sugar

Daring Bakers: Star Breads

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Beauty surrounded the Daring Bakers this month as our host, Sawsan, of chef in disguise, challenged us to make beautiful, filled breads. Who knew breads could look as great as they taste?

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When I saw this challenge I felt a little intimidated.  I don’t feel 100% comfortable with bread, always fearing I will make a mistake somewhere along the way and the dough won’t rise or the end product will be dry and inedible.  But I wound up with two wonderful loaves of beautiful bread that even my kids loved.  It was referred to as the “special bread” by my son.

This challenge gave Daring Bakers the freedom to choose what they used to fill their bread and also what design they would create.  Being the non-creative type I just used the suggested methods for twisting my loaves of bread.  And if any part of you thinks, “I can’t do that.” trust me, you can.  It’s easier than it seems. For fillings I made a savory bread and a sweet bread.  I used the same dough recipe for each.

For the savory loaf I chose basil pesto and mozzarella cheese.  My only regret is not adding just a little more cheese to the layers.  But it was delicious and something I would definitely go through the trouble to make again.  It would be a lovely and impressive bread to bring to a dinner party or pot luck.

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For the sweet loaf I went with classic cinnamon sugar.  We ate this bread for breakfast over the course of 3 days and Carson was sad when it was gone.  Again, this is something I’d make again without hesitation.  The method I used in twisting the dough was a little more complicated and tedious than the pesto bread, but baked up beautifully.

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I drizzled this bread with a simple milk and powdered sugar glaze before serving.  Almost like eating a cinnamon roll, possibly better.cinnamonbread1

Here are a few pictures of the process, none of the actual twisting of the bread since I am my own photographer and could not manage to get any action shots.

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The instructions I am going to try to write for how to shape your bread will probably fail in perfectly communicating how to do it.  So here are a few links that will help you.

This one has a good video on the entire process.  This is not the twisting method I used, but I think it looks beautiful and wish I’d found it before I made my bread!

And this one is what I used.  I found the pictures and instructions to be very helpful.

Pesto Star Bread

Ingredients

Dough

  • 1/4 cup water
  • 3/4 cup milk, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons dry yeast
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3-1/4 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (start with 3 1/4, add more if you need it)

Filling

  • 3-5 tablespoons basil pesto, store bought or homemade
  • 3-5 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese

Topping

  • olive oil
  • faked salt

Directions

Dough

  1. Heat butter, milk and water just until butter has melted and mixture is between 100 and 110°F, warm but not hot.
  2. Put milk mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk in egg and sugar, then sprinkle yeast on to the mixture, stir once then let sit for 10-15 minutes.  Mixture should be foamy after this, if it’s not your liquid was too hot and killed the yeast or your yeast was no good to begin with.
  3. Place the dough hook on your mixer and begin mixing, adding about a cup of flour at a time.  Once all the flour has been added, mix until dough comes together.
  4. Place in a large greased bowl, cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours, until doubled in size.

Filling and Shaping and Baking

  1. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
  2. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 4 equal sized pieces.
  3. Roll one dough piece out, just big enough to fit your template.  I used an 8-inch cake pan, but I think if you can manage to roll your dough out well enough you could get a 9 or 10-inch circle out of the dough.  8-inch was a nice size, though.
  4. Place the template onto the dough and trim off the excess.  Transfer to the cookie sheet.
  5. Spread with a heaping tablespoon of pesto, just about to the edge, then sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon of cheese.
  6. Repeat with the remaining balls of dough, but not topping the top layer with pesto and cheese.  Press and tuck the edges of the top piece to enclose the bread somewhat.
  7. Brush the top layer with olive oil.
  8. With a small sharp knife or a bench scraper, cut the bread into 12 wedges, leaving the outer edge intact, making sure to cut all the way through the layers.
  9. Take one triangle and twist it gently 3 times and place back  in the center.  Repeat with the rest of the wedges, twisting in the same direction.
  10. Let rest for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 450°F.  Sprinkle with flaked salt and bake for 5 minutes, then lower oven temp to 375°F and bake for 10-15 more minutes until bread is golden brown.  Keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t get too dark.

Cinnamon Star Bread

Ingredients

Dough

  • 1/4 cup water
  • 3/4 cup milk, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons dry yeast
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3-1/4 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling

  • 1/2 stick butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Topping

  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon sugar

Glaze (enough for 4 pieces, double for the entire loaf)

  • 1/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons milk

Directions

Dough

  1. Heat butter, milk and water just until butter has melted and mixture is between 100 and 110°F, warm but not hot.
  2. Put milk mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk in egg and sugar, then sprinkle yeast on to the mixture, stir once then let sit for 10-15 minutes.  Mixture should be foamy after this, if it’s not your liquid was too hot and killed the yeast or your yeast was no good to begin with.
  3. Place the dough hook on your mixer and begin mixing, adding about a cup of flour at a time.  Once all the flour has been added, mix until dough comes together.
  4. Place in a large greased bowl, cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours, until doubled in size.

Filling and Shaping and Baking

  1. Whisk sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
  3. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 4 equal sized pieces.
  4. Roll one dough piece out, just big enough to fit your template.  I used an 8-inch cake pan, but I think if you can manage to roll your dough out well enough you could get a 9 or 10-inch circle out of the dough.  8-inch was a nice size, though.
  5. Place the template onto the dough and trim the excess.  Transfer carefully to the cookie sheet.
  6. Brush bottom layer with butter, then sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar.  Repeat with the remaining dough, but only brush the top layer with butter.
  7. Using a small sharp knife or a bench scraper cut circle of dough into 8 equal-sized wedges, making sure to cut all the way through the layers.
  8. With a small knife cut a slit in the center of each triangle leaving space at the top and bottom, the cut should not reach either the base or the tip of the triangle.
  9. Take the tip of the triangle and gently bring it up, over and through the slit, then repeat once more making two twists.  Place the triangle back on the baking sheet and repeat with the remaining pieces.
  10. Take the outside edge of each triangle and pinch the ends up and together.
  11. Whisk together the milk and sugar and brush onto the bread.
  12. Let rest for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 450°F.
  13. Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 375°F and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Glaze

  1. Sift powdered sugar into a bowl.
  2. Whisk in milk until mixture is smooth.
  3. Glaze entire loaf (with a doubled recipe of the glaze) OR glaze each piece individually.  If you don’t plan to eat all the bread in one sitting I’d recommend waiting to glaze the remaining bread until you plan to eat it.

Store any leftover bread wrapped in foil at room temperature for 3-5 days.  Re-warm in a low oven, toaster oven or microwave.  You could also freeze this bread, wrap it well in plastic wrap, then foil.  Thaw then reheat in a low oven.

 

 

Caramel Pot de Creme

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I know.  I just posted a pot de creme recipe.  But this one is different.  And more simple.  And just as delicious.   I just couldn’t help but share this one with you as well.

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This pot de creme is called “butterscotch” on Epicurious, where I found this recipe, but it’s more caramel in flavor in my opinion.  Which is fine by me.  It’s less rich than the other pot de creme, making it much easier to enjoy.  It’s delicious and creamy and a snap to prepare.  It’s a great make ahead dessert, and one that would be wonderful for Valentine’s Day for those of you who love sweets but aren’t in to chocolate.

In the original recipe are two sugars, Muscovado and Demerara, that I’ve heard of but couldn’t find at the grocery store, so I simply used light and dark brown sugar.  If you can find the others, go right ahead and use them, but the combination of sugars I used was perfect (and probably less expensive).

I did not have the same problem with these pots de creme as I had with the last ones.  Each pot de creme was smooth and creamy on top.  You do still bake them in a water bath, but there is no need to cover them.  Which is nice for absent minded people like me who tend to forget stuff like that.

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Top these with sweetened whipped cream, grated chocolate, berries or enjoy them on their own.  Enjoy!

Caramel Pot de Creme

From Epicurious

Makes 6 4-ounce custards

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 6 tablespoons dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons water
  • 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • sweetened whipped cream, berries, grated chocolate for topping

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 300°F.
  2. Bring a teapot of water to a simmer to use for the water bath.
  3. Combine dark brown sugar, cream and salt in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve sugar completely.  Do not let the mixture boil.  Remove from the heat and pour into a heatproof bowl.
  4. In another saucepan, bring water and light brown sugar to a boil over medium high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Continue cooking until the mixture begins to brown and bubble, stirring constantly.  This should take about 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and slowly pour caramel into the cream mixture, whisking to combine.  Mixture may bubble and steam.
  5. In a large bowl whisk egg yolks and vanilla, then add hot cream mixture in small amounts, whisking constantly to avoid scrambling the egg yolks.  One you’ve added 1/3 of the mixture, stream in the rest and whisk well.
  6. Pour custard through a sieve (to remove any cooked egg lumps) into the bowl that originally contained the cream.
  7. Set 6 ramekins in baking dish then divide custard evenly among them.  Place in the oven, then fill pan with hot water, about halfway up the sides of the ramekins.  Try to keep water from splashing into the custards.
  8. Bake, uncovered for 40-45 minutes, until custards are set but centers are still wobbly.
  9. Remove ramekins to a cooling rack and cool slightly.  You can enjoy these at room temperature, or refrigerate them for a few hours.
  10. Top with whipped cream, chocolate and/or berries.

Caramel Sauce

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When you describe something as being “vanilla” this may mean it is plain and simple, or it may be a more negative description meaning that something is ordinary, conventional or boring.

I like vanilla ice cream, but sometimes it can be so very…vanilla.  I recently bought a half gallon of Bluebell Vanilla Bean ice cream instead of my usual purchase of Homemade Vanilla.  Homemade Vanilla is a vanilla ice cream that can be eaten end enjoyed plain.  The Vanilla Bean, in my opinion, cannot.  I needed something to make it a little more interesting.  Something to kick it up a notch.  Chocolate syrup was not going to do it for me.  I found this recipe for caramel sauce on Simply Recipes, and it was terrific.

I had all the ingredients (there are only three!) and it didn’t take long at all.  The only part that takes any time is waiting for the sugar to melt.  Everything else goes extremely quickly.  So, heed the advice in the recipe and have everything ready to go before you start.  And use a pan with high sides.  The cream definitely makes the sugar mixture spatter, and it is hot.  Be careful.

My caramel sauce was pretty dark, but very delicious.  I poured it warm over some vanilla ice cream the night I made it and it was perfect.  I kept the rest in the fridge for a day or so.  When I wanted some more, I just scooped a spoonful out of the jar and heated it in the microwave.  Easy-peasy.

Here is a link to the recipe.

Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 6 Tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Directions
  1. First, before you begin, make sure you have everything ready to go – the cream and the butter next to the pan, ready to put in. Making caramel is a fast process that cannot wait for hunting around for ingredients. If you don’t work fast, the sugar will burn. Safety first – make sure there are no children under foot and you may want to wear oven mitts; the caramelized sugar will be much hotter than boiling water.
  2. Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan. As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want, from this point on. Note that this recipe works best if you are using a thick-bottomed pan. If you find that you end up burning some of the sugar before the rest of it is melted, the next time you attempt it, add a half cup of water to the sugar at the beginning of the process, this will help the sugar to cook more evenly, though it will take longer as the water will need to evaporate before the sugar will caramelize.
  3. As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.
  4. Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Count to three, then slowly add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Note than when you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up considerably. This is why you must use a pan that is at least 2-quarts (preferably 3-quarts) big. (Check here for an explanation of why adding the cream makes the mixture bubble up so much.)
  5. Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass mason jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. (Remember to use pot holders when handling the jar filled with hot caramel sauce.) Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving.

Makes a little over one cup of sauce.