This week was muffins and scones, and the original plan was two kinds of scones; a cheddar scallion one and a sweet one, TBD.
However, I got absolutely destroyed by the creeping crud that’s been going around my office. That ended up with me having sinus headaches and borderline laryngitis all week.
Needless to say this post is a quick one, I didn’t even try to get good pictures of my results. Still trying to get back my old energy levels.
I decided on making muffins, as they are quick and relatively easy. I used the ever-faithful Sally’s Baking Addiction blog for a recipe. Specifically the 1 muffin batter for infinite muffins recipe.
Let me just say, this recipe uses sour cream and the muffins come out so silky smooth, its almost like a cupcake but with that nice muffin top! I made the Raspberry White Chocolate variant, because I have a lot of white chocolate in my fridge and the raspberries at my grocery store looked amazing! and they were~
So, could I bake this and redeem myself from the caramel debacle?
Muffing tops!!!
Yes, yes I could! Even though I still have trouble breathing!
This recipe by Sally just makes such a smooth and rich muffin, I was seriously tempted to eat the batter its that good. Seriously, if you need a reliable muffin recipe its this one.
Even my coworkers braved my congested presence to eat these. They LOVED them and devoured them in like, an hour.
So good~~~~
Next week is mini treats! Tiny and cute is the game, and I’m thinking cake pops. Cause I’ve never made them and why the heck not? Or maybe mini tarts? or hand pies? Whatever.
Much like life, sometimes things go wrong in a bake and you can’t fix it. Especially when you don’t have enough butter to remake the buttercream.
This weeks challenge was Piping Techniques and I originally thought about making sugar cookies with flooded royal icing, but I made bread this week and had stuff to do, you know, life, so I decided on cupcakes.
Specifically cupcakes with alcohol in them. Pink alcohol. Cause Valentine’s is soon.
Valentine’s Day themed to the max!
I found a recipe for a chocolate red wine cupcake, but wanted something more girly, so I Googled and found the lovely little blog If You Give A Blond A Kitchen.
It had a recipe for Pink Moscato cupcakes and I just had to try them! Since it was piping week I also decided to try out chocolate filigree by making some little hearts.
I really wanted to go full glamorous with these~
The cupcakes baked up really well, they were nice and soft, but they didn’t really taste like Moscato. There was a little touch of fruity sweetness though.
The real issue was the buttercream. Now, I’ve made A LOT of buttercream icings. A LOT. The minute the butter started creaming, though, I knew something was up. The butter had previously been frozen but I had it sitting out until it was nice and soft. However it didn’t want to cream, so I think the butter’s moisture got thrown off in the defrosting maybe?
It was salvageable once the powdered sugar was added in. And then the Moscato reduction.
Once upon a time, many years ago (4) I made a red wine reduction buttercream. and it broke the buttercream into a lumpy mess. Wine can be acidic, acid curdles. You see where I’m going.
Fast forward to yesterday. Wine reduction + weird butter = broken buttercream…
I keep overusing the editing tools on my photo app…
You can kinda see the that the cream is broken in this picture. I tried everything to fix it, but sadly I couldn’t. And I didn’t have anymore butter at room temperature, so I sucked it up and used it
HOWEVER-
The icing tasted like Moscato! It was great!
It didn’t make a lot though, so I got a little skimpy on the decorating part.
The chocolate filigree hearts were also a fun little addition. I had meant to print out some patterns and trace over them, but I forgot. Eh. Still came out super cute I think!
To make them just get some colored melting chocolates, Wilton sells them and you can find them at any craft store. Melt them as per directions, fill up a piping bag with a number 2 or 3 piping tip, and go to town.
Ate the 25th one before taking photos…oops…
Next week is allergy-friendly, so expect a flour-less chocolate cake on the horizon! Cause I’m in a big cake mood!
Did you know that in Sicily pizza is sometimes made with Focaccia bread and is called sfincione? And guess who loves pizza and has a baking challenge theme to catch up on???
Yup, so since I’m playing catch up with the challenge, I have been pondering over what to do for week 1’s re-do theme. For this, you can either re-do something you made last year or just pick something off the previous year’s challenge list. I thought about making something with choux pastry, but in the end I got the hankering for some bread making and wouldn’t you know that leavened bread was a theme in the 2018 challenge.
And the lucky winner is Focaccia.
I used to make this bread on occasion with my mother when I was younger, because we were stereotypical Sicilians, so it has a special place in my heart. Its also easy to make and super delicious. And customizable!
Much like other Italian foods like pasta or pizza, Focaccia is different region to region. In Venice, for example, its made with eggs, sugar, and milk. In Northern Italy its made sweet with sugar, honey, and raisins or even chocolate. For an example, check out this recipe from Eataly here.In Liguria in particular its made super thin and crispy….and stuffed with cheese!
Focaccia di Recco of Liguria, courtesy of Wikipedia
Last but not least, as I mentioned at the beginning, the Sicilians also use it to make a sfincione style pizza. (Sorry, I get a bit overexcited about regional variations in Italian food…)
Sicilian Sfincione, courtesy of Wikipedia…Again.
Since I’m making ~fancy cupcakes~ this weekend, I thought a Focaccia would be relatively quick and painless to put together, especially with this no-knead recipe from Serious Eats. Just roast, mix, let sit forever, and then bake. Perfect~
Roasted garlic is incredibly delicious, but I also decided to add freshly grated Parmesan cheese in. Because why not, who would say ‘no’ to that? I think this bread is gonna pair very well with a nice Ribollita or minestrone soup!
I followed the Serious Eats version for the most part, but did change it a bit by not using oregano and instead using fresh parmesan cheese in the dough. I also didn’t cook it at 550° degrees, but at 450 ° for about an extra 10 minutes. 550 ° in my oven would guarantee a burnt loaf, for sure.
So, could I, in fact, bake this bread?
Yes…kind of….
Not sponsored by Chicago Cutlery…unless they’re looking for people to sponsor?
Ok, truth time. I forgot to mix in my cheese and had to knead the bread to work it in. I got distracted making dinner. But that’s all I did, I promise! Only one goof!
I baked it in a 15-inch cast iron pan, so it came out a tad bit thinner than I expected. However it was delectably crusty on the bottom and soft on top, life a Focaccia needs to be. Plus roasted garlic is a miracle food, as I have lauded.
It smelled so good that I couldn’t wait to cut it….and proceeded to break the loaf, lol. Don’t cut bread fresh out of the oven, folks. But it tasted like sweet roasted garlic and had a bit of that cheesy tang of freshly shaved parmesan. The crumb was nice and moist and chewy, and the flavor yeast also really came through (thanks, 24 hour proof!). This is a denser bread it works it so well~
So, yeah, successful bread! Yay!
I’ll be making some cupcakes for the next challenge soon, then I’ll finally be all caught up, thank the gods.
Ok, so I know roasted almonds aren’t technically a “baked good” but they are a sweet snack/ dessert and are cooked in an oven. Plus they’re delicious.
I think almonds are a great blank canvas to carry a lot of flavors, just Google roasted almond recipes. You get ones for cinnamon, cocoa dusted, barbeque, chili lime, curry, tumeric and garlic. The list goes on and on.
So then, why make a post about almonds? A.) Because my photos came out gorgeous and B.) I actually kind of edited this recipe enough to warrant a recipe, C.) Cause baking relieves my daily stress and gloom, D.) I like almonds, ok? They’re high in protein and a good source of several vitamins. Too bad they’re horrible for the drought-ravaged environment of California.
Well, I adapted it from a recipe found on Allrecipes here. But in all honesty, the recipe for honey roasted almonds has pretty much the same mechanics across the board, I found it on several other food blogs all having very similar directions.
My particular version adds a nice amount of cinnamon and a dash of cayenne pepper to help balance out the sugary honey goodness.
2 Cups almonds
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon neutral oil, I used canola
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Directions
Spread almonds in a single layer on a baking sheet and place in a cold oven.
Turn oven on to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake almonds until tan and fragrant, 12 to 15 minutes. Be sure to stir them once or twice while roasting for an even roast.
While the almonds roast, mix sugar, spices, and salt together in a bowl bowl. Keep about 1 tablespoon sugar mixture and add it into a large bowl, reserve the rest to later toss over the almonds.
Add honey, water, and oil together in a saucepan. Stir together and bring to a boil. Be careful to watch it as it will burn if you aren’t careful!
Add almonds; Reduce heat to medium low and cook and stir until almonds have absorbed all the liquid, about 5 minutes.
Transfer coated almonds to the large bowl with the smaller sugar mixture. Sprinkle remaining sugar mixture over almonds; toss to coat evenly.
Spread almonds onto wax or parchment paper to cool completely. Store at room temperature in an airtight covered container.
*Add the cayenne pepper to taste. If you like a lot of spice add more, if you can’t handle the heat add none!
I also wanted to use this post as a practice for using shortcode to make recipe boxes. While researching how to make recipe boxes I realized that you can only get the WordPress plugins if you have a business subscription…and since I’m kind of unemployed and still depressed, I couldn’t gather the enthusiasm to pay for it….Maybe if I get a steady stream of readers down the line….far, far down the line. Even then, this hobby is for me, not for the views.
Off topic….back to the topic…
I probably won’t post my own recipes often, usually only if I make noticeable changes, just so you guys know.
Any pizza can be a personal one if you cry while you eat it.
Aparna Nancherla
There are two things in this world I am almost 100% sure about: 1.) that my dog completely owns my existence, and 2.) that all pizza is good pizza.
Look at him in his cute little hoodie using my winter coat as a blanket…Guess I’ll freeze to death!
Ok, so I know pizza is a contentious topic. People arguing over Chicago or New York style, pineapple yes or no, what kind of oven you need to use to bake it. for me though, I’ve never had a pizza so horribly bad that I couldn’t finish it. May it be bagel or pocket, thin crust or thick, deep dish or Neapolitan, delivery or DiGiorno. I like all styles and I’ve had bad versions of each, but I still always eat it.
Ok, so this might be a personal bias since my brothers all worked in pizzerias one point in time
I think a lot of people can actually agree with that. Who hasn’t been helping a friend move or be at some undergraduate dorm event and just mindlessly ate some mediocre pizza. Like, humans just love pizza. We’ve been eating versions of it since ancient times (I’m looking at you flatbread with cheese and topping on it! You’re just pizza without sauce!)
The best part about pizza is that you can literally make it homemade super easily. Not in less time than delivery (well, depending on the recipe) and but it will taste better than frozen. No shame if you eat a lot of frozen pizza, though. I eat a lot of frozen pizza. A LOT. I recommend thin crust DiGiorno or the fancy Publix store brand, cause I’m from Florida and I love Publix. Go to Publix.
So. Pizza dough. What’s it’s deal?
Pizza dough is a lean dough, meaning its got minimal ingredients, very little fat, and don’t require a lot of kneading. It gives you a crusty exterior and a light and airy interior. Sound familiar? Pizza dough! or bagets or no-knead bread.
Enriched dough is the opposite. It gets a lot of attention kneading and rising wise, has more fat, and results in a softer crust and a tender dough. Think sandwich bread or cinnamon roll dough, which I recently made.
Now, the basic requirements for a pizza dough are:
1 pack active yeast, sugar, water, and flour. That’s it. Maaybe some cornmeal for the bottom of the pizza and a little olive oil in the dough for flavor.
For specifics you can find a lot of great recipes online. For a quick, 30-mintes or less option look here at Joy Food Sunshine. I used this one recently, it takes literally 30 minutes to throw this one together. My dough came out a little bready and a bit thick, but it made a sturdy and reliable crust.
If you want a recipe that let’s the dough rise and makes a less bready and a more flavorful, at least in my opinion, crust try out the always reliable Sally’s Baking Addiction
This pizza was kind of a last minute thing. I used the Joy Food Sunshine recipe because it was already 7:00pm and I knew it would make a good quick crust. Sadly, the mushrooms I had in my fridge had already gone bad, so I made the unique zucchini and onion pizza, haha.
A few days later the bread-making bug struck again, so I made pizza for the second time this week. Don’t judge. For this one I used the dough recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction, since I had more time to let it rise. I also remembered I had a pizza pan. and had time to buy actual normal pizza toppings.
~win~
So crispy. So cheesy. So pizza. I went with a spinach garlic mushroom pie, cause vitamins. The crust is definitely less bready than the first, but that quick recipe is no slouch! I’d definitely recommend giving both a try!
So yeah. It was a pizza kind of week. The drop cookie challenge of the week is coming, just got a bit sidetracked this week!
I Can Bake That! 