Monthly Archives: May 2024

Memorial Day Bake

Posted on by
Reply

Dede’s bakery opened early this morning. QC (Fran) loves the smell of fresh bread when she wakes. It had been a while since I made the hi-hydration honey bread, so… I also made some shortbread cookies which will be part of the decorations for a cake this weekend

I need to flood the cookies to finish them, but I have lots of time. I also need to practices some Italian buttercream as I had major issues the last time I made some.

I made two loaves in a steam oven without a Dutch oven
These are traditional shortbread cookies w/o chocolate.

Both bakes were excellent and a good treat for elevensies.

I Wish I Was in New Orleans (Tom Waits Song)

Posted on by
1

While still on an early summer berry theme I decided to bake this Gluten Free Berry Chantilly Cake.

The Chantilly cake first came onto the scene in 1829 when it was created by French chefs at Antoine’s Restaurant in New Orleans. Long ago QC and I dined at Antoine’s. While we were waiting in a long line for a table for two the Maître d‘ asked if there were any parties of four as there was a table ready. The couple behind us leaned forward and asked if we wanted to join them, we did, and were shown to the available table. They were a delightful couple and a great time was had by all. 😁

Next time I think I will bake more Chantilly cream. I ended up making this a naked cake because I needed more whipped cream. I might also try an Italian meringue although it might be too sweet.

Berry Chantilly Cake

INGREDIENTS
• 2 ½ c all-purpose flour (or Kim’s for Gluten Free)
• 2 ½ tsp baking powder
•1 tsp salt
• ¾ c unsalted butter, softened
• 1 ⅓ c granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 ½ c whole milk
Chantilly cream and berries
• 3 ½ c heavy cream
• ½ c whipped cream cheese
• ⅓ c powdered sugar
• ¼ tsp cream of tartar

METHOD
Cake

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line two 8-inch cake pans with a circle of parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In another large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat, scraping down the sides as necessary, for 3 minutes.
  4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla and almond extracts.
  5. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with milk, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Do not over-mix to keep the cake light and fluffy.
  6. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. (Batter should weigh ~1800g.) Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or temperature reaches 190⁰F.
  7. Let the cake layers cool before carefully slicing each layer in two, horizontally through the middle. Use a long-serrated knife.

Chantilly cream and berries

  1. Using a stand mixer with balloon whisk or a bowl with electric beaters begin whipping the cream cheese, then add the cream, powdered sugar, and cream of tartar. Whip until the cream holds peaks, but be careful not to over beat the cream.
  2. Place one cake layer, cut side up. Spread about a cup of whipped cream over the surface. Add a layer of berries over the cream. Smaller berries can be left whole, but strawberries should be sliced.
  3. Continue layering 2 more layers in the same manner. Place the final cake layer on top.
  4. Spread more whipped cream on the sides and top of the cake. Decorate with whole berries. Refrigerate the cake for at least 2 hours before serving.

Kim’s Gluten Free Flour

Yield: 700g (5 c)
INGREDIENTS

  • 285g Bob’s Red Mill potato starch
  • 250g superfine white rice flour (DON’T use regular rice flour, ie Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 75g Tapioca flour
  • 75g Whey protein isolate or egg white protein.
  • 15g Xanthan gum

Add ingredients together and mix well.

GF Berry – White Chocolate-Cream Cheese Tart

Posted on by
Reply

We are going to a friends birthday luncheon today and QC and I thought a nice summery berry tart would be a nice dessert on a warm sunny day.

There were choices and challenges to this bake. The choice was, should I make a Berry Chantilly Cake or this tart. The tart won, but don’t feel bad, summer is a long time.

The challenge is our refrigerator died yesterday so we spent the afternoon buying and installing and transferring out food to a small refrigerator. While it is a bit inconvenient it’s only for a couple of weeks, and I only have one more required bake. (Note: required.)

I had some left over strawberries so dipped some in chocolate to add around the tart.

INGREDIENTS
Shell
• 100 g cold butter cut into small cubes
• 60 g icing sugar
• 200 g Kim’s Bread flour
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 eggs – 1 for the dough and the other 1 reserved for an egg wash
Filling:
• 1 (12 ounce) package white chocolate chips, melted and cooled
• ¼ c heavy cream
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
Topping:
• 2 c fresh strawberries, sliced
• 1 c fresh blueberries
• 1 c fresh raspberries
Glaze:
• 1 c water
• ½ c white sugar
• 2 Tbl cornstarch
• 2 Tbl corn syrup

METHOD
Shell

  1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease a 12-inch tart pan.
  2. Pulse flour, sugar and salt a few times to combing
  3. Add cubed butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse sand
  4. Add egg and pulse until the dough just comes together but does not clump into a ball.
  5. Chill in fridge for an hour.
  6. Roll dough between sheets of wax paper until ~2 inches wider and longer than the tart pan (It needs to cover the bottom and all sides of the pan,) then refrigerate for 15-30 minutes
  7. Spray tart pan and flip chilled sheet of dough onto the pan and press into all corners. Dock the dough on the bottom of the pan.
  8. Fill with baking beads and bake 15-20 minutes, until the dough is dry and the edges begin to brown.
  9. Take from oven and remove parchment paper.
  10. Egg wash the edges of the tart.
  11. Return to oven and bake crust until lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely.
    Filling
  12. Beat melted and cooled white chocolate and heavy cream in a bowl until smooth. Mix in cream cheese until thoroughly combined. Spread over cooled crust. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
    Glaze
  13. Combine 1/2 cup water and white sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Mix remaining 1/2 cup water and cornstarch together in a bowl until cornstarch dissolves; add to sugar mixture. Cook and stir until mixture thickens and clears, about 5 minutes. Stir in corn syrup and return to a boil. Remove glaze from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
    Topping
  14. Arrange strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries over cream cheese layer and brush with glaze. Chill for at least 1 hour; store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Kim’s Gluten Free Bread Flour Blend
Yield: 700g (5 c)
INGREDIENTS

  • 285g Bob’s Red Mill potato starch
  • 250g superfine white rice flour (DON’T use regular rice flour, ie Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 75g Tapioca flour
  • 75g Whey protein isolate or egg white protein.
  • 15g Xanthan gum
    METHOD
  1. Weigh all ingredients and add to a stand mixer bowl
  2. Mix on low, with bowl covered for 30 seconds

Under My Thumb… Hallongrottor

Posted on by
1

Facebook is marvelous for keeping in touch with friends and family. With my browsing history it also displays some marvelous bakes. I

Facebook is incredibly bad at providing accurate, truthful news. Lucky, for me, the years I declined to read any of that, and when given the option selected “Show Less” of those posts. Hence, overall, my Facebook experience is marvelous.

Hallongrottor, Swedish for “raspberry cave,”came to me on Facebook yesterday. Basically, it is a shortbread cookie with fresh raspberry jam baked in a well lined the center. What’s not to love? In America they are called “thumbprint cookies.” My name for them is “delicious.”

Hallongrottor Recipe

INGREDIENTS
• 9 Tbl butter, softened
• ⅓ c sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 1 c flour
• 3 Tbl potato starch
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ – ½ c raspberry jam
• Powdered sugar for garnish.

METHOD

  1. With a rubber spatula, mix the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until combined. Mix in the salt and vanilla paste. In a smaller bowl, whisk the flour, potato starch, and baking powder together. Add the flour mixture into the butter mixture and gently combine them until you have a soft dough.
  2. Line a 12-cup cupcake tin with seven paper liners. Using a spoon or ice cream disher, divide the batter among seven cups. Only fill the cups about three-quarters full.
  3. Using the handle of a wooden spoon or a wine cork, press a deep divot into each cookie. Fill the caves with raspberry jam. Pop the hallongrottor into the fridge for about 10 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350°F.
  4. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until just a hint of color appears on the edges. Cool the hallongrottor completely on a wire cooling rack. Dust the tops with powdered sugar before serving.

What’s Up in Dede’s Bakery?

Featured

Posted on by
1

It’s a beautiful baguette morning in Cali!.

I am so far behind posting recent bakes. Here is a summary:

Puff Pasty Wrapped Brie with Roasted Plum Compote
No-Knead Artisan Bread (Baked 2x/week)
Sally’s Peach Cobble
Black Chocolate Cookies
Lattice Berry Pie with Home Grown Blackberries.
Rosemary Garlic Bread
Sallys Rosemary Crackers
Vivian’s “3x Chocolate” Cake with Shortbread “7’s”
1st Attempt Blueberry/Cream Cheese and Feuillete au Chocolat
Sally’s Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Improved Fig Cookies
2nd Attempt Blueberry/Cream Cheese Plus Fig Pastries

 There are more bakes, but enough is enough!

 

 

 

 

A Bright Golden Haze on the Donut.

Posted on by
Reply

I retrieved my deep fryer from storage planning to make some jelly donuts. Well, I did and they were a total disaster. I faithfully followed the recipe, which apparently was deeply flawed and a deeply dejected baker binned the result.

To make myself feel better I made beignets which were fantastic. That pulled me half way out of the well of despair. This morning I made glazed donuts (all of which were on my baking bucket list) and I finally gasped the clear cool air of success.

I also had a half recipe of beignets, the dough of which I stored in the refrigerator overnight to see if they can be made a few at a time for a day or two. They were just as good today.

(Revisiting jelly donuts next time the fryer rears its ugly head.)

Glazed Donuts

INGREDIENTS
• 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast (not active dry yeast)
• ¾ cup warm water
• ⅓ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup unsalted butter (softened)
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2½ to 3 cups all-purpose flour
• Vegetable oil (for frying)
Glaze
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• ¼ cup milk
• 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract

METHOD

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add yeast 1 Tbl (of the ⅓ cup of sugar,) and warm water. Let stand for 10 minutes. Add sugar, salt, unsalted butter, egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract. Attach the flat beater and mix on low speed to combine.
  2. Switch to the dough hook and add 2½ cups flour, half a cup at a time while the stand mixer is on low speed. Knead on low until the dough starts to form. If the dough is still very sticky add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough should be somewhat tacky, but not sticky.
  3. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover it tightly with plastic wrap. Make sure to place the bowl in a draft free, warm spot in your kitchen. Allow it to rise for 2 hours.
  4. Gently press in the middle of the dough to deflate. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 6 to 8 hours, or overnight.
  5. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about ½ inch thick. Use a 3½ – 4” round donut cutter or a large round cookie cutter to cut circles out of the dough. Use a 1” round cutter to cut out the center of the donut (donut holes). Place the cut-out donuts and donut holes on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Lightly cover with plastic wrap, and then drape a clean dry towel over the top and allow to rest for 1 hour (no more than 1 hour or the dough will start to get too yeasty).
  6. In a large Dutch oven filled with 2 to 3 inches of vegetable oil over medium heat, bring the temperature of the oil up to 330-340°F.
  7. Carefully place the donuts into the hot oil and allow to cook on each side until golden brown. Work in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pot.
  8. Carefully remove the cooked donuts and place them on a baking sheet lined with paper towels and a cooling rack. Repeat the steps until all of the donuts have been cooked.

Glaze

  1. In a separate mixing bowl combine powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract. Use a whisk to combine until no lumps remain. Carefully lower each slightly cooled donut (one at a time) into the glaze. Gently flip the donut to coat the other side. Return the donuts back to the cooling rack and allow the glaze to set, for about 10 minutes.

I Wish I Was In New Orleans. (Not really)

Posted on by
1

Tom Waits wrote: “Well, I wish I was in New Orleans, I can see it in my dreams,
Arm-in-arm down Burgundy, a bottle and my friends and me.”

I wrote: “I made beignets this morning and ate nearly enough to be sick, but not enough to be sick of them. I promised myself I would give them a try after I bought my deep fryer. Why, oh why did I wait so long?“

These were spot on for Cafe du Monde beignets. QC just sort of sighed when she ate hers. One of my Neighborhood QC Cadre said: “Oh my!!!! Unimaginably delicious.”

Beignets

INGREDIENTS
• 3/4 c warm water between 110⁰F
• 100 g (1/2 c) granulated sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 envelope)
• 1 large egg room temperature
• 120ml (1/2 c) room temperature milk
• 10 ml (2 tsp) vanilla extract
• 450 g (3 3/4 c) All Purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 42 g (3 Tbl) room temperature unsalted butter
• vegetable oil for deep frying or peanut oil
• 60 g (1/2 c) powdered sugar

METHOD

  1. Add the warm water to the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl if making this by hand or an electric mixer. Add the yeast and half the sugar then set aside for about 5 minutes to the yeast can get to work.
  2. Measure out 3 ¾ cups of flour and mix with the teaspoon of salt and set aside.
  3. Once the yeast mixture is bubbly, pour in the milk, vanilla, remaining sugar, and add the egg. Whisk together then add half the flour mixture and whisk together until smooth.
  4. Attach a dough hook then add the remaining flour and begin mixing on medium speed, once the dough comes together add the butter and keep mixing until the dough is smooth and will pull away from the bowl, about 4 minutes. This dough is enriched and sticky but if it seems too wet you can mix in an extra ¼ cup of flour.
  5. Transfer the dough to a large, lightly oiled bowl then cover and allow to rise in a warm place for at least two hours, you can also store the dough in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours. (Dough weighs 926 g.)
  6. Add about 3 inches of oil to a large pot fitted with a candy thermometer and place over medium-high heat. Cover a wire cooling rack with a few layers of paper towels.
  7. Once risen, roll the dough into a ½ inch thick rectangle on a well floured surface. Cut into 2-2 ½ inch squares using a pizza cutter.
  8. Once the oil reaches 360⁰F add the beignets 3-4 at a time; fry until the bottom is puffed and golden ( 1 – 1½ minutes,) flip over and remove with a spider or slotted spoon once the bottom is golden too.
  9. Place onto the paper towels then dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Krusty the Clown or Crusty Italian Bread

Posted on by
Reply

I decided to make a white cake this morning, until I saw this recipe for crusty Italian bread in my files. Didn’t need no stinkin’ cake anyway, This bread is very easy to make and doesn’t use any special flour (like bread flour.) If you have yeast in your cupboard (and who doesn’t) and about two hours (15 min hands on) you should be ready to go!

Crusty Italian Bread

INGREDIENTS
• 314 g (1⅓ cups) warm water
• 7 g (2¼ tsp) yeast
• 16 g (1 Tbl) brown sugar
• 12 g (2 tsp) salt
• 21 g (1½ tsp) olive oil
• 500 g (4 c) AP flour
• 1 egg for wash

METHOD

  1. Combine warm water, yeast, and brown sugar in a stand mixer bowl, stir and let stand ~8-10 minutes until it begins activate
  2. Add olive oil and salt, mix well.
  3. Gradually add the flour until the sides and bottom of the bowl come clean.
  4. Knead using the dough hook to knead for 8 minutes.
  5. Cover the dough and let rise until doubled, ~30 minutes. (I use a proofing oven that was warmed to temperature, then turned off.)
  6. Punch it down, form into an oval and shape it into a loaf. Tuck ends under.
  7. Cover the loaf with a damp cloth and let it rise (in the still warm oven) until doubled. ~20 min. Over-proofing will cause the loaves to flatten.
  8. Preheat oven to 375ᵒF degrees.
  9. Brush top of loaf with an egg wash (1 egg and 1 tablespoon water)
  10. Score with a single, quick, long cut down the center.
  11. Pour 1 cup of hot water in a shallow pan on the rack underneath the bread in the oven.
  12. Bake for 25-30 minutes (internal temp reaches 190ᵒF) or until the loaf turn golden brown and produces a hollow sound when tapped.
  13. Remove from the pan and cool on racks.