, the topping however made the muffin and I think that's what this is all about. (Although I should have used a finer sugar instead of the regular) Thanks Abby!

Paradise by the dashboard light!

Dashboard. Useful. It's back! I'm able to login to my own blog as of yesterday night! Still don't know what happened, or, what alien force made it come back. Not sure even if it's going to be there tomorrow. For now, I'm happy!

Now I have to get myself back to taking pics again. Hm.

A pie, a promise, a plate

That's the whole story really. I'll give you the abbreviated longer one as well.

My mom has a long long time friend, our former neighbor, who lives in Canada for ...oh ages. (Hi tante Pink!). She comes to visit almost every year, stays at my parents house, lots of wine, plenty talk. We talked pies. We talked plates. Pie plates. That was a year ago. She promised to find me a plate and bring it the next time. She remembered!

This year this retro beauty came all the way from Canada, you gotta love thrift shops! Isn't that fun?

I needed to bake pie. A deep dish apple pie, a happy marriage between France, Canada and Holland. The dough I used technically isn't piedough, it is the Dutch patissier's dough I used here.

The filling consists of half apples, sliced and fanned, topped with a handful of blueberries and a batter.

Recipe dough
1 ts lemon zest
1 tbs lemon juice
125 gr butter, roomtemperature
125 gr soft white sugar
250 gr self raising flour

In a food processor pulse butter, sugar, zest and juice to a paste. Add 1 tbs cold water and blend. Tip in flour and pulse till combined. Add another tbs cold water and pulse to blend. You'll get a paste-like dough this way. Wrap in plastic and chill for a couple of hours or overnight in the fridge. The sugar will have the time to fully melt into the dough, ensuring a nice and crusty crust.
Roll dough to a circle fitting the bottom of your buttered pie plate and up the sides.

Recipe filling:
3-4 medium sized apples, peeled, cored and halved.
3 eggs
75 gr sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
25 gr ap flour
1 tbs corn starch
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
75 gr cream/milk

Slice each half apple into several slices but keep them together. These are going to be placed on top of the dough, depending on size you can get 5 to 6 halves on; they can be packed fairly tight.
In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar, add the rest of the ingredients and mix to a smooth batter. This batter is poured on top of the apple halves, I scattered a handful of blueberries on top. (You might use some rum soaked raisins instead, or cranberries soaked in some red wine maybe?).
Bake on 150C (300F) for 45-55 minutes, or until golden brown.

Ruby Tuesday (3)

Swedish Red for Ruby Tuesday which I made into a Thursday this week. Hosted by Work of the Poet.

Ruby Tuesday (2)

Another Tuesday, another hue of Ruby RED. These are hard to find in the Netherlands; radicchio Treviso or red chicory. (Or in Dutch: roodlof i.p.v. witlof). Slightly bitter, nice to braise in olive oil or shredded in a salad.

Bread Baking Babes; Pane Francese

Care to join us for dinner? Because Sara (I like to Cook), in her role as our Kitchen of the Month forced us to bake this wonderful bread. 

Must admit we were all willing victims; we had to invite a Chef and coach him to even higher heights. Elevation! Levain! 

What's keeping you, come on and bake! If you were hesitating all along to bake with us and become a bread baking Buddy this is your bread! It's wonderful, it takes ages, creates holes, and has the real artisan flavour. (Can you tell I loved this bread?).

The dough starts with a small piece of "old dough" and that's just what it is, a piece of dough you keep from another batch and feed. Once fed, this piece of old dough is now called a "levain" and with this levain you create the final dough. I baked twice, for one batch using a starter, the next time I made old dough.

Recipe old dough (or chef):

pinch of yeast

180 gr. bread flour

120 gr. water

Combine and knead for a couple of minutes; resulting in a soft sticky doughball. Cover and leave overnight at roomtemperature.

Creating the Levain
chef (1/4 cup old dough, or 1/4 cup sourdough starter, unfed)
1/4 cup warm, water
1/2 cup Bread Flour
Let the chef soften in the warm water, then whisk out any lumps. Mix in the flour until you've formed a stiff dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead it for 5 to 8 minutes. The chef (now called a levain) should be moist but firm. Place the levain in a bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rise in a warm place till doubled. This will take 5 to 6 hours.

Second-Stage Levain
All of the levain (from above)
1/2 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups Bread Flour
"Refresh" the levain by placing it in a medium-sized bowl, chopping it into small pieces, and adding the water and 1/2 cup of the flour, stirring till smooth. Add the remaining flour gradually to create a stiff dough. Knead the dough for several minutes, then return it to the bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rise for 3 to 5 hours, till it doubles in size. Punch down the risen levain, and reserve 1/4 cup as your next chef. (Wrap in plastic and store in the fridge for later use).

Dough
all of the second-stage levain (from above)
3/4 cup warm water
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups Bread Flour
Chop the levain into small pieces, and mix them with the water, stirring till they begin to dissolve. Add the salt, then 1 1/2 cups of the flour. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured or lightly greased work surface, and knead until the dough is smooth and satiny, adding only enough additional flour to keep the dough from sticking unbearably. Return the dough to the bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rise in a warm place for 8 to 10 hours.
Shaping: Cut the dough into 2 pieces, and shape each piece into a round or oval. Transfer the loaves to a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, or to a floured banneton; cover with a heavily floured cloth, and allow them to rise for 2 to 3 hours, or until they're almost doubled in bulk.
Don't slash or glaze the loaves. Bake the bread in a preheated 450°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until they're a deep, golden brown. Yield: 2 loaves.

Not sure why you're asked to not slash the loaves, my loaves had so much ovenspring that they literally burst out their coats... The pain épi stayed in shape perfectly, due to the scissor cuts I think. So, I'd like to bake again and see what happens when slashed. The kids asked for soup to go with this bread and with some herb butter it was a great combination!

Ruby Tuesday

Disclaimer: no rubies were harmed in the making of this picture. Oh, and no, it's not ours!

See for details on Ruby Tuesday: Work of the Poet

Hello Sour Sally, you're sweet!

"Hello Sour Sally" is the first frozen yoghurt store in Jakarta and their site is just fun! Not sure why the music reminds me of Austria but there you go.

The site allows you to move Sally through a wonder world of ingredients. As I said; fun!

Ze zijn er nog... klassiekers: Stroopkoek / Dutch fare: Syrup spice cake

de recepten waar je 1 kom, 1 lepel, en een oven voor nodig hebt en nou ja vooruit, ook een weegschaal. Het recept komt van de Haagse Huishoudschool via de heimwee-recepten van Trouw en ik werd er door aangetrokken omdat er nog een vage herinnering zweefde aan de stroopkoek die één van mijn oma's vroeger placht te maken. Nou, dát bleek dus iets totaal anders te zijn, maar deze is beslist aardig om te maken of in ieder geval in je arsenaal te hebben voor de keren dat er aandrang is om te bakken, maar dan niet ingewikkeld, foolproof en lekker.

Het eindresultaat is een rijk gevulde smeuiige cake die doet denken aan kruidkoek. Ik heb hem gebakken in een tulbandvorm omdat het leuk presenteert, maar kan me goed voorstellen dat er handzame repen van te snijden zijn als je een brownie vorm of ovenschaal gebruikt. Mee in de tas of broodtrommel voor een dagje weg of naar school/werk! 

Ingrediënten:

375 gr zelfrijzend bakmeel, gezeefd

150 gr suiker

225 gr stroop

        - dadel stroop

        - appel stroop

        - keukenstroop

2 eieren

200 ml karnemelk

Vulling (ca. 200-300 gram):

abrikozen, fijngesneden

dadel, fijngesneden

cranberries, gehalveerd

3 el gember, in snippers (of ca. 5 fijngesneden bolletjes)

1 tl kaneel

1 tl sinasappel rasp

1/2 tl kardemom

Verwarm de oven voor op 150°C. Vet een 2 liter cakeblik/tulbandvorm in met boter en schud er wat bloem in, klop de overtollige bloem uit het blik. Roer alle ingrediënten met een pollepel door elkaar in een grote kom, mixen is niet nodig. Het beslag is vrij stevig en heeft een mooie caramelkleur. Giet dit over in de geprepareerde vorm en bak ong. anderhalf uur (!).  Als een satéprikker er schoon uit komt en de koek los laat van de wand is hij gaar en kan hij op een rooster worden gestort.

Goed verpakt blijft hij een week prima van smaak en textuur.

(Het originele recept gebruikt keukenstroop, 1 el koekkruiden, melk, 250 gr rozijnen en 100 gr sukade.)

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This is my take on a classic Dutch recipe that has it's origin in a cookery school for girls. It's a one bowl affair, stirred together from ingredients that were readily available in the pantry those days. I played around with the treacle part and substituted with some more exotic varieties, same goes for the filling; I used different kinds of dried fruit while the original had raisins and candied citron peel (sucade, not lemon peel). Use your imagination with the filling, adding nuts or chocolate.... It's moist and full of fragrant flavors, an excellent variation on snack bars if baked in a rectangular pan!

Ingredients:

375 gr selfraising flour, sifted

150 gr sugar

225 gr molasses/treacle

I used a combination of

        - date syrup

        - apple syrup

        - golden syrup

2 eggs

200 ml buttermilk/milk

Filling (approx. 200-300 gram total):

dried apricots, chopped

dates, chopped

dried cranberries, chopped/halved

3 tbs ginger, chopped

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tl orange zest

1/2 tsp cardamom

Prepare a 2 liter cake pan (rectangular/kugel/brownie) by buttering and dusting with flour. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined. The resulting batter will be quite thick and caramel-coloured; tip in a 2 liter prepared pan and bake for 90 minutes in a moderate warm oven (150C / 300F). The cake is ready when it shrinks from the sides and a cake-tester comes out dry.

Enjoy with your morning cup of coffee, as a sweet treat for lunch or a pick me up in the afternoon!

Organisation by Chocolate: Daring Bakers Challenge February

Still no solution, but I know where to find the backdoor now. If only the fog in my head would clear up I could actually do something! Not sure which bug decided to ruin me but the kids and I were down with high fever since Sunday night. I surfaced for the first time today feeling a little better... until I tried to stand up and walk that is....Can't use any of this, things need to get rolling, fortunately the fever has gone to be replaced by a cold. Hehe, so at least a part of me is running (i.e. my nose). Now I need to get things organized because I will start my first working day tomorrow! Yep, Baking is evolving into a very very part time working mom.

Organisation, yes.

I still need to post my Daring Bakers Challenge, the flourless chocolate cake that was brought to us by Dharm and Wendy. Baked it in time to post, even took pics but then returning from our holiday we received very sad news and posting chocolate cakes was not on my mind.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge. 

This cake is indeed all about chocolate, we were duly warned that the flavour would mimic exactly the chocolate used. Well with the only two other ingredients being butter and eggs (!) that's not strange at all. I halved the ingredienst and used a combination of white and dark chocolate to humour the kids and husband, knowing this cake wasn't for me. I don't like dense cakes, moist is not my thing and well chocolate... not really my to-go-to-food.

Judging whether the cake was done was the hardest part, I really didn't know what to look for, Wendy gave a great description of the cake-testes coming out wet, the top being a bit crumbly brownie-like but it just didn't happen with mine. The inside when tested with a fingertop just sank away and was downright sloshy. Gave it 10 extra minutes... didn't help much but I was afraid it would go all dry soooooo...

I nuked it.

Put it in the microwave and gave it a few spurts and that did the trick (I think). We had it for dessert Saturday night with some home made ice cream. I think the guys were glad the icecream was there to help mellow it. I just don't think this one was for us after all. So sorry Wendy and Dharm!