Strawberry Cake with Fresh Berries

For my daughter, Valerie's, birthday in June, I made her this strawberry cake. It was a combination of two recipes. Here's what I did, thanks to Cooks Illustrated and Country Living (the two recipes I combined).

For the cake:

2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup strawberry preserves
4 eggs
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cups buttermilk

• Preheat oven to 350
• Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans
• Sift cake flour, baking powder, salt and soda together
• Cream the butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy
• Add 3/4 cup preserves and the eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition
• Beat in vanilla
• Reduce mixer speed to low and add the flour in 3 parts, alternating with the buttermilk and ending with flour
• Divide the batter equally between the two pans
• Bake in the middle of the oven - 20 - 30 minutes.
  

Assemble the cake:

You'll need
2 pounds strawberries
4 - 6 T sugar
2 T Kirsch
pinch of salt.

From Cooks Illustrated:

• Halve 24 of best-looking berries and reserve.
• Quarter remaining berries; toss with 4 to 6 tablespoons sugar and let sit 1 hour
• Strain juices from berries and reserve (you should have about 1/2 cup).
• In workbowl of food processor fitted with metal blade, give macerated berries five 1-second pulses (you should have about 1 1/2 cups).
• In small saucepan over medium-high heat, simmer reserved juices and Kirsch until syrupy and reduced to about 3 tablespoons, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Pour reduced syrup over macerated berries, add pinch of salt, and toss to combine.
• Set aside until cake is cooled.
  

Place the strawberries point in in a circle around the edge of the bottom layer of the cake. Put the cooled berry mixture you've just made in the center of the circle. (See picture above).

Whip 2 cups of heavy cream with sugar to taste.

Spread the whipped cream over the strawberries and the strawberry sauce.
Top with the second layer.

Spread more whipped cream over the top of the cake and decorate with strawberries.


Dylan, Valerie's nephew, actually blew out the candles before she had a chance to, so we lit them again and gave her her wish! The cake and strawberries were delicious and who would not like a cake frosted with whipped cream!

Making Homemade Bagels

I've always wanted to make bagels and decided to try it today. I got the recipe from Martha Schulman's Great Breads.

Here it is:

• 2 T active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 T honey or malt extract
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 - 1 cup unbleached white flour
  

The boiling part of the bagel is done in 2 1/2 quarts water with 1 T malt extract stirred into it

Toppings can be anything. Use an egg wash (1 egg white mixed with 1 T water) and then sprinkle on the topping. I used

• black sesame seeds,
  
• caraway seeds, and
  
• coarse salt to make four of each kind.
  

The dough is a typical yeast dough. Dissolve the yeast in warm water in mixing bowl. Stir in the honey or malt extract and let stand for about 10 minutes until creamy. Stir in 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour. Add salt to the remaining 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour and the 1/2 cup white flour. Using the dough hook, knead at low speed for 2 minutes and then at medium speed for 10 minutes. Place dough in oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled.

Start the 2 1/2 quarts of water and the malt extract to heat up so that it will be at a low boil when you need it.

Divide the risen dough into 12 equal parts, shape into balls and allow to rest for 5 minutes

Take each ball and poke a hole in it with your thumb. Widen the hole with your fingers until it is wider than you want it to be in the finished bagel. Put the bagels on a floured surface, cover with plastic or a towel and allow to rise for about 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425 with one rack in the middle and the other in the upper third. I used my oven's convection baking.

With the water at a gentle boil, put the bagels one at a time with a slotted spoon into the simmering water. Do two or three bagels at a time. When they have boiled for 30 seconds on one side, turn over for 30 seconds on the other side. Carefully remove from the water and allow to drain on a towel as in the picture below. Repeat until all bagels are done.



Oil two baking sheets, sprinkle with cornmeal. Brush the bagels with the egg wash and sprinkle with your desired topping. Gently transfer to prepared baking sheets

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, switching the position of the sheets halfway through the baking and turning the bagels over after about 20 minutes. On convection, these were done at 23 minutes so they barely got to be turned over. Next time I'll turn them at the same time as I switch the sheets.

Cool on a rack when dark and shiny (done).

Gourmet's Fabulous Garlic Herb Bread Twists

This month's Gourmet includes a recipe for Garlic Herb Bread Twists - YUM.

We made these bread twists in the N Georgia mountains on July 8 and 9th. They are so good that we were embarrassed to note that three adults and one three year old ate all nine rolls at the two meals when we served them (that's 18 rolls between us all over two days and the three year old only ate about 1/2 of one at each meal)!

It's a two step deal. First you have to make the pizza dough. Here's the recipe for it:

2 packages active dry yeast
4 1/2 - 5 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour divided, plus additional for dusting
2 cups warm water, divided
2 tsp salt.

• Whisk together the yeast, 2 T flour and 1/4 cup warm water in a cup and let it stand until it develops a creamy foam (about 10 minutes)
• Stir together salt and 3 cups flour in a large bowl.
• Add yeast mix and remaining 1 1/2 cups warm water and stir until smooth
• Stir in 1 cup more flour. If the dough is sticky, stir in just enough flour to make the dough pull away from the side of the bowl.
• Knead dough lightly reflouring work surface when dough becomes too sticky, until dough is soft and elastic (about 10 minutes)
• Divide dough in half and form two balls.
• Generously dust balls all over with flour and put each in a medium bowl to rise.
• Cover bowls with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled (about 1 - 1 1/4 hours).
  

Note: Dough can rise slowly in refrigerator for a day. Bring to room temp before using.

That last sentence is key. The first recipe of dough rose at room temperature and I used it that night. It was sticky and continued to absorb flour as I shaped it into sticks.

The bread sticks were fabulous and we ate all nine of them, but they didn't compare to the recipe the second night when I left the dough in the fridge overnight, rising. I didn't have time to get it completely to room temperature before using it the second night and those bread sticks were the best ever. My theory is that they didn't take in any extra flour.

OK, so my suggestion would be to let the dough rise overnight in the refrigerator.

Then:
Here's the recipe for turning them into the gorgeous (and delicious) bread sticks pictured above:

1 T finely chopped rosemary
1 T finely chopped thyme
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (2 oz) divided
1/4 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 lb pizza dough from above recipe
1/4 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley

It probably helped the magnificence of the recipe that we cut all the herbs fresh from the garden just before chopping.

• Preheat oven to 400 F with racks in upper and lower thirds.
• Lightly oil 2 large baking sheets
• Stir together rosemary, thyme, 1/4 cup cheese/ 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper in a separate bowl
• Stir oil, garlic and 1/4 tsp salt and pepper in another bowl (I used all of this up on half the dough and remade it the next night)
• Divide dough in half.
• Keeping half the dough covered, roll the other half into a 15 X 10 inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin(this is where the first recipe took in more flour)
• Sprinkle one half of the dough crosswise with half the herb mixture, then fold the dough in half crosswise and roll lightly to form a 10X8 inch rectangle
• Cut lengthwise into 9 strips (less than 1 inch wide) with a pizza wheel or sharp knife
• Keeping strips covered with a towel, twist each strip from both ends and place on baking sheet 1 inch apart
• Brush with 1 T garlic oil and let stand for about 5 minutes
• Bake bread twists for 20 - 25 minutes until golden
• Meanwhile stir together parsley and remaining 3/4 cup cheese in shallow pan
• Immediately after baking, brush bread twists with remaining garlic oil and roll the twists in parsley and cheese until coated
• Serve warm or at room temperature.
  

DELICIOUS - we only made half the recipe one night and the other half the next night.

Basic Sourdough Bread with Yeast

I don't have the patience for sourdough bread that rises just with the starter, so when I want basic sourdough bread, I use yeast in the recipe.

Here are the ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 T active dry yeast
• 1 small whisk dipped in local honey
• 1 T sugar
• 1 cup sourdough starter
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 5 1/2 - 6 cups unbleached bread flour
• 1/4 cup fine cornmeal (I prefer white) for sprinkling
  

Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm water, stirring it in with a whisk dipped in local honey. Allow this to stand for about 10 minutes until foamy.

In your mixer's large bowl, combine starter, the remaining water, sugar, melted butted, salt and 3 cups of flour. Beat about 1 minute. Add the yeast mixture and beat for another minute. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.

Switch to a dough hook and knead for a few more minutes (about 3) I always also knead a few minutes by hand.

Oil a bowl and put the dough in the container. Turn it once to coat the top and cover with a damp towel. Let rise until doubled - about 1 - 1 1/2 hours.



Gently deflate the dough. Grease two loaf pans and sprinkle with cornmeal.

Divide the dough into two parts and shape into rectangular loaves. Place these in the pans. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a wet towel and let rise until doubled - about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 about 20 minutes before you want to bake the bread.

Place the pans in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 35 - 40 minutes, until the tops are golden brown (sourdough bread never gets as brown as other types).

Cool on a rack and enjoy!

Sourdough French Bread

I haven't used my starter in about a month so it needed to be kneaded! I decided to make sourdough French bread to go with my Sunday family dinner of red beans and rice, fruit salad, green salad. Doesn't sourdough French bread sound just right with that menu?

Here's the recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 T yeast
• 1 tiny whisk dipped in honey
• 1 cup starter
• 4 cups bread flour
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• About 1/2 tsp soda
• 2 more cups unsifted bread flour
  

Pour warm water into mixing bowl and stir in the yeast, using a whisk dipped in honey. Add the starter. Mix the 4 cups flour, sugar and salt together and stir into the yeast mixture. Mix vigorously for about 3 minutes. Turn this mixture into a greased bowl.


Cover with a wet towel (a much greener solution than using plastic wrap) and allow to rise until double (2 hours about)


Stir the soda into the remaining cup of flour. Add to the dough gradually - about a T or so at a time. Dough will be very stiff. Knead (if using machine dough hook or by hand) for 8 minutes until satiny and dough can't absorb any more flour.

Shape into 2 oblong loaves and place on lightly greased cookie sheet. I have this perforated device designed for French bread, so I used it.

Cover with a wet towel and let rise again until doubled (about another 1 1/2 - 2 hours). I made the mistake of not re-wetting my towel from rise number one and it stuck to the bread - see the wrinkles in the risen loaves below? So when I removed the towel, I did cover it with plastic for a short 20 minute rise to help with the damage from removing the towel (and thus collapsing some of the rise).



Preheat oven to 400 degrees. When you put the bread in, spray the bread with water and spray the oven about three times in the first 10 minutes. Bake overall for about 45 minutes.



We had this delicious bread with our Sunday dinner but I have been eating it sliced thin for pimento cheese sandwiches and for the past two mornings have used it to make Toad in the Hole - anyone remember that from growing up?

Toad in the Hole:

• Take a biscuit cutter and cut a circle out of the center of a one inch thick slice of bread.
• Butter the bread and warm up the iron skillet.
  
• Place the bread buttered side down (I put the holes in the skillet too) and
  
• crack a farm egg into the hole in the bread slice.
  
• When the egg looks ready, flip it over.
  
• When done you have a delicious egg fried inside the delicious skillet toasted bread
  

Fabulous.

Rosemary Thyme Bread

With parsley and sage, this bread would complete the Simon and Garfunkle song. I have a huge rosemary bush in my front garden and am always trying to find ways to use it. This weekend I made both a focaccia with an infusion of rosemary, onion, garlic and oil on the top of it and a loaf bread with rosemary and thyme. Since I've talked about focaccia recently, here's the rosemary and thyme bread.

Ingredients:

• 1 T active dry yeast
• 2 cups warm water
• 2 T olive oil
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur's white whole wheat flour)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 T fresh thyme leaves or 1 T dried
• 2 1/2 tsp salt
• about 4 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
  

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. I always add a dollop of honey to my yeast and warm water. I do it by dipping a small whisk into a jar of my honey and using that whisk to stir the yeast into the water.




Stir the olive oil into the yeast mixture. Stir together the whole wheat flour, herbs, salt and 2 cups of the while flour in a medium bowl.
Note that the recipe calls for 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh rosemary. Below you can see a 1/4 cup measuring cup filled with fresh rosemary leaves.


After finely chopping the rosemary, I only have about half of what I need. So I chopped almost the same amount to bring the 1/4 cup to full. It's always important in a recipe to distinguish if they say 1/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped vs. what we have in this recipe: 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh rosemary.



Add the flour/herb mix to the yeast mixture and mix together well with the paddle. Adding flour gradually as needed, change to the dough hook on the mixture and mix on low for about 2 minutes. Move to medium speed and knead with the dough hook for about 8 minutes. If the dough is very sticky, gradually add flour as needed.

Scrape the dough onto a floured surface and knead a little by hand. Let dough rise in a lightly greased bowl for about 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.

Punch down the dough and put it into pans (I used round baking pans) or you can shape it into rounds and let it rise on a cookie sheet for a more primitive looking loaf, or if you have them, you can let it rise in a banneton.

About 30 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450. When you are ready to put the loaves into the oven, slash across the tops with a sharp knife. Bake for 10 minutes, spraying with water a couple of times during this period.

Reduce the heat to 400 and bake for another 30 - 35 minutes until the loaves are brown.

Remove from pan, cool on a rack, and enjoy.



Note: Sorry about the delay between postings. My youngest daughter got married in the middle of April and I got out of the routine, but I'm back now! I never stopped baking, just stopped posting, so I may go back and fill in some gaps as I have time.

English Muffins - From Scratch!

A long time ago I made English muffins from scratch. It was such fun that I even bought rings to shape the muffins! I haven't revisited the idea in years, but decided to do it again recently.



The recipe requires both a griddle and an oven. Here's what you do (and you don't have to have English muffin rings to do this successfully):

• 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 1/2 tsp honey
• 1 cup lukewarm milk
• 2 T olive oil or cooled melted unsalted butter (I use olive oil)
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 - 1 2/3 cups unbleached white flour
• 1 3/4 tsp salt

Dissolve the yeast in warm water in a large bowl. Stir in the honey. Let it work for 5 - 10 minutes.
Stir in the warm milk and the olive oil
Mix together 1 1/2 cups of the white flour, the whole wheat flour and the salt in a medium bowl.
Add this to the yeast mixture, using the paddle attachment of the mixer
Change to a dough hook and knead (or knead in the bowl or on the counter) for 10 minutes. Add more white flour as needed.
Cover the bowl with a wet towel or plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise until doubled (about 1 1/2 hours).

Dust a work surface with flour. Divide the dough into 10 parts and move them to the work surface. Sprinkle each part with flour and shape into a 4 inch round or square. Dust with flour.

Cover and let rise for 35 to 45 minutes (until doubled).

Warm a griddle over low heat for 10 minutes until a drop of water sizzles. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 325.

Slide a spatula under one muffine and transfer it to the griddle. Cook for 5 minutes on one side.
Turn and cook for 5 minutes on the other side.
Turn AGAIN and cook for another 5 minutes and turn AGAIN and cook another 5 minutes.

Remove from the griddle and place on an unoiled baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes or until brown on both top and bottom. Cook one or more muffins at a time, depending on the griddle size, until you have baked all the dough.

Cool the muffins on a rack. Split in half and toast. Serve with butter and jam or honey.



Postscript: This was a long, painful process. My griddle holds 8 muffins, but still it took about 30 minutes for the first 8 and an additional 30 minutes for the last two. I found the turning every 5 minutes on the griddle to test my cooking patience! I don't regret making them because we all loved them, but it will be a long time before I visit this recipe again!