Angel Biscuit Breakfast Sandwich

Back when I began learning to cook, which was way before I developed an addiction to cookbooks, I realized that I needed a basic baking book. I wanted a handy guide for making muffins, pie dough, cookies, and cakes. I wanted a greatest hits of general baking recipes with straightforward instructions that didn’t overcomplicate the process. If Rose's Baking Basics: 100 Essential Recipes, with More Than 600 Step-by-Step Photos had existed then, it would have been exactly what I needed. This new book, of which I received a review copy, is perfect for a beginner baker. It’s also an excellent reference for experienced bakers who want a book with all these classics in one place along with troubleshooting tips and “Baking Pearls” for each recipe. Each chapter begins with helpful solutions for common baking issues. For instance, I didn’t know that if your cupcakes turn out too flat, you should try resting the batter for 20 minutes before baking. The “Baking Pearls” give you specific information like the importance of weighing egg yolks and whites to be sure you are using the correct amount since their size can vary more than you might think. There are also all those step-by-step photos so you can see just what each step should look like along the way. This book gives you all the tools you need to succeed with baking projects. The yellow, white, and chocolate cake recipes are each offered in sheet cake and layer cake form and then in cupcake form. The leavening differs slightly for the cupcake versions. To top it off, there are some very tempting recipes to try. The Apple Cider Cake Doughnuts baked in a doughnut pan, The Glazed Mocha Chiffon Cake, and the Chocolate Cream Pie with a chocolate crumb crust are all on my to-try list. But when I read about the Butter Biscuits, I had to start there. They’re made with hard-cooked egg yolks which was a biscuit recipe secret from James Beard. I've heard this before, and I've made cookie dough before with sieved hard-cooked egg yolks. But oddly, none of the biscuits in his Beard on Bread book are made with eggs so I don't know where the idea was first published. In the head note for this biscuit recipe, there’s a suggestion for using the biscuits for breakfast sandwiches, and I love breakfast sandwiches. If all of that wasn’t reason enough to try this recipe, there’s a side note for turning these into Angel Biscuits by adding some yeast to the dough. That was all I needed to form a plan. 

The unbaked biscuits can be stored in the freezer and baked just when needed. Or, if going the Angel Biscuit route, after the dough rises it’s then stored in the refrigerator for up to three days before being flattened, cut, and baked. Flour, baking powder, and salt were combined, and cold butter pieces were worked into the flour by hand. Hard-cooked egg yolks were pushed through a sieve and added to the flour mixture. The cooked yolks contribute to a more tender result since they mix into the dough without causing it to become gummy or possibly overworked. Cream was added next, and I added yeast as well. The dough was stirred together and left to rise for an hour and a half. Then, the covered bowl was placed in the refrigerator until ready to bake. I always get greedy when I make biscuits. I cut them into squares with a knife rather than using a biscuit cutter. I don’t want to waste any dough or have to handle it more for re-rolling. In this case, I got extra greedy because I wanted the biscuits to be wide enough to make a good breakfast sandwich. I rolled the dough a little thinner than I normally would and ended up with slightly shorter biscuits. I brushed the tops with extra cream and sprinkled on some flaky sea salt. To make the breakfast sandwiches, I made a vegetable frittata with local sun gold tomatoes and squash. I cut the frittata into squares and topped the squares with basil pesto and arugula in each biscuit. 

I loved the texture of these biscuits with the lift from the yeast and the tenderness from the hard-cooked egg yolks, and I’d love to keep trying new and different fillings in them for breakfast sandwiches. Although I started by saying this would have been the perfect book for me when I first started baking, I also think there’s always more to learn—especially with all the information packed into this book. And next, I’d really like to learn more about the Milk Chocolate Caramel Tart. 

Butter Biscuits 
BUTTER BISCUITS is excerpted from Rose's Baking Basics ©2018 by Rose Levy Beranbaum. Photography © 2018 by Matthew Septimus. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved. 

These biscuits are exceptionally soft, tender, and velvety. The secret ingredient is from James Beard, with whom I studied fifty years ago: hard cooked egg yolk. These are the biscuits I choose when I make strawberry shortcake or cobblers (page 250). They are also wonderful for breakfast, especially sandwiched with sausage patties. They are great to have on hand in the freezer, unbaked, because they can be ready for breakfast in under a half hour.

MAKES NINE 2 1/2 INCH BY 1 1/2 INCH HIGH BISCUITS 

37 grams or 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons, lightly packed 3 large eggs, hard cooked, yolks only
85 grams or 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
182 grams or 1 1/2 cups (lightly spooned into the cup and leveled off) bleached all-purpose flour 
86 grams or 3/4 cup (lightly spooned into the cup and leveled off) bleached cake flour 
13.5 grams or 3 teaspoons baking powder, only an aluminum free variety
6 grams or 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
50 grams or 1/4 cup sugar
174 grams or 3/4 cup (177 ml) heavy cream OR 181 grams or 3/4 cup (177 ml) buttermilk OR a combination of the two
Topping (optional):14 grams or 1 tablespoon/15 ml melted butter, cooled 
about 1 teaspoon sugar for sprinkling

-Into a small bowl, press the egg yolks through a medium-mesh strainer and cover.
- Cut the butter into 1/2 inch cubes and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or freeze for 10 minutes.
PREHEAT THE OVEN
- Thirty minutes or longer before baking, set an oven rack at the middle level. Set the oven at 375ºF/190ºC.
MAKE THE DOUGH 
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and cake flours, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add the butter and, with your fingertips, press the cubes into small pieces until the mixture resembles coarse meal. (Alternatively, use a stand mixer, fitted with the flat beater, on low speed to blend the butter into the flour mixture, and then proceed by hand.)
2.Add the sieved egg yolks and whisk them in to distribute evenly.
3.Stir in the cream just until the flour is moistened, the dough starts to come together, and you can form a ball with your hands. For angel biscuits, add 2 teaspoons (6.4 grams) instant yeast to the flour mixture.
4.Empty the dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead it a few times until it develops a little elasticity and feels smooth. Dust the dough lightly with flour if it feels a little sticky. Pat or roll the dough into a 3/4 inch high rectangle. For angel biscuits, place the dough in a bow and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside for about 1 1/2 hours. Then, refrigerate the dough for a minimum of 4 hours or up to 3 days.
SHAPE THE DOUGH
- Have ready a small dish of flour for dipping the cutter.
5.Dip the cutter into flour before each cut. Cut cleanly through the dough, lifting out the cutter without twisting it so that the edges will be free for the maximum rise; twisting the cutter compresses the edges, which keeps the biscuits from rising as high. Use up the remaining dough by re-kneading it only briefly, so it won’t become tough, and cut out more biscuits.
6.For soft sides, place the biscuits almost touching (about ¼ inch apart) on the cookie sheet. For crisp sides, place the biscuits 1 inch apart. Brush off any excess flour and, if an extra crisp top is desired, brush with the melted butter and sprinkle lightly with the sugar.
BAKE THE BISCUITS
7.Place the biscuits in the oven and raise the temperature to 400ºF/200ºC for 5 minutes. Lower the temperature to 375ºF/190ºC and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a biscuit should read 200ºF/93ºC. If baking frozen biscuits, bake them at 375ºF/190ºC for the entire time for a total of 20 to 25 minutes.
COOL THE BISCUITS
8.Remove the biscuits from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool until just warm, top side up.
SERVE THE BISCUITS
9.Split the biscuits in half, preferably using a 3-tined fork.
STORE: Biscuits are at their best when baked shortly before eating. They can be stored, tightly covered, for up to 1 day. To reheat, it works well to cover them with a lightly moistened paper towel and heat for a few seconds in the microwave. The unbaked biscuits can be frozen, well wrapped, for up to 3 months. Bake them without thawing.

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Orange and Currant Scones

I was delighted to read a review copy of Skye Gyngell’s latest book How I Cook: An Inspiring Collection of Recipes, Revealing the Secrets of Skye's Home Cooking. As soon as I began reading it, I remembered all the details of her style that I became familiar with in her book My Favorite Ingredients from 2010. The recipes have a relaxed and easy-going feel to them, but quality of seasonal ingredients as a route to their success is always highlighted. She has a way of describing each dish that coaxes me into making plans to make it. For instance, I now can’t let another week go by without mixing oats with lemon and orange zest and orange juice so I can add some yogurt and grated apple to a serving in the morning for Bircher Muesli. I’ve seen several versions of muesli recipes in the past, but somehow this was the first time I’ve decided I really do need to make it. Also, and this helps to explain why I like reading cookbooks like novels, there’s more to the recipes than what appears in their titles. That muesli recipe gives you a way to have muesli for breakfast every day for a week with fresh fruit and yogurt added as it’s served. Then, the Scrambled Eggs with Spinach and Slow-Roasted Tomatoes is actually a special take on scrambled eggs. Grated, cold butter is added incrementally while the eggs are slowly scrambled over low heat. The book is organized by type of meal with full menus for different seasons and times of day. An example from the Alfresco Eating chapter is: A basket of little vegetables with aioli, Poached langostines with green goddess dressing, Salad of Jersey Royal potatoes with herbs and creme fraiche, Swiss chard with Parmesan, Roasted caramelized peaches, and Shortbread. I’d love to plop on a blanket outside on a nice day with that complete menu within reach. There’s also a chapter for Afternoon Tea, and I wanted to make everything in it including Strawberry Sponge Cake and Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake. So far, I’ve only gotten as far as the Orange and Currant Scones, and again there’s a twist to how this is made. The dough is formed into one disk that is scored before baking. It becomes a pull-apart scone experience of sorts, and the center remains deliciously tender. I had seen this way of making scones in Joanne Chang Myers’ Flour cookbook and couldn’t wait to try this version.

The process is the same that's used for all scones, and I do love making scones. Flour, baking soda, a little sugar, and salt were combined, and I used a mix of all-purpose flour and local whole wheat with cultured butter. I always work the butter in by hand so I can feel how much it is breaking down in size and how well it is being incorporated into the flour. Orange zest and currants were added next and mixed by hand into the flour mixture. A well was made in the flour, and egg and milk were added and mixed into the dough. Last, the dough was turned out onto a floured surface and kneaded just to bring any stray currants or crumbs together before forming a thick disk. The round of dough was placed on a lined baking sheet and scored into triangles almost all the way through the dough. The dough was brushed with an egg wash before baking until golden. 

The scones were served with more of the cultured butter used to make them and some local grapefruit jelly. I’ve made a lot of scones over the years and have too many favorites to count, but these just became my newest favorite. The golden, crunchy tops give way to a lovely, yielding middle. I liked that the sweetness came mostly from the currants, and that made the butter and jelly especially good on top. Now, I’m off to make that muesli and mark more pages in the book. 

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Cinnamon-Cream Brioche

You know I don’t play favorites with my cookbooks. But still. Even though I love them all equally, there are some that are a little bit special. Flour by Joanne Chang is one of those. So, needless to say, I was excited about her new book, Flour, Too, which was just released and of which I received a review copy. While the first book included all the baking recipes from her Flour bakeries and cafes in Boston, the new one shares the savory side of the menus with a few more sweets as well. As I read through the Soups section of the Lunch chapter, it occurred to me that I didn’t realize I like soup so much. Based on Chang’s descriptions, I wanted to try all of these soups. There’s a pureed Eggplant Parmesan soup made with tomatoes and fresh basil that made me want to run to the farmers' market for the ingredients. And, I already tried the Chilled Spanish White Gazpacho with green grapes, blanched almonds, and cucumbers. It’s a lovely chilled soup for summer with a drizzle of olive oil and maybe a few drops of aged Sherry vinegar on top. Next, both breakfast and lunch sandwiches made me hungry with options like Flour’s Famous Egg Sandwich on homemade focaccia rolls; Lemony Hummus with Cucumber, Radish Sprouts, and Red Onion; and Grilled Tofu with Olive Tapenade and Roasted Vegetables. There are also salads, mains, snacks, drinks, desserts, and breakfast sweets. Chang’s attention to detail is just as evident here as it was in the first book as the story of each dish is revealed. Everything on the menu was tested, tweaked, and perfected for serving with the best ingredients for each season. 

Apparently, when the first book came out, regular Flour customers were disappointed that it didn’t include the recipe for Cinnamon-Cream Brioche. At the bakery, the small quantity made each day sells out quickly, and everyone wanted to try making them at home. So, the recipe was included in Flour, Too. A rich brioche dough was made, and you can either make half the recipe provided or just make the whole amount as I did and bake one loaf of brioche with the extra dough. The other half of that dough was divided into eight portions which were stretched into little round pizza shapes with a thicker edge and thinner middle. Pastry cream, which can be made in advance and kept chilled, was spooned into the center of each dough round. The pastry cream was topped by creme fraiche. The pastries were then sprinkled with cinnamon sugar before going into the oven for about 30 minutes. The pastry cream and creme fraiche did spread and run over the brioche edges, but it’s no cause for concern. There was still plenty of delicious cinnamon-sugared cream in each pastry. They’re delightful all by themselves, but since we had fresh, local berries on hand, I used them for garnish. 

Kurt would love it if my next stop in the book is the Boston Cream Pie with its four layers of sponge cake brushed with coffee syrup and stacked with thick layers of diplomat cream. I’d like to try the Cantaloupe-Mint Seltzer, Scallion Pancakes, and Summer Three-Bean and Potato Salad with Fresh Herbs. I’ll eventually get to all of that and more. Just don’t tell my other cookbooks about that “special” category I mentioned. 

Cinnamon–Cream Brioche 
Recipes reprinted with publisher’s permission from Flour, Too. 

We only make a few of these each morning, and as soon as they come out of the oven, they are snatched up by waiting customers. When the first Flour book came out, there was an outcry from these loyal cinnamon-cream devotees because the recipe was not included. It wasn’t an intentional omission; in my mind, this pastry was something we kind of threw together each morning and thus it didn’t really need a recipe. Clearly I was wrong. We were inspired by a recipe for a similar pastry in Nancy Silverton’s book, Pastries from the La Brea Bakery, called Viennese Cream Brioche, which she describes as being so sublime that it made Julia Child cry. With that description, how could we resist trying our hand at making them? The recipe uses ingredients that we always have in our fridge—brioche dough, pastry cream, crème fraîche—and puts them together in a way that makes quite an addictive treat. Be generous with the cinnamon-sugar that is showered on top; it’s what makes these so crunchy and irresistible. 

Makes 8 pastries 

1/2 batch Basic Brioche dough (see separate recipe) 
1 cup/240 ml Pastry Cream (see separate recipe) 
1 1/2 cups/360 ml creme fraiche 
1 1/4 cups/250 g granulated sugar 
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Special equipment: two rimmed baking sheets, parchment paper 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C, and place one rack in the center and one rack in the top third of the oven. Line the baking sheets with parchment paper. 

2. Shape the brioche dough into a rectangle about 8 in/20 cm long, 4 in/10 cm wide, and 1 in/2.5 cm thick. Using a ruler and a knife, cut the rectangle into eight 2-in/5-cm squares by first dividing it in half horizontally and then dividing it vertically into strips 2 in/5 cm wide. Each square of dough should weigh about 3 1⁄2 oz/100 g. 

3. Stretch each dough square into a circle about 5 in/12 cm in diameter as if you are making a small pizza. Stretch the inner part of the circle so that it is quite thin and shape the edge of the circle to create a rim. The center should be almost paper-thin and the finished circle should look like you are making the crust for a mini deep-dish pizza. Place the brioche circle on one of the prepared baking sheets and repeat with the remaining dough squares, spacing them 2 to 3 in/5 to 7.5 cm apart and using both baking sheets. 

4. Using the back of a spoon, spread 2 tbsp of the pastry cream over the base of each brioche circle, spreading it evenly and leaving the rim bare. Place about 3 tbsp of the creme fraiche in the center of each brioche circle and gently spread it, again covering the base of the circle and leaving the rim untouched. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle the mixture evenly over both the creme fraiche center and the rim of each circle. 

5. Bake the pastries, switching the baking sheets between the racks and rotating them back to front about halfway during baking, for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they are medium golden brown along the edge. (Sometimes the creme fraiche spills out over the edge of the circle. Don’t fret; when the pastries come out of the oven and cool a bit, you can scoop spillover back into the center.) Let the creme fraiche set and the brioche cool on the baking sheets for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Cinnamon-creams should be served the day they are made; they don’t hold very well overnight because of their creamy centers. 

Basic Brioche 

Makes about 3 1/4 lb/1.5 kg, enough for 2 loaves 

2 1/4 cups/315 g all-purpose flour 
2 1/4 cups/340 g bread flour 
3 1/4 tsp active dry yeast, or 1 oz/30 g fresh cake yeast 
1⁄3 cup plus 1 tbsp/80 g granulated sugar 
1 tbsp kosher salt 
5 large eggs, plus 1 large egg for the egg wash if making loaves 
1 cup plus 6 tbsp/310 g unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 10 to 12 pieces 

Special equipment: stand mixer with dough hook attachment, two 9-by-5-in/23-by-12-cm loaf pans if making loaves, parchment paper if making loaves (optional) 

1. Using the stand mixer, combine the all-purpose flour, bread flour, yeast, sugar, salt, 5 eggs, and 1⁄2 cup/120 ml water and beat on low speed for 3 to 4 minutes, or until all of the ingredients have come together. Stop the mixer as needed to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure all of the flour has been incorporated into the wet ingredients. Once the dough has come together, beat on low speed for 3 to 4 minutes longer. The dough will be stiff and seem quite dry. 

2. Still on low speed, add the butter, one piece at a time, mixing after each addition until it disappears into the dough. After all of the butter has been added, continue mixing on low speed, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, for about 10 minutes. It is important to mix all of the butter thoroughly into the dough. If necessary, break up the dough with your hands to help incorporate the butter. 

3. Once the butter has been completely incorporated, increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for another 15 minutes, or until the dough becomes sticky, soft, and somewhat shiny. It will take some time for it to come together; it will look very shaggy and questionable at the start but in time will turn smooth and silky. When that happens, increase the speed to mediumhigh and beat for about 1 minute. You should hear the dough make a slap-slap-slap sound as it hits the sides of the bowl. Test the dough by pulling at it; it should stretch a bit and have a little give. (If it seems wet and loose and more like a batter than a dough, add 2 to 3 tbsp flour and mix until it comes together.) If it breaks off into pieces when you pull at it, continue to mix on medium speed for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until it develops more strength and stretches when you grab it. It is ready when you can gather it all together and pick it up in one piece. 

4. Transfer the dough to a large bowl or plastic container and cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap directly onto the surface of the dough. Let the dough proof (that is, expand and develop flavor) in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or up to overnight. (At this point the dough may be frozen in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.) If you are making a brioche treat, proceed as directed in the individual recipe. 

5. Line the bottom and sides of the loaf pans with parchment paper, or butter the pans liberally. 

6. Divide the dough in half, and press each half into about a 9-in/23-cm square. (The dough will feel like cold, clammy Play-Doh.) Facing the square, fold down the top one-third toward you, and then fold up the bottom one-third, as if folding a business letter. Press to join the three layers. Turn the folded dough over and place it, seam-side down, into one of the prepared pans. Repeat with the second piece of dough, placing it in the second prepared pan. 

7. Cover the loaves lightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm (78° to 82°F/25° to 27°C) area to proof for 4 to 5 hours, or until the loaves have nearly doubled in size. They should have risen to the rim of the pan and have a rounded top. When you poke at the dough, it should feel soft, pillowy, and light, as if it were filled with air—because it is! The loaves have finished proofing and are filled with yeast air pockets. At this point, the texture of the loaves always reminds me a bit of how it feels to touch a water balloon. 

8. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C, and place a rack in the center of the oven. 

9. In a small bowl, whisk the remaining egg until blended. Gently brush the tops of the loaves with the beaten egg. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the tops and sides of the loaves are completely golden brown. Let cool in the pans on wire racks for 30 minutes, then turn the loaves out of the pans and serve warm or continue to cool on the racks. The bread can be stored tightly wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days (if it is older than 3 days, try toasting it) or in the freezer for up to 1 month. 

Pastry Cream 

Makes about 1 3/4 cups/420 ml 

1 1/4 cups/300 g milk 
1/2 cup/100 g granulated sugar 
1/4 cup/30 g cake flour 
1/2 tsp kosher salt 
4 egg yolks 
1 tsp vanilla extract 

Special equipment: sieve 

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk over medium-high heat until scalded; that is, until small bubbles form along the sides of the pan. While the milk is heating, in a small bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, and salt. (Mixing the flour with the sugar will prevent the flour from clumping when you add it to the egg yolks.) In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks until blended, then slowly whisk in the flour mixture. The mixture will be thick and pasty. 

2. Remove the milk from the heat and slowly add it to the egg-flour mixture, a little at a time, while whisking constantly. When all of the milk has been incorporated, return the contents of the bowl to the saucepan and heat over medium heat, whisk continuously and vigorously, for about 3 minutes, or until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. At first, the mixture will be very frothy and liquid; as it cooks longer, it will slowly start to thicken until the frothy bubbles disappear and it becomes more viscous. Once it thickens, stop whisking every few seconds to see if the mixture has come to a boil. If it has not, keep whisking vigorously. As soon as you see it bubbling, immediately go back to whisking for just 10 seconds, and then remove the pan from the heat. Boiling the mixture will thicken it and cook out the flour taste, but if you let it boil for longer than 10 seconds, the mixture can become grainy. 

3. Pour, push, and scrape the mixture through the sieve into a small, heatproof bowl. Stir in the vanilla and then cover with plastic wrap, placing it directly on the surface of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or until cold, before using. The cream can be stored for up to 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 

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Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

It’s that time of year. I can’t look at a pumpkin recipe and just go on about my day. I have to stop and try almost everything I see that’s made with pumpkin. It can’t be helped. The other day I happened upon a slideshow of pumpkin recipes on the Martha site, and when I saw these Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins, I could not resist. I had some pumpkin puree on hand after making the Pumpkin Roulade, so there was really no reason not to go ahead and make the muffins. They’re cakey and tender with the pumpkin puree and butter, and the spices give them that lovely pumpkin pie flavor. When they come out of the oven and have cooled a bit, they’re brushed with melted butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar. They would be perfect for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning or every morning for the rest of pumpkin season.

To start, the dry ingredients were sifted together, and those included flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and allspice. I added cinnamon as well. In a separate bowl, buttermilk and pumpkin puree were whisked. In the bowl of a stand mixer, butter was creamed with light brown sugar, and two eggs were added. Then, the dry ingredients were mixed into the butter in three stages alternating with the buttermilk mixture. The batter was spooned into buttered muffin tin cups. You don’t want to use muffin tin liners here since the baked muffins will be coated with butter and cinnamon sugar. The muffins baked for about 30 minutes. After cooling for about ten minutes, each muffin was brushed with melted butter and then rolled in cinnamon sugar.

Pumpkin puree seems to work some kind of magic on the texture and flavor of whatever it’s mixed into, and the resulting cake, bread, or muffin always lasts well too. I’ve come to believe that baked goods with pumpkin cannot possibly be bad. Do you have a favorite pumpkin recipe I should try next?


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Blueberry-Pecan Loaf Cake

This summer, Slow Food Austin organized a series of cooking classes for kids between the ages of seven and twelve. I volunteer as a board member of Slow Food Austin and helped with the classes. This was the first time we’d done this, and we had no idea of what to expect. We weren’t sure if the kids would be enthusiastic or bored or what the parents would think. As it happened, the classes could not have gone better. The Young Chefs, as we called them, were excited about food and learning to cook, and the parents assured us the classes were informative and fun. It was great to watch kids interact and talk about food. A couple of the students compared notes about food and travel while discussing what they’d each eaten when they visited New Orleans. I was amazed at this food enthusiast kind of talk among seven year olds. Then, we couldn’t believe it when a little boy declared he was going to sell his Nintendo DS so he could buy a Le Creuset pot just like the ones we used in the classes. These were kids after my own heart. Since everyone who helped with the classes needed to arrive early for set-up, I made it a habit to bring along something for breakfast. For the last class, I had some late season Texas blueberries to use, and I found this Blueberry-Pecan Loaf Cake in Maida Heatter's Cakes. Unlike a dense and buttery pound cake, this one is lighter and filled with berries, nuts, and citrus.

The fresh berries were washed and spread on a towel to dry. Once dry, they were tossed with a little flour. The rest of the flour was sifted with salt, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. This cake batter included only one egg and two tablespoons of butter. Those were mixed with orange juice, and the dry ingredients were added. Last, orange zest and toasted, chopped pecans were folded into the batter. Maida offers a great tip by having you spread one-quarter of the batter in a prepared loaf pan and then folding the blueberries into the remaining batter. That way, there’s less chance of the blueberries sinking to the bottom. The remainder of the batter with the blueberries was then poured over the thin layer in the pan. The loaf cake baked for a little over an hour. Another good tip was to remove the loaf cake from the pan after it had cooled for ten minutes to prevent it from steaming in the pan which would cause a wet bottom crust.

Don’t get me wrong, I do love a buttery pound cake. But, that’s just not what this was. This was laden with juicy blueberries and crunchy nuts and smelled lovely from the orange juice and zest. I had to add an orange and confectioners’ sugar glaze because I can’t help myself, but it wasn't even required. The slices of this loaf cake made a great, grab-and-go breakfast the morning of the last Young Chef class. Maybe we’ve started future chefs or food bloggers on their way, but definitely we’ve gotten a group of kids to talk about food and think about how to prepare meals at home.

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Sour Lemon Scones

I might have a lemon problem. I just finished telling you about a lemon-butter sauce, and now I’m on to lemon scones. Yesterday, I made lemon gelato. I’ve been adding lemon to cold tomato soup, putting preserved lemon in all kinds of salads, and lemongrass keeps appearing in dishes I’m making lately. Guess what flavor my birthday cake was earlier this year? So, I like lemon and so does Kurt, and we both like scones as much as we like lemon. Given that track record, it’s hard to believe I hadn’t tried this recipe sooner. I picked up the Baked book the other day, looking for something interesting for weekend breakfasts, and there I found Sour Lemon Scones. If my lemon problem initially sounded crazy, then it’s about to get worse. You see, there’s an optional ingredient in these scones. Yes, I said optional. As an option, if you so choose, you could add chopped candied lemon peel to the scone dough. My first thought was that I’d call a few local stores, ask if they have candied lemon peel since I never see it when I’m shopping, and if I located it, I’d use it. If not, it was optional. After hearing multiple times that it’s not available because it’s only stocked during the holiday season, that word “optional” started getting blurry. I became convinced that it was absolutely necessary that I try these scones with the candied lemon peel included. I bought some organic lemons, peeled them, and made my own candied lemon peel. This could definitely be a lemon problem.

It’s not entirely my fault for going out of my way to make candied lemon peel. The recipe for making it is right there in the book. To quote the scones ingredient list: “1/2 cup diced candied lemon peel, optional (recipe follows)” I had to make it. I did only make enough for the scones though. I peeled a couple of lemons, and I always use organic when I’m using the peel or zest. The peels were placed in a saucepan with cold water, brought to a boil, and drained. This was repeated two more times to remove some of the bitterness. Then, the drained peels were placed in a saucepan with two cups of water and a cup of sugar, and I left it to simmer for almost an hour and then turned off the heat. The peels were left in the sugar syrup until cool enough to handle, and then they were cut into strips and returned to the syrup. You can store the strips in the syrup in the refrigerator for a few days, or after a few hours, you can removed the strips from the syrup, roll them in sugar, and leave them on a cooling rack to dry. I left them to dry overnight and made the scones the next day. The scone dough was a mix of flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, powdered ginger, butter, egg, buttermilk, and lemon zest. I used a mix of all-purpose flour and whole wheat pastry flour. After the butter was cut into the dry ingredients and the egg, buttermilk, and lemon zest were added, the chopped candied lemon peel was folded into the dough. Just before baking, the scones were brushed with buttermilk and sprinkled with turbinado sugar. And, when they were baked and cooled, I couldn’t resist drizzling them with a lemon and confectioners’ sugar glaze.

It’s possible that my brain was too busy thinking lemon, lemon, lemon, but I really barely noticed the ginger. I’m wondering if grating a little fresh ginger into the dough would be interesting next time. But mostly, I’m thinking about how deliciously lemony they were, and I’m delighted there are still a few in the freezer for another day.

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Chocolate-Bananagasm Muffins

It is a catchy recipe title, and chocolate and banana in the same place always gets my attention anyway. So, it was a given that I’d try this. I shared a few of these muffins with some friends, told them what they’re called, and asked them to let me know if they were indeed bananagasmic. Everyone agreed that they were. Although, one friend felt it was more appropriate to wait until no males were in the room to admit it. Her reputation is safe. I won’t tell. The recipe comes from the new book The Sugar Cube by Kir Jensen, who operates a Portland food cart with the same name, and I received a review copy. It’s full of fun twists on classics and some new takes on sweets as well. I’ve been baking from it practically nonstop since reading it. The Twisted Toll House Cookies, which are thin and crisp and made with hazelnut flour and finely chopped chocolate, became an instant favorite in our house. Some recipes I haven’t gotten to yet but can’t wait to try include: the Bing Cherry Breakfast Clafoutis with an oat crumble topping; the Highway to Heaven Cupcakes which are chocolate cakes brushed with coffee syrup, filled with caramel sauce, topped with ganache, with an optional garnish of shards of potato chips; and the Black and White Sesame Brittle with pretty flecks of two kinds of sesame seeds. But, let’s get back to these muffins. They’re made with melted bittersweet chocolate, cocoa powder, cacao nibs, and of course, mashed bananas. The flavor was all kinds of chocolate fabulousness, and the texture of the muffins was perfect for days given the banana which kept them from becoming dry.

To start, chopped bittersweet chocolate, or feves which is what I used, was melted in a double-boiler. Mashed bananas were added to the melted chocolate. In a separate bowl, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt were sifted. With a stand mixer, butter and brown sugar were creamed, three eggs were added followed by vanilla extract, and then the dry ingredients, cacao nibs, and chocolate-banana mixture were added. As with many of the recipes in this book, finishing salt makes a big difference here. Fleur de sel was sprinkled on the muffins just before they went into the oven, and it works like a spotlight brightening every flavor.

With three eggs and two mashed bananas, the crumb was tender and lovely with nice contrast from the crunchy cacao nibs. There’s a suggestion to serve the muffins with nut butter, and out of journalistic integrity, I felt it necessary to test that concept. It’s a superb idea, but even plain, these muffins were deserving of their name.

Chocolate-Bananagasm Muffins
Recipe reprinted with publisher's permission from The Sugar Cube.

The world doesn’t need another blueberry muffin. And don’t get me started on bran. But a chocolate muffin moistened with banana purée and sprinkled with sea salt? Hell, yes! These are so moist and tender yet not too sweet, and the cacao nibs add texture and a deeper chocolate flavor. When you have a couple of death-row bananas on your hands, skip the same old banana bread and whip up a batch of these. I adapted the recipe from a great food blog called “80 Breakfasts.” Serve with salted butter or your favorite nut butter, such as fresh almond or peanut.

MAKES 12 MUFFINS

Ingredients
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons bittersweet chocolate (about 3 ounces)
2 large very ripe bananas, pureed
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt 
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
1/4 cup (1 ounce) cacao nibs 
Granulated sugar for sprinklling
Fleur de sel for sprinkling 

TIP This also can be made as a lovely dessert. This amount of batter is perfect for a 4-cup mini-Bundt pan. Generously butter the pan. Baking times will vary, so check after 30 minutes; the top should spring back when touched and a knife inserted into the center should come out clean.

Instructions

PREHEAT THE OVEN to 325°F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Put the chopped chocolate in a medium metal bowl and put the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Heat, stirring, until the chocolate is just melted. Remove the bowl from the heat and let cool. Stir in the banana purée.

SIFT TOGETHER THE FLOUR, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into a small bowl.

IN THE BOWL OF A STAND MIXER fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients, cacao nibs, and chocolate-banana mixture and beat just until combined.

DIVIDE THE BATTER equally among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops lightly with granulated sugar and fleur de sel and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the pan from front to back and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes. The tops should look crackled and slightly wet between the cracks. Let cool a bit before serving warm.

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Flax-Coconut Pancakes

I used to make pancakes almost every weekend. Stacks of simple buttermilk cakes dripping with maple syrup was a Sunday morning thing. Then, I think I developed pancake-guilt. I decided even weekend breakfasts should be a little healthier at least most of the time. If a pancake has some fruit in it or whole wheat flour or nuts, I feel better about serving it. So, of course I had to try the Flax-Coconut Pancakes from the March issue of Food and Wine. The recipe is from Elisabeth Prueitt of San Francisco’s Tartine. She too likes the idea of a healthier pancake, and she’s recently been using grains other than white flour since developing gluten-intolerance. For myself, I’m not concerned about the gluten content in baked goods, but I was happy to pull out my bin of various flours and starches and use some ingredients other than white flour. And mostly, these pancakes sounded like they’d be delicious with the coconut flour in the batter and the coconut oil on the griddle. I pushed the coconut flavor even further by adding some unsweetened, grated coconut. For serving, I couldn’t resist the usual drizzle of pure maple syrup, but I topped that with some chunks of fresh mango as well.

The recipe follows the typical pancake-making procedure but uses a few more ingredients. Brown rice flour, white rice flour, sugar, potato starch, tapioca starch, coconut flour, flaxseed meal, baking powder, and salt were combined in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, eggs, milk, and melted coconut oil were whisked before being poured into the dry ingredients. I added a half cup or so of grated coconut and a little more milk to prevent the batter from being too thick. I spread melted coconut oil on a hot griddle with a silicone brush, and then the pancakes were cooked for a few minutes per side. Just like any other kind of pancake, when the surface bubbles, it’s time to turn the cake.

The pancakes had a subtle, warm, tropical flavor from coconut in three forms which was fitting with the mango chunks on top. The coconut and flax make these heartier than plain buttermilk pancakes, but most important, I was pancake-guilt-free serving these for a weekend breakfast treat covered in maple syrup.

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Triple Citrus Coffee Cake

I guess I’ve made it a tradition that I bake a somewhat elaborate breakfast bread for Easter. I can handle that so long as I find a recipe that’s just as good to attempt next year. This year, it was a rolled and cut yeasted sweet bread dough filled with cream cheese mixed with poppy seeds and dried cranberries. The recipe is from an issue of Living magazine from several years ago. My best guess is that it appeared in the early 2000’s, and the recipe is not available online so I’ll include it below. The triple citrus part of the name comes from the orange juice as well as the lemon, orange, and lime zest that are included in the dough. The process for making this is exactly like making cinnamon rolls only rather than cutting individual rolls, the dough is only partially cut through and pieces are twisted out from the center. Now that I look back at my photos, I realize I could have done a better job of that twisting. Regardless of the direction of the twists and how the pieces land, it’s a fragrant and delicious coffee cake. The tender, buttery dough makes it easy to pull a piece off the finished loaf, and the flavors will have you pulling at a second piece soon enough.

This breakfast bread or coffee cake is actually pretty simple to prepare, you just have to allow the time for the dough to rise. Also, this recipe makes two loaves so you can either feed a crowd or store the second loaf in the freezer. To begin, active dry yeast was added to warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer. To that, orange juice, two eggs, more sugar, melted butter, citrus zests, and salt were added. Those ingredients were mixed with a dough hook, and five cups of flour were added one cup at a time while mixing on low speed. The dough was turned out onto a floured surface and kneaded for a few minutes. It was then left to rise for about one and a half hours. When the dough had risen, softened cream cheese was mixed with confectioner’s sugar, two egg yolks, and vanilla, and then poppy seeds and dried cranberries were added. Two baking sheets were lined with buttered parchment paper. The dough was cut in half, and one half at a time was rolled into a big rectangle. Each piece of dough was brushed with melted butter followed by the cream cheese mixture, and then each dough rectangle was rolled into a log. Each log of dough was placed on a prepared baking sheet. Then, each log was cut down one side about six or seven times along the length of the dough with the cuts spaced two inches apart. The cuts only went partially through the rolled dough. Each cut segment was turned to face cut-side up with every other segment being twisted to the opposite side. The cut and twisted loaves were covered with plastic wrap and left for a second rise for about 30 minutes. Before being baked, each loaf was brushed with egg wash.

The dough turns a lovely golden brown as it bakes, and the citrus scent filled the kitchen. If the eggs and melted butter in the dough didn’t make it delicious enough on its own, the sweet cream cheese filling takes it up another level in decadence. This is a definite keeper, so I’ll eventually get better at making those twists in the dough.

Triple Citrus Coffee Cake
From Martha Stewart Living

makes two 16-inch loaves

1/2 cup butter melted, plus 3 tablespoons butter melted
1/2 cup warm water
2 envelopes active dry yeast or 2 tablespooons
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 eggs, lightly beaten, plus one egg for egg wash
zest of one organic lemon
zest of one organic lime
zest of one organic orange
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
spray oil for bowl
1 pound, or two 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup dried cranberries (4 ¼ ounces)
2/3 cup poppy seeds

-In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, place warm water and yeast. Mix to dissolve and let stand for a few minutes until foamy. Add orange juice, two whole eggs, the granulated sugar, 1/2 cup of the melted butter, the citrus zests, and salt. Mix until combined. On low speed, slowly add the flour one cup at a time, and mix until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

-Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Spray a large bowl with spray oil and transfer the dough to the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave the dough to rise for about an hour and a half or until doubled in size.

-When the dough is almost finished rising, add the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla to a large mixing bowl and either stir together or mix with a hand mixer until smooth. Stir in dried cranberries and poppy seeds until well combined.

-Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and brush the parchment paper with one tablespoon of melted butter. Divide the dough in half, and working with one half, roll it out on a floured surface into a rectangle about eleven inches by fifteen inches. Brush the dough with one tablespoon of melted butter. Spread half of the cream cheese mixture over the rectangle. Beginning on a long side of the rectangle, use your fingertips to roll the dough into a log, and pinch the seam to seal. Place the roll on one of the prepared baking sheets seam side down. Using a sharp knife, cut segments into the dough roll, along one side, at two-inch increments. The segments should only be cut three-quarters of the way through the width of the log. Pick up the first segment and turn it so it sits cut-side up. Lift and twist the second segment so it sits cut-side up on the opposite side of the roll. Repeat with alternating segments along the roll of dough. Then, repeat rolling, filling, and cutting with second piece of dough.

-Loosely cover each loaf with plastic wrap and set them aside to rise for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Uncover the loaves and brush the dough only with egg wash. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, rotating baking sheets front to back and switching bottom pan to top and top to bottom in the oven after 15 minutes. Let cool before slicing or simply pulling pieces from the loaves.

I’m submitting this to Yeastspotting where you’ll find some seriously well-made bread.

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Fig Bread

Even though I wasn’t exactly sure of what this recipe would produce, I completely trusted that it would be good. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be like a pound cake or more like a loaf of chewy raisin bread, but since Maida Heatter said it is “old-fashioned and kind-of-healthy-tasting… this is wonderful as a coffee cake” I wanted to try it. It’s from Maida Heatter's Cakes, and if Maida has included a recipe in one of her books, you know it’s well-tested and worth making. This fig bread is made with dried figs, of course, white and whole wheat flour, honey, buttermilk, just a half a stick of butter, and some walnuts. There’s no refined sugar or eggs, and that’s what caused my uncertainty about it. When I cut a slice of the bread, I discovered it was sweet from the honey and figs, but not too sweet, and tasted more decadent than expected for a whole wheat loaf. Maida suggests serving the fig bread plain or toasted, which she notes is “super,” or with butter, cheese, honey, or marmalade. I agree that it is super toasted and enjoyed it on its own with either no other adornment or just a thin coating of butter.

There’s always something interesting in Maida’s instructions. Here, to prepare the loaf pan, she recommends buttering the pan and then dusting it with wheat germ for a brown crust, oatmeal for a chewy crust, or dry bread crumbs. I went with wheat germ, and the crust was nicely browned. To start the bread, white flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda were combined, and whole wheat flour was added and mixed to combine. Dried figs that had been stemmed and chopped were tossed in the dry ingredients to coat. In a separate bowl, honey, buttermilk, and melted butter were mixed, and toasted, chopped walnuts were added. The wet ingredients were folded into the dry ingredients, the batter was poured into the wheat germ-dusted pan, and it baked for about an hour.

As a reward for trusting the recipe, I got a fruit- and nut-filled bread that was perfect for breakfast. It wasn’t too rich or heavy, and it packed enough flavor of its own that toppings weren’t even necessary. It’s rare that I dive into a recipe without a pretty good idea of the outcome, but in this case, I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed.

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Oatmeal-Maple Scones

Do you have a favorite breakfast treat? I think I have a pretty equal appreciation for baked goods in the breakfast category. I might be a little more interested in popovers and croissants than muffins, but I certainly don’t shun them. Cinnamon rolls and Danish never disappoint me either. For that matter, I can be made very happy with some toasted, good bread and a fresh nut butter. Then, there are scones. They’re rich but not gooey, just sweet enough but not too much, and they accompany a hot cup of tea or a frothy cappuccino perfectly. And, Kurt is admittedly partial to scones above all other breakfast breads. He notices when it’s been a while since I’ve baked scones and starts dropping hints. Thankfully, though, neither of us is picky about shape, size, or flavor when it comes to scones. That means I can experiment with any scone recipe that sounds interesting, and I found another one from the book Flour that looked like it was well worth a try. After sorting through bags of leftover nuts, dried fruit, and grains, I found everything I needed to make them. I did substitute walnuts for the suggested pecans, but that was the only change I made.

The dough for these scones comes together in the usual way, but here, it’s made in a mixer. Flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, golden raisins, and toasted and chopped nuts, walnuts in my case, were mixed in the bowl of a stand mixer until combined. Cold butter, cut into small pieces, was scattered on top and mixed for half a minute to break it into even smaller pieces and begin to incorporate it. In a separate bowl, cream, maple syrup, and an egg were whisked, and then that was mixed into the flour and butter until the dough just formed. Interestingly, the scone dough itself is only sweetened with the maple syrup and no additional sugar was added. Off the mixer, you should use a rubber spatula to move the dough around and make sure all the dry ingredients at the bottom of the bowl are worked into the dough. Rather than cutting the dough into shapes, here, it was scooped from the bowl into mounds on a baking sheet. The portioned scones on the baking sheet could have been frozen at this point and then baked directly from the freezer, but I put them straight into the oven. As the scones cooled, they were topped with a glaze made from confectioners’ sugar, maple syrup, and water.

They had great texture from the oats and nuts and the chewy raisins, and they were filled with maple flavor. I liked the crispy edges on these scones that resulted from the dough being dropped on the baking sheet rather than the scones being cut. And, I liked how easy that made them to make. This was a winner of a scone variation, and now I have one more for the rotation when I hear those hints.

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Apple Cider Doughnuts

As soon as apple cider appeared this fall, I started thinking about apple cider doughnuts. I'd see them mentioned here and there, crave them more, and hope I could find time to make them the next weekend. I'd never made them before and didn't have a particular recipe in mind, but I was sure there must be some reference to doughnuts made with apple cider in at least one of my books. There wasn't. I found buttermilk cake doughnuts, yeast-risen doughnuts, baked doughnuts, beignets, and nearly every imaginable version of fried dough except apple cider doughnuts. Thankfully, a quick online search led me to The Washington Post and a story from 2004 with the recipe I used here. At that point, so many fall weekends had slipped by it was already Thanksgiving, and I decided a breakfast of apple cider doughnuts would be the best possible way to start the day. Actually, working on these doughnuts while I had several other reasons to be puttering around the kitchen worked out well. It's not exactly a quick-as-can-be kind of process. The apple cider had to be reduced, and then the dough needed to be chilled, and then the cut doughnuts and holes required refrigerator time before being fried. In between each of those steps, I was organizing pots and pans and making sure everything was ready for the big meal later in the day.

So, I warned you this recipe requires a little patience, but one taste of the warm, glazed doughnuts will convince you it was all worthwhile. First, butter needs to come to room temperature. Let that sit on the counter while a cup of apple cider is reduced to one-quarter cup which takes about 30 minutes. Then, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and freshly grated nutmeg in a mixing bowl. With a mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar, and add eggs and mix until incorporated. The reduced and cooled apple cider and some buttermilk should be added next and mixed to combine. Next, the flour mixture is added and mixed just until the dough forms. The recipe instructions guide you very well through the next few steps. You prep two baking sheets with parchment sprinkled heavily with flour. The dough is turned out onto one of those sheets, and the dough is sprinkled with more flour and flattened with your hands to a one-half inch thickness. That sheet pan with dough is then placed in the freezer for 20 minutes. Once chilled, the dough is cut into doughnuts and doughnut holes which are placed on the second prepared baking sheet. That pan with cut shapes is then refrigerated for 20 to 30 minutes. While the cut doughnuts chill, the oil is brought up to 350 degrees F in a wide, heavy-bottomed pan. Frying is the quickest step of all since the doughnuts only require 30 to 60 seconds per side. They're then placed on a sheet pan lined with paper towels to drain, and the glaze is made. Confectioners' sugar and apple cider are whisked together for the glaze, and the warm doughnuts are dipped into it and then devoured.

Doughnuts are always at their very best when freshly made and still warm. But, if you wanted to attempt making these in advance, I suggest waiting to glaze them at the last minute and re-warming them in the oven right before dipping them in the glaze. The thin glaze runs down the sides of the warm doughnuts and leaves just the right amount of coating. These did make for a deliciously sweet start to Thanksgiving day, but I don't think there's ever a bad time for doughnuts.

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