Brioche craquelin encore

I first wrote about Thomas Keller’s version of this pastry back in February of 2015 - many moons ago - and a lot has happened since, that’s for sure. I’ve been churning this through my mind for awhile and decided that autumn is a good time to write about it.

Some time back, earlier in the pandemic days, I received an email from a gentleman in NYC who was searching for tips on how to create a version of craquelin that he used to enjoy at one of François Payard’s pâtisseries (closed for several years now). He described it as having the perfect crunchy almond top that gave the orange scented brioche just the right je ne sais quoi.

Hurray! I had a project to research. Challenge accepted. I’ve puttered with it on and off and am finally getting around to setting pen to paper as it were.

I made two different versions in my quest to replicate his memory of this treat. The first made three full sized rounds in well buttered cake pans (I had two 9-inch and one 8-inch).

The process: using my freshly prepared base brioche dough, I mixed 100 g / 1/2 cup of brown sugar with a bunch of orange zest (probably 3 or 4 oranges - I eyeball it) . . . .

sprinkled half of it over the flattened dough . . . .

folded it in three as I attempted to work the filling into the dough, turned it 90 degrees, stretched it back out a bit, sprinkled the second half over it and folded it in thirds one more time.

Then into the fridge covered for an overnight rise.

Before the rise

Here it is the next morning.

I divided the dough into three pieces, about 400 g each ( a tad more for the two 9-inch and a tad less for the 8-inch), formed rounds and placed them in the prepped pans. Note the aluminum foil wrapped around the 9-inch pans. They have removable bottoms so I wanted to avoid any butter leakage during baking.

Cover with lightly buttered plastic wrap and let rise for 1.5 to 2 hours. Remember brioche is very enriched and requires a good rise for the hoped for fluffy and light end result.

Toward the end of the rise heat the oven to 350ºF.

After the rise

I used three topping variations just for comparison’s sake. Have some toasted sliced almonds at the ready. Make the crunchy sugar topping by blending 6 tablespoons granulated sugar with 1.5 teaspoons vanilla and 1 tablespoon water (this is enough for the three pans).

Drizzle about a third of the sugar mixture over each brioche. I left one without further adornment, topped one with sliced almonds and the third with both sliced almonds and some crushed raw sugar cubes.

Bake 35-40 minutes, rotating pans half way through, until nicely golden brown.

Sugar drizzled

Sugar drizzled with almonds

With added crushed raw sugar

Let sit about 10 minutes before un-molding and placing on racks to finish cooling.

I must say all were pretty tasty, but, being a sucker for crunchiness, I really enjoyed the sugar drizzle/almond/crushed sugar cube version.

The crumb was light and nicely flavored with the orange zest.

OK good! Now on to the second version for which I followed Joanne Chang’s approach from her book “Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe”.

I knew that Joanne had worked at Payard’s in NYC back in the beginning of her baking career, so what did I do? I sent her an email asking about the process they had used! She kindly directed me to her book (link above) which I found at our local library and delved into the steps.

A few differences: individual brioche, adding candied orange rind (like Keller does) with crushed raw sugar and a slightly different topping. I can do this.

Thin slice two oranges and poach the slices in simple syrup until softened and more translucent. Let them cool and drain on a wire rack then chop into small pieces. You can do this ahead and hold in the fridge for several days if need be.

I had about a cup of rind in the end. Crush raw sugar cubes to yield about 1/2 cup of rough pieces.

For a yield of nine ~ 80 g portions: using 720 g of cold brioche dough after its overnight fridge rise, roll the dough into an approximately 10” (25 cm) by 18” (45 cm) rectangle.

Distribute the chopped orange rind and crushed sugar over the top 2/3 of the dough.

Fold the bottom third up over the middle third.

Fold up again to cover the top third.

Cut nine slices, each about 1 3/4 inches (4.5 cm) wide. You can trim up the ends first if you like - I left mine au naturel.

Place spaced apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet, cover with lightly buttered plastic wrap and let rise about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Before the rise

Toward the end of that time frame heat the oven to 350ºF.

After the rise

Make a slurry by mixing one large egg, 50 g granulated sugar and 50 g sliced almonds in a medium bowl. Spoon the mixture over each brioche.

Bake about 30-35 minutes until golden brown. You know my mantra - always check sooner than later!!

Cool, dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Here’s a cross section - lovely pockets of orange flavor, nice crumb and pretty darn good crunchy top too!

Just goes to show you how you can create variations with your own favorite brioche or sweet bun dough. Have fun with it!

Beautiful colors are popping and fall is definitely in the air! Enjoy!!

Crème fraiche pound cake à la Melissa Clark

Rum crème fraiche version

After my last post on baguette this one was a piece of cake. Hah! Get it?

Here’s another great contribution to the baking world from NYT food writer Melissa Clark. This one caught my eye partly because of the rum (which I’m starting to appreciate more and more) and crème fraiche (which I’m finally making myself!) in the ingredient list, but also because I’ve made my share of tasty pound cakes over the years and am always up for a new one. If you love pound cake, you MUST try this one.

Pound cake is typically butter, sugar, egg and flour in fairly equal weights, sometimes with cream cheese or sour cream added in. As Melissa notes, pound cake recipes don’t often contain any leavening like baking powder, but it’s the creaming of the butter and sugar to aerate and the eggs to add substance and binding to create the signature texture of these traditional cakes.

I made this recipe twice, the second time swapping the rum for a smooth Kentucky peach bourbon that we recently received from cousin Harve. Just had to try it don’t ya know. I added some orange zest to the batter and used a bourbon butter variant of the crème fraiche glaze, topping it with chopped toasted pecans. Mmmm good.

Bourbon glazed orange pecan version

I’ve become very attached to my mom’s old Mirro brand loaf pan that is a bit longer and narrower than a standard loaf. I love the way the cake comes out in a sleek and less stodgy sort of way. Prep the pan, including the edges, by buttering and sugaring it.

Bake at 350ºF for about an hour until golden and a tester comes out clean.

Mmmmm . . . . doesn’t that look delicious!

The main take home point that Melissa makes is the fact that if you vary the amount of baking powder you add to the batter, you’ll achieve either a lighter (more baking powder) or more dense and creamy texture (less baking powder).

For my first go I used the higher amount of baking powder (1 teaspoon) as well as the rum, crème fraiche (she gives sour cream as an option) and vanilla called for in the recipe. Check out the sliced image - looks like a lovely pound cake to these eyes! And it was deeeeeelicious! Light yet dense if that makes any sense at all. I also loved the slight crunch in the crème fraiche rum glaze - and our neighbors enjoyed it too.

For my second go I used the lower amount of baking powder (1/2 teaspoon) and swapped Kentucky peach bourbon for the rum. I zipped some orange zest into the batter while I was at it. Another lovely crumb experience to be sure.

For the bourbon butter glaze: heat 60 ml/1/4 cup bourbon and 49 g/3.5 tablespoons unsalted butter to melt the butter, then add in 100 g/1/2 cup granulated sugar, stir to dissolve and boil one minute. When the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes in the top with a toothpick, brush on about 1/4 of the glaze, wait 5 minutes then brush on another 1/4 of the glaze. Reserve the remaining glaze.

Once the cake has cooled, run a small offset spatula around the edges and pop it out of the pan. Blend the reserved bourbon butter glaze with 50 g/1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar and two tablespoons crème fraiche and pour it over the top and sides of the cake. In my case I added the pecans as the pièce de resistance but you can leave them off if you prefer.

Both of these cakes are buttery, luscious and dense as pound cake should be. Could I tell a lot of difference between the two? Not really, but both were superb in flavor and texture. Go either way with the baking powder and you’ll be happy no matter which one you choose. Thanks Melissa!

Remain calm and stay safe. We’re already deep into the first week of November and even though many of the leaves are now off the trees, here’s a mini photo album of what I’ve been enjoying during my walks this past month. I love autumn.

Orange olive oil cake

My baking focus during these self isolation/shelter-in-place days has revolved around ingredients on hand that I’d like to use up or at least pare down - white whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, potato flour, semolina, rolled oats, coconut milk, coconut chips, a lime, rum, almond paste, dried cranberries, sesame seeds, chocolate batons, oranges/zest just to name a few.

So far I’ve made chocolate pistachio swirls (stay tuned), coconut pound cake with coconut ice cream (coming up soon), Danish dough destined for almond Kringle (I’ll write about that too), chocolate chunk cookies (whole wheat pastry flour), white whole wheat sandwich bread, cranberry-walnut whole grain bread & rolls (oats, whole wheat flour, sesame seeds), potato dinner rolls (potato flour) and pizza dough (white whole wheat, semolina). Who knows what else I’ll be getting myself into.

Boy oh boy. We, our neighbors and our freezer are all the better for it!

On to the task at hand. Some months ago I purchased Food52’s “Genius Desserts” - chock full of tempting treats, wonderful inspiration and so many recipes to try. This orange olive oil cake is one of them. Credited to NYC restaurant Maialino, part of the Union Square Hospitality Group owned by Danny Meyer (now hit hard by COVID-19 like so many others), the cake was developed by a former pastry chef there, Rachel Binder. The link I’ve given you takes you to the current recipe for said cake by the present pastry chef, Geoffrey Koo - very much like the one printed in “Genius Desserts” with a few tweaks in ingredient portions.

Described as having “a crackling crust” and a center that is close to pudding-like, it’s an easy one to put together. Buuuuutttt . . . . . first let’s take a quick detour.

I’ve been meaning to tell you about a local business here in Grand Rapids. It’s called Long Road Distillers and boy do they make some good stuff. They’ve got award winning spirits and plenty of inventive cocktails (usually available at their retail/restaurant space until the current crisis), but we particularly enjoy their amaro and liqueurs. We even took several bottles to the UK as hostess gifts last fall.

They’re available from a number of wine and spirits vendors around town, plus Long Road is offering online ordering/pickup now as well. And to top it all off we recently learned that they’re now contributing to the COVID fight and making hand sanitizer - how cool is that??!!

The Michigan fruit liqueurs are great in Swiss meringue butter cream and basic crème pâtissiére, or joined with vanilla extract in fruity cakes or blended into crème d’amandes for a baked almond fruit tart or cherry-berry version of croissant aux amandes.

The Amaro Pazzo (pazzo means crazy in Italian) is a wonderful coffee essence’d digestif made with Madcap Coffee, another local GR company. And the green walnut Nocino is superb. Hmmm . . . . how about those in buttercream too? Add it to the to-do list!

Time for cake.

The recipe calls for Grand Marnier or Cointreau, well known orange liqueurs, but I had neither on hand so decided to use Long Road’s raspberry just because I could.

I’ve been eating a lot of oranges lately and, since I don’t like to waste any citrus, I zest them before sectioning and store the zest packets in my freezer - et voilà, I have orange zest at the ready. Needless to say I have a LOT of orange zest on hand.

I’m giving you the recipe as presented in “Genius Desserts” but you can also click on the Maialino link above for the current recipe.

Heat your oven to 350ºF. Butter a 9-inch round, 2-inch deep cake pan, and line the bottom with a round of parchment.

Do your mise and have a medium bowl and a medium-large one on hand. You’ll blend dry ingredients in one and wet in the other.

Dry: In a medium bowl blend 260 g / 2 cups all purpose flour (feel free to sub in 50-60 g or so as whole wheat pastry flour); 350 g / 1.75 cups sugar; 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon baking powder.

Wet: In a medium-large bowl blend 285 g / 1.33 cups extra virgin olive oil; 300 g / 1.25 cups whole milk; 3 large eggs; 1.5-2 tablespoons orange zest (the more the merrier I always say); 60 g / 1/4 cup freshly squeezed OJ; 1/4 cup liqueur such as Grand Marnier or Cointreau - I used Long Road’s raspberry liqueuer instead.

Now blend the dry ingredients into the wet, and scrape into the prepared pan.

Note: My springform seemed a tad askew (I’ve had it a long time), and I could see light coming through along one of the bottom edges. Since this is a pretty wet batter, I wrapped foil around the outside of my pan to insure against leakage. It worked.

Bake about an hour until the top is golden, the center set and you have a dry or few crumb-ed tester poked in the middle. I baked mine 10-15 minutes longer than suggested since I could still see a bit of gooey-ness in the top cracks until finally I achieved the tester result I wanted. Moist is good, gooey and under baked isn’t.

Cool in the pan about 20-30 minutes then un-mold and cool completely.

Once sliced, the moist nearly pudding like center is clearly appreciated, making one harbor some concern as to whether it baked long enough. But do not fear - all is well.

For our initial taste test, I sliced a couple of thin portions to try au naturel. With a tender yet dense crumb, the olive oil and lovely hint of orange offer a completely different experience than a basic butter-made cake. The flavor is hard to describe - at first one questions its uniqueness, but then it starts to grow on you and becomes almost ethereal.

Next I accompanied it with lightly sweetened whipped cream and some fresh berries. What a delicious combo! I must admit that the raspberry liqueur didn’t provide that particular essence to the cake but that’s OK. Come to think of it, I could have drizzled some over the berries and cream!! Duh. Next time.

Of course Steve and I have to ask ourselves “what are we going to do with all of this?”. Well, as it turns out, we were experiencing a particularly beautiful day and some of our neighbors had social distanced themselves into lawn chairs out in the street. At another appropriate distance we set up a small table and brought out a tray of individual servings of cake with berries and cream for all to enjoy. Each person could approach safely, pick up their own and head back to their chair. What a great way to share!

As always, stay home, stay safe, stay healthy.

Orange pecan crumble pull apart rolls

This one is great fun! Add some spices to your favorite sweet roll dough, let it rise, roll it out, spread with an orange zesty sugar/butter filling, cut it into squares and create your own pull-apart shapes. Top it off with a nutty pecan crumble and you’ll be happy you did!

The dough I used is easy to work with, soft and pillowy and quite delicious. The yield is either 7 or 9 rolls depending on how many squares of dough you use per roll to create your version (as you’ll see coming up). Note - the images below show ingredients and steps for my base recipe test batch with a 9 roll yield.

Base recipe: put 120 ml / 1/2 cup whole milk in a microwaveable container (a 2 cup Pyrex measurer works well here), heat just to boiling then add 56 g / 2 ounces cubed, unsalted butter to the milk. Stir to melt the butter and let the mixture cool to tepid ( ~105ºF).

Now add 1 lightly beaten large egg and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract to the milk/butter mixture and keep it on standby.

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine 130 g / 1 cup all purpose flour, 130 g / 1 cup bread flour, 50 g / 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar, 5 g active dry or instant yeast, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, a pinch (or more to taste) of cinnamon and, in my case, I threw in some vanilla powder that I had made by grinding down and sifting some dried vanilla beans. Even though there’s vanilla extract in the dough, I figured a dash or two of the powder would only enhance the flavor.

Stir in the milk mixture and mix with either the paddle or a large spatula or wooden spoon until combined.

Fit the mixer with the dough hook and knead on low speed for about 6-7 minutes until smooth and elastic. Or knead by hand for about 12-14 minutes.

Place the dough in a lightly buttered bowl . . . .

cover with plastic wrap and let rise for anywhere from 45 minutes to a couple of hours depending on the ambience of your room. You’re looking for about double in size.

While the dough is rising make the filling by blending 66 g / 1/3 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons orange zest, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and 42 g / 3 tablespoons soft unsalted butter.

For this test batch I wasn’t sure what pan/form would be best for what I had in mind, so I did some comparisons with standard muffin tin, individual cake pan and panettone paper.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, gently de-gas then roll it out to a 9”x9” square. Spread the filling over it then cut into thirty-six 1.5” squares.

Stack 4 squares together (for a yield of nine rolls) and tuck ‘em into buttered and sugared pans (FYI - no need to butter and sugar the panettone paper).

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let them rise for about an hour. About 30 minutes before you plan to bake, heat the oven to 375ºF.

Top with pecan crumble before baking.

Note: for the crumble combine 60 g all purpose flour, 60 g sugar and 60 g cold, diced butter. Sand the butter into the dry ingredients to achieve coarse crumbs and add in anywhere from 30 - 60 g toasted, then chopped pecans, depending on how nutty you like your topping. I usually double or triple any crumble I make so I can stash the rest in the freezer for another time. Nothing like planning ahead.

Bake from 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Each form yielded a slightly different end result. Not being rigid, the panettone paper roll skewed into an oblong pull apart, while the individual cake pan held the dough nicely in place.

The standard muffin tin, being more shallow than the cake pan, allowed for more rising and flaring out of the dough, kind of like one of those wide curved balloon-y kind of kites that billow out into a big, rippled rectangle.

Once out of the pan, they almost pulled themselves apart!

The taste test received a big thumbs up from both Steve and myself, and I knew I wanted to make these again.

This time I doubled the dough batch (here’s the recipe PDF) and rolled out each HALF of the dough into the 9”x9” square, spread on the filling and cut the thirty-six 1.5” squares. NOTE: I found it easier to work with the 9” square portions then a full double batch of dough.

I had done a bit of calculating and decided to use 5 pieces for each pull apart (for a yield of 7 rolls per dough half or a total of 14), arranging them more as a flower than a rectangular stack. I buttered and sugared my individual cake pans and tucked the pieces in an overlapping, rough swirl fashion. Having a couple of extra squares of dough, I tucked those in where they seemed to be most needed.

Since I own only 12 of the aluminum Fat Daddio cake pans (which I LOVE!), I used 2 ramekins to fill the bill.

After the rise they also received the pecan crumble top . . . .

and baked up like a dream.

After 5-10 minutes of cool time I gently loosened the edges with an offset spatula and popped them out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Boy are these babies good! I made these as part of a pastry assortment for a neighbor’s Saturday morning gathering, and the followup reports were A+. Steve and I enjoyed some of the extras, plus a few went into the freezer for later. They kept well for a day or two in a covered container and were even better with a few minutes warm up in a 325º oven.

Love that pull-apart feature! I’m already planning another round soon.

In the meantime Steve and I are wishing everyone calm days and peaceful nights as we continue to try to understand what’s happening in our world day by day.

Sweet and savory croissant twirls

Time for more croissant dough fun! Love it!!

Sweet and savory coming your way. Some months back I posted on this very topic using my whole wheat version of croissant dough. Classic croissant and spirals were the forms I went for then and now its time for - twirls!

There are so many shapes to be made from croissant dough, and, once you’ve mastered the base recipe and the nuances of lamination, there’s (almost) no limit to what you can create using different twists and turns. Twists + swirls = twirls!

First up - a savory version using my whole wheat croissant dough only this time I chopped fresh herbs (basil, thyme, rosemary) and added them right to the butter block before proceeding with the beurrage et tourage. Hence an herbed whole wheat dough was born.

I buttered standard muffin tins and coated the wells with finely grated cheddar.

After rolling the dough out to 12” x 18” I spread the top half of the dough with a mixture of 60 g (2 large) egg whites, 50 g toasted bread crumbs, 1 teaspoon dry mustard and pinches of black and cayenne peppers. Then a good sprinkle of 5 ounces grated cheddar cheese (Barber’s vintage reserve and Prairie Breeze are two of my faves).

Then the bottom half gets folded up over the top.

Cut into one inch strips, twist and coil into twirls.

Tuck into the prepared muffin tins, sprinkle a little extra cheese on top, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm space about 45 minutes. Meanwhile heat your oven to 375ºF.

These bake about 20-25 minutes until golden.

Pop ‘em out of the pan and let cool on a wire rack.

Taste time was a delightful treat of cheesy herby layers with just a hint of sweetness.

For the sweet version I went for a coffee walnut theme. Using my basic non-herbed croissant dough, the steps are the same as outlined for the savory version. This time my filling is made with 3 large egg whites, 100 grams dark brown sugar, 80 g ground walnuts and 100 g coarsely chopped toasted walnuts, a tablespoon almond flour (for a bit more binding of the mixture) plus orange zest from one medium orange.

I prepped my individual cake pans with butter and espresso sugar (grind 1 tablespoon espresso powder with 200 g raw sugar).

Roll out the dough, spread the top half with the coffee walnut filling and a light brush of egg white plus chopped nuts on the bottom half . . .

. . . fold it up, cut strips, twist and swirl. While shaping keep a bit of a stretch on the dough as you go. The filling here is more gooey than the savory version - just forge ahead even though it seems as though stuff is oozing out. It’s OK!

Tuck ‘em in the prepped pans, cover and let rise about 45 minutes. Heat that oven of yours to 375ºF and bake away!

Once out of the oven, gently lift them from the pans and place on a cooling rack. I brushed them with some simple syrup for a nice sheen. Alternatively roll them in espresso sugar while still warm, let cool and enjoy.

Coffee and walnut go so well together, and the coffee essence here was just right. The orange didn’t come through very strongly so I’d add more zest next time (you can never have too much zest!).

It’s great fun to dream up other ways to use croissant dough. I’m keeping my thinking cap on and so should you. Happy baking and happy autumn!

Two easy muffins: blueberry oat and mini pecan pie

In my last post on St. Louis gooey butter cake I mentioned our recent driving trip to various parts of the eastern USA. One of our stops just happened to be in Louisiana pecan country in the vicinity of Natchitoches, home to our friends Ed and Chris.

One morning Chris treated us to freshly baked mini pecan pie muffins and, since I had purchased a big bag of Louisiana pecans at Little Eva’s Pecan House, I simply had to make these little babies once we arrived back home in Michigan. Being on a muffin kick, I also reviewed some of my recipe files and thought some blueberry oat muffins sounded good too. So back to the Americana themed baking table, as it were.

I had some springy tulip style muffin papers that have been stashed in with some of my miscellaneous baking stuff for awhile now. My friend Patty of Patricia’s Chocolate in Grand Haven had received them as samples from one of her suppliers and offered them to me. It was finally time to give them a whirl.

The process for both of these treats is a basic muffin mixing approach - stir the dry ingredients together in one bowl, the wet in another then stir the wet into the dry until just blended. Scoop the batter into your chosen prepared pan and bake away. Easy.

The blueberry oat batter came out pretty loose (reminded me of financier batter), so my blueberries tended to sink to the bottom. Next time I’ll partially bake the muffins, poke some blueberries into each one part way through and hope for the best. The photo below is before baking - I only had 9 of the pretty papers so I buttered and floured the other three wells and just went for it.

They baked up nicely and tasted great too! Moist, tender and oh so good.

Blueberry oat recipe: makes 12 (see followup note at end of post)
Heat oven to 400ºF. Lightly butter a standard 12 well muffin pan or line the pan with papers and butter the papers (interesting step I thought).
In a large bowl stir together 195 g (1.5 cups) whole wheat pastry flour (all purpose is fine too), 50 g (1/2 cup) toasted old fashioned oats, 100 g (packed 1/2 cup) light or dark brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 2.5 teaspoons baking powder.
In a separate bowl blend together 240 ml (1 cup) whole milk with 75 g melted and slightly cooled unsalted butter and 2 large eggs.
Blend wet ingredients into dry until just combined.
Fold in 1 cup fresh blueberries.
Portion into prepared pan, sprinkle tops with oats and raw sugar (or cinnamon sugar if you prefer).
Bake for about 20 min until golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool about 5 minutes then remove from the pan and cool completely (or just go ahead and try one slightly warm - you won’t be disappointed!).

Next up . . . .

The pecan gems were even easier - combine brown sugar, flour, chopped pecans, mix with melted butter and egg et voilà! The batter goes into well buttered mini muffin pans and they bake for about 22-24 minutes at 350ºF. Easy again.

Pecan pie muffin recipe: makes 24 minis
Heat oven to 350ºF. Thoroughly butter a 24 well mini muffin pan.
In a medium bowl combine 200 g (1 cup packed) light or dark brown sugar, 65 g (1/2 cup) whole wheat pastry flour (all purpose is fine too) and 1 cup chopped pecans.
In a separate bowl blend 150 g (2/3 cup) melted unsalted butter with 2 large eggs, lightly beaten.
Blend wet ingredients with dry and portion into prepared pans.
Bake 22-25 minutes until fragrant, set and golden.
Cool 5-10 minutes then remove from pan to cool completely.
Enjoy!

These babies are moist with even an ooze of pecan pie-ness on the bottom. Not bad for a classic Louisiana pecan treat!

Enjoy spring and keep on baking!

Now for a quick followup on the blueberry oat - I made another batch (1.5 times the base recipe) and baked them in my individual Fat Daddio 3” diameter cake pans. First I buttered and cinnamon sugared the pans. This time I added a bit of cinnamon as well as some orange zest to the batter for a slightly different flavor profile. I portioned a tad over 3 ounces (90 -95 g) of batter into 12 of the individual cake pans. I baked them for 5 minutes at 400ºF and THEN topped each one with blueberries, raw sugar and a sprinkle of oats. I gave them another 5 minutes then reduced the temp to 385ºF and baked another 12 or so.

It worked! The blueberries didn’t sink and the cakes baked up beautifully. After just a few minutes of cooling I quickly ran a knife around the edges and popped the cakes out to cool completely.

Yippee yo-ki-yay! Until next time!!

Orange glazed brioche

Yes, I admit that I love delicious brioche, both making and eating it. Even though there’s a good deal of butter and egg in this enriched dough, if the base recipe is just right and the process is executed just so, it’s a real winner in my book. Light and pillowy with a tight yet soft crumb, it’s a canvas for so many different creations.

I’ve written about brioche in the past, but I’m one of those folks who loves to peruse recipes, compare and tweak the ingredient ratios as well as the methods used to produce some version of this particular delight. Knot rolls coming up!

This time I had citrus (orange to be exact) on my mind. During the winter months I often have a mix of orange segments with their juice plus some cut-up apples in a bowl in my fridge for that all important daily fruit quotient that we all need. Not wishing to waste any part of the orange, I zest my oranges before segmenting them, then wrap the zest in little packets, stashing them in the freezer so the zest is handy for my next citrus baking adventure.

I reviewed Dorie Greenspan’s brioche recipe in her book Baking Chez Moi in addition to Jeffrey Hamelman’s in his book Bread - A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes. While there are tons of recipes out there for brioche, what I took away from this review was one small interesting technique that Hamelman recommends when using a planetary stand mixer (like the ubiquitous Kitchenaid that many of us have). He notes that it’s more difficult to adequately develop the dough in a planetary mixer so suggests holding back half or more of the sugar at the beginning of the knead.

Sugar is hygroscopic and actually acts as a liquefying agent, so if it’s all added at the beginning, the result is a looser textured dough that doesn’t develop as well. Who knew? Learn something new everyday.

NOTE: if you’re interested in a quick run down on planetary (most commonly used) and spiral mixers (more specifically for bread and artisan dough) check this out.

The mixing process went well, the resulting dough had that silky, buttery texture one hopes for before the overnight refrigeration, and the following morning the division and shaping proceeded apace. I divided my dough into 42 g / 1.5 ounce portions, did the preliminary ball shaping and gave them a 10 minute rest.

Balled up dough ready for final shaping

I rolled each one into a snake and then formed ‘em into single knots. Kind of reminds me of some sort of creature peaking out of its burrow or a coiled snake (hopefully not ready to strike!)

One of the important steps in the brioche making process is the final rise - if it’s too short, the end result isn’t that wonderful light, airy and oh-so delicious creation on which you’ve spent a decent amount of effort. Especially during the winter months in my 69º kitchen, I’m careful to give the dough plenty of time, sometimes up to 2 hours, for that all important rise.

Note that since brioche is such an enriched dough, the rise may not be as obvious as that of lean breads, but you should be able to appreciate the increased fullness and puffiness of the risen dough.

These baked at 375º F for about 20 minutes - all nice and golden brown.

Once cooled I opted for an orange cream cheese glaze that set these babies off with just the right touch. Delicious. Soft, delicate crumb, light and wonderful.

Here’s the recipe for my orange brioche dough, yield 1320 g / approximately 2.9 lbs.

• 537 g flour, half bread and half all purpose

• 90 ml whole milk, cold

• 90 ml water, cold

• 5 large eggs, cold

• 11 g salt

• 68 g sugar, divided in two portions

• 18 g instant yeast

• 255 g unsalted butter, cool and pliable, medium diced

• 1 tablespoon orange zest (from 2 medium oranges)

1. Place flour, milk, water, eggs, salt, yeast and half the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on low to incorporate then knead on speed 2 for 5-7 minutes until you have a strong dough using the windowpane test.

2. Add the second half of the sugar and knead for 2 more minutes.

3. Add butter bit by bit on speed 2. Once all added, knead for 8-10 minutes until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl and sheets nicely.

4. Place the dough in a lightly floured bowl, tuck plastic on and around the top and let it rest for 1 hour at room temperature.

5. Fold the dough gently, place it back into the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. De-gas 2-3 times over several hours then refrigerate overnight.

6. Proceed with dividing and shaping as noted above . For these orange rolls I divided the dough into fifteen 42 g portions, using about half the dough (a full batch would give you 30 rolls!). You don’t have to use all the dough - just tightly wrap any unused dough with plastic wrap and freeze for later.

7. Once the knot rolls are shaped, cover lightly with buttered plastic wrap and let rise 1.5-2 hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen.

8. Heat the oven to 375ºF and bake for approximately 20 minutes until golden brown.

9. Cool before icing.

For the icing I blended 227 g / 8 oz softened cream cheese, 2 T corn syrup, 2 T heavy cream, 75 g / 3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, pinch salt and the zest from one medium orange. You may not need all of it - it keeps in the fridge, covered for a week or so.

I used my leftover glaze on some petite citrus financiers. Deelish. Now go have some brioche fun!

Cran-oat-almond shortbread

Before we jump in, don't forget to check out this month's specialties - Valentine's goodies and my favorite chocolate ganache tart!

Recently inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh's book "Sweet", I put together these absolutely wonderful shortbread cookies (or biscuits as the Brits would say) full of cranberries, oats and almonds. You can choose whether you'd like a white chocolate garnish or prefer them au naturel. Either way they are SO GOOD.

Some of the ingredients require a bit of prep before putting the final dough together - chop cranberries and soak them in OJ; toast, cool and chop almonds; have butter at room temp - that kind of stuff. Simple but requires some planning on your part. It comes back to that important and well worn advice - always read the recipe through at least twice before you begin.

I tweaked the recipe, which calls for both all purpose and whole wheat flour, to create my own version using white whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour. As I continue to experiment with different whole grain flours, it's fun to learn about the various nuances of each.

White whole wheat flour is ground from hard white whole wheat, whereas whole wheat pastry flour comes from whole grain soft white wheat. Each contains all the nutrients that come from the whole grain, including the outer bran full of fiber, B vitamins and trace minerals and the small central germ containing antioxidants, vitamin E, B vitamins and healthy fats.

Whole wheat pastry flour is softer and thus lends itself well to things like scones, biscuits, flaky pie and tart crusts and fluffy pancakes. I'll be playing around with different combos and variations as time goes on. Cool. Always so much to learn.

Now for my version of the recipe and many thanks to Yotam and Helen!

1. Heat your oven to 350ºF. Have a couple of 1/2 sheet pans lined with parchment at the ready.
2. Chop 125 g dried cranberries in half (unless they're already chopped), place them in a microwave safe bowl in 25 ml of orange juice and zap for about 10 seconds. Let them soak while you're getting other things ready. 
3. Place 150 g natural raw skin-on almonds on a baking sheet and toast for 10 minutes. Let cool, rough chop and place in a large bowl.
4. Add 175 g white whole wheat flour, 50 g whole wheat pastry flour, 150 g old fashioned oats and 1/4 teaspoon salt to the bowl with the almonds. Set aside.
5. Put 227 g room temperature unsalted butter, 100 g granulated sugar into which you've rubbed the zest of one or two large oranges (use two for that extra citrus zip!) into a mixer bowl with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium about 2 minutes until blended and light.
6. Add the nut-oat-flour mixture and beat on low to bring it together.
7. Add in the cranberries along with the orange juice and combine on low to mix in.
8. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, bring it into a ball and divide in half. Roll each half to about 1/4 thick. I find it works well, particularly with a slightly sticky dough, to roll between two pieces of film wrap - keeps things neat!
9. Chill the dough for an hour or so before cutting out. Choose whatever shape and size you'd like, cut and place on the parchment lined sheets. As you can see I tried some different versions.
10. Bake about 18 minutes until lightly browned. Cool completely.

If you choose to garnish your cookies with white chocolate, either drizzled, edge-dipped or spread in a layer, I found it worked best for me to microwave my Guittard wafers at half power for 30-45 second bursts, stirring until melted. My results are rustic for sure, but I. LOVE. THESE. COOKIES.

Hot cross buns

Last week, as the days ticked by before Easter, I kept thinking about the hot cross buns my mom used to buy at the Fremont bakery when we were kids.  They were always a treat back then, and, since I hadn't eaten one in years and had never made them myself, I thought it was high time.

There are a variety of stories about the history of these buns, a topic I'll let you research for yourself.

Popular in many countries, particularly with the Brits, these lightly spiced, yeasted, fruit-studded sweet buns are traditionally served during the Lenten period leading up to Easter, particularly on Good Friday.

They are usually baked with raisins or currants mixed into the dough, although some recipes suggest other dried fruits or candied citron.  I considered dried tart cherries and apricots for a somewhat more modern switch, but ultimately went with currants, orange zest and spices.

As usual, I did a bit of recipe research, including checking out Joy of Cooking (which has been sitting on my cookbook shelf for years).  Joy's recipe is basically a Parker House roll with a few tweaks.  I found a few other sources and compared amounts of sugar and egg, opting for less of those two ingredients in creating my own version.

Let's go!

les ingredients

Here I'm working in my mom's kitchen since ours is currently under renovation.  Just a couple more weeks, and I'm back into the baking swing at home.  Can't wait!

This dough is a straight forward direct dough, meaning there is no starter, pre-ferment, poolish or sponge (for all you bread bakers out there).  It comes together easily, is on the moist side once mixed, and kneads up into a luscious, soft, silky dough.

First I briefly microwaved 3/4 cup currants in 1/4 orange juice to plump them up, then let them cool.

Add 10 grams instant yeast to 240 ml (1 cup) tepid whole milk, along with a pinch of brown sugar and let sit for 10 minutes or so until foamy.  Whisk in 75 grams melted (but not hot!) unsalted butter, 1 egg yolk and 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract.

In a separate large mixing bowl whisk together 390 grams (3 cups) all purpose flour, 50 grams (1/4 cup) brown sugar, zest of two oranges, 3/4 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp coriander, 1/4 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp powdered ginger and a few fresh grates of nutmeg (or more according to your taste).

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the liquid in.

yup - wet and dry

Mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until moistened and the dough comes together in shaggy ball.

Drain the currants and briefly knead them in.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for about 8 minutes until the dough becomes soft and elastic.

 
I love kneading by hand and getting a real feel for the dough, but you can also knead in a stand mixer with the dough hook for about 4-5 minutes.

finished kneading

Place the dough in a lightly buttered bowl . . . .

cover and let rise in a warm environment for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours until about doubled.  I planned it so I could go out for my daily walk during the rise.  Not a bad deal, eh?

after the first rise

Now divide the dough into 15 pieces of sixty grams each (about 2 ounces) and form into balls.

Place them in a buttered 9x13 pan . . . .

cover with buttered plastic wrap and let rise about 45-60 minutes until puffed and touching.

after the second rise

Heat the oven to 375ºF.

Brush the rolls with egg wash or milk and bake about 25 minutes until nicely browned.

right out of the oven - smells great!

Once cooled a bit, gently pull the rolls apart and finish cooling them on a wire rack.

looks just like a good roll should

To make the icing I mixed 1 cup confectioner's sugar with 1 tablespoon milk and a teaspoon of vanilla extract, yielding a consistency just right for piping.

Steve, Mom and I couldn't wait too long for the first taste test - it just HAD to be done!

Soft, lightly sweetened, citrus scented, spiced pillows of goodness indeed.

Not bad for my first hot cross buns.

 

 

Orange clove bread

Another Samantha Seneviratne recipe here we come!

This one is fun and the recipe lends itself to your own flavor variations.  Go for it.

While generally not a huge fan of cloves, I figured what the heck, I'll give this one a try.  The "pull apart" nature of the finished product pulled (pun intended) me in.

This is a yeasted bread so put that into your planning agenda.

It's an easy dough to prepare and potentially requires a few hours (total) of rising time, depending on how warm your kitchen is.

Let's go.

les ingredients

Have a large buttered bowl ready.

Bring 120 ml (1/2 cup) whole milk to a boil (I did it in the microwave), remove from the heat and add 56 grams (1/2 stick) unsalted butter to melt it.  Let it cool to about 105ºF.

Blend 1 large egg, lightly beaten and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract into the milk-butter mixture.

the liquid and dry ingredients

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl) whisk together 130 grams (1 cup) all purpose flour, 130 grams (1 cup) bread flour, 56 grams (1/4 cup) sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves.

Add the milk mixture and mix with the paddle attachment ( or with a wooden spoon) until just combined.

Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed about 6 minutes until smooth and elastic (or knead on a work surface by hand for about 12 minutes).

after the mixer knead

 I turned the dough out onto my pastry board and gave it a few quick hand kneads, formed a ball and placed it in my buttered container for the first rise.

ready to rise

My rise took about 1 1/2 hours.

During that time you can prepare the filling.  Mix 75 grams (1/3 cup) granulated sugar with the grated zest of 2 oranges and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt.  Have 42 grams (3 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature.

Blend the butter into the zest-sugar mixture, cover and set aside until ready to use.

filling's ready!

Prepare a medium loaf pan - butter it, line it with parchment and butter the parchment.

Once the dough has doubled, turn it onto a lightly floured work surface, give it a knead or two and roll it into a 9" square.

Spread the filling over the dough . . . .

then cut into 4 strips . . . .

and stack the strips on each other, filling side up (isn't this fun?!).

Then cut the stack into 4 piles . . . .

and line them up on their sides in the prepared loaf pan.

Love it!

Now it's time for the second rise so cover the pan lightly with plastic wrap, put it in a warm spot and let it rise until it reaches to just under the lip of the loaf pan.  About an hour.

Heat the oven to 375ºF.

I forgot to take a picture before I popped it in the oven so I quickly snapped a shot at the start of the bake.

Bake until nicely browned and puffed, about 30-35 minutes.  If the center sections seem soft, bake a few minutes more.

et voila!  C'est fini!

I must say the aroma during baking was delightful, clove or not.  I couldn't wait to give it a try.

First let it cool about 15 minutes, then lift it out by the overhanging parchment and finish cooling on a rack.

The sections pulled apart easily.  The interior had a soft, tender, sort of sweet-roll-like characteristic and the orange-sugar filling added just the right citrus note.  And the clove wasn't bad either!

Steve liked the texture but didn't care much for the clove.  Oh well.

I like the dough for sure - easy to mix and handle and nice texture.

Next time I'm thinking of replacing the orange zest with lemon zest and the clove with perhaps a bit of coriander and ginger.  And maybe buttermilk instead of milk.  One could throw in some chopped dried cherries, raisins or apricots too, depending on your flavor profile.  Or some finely chopped nuts.

You make up your own and have some fun!  You can do it.