Yogurt Pound Cake April 18, 2018 by Jenny Chang Leave a Comment Yogurt Pound Cake 2018-04-19 01:31:56 Print Ingredients 1 cup butter 2 cups sugar 3 eggs 2 1/2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon vanilla 8 oz lowfat vanilla yogurt Instructions Beat together butter & sugar until well mixed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. In separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Stir vanilla into yogurt. Alternately add dry ingredients and yogurt to butter mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients and beating well after each addition. Pour into well greased and floured Bundt or Tube pan and bake at 325 degrees for about 60 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Marcel's Culinary Experience https://www.marcelsculinaryexperience.com/
Beignets February 15, 2018 by Jenny Chang Leave a Comment Beignets 2018-02-15 21:33:48 Yields 24 Print Ingredients 1 cup warm water, 110 degrees 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided 1 tablespoon instant or rapid-rise yeast 15 ounces all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling 3/4 teaspoon of salt 2 eggs 2 tablespoons of canola oil Canola oil, for frying Confectioners’ sugar for finishing Instructions Combine warm water, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar and yeast in large bowl. Let sit, about 5 minutes, until foamy. In separate bowl, combine flour, 2 remaining tablespoons sugar and salt. Whisk eggs and 2 tablespoons canola oil into foamed yeast water. Add flour mixture to liquid and vigorously stir with rubber spatula until all flour is incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Place a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet. Dust a separate rimmed baking sheet with flour. Add enough canola oil to heavy-bottomed Dutch oven to measure 1 1/2-inches deep. Heat oil to 350 degrees over medium high heat. While oil is heating (after dough has doubled in size), finish preparing beignets. Heavily dust clean work surface with additional flour. Place half of dough on floured work surface and gently coat in flour using a bench scraper to turn dough and to keep from sticking to surface. Pat dough in to rectangle with well-floured hands. Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness, about 12x9 inches. Using a pizza wheel, cut into twelve 3-inch squares. Place squares on floured baking sheet. Fry beignets, about 4-6 at a time depending on size of pot, until golden brown, about 3 minutes total, flipping halfway through frying. Use slotted spoon to transfer beignets to wire rack on rimmed backing sheet. Repeat with remaining beignets, being sure to maintain oil at 325-350 degrees during frying. Generously dust finished beignets with confectioners’ sugar and serve immediately. Adapted from Cooks Illustrated Adapted from Cooks Illustrated Marcel's Culinary Experience https://www.marcelsculinaryexperience.com/
My New Relationship With Yeast by Kelly Sears January 4, 2018 by Jenny Chang Leave a Comment After the cork pops, the ball drops, and all the decorations are put away, it’s time for the resolutions; the promises. The time when we vow to turn the shoulda, coulda, woulda’s from the past year into motion in the new one. The New Year to me is a clean sheet of white paper and a box of ten new pencils. I love pencils, they allow forgiveness; a quick erase and the to-do list of twenty can become fifteen with just a flip upside down and a couple of sturdy set of swipes from left to right. Pencils allow for breathing room, edits, scratch outs and drafts. Pen is permanent and seems super strict. For those of you under 25, a pencil is made of wood, has a strip of graphite running down the middle, starts sharp, after a series of bright ideas and big plans, whittles down to dull, can be sharpened again and you hold it in your hand and write on paper. Genius! With the clean sheet of paper and the sharp new pencil, I write a list of things I would like to learn in the new year. My list rarely includes quitting a bad habit, losing pounds, or starting some new system. These seem like processes to me; adjustments that require life changes to be successful, and a completely different blog post! Some years the list includes things I fear, some years it includes things I haven’t made time for, in other years, on the list is something I think I should know, and yet others, that list includes something that seems really cool to know. In 2017 among other things, my list included learning to knit (epic fail), trying bungee Pilates (the comedic value alone was worth the effort), make a really good pie (satisfying), and baking a better loaf of bread (yes!!). I’m not sure how I could have a friendship that has withstood forty years and a marriage of nearly thirty, and I couldn’t figure out how to have a relationship with yeast. Sometimes, getting better at something starts with one move, deciding to do so. Whatever material you built the wall from to mentally stop you from doing it, is usually not made of kryptonite and usually crumbles once you make the decision to take action. Even doing nothing is doing something. Back to bread, I enrolled myself in a four day boot camp in Ann Arbor at Zingerman’s Bakehouse. For four days I surrounded myself with all things yeast and dough, shut my mouth and opened my ears. Life Changing! I embraced this new skill with gusto. Soon I was baking six or seven loaves of bread a week and had multiple varieties of sourdough starter feasting. I purchased proofing baskets, lames, linen couches, and cast iron loaf pans. My countertops continually had something rising at different stages and I asked my husband if he could build me a proofing box. It was at this point, I got the look. The look you get after nearly thirty years of marriage, the one that requires no words. This look, in my world, usually translates to “perhaps we are taking this bread thing a bit too far;” grab some reins, apply the brakes. He’s usually right. My new found skills tend to teeter on obsession. In my quest to master, I forget time and space, I forget the real reason I began the journey to begin with. Learning a skill is all about empowerment; education + knowledge = power. Once you learn how to do something you didn’t know how to do before, you no longer have to rely on others to do something for you. Intrepidation is stifling. Remove hesitation and the results are unharnessed creativity and freedom. As with most things one fears, once you face it, it’s never that scary, and the lessons learned transcend just bread making and baking. On the journey to soft rolls, French loaves, cinnamon swirl breakfast bread, multigrain sandwich loaf, sourdough boules, crusty peasant bread, and warm brioche, this is what happened….. Patience– like good conversation, friendship, wine, and marriage, a really good loaf of bread takes time Renewed commitment – sourdough starter, when ignored for too long dies, if you feed it a little everyday it flourishes. It only takes a little energy every day to keep the fire burning, without it, the light will go out. Trust your instincts – even if the instructions say one thing, listen, smell, taste, adjust; follow your gut Create a good environment – goodness thrives in a happy place Recycle – stale bread = croutons, toast, and bread crumbs, heals are the best part of the loaf and make the best mop to sop of the bottom of the bowl, mistakes still taste good even if they don’t look good, save some of the dough to create the next loaf, old dough makes new dough taste better Close your mouth and open your ears – it’s amazing what you can hear when you turn your voice off and your ears on! Share – most recipes yield two loaves for a reason; eat one, share one. They taste better that way. Whatever your paper and pencil have in store for you this New Year, embrace the results. Even with epic fails, you never stop learning. Keep tweaking; adjusting, trying new things, you just might learn something completely different along the way. Warm Dinner Rolls 2018-01-04 14:35:38 Print Ingredients 12.5 ounces water (room temperature) .375 ounces instant yeast 21 ounces bread flour 2 teaspoons salt 1 ounce sugar .5 ounce non-fat milk solids 2 ounces butter, softened Egg wash: one egg, one tablespoon milk Sea salt for sprinkling on top Instructions In a large bowl combine the water, yeast and half the bread flour. Stir together until the mixture is shaggy. Add the rest of the ingredients. Using a bench scraper, spin the bowl as you scoop around the outside of the bowl, tossing the dough towards the middle of the bowl with each turn. Once the dough comes together in a rough ball, spill the dough out onto the counter (no flour!). Work the dough together into a tighter ball and then knead until the dough is soft and smooth. Press the inside of your wrist against the dough, if it doesn’t stick, the dough is ready to rest. (this process should take about five minutes or a little less if you put a little muscle into it) Place dough in an lightly oiled ball, cover and proof until double in size- about an hour in the right conditions – around 80-85 degrees. Scale the dough into 1 oz. size; Make up rolls into desired shapes. Place rolls 2 inches apart on paper-lined baking sheets. Proof until double in size (about 30-45 minutes). Egg wash; dust with salt, bake at 400 degrees until brown – about 20 minutes. Marcel's Culinary Experience https://www.marcelsculinaryexperience.com/
Ginger Pound Cake with Cranberry Sauce December 15, 2017 by Jenny Chang Leave a Comment Ginger Pound Cake with Cranberry Sauce 2017-12-15 20:05:07 Print Pound Cake ¾ cup milk 2.7 ounces crystallized ginger, finely minced 2 cup butter softened 3 cup sugar 6 large eggs 4 cups flour 1 teaspoon vanilla Cranberry Sauce 2 tablespoons butter, separated 1 cup chopped peeled apple Pinch of nutmeg 1 cup cranberries 1 cup apple cider ½ cups sugar For the Pound Cake Heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a Bundt pan or tube pan with floured cooking spray. Heat milk with minced ginger in a saucepan until heated but not boiling. Remove from heat and set aside for 10-15 minutes. Beat butter until creamy then gradually add sugar, beating 5-7 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Add the flour to the butter mixture alternately with the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat at low speed until blended. Stir in vanilla. Pour batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour and 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. You may have to bake for up to 15 minutes more. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely. For the Cranberry Dessert Sauce In a saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Add apple and nutmeg and cook until apple begins to soften, about 3 min. Add the cranberries, cider and sugar; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer until apple is tender and sauce is thick, 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in remaining butter. Puree in a blender until smooth. If too thick to pour, stir in up to ½ cup more apple cider. Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to a week or the freezer up to 3 months. Notes Can make pound cake ahead and freeze. Marcel's Culinary Experience https://www.marcelsculinaryexperience.com/
Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce December 15, 2017 by Jenny Chang Leave a Comment Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce 2017-12-15 19:40:47 Print Bread Pudding 2 cups half and half 1 15 ounce can pure pumpkin 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 10 cups — 1/2 inch cubes egg bread (about 10 ounces) Caramel Sauce 1 1/4 cups brown sugar 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1/2 cup whipping cream For Bread Pudding Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk half and half, pumpkin, dark brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and vanilla extract in large bowl to blend. Fold in bread cubes. Transfer mixture to 11 x 7 inch glass baking dish. Let stand 15 minutes. Bake pumpkin bread pudding until tester inserted into center comes out clean - about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare caramel sauce: Whisk brown sugar and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until butter melts. Whisk in cream and stir until sugar dissolves and sauce is smooth, about 3 minutes. Serve warm over bread pudding. Notes *From Bon Appetit November 2000 Adapted from From Bon Appetit November 2000 Adapted from From Bon Appetit November 2000 Marcel's Culinary Experience https://www.marcelsculinaryexperience.com/