Sundays are for Brownies and Stir

So tomorrow will be making brownies. It has a three fold purpose: 1) Anthony will be back. 2) Ryan's birthday. and 3) Monday is the first day of classes. So I'll be making s'more brownies and either James Beard or Katharine Hepburn brownies.

But in the mean time, here are pictures of my two recent adventures: Sourdough bread and chocolate tartlets. The tartlets I just used the filling recipe from here and the crust recipe from here. It was fun cause I actually got to use my new tartlet tins that I got from Kitchen Works! Absolutely love this store.

Anyway. Also need to highlight this chocolate mud cake. Will have to make this some time soon!

Quick Update: Bread and Chocolate Tartlets

So this weeks adventures have included sourdough bread which didn't really taste like sourdough bread because my starter was only fermenting for 48 hours and chocolate tarlets.

The tarlets are chilling in the fridge. They came out a bit messy but I think they will be fine. Ryan's birthday is on Sunday so thought I would make him, Robby, and Kristine a little treat.

Will post about these adventures more in depth later. Next on the block either Saturday or Sunday is s'more brownies which will be a treat for people on the first day of classes.

Anyway. Now to get back working on my MP proposals and getting ready for my briefing on Friday with the NCCCS. Yah for going into work one more day. At least I'm going to go enjoy Little Ashes tonight. People should seriously go see this movie. It is supposed to be great!

Cinnamon Raisin Bread Swirl for Breakfast

Mmmm. Breakfast was yummy. Haven't had one like this in a while. Cinnamon raisin bread swirl, coffee, the NYT online, and the rain outside made this morning almost surreal.



Anyway. The bread came out great!

Just a few adaptations to the recipe. I soaked my raisins in water for about 11 hours in the fridge. I was reading on-line that you do this so the ones that touch the pan don't burn. And sure enough. They didn't burn. So I recommend doing this. Also I think you can cut back a little on the cinnamon sugar mixture as when I pulled mine out of the pans the filling started gooing out a bit. Or that could be because I just didn't roll them tight enough.


Go this recipe from Donuts to Delirium. It is an adaptation from the William Sonoma bread book supposedly. I was intimidated reading it at first and worried that it wouldn't come out right. But what the hell. Go for broke right? So I tried it. A full batch to. I thought I would gamble with it. It would either come out or be a complete failure. And thanfully it came out!

Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. active dry yeast

3 Tbs. granulated sugar

1 1/4 cups warm water (105° to 115°F)

1 cup warm milk (105° to 115°F)

3 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

1 Tbs. salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

6 to 6 1/4 cups bread flour, plus more as needed

3/4 cup golden raisins

3/4 cup dark raisins

For the filling:

2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar mixed with 4 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:

In a bowl, sprinkle the yeast and a pinch of the granulated sugar over 1⁄2 cup of the water and stir to dissolve. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, combine the remaining 3/4 cup water, the milk, butter, the remaining granulated sugar, salt, egg and 2 cups of the flour. Beat on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the yeast mixture and 1⁄2 cup of the flour and beat for 1 minute. Add the raisins, then beat in the remaining flour, 1⁄2 cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Switch to the dough hook. Knead on medium-low speed, adding flour 1 Tbs. at a time if the dough sticks, until smooth and elastic, about 4 minutes. Transfer the dough to a greased deep bowl and turn to coat it. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1⁄2 hours.

Lightly grease two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Divide the dough in half and roll or pat each half into an 8-by-12-inch rectangle. Lightly sprinkle each rectangle with half of the filling, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Beginning at a narrow end, tightly roll up each rectangle into a compact log. Pinch the ends and the long seam to seal in the filling. Place each log, seam side down, in a prepared pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until the dough is about 1 inch above the rim of each pan, 1 to 1 1⁄2 hours.

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Bake until the loaves are golden brown and pull away from the sides of the pan, 35 to 40 minutes. Turn the loaves out onto wire racks and let cool completely. Makes two 9-by-5-inch loaves.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Bread, by Beth Hensperger (Simon & Schuster, 2002).

Starting at 9:30pm is never a good idea

So I am sitting here at my computer at 5 past 1 in the morning waiting for the bread in my loaf pans to once again rise. Today was a gloomy day and I had a feeling for raisin bread. I didn't make it earlier because I was going to help a friend move to his new place, which meant I didn't get to start making the dough and everything till 9:30 pm.

Anyway. Just thought I would post a little now. I think this will be a killer recipe. Plus I love raisin bread. I don't know what it is, but I have found memories of going to Ala Moana shopping center on the bus with my grandma when I was little and eating raisin bread stick from Saint Germain bakery. There is just something about raisin bread that make's me feel comforted.

Also just finished reading The Last Lecture. It was a good read. It made me tear up a little, but there were many great life lessons that I have been taught already that needed to be reminded about. Like writing thank you cards. So in that light, today I wrote thank you cards to a bunch of mentors that I have had in my life. Going to mail them out tomorrow. I will also post more about the raisin bread tomorrow. I will probably have to have a piece before I go to bed tonight. And once again when I wake up. Good thing tomorrow is gym day.

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

So after getting upset last night regarding someone loosing my mixing bowl and measuring spoons, I am finally at ease. Plus I got a new mixing bowl and measuring spoons today. All in all. A good day because I got to make cinnamon roll cupcakes!

These came out amazing. They were very simple to make. I only did a half batch so instead of 24, I got 12. And they came out great. I had to try one of the reject one's that didn't rise completely so that is why there are only 11 in the pictures. Also the frosting isn't on cause I am currently letting them cool so that the frosting doesn't melt.


This recipe is a keeper! Now to share the goodies!



Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes

2 1/4 tsp. or 1 packet (1/4 oz./7 g) dry active yeast
1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 cup warm milk (approximately 110 degrees Fahrenheit)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp. salt
4 1/2 cups bread flour

1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

1. Dissolve the yeast and 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar in the warm milk in a large bowl and let stand for about 10 minutes until foamy.

2. Mix in the eggs, butter, salt, and other 1/4 cup of granulated sugar. Add flour and mix until well blended and the dough forms a ball. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about one hour).

3. After the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners (I like to double them up because these cinnamon rolls are so moist), and lightly spray over the top of them with cooking spray.

4. Roll dough into a 12x22 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 24 rolls (I use a length of dental floss--works like a charm!).

5. Place each roll in a cupcake liner. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

6. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Let rolls cool completely before frosting (or else the frosting will melt and slide off).

Frosting
2 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Chocolate chocolate chip pound cake.

Jake comes through. Even though he's done with school, thought it would be fun to let him participate in the festivities.

His suggestion: chocolate chocolate chip pound cake.

He sent me two recipes that I need to somehow combine. This is going to take some reading up on and experimenting. Good thing Monday is my last day of work. That means I will have all next week to try and figure out how to mesh the two recipes.

Anyway. Someone lost my frackin measuring spoons and mixing bowl. Had to go out and buy new ones today. Blah. There goes $20 I will never see again. Oh well. Live and learn.

Baking pushed to Sunday

So the move back to Burch Street is on today after Jenny and I have a shopping adventure down to South Point. Yah for spending money! See I'm doing my part to help out the economy. Plus it is a tax holiday so I get to save like 6.5% or whatever the NC sales tax rate is on each purchase.

Just a sneak peak. Tomorrow will be cinnamon bun cupcakes. I'm excited to try this as it calls for me to use yeast again. Hopefully it will rise this time. But really excited to be back "home" and to get back my roommate Jason who served as one of my official taste testers all of last year.

Anyway. Going to go get ready. I have till later this afternoon to really decide if I need a pastry brush to brush on the melted butter before i sprinkle on the cinnamon mixture and roll it up. I'm leaning to probably passing on this purchase at the moment as I need more flour, sugar, butter, and what not soon. Plus I will probably wait off on going to the kitchen supply store again till I make tarletts and need those pans or cookies again and need another cookie cutter.

Oh! And Julie & Julia was amazing. Everyone should go see it. And note: This blog is not about trying to copy it. It is more about just random attempts to procrastinate and entertain myself. Ok off shopping now.