"Perfect" Pound Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups sugar
1 cup plain yogurt (Greek is best), thinned with 3 tbsp of cream or milk
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
6 large eggs at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
 Powdered sugar

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.
Add the yogurt and mix until incorporated.
Sift the baking powder and flour together.
Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, alternating with the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
Add the vanilla and almond extracts and pour the mixture into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan.
Bake for 1hr 20 min, until tester comes out clean. Start testing at 1hr 10 min

Turn out onto cake plate when slightly cooled and dust with powdered sugar.

Crusty bread

LOVE with Jeff and Zoe and I’m ready to buy all their books!
Recipe for Homemade Artisan Bread 
makes 3 loaves

• 3 cups lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast
• 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher or other course salt
• 6 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• cornmeal for pizza peel (optional)

1. In a very large bowl, add your flour, yeast, and salt.

2. Pour in your water and stir until combined, just a few minutes.

3. Cover your bowl with foil or greased plastic wrap for 2-5 hours. We left it for 5 hours and it turned out just fine, yay!

4. Divide your dough into 3 loaves with a knife. Cover each loaf with flour and form it into a ball.

5. Lay onto a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or onto a pizza stone sprinkled with cornmeal. Let this dough rest for about 30 or so minutes.

6. With a sharp knife, slash the top of each loaf into 3 lines or a criss-cross pattern. This helps let out some steam in the dough. If you don’t slash your bread, the bread will most likely make it’s own tear somewhere during cooking.

7. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and add a small pan filled with 1 cup of water on a lower rack for a water bath. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

8. Place your baked bread on a baking rack to cool.

Now slice and add lots of butter or strawberry jam. Then revel in your new homemade bread baking skills, cuz’ you did it! You baked bread! Wasn’t that all too easy?! I told you! Next time, I’m going to try this with half white and half wheat flour. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Dill bread

Dill Bread

• 3 ½-4+ cups flour (I use a combination of whole wheat and unbleached)
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons dill weed
• 2 Tablespoons dry minced onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 scant Tablespoon (1 package) instant active dry yeast
• 1 ½ cups milk
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 egg

By Hand Instructions: In a large bowl, combine 1 ½ cups flour, sugar, dill weed, minced onion, salt and yeast. Mix well. In a small saucepan (or microwave), heat milk and butter until very warm (120-130 degrees). Add warm liquid and egg to flour mixture and blend at low speed until moistened. Beat 3 minutes at medium speed. Stir in additional flour until dough forms a ball. Knead on a floured surface for 3-5 minutes, adding additional flour if necessary. Cover and let rise in a greased bowl in a warm place until doubled in size, about 50 minutes. Punch dough down and proceed with instructions for both methods.
Bread Machine Instructions: In a 2-lb bread machine, add in this order (or in the order recommended by your specific bread machine manufacturer): cubed softened butter, sugar, dill weed, onion, salt, egg, and warm milk. Add 3 ¾ cups flour and yeast. Run the short dough cycle. Check at the beep and add additional flour if needed (for some reason, I have to use more flour in the bread machine vs by hand – so I sometimes add up to ½ cup more flour). Remove dough and proceed with instructions for both methods.
Both Methods: Shape dough into a round loaf. Cover and let rise on a greased cookie sheet until doubled in size, 30-45 minutes. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until done (cover with foil if necessary to prevent overbrowning). Brush top with additional butter if desired.
Makes one large round loaf

Challah

Challah Recipe

Make your own challah, round or braided

 

Makes 4 Loaves
·        2 tablespoons dry yeast
·        2¼ cups (500 ml) lukewarm water
·        ½ cup (100g) sugar
·        4 eggs, beaten, plus 2 yolks or 1 whole egg for glazing
·        1 tablespoon salt
·        ½ cup (125 ml) vegetable oil
·        About 9 ¼ cups (1 1/3 kg) flour
·        Poppy or sesame seeds (optional)
Dissolve the yeast in the water with 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Beat well and leave 10 minutes, until it froths.
In a very large bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Then add the salt, sugar, and oil and beat again. Add the frothy yeast mixture and beat well. Now add the flour gradually, and just enough to make a soft dough that holds together, mixing well, first with a large spoon, then working it in with your hands. Knead vigorously for about 15 minutes, until it is very smooth and elastic, adding flour if the dough is too sticky. Pour a little oil in the bowl and turn the dough, so that it is greased all over. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in a warm place to rise for 2‑3 hours, or until it has doubled in bulk. Punch the dough down and knead again, then divide into four pieces to make 4 loaves.
To make round challah: Take 1 piece of dough, roll it between your palms, and pull it out into a long fat rope about 18 inches (46 cm) long and 2 inches (5 cm) thick—a little fatter at one end. Take the fatter end and put it in the middle of an oiled baking sheet, then coil the rest of the rope around it like a snail. Continue with the remaining 3 pieces.
To make braided challah with 3 strands: Divide 1 piece of the dough into 3. Roll each piece between your palms and pull into long thin ropes about 18 inches (46 cm) long and 1¼ inches (3 cm) wide. Pinch 1 end of all the strands together and plait them: bring the rope on the right over the middle one, then bring the one on the left over it and continue to the end. Pinch the ends together and tuck them under the loaf. You may find it, easier to begin plaiting in the middle of the 3 strands and plait towards the 2 ends. Continue with the remaining 3 pieces.
Place the 4 loaves on well‑oiled baking sheets, leaving plenty of room for them to expand, then leave  to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk. Now brush gently with the beaten egg yolks or if you want to sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds, brush first with the whole beaten egg (the seeds stick better if the white is there too). Bake in a preheated 350° F (180°C) oven for 30‑40 minutes or until the loaves are beautifully golden-brown. They are done if they sound hollow when you tap the bottoms.
Variations for Sweet Challahs:
Add ½ cup (125 ml) honey to the beaten eggs.
Add ¾ cup (100 g) raisins and knead them into the dough after it has risen and been punched down.

Starbucks Banana Walnut Bread

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The secret to making excellent banana nut bread is the bananas must be so ripe the peeling is black.

1 3/4 cups flour (bread flour is best)
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe (this is usually 2 or 3 bananas)
1/3 cup margarine
2 tablespoons milk
2 eggs
1 cup chopped walnuts (divided into 2 (1/2 cup) portions

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium size bowl combine all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt), stir together to combine. In another medium size bowl combine margarine and sugar, with a mixer cream the margarine, and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in mashed bananas, eggs, milk and mix well. Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mix until the flour is just mixed in, then add in the remaining flour and 1/2 cup walnuts, blend together until everything is mixed together. Do not overstir.

Pour batter into a greased 8x4 inch loaf pan. Then top the batter with the remaining chopped walnuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.

While Starbucks does not make their banana bread with butter, I think this comes out more rich this way. I also like to add in a sprinkle or two of cinnamon and sugar into this, again, not in their recipe, it does add that little something extra.

Chocolate Chip Cookies--Adapted from Jacques Torres

Ingredients:

2 cups minus 2 tbsp (8 1/2 oz) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 oz) bread flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 oz) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tbsp (8oz) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks (at least 60% cacao)
Sea salt

Procedure:
1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Stir in the vanilla.  Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.  Set aside.
4. Scoop 6 (3 1/2 oz) mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheets, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes.  Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day.

Eat warm, with a big napkin!

chocolate eclaire cake

Chocolate Eclair Cake!!!
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
... 1 cup flour
4 large eggs
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 large box (5.1 ounces) vanilla instant pudding
3 cups milk
1 8 oz. container cool whip (you won’t use the whole container) or one batch of homemade whipped cream
chocolate syrup or homemade chocolate sauce

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease a 9″X13″ glass baking pan.
Eclair Crust: In a medium saucepan, melt butter in water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Mix in one egg at a time, mixing completely before adding another egg. Spread mixture into pan, covering the bottom and sides evenly. *If the sides of your pan are too greased you won’t be able to get the mixture to stay up the sides so make sure to just lightly grease.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown (Mine only took 25 minutes.) You may want to check it occasionally-you don’t want to overcook the crust, it will ruin the cake! Remove from oven and let cool (don’t touch or push bubbles down).
Filling: Whip cream cheese in a medium bowl. In separate bowl make vanilla pudding. Make sure pudding is thick before mixing in with cream cheese. Slowly add pudding to cream cheese, mixing until there are no lumps. Let cool in fridge.When the crust is completely cooled, pour filling in. Top with layer of cool whip however thick you want it and serve with chocolate syrup. *If you want to make this even better use homemade whipped cream.