Small Mister "cookies"

I like hot cross buns.  But I admit, I like simple hot cross buns.  Just raisins and currants.  A little bit of a cinnamon glaze and the frosting.  Warm them up with a cup of tea and they are just lovely.  I like them for breakfast or an afternoon snack.  But I like bread in those forms.  

I was reading my twitter feed, which is an interesting combination of foodies, crafters, and authors, and saw a posting about a British tea cake.  It intrigued me.  Especially with white chocolate used instead of beef lard.

Small Mister calls them cookies.  They look kind of like cookies because I do not make them very large.  They are sweet because of the currants I used.  No frosting but you could frost them.  I have been eating them heated with butter.  Yum!  Small Mister eats them like cookies.  He likes to help make them!

tea cakes

Note:  Adapted form Dan Leopard.  Still waiting on the cookbook from the library so I can read the original recipe.

sourdough starter

125 ml water

120 grams flour

480 grams flour

150 ml milk

50 grams sugar

50 grams melted white chocolate

300 grams currants

1 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

The night before, mix the sourdough, water, and  120 grams flour.  Cover and let sit overnight in  a warm place.  When ready to use, take out a couple tablespoons of starter for next time.

Mix in the milk, eggs, and sugar.  Mix in the salt.  Mix in the melted white chocolate and currants.  Mix in the flour.  Turn out and knead on the counter.  You may need a bit more flour or water on your hands.  Keep the dough as soft as possible. 

When smooth (or as smooth as it gets with the currants in the dough), cover and let rise.  Punch down.  I did two rises because life dictated that. 

Cover a baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper.  Shape the cakes in small balls.  I like small but you may like bigger.  Cover and let rise until puffy.  They may not rise much due to the fruit but the dough will be softer and puffy.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until golden.

Cookies!  As Small Mister says.  Yummy with tea.

brioche with chocolate swirl

I have needed to have my hands in dough lately.  It is calming.  Yeastie beasties are such nice friendly beasts.  Though I admit I really have not conquered croissants yet.  I especially like chocolate filled croissants.  Part of it is they are sweet but not too sweet.  Brioche I like and when I saw a recipe for chocolate filled brioche I thought why not.

I took the brioche dough made with creme fraiche and swirled the chocolate through it.  So good.  I also went back to easy.  A bit of a dump here, a bit of a dump there for making brioche.  I usually only use the scale the first couple times and then I eye it.  I am already there with this brioche dough, so this time the quantities are in volumes.  Bread is really this easy.  Nothing to be afraid of.  Just lovely warm yumminess.

brioche with chocolate swirl

sourdough starter

3/4 cup water

1 cup flour 

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

8 ounces creme fraiche

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

4 plus cups of flour

1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips.  I used mini so if you use larger you will want to chop them.

1 teaspoon cinnamon

a two finger pinch ancho chili pepper ground

a two finger pinch chipolte pepper ground

The night before, mix the sourdough starter, water, and 1 cup flour in a large bowl.  Cover and let get bubbly.  The next day, take a bit of the starter out for the next time.

Mix in the eggs, milk, sugar, and salt.  Mix in 3 1/2 cups flour.  The dough should be very wet.  Mix in another 1/2 cup of flour.  Turn out the dough on a floured surface.  Knead until smooth but try not too add too much dough.  Cover and let rise for an hour and a half.  

Mix the chocolate, cinnamon, and peppers together in a small bowl.

Butter a jelly roll pan or  a large deep casserole dish.  When the dough has risen, turn out and roll into a large rectangle.  Spread the chocolate mixture over it.  Roll up along the long side (short side if you wish LARGE pieces later).  Place in the pan, same side down, and cover.  Let rise for one hour.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour or until golden and hollow.

Just lovely.  It was my breakfast this morning!  

brioche made with creme fraiche

I have been wishing to bake breads.  Which is why having a couple brioche recipes in the wings is not a bad thing.  Having a bum shoulder is a bad thing.  It is slowing me way.... down.  I have been very bad about admitting how badly it is hurt which then my Beloved fusses at me about because it is not healing fast enough.  I just wish to say poo!  

This brioche was interesting because it looked so yummy and light.  One of those recipes wandering pinterest for a few days.  It uses creme fraiche instead of butter which makes so much sense.  I was very pleased with how they turned out, even though I kept running out of things!  And I had to translate from Italian.  Mine are actually almost all whole wheat because I ran out of all purpose flour.  These brioche are still very light.  I have been using them to make sandwiches for lunch.

brioche made with creme fraiche

sourdough starter

3/4 cup water

1 cup (120 grams) flour

2 eggs with enough milk to make 200 grams

8 ounces  creme fraiche (recipe called for 200 grams but I just used the whole package I had)

80 grams brown sugar

10 grams salt

380 grams flour plus a bit for shaping.  Whole wheat works well here.

The night before you wish to make the brioche, mix the sourdough starter, water, and 1 cup flour together in a large bowl.  Cover and let sit overnight.

The next day, take out a bit of starter for next time.

Mix in the eggs, milk, creme fraiche, salt, and sugar.  Add the flour.  

The dough should be very soft but I kneaded it with a bit of extra flour until smooth.  Let rise until double.  That should be about an hour and a half but my house is very cold.  It was the next day.

Butter a 9 x 13 inch pan.  Dredge golf ball size or a bit larger balls of dough in sugar (you can skip this step, I just like the taste).  Place in the pan with space between.  Cover and let rise until puffy.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden.

Sprinkle with a bit of powdered sugar for a slightly sweet treat.  

 I have a chocolate filled brioche I wish to try.  This is the dough I am going to use.  

greens and egg pizza

I was reading blog today and came across Smitten Kitchen.  I always like her ideas but I feel like she makes everything very complicated.  I never seem to finish reading a recipe let alone trying one.  The description for a spinach and egg pizza sounded really good.  I have pizza dough in the frig so I decided why not?  I needed to go to the grocery store anyhow because there is a small boy in my life who will be two tomorrow.  I was trying to make a cake tonight but I admit to fading very fast.  

What can I say about this concoction.....  My Beloved kept making noises like he was in heaven.  I am finding me and greens are not always a combination I like.  This is a way I like.  But then there was lots of garlic, olive oil, a bit of cheese, and pine nuts.  Just lovely.  And the egg?  I would never have thought of that bit.  Just lovely.

greens and egg pizza

1/4 pizza dough recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil, or one good glug

4 garlic clove sliced

2 tablespoons pine nuts

1 large kale leaf, washed and slice small

6 spinach leaves, washed very well and slice small

a pinch of salt

a pinch of pepper

about a 1/4 cup grated parmesan

about a 1/4 cup creme faiche

1 egg

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.  Cover a pizza stone with parchment paper.  Roll out the pizza dough very thin.  

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil.  Add the garlic and pine nuts.  Let brown.  Add the kale.  Let cook until the stems start to soften a bit.  Add the spinach.  Cook until wilted.  Add the salt and pepper.  Mix well.

Transfer the mixture to small bowl.  Mix in the cheese and creme fraiche.  Cover the pizza dough with this mixture.  Crack an egg on top.  Put in the oven.

I cooked it until the crust was golden on an edge or two.  This meant the egg was hard.  If you wish a softer egg, do not cook as long.

Let the groans begin.  Tell your children it has greens and they will not like it.  That way, you may not have to share!

sourdough english muffins

This weekend seemed full of bread and Small Mister helping me.  I got the new King Arthur catalog in the mail (the one they send EVERYONE at Christmas).  It is a lovely catalog to flip through but I never buy anything.  I did see a recipe for baked English muffins.  Usually, I do not try their recipes either.  Too many speciality items but that is what they sell.  My thought seeing this recipe was, "this way I could cook them all at once and not two at a time."  That is how small my griddle really is.  Just two at a time.  So Small Mister and I made it one of my bread projects.

Now, I love English muffins but I have not had them in the house for years.  It comes with making my own bread and that very small griddle.  I am now going to have English muffins again in the house.  I was wondering how this might work with crumpets.  Something to try when a dozen English muffins are eaten!

sourdough english muffins

Note:  adapted from King Arthur flour recipe

sourdough starter

1 cup flour

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup milk

2 tablespoons melted butter

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all purpose flour

The night before, mix the starter with 1 cup flour and 3/4 cup water in a large bowl.  Cover.  Let sit at least 8 hours or until bubbly.

Before you start mixing the dough, remove a couple tablespoons of starter and put in the refrigerator for next time.

Mix all the other ingredients into the starter.  Cover.  Let sit until puffy.  My kitchen was very cold so it was a couple three hours.

Grease 12 English muffin rings.  Put parchment paper on two baking sheets.  Place six rings on each sheet.  Divide the dough into 12 bits and put in the rings.  Smear around.  Cover.  If you wish both sides to be smooth and not domed, cover this side with parchment paper and another baking sheet.  That means four baking sheets total.  I only have two so I have domed English muffins.  

Let rise 60 to 90 minutes, or until puffy.  Again, my kitchen was cold so it took longer.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Put the muffins in.  Bake for ten minutes.  Turn over and bake for another 5 minutes.  If you are using the two baking sheet method, flip with both sheets.  Use hot mitts!  They will be lightly golden.

I forgot to take the picture of the split, toasted English muffin dripping with melted butter and homemade jam.  Just know, my breakfast has now changed to that and tea.  Life is sooooo good!