Links to my genius!

I named someone else's cake!

My favorite blog posted a really awesome looking cake and I commented on the post. My comment became the new name of the cake!

Here's the link to the cake! P.S. I love this whole blog! Basically, this is my baking inspiration.

Angry Banana Cake

Banana Bread Caramel Cream Layer Cake (AKA the angry banana cake)

Scroll through the comments to see my genius!

Now for what I baked this week...

Pumpkin Muffins for my friend who helped me get to class since I broke my foot a week and a half ago.

Here's my original pumpkin muffin post:

Pumpkin Muffins

I tweaked the original recipe a little, of course. I used raw sugar and still used 1/2 cup less of it. I used no chocolate chips this time.

I have no pictures of these muffins, but I have this picture for you:


Funny Animals

And just FYI, remember to buy everything you need for a recipe before you start. It turns out that I didn't have toothpicks for testing doneness and kind of over-baked the muffins. They still tasted good but they could've been better.

Cinnamon Raisin Scones in the Big City

2 weeks in Chicago!

I baked something last week. But the lack of internet access in my apartment has caused me to be a little less connected than usual. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing...Anyway...

Cinnamon Raisin Whole-Wheat Scones

I tweaked a Paul Hollywood recipe for this one because I didn't want anything too challenging for my first attempt at baking in a gas oven.

I used his Whole-Wheat Scone recipe from 100 Great Breads. I used Earth Balance instead of butter because I don't really buy butter unless I'm making some kind of French pasty where I think butter is necessary, but I digress. I also added a half tablespoon of cinnamon and the suggested amount of golden raisins (PH has that as an option alongside the recipe). I used raw sugar instead of superfine, which may have caused them to turn out a little less sweet. Also I used 1 and 1/2 large eggs because that's what I had (instead of 2 medium), but it was still a little too wet so I ended up adding quite a bit of flour to keep from having baked pancakes (ew).

The oven time thing was a concern for me (and rightly so) since a friend had told me before I moved that gas ovens don't heat as evenly as electric, so I kept a close eye on the scones while they were in the oven. I may have actually taken them out a little early, but I was scared of burning them. They were bouncy when they came out, and more bouncy the next day (instead of brick-like as my scones have tended to be on the 2nd or 3rd day in the past). Bouncy is the best word I could come up with to describe the texture. They didn't taste weird at all, except that they were a little less sweet than I would have liked.

But enough with the talk...here's what they looked like...

A little paler than I would like even though I sprinkled them with raw sugar right before going in the oven...I think I have to be a little less cautious with oven times in the future.

Also, in reference to the awesome picture at the top of this post...it's not mine. I haven't made it that far downtown yet. Maybe I'll make it before the snows start.

Love and carbs to all!

More Bread to Come

Hi there Bread Heads! Sorry I've been AWOL lately. Been very busy moving. Arrived in Chicago yesterday to start my new life as a grad student. Will be posting some new breads ASAP. Well, as soon as I get internet access (so ASAIGIA).

Love and loaves,

K

Focaccia? Yeah! Peppers? Oh Yeah!

Focaccia with Tomatoes, Garlic, Mushrooms and Roasted Red Peppers

Try saying that 5 times fast.

I found some really great local red peppers the other day and couldn't think of a meal to make with them so I made bread! If you make this bread you'll want to share it. It's that good. (If I do say so myself).

I created my own recipe based on Paul Hollywood's Focaccia Pugliese with Tomatoes and Garlic.

Ingredients

4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1/3 cup olive oil

scant 4 cups white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tablespoon salt (I used kosher, but any will do)

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dry active yeast (activated per package instructions)

1 cup water

salt water made from 1 1/2 tablespoons salt (kosher, again) dissolved in scant 1/2 cup warm water

1 roma tomato, thinly sliced

1/8 cup chopped roasted red pepper*

2-3 baby portabella mushrooms, thinly sliced

Add garlic to the olive oil, let infuse while preparing the dough.

Put flour, salt yeast, half the infused oil (leaving the garlic in the remaining oil) and all the water in a large bowl and mix for 4 minutes (it will look kind of piecey). Tip out onto a lightly floured counter and knead for 6 minutes, return to bowl and let rest for 1 hour.

Line a baking sheet. Roll dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Place on baking sheet. Brush lightly with salt water mix, then the remaining oil. Prick the bread all over with a knife and place tomatoes, peppers and mushrooms on top. Let rise for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 425°. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Eat warm.

*Making your own roasted peppers is super easy! Place your washed and dried pepper on a baking sheet in a 500° oven for about 30-40 minutes turning every 5-10 minutes to blacken the outside (it doesn't need to be completely black). If the pepper pierces when to try to rotate it it's probably done. Remove pepper and place in aluminum foil until cool enough to handle. The skin should just fall off. Slice it open and remove the seeds. You can chop it or not but to store put the pepper in an air tight container and drizzle with olive oil. Yay Peppers!

Serve it with a salad for a light meal!

This bread was soooo good! Make it and try it yourself and if you like it "give it away".

P.S. I've been very busy lately getting ready for grad school and a big move to Chicago.

Blythe's Blueberry Muffins

With a Kristen twist.

The Blythe in question is none other than Blythe Danner (Gwyneth Paltrow's mom who has some recipes featured in GP's cookbook My Father's Daughter).

There is a healthier blueberry muffin in the book that is vegan, but I didn't have the ingredients for that one.

I felt the need to make blueberry muffins today because I was gifted a bag of great big beautiful blueberries and, well, muffins were suggested and I'm a sucker for suggestions.

I did change the recipe to make it dairy-free.  I subbed canola oil for the butter (a 1:1 swap) and soy milk for the milk.  I used organic unsweetened apple sauce for the eggs (1/4 cup per egg) and I added about 1/2 tsp of lemon zest because I had fresh lemons and lemon and blueberry is a match made in heaven.

These were the best blueberry muffins I have ever eaten.  As of the writing of this post I have eaten 4 and will probably get another as soon as this is posted.  Easy, fast recipe...just go buy the book...you won't be disappointed.

Non-sliding Pizza

Lately I've been doing more cooking than baking.  I got a cookbook not too long ago that I love.  Every thing I made from the book has been super, but this recipe I think qualifies for The Big Bread Theory!

PIZZA!

Got this recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow's My Father's Daughter.

The recipe was for Wood Oven Pizzas, but who has a wood oven.  I definitely don't...and actually I don't have a pizza stone like it calls for if you are doing it in a regular oven.  With a slightly vague recipe (probably to do with the inaccurate nature of a wood pizza oven) I used trial and error...and only really error-ed (I know it's erred) on my pizza (See below).

I only used the dough recipe and not the sauce because I was using up some leftover pasta sauce.  I will say if you are using this recipe even without a pizza stone you should heat whatever pan you are cooking on  before putting the dough on and the pizza together.  My first attempt (also known as my pizza) went on a cold pan and stuck mightily to the pan when the rest of the pizza was finished.

This was a fun meal and a really delicious  pizza crust.  I saved some of the dough in the fridge overnight and had pizza again the next night.

By the way here's a clip of, probably, my favorite Gwyneth Paltrow movie Sliding Doors.

Non-Birthday Cake for Mom's Birthday

A month ago...

For my mom's birthday I wanted to do something really special so (of course) I went for my go-to dessert cookbook, Gesine Bullock-Prado's Sugar Baby!  I even had a little help via Twitter from the Master Baker herself.

I made a Vanilla-Pecan Swirl Tea Cake with Maple Glaze and it was amahzing!  I followed the recipe exactly (except for my substitution of grade A maple syrup for the grade B in the glaze (I made sure this was ok with @gesinebp).  Actually, I used the wrong Bundt pan because I couldn't find the awesome swirl one I was looking for.

I loved this and most importantly my mom loved it...