baking – Online home of Jon

Italian Bread

The finished product.

2 cups lukewarm water (~100°F)
1 package active dry yeast ((2.25 teaspoons))
5 cups flour
2 tablespoon light brown sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2½ teaspoons salt

FOR THE TOPPING (OPTIONAL)
1 egg white (lightly beaten)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS:
Stir the yeast into ½ cup of the warm water. Let proof as you measure out the dry ingredients. I didn’t bother with proofing the yeast as the King Arthur site says you don’t need that.

Combine 5 cups flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the yeast mixture, remaining water, and olive oil. Using a dough hook attachment, mix on the lowest speed of electric mixer until a dough starts to form, adding more flour as needed, up to an additional ¾ cup.
Knead on low speed for 7 minutes. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 1 to 2 minutes, or until a smooth, firm, elastic dough is formed.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and spray the dough with a thin coating of cooking spray. Wrap the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to proof in a warm, draft-free place for 1½ hours or until doubled in size.

Remove the plastic wrap, punch down and flatten the rounded dough with the heel of your hand. Roll the dough up tightly, sealing the seam well after each roll. The dough should be elongated and oval-shaped, with tapered and rounded (not pointed) ends.

Place a baking stone on the center oven rack and preheat the oven to 425°F. Place a metal baking pan on the lowest rack.

Place the dough on an inverted baking sheet. Allow the dough to proof, loosely covered with a floured dish towel, for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.

If using the topping, brush the dough with the egg white and sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top. Using a razor blade or sharp knife, slash the dough lengthwise about 1/4-inch deep, keeping the blade at a 45-degree angle.

Just prior to placing the bread in the oven, pour 1 cup of water into the metal pan you placed on the bottom rack of the oven. Then, transfer the loaf from the peel to the stone in the oven.

Bake the dough until golden brown and a hollow thud is heard when tapping the bottom of the bread (it should register at least 195 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer), about 30 to 40 minutes. Allow the bread to cool before slicing.

English muffin bread

3 cups flour
1 cup warm water
2 eggs
1 packet dry yeast
salt to taste
Corn meal to coat the bread pan with
Mix one cup flour and dry ingredients.
Add eggs and water
Mix three minutes
Mix in the rest of the flour slowly until a nice ball forms
From into a loaf and set in the greased and corn meal coated bread pan.
Let sit one hour in a warm place or until it rises to the top of the pan.
Heat the oven to four hundred degrees
Bake for about twenty minutes and cover to keep the top from browning to much.
Bake another ten minutes or until it sounds hollow.
Remove from the pan and let it cool

Campfire Cobbler

INGREDIENTS

6 peaches, chopped

2 c. raspberries

1 c. blueberries

1 c. chopped strawberries

1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. sugar, divided

2 tbsp. cornstarch

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

pinch of kosher salt

2 1/3 c. Bisquick Mix

1/2 c. milk

DIRECTIONS

In a bowl, combine fruit, 1/4 cup sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well.
In a bowl, combine Bisquick and milk. Mix, until completely combined.
Butter a large cast-iron skillet. Add fruit mixture and top with Bisquick topping. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.
Cover with foil and cook over a campfire until biscuits are no longer doughy and fruit is warm and bubbly, 50 minutes.
Let cool 20 minutes, then serve.

Italian Bread Recipe

3 cups flour
2 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
1 pkg. (2¼ tsp.) dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 egg white, beaten

In large bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt, and dry yeast. Add warm water and oil. Mix well. Turn dough out onto lightly-floured surface. Knead dough 10 minutes. Place dough in lightly-greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a warm, moist kitchen towel and let sit in warm place for about 40 minutes. Sprinkle ungreased cookie sheet with cornmeal. Punch dough down and cover. Let rest 15 minutes. Shape dough into long loaf, about 12 inches long, and place on cookie sheet. Cover and let rise in warm place for about 35 minutes, or until doubled. With a sharp knife, make a deep lengthwise cut in the top of the loaf. Brush the loaf with egg white and bake at 375° F for 30 minutes or until it sounds hollow when tapped and is a golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Sourdough Bread starter

I’m trying to make my own sourdough starter, I’ll try and document it here as I go along.
Day two with the starter on top of the fridge in a Rubbermaid bowl with the cover on loosely.

Day Three

Day Four

Rising	A little further along

The Finished Product

I used this recipe

Day One

1/2 cup of all-purpose flour (4 ounces)
1/2 cup of filtered or spring water (4 ounces)
a large container (at least 2-3 quarts) with a lid (glass or plastic, avoid metal).

I used a rye flour that mom had picked up over in Jordanville, NY, from a small Amish operation that grinds their own flour and I also added a little yeast as this recipe seems way simpler than most of the ones I’ve seen.

Combine the flour and water in the container until all the flour has been absorbed and there are no more dry particles. It will look like a sticky, thick dough. Scrape down the sides and cover. Put the container somewhere with a consistent room temperature (like the top of the refrigerator) and let sit for 24 hours.

Day Two
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour (4 ounces)
1/2 cup of filtered or spring water (4 ounces)
Mix it in, I had bubbles going and a slight odor of fermentation by now.
Day three and four repeat adding in the flour and water.

Day Five
The starter should be ready for use in a recipe now.

King Arthur Flour recipe for starter.
Sourdough starter with pineapple juice.

Carrot Apple Nut Muffin

Mother Earth News Carrot Apple Nut Muffin Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
2 cups raw carrots (about 2 or 3 carrots)
1 large apple
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar (brown, white or a combination)
3/4 tsp baking soda
11⁄2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease muffin cups or insert liners, if using. Peel and finely grate the carrots and apple, setting aside for later.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon. Stir in the nuts. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, ginger and vanilla extract. Fold the wet ingredients and the grated carrot and apple into the flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Makes 9 standard-size muffins or 12 small ones.

Garlic Chocolate Chip Cookies

10 fresh garlic cloves
water, boiling
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (I forgot the cinnamon)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate chips)

Directions:
Drop garlic cloves into boiling water for about 5 minutes until tender; peel cloves and chop, then soak in maple syrup for 20 to 30 minutes.
While cloves are soaking, cream together the butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy.
Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt, then add to cream mixture; stir the chocolate chips into the mixture (you can add a 1/2 cup of chopped nuts at this time, if you like).
Pour the garlic and syrup through a strainer, draining the syrup, and add the chopped cloves to cookie batter; stir well.
Drop the cookie batter by tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.
Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly browned (careful not to overcook!).
Remove from oven and cool on racks.
Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Apple Cake

Ingredients 1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3 to 4 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (3 cups)
1 cup chopped assorted nuts, such as pecans and walnuts
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray; set aside (leftover batter can be used to make a couple muffins if using a pan other than bundt).
Working over a large sheet of parchment paper, sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; gather sifted ingredients into center of sheet, set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine vegetable oil, sugar, and eggs; mix on high speed until lemon yellow. Fold reserved parchment in half lengthwise; with mixer on medium speed, gradually shake in dry ingredients until just incorporated. Add apples and, if desired, nuts, to batter; mix to combine. Add vanilla, mixing until incorporated.
Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 75 to 90 minutes.
Remove from oven, and cool slightly on a wire rack. Invert cake onto rack; turn cake right-side up to cool completely on rack.

Vine Peach Melon Recipes

From Jul 4, 2012 Garden

VINE PEACH
CAKE INGREDIENTS
4 eggs
150g sugar
6 vine peaches
225g flour
5g baking powder
150g cooled melted butter
1dl full fatmilk
Make the cake. Mix the flour and the baking powder. Add the milk, eggs, the sugar and the melted butter. Mix well. Skin the vine peaches, remove the stones and dice. Throw into the mixture and mix in well. Grease and flour a loaf tin. Tip the mixture into the tin and bake it at 180°C for 60 minutes.

To get conversions see Diana’s Desserts.

******************
PEACH CREAM PIE
6 ripe peaches peeled and sliced into small wedges
1/2 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 – 9 inch deep dish unbake pie crust shell
3 tablespoons of all purpose flour
3/4 cup of whip cream In a bowl combine sugar,
salt, flour and stir in the cream until smooth.
Place and layer your sliced peaches in the unbaked pie crust. Pour over the mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until filling has set. Serve warm or cold and refrigerate leftovers.

This is also supposed to be good in salsa or relish and as a substitute for any fruit in a bread. Judging by the number of flowers i have I could have a few chances to try different things.

No knead bread

I should have let it rise a bit more, I mixed the dough at 4PM Saturday and then at 6:30 AM Sunday pulled it out and rolled it in flour. I think it really needed that eighteen hours of rise time to make it right. I used two cups of whole wheat flower and one cup of white four, other than that I followed the recipe.