TWD/DAC: Maybe-This, Maybe-That Ham and Cheese Loaf

 

 

This month's cake from Dorie's Anytime Cakes by Dorie Greenspan is a bit different -- it's a savory cake.

 

It's almost like a 'kitchen sink' cake, since it contains three types of cheese (fontina, mozzarella Parmesan), pancetta, ham, or bacon, chives or scallions, roasted peppers, and honey. Aside from a lot of chopping, the batter is easy to put together, and it bakes in a loaf pan.

 

While it's an interesting cake, flavor-wise, it didn't thrill me.  I put most of the slices in the freezer to revisit at a later date.  Maybe toasting them will help; maybe the flavors will be better melded.

There were mixed reviews from the bakers as well, so be sure to check them out at the Tuesdays with Dorie website.

  

BBB: Yeasted Honey Corn Bread

 

Kelly is our Kitchen of the Month. She challenged us to make a yeasted honey corn bread with a possible substitution of millet for those sensitive to corn.

 This was a straight-forward yeast bread with corn meal and honey, and I enjoyed both making it and eating it.  Occasionally, though, I would have a mental disconnect:  it tasted like regular cornbread, but didn't look like it's namesake.  There was that bit of crunch from the cornmeal, but it had the texture of a yeast bread.  It was excellent toasted!

 

For the recipe, go to Kelly's website, and be sure to check out the different versions that the other Babes made.

 

 

• Blog from OUR Kitchen – Elizabeth
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories – Karen
• A Messy Kitchen – Kelly (Kitchen of the Month)
• My Diverse Kitchen – Aparna 
• Bread Experience  - Cathy  
• Thyme for Cooking - Katie
• My Kitchen in Half Cups – Tanna  

 

  

TWD/BWD: Apricot and Pistachio-Olive Oil Cake

 

For the first April post from Baking with Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, I'm featuring the Apricot and Pistachio--Olive Oil Cake.

Since I was the hostess this month for my small quilt group, I make this cake to share with everyone.

I baked the cake itself the day before the meeting, wrapped it and stored it upside down in the refrigerator over night.  This made it easier to cut the cake in half the next day in preparation for finishing.  Melted apricot preserves were spread on the cut layer, and then again on the top, followed by a lot of chopped pistachios.  I did add the chopped tea leaves to the batter, but I'm not sure it made any difference to the flavor of the cake, although it did create a speckled appearance. 

 

Everyone enjoyed the cake, and they even took several pieces home. 

Stop by the Tuesdays with Dorie website to see which recipe the other bakers made. 

TWD/BWD: Brioche Sticky Buns

 

The second bake this month from Baking with Dorie by Dorie Greenspan is Brioche Sticky Buns. 

 

Brioche dough is filled with cinnamon sugar and a bit of cocoa powder, then baked in a brown sugar and honey glaze.  

 

After baking, the buns are unmolded/inverted onto another plate while the caramel sauce is still molten.  Eat whenever you can stand the heat!  They're delicious at any temperature.

 

See what the other bakers thought about these buns by visiting the Tuesdays with Dorie website.

  

TWD/BWD: Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Today is chocolate chip cookie posting day.  Who doesn't love a classic chocolate chip cookie! 

These yummy cookies are from Baking with Dorie by Dorie Greenspan.  They can be customized by adding, or omitting, any variety of fruit or nuts.

As an added bonus, the dough can be made and shaped ahead of time and frozen, so you can bake these cookies on demand anytime you feel the need to have a bit of chocolate in your life.

And that is what I did.

While I prefer a thicker and chewier chocolate chip cookie, these were just fine.  They didn't spread very much, perhaps because they were in a frozen state when baked.

No matter which kind of cookie is your favorite, these are always good to have on hand.

Stop by the Tuesdays with Dorie website to see what the other bakers made.  

TWD/DAC: Mix-It-Up Citrus Loaf Cake

 

 

Lucky quilt group! 

For this month's meeting, I brought Dorie's Mix-It-Up Citrus Loaf Cake.  It was well received, and there wasn't much left to bring home.

I used a blend of citrus:  limes, lemons, and oranges.  The limes and lemons came from my backyard trees; the oranges from my biweekly produce box, since my orange tree is only in the blooming stage.  I always love being able to use my citrus crops.  I did have to bake the cake for an extra ten minutes.

For the glaze, I heated and strained some apricot jam.

 

This is an easy cake to make and works with any combination of citrus fruits.

Stop by Tuesdays with Dorie website to see which February recipe the other bakers made.    

Celebrating the Babes 18th anniversary!

 

 

To celebrate the Babes' eighteenth anniversary, Tanna, our Kitchen of the Month, challenged us to make Kathleen Weber's Della Fattoria Pain de Campagne.

Now, I have a love-hate relationship with making sourdough bread.  When it works, I'm thrilled.  When it doesn't, I curse the waste of ingredients, time, and effort.

This recipe calls for a firm starter.  So, I did my research to see how to make this, and found a recipe on the King Arthur Baking Company website.  It uses discard as a foundation, and I had some in the refrigerator, so i had nothing to lose (except my discard). 

I followed the directions, and ended up with a large lump of dough that did absolutely nothing.  Discouraged, I tossed it into the refrigerator until I figured out a disposal method. I went in search of a yeast-based bread instead.  (To be honest, I'd rather bake with yeast than starter.)   I came across Cathy's recipe for Easy Dutch Oven Pain de Campagne, so that's what I used.  I made the Lemon-Rosemary filling, since I have both lemons and rosemary in the backyard.  The bread worked out fine, although the filling was barely apparent.  That's the way it goes sometimes.

 

Fast forward a few days.  I noticed something strange happening to the firm starter I had tossed back into the fridge.  Was it my imagination, or was the starter actually showing some activity?  Well, yes, it was.  I tried out my new 'toy' to bring it back to life, deciding to try again using the newly revived firm starter.  

The resulting dough was lovely, but it didn't have as much oven spring as I would have liked.  And, once again, the filling disappeared, although I would get hints of lemon with each bite. 

 

It was an interesting experiment.  In the end, I preferred the yeast bread version rather than the sourdough one, based on taste and texture (and success).

For the recipe and description of this bread, go to Tanna's website. 

The other Babes made wonderful versions of this bread, so be sure to check them out.

 

 

• Blog from OUR Kitchen – Elizabeth
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories – Karen
• A Messy Kitchen – Kelly
• My Diverse Kitchen – Aparna 
• Bread Experience  - Cathy  
• Thyme for Cooking - Katie
• My Kitchen in Half Cups – Tanna  (Kitchen of the Month)