cheesy bread

I've been hearing again about Artisan Baking in 5 Minutes recently, first on Adam's blog (now I want a Key Lime Pi shirt -- I'm such a sucker for subliminal advertising), then I saw a recipe over at Pete Bakes! for roasted tomato and cheddar bread. The recipe makes 4 1-pound loaves, though you don't have to make it all at once since you can leave the dough in the fridge for up to seven days. Nice.

As you can see, I left the tomatoes out, using them as a base for a quick pasta sauce instead. But that doesn't detract from the bread in any way. Using whole wheat flour in place of some of the white flour, the sharp cheddar paired well with the nuttiness. Definitely I need to toast a slice, and I wish I had apple butter.

What impressed me the most about this was two things, 1) no real kneading, and 2) no fat in the recipe. You'd get some if you added the tomatoes, but otherwise nothing. The bread comes out wonderfully moist and spongy with an even crumb. A rustic crust and a subtle fermented flavor is also there, though since I made this loaf the first day I'm betting the second loaf will taste even better. I opted to divide the dough in half to make two 9x5" loaves, suitable for sandwiches and such, though considering that I should have sliced them a bit thinner.

I'm submitting this to YeastSpotting and One Good Loaf.

cookies of the week

In an attempt to regain control of baking habits, and also so I won't end up with fifty dozen cookies at a pop, I've decided to loosely have a "cookie of the week". While not set in stone, it gives me a guideline so I can better determine the butter usage.

These sparkly treats came from Smitten Kitchen's post about peanut butter cookies. My addition was to finely chop around a half cup of peanuts and mix in after you cream the butter and sugar. I thought of this because I wondered if a peanut butter cookie I had once might have had finely chopped pieces strewn in. Whatever you do, these are incredible, and as per her instructions, don't overbake them.

Giant ginger cookies must be made every fall, though it doesn't particularly matter what recipe you use, anything spicy is a fall cookie. These are given a kick thanks to the pepper, which I decreased to an 1/8 of a teaspoon. Plenty of spicy after-bite remained, even more so the following days. My cookies didn't come out as thick as the ones in the picture, even with refrigerating the dough; oh well. By the bye, these were made a few weeks ago.

Do you guys have a baking routine you follow, even if it's more a loose guideline?

End of post.

Piglet's Honey Cake

I think I've finally gone through all the major recipes in The Little Big Book of Pooh, finishing up with this amazing cake.

A lightly spiced cake with more than an essence of honey, this seemed like the perfect cake to make for a breakfast or brunch type thing, even a perfect tea cake, or perhaps a sweet dessert. The great part is that I didn't necessarily need a blender, just some arm power to get the eggs and sugar light and fluffy (almost to the stage of lifting the beater and watching the mixture fall back in a ribbon, but not quite).

The only hangup with the recipe was that I got my 9-inch round cake pan out (because the square pan was a bit larger), then I stared at the bowl of finished cake batter to realize that if I proceeded, I'd end up with a mess that would necessitate a move. I finally ended up getting the 8-inch springform pan out since it was a bit larger than 8-inch and the circle of wax paper pretty much fit and I didn't need to cut out another. Whew.

So I'm baking this up, it's taking longer than the recipe states, though I figured it's due to the size of the cake, I don't really know, I just keep cooking it, probably for an hour and fifteen or twenty five minutes, tenting with foil after 45 minutes. It finally baked and smelled delicious, which was a good thing since I was starting to be bothered.

I was getting bothered because I started doubting how well this would turn out, but I needn't have been worried since this is probably one of the tastiest cakes I've baked up in a while! Lightly spiced, almost a flowery taste from the honey and grated orange rind and orange juice, it was like having a snack in the 100 Acre Woods with all your pals on a breezy, sunny spring fall day, bundled in coats and scarves with a few leaves blowing through the air.

Really, if you need a simple, albeit impressive cake to bring, this would do it. Very tall, a lovely homey feel and look to it with a texture almost reminiscent of a wedding cake because the flour is sifted twice, lending a soft and velvety texture that might surprise the eater, who at first will think of it as a sturdy, dense cake full of flavor. The flavor stays, but with a moist and airy crumb. The recipe says it can be frosted with a fudgy frosting, though that's almost criminal. The spices are light in the end product and mostly go to lend an overall medley of flavors, and as does the half cup of coffee. What really brightens things up is the addition of orange rind and juice added at the very end when you mix in walnuts.

All you really need to know is that you'll be the hit of the woods if you make this, it of course being a quintessential Pooh recipe with the 100 Acre Woods seal of approval.

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Piglet's Honey Cake
From The Little Big Book of Pooh by Monique Peterson

ingredients ~
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup honey
1/2 cup cool strong brewed coffee
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts or walnuts
zest of 1/2 orange
1 tablespoon cognac (I used freshly squeezed orange juice)

directions ~

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease large Bundt pan or 8-inch round springform pan.


2. Sift (sift it, don't whisk it) together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large bowl.


3. Lightly beat the eggs in a medium bowl. Add sugar gradually and whisk until mixture is light and fluffy.


4. Blend the honey and coffee together and stir in the oil. Stir into egg mixture. Make a well in the center of flour and add egg mixture, whisking until well combined.


5. Stir in chopped nuts, orange zest, and cognac (or orange juice).


6. Pour batter into pan and bake in center of oven 45-55 minutes (mine took over and hour, definitely, maybe 1 hour and 15 minutes), or until tester comes out clean. Tent with foil if browning before cooking time is up. Cool on wire rack.

Piglet's variation: To sate that extra sweet tooth, dust with confectioners' sugar or spread with a fudgy frosting.