Christmas Morning Cinnamon Rolls

Hello and Happy Christmas Week!

It’s the week of Christmas, and I hope you’re enjoying this time. I’m secretly wishing for lots of snow, but I don’t think that’s going to happen - at least this week.

There’s something we need to discuss.

Butter. Butter is great, and it’s really great for baking. A few of you asked me why in the world my holiday cookie recipes included shortening. (Read that with a shudder). Well, here’s my best explanation. I don’t know why. The recipes I’ve shared are very old family recipes, the kind that are on tattered note cards with little notes in the margins. They were handed down from my great grand mothers and who knows who made them before that. And maybe when shortening become cool, my grandma swapped it out to be hip. I have found several shortening pamphlets and simple cookbooks in her collection. Who knows? The recipes use shortening. Truth be told, I think it’s a little weird too.

Here’s the thing. For the most part, fat is fat. Different fats have different tastes. Generally, they’re soft at room temp and firm when cool. If you change the fat, you can change the taste. Better? Maybe.

The best fat is the one that tastes the best to you and produces the result you like. Memory has a huge play in what tastes good to us. Would butter taste better if I were eating this cookies for the first time? Probably. For me, these recipes taste great. They evoke memories of learning to make them standing beside my grandma or my mom. I remember like it was yesterday getting to make the batches of cookies all by myself. When I make them now and I critique the outcome, it’s the memories and the taste that combine for the satisfaction of a job well done. I’m sure that one day I’ll try with recipes with butter, and I’m sure they’re taste great. And if you’d like to try them with butter, please do, I promise I won’t be the least bit offended. In the meantime, for these recipes, once a year, it’s shortening.

Now on to the recipe for the week!

I know some of you have made these a tradition for Christmas morning. Thank you! I like to make them in a deep pan and cut them into squares, then use the frosting as a condiment! They’re big & fluffy, and just what Christmas morning should be. You can make the dough the night before and let the rolls rise in the frig (gently cover with plastic wrap). Bring them up to room temperature and bake.

Cinnamon Rolls

Dough:

2 pkg. active dry yeast

1 C. warm water (105-115 degree)

2/3 C. plus 1 tsp. granulated sugar, divided

1 C. warmed milk

2/3 C. butter

2 tsp salt

2 eggs, slightly beaten

7-8 C. all-purpose flour, or more if needed

Filling:

1 C. melted butter, divided (2 sticks)

1 3/4 C. granulated sugar, divided

3 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

1 1/2 C. chopped walnuts, optional

1 1/2 C. raisins, optional

Creamy Glaze (not pictured):

2/3 C. melted butter (1 stick plus 2 Tbsp.)

4 C. powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla

4-8 Tbsp. hot water

In a small bowl mix together warm water, yeast and sugar and set aside. In a large bowl, mix milk, remaining 2/3 cup sugar, melted butter, salt and eggs; stir well and add yeast mixture. Add half the flour and beat until smooth. Stir in enough of the remaining flour until dough is slightly stiff (dough will be sticky).

Turn out onto a well-floured board; knead 5 -10 minutes. Place in well-buttered glass or plastic bowl, cover and let rise in warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When doubled, punch down dough and let rest 5 minutes. Roll out on floured surface into a 15 x 20 inch rectangle.

To prepare filling: Spread dough with 1/2 cup melted butter. Mix together 1 1/2 cups sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over buttered dough. Sprinkle with walnuts and raisins, if desired.

Roll up jellyroll-fashion and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12 to 15 slices. Coat bottom of a 13-by-9-inch baking pan and a 8-inch square pan with remaining 1/2 cup melted butter, then sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in pans. Let rise in warm place until dough is doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

While rolls are rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until rolls are nicely browned. Cool rolls slightly.

To prepare Frosting: Meanwhile, in medium bowl, mix melted butter, powdered sugar and vanilla; add hot water 1 Tbsp. at a time until glaze reaches desired spreading consistency. Spread over slightly cooled rolls.

Alternate Icing: (this is the one in the photo)

Ingredients:

2 cups margarine (yes, really margarine!)

2 cups cream cheese

4 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Allow margarine and cream cheese to reach room temperature. Beat cream cheese and margarine together in a bowl with a mixer. Slowly add in all powdered sugar. Once all of the sugar is in the bowl mix for AT LEAST an additional 12 minutes. When almost done, add in the extracts.

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Before I sign off, I have to tell you about a new product created this week in the shopping area. It’s kind of a gift certificate, but you get to choose the amount. The person you give it to gets to spend it down with a code as they sign up for various classes. It’s pretty neat. You can have the code sent to you or to the person you’re gifting it to. It’s called the Little French Bakery Gift Card. There are eight different price points. I hope you like it.

I’m so glad so many of you signed up for the Pithivier Class. It’s going to be fun. There will be people from all over the country. Maybe even a few outside the US!

Have a great weekend! I’ll see some of you on Monday for the Scandinavian Baking Class! We’ve got a great line up for you.

From my house to yours,

Susan

Bagels! Baking with Julia

I'm not sure how to spell it, but all I can say is Ei-yi-yi!  This recipe had it's moments, but I'm happy to report that they're really good. This week's Baking with Julia recipe is bagels.  I was driving last week and heard a public radio interview of the book helping us know what to make from scratch, and what to buy already made.   About half way through this recipe, I thought I clearly knew the bagel answer.  Buy them.   When they came out of the oven, so pretty and delicious... it's a coin toss.   It was worth the effort and fretting.

Our host this week is Heather, from Heather's Bytes.  She'll have the recipe, and her tips and tricks at her blog.

When I was in college I had three roommates.  We loved to cook - make that experiment.  There were a lot of firsts.  Quiche, soups, ethnic recipes, pretzels, breads...and bagels.  I don't remember the bagels being bad, nor good.  They must have been college student edible.  It was fun to revisit bagels again.  This time with a few more skills and baking experience.

The dough went to together easily.  The rise was right on time, and into the fridge went the dough.  So far so good.   After the chill, I started with stock pot of water, added the baking soda/sugar and began shaping the bagels.  The dough is sticky and tricky to get into the balls.  I never did quite master the twirl, but I got them into the boiling water.   As they boiled, they puffed and looked like squishy dumplings.  As they were bubbling away,  I was getting ready to tell you about my disaster.   I'm happy to report that  after I put them in the oven, the texture evened out, and the surface began to look like a bagel, a REAL bagel.  The timing was perfect, and out of the oven they came.    The inside texture was nice, and the taste was really good.

 

If you're a bagel lover and looking to try something fun, give the recipe a try.  Top them with your favorite sesame, poppy or crunchy seed and enjoy!

Cranberry Walnut Pumpkin Loaf - Baking with Julia

This recipe is the essence of autumn.  Our host this week is Rebecca from This Bountiful Backyard.  Rebecca will have the recipe on her site when you're ready to make is extra special treat.

The cranberries proved to be a little more difficult to find than I expected.  I went into the grocery expecting to find a huge pile of bags.  Not one.  I checked the frozen fruits, none. I went back to the clerk and asked about cranberry whereabouts.   She told me "it's not cranberry season."  What?  It's fall for crying out loud, and it's Cranberry Festival in Warrens, WI.  How can they have cranberry festival without cranberries?   I mentioned my dilemma to my friend who just by luck had some frozen in his freezer.   I only needed 2/3 cup, so we were back in business.

cranberries

The title of the recipe sounds like a quick bread, doesn't it?   It's not.  It's a yeast bread.  It rises once, then into the fridge overnight.   After a long wake up (3-4 hours) to warm to room temperature, it's then shaped and rises one more time.   The actual hands-on time was about 15 minutes.  Please don't let the long resting times scare you.   It's well worth the wait.

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The recipe mentions using the dough hook to combine the dough like brioche.  This gave me an idea.   Since I don't have any little pans, making the loaves the bread in the style of brioche in brioche pans might just work.   After the long overnight rise, I divided the dough into 4 large portions, and 6 smaller.

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After the second rise, the autumn brioche were ready for the oven.

When they first came out of the oven, there was a moment of panic when I tugged on the sweets balls of bread and they showed no signs of wanting to release from the brioche pans.  Never fear, after a few minutes of cooling they popped right out the tins.

I really like the flavor of the bread.   Very subtle pumpkin flavor, nice texture with the walnuts, then bang!   A burst of cranberry.   I added a smear of butter when I tasted mine.   Then I had an idea (flash!).   Orange goes so well with all the ingredients, how about an orange butter to go with the bread?  I know, there's plenty of butter in the recipe, but it just needs a little something.    I thought about making slices of French toast, and using the orange butter, with some maple syrup.   Doesn't that sound great?   Or, even better... cubing the bread and making a wonderful bread pudding for brunch.   The options are endless.

Here's my recipe for Orange Butter.  It's SO good on the pumpkin bread.  Just refrigerate if you don't use it all right away.

To print this recipe, click HERE

Orange Butter

1/2 stick (4 T) Salted butter, at room temperature

zest of 1 orange

3 T powdered sugar

Combine all the ingredients together, and serve.

Orange butter

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Whole Wheat Bread

Grown up flavors.  Greek yogurt, Russell sprouts, spinach, rutabaga.   I may need to add whole wheat bread to the list.  I'm old enough to have grown up on white bread.  No, not the "W" bread, but white bakery bread.  We'd stop by Lanes and have a few loaves sliced for the week.  I really don't remember seeing whole wheat bread until college.  I can't say I loved it at first bite.    My roommates and I tried to make it, and it was a much better door stop than bread.   Over the years, I've grown to like it.  In fact, I prefer it now.  Fortunately, little kids today see plenty of whole grain breads. I'm assuming they've acquired a taste for them.   I've learned the key to making is good hydration of the flour and plenty of kneading. This summer, we've been making whole wheat bread each week for the farmers' market using a recipe from the Great River Mill.  Our recipe uses both whole wheat and 7 grain flour, and lots of honey.  Here's another twist on whole wheat bread using whole wheat and white wheat flour.

Our Baking with Julia recipe this week is wonderful whole wheat bread.   I don't want to scare anyone who might want to try this as the first bread they make.  I think white bread is a little easier to start with, but this one is very forgiving and you should get good results with the recipe.

To get started, you'll need the recipe.  It's in Baking with Julia, or join this week's hosts are Michele of Veggie Num Num, and Theresa of The Family that Bakes Together.   Just head to their sites, and you'll find the recipe.

Now on to assembling all the ingredients.   You'll need both all-purpose and whole wheat flour.  I'm crazy about Great River Milling Company.  It's here in Wisconsin near La Crosse.   You can go to the mill and pick up big bags, or better yet, you can have it sent to you via Amazon.  They have it set up so the shipping is free for the 25# bags.   I'm not getting a commision, promise!     The Great River Whole Wheat flour is organic and a perfect texture.   If you don't have the time or inclination to use this flour, pick up a bag of whole wheat flour at your local grocer.  For the all-purpose flour, be sure that it's unbleached and unbromated.

The recipe also calls for malt syrup, commonly used in brewing.  If you can't find it, you can use molasses, corn syrup, or just skip it.   The aroma is wonderful and it helps to condition the dough.  Look at the gorgeous color!

The dough will go together very nicely.  Remember, that adding water to flour creates gluten.  Gluten is the structure that holds the CO2 the yeast gives off as it metabolizes the sugars in the dough.  Kneading and rest develop the gluten.  Be sure the check that you've got good gluten develpment by gently stretching a small piece of dough.  You should see a translucent "window" of dough.  If the dough rips, rest the dough, then keep kneading.

I used my kneading machine for about 4 minutes, then rested the dough (autolyse), added the salt and finised kneading by hand.  I added about 1 cup more water than the recipe called for .  I like to work with dough that has more hydration.  You'll find the perfect hydration for you.  I'm sure the recipe will work well as written.

The dough rose according to the schedule and shaped easily into the pans.  I made a double batch so I had four loaves, each weighing about 775 grams or about 1.7 pounds.  Good hearty loaves!

 After an hour, and bread had risen to about 1 - 1 1/2 inches over the top of the pans.  Into the oven it went.  My loaves backed for 45 minutes to reach an internal temperture of 180 degrees F.   They easily released from the pans to cool.   The knobby loaf in the back had lots of bubbles under the surface.  Not pretty, but still delicious!

 Time to slice the bread...  Enjoy, and talk to you soon!

Popovers

Beef Wellington, check.   Blue cheese Souffle, check.  Graham crackers, check.   These are all things I've made in the last year that I've always wanted to try.  Call it a culinary bucket list of sorts.  What's on your list?   Maybe it's simply roasting a chicken.  No one will make fun of you.   Give it a try.   What's the worst thing that can happen?  Frozen pizza?

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I can't believe that this is the first time I've ever made popovers.  In the past I've tried to make the Dutch/German puffy pancakes without much success.  It seemed like a popover was in the same mystery family, so I've always found another option.  Today was the day.  Thanks to Baking with Julia and the Dorie Greenspan Tuesdays with Dorie group, Popovers made it on the calendar.

Much to my surprise, they were easy!  A quick brrrrr in the blender, 45 minutes in the oven and ta-da!  Tasty, dreamy popovers.  And without gooey centers, I might add.

The ingredients are super simple.  Flour, eggs, milk, salt and a butter.  The usual suspects.

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 When all the ingredients are at room temperature, they get a quick brrrrr in the blender.  I've always wanted to include an overhead blender shot, so here it is!

Blender with popover batter

I don't own a popover pan, so I opted for the muffin cups with 1/4 cup batter in each cup.  I very skeptically put the pans in the oven and walked away.  Then walked back and turned the oven light on.  This was too good to miss.   After a few minutes the popovers started to pop, and I knew I was in business.  Twenty-five minutes later, I reduced the oven temperature and waited for the finished beauties.   They were crisp, light, and best of all... not gooey in the middle.   I split one open, spread a little more butter and drizzled it with honey.  Why was this the first time I'd made these?    I hope you'll go to Paula's blog, Vintage Kitchen Notes, or Amy's blog, Bake with Amy to find the recipe and give popovers a try.

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Now on to the next new-to-me recipe...  I think it might be pretzels using real lye!  Stay tuned.

Baking with Julia Week 1: White Bread

It's finally February 7th!  I've been waiting patiently (well, not so patiently) for today.   Today is the very first week of Baking with Julia, a baking group coordinated by Dorie Greenspan.  The original group baked its way though Dorie's Baking book.  They completely the recipes and were ready for the next challenge.  Dorie Greenspan authored Baking with Julia, so its fitting her book is next. Twice each month, we'll bake two recipes from the book and post to http://tuesdayswithdorie.wordpress.com/     As some of you may know, I also participate in French Fridays with Dorie, which bakes & cooks recipes from Around My French Table.

I never had the opportunity to meet Julia Child, but I love her.  I love her fearless spirit, her laugh, her stature, and most of all her love of cooking.   When I pull out her books and read a recipe, its her voice I hear reading to me.   If something spills or doesn't turn out quite right, she's there in spirit with her happy, let's move on, coaching.  I know things will turn out fine.   My hope is that I can inspire people the way she does some day.

I hope you'll pick up a copy of the book and bake along with me.   Feel free to add your link or notes in my comments area.  Or, sign up with the group.   The February 21st recipe is Chocolate Truffle Tartlets!  Can't wait!

Let's start baking!

Of all the categories in the patisserie world, I think I like bread making the best.   It takes times, patience, and the coordination of efforts with dough.    Yeast is in charge of most of the process.  You can try to rush it, but its really going to do what it pleases.   It's more like a duet.

The recipe makes two loaves of bread.  I doubled the recipe (exactly) for make four loaves.   I also used my French bread kneading machine just to pull the dough together.   I finished the dough my hand.  The machine is to cool.  It turns against the doughs friction against the side as the hook pulls and turns the dough.  Just the action that you do with your hands.  It allows me to make bigger batches, and have my hands free for other baking.   It's very gentle, and still requires fairly close supervision so the dough doesn't wander up the hook or out of the bowl.  We used a machine like this at school, and I was able to find one when I got home.  I can make up to about 10 loaves of bread in it at a time.  Not huge production, but bigger quantities than can easily be done by hand.

Once the dough was mixed, it rested for about 5 minutes.  This process is called autolyse.  The yeast gets started, the flour and water setttle in, and the gluten begins to develop.

When I'm teaching a bread class, the number one question is always. "How long will I knead the dough?"  The best way to know that you're finished kneading it to check a gluten window.   Gently cut off a small piece of dough, gently tease/strectch the dough with your fingers and look for a sheer pane of dough that wont' tear as it's being stretched.   It you can make it sheer without tearing, you're finished!   Here' a photo of the White Breads' gluten window.

Notice the light coming through the sheer dough.  I was doing the photography and stretching myself, so the dough isn't stretched as thin or far as I would have like.    Every single time I make bread, I check for the window.  Every batch is different, and I always want to make sure I've worked the dough enough.

After the dough has had a good rise, and at least doubled in volume, it's time to shape the loaves.  I weighed the whole batch, then divided by four to make sure each loaf was about the same size.  You certainly don't have to be this picky, but baking is much more even when the loaves are the same.   I like to cover the bread pans with a favorite towel.  Call me superstitous.   By the way, did I tell you that I always spin the dough three times, then flip it in the bowl before it starts to rise?   Habits are good!

Here are the sweet loaves shaped and ready for the 2nd rise.

The 2nd rise is about an hour.  The key to to let the bread rise until the loaf is about 1 inch about the top of the pan.  That way, with the added spring in the oven, you'll have a nice tall loaf  with perfectconsistency to the crumb.  This recipe has a little bit more yeast than some recipes, so the bread rose faster than I was expecting.  It's just a bit taller than usual, but doesn't it look great!??

Now into the oven!  The yeast will work like crazy as the temperature of the dough increases.  Once the dough reached about 120 F, the yeast will die, and bread will be it's finished size.    I bake the dough until the internal temperature is about 180-200F.   Just push an instant read thermometer right into the end.  You can also pop the dough of the pan and look at the color.   It should be golden.  Once you've got the temp and color, try to tap the loaf and listen to the "hollow" thump.   It's hard to know that sound unless you know the bread is done.    I turn the bread out of the pans immediately and let them cool on their sides.  OK, another weird habit, but it works.   I pulled this bread out of the oven at about 195F and liked the pretty light golden color.  This was JUST enough.   It could have easily gone another 5 minutes.  It's great for toast.  Don't underbake your bread.  The golden color is caramelization of the sugars which equals flavor!

The bread is cool, and upon inspection, no swirly holes.   It has a nice soft but sturdy, consistent crumb.   And... look at the cute shape of the loaves.  They look like the cookie cutter shape of bread!  and...not too high to fit into the toaster!

I hope you'll join me in two weeks for the Chocolate Truffle Tartlets.  In the words of our dear Julia,  "Bon Appetit"!

L'été de blé- The Summer of Wheat

I just ordered ten pounds of wheat seeds. Not just any seeds, but heirloom, organic seeds. Two kinds. Hard spring and Hard red spring. Here's my plan. I'm hoping to plant, harvest and mill the wheat to create bread baked in the wood-fired oven. This really isn't anything new. In fact, many bakers are getting closer to the grain production process to help create the best grains possible for great artisan breads. It's new for me though.

Along with the seeds, I also ordered a sickle (medium to be exact), and two books. I'm starting from scratch. The first thing we need to figure out is where to plant the garden. Since we won't be treating the soil with any herbicides, I have to figure out how to plant the wheat to best reduce the weed invasion. In years past, the weeds won the tomato vs. weeds battle. This year I'm determined to have amber waves of grain swaying in the breeze.

I've read that birds will be attracted to the freshly planted grain, and a scarecrow will be necessary. How fun! There must be two. A boy scarecrow and a girl scarecrow. Oliver and Lisa seem like good names, don't they? One at each side of the garden. I almost want to call it a field, but I don't think this will qualify for field status. Plot sounds scientific, so for now I'm sticking with garden. A jardin joli. (pretty garden)

I'm expecting the seeds early next week. As soon as we can get the soil ready, the seeds can be planted. I'm looking for a great name for this project. Grain Garden has potential since the abbreviation is GiGi- and I love that! There should also be a really wonderful quote. There are two that caught my attention. "Every woman needs a blowtorch". Julia Child; and "You must do the thing you think you cannot do". Eleanor Roosevelt. It's a little random, but so is deciding to grow wheat! I hope you'll cross your fingers and join me in the journey to create bread, from scratch... Really, from scratch.