Sunday Brunch

The Craft of Baking has a "Brioche in a can" recipe, not to be confused with the tragic emergence of other baked goods in a can (pancake in a can?). Instead you prepare an old can (butter and bake for an hour) to simulate a cast iron pan. It's very simple, though it does require an overnight fermentation. After having made traditional brioche which proved to have many unexpected difficulties, such as high temperature sensitivity and sticky consistency making it hard to work with, this dough was a welcome simplification. I was concerned that because you use some "short cuts" it wouldn't taste as good. Actually, I prefer it. Not as flaky and pastry like and a bit more dense. I don't know if this is because my previous attempt could be greatly improved on-probably, at least to some degree. I'll need to attempt another traditional loaf.It's advised that you use the same can over and over because it will "flavor" the can (like a cast iron skillet) and make the bread better. The first time around I used parchment which isn't necessary, but because I needed a well shaped loaf for my next venture, I used it anyway.
The next day I cut up one loaf (the recipe called for 1.5 inch slices-huge!) to make Pain Perdu! And because everything tastes better when its homemade (and especially homemade brioche) I was very excited. I've had the brioche french toast at Balthazar in New York, so I've set high expectations. The batter is traditional; egg, yolk, heavy whipping creme, milk, sugar, vanilla paste. I used the double broiler method of whisking the egg and yolk and pouring into the milk mixture careful not to break the custard. Then soaked for three minutes per side (had to absorb as much batter as possible!)

And of course, served with maple syrup. The thickness ended up being key, allowing the center to be incredibly soft and moist, and I can honestly say I prefer these to the famed Balthazar version, but then again, that's just my opinion. Very, very, very rich (as you might have guessed), so consume with caution.

Below: Russian style yogurt parfait

with granola and homemade

strawberry jam.

Using a recent batch of homemade strawberry jam, from our saturday farmers market venture I made (from bon appetit) strawberry "pop-tarts." Mostly, it was an excuse to work with chilled dough, a practice I'm attempting to perfect. I always love a perfectly flaky pastry dough with the ideal amount of sweet sugar caramelization (who doesn't?!) and I aim to master this!

Dough is chilled and rolled, shaped and pressed. Then after freezing for at least 2 hours, baked. I really like that I can leave all but one frozen (for up to a week) so I don't feel bad discarding perfectly good pastries, or forcing Alex to consume more than his share.

An excellent Sunday morning for baking!

Next on my list is cinnamon buns, with of course, brioche.

Maybe I should try a few lighter dishes first...

Baking from the pantry.

I always love finding that all the ingredients I need to bake something are already in the pantry. Today I started with Palmiers (gigantic versions commonly referred to as elephant ears). It is made from flour, salt, frozen butter, water, and cinnamon sugar. Could this be any more French? The recipe tends to go like this; mix all ingredients, chill, roll out, chill, repeat 2x times, add cinnamon sugar, chill, shape, chill, cut, bake. It usually takes around 5 hours, with minimal active time the key is to never overwork the dough or allow it to become too warm.Finally, the shaped dough, ready to be cut and baked!
Baked! The silpat pretty much saved me on this once since you need to turn them over half way through baking and parchment paper has proven fairly unreliable when it comes to release.
Plated with "Milk & Coffee Granita."
I just picked up "The Craft of Baking," and have sticky notes in about a third of it to try. One of the simplest (though deceivingly simple-more on that in a minute): spicy caramel popcorn.
This is my new favorite popcorn, available at Williams Sonoma.
After popping the popcorn, you make the caramel (butter, sugar, water in this case) until it reaches it's "amber phase" at which point you quickly remove from heat, add baking soda and cayenne, and coat the popcorn, and let cool. The process of adding the baking soda is pretty interesting to watch, the caramel foams up and obtains a very light red/orange color before settling back on the popcorn. My first attempt at this, I stepped away while the caramel was boiling, only a minute later, I look back and the kitchen is full of smoke. The caramel is black and bubbling. Luckily no smoke alarm went off, and needless to say on the second attempt I watched it much closer. A good reminder how tricky caramel can be if you aren't careful!

By the way, they ended up tasting incredible, good spice, though next time may up the cayenne a bit.

Cooking from Bon Appetit, plus homemade dinner rolls!

While my preference is almost always to bake instead of cook, occasionally I tire of breads and sweets and want to venture into the cooking world. After getting this months Bon Appetit in the mail I thought I would make something from it! Of course, I had to bake something, and dinner rolls are pretty simple, though they take a little while (3-4 hours), the actual active time is minimal. I used whole milk, though I actually prefer buttermilk in most enriched breads. It's a subtle difference, and since these rolls were intended to be dipped in soup, it wasn't critical.
Moroccan carrot soup with cumin and greek yogurt. One of the easiest soups I've ever made, as well as my new favorite. Though it has a rich creamy texture, it's actually not creme based (yogurt mixed in at the end), and is essentially carrot, onion, and chicken broth pureed. The yogurt is essential, it adds a great sourness that combined with the cumin turns a potentially boring soup into a phenomenal one.
Main course was a mole steak. This was my first mole, and it was really simple and surprisingly not overly strong as I feel moles tend to be. The cut is a top sirloin. Paired with sliced avocados and cayenne-garlic blanched broccoli.

Cantaloupe Granita with Candied Prosciutto

Now that it is officially getting hot in southern California, I thought a refreshing summer dessert was in order! The concept was Alex's, after deciding on a melon granita (essentially shaved ice) he suggested candied prosciutto be added. Dipping prosciutto di parma in simple syrup they were baked for a few minutes on a sil-pat and allowed to harden. This twist on a classic pairing ended up being a perfect warm weather dessert! Or in our case, mid afternoon snack.

Host gifts

Now that these baked gifts have been delivered, I can post the pictures!Walnut and blue cheese sourdough
Mini brownies with cream cheese

Toffee makings-so much butter...
Melting the chocolate on the tofee

Shortbread therapy

After a stressful day of fallen trees on highways resulting in a 25 minute stop on the I-5 on ramp, and minimally productive apartment related research, I really felt like baking. For me, it is one of the greatest stress relievers; a sort of instant gratification of completing something successful (and delicious!) within a matter of hours. I didn't particularly feel like leaving the apartment, so I had to make do with what was in the pantry. One of my favorite cookies is shortbread, simple and not too sweet it lends itself well to flavor manipulation. Tonight I thought I would go with one of my favorite, rosemary and thyme. The ingredients are simple enough, flour, butter, and sugar. It can be tricky if not refrigerated long enough or if it's too dry to come together, resulting in a crumbled dry cookie. I got to use my silpat!! Shown below, I bought it after repeatedly seeing it suggested in many recipes I'd like to try. While it's not essential, it does make many recipes a lot easier to work with.The finished product!

Sourdough

Day 7, Dough formed from starter (added flour, water and salt), fermented for four hours, then shaped into boule and let rise again in proofing basket. The proofing basket (above) essentially helps the bread maintain shape during the secondary fermentation.
The baked loaf! Golden brown, hollow sounding, and registering 205 degrees, then forced the wait 45 minutes to let cool.
It worked! it wasn't as sour as I had anticipated, so next time going to use a higher portion of barm in the starter. Served here with blueberry jam.

The starter is complete!

Day5, the starter is complete and ready to be made into bread! Today I took a bit from the "mother starter" and "fed" it so that tomorrow I can begin the baking process, which can be done in one or two days. I'm hoping this works since it's so involved. I smelled the starter earlier, it smelled sour, which I assume to be a good thing. In case anyone was wondering, a starter is dough that has continually reproducing yeast that you feed and grow to an adequate state to use in leavening your bread. The barm, or mother starter can now just sit in the refrigerator and be refreshed (basically, fed) when you want to make a loaf. Eventually the active enzymes break down most of the gluten (see lovely gluten strands above) and it looks more like soup, but can be easily refreshed by discarding most and then adding a varied amount of flour/water depending on your desired outcome-such as more barm: feed ratio results a more sour taste while the opposite will give a sweeter taste. There are numerous methods and variations, resulting in limitless possibilities, from how you make your starter, to what you add into the bread. I used a three step build, but there are 5 or 6 step builds as well, it all depends on what flavor you are attempting to achieve. Since I'm new to the sourdough world I thought I would start in the middle, then adjust from there.

Sponge

It worked!! I was a bit concerned since nothing appeared to be happening the past 48 hours. But this morning the sponge had doubled! So last day of feeding and tomorrow I start the barm. I had to throw away half of the sponge as directed, and I felt sort of strange throwing away something that seemed so alive...strange I know...But anyway, I'm excited to start the barm tomorrow and hoping everything stays on track!

Cupcakes!

A classic dessert, and though many might argue a bit over played lately, still, one of my favorites. I decided to make plain vanilla and carrot cake. First, the vanilla. The use of freshly ground cinnamon-using a coffee grinder, as well as the vanilla paste made such a difference, the cake was distinctly spicy. Using egg whites and beating them with the sugar before folding into the batter made the resulting cake very light. This is one of my favorite cupcake batters I've tried, even compared to my favorite at chikalicious in New York City.

The carrot cake called for shaved carrots and chopped toasted walnuts, Alex was nice enough to microplane cut some extra colored carrots he was using to pickle (result shown below). I really liked this cake too, but it didn't "wow" me the way the vanilla cake did, though I would make it again.
Below the prepared batter ready for the oven. Since I didn't want to bake the usual 12 or 24 I opted to use my Le Creuset silicone individual cupcake molds.
The finished product! Starting from the top left and going clockwise; carrot cake with grand marnier buttercream, vanilla with grand marnier, carrot with vanilla, vanilla with honey, carrot with beet, and plain vanilla.
The beet was surprisingly good! Not overpowering and added a great color. Very happy with the result!

Tomorrow-hoping my sourdough culture is working and if not, trouble shooting...

The little things

Today we went to Silverlake to Spice Station, a small spice shop tucked away behind Forage (another LA favorite) with a sign that says "spices" with an arrow as the only indication where to go. I was looking for the hard to find vanilla paste. I've been meaning to try a few of Thomas Keller's desserts from Ad Hoc, and he insists on vanilla paste instead of vanilla extract, suggesting that the flavor elicited is far superior, and any serious baker would only use paste or actual vanilla bean. After reading through Tasting Table posts (thanks Mom), I came across an article for this place, and thought maybe they would carry what I was looking for, not to mention many other intriguing spices (like the kalonji seeds I needed for nigellan flatbread a while back). It's a really cute shop with more dried peppers than I imagined ever existed, it was difficult to keep attention to the task at hand. Unfortunately they didn't have any vanilla paste on hand, but they would have some by the weekend. Then, the co-owner of the husband-wife team came in and asked if I had ten minutes (I did), and said she would be right back. In the mean time we looked and smelled a good portion of the unique and exotic spices-many of which I had no idea existed. For example, black lime? Literally dried whole limes that you would poke holes into and add to the cavity of chicken. Genius? I think so. Or even honey pollen if you so desired. It's difficult to convey to people how worth it is to seek out specialty places like this, the spices are so significantly superior to the grocery store variety it is more than worth the extra trip. And because you aren't paying for containers, and you can buy by the ounce (so less left over waste!) it really is economical. Another customer was buying truffle salt, when they were packing it for him the smell encompassed the store-very pungent (which you want from truffles!), and at $10/ounce it costs the same as the Dean and Deluca variety, but with significantly superior quality.

I came across honey powder, and instantly thought of the many ways I could incorporate this powder into desserts to add a hint of honey without the mess or consistency issues with regular honey, I bought an ounce. Then I found beet powder. I love beets, pickled, in salads, on their own, I love them. And the coloring is gorgeous, Alex suggested I could use it in a panna cotta. Brilliant. Perhaps a similar technique to Momofuku's Milk Bar cereal milk custard with an avacado puree. This is getting exciting. They also had Mastic, which you may recognize as a common flavoring in Greek desserts, that may be my next venture when I inevitably go back.

After the ten minutes, she came back with a box full of three ounce jars of vanilla paste, handing one to me, and saying it's $8 for the jar and paused for my reaction. I responded "great! thats a good deal." Which it is for Madagascar vanilla paste. Then she said, good, I was testing the price out on you, remember what you paid because these will probably be marked up. You can't beat that sort of customer service.

Aside from delicious baking spices they also have the requisite artisan salts and other spices you would expect from any gourmet spice shop. Alex picked up some Aleppo Hot Peppers, and it was suggested that we smell a few of the peppers they just got it. One was Marash Peppers-from Turkey they are light and slightly smokey and distinctly sweet in character. The smell is addictive. And unlike many peppers, in no way overpowering. We got some and are planning on preparing a menu to compliment. Last, I decided I wanted a new tea, I noticed a coconut black tea listed on their blackboard and decided I would try an ounce. Love is an inadequate word to describe how I feel about coconut. He let me smell it, saying it was one of his favorites. All I can say to how incredible this smelled is it instantly elicited an "oh my god, thats amazing" from both Alex and I. He was almost out, so I ordered an extra ounce. I just brewed a cup, and it is hands down one of the best teas I've ever had. I can't wait to try steeping it in milk.

It's always exciting to find a place like this, where the people who own it are truly passionate about what they do and are excited to share their experience with you. We could have stayed and talked to them all day, but then again, we probably would have ended up with far more spices than we could realistically use in the near future.

So, off to Whole Foods to get ingredients for Keller's cupcakes, and adding a few twists of my own in of course! Carrot cake cupcakes with beet butter cream frosting anyone?

The seed culture

Day 2. It just looks like wet dough.

Yesterday I mixed 4.25 ounces dark rye flour with 4 ounces unsweetened pineapple juice. Although I'll be making a basic white sourdough, using unbleached bread flour, the author suggests that using rye will add a more complex flavor and "jump-starts" the process.

Days 2-I added an additional 2.25 ounces of bread flour and 2 ounces pineapple juice

Days3-4 (or 5) I am to replace half of the seed with new flour and water to "feed the seed." I realize I eat yogurt and other bacteria based food everyday, but there's something dis-concerning about just leaving dough out and letting natural yeast "find it" and start eating. See lovely picture above!

Sourdough.

I've always wanted to bake sourdough, but the task of making my own starter culture has so far deterred me from it and more towards "instant gratification" baking. The entire process takes anywhere from 6-10 days depending mostly on the feeding cycle of the yeast. Starting tomorrow, I'll begin to make seed culture. This process takes about 4-5 days and essentially is starting the wild yeast culture and growing it to an appropriate state. It's very simple, you mix dark rye flour with unsweetened pineapple juice and let sit, everyday dividing in half and adding new ingredients. Why the pineapple juice? There is a strain of leuconostoc bacteria that has the tendency to show up in home kitchens and hinder the starting culture. Evidently, this has no negative or detectable alteration to the taste of the bread. I'll update this everyday with the progress as well as science behind it all!