TWD/BWJ: White Loaves

Tuesdays with Dorie are back and this time we're Baking with Julia! I had this somewhat delusional idea that this time around I would totally be organized; baking and preparing my post ahead of time. Naturally I didn’t get around to baking this week’s recipe, White Loaves, until this past weekend. Then my plans to write my post ahead of time also got derailed due to working late last night and being too tired once I got home, so here I am on Tuesday night, finally getting my post up and happy to be here. I’m excited for the new challenge (there are some complicated looking recipes in the new book) and reading about everyone’s experiences - apparently there are over 300 bakers.



I find the most difficult part of baking basic yeast breads is planning the time for multiple rises without the bread taking over your entire day. I solved this by putting the bread in the refrigerator after shaping the loaves on Saturday evening. I was planning on letting them rise in the morning, but they actually got rather billowy in the refrigerator so I didn’t have to wait long (I let them sit out around half an hour to take the chill off) to bake them. I followed the recipe exactly as written, though I used about an ounce and a half less flour than the recipe called for. I loved the tip in the book of removing the loaves from the pan for the last ten minutes of baking - it gave the bread wonderful crust.

I didn’t find this bread difficult to make, so I am rating it a 3.5 for Effort and Josh rated it an 8.5 for Deliciousness, for an EDR of 2.42. Thank you to our hostesses, Laurie of Slush and Jules of Someone’s in the Kitchen for getting the group off to a great start; you can find the recipe here. To see how the other bakers fared, click over to the TWD site.

TWD: Golden Brioche Loaves

This week the Tuesdays With Dorie bakers made Golden Brioche Loaves. I used to live near a lovely bakery that sold mini brioches and remember being how surprised at how delicious such an unassuming little treat was, as it didn’t have cream or chocolate filling like many of its bakery counterparts. However, now that I have made brioche several times, I know the secret: butter, lots of it. Worth every bite, though. The dough came together easily and the first rise went well, but then when I shaped the dough the next day for its second rise, it didn’t get very puffy. Despite the fact it’s August, it is not very warm here, so that could have been a factor. Anyway, after nearly three hours, I decided the dough was not getting any bigger and went ahead and baked my loaf, and it turned out fine.



I recently learned that brioche dough lasts a very long time in the freezer. I had stashed half a batch of brioche dough in our freezer months ago, thinking that I would get around to making another treat just a couple weeks later. Somehow that didn’t happen. I don’t like to see food go to waste, so I took a risk and used rather old dough (it looked fine, no freezer burn or anything), which baked up fine and tasted great! I definitely plan to use the other half of my dough much sooner this time, but it’s nice to know that it stores well. My husband has threatened to clean out the freezer this weekend and I will have to make sure the brioche dough does not make it into the garbage when he does his purge. I am a little scared of what else he might find, though.



We give the brioche a 9 for Deliciousness and I rated it a 4.5 for Effort, for an EDR of 2. Many thanks to Margie of Tea and Scones for a delightful selection. You can find the recipe here on her site and visit the TWD site to see more golden, buttery goodness.

ABC: Eve Lieb's Processor Challah

This month the Avid Bakers Group took on the challenge of making a yeast bread, Eve Lieb's Processor Challah. Have you ever been so excited to eat something you made that you have trouble waiting for it to cool? That’s how I felt about this bread! Luckily I had to snap some photographs of it for my blog post, so we averted burnt tongues. I put off making this bread until Friday, and was wondering if I would have time to fit in, but when I read the recipe I realized the dough comes together incredibly fast in the food processor (with a minute of kneading by hand afterward) and both the rising and baking times were relatively short.



I delegated the bread-braiding to Josh. Whenever we have garlic knots for dinner (which I’m sure Josh would tell you is far too infrequently), he is the one who does that knot-work, so I figured he would be able to take on larger strands of dough. I printed a guide for him from this post on the King Arthur Flour blog and I think he did a spectacular job. We enjoyed this fluffy bread warm with butter, as well as cold with cheese. I loved the crunch the poppy seeds added.



We rated this recipe an 8 for Deliciousness and 4 for Effort, for an EDR of 2. We do not post the recipes for this group. The recipe is on page 184 of Baking for All Occasions, and you can read about the other ABC bakers’ experience with it via the Avid Baker’s Challenge site.

TWD: Raisin Swirl Bread

Just last Tuesday I mentioned that I hadn’t made Josh too many breakfast treats recently, so I was delighted that this week’s Tuesdays With Dorie selection, Raisin Swirl Bread, would provide breakfasts for him this week. There aren’t a lot of yeast bread recipes in Baking and I’m always happy when they’re selected, since it is so satisfying to bake yeasted treats. The dough came together quickly and rose beautifully – seriously, it seemed enormous! This bread was meant to be baked in a 10x5 inch pan. I had baked an amazingly good cinnamon raisin bread from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice a while ago, which was divided in two portions and baked in smaller pans (8x4?). I noticed the proportions of ingredients were similar, so I divided the dough in two parts to make two loaves. I baked one yesterday and I’m hoping the dough will last in the refrigerator another day or two and then I will make a second loaf. I used the ingredients (cinnamon, raisins – not quite as many as the recipe called for, sugar, cocoa) in the recipe for the first loaf and I’m thinking of adding chocolate chips and hazelnuts to the swirl for the next one. I’m pretty sure I’ll see some inspiring ideas from other bakers, though.



I was pleased with how the bread turned out. It was slightly misshapen and the swirl could have been a bit more dramatic, but those are minor complaints. I haven’t sampled it yet, but Josh enjoyed it for breakfast this morning. I suspect it will be extra-good toasted and sprinkled with some more cinnamon and sugar. Josh rated the bread an 8 for Deliciousness and I gave it a 3.5 for Effort, for an EDR of 2.28. Many thanks to Susan of Food.Baby for a great selection. You can find the recipe here on Susan’s site and visit the TWD site for more swirly goodness.

SMS: Sticky Buns (and Cinnamon Rolls)

This week’s Sweet Melissa Sundays treat is Sticky Buns. There was also an alternative in the recipe to make cinnamon rolls; since I found it insanely difficult to decide between those two enticing options, I made both with one whole recipe of the dough. I had never made “real” cinnamon rolls before, just lots of cheater versions such as cinnamon roll muffins and non-yeast ones and this was the push I needed to make one of our favorite breakfast goodies. The last time the Sweet Melissa group made yeast buns, Bee Stings, I had a heck of a time with the dough, both in terms of stickiness and reluctance to rise. I am pleased to say this time, with the exception of the second rising period, I did not have nearly so much trouble. The recipe called for two and a half to two and three quarter cups flour, so I started out with the higher amount, figuring I could add even more if necessary, and my dough actually did not end up needing it. Thanks to the Sweet Melissa Problems & Questions section, I also remembered to warm the milk before making the dough.



After rising for a couple hours, the dough was very smooth and malleable, easily shaped into its rectangle, and rolled up nicely. The recipe calls for putting an egg wash on before the cinnamon sugar mixture, and it was very helpful in getting the cinnamon to stick. I made cinnamon bread a few weeks ago and I think I lost about half the cinnamon/sugar mixture when rolling, so it’s nice to find a way for it to stick. I was very impatient during the second rise this morning, but the soft buns drenched in the sweet buttery sauce were well worth the wait. The cinnamon rolls with almond-flavored cream cheese icing were delicious too. (I really consumed more than my fair share of carbs today.)



The sticky buns received a 9.5 for Deliciousness and the cinnamon rolls received an 8. I would give this recipe about a 4 for Effort, so it’s an EDR of 2.37/2. Many thanks to Jen of Not Microwave Safe for finally getting me to make cinnamon rolls. Jen is a student at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, which is where my dad went to grad school in the seventies. My parents have shared many fond memories of food and friends from their time there, so it’s nice to know it’s still a good place to live and cook. You can find the recipe HERE on Jen’s site and see what the other bakers thought of the recipe by visiting the SMS blogroll.

TWD: Cottage Cheese Pufflets

Did anyone watch season two of “Project Runway Canada?” I live in the United States, but my super-awesome boyfriend found episodes of the Canadian version of my second-favorite reality show online and downloaded them. One of the aspiring designers was named Adejoké, but we always misunderstood host Iman’s Somalian accent pronunciation and thought she saying “the other Jacque.” We also wondered who the first Jacque was. Anyway, this week’s Tuesdays With Dorie recipe, Cottage Cheese Pufflets, was selected by Jacque of Daisy Lane Cakes and she is the only Jacque I know of in the TWD baking group. You can find the recipe HERE on Jacque’s delightful blog.



I had a difficult time mustering up too much enthusiasm for the pufflets, but I had in the back of my mind that they may be one of those sleeper hits. I have been skeptical of recipes in Baking before and rarely have they let me down. I am sorry to report that this one did. It may have been because I overbaked them just a touch, but I tried just the tops and the jam center alone, and just thought they were kind of bland and doughy tasting. I think this is one of the only baked goods no member of my household was would eat. Even if I’m not completely thrilled with the outcome, Mr. Penpen will usually consume an adequate amount before calling it a loss. Eloise was left alone in a room with them a reachable level for a minute, which is about thirty seconds longer than it usually takes her to steal baked goods, and she did not devour them. The good news, though, is I apparently did not have the monumental problems with the dough that many other bakers did, according to the Problems and Questions portion of the TWD site. I attribute my success to draining the cottage cheese before making the dough and chilling it about every five minutes during the rolling/cutting process. I had never baked with cottage cheese, but I have made ricotta gnocchi before (yum) and a crucial step is draining the cheese, so I figured it would help with this dough. This recipe gets a 4.5 for Deliciousness and a 3 for Effort, giving it an EDR of 1.5. Please visit the TWD blogroll to see how the other bakers fared with the recipe and hopefully see some better reviews and nicer looking cookies.




The other good news is that the same afternoon I baked the pufflets, I made Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice (after seeing many rave reviews on other blogs), and I think it’s one of the best things to ever come out of my oven. You can find the recipe HERE on Google Books preview.

Vacation Pie and an Apricot Brioche Tart for a very late TWD

Happy Thursday! I returned from visiting my brother and his girlfriend in Boston Tuesday afternoon, so I started my TWD recipe that evening and finished it Wednesday morning. I had this sweet idea that I would bake the selected brioche tart for my family (my mom was also there) while I was on vacation, but nice weather and a fun city are hardly conducive to baking and blogging, so it didn’t happen. It was kind of nice to have a break, actually. Quite surprisingly, I ran quite a bit while I was on vacation, which is usually the first thing to go. Lucky for us, another family member did bake! We went to Connecticut (as a Californian, I think it’s cool that you can state-hop so easily in New England) to visit relatives, and my multi-talented and incredibly hospitable aunt had prepared a splendid summer dinner for us, including a blueberry pie! I’d been wanting to bake something with blueberries for a couple weeks now (Mr. Penpen’s mother sent me home with blueberries and some yummy-sounding recipes on the Fourth and I just ate the blueberries for breakfast) and this pie definitely satisfied the craving! I gave my aunt’s pie a 10 for Deliciousness and 0 for Effort. I can’t think of a better dessert on a summer evening, particularly when it’s been baked by someone else and eaten with family. I think I’m going to have to make one myself soon, though, Mr. Penpen just saw the pie photos from my trip!



The baking vacation ended within hours of getting off the plane, though. I’ve mentioned before, I’m a yeast bread novice, so I always feel a little apprehensive when one is selected. Fortunately, this was an astonishingly pliable dough (no big glutinous mess – yay!) and it was a very positive baking experience. I think if I had made this in one day, I might have felt like it was rather time-consuming, but since the dough rested overnight and just had to be “slapped” a few times the day it was made, I didn’t feel like it was an obtrusive project. There may be more yeast breads in my future. Instead of purchasing both plums and plum jam, I used leftover apricot jam from a recent unblogged apricot galette and bought some apricots. The brioche was nice and tender, and I loved the sweet, gooey fruit on top: an excellent breakfast for a relaxed morning off and even better later in the afternoon when the flavors melded a bit.





This recipe gets an 8.5 for Deliciousness and 3.5 for Effort, giving it an EDR of 2.42. Many thanks to Denise of Chez Us for selecting this great treat. You can find the recipe on Denise’s site and see what the other bakers thought via the TWD site.

SMS: Bee Stings!

This week’s Sweet Melissa Sunday treat was Bee Stings, which Melissa says in the recipe notes were created out of her love for doughnuts, only in a brioche dough form. This is certainly one of the most eye-catching recipes (with a rare photo, to boot) in the book and I was delighted it was chosen only two months into our group’s adventure. In addition to being one the most intriguing recipes, I think it’s safe to say it’s also one of the more time-consuming ones in the book, as thus far, every other one has been fairly easy. I intended to start my dough on Friday evening so we could have the buns for breakfast on Saturday, but that didn’t happen. I then spent most of Saturday doing practical things like cleaning my house and exercising, so I didn’t start the dough until Saturday night at 9:45 PM.



The good news about starting this project so late was that I was able to benefit from the other bakers’ experiences by reading the Problems and Questions section of the Sweet Melissa site, which was definitely helpful, as I’m a novice when it comes to yeast breads. I knew going in that I would need to add extra flour (I ended up adding about two and a half extra tablespoons to my third of a recipe) to the dough and not bake the buns as long as the recipe specified (twenty minutes was perfect). The recipe said that the dough should form into a ball within ten to fifteen minutes; mine took twenty-five. Since I started so late, I used rapid-rise yeast and let them rise for about an hour, though I probably could have gotten away with a little less time. When I did the second rise this morning, I had to add a second round of warm water to the oven and it took about an hour for them to rise. Luckily I had no trouble with the vanilla pastry cream filling – yummy – or the honey caramel glaze – also yummy! Oh, a did have a little trouble getting the pastry cream into the buns; I was scared I would overdo it and they'd ooze, but I ended up not filling them enough.


I think my expectations were a little bit too high. I thought these buns were pretty good, but probably not something I would make again. I am always happy when a SMS or TWD recipe gets me to try new things, though, and I’m glad I got a little more experience working with yeast bread. The honey caramel glaze was delicious and super-simple, so I will definitely be topping other treats with it! I gave this recipe a 7.5 for Deliciousness and a 5 for Effort, giving it an EDR of 1.5. Many thanks to Jaime of Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats for selecting one of my bookmarked recipes. You can find the recipe for Bee Stings on Jaime’s site and see how the other bakers fared via the SMS blogroll.

TWD: Kugelhopf

The recipe for this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie was kugelhopf, a yeast cake originating from Alsace or Austria, depending on who you ask. I had never heard of kugelhopf, but I was certainly up for the challenge. Kugelhopf is traditionally baked in a special swirly pan, similar to a bundt cake pan. I was oh-so-tempted to buy one for this occasion, but the only one I found was $36, which I found a bit expensive for such a superfluous kitchen item. I had the good sense to ask one of my co-workers if she owned a kugelhopf pan. She did, and she kindly lent it to me, along with a fantastic article by David Lebovitz about kugelhopf and Thanksgiving. In return, she was the recipient of some kugelhopf on Monday morning.






I had good intentions to start my kugelhopf dough on Saturday and bake it Sunday morning. Mr. Penpen was a bit taken aback when I told him at 3:30 PM on Saturday that I would not have time to both run and prepare the kugelhopf dough before we had to leave for a 7:30 movie. Somehow exercising (well, and a bit of television) won and I didn’t start the dough until Sunday morning. It was quite the process: I started around 9:00 AM Sunday morning, and we sliced into it around 5 PM. I don’t have a lot of experience working with yeast dough, so I was a bit nervous about the dough rising properly, but I actually didn’t have any problems—yay! I am glad I left the house to run errands for the final three-hour rise; otherwise I might have been tempted to constantly check the progress of the dough.

I would say the kugelhopf was well worth the wait, though. My cake turned out very fluffy and moist, and I loved the rich flavor the butter and sugar soak added. The recipe receives a 10 for D and a 5 for E (all it really required was patience), giving it a solid EDR of 2.



This week’s recipe was chosen by Yolanda of The All-Purpose Girl. You can find the recipe on her site. Thanks for choosing such a great recipe! You can check out all the other bakers' blogs to see what they did here.