Archive for April, 2006
Snickerdoodles are sugar cookies that are coated in cinnamon sugar. They usually have a cracked appearance and I have had ones that are both crisp and chewy. There is an added bonus to the cookies in that they have a fun name to say. Snickerdoodle
Snickerdoodles are probably the single least offensive cookie that there is – which is to say that they will appeal to everyone. There are people who don’t like chocolate, nuts, raisins, etc. and these cookies don’t have any of those things. They are buttery and sugary, though not really overly sweet as the sugar is tempered by the cinnamon and vanilla flavors. I have no doubt that, while they might not be the first cookie offered up by people who are asked about their favorite type, they will always be among the first to go at a party.
My theory on the popularity of this cookie is, I think, validated by the recipe I used. This recipe is Mrs. Snigg’s Snickerdoodles from AllRecipes. It has over 1200 positive ratings and 1000 positive reviews. Almost everyone gave it 5/5 stars. How could I not make them?
As I suspected, this batch of cookies was excellent. They had a perfect balance of flavors and were addictive enough to make you reach for a second. My personal preference is for a slightly crisper cookie, so if you go with the high end of the baking time, you will get a crisper cookie, while the low end will get you a chewier one. Regardless of which way you prefer your cookies, they will be delicious.
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I love multi-grain bread. I’m not talking about the kind that you buy in the supermarket, bagged and sliced next to the white bread. I’m talking about the hearty, flavorful kind that you can get on a sandwich at a really great cafe. It’s the kind of bread that is invariably paired with a “California style” sandwich, the one that always seems to include tomatoes, avocado and sprouts. Of course, there might be other things on it, too, but such a sandwich is mostly about the bread.
I have wanted to make multigrain bread for a long time. I started with a recipe on the King Arthur Flour website and went from there. After a few substitutions and eliminating the sunflower seeds because I don’t care for nuts in my sandwich bread, my multi-grain loaf was finished. And it was everything I could have hoped it would be.
The bread was hearty with an oaty, nutty flavor. It was moist and very substantial, but that is a trait that you want in a bread like this, since it can stand up to any filling. It can even stand up to a total lack of filling and be satisfying! The crust is thick and crisp, really excellent.
One of the things that really makes it work is the vital wheat gluten in the recipe. The gluten allows the bread to rise better, creating a lighter product. The “multi grains” in the bread have either low or no additional protein in them, so adding the gluten, which is extra protein, means that you are going to have a less-dense, more tender loaf. If you don’t have vital wheat gluten, you can buy some from the Baker’s Catalogue or look for it at a natural grocery store. If you do not use it, you bread will still taste good, but it will be on the dense side.
I love this loaf. It makes fantastic sandwiches and unbelievable toast. The only thing that I would consider changing is its size, to make a larger bread, because I definitely want more.
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Crumb cakes differ from coffee cakes, though both often have streusel or crumbs component, because a crumb cake is mostly crumb. Sure, coffee cakes will have some on top or swirled throughout, but the bulk of the batter is cake. In this instance, the bulk of the “batter” was crumb.
The cake was a Martha Stewart recipe that I picked mainly on looks. Crumbs on top of a cake always look extremely appealing and promise to be buttery and sweet, crunchy and cake-like all at once. This one didn’t disappoint in any way. The cake was moist and tender and the crumb topping was crunchy and sweet, though not sugary, with a melt-in-your-mouth butteriness. The amount of cinnamon was just right.
That said, I did have a few small challenges when making the recipe. While mixing both the batter and the crumb mixture was very easy, the batter did not spread into the pan well at all! In fact, it only barely covered the bottom and I had such difficulty spreading it that I had to grease my silicone spatula to push it around. I still couldn’t get it into the corners, though the batter does spread and rise as it bakes, so this turned out not to be a problem in the finished cake. The main difference from the published recipe was that the cake took longer to bake than specified. Marth’s directions called for 20 minutes of baking time, while mine wasn’t done for about 28 minutes. Not that that is a big deal, since I used a cake tester to check it if was done, but a flaw nevertheless.
The cake can be served while still slightly warm, but it can also be cooled completely and stored, wrapped, for 2 days.
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Happy Easter everyone!
This year I wanted to do something a little different from the rather ubiquitous brunch muffins and fritattas (though I did those, too) and make a real show-stopper. I rather think that I did an excellent job with it, too. But let me stop patting myself on the back long enough to tell you how I did it.
The idea for this bread started when I saw Paul Hollywood do a similar braid with colored eggs in it. I believe that it had some sort of flavoring in the rich dough, though, and I wanted to go for something sweet, something like challah. Instead of falling back to my usual challah recipe, I did a quick search and came upon this recipe for a braided Easter bread at Allrecipes.com. By combining the shape of Paul’s bread with the basic recipe from the other bread, I think I reached an excellent balance – not to mention a gorgeous-looking loaf.
The dough was very easy to handle, though it did take quite some time to rise, as many rich doughs do. While the dough was rising the first time, I dyed a few eggs. I used raw eggs, as they will cook in the oven, and food coloring as a dye. The recipe for dye is simple: 1 tbsp white vinegar, 1/2 cup water and as much food coloring as you want. I tried to go for bright colors and used loads of coloring. After the eggs had been in the dye for about 5 minutes, I took them out and patted them dry. The eggs were inserted gently into the dough after it had been shaped and had risen a second time. I brushed the dough with an egg wash and popped it into the oven.
The bread tastes like a sweet challah, a eggy and a little buttery, with a very soft and light texture. It is not a traditional Challah, as it uses milk and butter (and most challah recipes are nondairy), but it is absolutely delicious. It is also perfect with butter and jam or with a large brunch. The leftovers (minus the decorated eggs on top, of course) make great toast or french toast. If you have any leftovers, that is.
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A calzone is sort of like a piece of pizza that has been folded into a pocket, or a turnover. It is made of pizza dough with some sort of filling on the inside. The filling almost always involves at least one type of cheese, though meats and vegetables are common inclusions.
There is some controversy over the calzone and it stems from the sauce. A lot of people think that there should be no sauce inside of the calzone, just filling. They believe that the calzone should be serve with or dipped into sauce. There are others who feel that there should be sauce inside the calzone. Since it looks like something that should be portable, they feel that the calzone should be a self-contained meal.
I am open to both ways, though I am picky about my fillings. I recall ordering a calzone at a local Italian restaurant, as a child, a getting a football-sized mound of cheese with some dough wrapped around it. It was revolting – and I loved cheese. Needless to say, I avoided the dish for many years after that experience, but once I realized that not all calzones were like that, I began to indulge from time to time.
I like a little bit of sauce in my calzones, with more on the side. I like only a little bit of cheese and a lot of other filling – vegetables, sausage, etc – even though cheese and sauce is all you really need to have a good calzone. I used my recipe for basic pizza dough to make the pockets, rolling it fairly thin. The most important thing in calzone making is to pinch the dough shut tightly so that the filling doesn’t escape. This is not my strong suit. I suggest using a fork to press the edges together. Make sure to cut a slit or two in the top of the calzone with a sharp knife, or no amound of pinching will prevent some leakage.
The recipe below gives you a lot of options. Once you have the dough ready, you can fill it with just about anything. The cheese, veggie and meat options are all simply suggestions. I like mine with mushrooms, though other excellent combinations are: broccoli-ricotta, chicken-mushroom, spinach-ricotta-mozarella, chicken-sausage-mozarella, ricotta-mozarella….
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