Rustic Country Bread and Scones March 5, 2009

I got a pizza stone!! Now I can make delicious crusty pizzas and crusty breads.

Some tips, don’t put the stone on the bottom of the oven if your bread/pizza is larger than the stone. It will hang over the flame (gas stove) and burn. Also, make sure your corn meal is COARSE ground. My bag said coarse ground but it really wasn’t.. it was more like corn flour. Flour burns!! I sprinkled it onto the hot stone and it instantly started smoking. Very, very gross.

When making bread it’s importatnt to use a pre-ferment, aka sponge. Doing so gives the bread much more flavor and is worth starting the mix an extra few hours. I let mine ferment for 12 hours instead of four because I went to bed and forgot about it. Came out really good. Gotta practice some more but this was definitely a learning experience. Turned out pretty well I think even if it’s not perfect.

I also made scones! Cranberry orange scones to be precise. These were yummy but really on the high fat side and not as crumbly as I would have liked. Here’s the recipe if you want to try it, it has no eggs. I think I prefer ones with eggs.

Cranberry Orange Scones

2 c. all purpose flour
1 tbs. baking powder
3/4 tbs. salt
6 tbs. cold butter cut in pieces
1 tbs. white sugar plus some for sprinkling on top
2 tbs. honey
1/3 c. heavy cream, plus more for brushing tops
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1 tsp. orange zest

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in butter using a pastry cutter, two knives or your finger tips until the texture resembles bread crumbs. It’s important to keep the butter cold so you can put it in the fridge if it melts to much.
3. In a small bowl, mix honey, cream and sour cream until well combined. Add to flour mixture and stir until just combined. Do not over mix or you will get tough scones.
4. Pat all of the dough into a 6×6 inch square, cut into 4 equal squares and then into 8 triangles.
5. Brush tops with cream and sprinkle with sugar.
6. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Optional glaze: mix 1/2 cup confectioners sugar (powdered sugar) with 1-2 tsp of orange juice and drizzle over tops of cooled scones.

Creme Brulee October 22, 2008

I’ve been avoiding baking because I really should cut back on my calorie intake.. but I couldn’t resist. Cindy bought four cuisineart ramekins from a yard sale for a dollar (we love yard sales) so of course I had to do something with them. We went to costco today so I was able to buy cream for cheap.. it’s a little pricey in the small grocery stores near me. I decided to use half and half instead of heavy cream to lower the fat content. Might have affected the overall recipe, I’m not sure.

I used the Creme Brulee II recipe from allrecipes.com. Alteration as suggested in the reviews was to use four egg yolks instead of three.

They turned out a bit liquid-y but it wasn’t too bad. The flavor was great and the sugar crust cracked perfectly (except for the burnt parts which tasted baaad).

I have more cream so may try again for when Cindy comes home. Next project with the ramekins will probably be mini pot pies.. or maybe souffle but not chocolate souffle. Yeah, I’m not a huge chocolate desserts fan.. don’t kill me! I do like chocolate! =P

Snickerdoodles!! September 20, 2008

Yum. One of my all time favorite cookies. So buttery and cinnamony! Mmm and fattening. I made them because I was bored and because my brother’s nose got hit with a frisbee. Thought cookies might cheer him up.

I used Mrs. Sigg’s Snickerdoodles recipe from allrecipes.com. The only things I changed was (1) I used 3/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup shortening instead of half butter, half shortening and (2) I used 1 tsp cream of tartar and 1 tsp baking powder instead of 2 tsp tartar just because I don’t like the tartar taste. Cookies turned out great though my dad thinks they’re way too buttery. I ate five.. mmm.

That’s 4 dozen cookies for you!

Apple Cinnamon Muffins October 15, 2006

Hello world!

My roomie went apple picking recently so we had tons of apples! I stole two and made these absolutely delicious apple cinnamon muffins. So good I can eat them for breakfast AND dessert. The recipe was very easy too. You must try these, they taste really good and look nice too so go impress your friends.

Easy Apple Cinnamon Muffins

(Adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
Dry:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Wet:

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 apples – peeled, cored and chopped

Topping: (I kinda randomly mixed unknown amounts up)

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease twelve muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.

2. Stir together dry ingredients. Mix in wet ingredients. Fold in apples. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

3. In a small bowl, stir together topping and sprinkle over unbaked muffins.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.