Cranberry Orange Quickbread

  

Update:  I cut this recipe in half and it baked nicely in a 7x3-inch loaf pan in about 35 minutes.

I cut this recipe out of a magazine years ago and it's since become one of my holiday standards.  It's a fairly sweet, dense loaf that's very easy to prepare -- most of the ingredients will already be on hand.  Though I haven't tried it with dried cranberries, I'm sure it would work, but you wouldn't get that nice, tart bite that fresh cranberries give.  Wrapped up in pretty paper, it makes a great hostess gift.

1½ cups fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup orange juice
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour (or substitute up to half with whole wheat flour)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
grated peel of 1 large orange

Heat oven to 350 F.  In a small bowl, toss cranberries with 1/4 cup of the sugar; set aside.  Melt the butter in a medium-sized bowl (I like to use a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup); add the milk, orange juice, and egg and whisk thoroughly to combine.

Into a large bowl, sift flour(s), baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ginger; whisk in the remaining 3/4 cup sugar.  Add the nuts, orange peel, and reserved cranberries and stir to combine. Add the milk mixture and stir just until blended.  The batter will be thick.  (If you used whole wheat flour, you might need to add a couple tablespoons of water.)

Pour batter into a greased 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan and bake for 1 hour, or until pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool bread in pan for 5 minutes on a wire rack, then remove from pan to cool completely on rack.  Serve with whipped cream cheese.

One of the prettiest loaves I've made.   If you want to dress it up
with a drizzled glaze, I recommend reducing the sugar by 1/2 cup.

This is a very festive bread and perfect for the holidays.

Apple Muffins I

It's apple season, so it's the perfect time for this recipe.  (I labelled it as "I" because I have another apple muffin recipe that I might post eventually as "II".)  As it happened, I had just picked a couple Granny Smiths from a local tree, and this was a great use for one of them.

The original recipe for these muffins call them "doughnut muffins" -- that is, just like doughnuts only baked in a muffin tin.  While delicious, these are not nearly as dense as a doughnut.   (For muffins that really do taste like doughnuts, try this Pumpkin Ice Cream Muffin recipe.)  I confess, I made quite a few modifications, so perhaps that's the culprit.

For starters, I didn't want a full batch.  (It would make about 20 regular muffins.)  I  really cut it down and went with 1/4 of the recipe, which gave me 5 moderately-sized muffins.  I was out of milk, so I substituted heavy cream  and omitted the oil.  As usual, I also substituted some of the white flour for whole wheat. Here's what I worked with:

1/2 cup diced (small) apple, unpeeled
1/4 cup apple cider
3 tablespoon butter (softened)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon dark molasses
1 medium to large egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/8 cup whole wheat flour
3/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon each ground nutmeg, ginger, cloves
butter and cinnamon-sugar to top

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease or line a muffin tin. Peel and core apple, and cut into small chunks. In a small saucepan, combine apple and cider, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer until apples are cooked down to an almost applesauce-like consistency. (You can mash them if they don’t break up as much as you’d like. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until well-combined. Add eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla and milk and blend well. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices until well aerated. Add flour mixture to wet mixture a little at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Divide batter among the muffin tins, filling each almost all the way to the top. Bake 8 minutes*, or until lightly browned and springy to the touch, and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes away clean. Dip the top of each muffin into cider quickly, shaking off excess, and then into cinnamon sugar to coat.

*8 minutes for a mini muffin tin; for a standard muffin pan, it will probably take 12 minutes, 16 for jumbo. Be sure to keep an eye on them, because ovens may vary slightly.

 
Generally, I followed the directions as given (except I ended up cooking all the liquid out of the apples.  Oops.)  The original  recipe doesn't tell when to add them to the batter; I made sure they were cool enough not to cook the egg, then added them slowly to the wet mixture.  I then gently stirred in the combined dry ingredients.  I baked them for 23 minutes, but you should start checking them after 15 minutes.  While still warm, I spread a little melted butter on the tops and then dunked the tops into cinnamon sugar.

Conclusion:  These were a little fussy with all the ingredients and the extra step of cooking down the apples, but they were really tasty.  Not at all doughnut-like, but soft and light -- the perfect muffin texture.  I highly recommend a tart apple, because it gives a wonderful tang that contrasts nicely with all the spices and the sweet cinnamon-sugar topping.

Original recipe:  Mini Apple Cider Doughnut Muffins via Fia's Maine Kitchen

Autumn Pear Pie

This pie has all the traditional flavors for a Thanksgiving dessert while having something just a little different:  pears instead of apples!  The original recipe calls it Pear Butterscotch Pie, but I think that is a misnomer.  There is no butterscotch in it, and nothing that really would create that flavor.  But the butter and sugar and spices all make for a wonderful combination.

I didn't know I was going to make this until the day before, and as everyone knows you can't buy ripe pears.  So they were still pretty crunchy, and that didn't cook out of them.  (That surprised me.)  Consequently, I think the 1/6 slices were a bit fat for the pie, and would prefer 1/8 or thinner.  (In fact, I did cut most of the pears into eighths.)

This recipe could easily handle apples instead of pears, or a combination would be nice!

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

2½ pounds firm-ripe pears (Bartlett or Anjou, about 5) peeled, cored, and cut into 6 wedges

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 

Double recipe all-butter pastry dough (recipe follows)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into bits

1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon warm water

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Put a baking sheet on middle rack of oven and preheat oven to 425°F.  Whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, then whisk in brown sugar, breaking up any lumps. Gently toss pears with brown sugar mixture, lemon juice, and vanilla and let stand 5 to 15 minutes to macerate fruit.

With such large pear slices, you want to make sure
to fit them together snugly.

Roll out 1 piece of dough (keep remaining disk chilled) on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch round. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Roll out remaining piece of dough into a 13-inch round. Reserve scraps.  Transfer filling to shell. Dot with butter, then cover with pastry round. Trim edges, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang (reserve scraps). Press edges together to seal, then fold under. Lightly brush top crust with some of egg wash, then cut 3 (1-inch-long) vents.  Roll out 1 piece of dough (keep remaining disk chilled) on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch round. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Roll out remaining piece of dough into a 13-inch round. Reserve scraps.  Transfer filling to shell. Dot with butter, then cover with pastry round.

Ready for the oven!

Trim edges, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang (reserve scraps). Press edges together to seal, then fold under. Lightly brush top crust with some of egg wash, then cut 3 (1-inch-long) vents.  Roll out dough scraps about 1/8 inch thick and cut out leaf shapes with cutters (or a knife). Arrange decoratively on top of pie, pressing gently to help them adhere. Lightly brush top crust and cutouts with some of egg wash and sprinkle with granulated sugar.  Bake pie on hot baking sheet 20 minutes. Reduce oven to 375°F and bake until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, 40 to 45 minutes more. Cool to warm or room temperature, 2 to 3 hours.

Dough
2½ cups all-purpose flour (not unbleached)
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
9 to 12 tablespoons ice water

Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl, then blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Drizzle evenly with 9 tablespoons ice water and gently stir with a fork (or pulse in food processor) until incorporated.  Squeeze a small handful: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until just incorporated, then test again. (Do not overwork mixture, or pastry will be tough.)  Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 8 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together with scraper and press into a ball, then flatten into a 6-inch disk. Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.  (Makes enough for a 12-inch single-crust galette or a 9-inch double-crust pie.)

So much for the decorative cutouts.

Conclusion:  This was delicious and I would make it again, but I would be sure to have sweet, ripe pears.   I would also increase the amount of spice mix, add a little more salt, and cut the pears into thinner slices.

Recipes:  Pear Butterscotch Pie  (Aug 20, 2009, Sept 2009 issue) and All-Butter Pastry Dough (Aug 20, 2004, Jan 2003 issue) via Epicurious

Pumpkin Raisin Muffins

1 ⅓ cups whole wheat flour

2 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon*

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup toasted and chopped walnuts or hazelnuts

1 cup pumpkin purée

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a muffin tin.  Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a large bowl. Stir in the raisins, set aside.  Toast the walnuts and hazelnuts in a pan on the stove top stirring frequently just a few minutes. Be careful not to burn the nuts. If using hazelnuts, rub toasted nuts in a tea towel to remove skins. Blend in a food processor until fine. Whisk into flour mixture.  In a separate bowl, beat together the pumpkin purée, eggs, milk, and butter. Fold into flour mixture until combined.  Divide among 12 muffin cups, filling each tin about 2/3 full. You may have enough for an additional muffin or two. Or just make giant muffins.  Bake for 25-30 minutes in the center of the oven until well risen and golden, and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  Leave in muffin tin for 1 to 2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

The batter was very thick, so I filled the muffin cups and they came out a nice size.  The directions called for cinnamon, but no quantity was provided; I used 1/2 teaspoon.

Conclusion: These were very good.  They were only mildly sweet, so I made maple syrup butter to go with them.  The nuts were not apparent. (Perhaps it should be ¼ cup of each?)  

Recipe:  Pumpkin Raisin Muffins via Stir It Up!

Pumpkin Ice Cream Muffins

I'm seeing a lot of muffin recipes out there these days that claim the muffins taste like doughnuts, but none has sold me yet.  But then there is this recipe for a quick bread made with melted ice cream that doesn't even tout itself as a "doughnut muffin", and yet really does taste like a doughnut! Especially when the muffins are rolled in cinnamon-sugar...

Now, I'm not a fan of novelty gadgets, especially since I have very limited storage space in my kitchen.  But I am tempted to go buy one of those doughnut baking pans JUST so I can complete the disguise. They're that good.

The original recipe's claim to fame is as a 2-ingredient recipe.  Yes, that's correct:  a quick bread that requires only two ingredients.  But one of those ingredients is self-rising flour, which is really three ingredients, and the other is ice cream, which is at least four.  When you think of it that way, it all starts to make sense.

I don't stock self-rising flour, so I had to look up how to substitute for it.  Just as well, because I prefer to use at least half whole wheat flour in muffins.  Most people will have the ingredients in their pantry already, but I do buy the Trader Joe's seasonal pumpkin ice cream just to make these.  It is very strongly flavored, so it really works well here.

Here's what I used: 

1½ cups Trader Joe's pumpkin ice cream (or other intense ice cream flavor)
1/2 cup white flour
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1/4 - 1/2 cup butter
1/2 - 1 cup cinnamon-sugar (about 1 teaspoon cinnamon per 1/2 cup sugar, or to taste)

Preheat the oven to 350F and grease 8 muffin tins. (I prefer to use silicone liners.) Allow the ice cream to sit out in a medium-sized bowl until it's nearly melted. Sift the flours, salt, and baking powder together and add to the softened ice cream; mix thoroughly. Scoop the batter into the tins, and bake for about 25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. The muffins will be fairly pale.

They're begging for a topping.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small bowl;  place the cinnamon-sugar in a separate bowl large enough to roll a muffin around in.  While still warm, dip each muffin briefly in the butter, and then roll through the cinnamon-sugar to coat. Alternatively, for a less sweet muffin, just dip the tops in.  (In this case, you would want to use the smaller quantities shown.)

Conclusion:  These are pretty decadent, but I don't think they're quite as bad for you as doughnuts and are every bit as delicious.  I  added nuts to the batch in these photos, which detracts a little from the "doughnuttiness", but was still tasty.  These would also be excellent with a cinnamon-streusel topping.  Another good ice cream flavor for the muffins would be a deep, dark chocolate, but something like butter-pecan might not add much.

Original recipe:  Two Ingredient Ice Cream Bread via Kirbie's Cravings

Malt Loaf/Raisin Bread

I'm not sure what makes this "malt loaf", other than it has malt in it, but so what?  The raisins are a far more prominent and distinguishing feature -- in the U.S. this would just be called raisin bread.  Was it supposed to taste like malt?  I don't know that I'd be able to pick that up amongst all the other stronger flavors.  But, ya know, Paul Hollywood is the Bread King, so if he wants to call it malt loaf, so be it.

For a single loaf, I cut the original two-loaf recipe in half and made some adjustments.  Here's what I used:

12.5g unsalted butter 

1½ teaspoons soft dark brown sugar 

1½ tablespoons malt extract* 

1 tablespoons black treacle dark molasses

2 teaspoons orange zest 

175g 125g strong white bread white flour with some high-gluten flour

50g 100g strong wholemeal bread whole wheat flour 

4g (about 1 teaspoon) 1½ teaspoon salt 

7g 5 teaspoons fast-action active dried yeast** 

115g sultanas 

125ml warm water 

1½ teaspoons runny honey, for glazing

Grease one 500g loaf tin (9.5x 4.25 x2) with butter. Place the butter, sugar, malt extract, molasses, and orange zest in a small saucepan and heat gently, stirring, until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.  Mix the flours together in a large bowl and add the salt to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Scatter over the sultanas. Pour in the cooled malt syrup mixture and the warm water and mix well with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.  Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and knead gently but thoroughly for a few minutes to bring the dough together. Roll into a sausage the length of the loaf tins and place in the prepared tin. Place in a roomy plastic bag that won’t touch the top of the dough as it rises. Leave to prove for 2 hours until the dough has risen above the top of the tin.  

Pre-heat the oven to 375°. Bake the loaf on the middle shelf for 25–35 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. As you remove the loaf from the oven, brush the top with the warmed honey to glaze. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes, then carefully tip out and place on a wire rack to cool. Serve with butter.

 

* I'm not sure what I used for malt extract. I might have used malt syrup, or I might have left it out. (That would explain why the loaf didn't taste malty, lol.)

 

**I'm sure I used far too much yeast. I never pay attention to "active dry" versus "fast acting" versus "quick rise" versus "instant" or any other variation of dry yeast. If it's dry, I just use an equivalent amount. I thought they were the same! But according to the Traditional Oven yeast converter, they are not!  I probably used active dry; the recipe's "fast action" yeast is probably what we call "rapid rise", or maybe even "instant". According to their converter, 7 grams of instant yeast converts to 3.3 teaspoons of active dry (and just over 2 teaspoons of instant.) My 5 teaspoons would have been up to double what was called for. Oops. (I usually use a scant tablespoon for a large, heavy, whole wheat loaf, so this really was excessive, even for me.)

 

I baked this in a 8x3" tin, which worked well.  It took only ½ hour to rise, no doubt because of the excess yeast. The scent from the orange zest was strong but the taste was delicate.  I didn't exactly measure, but I used about half whole wheat flour, and used some high-gluten flour for the white, since none of my flours were bread flour. Although I increased the salt, it was still a little light. I had to add a LOT more water, but I'm not sure my conversions were correct (obviously not on the yeast), or it could have been the extra whole wheat flour and a dry climate combo.

 

Conclusion:  Despite my crazy quantities, this was delicious.  (As I always say, bread happens.) I would like to try this with a more traditional process, perhaps with a little sourdough starter. Someday. 

Recipe: Hollywood Malt Loaf via Bakery Bits

November ABC challenge: Pumpkin Pecan Rolls

How do you eat a cinnamon roll?  Do you dive in with a big bite, rising to the surface with frosting all over your nose?  Delicately employ a knife and fork?  I must unwind them, and sometimes have to hunt diligently for the beginning point.  Of course, this is a two-handed effort, and a messy one.

7" x 22"

These rolls are enhanced with pumpkin and spices in the dough.  I halved the recipe and added chopped pecans to the cinnamon-sugar filling.  Also, I didn't realize the recipe called for WHITE whole wheat -- I used regular.  It worked out fine.

A mini roll -- half the full recipe length.

It always gets a little tricky halving a rolled recipe, particularly when the full recipe produces an odd number of rolls, like this one.  I had initially decided to cut the loaf into 4 equal rolls, as each would be only slightly larger than the original recipe.  But after rolling up the loaf, it had squished out to about 8", which allowed me to easily produce 5 rolls.  Once cut, though, I realized the last end piece had been shorted and was considerably less dense than the others.

Risen, and ready for the oven.

The other issue is a matter of finding the right pan. Nine rolls would fit nicely in the suggested square pan, but how does one bake 5 rolls? I split the rolls into two pans, squeezing the little end roll between two others.

The pans produced entirely different results.  The darker, non-stick pan browned more and even burned the sugar.  I prefer the result from the aluminum pan.

I drizzled the rolls with a penuche glaze rather than the white glaze from the recipe.  Love the orange color!

Conclusion:  These were only okay.  I thought they needed a little more salt, as I found them a bit flat tasting despite the pumpkin and spices.  Furthermore, I found the flavors made me want the dense moistness of pumpkin bread, while the yeasty dough made me want a traditional pecan roll.  

Recipe:  Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Rolls via King Arthur Flour