TWD: Blueberry Pie

I think Dorie Greenspan’s book “Baking: From My Home to Yours” needs to come with an all-expense paid membership to Weight Watchers.

Seriously.

Her sweets are just so damn good! I can’t tell you how many Tuesday’s with Dorie recipes I’ve faced with a ho-hum attitude, only to fall truly, madly, deeply in love with them.

Take her Double Crusted Blueberry Pie, for example. I honestly don't ever remember eating blueberry pie. Until this week, that is. I can now add “eating 4 pieces of blueberry pie in 2 days” to my list of life’s accomplishments. For crying out loud, it’s like crack blueberry pie!

The crust rocked. It was a mostly butter crust (which supposedly delivers on taste, but not on flakiness) but somehow it was flavorful AND flaky. Just look at the close-up if you don’t believe me.


I don’t have much experience making crust, but Dorie’s method must be pretty foolproof. Because even I, self-professed crust newbie, turned out pie dough with flecks and gobs of butter visible.


The filling rocked. My neighbor said she normally isn't fond of blueberry pie, but she ended up eating most of the hunk I sent over to her house.

I tried to make myself feel better about those 4 pieces of pie by reminding myself how good blueberries are supposed to be for you.


OK, I have a plea to all of you pie-makers out there... Help! I don’t think I properly dispersed the sugar/flour mixture amongst the blueberries. But I don’t exactly understand how this is accomplished. It seems if I would have tried to mix it up (once the mixture was in the crust), the sugar/flour would have just sunk to the bottom. I felt like I ended up with some gobs of uncooked sugar, which you can see at the tip of the piece above. What the heck are you supposed to do with that mass of sugar/flour?


Regardless of my minor confusion, though, this pie rocked! I will definitely be making it again.

Thanks Dorie and many thanks to Amy of South in Your Mouth for chosing yet another winner recipe.

I'll leave you with a picture of one of my poppies from earlier this spring. Until next week...

Cinnamon Rolls, Part 2

I learned two important things this week:

1. The vacuum cleaner will eventually recover after sucking up toilet water. (Don’t ask.)

2. Grandma’s cinnamon rolls really are the best.

For me, cinnamon rolls are synonymous with “grandma”. My grandma made cinnamon rolls every week, to be eaten Sunday morning before church (how’s that for a Norman Rockwell image?). I wish I'd have known then that this was not normal. I might have appreciated them just a tiny bit more.

My grandma was first a nurse, then a farmwife. She cooked three hot meals a day, tended the chickens, and the monster-sized garden, delivered eggs to customers in town, canned beets, peaches, pears and put up pickles. She raised her children and grandchildren part-time too. She sewed clothes and quilts, knitted afghans, crocheted doilies galore. She was a baking queen. She made the title “housewife” something to be proud of.

I never remember seeing her mad. Ever.

I only wish she was here to guide me in my attempts to master cinnamon rolls. She would probably be amused to see me reading and rereading recipes. I can imagine her smirking as I measure the rectangle of dough to make sure it is rolled out to the correct dimensions.

She probably could have made cinnamon rolls with her eyes closed.


I made somewhere around half a dozen batches of cinnamon rolls (it's become a blur) in my attempt to make some like hers. You might laugh at this… after these half-dozen batches I finally got the bright idea to check my recipe box on the off chance I somehow had gram’s recipe in there. Low and behold, there it was, just waiting for me to find it. Duh!


But making all of those batches brought me some much needed confidence. Maybe it was fate… I needed to practice on other recipes before I was ready for hers, so her recipe would be just like I remember.

Here are a few things I learned along the way…

- there’s no such thing as too much cinnamon. Well, for me anyway. If you're like me and love cinnamon, don't bother measuring it out, just start shaking it on until it seems like enough.


- I like to roll them a little thinner, so there is a higher percentage of filling to dough… like closer to 1/8 inch than ¼ inch thick. In the pics of the risen rolls below, the first one was rolled to a little more than 1/8-inch...


while the second was rolled to more like 1/4-inch thick (too much bread, not enough filling).


- The electric bread maker makes acceptable dough and is a good alternative for when you don’t feel like coddling the dough. Just throw your ingredients into the canister and walk away (use the sweet bread recipe included with your break maker).

-for caramel-topped cinnamon rolls, I prefer a caramel that isn’t cooked ahead of time, and one that contains butter, brown sugar, and milk or cream. Cooking ahead of time makes the caramel too hard and sticky and makes eating the rolls unwieldy and messy, IMO. The first picture had cooked topping. I had to throw them away, the caramel was so stiff and sticky...


while these had topping that was only warmed slighly beforehand (much better!)


- dental floss makes cutting the rolls a snap!



- folding the semi-rolled out dough first into a business letter shape, and then into three again gives you the best chance of ending up with something that most resembles a rectangle after being rolled out.



No doubt I’ll be a grandma someday too. I just hope my grandkids think my cinnamon rolls are as good as hers.

GRANDMA'S CINNAMON ROLLS

Dough
1 C. milk
½ C. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 yeast cakes, or 2 packs active dry yeast, or 4 ½ tsp active dry yeast
2 eggs
4 C. sifted flour
½ C. melted butter
1 tsp. flavoring (I used vanilla)

Filling
½ C. melted butter, cooled
1 C. brown sugar, broken up to rid it of lumps (or more, to taste) or granulated sugar
Cinnamon – I actually didn’t measure. I just start shaking it on until it looks like enough. I’m guessing I used at least a tablespoon. Use what you like.

Caramel Topping (optional)
See recipe and instructions for the glaze in ----> this post.

Cream Cheese Icing (optional)
See recipe at the bottom of -----> this post.

Instructions
Scald milk. Add sugar and salt. Cool to lukewarm. Add yeast to mixture, stirring until dissolved. (I put the ingredients in the bowl of my stand mixer and used it for the mixing.) Add beaten eggs and half of the flour. Mix. Add melted butter and beat thoroughly. Stir in remaining flour.

Turn onto lightly floured board. Let stand 10 minutes covered. (I left it in the bowl for 10 minutes.)

Knead 2 or 3 minutes until dough is smooth. (I used the dough hook and let the Kitchenaid do the kneading.) Place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rise until double in bulk.


Roll out to a rectangle about 1/8 thick. Spread butter over dough, then sprinkle on cinnamon, followed by sugar. Roll into a tight log and slice into rolls around 1 inch thick.

Grease pan with pan spray. Prepare glaze topping, if using, and place in pan. Place rolls in pan.


Cover pan with saran wrap and let rolls rise until double in bulk.

Bake at 375-400 degrees F for 25 minutes or until golden brown on top.

If using cream cheese icing, spread on the still-warm cinammon rolls.

Enjoy!

Pecan Tart

Another pie/tart flavor I've wanted to try for a long time... pecan. There's nothing better than a perfect piece of pecan pie, and nothing more disappointing than one that isn't quite right.

Out of all of my cookbooks, I chose the recipe from "American Desserts: The Greatest Sweets on Earth", by Wayne Harley Brachman. Did you ever watch him waaaay back when on the show "Melting Pot"? He has such a fun personality, I wish he was still on FoodTV. He was voted one of the Top Ten Pastry Chefs in America by Chocolatier/Pastry Arts & Design Magazines, 1998. Pretty good for a guy who is self taught and has never taken any cooking classes.

He inspires me and gives me hope.

Anyway, about the tart... how was it?

Excellent! I don't think I need to bother trying any other recipes.

Because I was playing around with mini-tarts, I scaled the recipe back and only made one. And to up the experimentation factor, I baked it in my toaster oven, if you can believe that. I worked just fine, I'm happy to report.

I'll post the recipe here, but I urge you to pick up this book, it has some fantastic recipes.

Pecan Pie

3/4 C. sugar
4 large eggs
1 C. dark corn syrup (I used Lyle's golden syrup)
2 T. dark rum
1 T. vanilla extract
4 T. unsalted butter, melted

2 C. pecan halves

Nine-inch pie or tart shell of your chosing, blind baked

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, with rack in the middle.

In a large bowl, lightly beat together the sugar, eggs, corn syrup, rum and vanilla, just until mixed. Stir in butter.

Place pie or tart shell (still in ring) on a rimmed cookie sheet to catch drips. Spread pecans on bottom of shell.

Cover with the egg mixture, ensuring all pecans are covered.


Bake for 30 minutes or until tiny bubbles appear around the edges and the center looks barely set. Cool cookie sheet and pie or tart on a cooling rack.

Get a fork and dig in!

TWD: Apple Cheddar Scones

This week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe was Apple Cheddar Scones, chosen by Karina of The Floured Apron. Thanks, Karina, these scones were fantastic... so light and fluffy. The cheddar wasn't obvious and added a nice rich buttery flavor.

I'm going to let the pictures tell the story tonight (hey, it's 11:35 PM on Monday! I needed an 8-day week this week, lol).

The ingredients, minus the buttermilk and apple juice...

Mix together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another...



Add the chilled butter...



Coat the butter with the flour mixture and then cut in. I used a pastry blender...



Adding the wet ingredients...



Stir, gently...



In go the dried apples and cheddar. I doubled the amount of apple as I was hoping for more of a sweet flavor than savory...



All mixed in, then kneaded. I opted for the spatula "kneading" as I wasn't up to nasty hands today...



I spooned the sticky mass onto a well floured cutting board...



... and kind of squished them into place with my spatula (again, no nasty hands)...



Cut them into 8 pieces THEN read the directions where it said to cut them into 12. (No A+ for me this week, lol)...



OK, tell me if this has happened to you. You're just about to take your perfectly-browned-on-top baked good out of the oven when the doorbell rings. You go to the door and immediately forget what you were doing and proceed to chat away with your visitor for too long.

Yeah, me neither, that's never happened to me (cough, sputter)...


One observation... it appears that the way they look going into the oven is pretty much the way they look coming out. I notice Dorie's are nice and smooth and mine are more... well, rustic. If I do these again, I'll try to smooth them out a bit, maybe pretty them up a tad.

I have no "magazine shot" with the matching china, linens, cup of hot steaming coffee, etc. this week. (See "need for 8-day week" mentioned above.) I'll bet many of the other TWD-ers have, though, so please be sure to stop by Tuesday's with Dorie and check them out.

By the way, next week's recipe is... (drum roll please)... blueberry pie.

See you then and thanks for stopping by!

Daring Bakers: Danish Braid

This was my and many Daring Bakers' first foray into laminated yeast dough. What is laminated dough, you ask?

Let me explain it this way... laminated dough is to white sandwich dough what a Porsche Carrera is to my Mazda 3. My Mazda is a good car, it's reliable, comfortable, it gets me from point A to point B, and didn't break the bank. It's there when I need it just like that warm, buttered toast is there when my kids suddenly decide they're hungry minutes before bedtime.

But a Porsche Carrera does all of those things too... just... better.

And that's what laminated yeast dough is... just... better. Lots better. Like "WOW" better.

Kelly of Sass & Veracity, and Ben of What’s Cookin’? must have known that when they picked the Danish Braid from Sherry Yard’s "The Secrets of Baking" for this month's Daring Bakers Challenge. And I'm so glad they did, because now I know too. Thanks guys! (I owe ya!)

With this particular laminated dough, you make a sweet yeast dough flavored with vanilla bean, orange zest, and cardomom. Roll it out, spread on a layer of butter enriched with flour and fold it in three like a business letter. Let it sit in the fridge for a bit, roll it out, fold it in three again and back in the fridge. Repeat the rolling, folding, and chilling twice more and then it rests overnight in the fridge. (I'd love to show you that part but my camera wasn't cooperating right then.)

The next day, roll it out and cut like so...



Spread on your filling and the alternately "braid" the sides.



I used Solo almond filling which I absolutely adore. (D'oh! just remembered we were supposed to make the filling from scratch. Oopsy!)



All braided and ready for an egg wash and some time to rise



Can you see the layers of butter in the cut edge of the dough?



Fluffy and ready for the oven



Mmmm, isn't it beautiful? Notice how flaky the braid is?



We were supposed to halve the dough and make two braids. Yeah, um... I missed that part and ended up with a gigantic braid. Fine with me, though. It was sooooo good.



Mmmm... a healthy topping of cream cheese icing and ...



stick a fork in me, I'm done!

Thanks for joining me. I can't wait to see what is chosen for next month's challenge!

DANISH DOUGH

Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

Ingredients

For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugarZest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

DOUGH

Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well.
Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky.
Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Without a standing mixer: Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

BUTTER BLOCK

1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.
2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

APPLE FILLING (I didn't use this)

Makes enough for two braids

Ingredients
4 Fuji or other apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Toss all ingredients except butter in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat until slightly nutty in color, about 6 - 8 minutes. Then add the apple mixture and sauté until apples are softened and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes.
If you’ve chosen Fujis, the apples will be caramelized, but have still retained their shape.

Pour the cooked apples onto a baking sheet to cool completely before forming the braid. (If making ahead, cool to room temperature, seal, and refrigerate.) They will cool faster when spread in a thin layer over the surface of the sheet. After they have cooled, the filling can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Left over filling can be used as an ice cream topping, for muffins, cheesecake, or other pastries.

DANISH BRAID

Makes enough for 2 large braids

Ingredients
1 recipe Danish Dough (see below)
2 cups apple filling, jam, or preserves (see below)

For the egg wash:
1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.
2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.
3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.Egg WashWhisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.Proofing and Baking1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
4. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.