Fruit and Spice Bread

There are a lot of similar spiced fruit bread recipes that come out this time of year.  This was a new one for me to try.

To make a smaller, individual loaf, I halved the original recipe, which would have been shaped into a ring after being twisted, and adjusted the baking times.  Here's what I used:

1/2 cup warm water
2¹/₄ teaspoons active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon sugar 

1/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature

1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 + 1/8 teaspoon aniseed, chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1³/₄ cups all-purpose flour 

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup old-fashioned oats 

1/2 cup mixed diced dried fruit (I used apricots, tart cherries, and golden raisins)

 

Proof yeast in 1/4 cup water with the sugar. In mixing bowl, add yeast mixture, remaining 1/4 cup water, buttermilk, honey, cinnamon, salt, aniseed, and allspice; stir to combine. Add 1 cup all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and oats and beat 3 minutes. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup all-purpose flour. Continue beating until dough cleans sides of bowl. Turn out dough onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, adding up to 1/4 cup all-purpose flour if very sticky, about 10 minutes. Place dough in oiled bowl and turn to coat. Allow to rise at room temperature until tripled in volume, about 6 hours. 

 

Punch down dough and turn out onto work surface. Add dried fruit and knead until thoroughly combined. Divide dough in half; roll each half into a 15-inch-long rope. Place ropes side by side and twist together loosely to form one even loaf. Place on cookie sheet and cover with kitchen towel; let rise in warm area until almost doubled in volume, about 1 hour 45 minutes. 

 

Preheat oven to 400F. Transfer bread to oven, then immediately reduce temperature to 350F and bake 30 minutes. Reduce temperature to 325F and continue baking until bread sounds hollow when tapped on bottom, about 15 minutes. Transfer bread to rack and cool.  

 

The directions to allow the dough to rise for 6 hours until tripled in volume were a surprise.  It's not an enriched dough--there is no egg or butter, and not an unusually large amount of sugar (honey)--so the directions are not typical for what is a fairly standard dough recipe.  I had scheduling issues with preparing this bread, so I decided to take advantage of the long rise time and start it in the refrigerator around 2:00 in the afternoon.  I didn't remove it until the following morning, and it was barely doubled.  I left it on the counter, but it continued to rise very slowly, perhaps because the room was quite cool.  Finally, losing patience, I took it out to the warm car and left it there until I couldn't wait any longer.  It still wasn't tripled, but I was concerned about letting it go any longer.  By now, it had been 24 hours.  I punched it down, kneaded in the fruit, shaped it, and left it to rise; this time it took far less time to nearly double, but I didn't get any oven spring. (I should also mention I used fast-acting yeast, which throws another curve ball into the process.) 

Since it lacked any sort of decoration, I gave it a butter rub after it had cooled to give a little shine.

Conclusion:  The bread was dense and chewy, similar to a bagel--I'm not sure if that is the intended texture or if it didn't rise properly.  It wasn't especially spicy; the most noticeable flavor was anise, which I didn't especially care for.  I normally like anise, but this came across a little medicinal.  (Maybe I need to buy new anise seed.  It tastes more herbal than candy-like.)  It wasn't particularly "festive" tasting, but was a nice variation on raisin bread.  It might also benefit from some walnuts.

Recipe:  "Fruit and Spice Bread" via Bon Appétit, September 1992

December ABC challenge: Chocolate Gingerbread Cake

 

This month's challenge is a favorite holiday dessert.  For many years, this has been one of my trusty go-tos for a holiday gathering.  It's delicious, easy to make, usually foolproof (see explanation below), and the best part is that it's better after a couple days, so it can be made ahead.

2 1-ounce squares semisweet chocolate
2 cups all-purpose flour
2¹/₂ teaspoons ground ginger, divided
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 cup dark (unsulphured) molasses
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour (or use cocoa powder) a 9'' springform pan.   In a small heavy saucepan over very low heat, melt chocolate, stirring constantly until smooth.  Remove from heat to cool. 

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine flour, 1½ teaspoons ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; set aside. 

In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg to blend thoroughly; beat in molasses and buttermilk.  Reduce speed to low; gradually beat in flour mixture.  Beat in melted chocolate until well blended.  Pour batter into prepared pan; bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool cake in pan on wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan to rack to cool completely.   To decorate, in small bowl combine cocoa powder and remaining 1 teaspoon ginger; sprinkle evenly over cooled cake.

Thanks to a boyfriend who didn't know that the heavy aluminum plate the cake I made him was resting on wasn't disposable, I lost the bottom to my 9" springform pan.  No good deed..., as they say.  (Note to readers:  never turn over a cake to others that's still on the springform bottom -- you'll never see it again.)  I should have tried making this in a standard 9" cake pan -- I'm sure it would have worked fine.  But instead I used an 8" springform and it did NOT work well.  I didn't reduce the temperature (I probably should have), but I did bake it about another 15 minutes.  I also probably should have put foil around the top edges once they'd cooked.  I even have cake pan insulators that help a cake bake evenly, but I completely forgot about them.  I was hoping the center would eventually rise as it completed baking, but it actually sunk lower.  (Possibly from all my jabbing with a cake tester to see if it was done yet.)

Conclusion:  As a long-time trusted recipe, I'm disappointed in how it turned out this time.  It was still rich, moist, and delicious, but the flavor seemed a little too intense.  It's possible that was a result of the changed texture from improper baking, or perhaps my tastes have changed.  (Admittedly, it's been a while since I've made it.)  You have to be careful with the cocoa powder on top--if it's at all loose (as it was this time on the smaller cake), it can make people choke.  A light drizzle of dark chocolate ganache might be a good addition.

Recipe:  "Dreamy Chocolate Gingerbread Cake" from a magazine, circa 1980-something

November ABC challenge: Persimmon Muffins

 This month's challenge was color.  I'm not sure I achieved it, but I tried.  Persimmons have a deep orange color that definitely warms up the color of the muffins.  The seed envelopes, which are a brighter orange color and showed up well in the raw batter, however, turned darker during baking, so are not visible.  But don't count out the bits of cranberry!

I love these muffins -- I've made them several times.  As I recall, the first time I made them I misread the quantity of persimmon pulp and used twice as much, but otherwise followed the recipe.  The results were dense and rich and chewy and incredibly delicious.  Since then, I have always included extra pulp (until today), but I've tinkered with the rest of the recipe considerably.  I really have to question the amount of sugar and butter in the original and whether I ever followed that instruction.  It's a lot!  Regardless, this is a great recipe no matter how it's done!  One of my favorites.

The recipe calls for 18 muffins, but I made 12.  My changes are in italics and strike out.  Here's what I used:

1 cup persimmon puree (preferably Hachiya)

1 1¹/₂ teaspoon baking soda

12 4 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature

1¼ 1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons molasses 

2 eggs

1¹/₃ cup all-purpose flour (3/4 cup white, remainder whole wheat)

1/2 3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Zest of one orange or 1/2 teaspoon orange extract

1 cup walnut pieces

3/4 cup currants dried, sweetened cranberries

Heat oven to 325 degrees; grease muffin tins* on the inside as well as the top edge of each cup.  In a small bowl, mix the persimmon puree with the baking soda; set aside.  In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until mixture is creamy and smooth.  Add eggs and beat well.  Sift together the flours, salt, cinnamon, and ginger.  Add to the butter, along with the persimmon, and beat until well blended.  Beat in the vanilla, almond extract, lemon juice, and zest until combined, then stir in walnuts and cranberries.  Fill each muffin cup and bake 45 minutes, or until a wood pick comes out clean when inserted into the center of a muffin. Remove from the muffin pans and let cool on racks.

*These are very delicate so difficult to remove cleanly. Try using paper or silicone muffin cups. 

I had to use vinegar in place of lemon juice, but that wouldn't have affected anything.  And I didn't have orange zest, so I used 1/2 teaspoon orange extract.  I used two defrosted persimmons that have been in my freezer for two years, unwrapped.  They turned into a liquid pool once they defrosted -- shapeless, deflated lumps of pulp in a sweet syrup.  I used only the pulp, but I lost flavor and sweetness by excluding the juice.  I probably should have added it, since it was original to the fruit, but the pulp was already so wet.

The batter is quite light and fluffy and seems like it would rise into stable, tall muffins, but actually they always come out flat-topped and looking a bit melted.  I overfilled the tins, which created a crispy/chewy ring where it overflowed -- delicious!  This time I had some trouble getting them out.  I had to break a piece of the outer ring off so I could get a knife down and pry them out.

Conclusion:  These are indescribably delicious, especially warm out of the oven.  As prepared, they are plenty sweet, and buttery enough to leave your fingers a little oily.  If made per the original recipe, I think they should probably be served warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream!

Original recipe:  "Persimmon Muffins" via The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham

Spiced Butter Cookies: fall leaves

 It's good to have a dependable, delicious butter cookie.  Slightly spicier and a little sweeter than this version, these are lightly spiced and perfect for this time of year.

1¹/₄ cups sugar

1 cup salted butter, softened

1 egg 

3 tablespoons dark corn syrup or molasses 

1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour

1¹/₂ teaspoons baking soda 

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 

1 teaspoon ground ginger 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Combine sugar and butter in large mixer bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy (1 to 2 minutes). Add egg, molasses, and vanilla; continue beating until well mixed (1 to 2 minutes). Reduce speed to low; add all remaining ingredient. Beat until well mixed (1 to 2 minutes). Divide dough into thirds, flatten into discs ½-inch thick and refrigerate until firm (1 to 2 hours) or up to three days.

Heat oven to 375F. Allow dough to soften slightly, then roll out on lightly floured surface to ⅛-inch thick. Cut with a 3 to 4-inch cookie cutter. Place one inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until set. Let stand one minute, then remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely.

 

In order to get the 6 dozen this recipe can yield,  you really do have to roll the dough quite thinly as directed and use the correct size cutter.  Rolled as directed, it makes very thin cookies.  The issue with that is that it's so easy to overbake them.  This cookie has a very delicate buttery flavor with light spices; they are still delicious when browned, but taste more like graham crackers.  They lose much of the delicate flavoring because the toastiness overwhelms it.  I'd be inclined to roll them slightly thicker (mindful of the fact that they're more likely to lose fine definition) so there's less chance of overbaking.  I checked the larger leaves at 5 minutes and they didn't seem as firm as I wanted.  I left them about another minute or so, and they were slightly overdone.  The small ones were still soft at 3 minutes but just about perfect at 4+.  (They might have benefited from using an airbake pan to reduce crisping.)

Conclusion:  Buttery, sweet, with delicate spices.  This is a great basic recipe and makes nice cutout cookies. 

Recipe:  "Twinkling Ginger Stars" via Land O Lakes butter

Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts

I love this recipe for pumpkin ice cream muffins-- to me they taste like doughnuts.  So I wondered how they would work if baked in a doughnut pan-- would they make decent doughnuts?  Today I finally tried it, and they were ...  underwhelming.  I've always been skeptical of doughnut baking pans because the key part of a doughnut -- what makes it so decadently delicious -- was the crispy fried exterior with that extra bit of fat.  It not only has a different mouth feel, but it has a different flavor as well.  In the absence of that, it's just another baked good.

The doughnuts tasted fine, but they weren't very substantial.  It didn't feel like I was eating a doughnut, but rather a skinny muffin.  So I gave up and overfilled the tins to make something more like a flat muffin.  One of these days, I'll have to try one of the recipes that claims to actually be a doughnut batter.

Pumpkin Swirl Bread

More explorations into pumpkin breads, this one from a magazine I bought last year.  Compared to this yeasted pumpkin bread, it's sweeter because of the swirl center, but otherwise similar in mild flavor.

Here's what I used:

2¼ - 2½ cups all-purpose flour 

1½ cups whole wheat flour 

1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats 

1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar 

1¼ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

3/4 teaspoon salt 

2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast 

3/4 cup water 

1/2 cup canned pumpkin 

1/6 cup canola oil

1/6 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated 

1 egg 

 

Filling 

1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar 

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 

In a large bowl, combine one cup all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, oats, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and yeast.  In a saucepan, stir together water, pumpkin, oil, and applesauce; heat to 120F to 130F.  Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.  Add eggs; beat on high 2 minutes.  Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much remaining all-purpose flour to make a firm dough; turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 6 to 8 minutes to make a smooth and elastic dough; shape into a ball.  Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning to grease surface of dough. Cover with towel; let rise in warm place until double in size (about one hour). 

 

For filling, in a small bowl combine brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.

 

Lightly grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.  Punch dough down, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface; roll into an 18 x 9-inch rectangle. Spread with 2 tablespoons butter to within 1/2 inch of edges; sprinkle with brown sugar mixture.  Cover with towel; let rise in warm place until doubled in size (about 30 minutes).

 

Preheat oven to 350F.  Bake loaf 50-60 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped.  Cool bread in pan on wire rack 10 minutes, then remove from pan to cool completely.

 

I didn't have applesauce, so I tried shredding the apple and cooking it with the other ingredients, the idea being it would turn into mush in the process.  It didn't exactly fail, but I'd try something different in the future.

Chocolate and pumpkin are always a good combination!

Conclusion:   Not especially pumpkiny, especially after spreading with butter and honey or cinnamon, but still tasty. The filling added just the right amount of sweetness so you didn't need anything more. Could have used a little more salt to counter the sweetness. My only real complaint is that the outside whirl is too dry. Perhaps it was overbaked? Didn't look it, and the sugar that spilled out wasn't burned. 

Recipe: "Pumpkin Swirl Bread" via America’s Favorite Pumpkin Recipes by Centennial Kitchen 

Streusal Coffee Cake I

 

I'm looking for my mom's recipe for coffee cake that I grew up with.  This was the first attempt.

1¼ cup flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup shortening salted butter
1/4 1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Combine flower, brown sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly; set aside 1/4 cup crumb mixture. To remaining crumb mixture, add baking powder, soda, and spices; Mixed well. Add buttermilk or sour milk and egg; Mix well. Pour into a greased, 8 x 8-inch baking pan. Combine reserved crumbs with nuts; Sprinkle atop cake. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Serve warm.

I reduced the salt because I used salted butter.  I also threw additional nuts on top, probably at least another 2 tablespoons.  I didn't even notice that the recipe called for a round pan; I used a square one.

This was so close, but not quite.  The cake was brown from the sugar, but my mom's cake was light.  Did she use white sugar instead?  I doubt it -- she rarely deviated from recipes.  It seemed like hers was thicker, and I think there was more topping.

Conclusion:  Pretty basic.  A little sweet -- I'd like the topping to be sweeter than the cake; these were about equal.  I would cut the cake sugar by half and increase the amount of topping.  It could probably withstand some whole wheat flour, too.

Recipe:  Spicy Buttermilk Coffee Cake via Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, ninth edition (1985)