It Started on Valentine's

For those of you who've been following me since the journey started, you'll remember that my first baking adventure revolved around making a delicious chocolaty symbol of love for my boyfriend for Valentine's Day. A year later, I couldn't help but reflect on the past year and realize that so much has changed since then. I started out as someone who just wanted to learn more about baking, someone taking on a new hobby, now I've transformed into a student of baking and pastry and dreaming and aspiring towards making it a more integral part of my life.

On the non-baking front, I moved from girlfriend to fiance, and I'm sure baking had a small part to play in all that. Not just because he has been the chief taste tester and could look forward to fresh baked goods on a weekly basis, but also because I believe baking has made me a happier person, and helped me relieve the week's stress. As a part of this certificate course in Pastry Making  and Cake Decorating, I have practicals twice a week but I have to say, I much prefer baking on my own terms. I like selecting the specific recipes I'd like to do, and adding a little something here and there. The school kitchen does have its advantages though, like industrial mixers which can mix, whisk and knead. They are putting the hand mixer I have at home to shame and making me hunger and salivate every time I see a Kitchenaid mixer. I MUST get one, its not an if, its a when.

Since we've been together, my fiance and I have never been out on Valentine's Day, mostly because the  thought of a crowded restaurant doesn't seem that romantic to him. This time we decided to give going out a try but of course, I still had the inkling to make him something, surprise him with a chocolaty gift. I decided on breakfast in bed and came upon this recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod for a Chocolate Dutch Baby. This recipe also gave me an excuse to buy a cast iron skillet which I'd been wanting for quite sometime. Immediately after I bought it I came home and began searching for recipes to try in my new skillet.

For those of you unfamiliar with Dutch Babies, they're like pancakes which are made in the oven. This particular recipe is made by heating the skillet with melted butter in it, blending all the ingredients in the blender, pouring them into the skillet and putting the hot skillet in the oven. After baking I topped it with sliced strawberries and dusted it with powdered sugar. It was super easy, the perfect recipe for a quick Valentine's breakfast.

I totally surprised Anthony and I liked it so much, I'm looking forward to trying other dutch babies. The only thing I'd add is a little dollop of whipped cream, that would've made it perfect. 

Move Over Cinnabon!

Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze

When I'm travelling abroad and walking through the airport which has become such a tense environment nowadays with all the security concerns of air travel, there is a welcoming scent which I absolutely LOVE. It's the smell of the Cinnabon mmm. I'm a fan, well, I was until this week's baking project. This week I made Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze from Bon Appetit 2008.

I've also been trying to sneak more fiber into my diet. So I thought I'd also make some bran muffins that I could have for breakfast in the mornings. I found a recipe from King Arthur Flour where the batter keeps in the fridge for 2 weeks, so you don't have to bake them all at once, which I thought was perfect for this purpose.

Bran Muffins

So I'll tell you about the bran muffins first since, let's face it, they're a lot less exciting than warm, soft, cinnamon rolls with cream cheese glaze mmmmm. Anyway, so I went to the store and picked up the bran twigs, yes that's the cereal that looks like shredded cardboard that I usually pass in the aisle and wonder what person in their right mind would eat that. But I'd be mixing it with a bunch of other wonderful ingredients that I figured would compensate. When made right, bran muffins can be a delicious start to the day.

Batter after refrigeration overnight

I started by soaking a cup of the bran cereal in a cup of boiling water for 45 minutes. In the meantime, I combined the flour, baking soda and salt. Then I added the raisins. The recipe said 1-1 1/2 cups. I'm always a fan of more raisins so I went for the full amount. After the cereal in boiling water had cooling I mixed in the oil and set it aside.  Then I combined the eggs, sugar and 2 cups of plain yogurt which I used as a substitute for the buttermilk. I mixed the flour mixture and the egg mixture together and added an additional two cups of bran cereal. Then finally, I added the mixture of water, oil and bran cereal to the mix. Then I refrigerated the batter overnight. The next morning the batter was very thick and dark in colour. All the cereal was now hydrated and ready to rumble. I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup to fill my 6 muffin tin and baked them for 25 minutes. Then popped em out and set them to cool.

The bran muffins tasted good and had a great consistency but I kept hoping I'd taste another flavour. Like some banana and a bit of mixed spice. However, the great thing about this recipe is, I still have two more batches worth of batter in the fridge , so I can always add those flavours to it and see how it turns out next week. I'm sure with those lil adjustments I'll completely forget I'm eating fiber and just think I'm eating a quick delicious breakfast. 

Now for the Pièce de résistance, the Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze. I started by combining the dough ingredients and mixing into a sticky dough. I turned it unto a lightly floured glass cutting board and kneading it until it was more or less smooth. Then I put the dough in a large bowl sprayed with cooking spray, covered it in plastic wrap then a kitchen towel and left it to rise for 2 hrs. This recipe involves yeast, which I had never used before and was apprehensive about. I am not sure why, it was super easy and actually very cool to see how it made the dough rise like magic. Just look at the difference:

I had thought working with yeast would be hard but really it only requires you to stop for a while to wait for it to rise. I deflated the dough and rolled it out into a 15 x 11 rectangle which happened to be the dimensions of the cutting board i was rolling the dough on so I just rolled it to fit the board. I spread the butter on it and topped it with a mixture of cinnamon and brown sugar. Then I rolled it as tightly as possible and cut it into 3/4"-1" pieces and placed them in a 9 x 13 glass dish sprayed with cooking spray. It was at this time that I realized this recipe was going to be a real winner, they looked and smelled good already. I let them rise for another 45 mins.

I baked them for 40 minutes after which they were golden. While they baked I made the glaze which consisted of butter, icing sugar, and one of my favorite things, cream cheese :-)

I turned them upside down on a cooling rack and let them cool for 10 minutes, then I turned them right side up again, put them back in the dish and smeared the glaze over them. Then I served myself one.

Oh my goodness! Golden on the outside, soft on the inside, perfectly cinnamony and sweet, warm, comforting, and the glaze was the perfect compliment to it. This was better than Cinnabon, and I made them!!! Wow! I took out my phone and my ipod and sent texts and tweets to my friends. I wanted to spread the love. Soon after I had a group of 5 people in my kitchen eating cinnamon rolls, telling me they were great! I'm so glad they turned out so well, and so glad my friends liked them as much as I did. People were there trying to resist their, not second but third cinnamon roll . I had to remove and hide my boyfriend's share as it was in danger of being eaten. I wouldn't change a thing about this recipe and will be making it many more times. It's a definite winner and deserves its 4 fork rating.

Empty Pocket, Full Stomach, Happy Tastebuds!

It happens to everyone, every now and then when its close to payday we all find ourselves "financial challenged". For me this is one of those times, so I decided that this week I would make something for which I had all or most of the ingredients already. I've always wanted to try scones, I decided to make two kinds: one sweet and one savoury. I started with the savoury, "Cheddar and Pepper Scones" http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cheddar-and-Pepper-Scones-102323.

The recipe calls for all-purpose flour but I had self-rising flour. One cup self-rising flour is equivalent to 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. So I used the self-rising flour and adjusted the quantities of baking powder and salt. I sifted the dry ingredients together, grated some tasty cheddar cheese and cut the butter into pieces. Buttermilk is impossible to find in the grocery store in Jamaica so I made my own by adding 1 tablespoon vinegar to my measuring cup, topped it up with milk to the one cup mark and letting it stand for 10 minutes.

I got the helpful tips on flour substitution and making buttermilk from Joy of Baking http://www.joyofbaking.com/IngredientSubstitution.html.

I used my fingers to incorporate the butter and cheese into the dry ingredients until it was crumbly, then I added the pepper. I thought it could use more cheesy goodness so I added half a cup of grated parmesan cheese. Then I put it in the fridge for 1/2 hr.

I removed it from the fridge and added the entire cup of buttermilk to mixture, formed the sticky dough and spread it out on a big cutting board I coated with flour. Then I cut it the dough into 16 rectangles, brushed them with milk and put them in the oven for 15 minutes. I then removed them from the oven and set them to cool and after just a little while I took a taste. I loved the peppery taste and mmmmmm cheesy. I love cheese, nothing can ever be too cheesy for me. Next time I think I will add a dash of onion powder to the mix and I'll use a glass to cut the scones into rounds so they can be uniform.

Afterwards I got started on some Lemon and Dried Blueberry Scones http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Meyer-Lemon-and-Dried-Blueberry-Scones-236780. These were made in pretty much the same way as the savoury scones with flour, butter, sugar, lemon zest and dried blueberries. I cut the batter into triangles and sprinkled sugar on top before putting them in the oven. These were done after 22 minutes in the oven.


When I took a bite, mmmmm, these were good too. Out of the all the ingredients I needed for these recipes the only one I had to buy was the dried blueberries and boy were they worth it. The combination of the blueberry and lemon, the crisp outside with the light fluffy inside and just the right amount of sweetness was sublime. With this recipe, I wouldn't change a thing and I can definitely see why its one of the top rated recipes on Epicurious.

So there you have it, 2 great batches of scones and all I had to buy was dried blueberries. Everything else used was already here, whether from previous recipes or just regular pantry items. A delicious and  budget friendly morning in the kitchen and a wonderful introduction to scones.

Breakfast On the Run

This weekend I'll be participating in the Sigma Corporate Run. It's a 5K run, walk and wheelchair event for charity. This year the charity is the Victoria Jubilee Hospital's Neo Natal Care Unit. This event made me think of something a little more healthy for this week's treat. Something I often grab and eat for breakfast, granola bars. I looked around my favorite recipe sites and found a recipe for Homemade Granola Bars by Ina Garten http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/homemade-granola-bars-recipe/index.html.


I followed the recipe with a few modifications. I started by toasting the coconut, almonds, oats and since I could only find raw wheat germ I toasted it also, for 12 minutes. After toasting I put the mixture in a bowl. I decided to omit the brown sugar since many of the reviewers thought the recipe was too sweet. I also omitted the butter to make the bars healthier. I measured the honey, salt and vanilla, put them in a bowl and added a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. Then I measured the dried fruit and put them in another bowl. For the dried fruit I used 1/2 cup of Craisins and 1 cup of Sunmaid Fruit Bits (a mixture of dried fruit including raisins, apricots and apples).



Instead of boiling the honey mixture in a saucepan I microwaved it for a little over a minute then poured it over the oats mixture, added the bowl of fruit and mixed it thoroughly.







Then I placed in it a 12x8 pyrex dish which I lined with foil and sprayed with PAM for Baking. Since many of the reviewers indicated that pressing the ingredients into the dish was so important, I put my hand in a ziploc bag and pressed the mixture down with all my might. I then baked the granola for the full 30minutes.

 I wasn't going to wait several hours for the bars to cool so I could cut them, I was way too excited for that. So I put them in the freezer and in about an hour I cut it into 16 bars. There were a few crumbs (which I promptly gobbled down) but for the most part the bars stuck together which was a major concern for me because so many people said this was a problem for them in the reviews. The bars taste really good, nice and nutty, not too sweet, and just the right amount of fruit. The next time I make these, and there will be a next time, I'll probably double the cinnamon. I'd also like to try other dried fruits fruits and nuts. I calculated the nutritional information for each bar.

Nutritional Information: Calories = 194   Total Fat = 6g   Sodium = 37mg    Cholesterol = 0g   Total Carbs = 24g Protein = 4g

That's not too bad if you ask me. Now when I'm running out of the house in the mornings, I can grab one of these for breakfast with a cold glass of lowfat milk. Its also great for boosting my energy before evening dance rehearsals. I'll definitely be tweaking this recipe and I look forward to trying other granola recipes as well. I doubt I'll be buying these anymore.