I’ve been away for a while. Were I an organized blogger, I would have set up some scheduled posts to keep you all entertained while we drove halfway across the country and back. But I hardly know what I’m going to post as I’m posting it, never mind a week or two in [...]]]>

I’ve been away for a while. Were I an organized blogger, I would have set up some scheduled posts to keep you all entertained while we drove halfway across the country and back. But I hardly know what I’m going to post as I’m posting it, never mind a week or two in advance. I did make an attempt to be organized about it by baking these bagels before I left and hoping to find the time during my vacation to write up a post. Ha! That didn’t work out as planned. But I’m back from my vacation now, and ready to tell you all about these bagels.

But first, I’ve got some news: The Boyfriend and I got engaged! Hereafter and until the wedding, he shall be referred to as The Fiancé. He proposed to me in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, overlooking the Badlands of North Dakota. It was completely unexpected and made me completely happy.

Something else that makes me completely happy? Bagels. As any east coast transplant living in California knows, a good bagel place is hard to come by in these parts. But making them at home is not that difficult! I’ve put off this task for years, daunted by all the talk of malt powder and shaping, boiling, then baking the dough. These are the secrets to bagel shop bagels. The best part about this recipe is that it really will make your house smell like a bagel shop. I can’t wait to make them again.

Everything Bagels
Adapted from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice
Yield: 12 bagels

For the sponge:
1 teaspoon instant yeast
4 cups bread flour
2 1/2 cups water, room temperature

For the dough:
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
3 3/4 cups bread flour
2 3/4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons non-diastatic malt powder

For boiling and baking the bagels:
2 teaspoons non-diastatic malt powder
1 tablespoon sugar
Everything seed mix

In a large bowl or the bowl of your mixer, stir together the yeast and flour. Add the water and stir until the dough comes together. It will be very sticky and moist. Cover the bowl and let rest at room temperature for 2 hours, or until the mixture is bubbly and has doubled in size.

To make the dough, add the additional yeast and stir. Add 3 cups of the flour, the salt, and the malt powder. Stir by hand or mix on low speed with the dough hook until the dough comes together. Slowly add the remaining 3/4 cup flour as you stir.

Knead the dough by hand for 10 minutes or by machine for 6 minutes. The dough will be stiff and firm but still smooth and malleable. If the dough seems too dry or sticky, knead in more water or flour as necessary. The dough should pass the windowpane test. Take a small piece of dough and stretch it thin. If it stretches thin enough to become opaque without tearing, the gluten is fully developed. If not, knead for a few more minutes and then test again.

Divide the dough into 4 1/2 ounce pieces. Or if you don’t have a scale, follow my lead and just break it into 12 even-ish pieces. Form the pieces into rolls, cover with a damp towel, and let rest for 20 minutes.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly spray the paper with oil. To shape the bagels, roll each piece into an 8 inch long rope. Wrap the rope around the palm and back of your hand, overlapping the ends on your palm by a couple of inches. Press your palm onto the counter and gently roll it back and forth to seal the ends.

Transfer the shaped bagels to the baking sheets, placing them 2 inches apart. Mist the bagels lightly with oil, cover loosely, and let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

To check whether the bagels are ready to go in the fridge, use the float test. Fill a small bowl with room temperature or cold water. Place one bagel into the water. If it floats within 10 seconds, dry it off and return it to the pan, cover the pans and place them in the fridge. If the bagel doesn’t float within 10 seconds, return it to the pan and check again in 10-20 minutes.

Leave the bagels in the fridge overnight, or for up to 2 days. When you are ready to bake the bagels, preheat the oven to 500° with two racks in the middle of the oven. Fill a large pot (the wider the better) with 2 quarts of water, 2 tablespoons of malt powder, and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Bring the water to a boil.

Gently drop the bagels into the water, 3 or 4 at a time. Let them boil for 1 minute and flip them with a slotted spoon or skimmer. Let them boil for another minute. While the bagels are boiling, sprinkle their spots on the baking sheet with semolina or cornmeal. After you remove the bagels from the water, top them immediately with the everything seed mix. Once all the bagels have been boiled and topped, slide the pans into the oven.

Bake for 5 minutes, then rotate the pans by switching shelves and turning the pans 180°. Lower the oven temperature to 450° and bake for another 5-10 minutes, or until golden brown. Place the pans on a cooling rack and allow the bagels to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

A peek into my baking cupboard a few years ago would have revealed one lonely bag of standard all-purpose flour. I figured that, true to its name, it could be used for any baked good. It served me well for years until I began to bake bread. A few lackluster loaves and sourdough [...]]]>

A peek into my baking cupboard a few years ago would have revealed one lonely bag of standard all-purpose flour. I figured that, true to its name, it could be used for any baked good. It served me well for years until I began to bake bread. A few lackluster loaves and sourdough failures later, I picked up a bag of bread flour. It drastically improved my homemade bread and started me down a slippery slope of flour snobbery. Today my baking cupboard boasts bags of all-purpose, bread, whole wheat, oat, and gluten-free all-purpose flour. And in the freezer I’ve got brown rice and tapioca flour. You know, just in case. Also making an occasional appearance are peanut flour, white whole wheat flour, and cake flour. But any true home pizza baker knows that none of these flour types will suffice for an authentic Italian pizza. You’ll need some Italian style flour, or 00 flour.

My search for Italian 00 flour in the local stores left me empty handed but I did pick up a bag of Italian style flour made by an American flour company. It has a noticeably finer texture than bread flour and it made the pizza dough soft and supple. I was able to stretch the dough thin, though not as thin as my sourdough pizza crust.

The crust baked up tender and light-colored. The edges didn’t get quite as charred as I had hoped, but my oven is limited to a maximum heat of 500°F. Using a wood fired oven would certainly produce a more blackened appearance.

I’ve grown accustomed to the flavor of whole wheat pizza dough so I did swap a cup of Italian flour with a cup of whole wheat flour the second time around. It may not be traditional but I love the richer flavor of whole wheat pizza crust.

As with any pizza, this is a choose-your-own-topping scenario. A lighter hand with toppings goes a long way in terms of taste and ease of handling. This simple pizza with homemade tomato sauce, chard from our backyard, and fresh mozzarella is one of my favorites.

Pizza Dough
Adapted from Forno Bravo
Yield: two 8″ x 10″ pizzas

4 cups Italian style flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

In a large bowl or the bowl of your mixer, combine the flour, salt, and instant yeast. Add the olive oil and 1 1/4 cups of lukewarm water. Stir with a wooden spoon, or the paddle attachment of your mixer, until the dough comes together.

Knead the dough for 6-8 minutes by hand or with the dough hook of your mixer. Add more flour or water as necessary. The dough should be sticky but not completely unmanageable. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.

Punch the dough down and split it in half. Form each half into a ball and allow to rise for another hour, covered. If you are not using both halves of the dough, place the second half in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and store in the fridge for up to one week.

To make pizza:

Preheat the oven to 500° for one hour, with your pizza stone inside. Place a piece of parchment paper on a baker’s peel, or the back side of a cookie sheet.

Shape the dough about 10 minutes before the oven is ready. Dust the parchment with flour. Using plenty of flour on your hands and on the dough, pat the dough into the desired size and shape.

Slide the dough, still on the parchment, onto the baking stone in the oven. Bake for 5-8 minutes. If any large bubbles appear and start to grow, use a skewer to pop them. Remove the dough from the oven when it looks slightly puffy and has just started to brown around the bottom edges. The crust should slide off the parchment easily. You can remove the parchment at this point if the crust slides off.

Use a pastry brush to apply a thin layer of olive oil to the crust before adding sauce and toppings. This prevents the sauce from seeping into the crust and getting soggy.

Once you’ve topped your crust, slide it back onto the baking stone and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cheese has melted and begun to brown (or to your desired level of doneness).

It feels good to be back to baking. The familiar whir of my [...]]]> The Daring Bakers’ April 2012 challenge, hosted by Jason at Daily Candor, were two Armenian standards: nazook and nutmeg cake. Nazook is a layered yeasted dough pastry with a sweet filling, and nutmeg cake is a fragrant, nutty coffee-style cake.

It feels good to be back to baking. The familiar whir of my stand mixer and the arm soreness that results from working cold butter into flour and sugar welcomed me back to my place in front of the oven. But the aroma of this cake really swept me away. The scent of nutmeg and cinnamon melding with butter and brown sugar is completely intoxicating.

The deep brown color alludes to the depth of flavor – spiced, but not overpowering, with a subtle caramel sweetness. The crust on the bottom of the cake gives a bit of structure and a gentle crunch. The recipe is simple and easy to follow, and from start to finish takes just over an hour. It’s an impressive cake for such a small investment of time and energy.

The Daring Bakers’ April 2012 challenge, hosted by Jason at Daily Candor, were two Armenian standards: nazook and nutmeg cake. Nazook is a layered yeasted dough pastry with a sweet filling, and nutmeg cake is a fragrant, nutty coffee-style cake. We were challenged to make one or both of these goodies, so I started with the nutmeg cake. The nazook got rave reviews from the Daring Bakers, and I look forward to taking on that challenge soon!

I made a couple of changes from the given recipe. I added a half teaspoon of cinnamon and reduced the sugar by half. Two cups of sugar sounded like an awful lot for one little cake, and it was plenty sweet for our taste with the one cup of sugar. Feel free to add in more sugar if your tastebuds desire. Also, I don’t keep brown sugar on hand so I improvised by drizzling molasses over the granulated sugar and mixing with a fork until well combined. The recipe below reflects my changes.

Armenian Nutmeg Cake
Adapted from The Commonsense Cookery Book, by the NSW Cookery Teachers’ Scholarship Fund
Yield: One 9″ cake

1 cup milk
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup brown sugar (or granulated sugar with a drizzle of molasses)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350°. I used an ungreased non-stick 9″ springform pan, but if your pan isn’t nonstick I recommend greasing it or lining it with parchment paper.

Whisk the baking soda into the milk and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and brown sugar. Add the cold butter cubes. Using a pastry blender, a fork, or your fingers, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until you have a uniform crumbly mixture.

Pour half of this mixture into your pan and press it down evenly over the bottom of the pan to make the crust.

In a separate bowl (use the bowl for your mixer if you have one), combine the egg, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Using the whisk attachment, or beating by hand with a whisk, start beating slowly and then increase to medium speed. Beat until the egg is frothy, about 5 minutes.

Add the milk mixture and continue beating until well combined. Pour in the rest of the crumbly mixture and beat for another minute or two. The batter will be liquidy, but don’t worry!

Pour the batter over the crust in the pan. Gently sprinkle the walnuts over the top. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the top is deep brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place the pan an a cooling rack. After the cake has cooled completely, release it from the pan and enjoy.

Have a Monochrome Monday post to share? Leave a link in the [...]]]>

Have a Monochrome Monday post to share? Leave a link in the comments.

Happy Spring, my friends. The grapevines have started to send out new shoots and our irises are in full bloom. The chard that we planted two years ago has cropped up yet again, despite the very sporadic watering regimen that I have subjected it to. But my very favorite part of this season [...]]]>

Happy Spring, my friends. The grapevines have started to send out new shoots and our irises are in full bloom. The chard that we planted two years ago has cropped up yet again, despite the very sporadic watering regimen that I have subjected it to. But my very favorite part of this season is the appearance of strawberries at the farmers’ market. The supply of strawberry jam in my freezer has dwindled to one jar, and as I eyed those flats of strawberries yesterday I anticipated the pleasant work of mashing and boiling berries to replenish that supply. I made a mental note to schedule a day for jamming, and left the market with thoughts of berries and baking with a new crop of spring ingredients. And then all of these thoughts were brought to a halt in one instant.

After leaving the market, we were in a bad car accident on the freeway. Fortunately, neither of us were seriously injured. The only losses were our car and a bag of produce from the market – a very small price to pay. We are badly bruised and scraped, but very grateful. Grateful for seatbelts, airbags, and the opportunity to dream about strawberry jam while recuperating. I’ll be out of the kitchen for a little while, but when I return there will be strawberries. Promise.

The official title for this recipe is “The Heart-Healthiest Chocolate Chip Cookies in the World”. They also happen to be vegan, but with the title as long as it is, the vegan label seems to have been dropped. I’m more inclined to name this recipe “Go Ahead, Just Try To Get These Cookies [...]]]>

The official title for this recipe is “The Heart-Healthiest Chocolate Chip Cookies in the World”. They also happen to be vegan, but with the title as long as it is, the vegan label seems to have been dropped. I’m more inclined to name this recipe “Go Ahead, Just Try To Get These Cookies in the Oven Before You Eat All the Dough”.

So what’s the secret to a chewy, heart-healthy, vegan cookie? Walnuts, for starters. Pureed walnuts blitzed with a bit of oil stand in for butter and eggs. Oat flour and rolled oats add even more health to these cookies, and as a final touch I replaced the processed sugar with pure maple syrup.

Now, those of you paying close attention will realize that we have a large bowl full of walnut butter and maple syrup, thickened with oats. Doesn’t that sound like a meal in itself? Well, not just yet. Throw in a few handfuls of bittersweet chocolate chips. Perfect. And if you do end up baking some of the dough, you’ll enjoy a moist, chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.

The Heart-Healthiest Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Vegetarian Times
Yield: approximately 30 cookies

2 cups shelled walnuts
3 tablespoons grapeseed oil
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups oat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups rolled oats (I had extra thick rolled oats so I used 1 3/4 cups)
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place the walnuts in a food processor and process for 30 seconds, or until ground into a fine meal. Add the oil and blend for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, or until the mixture resembles the consistency of natural peanut butter. Scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary during processing. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

In a small saucepan, heat the maple syrup just until it begins to simmer. Pour the syrup into the bowl with the ground walnuts. Add the vanilla extract and stir until no lumps remain.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the oat flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add the flour mixture into the walnut mixture. Allow to cool until close to room temperature, about 10 minutes. Try not to eat all the batter while it’s cooling.

Fold in the oats (this will take some muscle – the batter gets thick fast!). Then fold in the chocolate chips.

Form the cookie dough into 2-inch balls, and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. If you’re using your hands for this task, keep a small bowl of water nearby and dip your fingers into in to keep the dough from sticking to your fingers.

These cookies won’t flatten in the oven, so flatten them by pressing on them with the bottom of a drinking glass that has been dipped in water. Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they begin to brown and the tops look dry. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 3 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Think sourdough is the [...]]]> Sara and Erica of Baking JDs were our March 2012 Daring Baker hostesses! Sara & Erica challenged us to make Dutch Crunch bread, a delicious sandwich bread with a unique, crunchy topping. Sara and Erica also challenged us to create a one of a kind sandwich with our bread!

Think sourdough is the only local specialty bread that you’ll find in a San Francisco sandwich shop? Think again. This Dutch crunch bread is another regional favorite. It’s referred to as Tijgerbrood (tiger bread) in the Netherlands, where it is reported to have originated. The Dutch crunch is technically just the topping, which is a rice flour paste that can be applied to any type of bread or roll. Have you ever seen a more gorgeous vehicle for a sandwich?

The recipe given for this month pairs the slightly crunchy topping with a soft, fluffy white roll. The combination of soft and crunchy textures adds a new dimension to any sandwich. This is my new favorite sandwich bread. San Francisco, your secret is out. Let’s make Dutch crunch bread a regional favorite everywhere.

Sara and Erica of Baking JDs were our March 2012 Daring Baker hostesses! Sara & Erica challenged us to make Dutch Crunch bread, a delicious sandwich bread with a unique, crunchy topping. Sara and Erica also challenged us to create a one of a kind sandwich with our bread!

I built a vegetarian sandwich with hummus, sharp cheddar cheese, avocado, and greens. What will you put on your Dutch crunch bread?

Recipe sources: The recipe for the Dutch Crunch topping came from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Bread Bible. The recipes for the breads suggested for this challenge came from The Bread Bible and an adaptation of a recipe found on Baking Bites.

To help spread the word about Dutch crunch bread, I’m submitting this post to Yeastspotting as well. Be sure to check out the weekly bread roundup on Friday!

Soft White Rolls
Yield: 6 large rolls

2-4 cups all-purpose flour (you may use half whole wheat and half all-purpose flour if you prefer)
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
2 tablespoons olive or grapeseed oil (plus additional oil for greasing bowl during rising)

In a large bowl or the bowl of your mixer, stir together 2 cups of flour, the yeast, sugar, and salt. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir or mix on low speed until well combined. The dough will be very wet. Using the dough hook attachment, or kneading by hand, continue to add flour 1/4 cup at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. It should be tacky, but not sticky.

Knead the dough by hand or mixer for 5 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and allow the dough to rise for 1 hour, or until it has doubled in size.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into six equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball, stretching the top tight and pressing to seal the seam on the bottom. Place the shaped rolls onto a parchment lined baking sheet and press down gently on each one to flatten the top a bit. Cover and allow to rest while you prepare the topping. Now is a good time to preheat the oven to 380°.

Dutch Crunch Topping
Yield: enough paste to cover 6 rolls

1 tablespoon instant yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white or brown rice flour (NOT sweet rice flour)

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. The paste should be the consistency of thick royal icing – if you pick up the whisk, it should slowly drip off in a steady stream. It should be spreadable and not too runny. Add more water or rice flour as necessary to achieve the correct consistency.

Cover the bowl and let the paste rest for about 15 minutes.

Using a spoon, coat the top of each roll with the paste. Apply it liberally to ensure that it will crack while baking.

Place the rolls into the preheated 380° oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Rotate the pans once during baking. The rolls are done when the topping has cracked and turned a deep brown. Transfer the rolls to a cooling rack to cool before slicing.

Enjoy with your favorite sandwich!

Have a Monochrome Monday post to share? Leave a link in the comments.

Monochrome Monday has been on a bit of a hiatus, but I’m working on making it a more regular event and encouraging more participation from all of you! I’ve been posting mostly film images, which accounts for the delay in between posts. If I’m not shooting Polaroid, I’ve got to wait until I [...]]]>

Monochrome Monday has been on a bit of a hiatus, but I’m working on making it a more regular event and encouraging more participation from all of you! I’ve been posting mostly film images, which accounts for the delay in between posts. If I’m not shooting Polaroid, I’ve got to wait until I shoot the entire roll of film and set aside a few hours to develop and scan it. This process is one that I love dearly but it’s not one that can be rushed. After a lot of hemming and hawing, and wondering if I can step fully into the digital photography world without abandoning my analog SLR, I took the leap and purchased a DSLR this weekend. As soon as I can figure out how to shoot monochrome with it, you can expect to enjoy the complete spectrum of photography for Monochrome Monday: Polaroid, 35mm film, and digital.

This cupcake is the baker’s equivalent of the analog/digital photography debate. The best vegan chocolate cake I have ever had, topped with buttery non-vegan vanilla buttercream. Shot with Kodak BW400CN film and developed by the photo lab.

Have a Monochrome Monday post to share? Leave a link in the comments.

Happy belated Pi day! I meant to have this pie constructed, consumed, and posted in time for Pi Day yesterday. It might even have been decorated with mathematical equations. But life got in the way. A trip to the emergency vet in the wee hours of the morning and the subsequent sleepless nights [...]]]>

Happy belated Pi day! I meant to have this pie constructed, consumed, and posted in time for Pi Day yesterday. It might even have been decorated with mathematical equations. But life got in the way. A trip to the emergency vet in the wee hours of the morning and the subsequent sleepless nights kept me from the kitchen and delayed my Pi Day festivities. But since it contains two types of liqueur and the filling is a subtle green color, this grasshopper pie serves double duty as Pi Day celebration and St. Patrick’s Day dessert.

Grasshopper pie starts with a crushed chocolate cookie shell. Since I don’t have a food processor, I crushed the cookies with a potato masher and lots of arm strength. They didn’t get quite as finely ground, but it still did the trick.

The filling is creamy with a refreshing mint kick. The prep is quick and there’s no baking to be done. I can see this becoming a summer favorite in our house, for its cool creamy texture and classic mint chocolate flavor. But for now, it’s the perfect ending to a frantic week.

Grasshopper Pie
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman
Yield: one 9″ pie

22 chocolate sandwich cookies (I used these, since their ingredient list is a bit more wholesome than a certain other brand)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
One 7 ounce bag (about 26) marshmallows
2/3 cup milk (I used 2%)
3 tablespoons creme de menthe – more or less, to taste
2 tablespoons creme de cacao
small amount of green food coloring (optional)
1 cup whipping cream
shaved chocolate or crushed cookies, for garnish

Crush the cookies using a food processor, a potato masher, or by any other means. Add the melted butter and stir until well combined. Press this mixture into a 9″ pie plate and set aside.

In a large saucepan, heat the marshmallows and milk over low heat until melted and smooth, stirring constantly. When the marshmallows have melted completely, place the saucepan into a larger bowl filled with ice water. Stir the mixture occasionally until it has cooled completely. Add the creme de menthe, creme de cacao, and food coloring. Stir until well combined.

In a separate bowl, beat the cream until it is stiff. Gently fold the cooled marshmallow mixture into the whipped cream. Pour the filling into the crust and sprinkle with shaved chocolate or crushed chocolate cookies. Place the pie into the freezer, uncovered, for an hour (or until the top has just frozen, so that the surface will stay smooth). Cover the pie with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours. Remove the pie from the fridge about 10 minutes before slicing.