Lemon Cake with Lemony Sugar Wash

I had some heavy cream I needed to use up, so I looked for a recipe that called for a lot in something other than whipped cream (because it doesn't keep well) and found this one for a lemon pound cake.  It looked pretty easy too.  This has to mix for a LONG time -- it's important not to cut this time short because you're trying to build air into the batter.  Since I have only a hand mixer, that meant I had to stand there the whole time, which wasn't much fun.  But I've been listening to Moby Dick on line, so I had that going.

I got lazy and didn't clean off the beaters after I'd finished mixing the batter, and that's too bad because when I finally did I found most of the lemon zest wrapped around them.  The final cake wasn't very strongly lemon, and I wonder if that had an effect.

I didn't have cake flour, so I used part corn starch.  I also didn't have unsalted butter, so I used salted butter and omitted the salt in the recipe.  In the end, I think the cake could have used just a bit more salt, maybe 1/2 teaspoon.  (I think it would have brought out the lemon zip a little more.)

Here's what I used:

2 tablespoons finely grated lemon peel
2½ teaspoons lemon extract
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 3 cups minus 2 tablespoons unsifted, unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 cup unsifted bleached cake flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2½ cups superfine sugar
1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, sifted
6 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Combine the lemon peel, lemon extract, and lemon juice in a small mixing bowl.  Set aside.Lightly spray a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray and coat with flour, tapping out the excess.  (This makes a lot of batter so if your Bundt pan can't hold it all, put the excess batter in small ramekins and bake those as well.)  Sift the flour, corn starch, and baking powder onto a sheet of waxed paper and set aside.

Cream the butter in the large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer on moderate speed for 4 minutes.  Add the granulated sugar in 4 additions, beating for 1 minute after each portion is added. Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat for 45 seconds. Beat in the whole eggs, one at a time, mixing for about 20 seconds after each addition to combine.  Add the egg yolks and beat for 30 seconds longer.  Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula. Blend in the lemon peel and extract mixture. On low speed, alternately add the sifted mixture in 3 additions with the heavy cream in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the bowl thoroughly with a rubber spatula after each addition. Beat the batter on moderately high speed for 1 minute.  Pour and scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan. Smooth the top.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until risen, set, and a toothpick inserted into the cake withdraws clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes.  Loosen with a narrow spatula and invert onto a serving plate. Spoon the lemony sugar wash all over the cake, including the sides, giving time for the liquid to absorb before you spoon more over the cake. (See Conclusion.)  Cool completely.

Lemony Sugar Wash
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Combine the sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan and heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Spoon over warm cake.

My oven is an old O'Keefe & Merritt with only a bottom burner, which often causes a problem with bottom browning.  This cake bakes for over an hour, and while it wasn't over baked, it did turn out very brown on the bottom (which became the top.)

Conclusion:  This was good -- dense, rich, and moist.  But when I want lemon, I want LEMON, and this only hinted at it.  The wash was the best part, adding a nice tang.  I wish I had poked holes in the cake before pouring it over.

Recipe:  Lemon cake with lemony sugar wash via Stir It Up!

Panettone Muffins

My first ABC challenge and my first blog post EVER!  (This is the edited version, as of 7/19/14.)

I did my usual and made some substitutions.  I know -- the advice is always to follow the recipe exactly as written the first time, then modify according to taste.  Well... no.  I don't usually make anything more than once, so it's gotta be NOW...

According to the King Arthur Flour recipe page, these muffins are "intended to mimic the flavor of Italy's classic Christmas bread, panettone. They're flavored with Fiori di Sicilia — 'Flowers of Sicili' — traditionally used to flavor panettone."  I didn't have it, but I had this mystery bottle of Princess Cake &  Cookie bakery emulsion:
                                                        

I thought it tasted similar to panettone -- a bit citrusy -- so I used it. I'm not a big fan of white flour, and I usually use at least half whole wheat in my baking.  But the more delicate in texture and/or flavor something is, the less I feel it can handle whole wheat flour, and that included this recipe.  Nonetheless, I used 3/4 cup white whole wheat.  And since I didn't have the coarse sugar, I sprinkled on some nonpareils -- these muffins look a bit naked undecorated.

I had an interesting discussion in another forum about cake enhancer, particularly King Arthur's.  Cake enhancer is intended to extend the life of the product, and can be made of natural products or chemicals, or a combination.  I don't know what KA makes theirs out of, and I don't see the need to add any weird artificial ingredient to my baking, so I left it out.

I used these silicone "baking cups" for the first time, and found they didn't quite sit down in the muffin tins.  That created a bit of an insulating air layer, which left the bottoms pale and spongy.  For better success, I should probably use them on a baking sheet.  There is a toasty ring around each muffin where the cup met the tin.  The batter did fill the cups "quite full", and the muffins didn't rise a whole lot after that -- just another 1/2" or so, though I got some great cracking in the tops!

I had to bake these about 25 minutes, and I still found them a bit doughy while warm, even though they were fully cooked.  (The extra time necessary might have been due to that insulating layer, or my crazy oven.)  Doughy/gummy muffins are usually the result of too much liquid.  The batter was quite thick, but not heavy or dry.  It seemed "fluffy" and held its shape, like whipped cream.  I've certainly had batters that were much thicker, so this recipe could probably use about 1/4 cup less milk.  (It might depend on how dry the fruit was.)

Here's what I used:

1½ cups diced, dried fruit:  golden raisins, mango, pears, Rainier cherries, orange-flavored cranberries
1/4 spiced rum
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia, to taste princess bakery emulsion
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons King Arthur Cake Enhancer, optional, for enhanced freshness
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2¼ 1½ cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
2/3 cup milk
2 generous tablespoons coarse white sparkling sugar, for topping

non-pareils, for decoration

Mix the dried fruit and liquid of your choice in a bowl. Cover the bowl, and let the fruit sit overnight. Or speed up the process by heating fruit and liquid in the microwave till very hot, then cooling to lukewarm/room temperature, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin, or line with 12 paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray; this will ensure that they peel off the muffins nicely.  (I did not grease the silicone cups and did not have a problem.)  In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugar until smooth.  Add the eggs, beating to combine.  Stir in the flavoring and vanilla. Whisk together the baking powder, salt, and flour; stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined.  Stir in the fruit, with any remaining liquid.  Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling the cups quite full. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins generously with the nonpareils.  Bake the muffins for 18 to 25 minutes, or until they're a sunny gold color on top, and a cake tester inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and let cool for a couple of minutes, or until you can handle them. Transfer them to a rack to cool.

Conclusion:  The warm muffins were very delicate and soft, much like cake.  I found them to be a little too sweet and somewhat lacking in flavor; I think that came from the minimal amount of butter and no spices.  I don't really like quick breads much anyway, and I think there is something lost in this recipe by removing the yeast.  For one thing, yeasted bread provides a nice structure that supports all that fruit, which these muffins didn't have.  Perhaps if they had less milk. Once cooled, they were much less gummy and delicate, and the flavors seemed to round out better.  I even started to like them.  But on the second day I was back to thinking they were too sweet.  Ironically, I took them to work and they were very well-received!  "Those are  AWESOME!" said one person.  "Not too sweet."  And someone else, "I like the texture."  They were appreciating the two very things I liked least!!  You never can tell.

Recipe:  Panettone Muffins via King Arthur Flour

Spiced Pumpkin Yeast Bread

 

We think of pumpkin bread as a cakey loaf good for snacking.  This is different.  Although it's a yeast bread with low sugar, I wouldn't go so far as to call it savory, but it would still be good in sandwiches. The original, King Arthur Flour recipe is made with all-purpose flour; the recipe I actually worked from uses Einkorn flour.

Here's what I used:

1/4 cup warm water
1/3 cup warm milk
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup pumpkin purée
1 tablespoon olive oil
3½ – 4 cups Einkorn wheat flour (2/3 white whole wheat, 1/3 AP)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped

In a large bowl, combine the liquid ingredients: water, milk, eggs, pumpkin, oil.  In a medium bowl, combine the 3 cups of Einkorn flour, brown sugar, salt, instant yeast, ginger, cardamom and cinnamon.  Add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients and beat vigorously for 2 minutes.  Gradually add remaining flour, a little at a time, until you have a dough stiff enough to knead.  Turn dough out onto a floured surface.  Knead, adding flour as necessary, until you have a smooth, elastic dough.  Put dough into an oiled bowl.  Turn once to coat the dough with oil.  Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Turn dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface.  Shape dough into a loaf and place in well-greased 9 x 5-inch pan.  Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.  Bake the loaf in a preheated 375°F oven about 30 minutes.  Check the internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer; a reading of 190°F means loaf is done. Immediately remove the loaf from the pan and cool on a wire rack to prevent crust from becoming soggy.  For a shiny crust, brush tops lightly with oil.

I didn't follow the directions exactly.  I threw all the wet ingredients into the dry mixture one by one (not pre-mixed) and then kneaded it in the food processor about 45 seconds in two batches (since the whole batch was too much for my processor.)  I then kneaded the dough by hand to incorporate the last ½ cup flour and the nuts.  I used the stretch and fold technique from this Honey Oatmeal Bread and let it prove in the refrigerator overnight before finishing the following day.

Conclusion:  Nice, but nothing to write home about.  Even though I doubled the spices, they were still pretty much undetectable, and the whole wheat overpowered the pumpkin flavor.  It needed a little more nuts, too.  It would be fine for sandwiches as it is, but for morning toast I'd want more flavor.

Recipe:  Einkorn Pumpkin Yeast Bread via Bread Experience, adapted from Pumpkin Yeast Bread via King Arthur Flour

Honey Oatmeal Bread

I'll occasionally indulge in a package of soft, white, commercial bread, usually because I'm craving a fluffer-nutter, or just need comfort food.  But when it comes to making bread myself, I can never seem to make a plain loaf of all white flour.  (Sweet breads, now that's a different story.  Bring on the white flour and sugar!)  So true to form, I substituted about half the flour for white whole wheat.  Because it's not like that little bit of oats in the recipe was going to add a lot of nutrients!  (And since it's basically just a honey wheat loaf, I think it could survive even as much as two-thirds whole wheat flour.)

Here is the source recipe:

1¼ cups/300 ml whole or 2% milk
2 oz/57 g old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
3 tbsp/43 g unsalted butter
1½  tsp/5 g instant yeast
2.12 oz/50 g honey
1½ tsp/7 g salt
12¼ oz/347 g all-purpose flour
1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
rolled oats, for topping

Day 1
Bring milk to a boil. Stir in oats and butter, and let sit for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice. Stir in instant yeast and honey, until well combined.  Add milk mixture to flour and salt in mixing bowl. Stir on low speed for 1 - 2 minutes (or with wooden spoon) until all flour is hydrated and shaggy mass forms. Let dough rest for 5 minutes.  Knead at medium-low speed for 6 minutes (or by hand). Dough will be a bit sticky, but don't add any more flour (always err on the wet side.)

Transfer dough to lightly oiled work surface; pat in a rough rectangle. With wet or oiled hands, stretch and fold dough in thirds, like a business letter. Then repeat the same stretching and folding in thirds from both sides.   Gather dough into a ball, tucking the sides underneath, and place it, smooth side up, into a greased bowl. Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. Repeat these stretches and folds (S & F) 3 more times, at 10 minute intervals.  After the last S & F, place dough in an oiled container with lid, and place in refrigerator overnight.

Day 2
Remove dough from refrigerator 2 hours before using, to warm up. Lightly grease 8½ x 4½-inch loaf pan.  Transfer dough on clean work surface. Placing your hands in the middle, gently press down to degas. Pat dough into a 7 x 10-inch rectangle. Roll up into a sandwich loaf, pinching seams to seal. Place, seam side down, in prepared loaf pan, then gently flatten with your hands to even it out.  Brush top with egg wash.  Using sharp knife, slash lengthwise. Sprinkle with rolled oats, then gently press with your hands to make sure they stick to the dough.

Preheat oven to 425ºF, adjusting rack to middle position. Mist loaf with baking spray, cover, and proof for 45 minutes, or until grown one and a half times its original size. (Poke dough gently with your finger - the dent should slowly come back a little bit, and stay visible, but not fill up again.)

Refresh the scoring if you want the slash to open wider during the bake.  Place bread in the middle of the oven, reduce temperature to 350ºF, and bake for 20 minutes. Rotate loaf for even browning, and continue baking for another 20 - 25 minutes, until top is golden brown and it registers at least 195ºF.  Remove from oven, turn out onto wire rack, and let cool.

 

The source baker reduced the honey from the original recipe by half (1/3 cup in the original) because she uses it for savory sandwiches, and reduced the yeast from 2¼ teaspoons (7g).  I followed the source, but split the difference on the honey and used about 70g.  My scoring technique needs some improvement -- for one, the cut shouldn't go all the way to the end, but should stop about an inch or so prior.  And I think I forgot to use the egg wash, because the topping oats certainly didn't stick.  (The original recipe doesn't use an egg wash, but rather brushes the baked loaf with butter.)

Conclusion:  This turned out really well.  The oatmeal, not surprisingly, was unnoticeable.  Next time I would use steel cut oats if I want some texture, although a soft, smooth loaf is nice sometimes.  Otherwise, I'm not sure what it added.  I think I would prefer the full 1/3 cup (100g) of honey called for in the original recipe, especially if using whole wheat flour.

Recipe:  Honey Oatmeal Bread via Brot and Bread, adapted from The Weekend Baker by Abby Dodge