Pumpernickel Loaf (Baking with Julia)

So I had to cheat a little with this week's recipe. Seeing as I have no mixer and I had a baby 2 weeks ago (and am therefore not at all interested in kneading bread when it is compared with pumping iron!) I made my pumpernickel loaf in the breadmaker.

Luckily the recipe book which came with my breadmaker included a rye and caraway bread so I was able to simply adjust it to be more like this week's recipe. I added coffee, cocoa, yoghurt and molasses and was really pleased with the result. I was intending to just make the dough and then shape and bake the loaf in the oven but with 3 kids including a newborn demanding to be fed that just wasn't going to happen!

I loved the complex flavours in this loaf and it was fabulous slightly warm with lots of cream cheese. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Profiteroles (Baking with Julia)

I used to be obsessed with profiteroles and growing up I always wanted a croquembouche wedding cake. When it came to it we ended up having an awesome cupcake tower but I still love my profiteroles!

These were not my finest moment. In order to make them child and preggo friendly I left out the espresso and made regular profiteroles. I couldn't find a plain piping tip so had to use a star one and they came out a little odd looking (although they did puff up beautifully). I only used 1/2 ts cinnamon in my eggless ice cream and it had a really blah could-have-been-anything flavour, and then I decided to use a simple cocoa glaze rather than chocolate sauce and made it too thin.

BUT put those 3 less than perfect elements together and it was delicious. The fact that I immediately ate 2 with all the trimmings says they couldn't have been too bad!

To see what everyone else thought don't forget to check the LYL page!

Sweet Berry Fougasse (Baking with Julia)

Another choose your own adventure week at Baking with Julia, with a choice of Blueberry Muffins or Sweet Berry Fougasse. I was all set to make the muffins but then I actually read the other recipe and was intrigued.

So what is a fougasse? It turns out to be a sweet foccacia, this one topped with berries and a crumbly streusal topping. Sounds yummy right? I figured it would make a wonderful breakfast, so I made it for Fathers' Day on Sunday and it was a big hit.

I have made foccacia many times but had never rested the dough in the fridge for 24 hours first as per this recipe, so wasn't sure what to expect. I have to say I'm not sure it really made a big difference, apart from the yeasty smell of the fermentation turning my stomach a little (if you're not preggo maybe you wouldn't even notice that though!)

All 3 of my taste testers really enjoyed these warm from the oven, and after a quick microwave they were still really good the next day, although the streusel had lost some of its crispiness.

If you would like to bake your own Sweet Berry Fougasse (and you really should) you will find the recipe here.

Johnny Cake Cobbler (Baking with Julia) + some news!

This week we had a choice of 2 recipes for Baking with Julia and I chose the Johnnycake Cobbler over the Raspberry-Fig Crostata, mainly because neither figs nor raspberries are in season here and even when they are, they're prohibitively expensive.

Unfortunately it wasn't quite the success I had hoped.

I used 8 smallish apples and 2 cups of thawed frozen blackberries for my full-size cobbler which I thought would be plenty but it seemed to shrink down to nothing. Or maybe it was just that there was at least twice as much topping as was needed. What I should have done is just turn it out on to a platter and call it an upside down cake!

What I liked - the combination of fruits, their jewel-toned colour and the texture of the cobbler thanks to the cornmeal.

What I didn't like - the quantity of topping, the saltiness and fact it took over 90 minutes to cook through!

I'm really not sure why it took so long to cook. Our oven has been even more unreliable than usual recently so it could be that, or it could be that I just stuffed up somewhere. This is actually a distinct possibility as we are expecting baby #3 and pregnancy brain has well and truly kicked in!

Not sure why I haven't shared the news before now but given I'm 30 weeks tomorrow it's about time. So in 10 weeks or less there will be a new baby in the food.baby family. We haven't found out the gender this time so we'll be getting an awesome surprise on this little one's birth-day.

Back to the cobbler, I served it with lashings of cream (probably unnecessary given the huge amount of cream in the cobbler itself) and my 3 taste-testers all enjoyed it, but the fact is there is still a large chunk in the fridge and no one asked for seconds which is pretty telling.

You'll find the recipe for the Johnnycake Cobbler on page 389 of Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Eastern Mediterranean Pizzas (Baking with Julia)

So you know the saying 'if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all'? Well that pretty much sums up my feelings about this week's pick, Eastern Mediterranean Pizzas. This will be a short post.

I thought I would love it but this was seriously one of the blandest things I have ever eaten. It's my own fault really, for not tasting and adjusting but I was in a hurry and thought I would just trust the recipe. Big mistake. It was bland to the point of being inedible, even topped with a dollop of greek yoghurt and a scattering of coriander. It also wasn't helped by the fact our lamb mince was incredibly greasy.

I can see the potential though, so if I were to attempt these again I would at least double the cinnamon and all-spice and also add some ground cumin and coriander and probably chilli flakes as well.

Hopefully others had more success!

Baked Yoghurt Tart with Cherries and an Oatmeal Crust (Baking with Julia)

I've never heard of a baked yoghurt tart before but when I read it was similar to a custard tart I got very excited! I love a classic custard tart (as I've made before here) but I'm always looking for healthier options. A tart filling based on natural yoghurt and flavoured with vanilla, fruit and almonds sounded perfect.

Fresh berries are ridiculously expensive here, even in season, so I chose to use frozen cherries instead. I thawed, drained and patted them dry before using and they worked really well. 

I also opted for a different crust. I found someone else's version of this yoghurt tart here and they had used an oatmeal crust which sounded delicious so that's what I used.  I made it fructose-free by using dextrose instead of brown sugar. It was more like a cheesecake base than a tart base and I loved it. In fact it could become by go-to cheesecake base instead of biscuit crumbs!

I'm going to blame my oven but this took more than double the stated time to cook, 1 hr 10 mins as opposed to 35-40 minutes.

The taste test ...

We loved this! Much more similar in texture to a cheesecake than a custard tart. Which makes it even more of a winner in my book because I adore cheesecake! I loved the nuttiness of the base with the almonds and cherries, and the filling was smooth and only slightly tangy. Just delightful.

The recipe is available online (just google Julia Child Baked Yoghurt Tart) but I have included the recipe for the crust here. Click on the link below for the orginal recipe made on brown sugar.

For the Oatmeal Crust
Adapted from Wellsphere

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup dextrose
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
100 grams butter, melted and cooled
1 egg yolk

Lightly grease a 9 inch springform pan and line the base with non-stick paper.

Place all the dry ingredients in a food processor and blitz until the oats are finely chopped. Add the melted butter and egg yolk and process until combined. It should resemble damp sand and stick together when pressed.

Tip the mixture into the prepared tin and press evenly over the base and halfway up the sides. Chill for 30 minutes.

Place the pan on a baking sheet and blind bake at 170 degrees C / 150 C fan-forced for about 20 minutes, then remove the pastry weights and bake uncovered for another 10 minutes. (I put foil around the edges which were starting to get a little dark.

Cool to room temperature before filling.

BWJ - Cheese and Tomato Galette

I actually wasn't really expecting much from this one but I was so wrong. We LOVED it! It was all the best parts of a pizza encased in a buttery flaky pastry. Just divine.

I knew we didn't have any cornmeal and couldn't be bothered searching for it so I used semolina instead for the dough and it worked brilliantly. I also just used regular tasty cheese and shredded mozzarella.

Originally I intended to make a sweet one as well but it actually didn't make as much dough as I thought. I used the full batch for this galette and it was the perfect dinner for the 4 of us with just one largeish piece leftover (for my lunch, yum!).

The dough was a little sticky but I didn't have any problems with it, possibly because it is winter here and quite a cool day?

This recipe is definitely a keeper and we'll be making it again.

BWJ - Savoury Brioche Pockets

 

I had a bit of a brain freeze and totally forgot that this was BWJ week. Luckily without a mixer I have perfected a brioche dough made in the breadmaker and whipped these beauties out in about 2.5 hours!

They are called Savoury Brioche Pockets, and just as the name suggest, they are a brioche dough wrapped around a savoury filling. As I had forgotten about the recipe I didn't have any goat's cheese or chives on hand but I did happen to have leftover steamed potato in the fridge.

To make my filling I sauteed some onion, garlic and spinach in butter until soft then added it to cold mashed potato along with a handful of grated cheddar cheese, some salt and pepper. Basically it made the yummiest mashed potato you can imagine!

The taste test ...

They didn't blow my socks off but it was pretty tasty. The filling was delicious and you can't go past brioche. I'm just not a huge pan of potatoes in bread. It just seemed a bit too heavy even though the filling was lightened up with veg. I think my brioche discs were a bit too thick so the ratio of bread to filling was a bit off. Still a success overall though.

Carrie of Loaves and Stitches will have the recipe up today and to see what the other bakers thought of this one, check out the LYL section.

BWJ - Upside Down Mini Apple Cakes

So yesterday I went to the supermarket specifically to get rhubarb. I came home with bread, lemons, broccoli and a bag of spinach ... and no rhubarb. I really hope other people do things like that! There was no way I was going back there with 2 ratty kids so I made do with what I had, and that meant apples.

I made 12 little cakes using a large hole muffin tray. I put a little blob of butter in the base of each and topped it with a slice of gala apple then spooned the batter on top.

I ate 1 (ok, 2!) warm from the oven and they were absolutely divine. The creme fraiche (or greek yoghurt in my case) made for a lovely moist and slightly tangy cake which paired beautifully with the sweet apple. They may have made out of a mistake but they were a definite winner!

To see the real recipe for Fresh Rhubarb Upside Down Baby Cakes make sure you visit out host Erin of When in Doubt.

BWJ - Rustic Potato Loaves

 aka the bread that almost wasn't.

I had it in my head that this was a typical long-rest bread. Add to that I was going to have to actually cook potatoes first AND I don't even have a mixer at the moment, I was sure this was not going to happen!

But then I realised how quick it would be, and hubby cooked the potatoes for me, and I realised I could mix the dough in the breadmaker. Voila.

I made half the recipe and got a really decent sized loaf. You will notice from the picture that I forgot to cook the bread seam side up so it doesn't have the same look as the book. Still, it was delicious and made the house smell like an intoxicating mix of fresh bread and hot chips. Doesn't get much better than that!

Make sure you visit our host Dawn of Simply Sweet for the recipe.

BWJ - Mocha Chocolate Chips

They may not be the prettiest things but they were pretty tasty!

I made just a 1/4 batch of these Mocha Chocolate Chips because I don't need 4 dozen chocolate anythings hanging around here. I also left out the apricots as that just seemed a little odd.

Most of the batch was frozen and it was great I could eat them straight from the freezer as they didn't go rock hard.

So that's about it! Probably wouldn't make them again but they did disappear pretty quickly which is always a good sign.

Our host this week is Peggy of Galettista and you will find the recipe there.

BWJ - Boca Negra

I'd never heard of a Boca Negra cake before so was curious to see how these would turn out. Well, let me just say that a Boca Negra cake is the most intensely chocolatey cake I have ever made. Ever.

We don't do bourbon in this house so I subbed in some coffee instead and also went for a lightly sweetened whipped cream to serve. OMG. So rich, soooo delicious.

I'm very glad I did just 1/4 of the recipe, using my little heart shaped springform pan which only sees the light of day for Valentine's Day.

So my 1/4 recipe used 100g dark chocolate (I used Lindt 85% cocoa), 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tbs strong coffee, 60g butter, 2 eggs and 2 ts plain flour. It baked for around 22 minutes and was just right. At room temperature it was silky and luscious, out of the fridge later it was like fudge.

The kids each had a bite and hubby and I polished off the rest. YUM.

To get the recipe and make your own Boca Negra visit out our host Cathy of A Frederick Food Garden.

BWJ - Foccacia

It must be said that we love foccacia in this house so this was always going to be a winner. It didn't disappoint!

I made a mix of crushed garlic, dried Italian herbs and a good slug of olive oil and brushed most of it over the foccacia before baking. The I brushed the remainder over as soon is it was baked and wow, it smelt amazing!

We just happened to be having lasagne for dinner the day I made this and it was perfect accompaniment. Both boys kept asking for 'more bread please'. Gotta love that.

Our host this week is Sharmini of Wandering Through so make sure you visit her blog for the recipe and visit the LYL section of the Baking with Julia website to see how everyone else did.

BWJ - French Apple Tart

I'm not off to a great start with BWJ this year, seeing I completely forgot about the last one (seriously how did the 8th of January come around so quickly?!) and only just scraped in with this one!

I knew there was an apple tart coming up so I bought 2 bags of green apples assuming they would last. When I got ready to bake however, I realised there was just 1 lonely apple left and this recipe would require some major tweakage (that's totally a word).

I think the beauty of this tart lies in the swirled apple slices on top so that's what I save my apple for. Rather than trying to sub another fruit for the filling, I went with a frangipane filling as I happened to have some almond meal. Apple and almonds are a great combination so I knew whatever happened this tart would at least be edible!

The taste test ...

Flaky buttery pastry topped with smooth almondy frangipane and fragrant apples. There really is no way this could be bad. I'm really keen to try the original version with the apple filling but this was a great substitute. Seeing as this tart bears little resemblance to the original I have included my recipe below.

My apologies to Gaye of Laws of the Kitchen for not making the actual tart. It's now on my to-bake list!

Mini Apple Frangipane Tarts
Makes 2 x 4 inch tarts

Pastry
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
1 pinch salt
1 ts sugar
120g cold butter, diced
1-2 tbs cold water

Filling
25g almond meal
25g sugar
25g butter, at room temperature
1 egg yolk
1/2 ts vanilla extract

Topping
1 granny smith apple
1 tbs melted butter
1 tbs honey, warmed

To make the pastry - combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingertips, being sure to leave some pea-sized bits. If the butter starts to get too soft, place the bowl in the fridge for a few minutes. Once the butter is rubbed in add 1 tbs of the cold water and start to bring the dough together. If the mixture is too dry add extra water just a few drops at a time. Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough to approx 5mm thick and fit into 2 x 4 inch tart pans (there will be dough left over). Place the pans in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsisus.

To make the filling mash the butter together with the sugar and almond meal then stir in the egg yolk and vanilla. Set aside.

Bake the tart shells for 20 minutes or until dry to the touch and very lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before spooning in the filling and smoothing the tops.

Slice the apple into thin wedges. Lay the slices across the top of each tart and brush with melted butter.

Reduce the oven temperature to 170 degrees and bake the tarts for approx 25 minutes or until the pastry and frangipane are golden brown and the apples are tender. Remove from the oven and brush with warmed honey.

Serve just warm.

Baking with Julia - Finnish Pulla Failure

I feel like I have lost my baking mojo these last few weeks. Which is scary to admit considering how close to Christmas we are and just how many things I am yet to bake!

Today's Finnish Pulla takes the cake for disasters. It just didn't work. I'm partly blaming the weather (very hot) and my being distracted and leaving it too long in the second rise (because of a screaming 2 year old refusing to nap).

My bread was flat and mishapen and tasted strongly of yeast. I'm positive I measured correctly so not sure what's going on there. The end result was ugly and inedible and so very disappointing.

 
Our host this week is Erin of The Daily Morsel. I'm hoping she had better luck than me!

Baking with Julia - Best-Ever Brownies

It's no secret I fell in love with brownies through baking with Tuesdays with Dorie. Before that I thought they were chocolatey but kind of blah. So I was really keen to see how a recipe called 'Best-Ever Brownies' would compare with what I had made previously!

Whether they were amazing or not we definitely didn't need a whole batch sitting around, especially so close to Christmas, so I made 1/4 of the recipe in a mini loaf tin. My altered recipe is below.

The taste test ...

While I wouldn't say it's the best ever, it was pretty good! I overcooked my little brownie but the very middle was perfect - fudgy and gooey and just divine with a dollop of double cream. The ends were a little drier but still in a good dense chocolate cake kind of way. My photo in no way does it justice but at 8pm under fluorescent light that's the best I'm going to get!

Best-Ever Mini Brownie

1/3 cup plain flour
pinch salt
60g unsalted butter
45g dark chocolate
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 ts vanilla extract
1 large egg   

Follow the method as per Baking with Julia p 331. Bake in a mini loaf pan at 180 degrees celsius for approx 16 minutes until firm around the edges and squoodgy in the middle. I gave mine 20 minutes and it was overdone so a few minutes less ie. 16 mins should be pretty close.

Our host this week is Monica of A Beautiful Mess so make sure you check out the original recipe!

Baking with Julia - Buttermilk Crumb Muffins

A homemade muffin, warm from the oven and fragrant with cinnamon and nutmeg. Is there anything better on a blah Monday morning?

I made quite a few substitutions with these and will do a full post on why and what I used instead, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. In the meantime make sure you visit our host Alisa of Easier Than Pie for the recipe!

Baking with Julia - Bagels

Bagels have been on my must-bake list for years so I was really happy they were picked for this week!

The recipe seemed long and a little daunting but there was nothing particularly complicated about it, just a lot of steps and long wait. After reading the P & Q I decided to split the batch and do each half a little differently.

For my first batch I shaped the bagels after the first rise and then rested them in the fridge for 4 hours. The instructions for shaping the bagels were a little vague. I really didn't get the whole 'draw up and pinch the dough' thing (hope it wasn't just me) so I made up my own technique. Which could be why I ended up with this:

Ahem.

So they look more like rolls than bagels. The holes almost completely disappeared during baking (clearly they weren't big enough to start with) and the end result was a little doughy. I'm guessing because there was no air circulating through the middle. They tasted pretty good though and we had bacon and egg bagels for dinner. Yum!

I made the second batch the day after, so the dough had a full 24 hours in the fridge before I shaped it. It seemed easier to shape this time and I made sure the holes were the right size before boiling them. Both times I used sesame seeds and caraway seeds on top which we loved. I dropped the oven temp by 10 degrees this time but they still got a little darker than I would have liked.

But look! I made bagels!

My only negative is that I found these really salty. Like REALLY salty to the point of having to guzzle water for a few hours after eating. So if we make these again I would definitely want to reduce the salt. Anyone know if that amount of salt is important for the texture etc?

I'm also keen to try a sweet version with cinnamon and raisins and if any of this batch lasts long enough I will make bagel chips and update this post.

Our host this week is Heather of Heather's Bytes so make sure you check her blog the recipe and some great photos.

Baking with Julia - Cranberry and Pumpkin Loaf

Just wondering, is there anyone else out there who completely missed the mark with this recipe? I somehow had it into my head that this was a quick bread, more of a cake even. Imagine my surprise when I go to make it and not only is it a proper bread, it has to rest in the fridge overnight! Aaaah!

Now I could have just made it properly another day but I was psyched for pumpkin and cranberries and knew I wouldn't get another chance before posting day. I even had steamed pumpkin leftover from the night before ready and waiting to be mashed. (We can't buy canned pumpkin or pumpkin pie filling in Australia).

So instead I pulled out my trusty bread maker and made it in there. 

Granted it's not exactly the same as in the book, but the basic elements are all there - pumpkin, cranberries, spices. Yum! I didn't use any walnuts as I didn't have any on hand and I wanted to make it child friendly.
 

Luckily my breadmaker cookbook had a recipe for pumpkin bread already so I just had to tweak it slightly. Let me tell you, the aroma wafting through the house as this was cooking was to die for! And it was ready in just 3 1/2 hours!

Pumpkin and Cranberry Bread in the Breadmaker

200ml water
1 tbs melted butter
1/2 cup mashed pumpkin
1 ts salt
1 tbs brown sugar
100g wholemeal flour
350g white bread flour
2 ts ground cinnamon
1/2 ts ground nutmeg
1 tbs milk powder
1/2 ts bread improver
1 1/4 ts instant dried yeast

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Add all ingredients except the cranberries to your breadmaker in the order listed above. Select the 750g loaf size, basic bread setting and medium crust. If you have a fruit and nut dispenser, add your cranberries in there and make sure you select 'Nuts - Yes' so they will be added automatically. Otherwise add in your cranberries after the first mix. Press start and wait just a couple of hours for your delicious bread to be ready!

The taste test ...

Just gorgeous! It was amazing fresh out of the 'oven' but sliced up the next day and toasted it was possibly even better. There wasn't much pumpkin flavour but it did add a lovely colour and helped to keep the bread  moist. My boys loved it toasted for breakfast with a big glass of milk and my pumpkin-hating husband had a taste before he knew it contained pumpkin and declared it 'really good.' Success!!!

Our host this week is Rebecca at This Bountiful Backyard. Make sure you check her blog for the proper recipe or give mine a go if you're time-poor.

Baking with Julia - Whole Wheat Bread

Umm not sure if anyone noticed but I completely forgot (and I mean completely) about the last Baking with Julia recipe. It was for an Upside-Down Nectarine Chiffon Cake and it sounded delectable. But I forgot. So it's now on my to-bake list and I will get to it eventually.

This week was another bread recipe which I was really happy about. Bread in general makes me happy! As with the White Loaves recipe from way back in February this was an easy to put together loaf which baked up perfectly.

I knew I wouldn't be using molasses or malt extract (I'm trying to avoid buying ingredients that won't get used regularly) but didn't worry because I always have treacle in the pantry. Except this time I didn't. Oops. So I subbed golden syrup for both the honey and the malt extract and got a gorgeously golden and slightly sweet loaf that we all loved.

As usual I snagged the crust while it was still warm and enjoyed it with a smearing of butter. You really can't beat homemade bread fresh from the oven!

I cut and froze most of the 2 loaves, using most of it for toast and it was fabulous.

This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Our hosts this week are Michele of Veggie Num Nums and Teresa of The Family That Bakes Together. They will post the recipe for this lovely loaf so make sure you check it out!