tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38006072122637784822024-02-19T07:08:36.827-08:00See Jill Bake...<center>Some time ago I purchased a copy of: Mastering the Art and Craft of Baking & Pastry, a Culinary Institute of America textbook, with the hope of teaching myself to bake from scratch. Come along and See Jill Bake!</center>SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-87356115315899110542013-05-17T07:02:00.001-07:002013-06-12T19:31:30.819-07:00Copycat Challenge Numero Uno<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I think every town has one restaurant that’s been </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">deemed “the fancy place” by the locals. In my hometown of Wausau, Wisconsin it’s a place called “2510”. It’s an older supper club type place, not my first choice for dining, but it has one quality that is hard to ignore, and that’s the bakery. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This place makes FANTASTIC cake!<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ask anyone around here and they would probably knock over three little old ladies and a small child to get to the cake they make at 2510! I, myself, am one of them! However; cake aside, they also have another locally famous dessert, and it is the coveted: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Death by Chocolate” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Henceforth referred to as D.b.C)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now; I’m going to piss off a lot of people when I say that I don’t really think the D.b.C. deserves all the accolades that it gets (ducks to avoid empty dessert glass being thrown at head). The first and only time I tried it, I thought it was more like an average pudding cup or parfait. A bit of brownie layered with some chocolate mousse, whipped cream, and topped with toffee bits. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">HOWEVER, (SHIT…stop throwing dessert glasses at my head already!), who doesn’t like a pudding cup, right?! Just because I didn’t think it was God’s gift to the dessert tray doesn’t mean that there aren’t HUGE D.b.C. fans out there! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I happen to be related to two such fans; my Sister-In-Law and her husband are tremendous fans of the D.b.C! Since I’ve been toying with the idea of trying to replicate 2510’s dessert recipes (I’m going to make that cake someday dammit), they seemed like the ideal folks to be my taste-testers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With Mother’s Day coming up, rather than send my husband into a frenzy trying to think of a present, I thought a nice evening at the local casino followed by my sleeping in on Sunday sounded like a great Mom’s Day present!! BUT, we needed a sitter. Cue fabulous Sister-In-Law and her husband! I can pay them with pizza and D.b.C! Everybody wins!!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But I need a name for my D.b.C., something unique, something that sets it apart from its inspiration; in honor of Mother’s Day, I present to you:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Mommy’s Little Helper” <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Henceforth referred to as M.L.H”)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now, I’ve made chocolate mousse only once before (see </span><a href="http://bakingnewbie.blogspot.com/2013/02/bloggers-resolutions-and-big-ass-cake.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Big Ass Cake</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">) and I could hardly stop myself and my husband from licking the bowl, so I consider it a raving success!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I also needed a really good fudge brownie to be a base for the mousse and whipped cream. I hopped onto Pintrest and searched “best brownie”, where I stumbled upon </span><a href="http://www.yammiesnoshery.com/2011/09/best-fudge-brownies.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">this lovely recipe</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">. The pictures made it look super fudgy, moist and delicious, and the reviews I read were stellar! It was a really easy recipe and the only thing I did differently was I sifted all the dry ingredients together, and I used the stove to melt the butter and sugar. My husband and I have both declared this the best brownie ever! Thanks Yammie!!!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1sIchbYT9pHutr1rUzaVo28GJ_rEP9lYq1HWjdKGVs0aFs4PnkYYtKm6lC0EfTI1D8iKQ6t0t4s4QKi48EZVFHYcd-8zrP8CQCkfhjYcmGR4_gXj2rekRr7iBJAMQxfOBLqv05OQ2KXow/s1600/DSCF1979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" pua="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1sIchbYT9pHutr1rUzaVo28GJ_rEP9lYq1HWjdKGVs0aFs4PnkYYtKm6lC0EfTI1D8iKQ6t0t4s4QKi48EZVFHYcd-8zrP8CQCkfhjYcmGR4_gXj2rekRr7iBJAMQxfOBLqv05OQ2KXow/s320/DSCF1979.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Prepare the brownie as directed by Yammie and allow to cool completely, store in an airtight container until ready to assemble M.L.H. You will only need about ½ of the pan of brownies, so you’ll have plenty extra for snacking! I removed the brownies from the pan onto a large cutting board, cut the slab in half and cut off the edges, I then pulverized the crunchier edge pieces in the food processor for the “crumb layer”, then I cut the rest into about 1 inch cubes. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ0XGLwvP7cLBrijFdjHn76WlJcd6QG-neoKDHOHo2dGhBD7SkrhymeiXJCJHF1cynMTpuKzspJ1t5_zFK9w-IQrXvJ2ZZguv87j9mNzDsqh80uOCJkBhVdfTyA155ZAW4kttdUf20rCvx/s1600/DSCF1982.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" pua="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ0XGLwvP7cLBrijFdjHn76WlJcd6QG-neoKDHOHo2dGhBD7SkrhymeiXJCJHF1cynMTpuKzspJ1t5_zFK9w-IQrXvJ2ZZguv87j9mNzDsqh80uOCJkBhVdfTyA155ZAW4kttdUf20rCvx/s320/DSCF1982.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now we make mousse!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Chocolate Mousse<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4 Large Egg Yolks<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1/4 Cup Sugar<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 Cup Whipping Cream<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">6 Ounces Semisweet Chocolate Chips<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 1/2 More Cups Whipping Cream<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Prepare chocolate mousse by beating egg yolks with mixer on high speed for 3 minutes, or until thick and lemon colored. Slowly beat in sugar. </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><br />Heat 1 cup whipping cream in 2-quart saucepan over medium heat until just hot, but not boiling. <br /><br />Gradually stir in about half of the cream into the egg yolk mix then stir back into the hot cream in the saucepan. Cook over low heat about 5 minutes, stirring all the while, until mix thickens (DON'T BOIL IT!)<br /><br />Stir in all the chocolate chips until they melt and are mixed in completely, this can take a while! I found using a whisk to be helpful in breaking up all the tiny bits of un-melted chocolate. You could also run chocolate through a sieve if you want to. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Cover (I use a damp tea towel) and chill about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until chilled. Throw a metal bowl into the freezer now, you’ll need it later!<br /><br />Once the chocolate mix is ready; beat the 1 1/2 cups whipping cream, in your chilled mixing bowl, on high speed until stiff, fold the chocolate mix into the cream.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSPXhkb7QDbGzCnwOLtur_pHw-VevvHzPM8g4AOYv7c6iE3Fn4G3XHWWfpkSWFVtixQveN9Iix0IgGi5j7x1-2Zn55y1g54KcqbQS-fmruO7ASvhGNEsNO3b6dmyTmpQkUegz74-3lizpH/s1600/DSCF1980.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" pua="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSPXhkb7QDbGzCnwOLtur_pHw-VevvHzPM8g4AOYv7c6iE3Fn4G3XHWWfpkSWFVtixQveN9Iix0IgGi5j7x1-2Zn55y1g54KcqbQS-fmruO7ASvhGNEsNO3b6dmyTmpQkUegz74-3lizpH/s320/DSCF1980.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now; for the whipped cream:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Whipped Cream<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 Cup Heavy Cream<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2 Tbsp. Sugar<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 Tsp. Vanilla<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Whip the cream on medium, add the sugar and vanilla extract and keep whipping until soft peaks are achieved. Put in fridge until ready to assemble. This is how I proceeded:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Get out 5 LARGE martini glasses, fill one with cocktail of choice…drink the cocktail, it’s almost mother’s day, you deserve it!!! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My brother-in-law is anti-Heath Bar (yeah, what’s with my family huh? Some don’t like chocolate, some don’t like Heath, and my Dad thinks Peanut Butter is poisonous…sometimes I swear I’m adopted), so no Heath for Him! I rimmed the other glass (for my sister-in-law) with powdered Heath Bits (I used my Magic Bullet to pulverize the already small bits into something more microscopic suitable for rimming). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpi1bRXwyTNNzharJTrff551u938HX-0G8OdpS2DPAv0QUsWxyOoytVUMWlWLJJtPSmlxDnnCJcLNb2SRNh-xfF4fLi977SnG3k10JWAk5R7ivAsYfkrw-sAW6vdBbH-gOBhUeICa7Psyu/s1600/DSCF1983.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" pua="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpi1bRXwyTNNzharJTrff551u938HX-0G8OdpS2DPAv0QUsWxyOoytVUMWlWLJJtPSmlxDnnCJcLNb2SRNh-xfF4fLi977SnG3k10JWAk5R7ivAsYfkrw-sAW6vdBbH-gOBhUeICa7Psyu/s320/DSCF1983.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rim glasses if desired, and place the whipped cream and mousse into piping bags for easy layering.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></o:p></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Assemble everything in a glass or dessert bowl thusly, starting at the bottom:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">TOP<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Heath Bits<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Whipped Cream<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mousse<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Brownie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Crumbs</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Whipped Cream<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mousse<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Brownie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chunks</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">BOTTOM<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXzLTEHnewRO0H5wteYuqFyMXya0wbtR7xP4SYDYaOzgd-a4XFTUOZuHHk6A5CGNmivZfq4IdLQ6OsVHbiyRisrFPWuelafqmg3ntqBluG69xYxERzB9rNQhBteQE6rU3NCeXuyuRvy9rw/s1600/DSCF1992.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" pua="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXzLTEHnewRO0H5wteYuqFyMXya0wbtR7xP4SYDYaOzgd-a4XFTUOZuHHk6A5CGNmivZfq4IdLQ6OsVHbiyRisrFPWuelafqmg3ntqBluG69xYxERzB9rNQhBteQE6rU3NCeXuyuRvy9rw/s320/DSCF1992.JPG" width="320" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnSb4BfhWs746tigygusMxgWq4cNv41PtRvhHRdvlbauPT8J6FwuQ_EyTPFEEgjnqQw0Yw1j-kWxg8IEpC0z2GUIJR94gGDff0JKdmPZDOeNiCeXhi4_H7kcpYEz4rI4p240qKPUtwJxwT/s1600/DSCF1995.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" pua="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnSb4BfhWs746tigygusMxgWq4cNv41PtRvhHRdvlbauPT8J6FwuQ_EyTPFEEgjnqQw0Yw1j-kWxg8IEpC0z2GUIJR94gGDff0JKdmPZDOeNiCeXhi4_H7kcpYEz4rI4p240qKPUtwJxwT/s320/DSCF1995.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Store, covered lightly with plastic wrap, in the fridge until ready to serve. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now for the final verdict:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-H-b2nkigdY__nNYJsbnxauVSOfocDBk7duNdTvyuXwgL-EfF1-vCYsy0vkOK8QE6ndTM_Uz_Gd-Y2cWPUXzLp4QW5muvh0jmGM1V0Ww50n7NVv2NhhQfydBYGDsM9okNCyU_lM2Ef87U/s1600/DSCF1997.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" pua="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-H-b2nkigdY__nNYJsbnxauVSOfocDBk7duNdTvyuXwgL-EfF1-vCYsy0vkOK8QE6ndTM_Uz_Gd-Y2cWPUXzLp4QW5muvh0jmGM1V0Ww50n7NVv2NhhQfydBYGDsM9okNCyU_lM2Ef87U/s320/DSCF1997.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXVCzbflh-pi36v8wIazJl20K30Oni3dXR7nJJ-Qln1MyOkog8U1VSjzRS7T-5e5Wdx7QysoNShswHVckjP-uDoOFc8sKZBAAdWuc_1Wh12tW5S-hKxw1FeHq0-Kvi6SoQta3Yl_F3oEeo/s1600/DSCF1999.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" pua="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXVCzbflh-pi36v8wIazJl20K30Oni3dXR7nJJ-Qln1MyOkog8U1VSjzRS7T-5e5Wdx7QysoNShswHVckjP-uDoOFc8sKZBAAdWuc_1Wh12tW5S-hKxw1FeHq0-Kvi6SoQta3Yl_F3oEeo/s320/DSCF1999.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Since I’ve been Low-Carbing it for the last two months with not one single slip-up, I’m celebrating tonight and eating carbs! This dessert was FANTASTIC! These brownies were FANTASTIC! Everything about this dessert was FANTASTIC! Maybe it’s the sugar talking, but I’m marking this one down in the “success” column! My in-laws thougrally enjoyed their dessert payment for baby-sitting, and a good time was had by all! To top things off, we came home ahead from the casino (YAY) and I got to sleep in on Mother’s day!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></o:p><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Thanks again to </span><a href="http://www.yammiesnoshery.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yammie</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> for the fantastic brownie recipe!</span><br />
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SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-70249505333937427482013-04-04T18:17:00.000-07:002013-04-04T18:17:00.820-07:00Easy Like Easter Morning...
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Greetings!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I told you I’d be back!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Since I promised I would still bake
and blog for special occasions, and an Easter dinner with family counts as a
special occasion; here I am to regale you with another culinary tale from my
messy kitchen!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Now, the hubs and I have caught the
good ship “Atkins Diet” and set sail a few weeks ago, I felt that it was only
proper to bake, not one, but TWO desserts for Easter! One 'normal' dessert and one
'Atkins' dessert. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Atkins dessert was easy enough to settle
on. We’re both in the earlier stages of the diet and there were only a few
recipes for me to pick from. HOWEVER, choosing a “normal” dessert…SO HARD!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I poured over the blogs, cookbooks,
Pintrest, you name it; looking for something springy, fresh looking and (for
whatever reason) it needed to contain lemons. Lemons seem to equate spring in
my noggin!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I finally chose a lovely bloggers
recipe for “<a href="http://www.larecetadelafelicidad.com/en/2012/07/lemon-pound-cake.html" target="_blank">Lemon Pound Cake</a>”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I loved that this recipe was in grams
and cups for measurement. I actually prefer baking with my kitchen scale rather
than measuring cups. It seems more accurate to me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It turned out quite lovely and didn’t
require a lot of complex ingredients. My only comment was that I wasn’t able to
pour the icing onto the cake; I had to spread it on with a cake spatula. I’m
sure I could have added some cream or milk to the icing to change the consistency,
if I make again, I’ll be sure to do that!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For my “Atkins Offering”, I chose
"<a href="http://community.atkins.com/Templates/Recipe.aspx?RecipeID=1E45446F-185A-E011-9663-001EC9B2B3C8&BackToFavorites=true" target="_blank">Decadent Chocolate Cake</a>". A lovely, flourless, little number with a whopping 3.5
grams of carbs that looks quite like a brownie. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The process for making this cake was a
tad more complicated than the pound cake, but worth it, nonetheless. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGxYwFef-RDA4vdxDUR89bbMyeo7AQ7nbxr-Z4e_qeY7PeKQXtu2RzFagDN-I8fdk5Pc8FUfjND6Ub7QDMdjSxae5Ni65Stf3B2RBaZoQiPPCg7yR2lZ_71W-KVD-rwNJbyUIST_pO_qo3/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGxYwFef-RDA4vdxDUR89bbMyeo7AQ7nbxr-Z4e_qeY7PeKQXtu2RzFagDN-I8fdk5Pc8FUfjND6Ub7QDMdjSxae5Ni65Stf3B2RBaZoQiPPCg7yR2lZ_71W-KVD-rwNJbyUIST_pO_qo3/s320/014.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I topped this with some freshly
whipped cream (into which I whipped 2 packs of Splenda for <a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>sweetness),
and the hubs and I were happy to be able to enjoy dessert along with everyone
else!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-55413988574804423242013-03-15T09:17:00.000-07:002013-03-15T09:17:23.581-07:00Confessions of a food blogger…<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Hi, my name's Jill (say it with me now..."HI JILL!"); and I'm a compulsive overeater, food addict and chronic dieter. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">There, I said it. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">This is something I haven’t said in a long time, but it’s time I said it again. I have issues with food. I’ve always had a sweet tooth! I LOVE all things baked, cookies, cupcakes, cheesecakes, pastries, DOUGHNUTS, you name it and I’m in love with it! The more, the better! I can’t stop at one cookie, I have to have a stack of them. I can’t take a sliver of cake, I want a big ‘ole slab and HEY, while we’re at it, throw a big ass scoop of ice cream on there too! I’m a go-big-or-go-home kind of gal and it shows in my eating/dieting habits!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">On the other side of the coin, I’m a chronic dieter. I recall a former co-worker once asking me “what weird diet are you on this week” and that summed it up perfectly! I’ve been on them all! Weight Watchers, Lean for Life, Atkins, Detox, Slim Fast, Juice Fasting, even this bizarre plan where I was drinking hot lemon juice in the shower with flax seeds jumping up and down trying to get my “lymphatic system” in synch. I wish I was kidding about that last one…<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Is there a point to all this? Yes, stay with me now;<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">I’ve got to lay off the baking…for a while. As a result, I’m breaking one of my bloggers resolutions to post more, but something’s got to give! I LOVE baking, but the temptation is too much for me when the stuff is around. I will still bake for special occasions and I promise I’ll blog about it when I do!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Don’t worry, I’ll be back!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-645602052461024812013-02-05T19:53:00.000-08:002013-02-06T06:39:48.594-08:00Blogger's Resolutions and a Big Ass Cake!<br />
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Happy belated New Year!</div>
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I’m back from a busy couple of months and I’ve brought with me my blogging resolutions and my first recipe creation!</div>
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First, the resolutions:</div>
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<span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span>Post More. For a while I was posting once every 2 weeks; then it slipped…BAD BLOGGER, BAD. Sometimes one just needs to get off of one’s dead ass on a weekend, bake, and blog it out!</div>
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<span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span>Be Real. I’ve been trying to be couth and not swear in my blog, just like I try not to swear in front of my toddler, but I need an outlet! Truth be told, I have a mouth like a sailor, and I’ve decided to blog as I would speak…which includes my colorful commentary. </div>
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<span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span>Be honest about my kitchen. I really appreciate all the beautiful food blogs that show a pristine, Food Network quality, kitchen and I tried to do it, but it’s just not a reality. Don’t get me wrong, my kitchen is clean. I would proudly serve anything I make in my kitchen to anyone! But when I cook or bake, even though I try to clean as I go, it still looks like a powdered sugar bomb went off. So, chances are, you’re going to see ripe bananas in the background, a bowl of onions and whatever else has found its way to the catch-all-counter top.</div>
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<span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span>Finally, I really believe that I’ve learned a lot about baking, and I will continue to learn, but I want to try and create more desserts of my own. </div>
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This being said, I now present to you my first creation: </div>
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Chocolate Covered Cherry Chipper Cheese/Cake!!</div>
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I spent the holidays making so many wonderful desserts that I’ve found from all over the net and my piles of cookbooks (see below), I felt it was really time to try and create something of my own. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGYcB_H0cemJdyYurUxsF0AEcl4scAwnI5Dd_T9obOjGifWlMcCZkXFHyAQNYyT2KioBmbw6p5_0CIGrWTIksIG1-kHV6cQkuP0OwPKYkMCPt8nJFb6gTR-cl_EcMmTEIPypgwBPKoAj_T/s1600/DSCF1738.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGYcB_H0cemJdyYurUxsF0AEcl4scAwnI5Dd_T9obOjGifWlMcCZkXFHyAQNYyT2KioBmbw6p5_0CIGrWTIksIG1-kHV6cQkuP0OwPKYkMCPt8nJFb6gTR-cl_EcMmTEIPypgwBPKoAj_T/s320/DSCF1738.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Fa-la-la-la-la Bitches!</span></div>
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I thought a Valentine’s Day recipe was in order, and the first thing I thought of was how much I used to love Betty Crocker’s Cherry Chip cake with the canned Cherry Icing when I was a kid. It’s still probably my very favorite cake! It is hard to find though, usually I can never find the cake mix and the icing together in the same store, so I decided it was time to try and make my own. </div>
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What goes great with cherries? CHOCOLATE!! Especially this time of the year! I figured a whipped ganache was somehow in order, but I wanted more. I’m not a huge fan of a chocolate cheesecake, so I thought it was time to learn how to make chocolate mousse to hide between layers of cake and cheesecake. To top it all off, I needed a cherry buttercream, but not something so artificial tasting as what you would get from a can. </div>
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Cherry Chipper Cake</div>
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</div>
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2 1/2 Cups Cake Flour</div>
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1 2/3 Cups Sugar</div>
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1 1/4 Cups Whole Milk</div>
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3 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder</div>
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1 Tsp Sea Salt</div>
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1 Tsp Almond Extract (I use <a href="http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysalmondextract.html" target="_blank">Penzeys</a>)</div>
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5 Large Egg Whites, Room Temperature</div>
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1/2 Cup Finely Chopped Maraschino Cherries (moisture squeezed out, save Cherry Juice for Buttercream)</div>
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Preheat oven to 350. Grease bottoms and sides of two 8 inch pans with shortening and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment rounds, grease the parchment paper, lightly flour the whole deal and tap out excess. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgqKhMG7u0e6l7CklKm_4xfVbT9QmeThi8eJYal3sQioBzXrbj5GyC9rt8S6Qa2KFw9qkIwihpNph_AFw8sdFXa3FnLAUmjH5W06z42ZMEXebwjcdqZO_FWSoaPTcylr5pLdnVWrYfxx7w/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgqKhMG7u0e6l7CklKm_4xfVbT9QmeThi8eJYal3sQioBzXrbj5GyC9rt8S6Qa2KFw9qkIwihpNph_AFw8sdFXa3FnLAUmjH5W06z42ZMEXebwjcdqZO_FWSoaPTcylr5pLdnVWrYfxx7w/s320/003.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">I REALLY need to invest in those pre-cut parchment rounds!</span></div>
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Beat all ingredients except egg whites and chopped cherries with mixer on low for 30 seconds. Scrape the bowl down, then beat on high for 2 minutes, scraping occasionally. <br />
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Beat in egg whites on high for 2 minutes scraping occasionally, then add chopped cherries and stir in on low for a bit, just until cherries are nicely mixed in. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kzmTD2yyx6tGkix34fKkbrTKzHZeuJ9u6U96iY45QtvpglUwZazyhyphenhyphenoA6di9Y0RRi3CGB4NNaybzAsHoJacx7r3one4x4fBCsYE2_IjegIK3kpd8YfxSFFqcQ2CYsFaKqMErkvPKAKIL/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kzmTD2yyx6tGkix34fKkbrTKzHZeuJ9u6U96iY45QtvpglUwZazyhyphenhyphenoA6di9Y0RRi3CGB4NNaybzAsHoJacx7r3one4x4fBCsYE2_IjegIK3kpd8YfxSFFqcQ2CYsFaKqMErkvPKAKIL/s320/005.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Bake for 20-28 minutes, or until cake springs back gently to the touch (don't be a dumb ass and burn yourself! Trust me, I've been there!)<br />
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Cool for a few minutes in the pans on a rack, then turn out and remove parchment. Allow to cool completely, level with a large serrated knife, wrap in plastic wrap and throw those babies into the freezer for a long winters nap (a.k.a. overnight). <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxGgPEsufS4PCwYli68bs3jRQBUZOiTYg-Q3AxFy85g4kh3JNHQj06Gwzw7aifWKbJjQDzWhDac9FT5hyphenhyphenhzcrm3fcWv5yM8bX63qxovgfeIGAqJw35vMSGG9yoToAz0xCCQC4nygagbTm1/s1600/031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxGgPEsufS4PCwYli68bs3jRQBUZOiTYg-Q3AxFy85g4kh3JNHQj06Gwzw7aifWKbJjQDzWhDac9FT5hyphenhyphenhzcrm3fcWv5yM8bX63qxovgfeIGAqJw35vMSGG9yoToAz0xCCQC4nygagbTm1/s320/031.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Looks just like Betty's huh?</span></div>
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Now for the cheesecake. I used Heather from Sprinklebakes cheesecake layer recipe from her FANTASTIC <a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2011/03/peanut-butter-cup-chocolate-cake.html" target="_blank">Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Cake Cheesecake.</a> I'm a huge fan of this recipe, and the technique for making it that doesn't require a water bath (YAY)!<br />
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I managed to get the cheesecake put together and baked up without incident, and threw the pans straight into the freezer to chill out with it's cakey brethren until frozen solid while I whipped up my very first Chocolate Mousse. <br />
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Chocolate Mousse</div>
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4 Large Egg Yolks</div>
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1/4 Cup Sugar</div>
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1 Cup Whipping Cream</div>
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6 Ounces Semisweet Chocolate Chips</div>
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1 1/2 More Cups Whipping Cream</div>
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Beat egg yolks with mixer on high speed for 3 minutes, or until thick and lemon colored. Slowly beat in sugar. <br />
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Heat 1 cup whipping cream in 2-quart saucepan over medium heat until just hot, but not boiling or anything. <br />
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Gradually stir in about half of the cream into the egg yolk mix, then stir back into the hot cream in the saucepan (nothing worse than scrambled eggs in one's mousse). Cook over low heat about 5 minutes, stirring all the while, until mix thickens (DON'T BOIL IT, YO!)<br />
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Stir in chocolate chips until melts and mixed in completely.<br />
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Cover and chill about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, just until chilled. For us folks out in Wisconsin where it was a balmy 11 degrees outside this weekend, this meant putting it in the garage. <br />
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Once chilled, beat in the 1 1/2 cups whipping cream in a chilled bowl (again, thank you Wisconsin and your frigid winters) on high speed until stiff, fold the chocolate mix into the cream. <br />
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Remove the cheesecakes from the freezer, trim any excess that's protruding up from the pan, remove cheesecake from pan, line pan with parchment so it's sticking out on sides, then throw cheesecake back in there. Divide the mousse between the two pans of cheesecake, leveling it off so it's even with the top of the cheesecake. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkqKONJtGvLnM4AsQd0U02MOWjeqnqHvRAbnDTUpsdqsOMLW5AHWgcRWrHjfKfMcCBZDf_D3w0il3_MhvRQ6UuPwAhyma6Majl_tTTplBubGHV1HTQzm4I93NdeRmvQvmfao7gqZFd_SWs/s1600/016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkqKONJtGvLnM4AsQd0U02MOWjeqnqHvRAbnDTUpsdqsOMLW5AHWgcRWrHjfKfMcCBZDf_D3w0il3_MhvRQ6UuPwAhyma6Majl_tTTplBubGHV1HTQzm4I93NdeRmvQvmfao7gqZFd_SWs/s320/016.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Wrap then entire pans with plastic wrap and put them back into the freezer for the night. Now, enjoy some cake scraps with a cold one and go to bed! The whole shebang will be there in the morning!<br />
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Ahhh, Sunday, no birds chirping, it's far too cold here for that, just a nice white blanket of frozen tundra staring back at me, maybe a fat squirrel romping around in the back yard looking for his nuts...time to assemble and ice-ice this baby!<br />
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I decided that I needed a cherry buttercream, but I didn't want to have to use any additional food coloring. As luck would have it, those maraschino cherries come floating in a neon red/pink juice...PERFECT!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Cherry Buttercream</div>
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4 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
1 1/2 Cups Room Temperature Butter</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract</div>
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3 Tbsp Whipping Cream</div>
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1/4 Cup Maraschino Cherry Juice</div>
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Using the whisk attachment for the mixer, mix powdered sugar and butter (adding butter a few chunks at a time) on low until well blended, then increase speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes. Add vanilla, whipping cream and cherry juice and beat on medium speed for about another minute. If you'd like the color to be more pink, or would like more of a cherry flavor, you can add more juice or even some pink or red food color, but you may need to add a tad more powdered sugar. <br />
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Now for the whipped ganache. I used the same whipped ganache as in <a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2011/03/peanut-butter-cup-chocolate-cake.html" target="_blank">Sprinklebakes Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Cake Cheesecake</a>, it's so lovely and rich and light! I could eat it by the spoonful (and my husband and son did just that)!<br />
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Now to get this baby together!<br />
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The layers are as such:</div>
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Cheesecake (mousse side down)</div>
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Cheesecake (mousse side up)</div>
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Once everything is stacked up, it's into the freezer (or Wisconsin Garage) for a while (covered with a tea towel). As for me, I cleaned my kitchen floor old school style. Hands, knees, sponge, bucket. Sucks ass, but it works. So let's say for about an hour. Then trim it out so all the layers are the same size. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi018PNk23HyQCX3kMIz1VZLa1y-7WwlEr__PhgINr-rXwQ9YXg-QfvYVzN59uFpjIWLD73uU35HbgYnLiKxBI9qGTIsVocw6C0KkIsElCCAE-_czoE4zJeO1mI8HZU5neJTXDE5jOmmfB0/s1600/038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi018PNk23HyQCX3kMIz1VZLa1y-7WwlEr__PhgINr-rXwQ9YXg-QfvYVzN59uFpjIWLD73uU35HbgYnLiKxBI9qGTIsVocw6C0KkIsElCCAE-_czoE4zJeO1mI8HZU5neJTXDE5jOmmfB0/s320/038.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Oh HONEY...There Are Cake Scraps For You!"</span></div>
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Now to ice. This is the way I roll. I don't care for the traditional "crumb coat". I've found that using the ginormous piping bag fitted with the icing tip works like a charm! Get the cake covered, then use a offset icing spatula dipped in hot water to smooth the whole thing out!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLPQzoHOxQ5Ova2J-3xF3fZ0zDW0gbZ-I8sKprsvdaEkMuLT05fNr15AJ8LDHfK1wfrZCA5LU3XnvvP_bmoOso6EEVqhbOmt3A4-s4QPJbqrBotU3751pQB9Nn4MA4Cz9N54oWFvTLbsyJ/s1600/039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLPQzoHOxQ5Ova2J-3xF3fZ0zDW0gbZ-I8sKprsvdaEkMuLT05fNr15AJ8LDHfK1wfrZCA5LU3XnvvP_bmoOso6EEVqhbOmt3A4-s4QPJbqrBotU3751pQB9Nn4MA4Cz9N54oWFvTLbsyJ/s320/039.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSg32hhId3gGSfnAfpF9gNCY2a6xpIRJGSiJXya8qAIE9XTP8ThweO0J9Xq8qUIni_JF8ZAC-8hVqCmEnrHyEFNOcuuocdDQWMt-MeP8kW7022PjtdCfoVq544f37E0iqdP_41mg54n1I7/s1600/042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSg32hhId3gGSfnAfpF9gNCY2a6xpIRJGSiJXya8qAIE9XTP8ThweO0J9Xq8qUIni_JF8ZAC-8hVqCmEnrHyEFNOcuuocdDQWMt-MeP8kW7022PjtdCfoVq544f37E0iqdP_41mg54n1I7/s320/042.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Now for a few simple garnishes, I used the remaining whipped ganache in a piping bag fitted with <a href="http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?sku=418-2110" target="_blank">Wilton's 1M icing tip</a> to pipe some little swirls on the top and a nice little border on the bottom. Then I took some whole maraschino cherries, which I dried off with a paper towel, and perched them on top!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRw-PT8uo-Y9NSpa_TvA8AHtXV3Hn7mXrGNAwp0pttPcX43WABwGgcYKfk2tl-ZyAri-ev10L862V_5Bj0r7j3U7bG191hlB1SO1bBWdWiKa65JbLMAzppy3hUWyx_zPcjzRak8gVoDJZz/s1600/044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRw-PT8uo-Y9NSpa_TvA8AHtXV3Hn7mXrGNAwp0pttPcX43WABwGgcYKfk2tl-ZyAri-ev10L862V_5Bj0r7j3U7bG191hlB1SO1bBWdWiKa65JbLMAzppy3hUWyx_zPcjzRak8gVoDJZz/s320/044.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Since this is a Valentine's Day cake, it needed a heart, which I did with a cookie cutter and some sanding sugar. I used the paint brush to spread it out, then outlined with more whipped ganache. <br />
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One word...YUMMY!<br />
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I took this baby over to my parent's place for the Superbowl where we proceeded to devour it! My sister even asked if I was going to leave it there when I left (which I did)! As yummy as it was, if it were in my house, I would be eating it three meals a day for a week!!<br />
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Now for the accolades! I came up with the flavor concept for this cake on my own, but I was inspired by so many great bloggers! I got the cheesecake layer recipe from <a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/p/about.html" target="_blank">Heather</a> at <a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/" target="_blank">Sprinklebakes</a>; I also credit her for teaching me the method for adding the filling to the cheesecake layers. For the cake base and chocolate mousse, I credit the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Betty-Crockers-Cookbook-Everything-Today/dp/0764560794/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343096420&sr=1-1&keywords=0764560794" target="_blank">Betty Crocker cookbook</a>. Thank you so very much!! </div>
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<o:p> </o:p>I’m happy to say that the buttercream was all me!! Enjoy!</div>
SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-68353030025967168292012-12-08T19:58:00.000-08:002012-12-08T19:58:39.546-08:00A Bake-Tastic Thanksgiving!Yeah, I know. Thanksgiving was a little while ago, but cut me a break! I've been a busy gal!<br />
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Over the Thanksgiving holiday I had two events to attend. One being Thanksgiving over at my Mom and Dad's, the other being my parent's annual "First Saturday After Thanksgiving" party. I'm always the "dessert bringer", so I decided that I wanted to make three different desserts from three different recipe sources!<br />
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My first dessert was for Thanksgiving itself. I chose a recipe I found on Pintrest; <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/329044/maple-cheesecake-with-roasted-pears?czone=food/thanksgiving-center/thanksgiving-center-dessert&center=0&gallery=274993&slide=329044" target="_blank">Martha Stewart's Maple Cheesecake with Roasted Pears</a>. <br />
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I finished up work at 11:00 in the morning the day prior to Thanksgiving to attend my son's "Pie with Parents" event at daycare, then came home to run, clean, do laundry and start baking!<br />
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The cheesecake has a lovely Nilla Wafer crust, so I dragged out my trusty food processor and started on that right away!<br />
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Once my crust was out of the oven and cooling, I got my other ingredients out and started getting them warmed to room temperature while I attended to my time on the treadmill. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Mmmmmaple Syrup; YUM!</span></div>
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Now I was ready to get to baking my cheesecake! Then I read the recipe a little more closely, and I realized HEY! THIS IS A NO-BAKE, WTF!? A FREAKIN' NO-BAKE?! I haven't come this far in my baking journey to show up to Thanksgiving with a NO BAKE! Now, in years past, no biggie, but I've become arrogant and proud of my baking efforts of late, and I was actually insulted by the idea. Well, not too insulted...I already had all the ingredients and the crust was baked up and ready to go...I might as well do as Martha Stewart commands and press on!</div>
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I whipped up my filling, which was delicious! The maple syrup is a nice addition!</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">There's something special about a bowl of whipped egg whites, don't you think?</span></div>
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Now that the filling was in the crust and happily "Not Baking" in the fridge for the night, it was time to make my roasted pear topping! This is where things got interesting...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiUwTerOgYvSc50LfjitMuK6-_x6wX02T1lRFTcTdOYPXNDUbd2LBuTnp_3vV2gKk6_PYy1tjDrAIDDZNUijn6Ha6TF3aazb4ybLVSVjverqhS7k-YRAbT7ujSlzJPC9dtzRDYOzXA9k5g/s1600/DSCF1620.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiUwTerOgYvSc50LfjitMuK6-_x6wX02T1lRFTcTdOYPXNDUbd2LBuTnp_3vV2gKk6_PYy1tjDrAIDDZNUijn6Ha6TF3aazb4ybLVSVjverqhS7k-YRAbT7ujSlzJPC9dtzRDYOzXA9k5g/s320/DSCF1620.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I lovingly brushed my pear slices with maple syrup and placed them in the oven for roasting. The roasting part went quite without incident, then it came time to throw them under the broiler...turns out, parchment paper (like it's other paper brethren) is flammable...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqGlhwHnyrbYqcciXWHZpeS4k3fxPmdddwmxfu_Cy_RoB_-gfg30XwoiAutBiACvglBg2006vLqy5v4dIsHjbYQ7TB43_wScnsui8osa0s-OR9OoRjEbca9kQrE3CFL0qwT-lxGUXT4enD/s1600/DSCF1622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqGlhwHnyrbYqcciXWHZpeS4k3fxPmdddwmxfu_Cy_RoB_-gfg30XwoiAutBiACvglBg2006vLqy5v4dIsHjbYQ7TB43_wScnsui8osa0s-OR9OoRjEbca9kQrE3CFL0qwT-lxGUXT4enD/s320/DSCF1622.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Luckily, all you need to do it close the oven door, and the fire will smother itself from lack of oxygen, and the pears were just fine! They had a nice color after their momentary brush with death!</div>
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Once gently arranged on the cheesecake, my dessert was actually quite appealing to look at!</div>
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The cheesecake was, indeed, very good! But I have some commentary. First, It's difficult to slice with the pears on top because the cheesecake itself is not very dense at all. This is probably due in part to the fact that it was a no-bake. </div>
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I think that I would actually like to try and make a traditional, water bath, cheesecake utilizing the same maple flavors and pear topping some time in the future! I'm getting to the point where some culinary experimentation might be in order!!</div>
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Now, Thanksgiving dessert aside, it's time for party desserts! I love making the desserts for my parent's party! So much so that I actually start looking for dessert ideas months in advance. This year, I upped the dessert quota from one to two, as I have some family members that (yeah, crazy, I know) don't care for chocolate?! GASP! I suppose it's OK. To each their own right? After all, I don't like mushrooms and I have family that think that it's something of a character flaw, so I guess I won't hold it against them. So. I opted for one chocolate/peanut butter dessert and one non-chocolate dessert. </div>
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For my chocolate offering, I chose my favorite go-to dessert gal Heather's <a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2011/03/peanut-butter-cup-chocolate-cake.html" target="_blank">Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Cheesecake</a>! I've wanted to make this ever since I discovered her Sprinkle Bakes blog earlier this year!! It just strikes me as the perfect combination of peanut butter, chocolate cake, caramel and cheesecake!!</div>
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If you're planning on making this, heed Heather's warnings! It's a monster and should be made over the course of a few days! I, myself, started on Black Friday (I don't shop with the crazies, I'm more of a Cyber Monday gal, so nothing lost there). </div>
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The ceremoniously unwrapped a bag of mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and about 2 bags of caramels and set to work. The recipe uses an entire bag of PB cups and I think I had to slap my husband's hand away more than once!</div>
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Next came the cheesecake batter (REAL CHEESECAKE, nothing 'no-bake' in this recipe)! YUM!</div>
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So fluffy, so yummy, throwing caution to the wind, I had a spoonful or two of batter, raw eggs be damned! I found this on my pal Linda's Pintrest Page...Sums it up perfectly!</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">LOVE IT!</span></div>
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I was happy that I didn't need to do a water bath though! Not that I mind, it's just an extra step! I threw together the caramel sauce in the microwave and got the cake layers baked and topped before getting everything wrapped up and into the freezer for the night!</div>
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Now that I was at a stopping point with my Chocolate dessert, it was time to start on my non-chocolate dessert; Lemon Meringue Pie!</div>
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I've never made a meringue pie of any kind, too scared to tell you the truth. I've heard the horror stories about filling not setting up, meringue that fails and I just never ventured into that section of the cookbook. However, my Dad has waxed poetic for years about his late mother's famous Lemon Meringue Pie, so I figured, what the hell. No time like the present!</div>
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Much to the chagrin of my Mom; Grandma Miller didn't really write down her recipes. She just BAKED. HOW TO PEOPLE DO THAT?!?! My Mom has been trying for YEARS to replicate her apple coffee cake, so I figured I'd just go with the Food Network app that I've had for a few years and search there. I typed in Lemon Meringue Pie and filtered by rating, it came down to a close race between Alton Brown and Paula Deen. After reading the reviews, I opted to go with <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/lemon-meringue-pie-recipe/index.html" target="_blank">Ms Deen's recipe</a>, doubling the filling and meringue as per the suggestions I read in the reviews. </div>
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I decided that real, fresh squeezed, lemon juice was only appropriate, so I unearthed the citrus-squeezer that I typically reserved for margaritas and got a'squeezing!</div>
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I did break down and use one of those refrigerated pie crusts that they sell in the grocery store, simply because I knew that I was going to be doing a lot of baking (and Paula Deen said it would be OK). </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjOsdfZbmpJY_-BwvtTYn8JzFjGLmqAQ1Awe2p5qeLpeG4ItaCx5aXNYRSkamdjCl5EQog_kb8RRFm-b_v49twHMu7PI0d4p_gvxcMA6VMmQX-RU-FpDOhiXigcM0dShOueEfId1LzqV1/s1600/DSCF1647.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjOsdfZbmpJY_-BwvtTYn8JzFjGLmqAQ1Awe2p5qeLpeG4ItaCx5aXNYRSkamdjCl5EQog_kb8RRFm-b_v49twHMu7PI0d4p_gvxcMA6VMmQX-RU-FpDOhiXigcM0dShOueEfId1LzqV1/s320/DSCF1647.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Now, time for the meringue! I had made meringue cookies last Christmas, so I wasn't too terribly daunted by the concept. The only thing I really needed help with was making sure that I really had stiff peaks. Thank you Google Images!!!</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stiff Huh?</span></div>
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Now that I had my meringue, I slapped it artistically on top of my pie and threw that bad boy into the oven!</div>
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I did heed some of the recommendations in the comments on Paula's recipe page and upped the heat and baking time a bit to make sure that the eggs were cooked all the way (and I was really hoping that everything would set up well)!</div>
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Pie out of the oven, garnished and cooled! Pie into the fridge and I into the bed for the night! Hopefully it will taste good for the party! Tomorrow, we assemble the monster Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake!!!</div>
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Some much needed sleep later (and once minor incident with the little one, must have been the Mexican food), it was time to get to putting the cheesecake together!</div>
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Trimmed and ready to go! Time to make my whipped ganache and ice this baby! The only thing I would change would be making 1 and a half batches of ganache, just to have enough to really go around without having to scrape the bowl! The peanut butter butter cream is really what made this cake beautiful! But keep in mind, you will want to keep this in the freezer! I did have some caramel seeping out through the ganache...</div>
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Once sliced and dished out, I think everyone was pleased with the selections! The cheesecake was AMAZING!!! Probably 2000 calories a slice, but amazing none the less! I would make this again in a heartbeat!!</div>
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The Lemon Meringue Pie was great as well! The greatest compliment came from my Dad who said it tasted JUST LIKE HIS MOM'S!!! He said that the only difference was that her filling was a tad more yellow in color. Must have been the lemons! </div>
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All in all...success all the way around! Score one (or two) in my baking 'YAY ME!' column! Tomorrow, it's back to more baking! I'm heading over to my Mom's to bake cookies with her, my Grandma and sister!</div>
SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-71490125635551626322012-11-19T18:47:00.001-08:002012-11-19T18:47:06.541-08:00Birthday Cookies for Me!Yes, tomorrow is my birthday, the BIG 33! <br />
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In the grand tradition of workplace birthdays, I am compelled to provide some type of baked good for my co-workers to commemorate the occasion! <br />
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Into my collection of recipes I dove, resurfacing with a cookie recipe I haven't made in a good 10 years. A cookie recipe that I had hand written on a tiny piece of notebook paper, copied over from my former Bostonian neighbor Rosemarie many moons ago. I present to you; <br />
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<strong><u>Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies</u></strong></div>
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1 Cup Butter</div>
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3/4 Cup Sugar</div>
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3/4 Cup Packed Brown Sugar</div>
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1 Teaspoon Baking Soda</div>
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2 Eggs</div>
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1 Teaspoon Vanilla</div>
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3 Ounces Unsweetened Baking Chocolate, Melted</div>
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2 Cups Flour</div>
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8 Ounces Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips</div>
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6 Ounces White Chocolate Chips</div>
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1 Cup Pecans (Optional)</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">I doubled the recipe to feed my coworkers in case you're wondering why there are so many yolks floating around in the bowl!</span></div>
<br />
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper. I discovered the joys of baking with parchment paper about 5 Christmas' ago and I haven't looked back! It makes for a quick and easy cleanup and I hardly even need to break out a cookie spatula!<br />
<br />
Beat the butter in a mixer for about 30 second before beating in the sugars, baking soda, eggs and vanilla. Lower the speed to 'stir' and add in the melted baking chocolate, flour and chocolate chips. <br />
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Now, for the fun part. Get out a 1/4 cup measuring cup or disher. Yes, I said 1/4 cup! These are going to be some monster cookies! Space them out quite well though, or you may wind up with touchy feely cookies (like I did). <br />
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Bake for about 12-16 minutes, depending on your oven and cool on a wire rack. <br />
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Enjoy on your birthday, the night before your birthday, after lunch on your birthday, or just anytime! Here's to birthdays and cookies! A great combination!SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-82019228439959548892012-11-01T18:33:00.000-07:002012-11-01T18:33:42.973-07:00Elmopalooza<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Well I’m glad that’s over with!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If you’ve seen some of my recent posts, I’ve been gearing
up for my son’s second birthday party (a.k.a. Operation Elmo) that occurred
this past Saturday. Thanks to this handy dandy Internet (and Pintrest; which
I’ve only just gotten addicted to); I was inspired to make WAY too much really
cool stuff for the party! Cake and Cookie Pops, Flooded Sugar Cookies, Cake
Batter ‘Puppy Chow’, Cookie Dough Dip, the crazy ass Elmo head fruit plate AND
the cake. The 3 tiered, all from scratch, Elmo cake!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So, as you saw in my last post “<a href="http://bakingnewbie.blogspot.com/2012/10/commence-operation-elmo.html" target="_blank">Commence Operation Elmo</a>”, I
managed to get my fondant embellishments made and dried for the big day! I also
succeeded in creeping the hell out of my husband one day when he peeled back
the paper towel only to see two little fondant Elmo Eyes staring up at him from
a cookie sheet on the counter!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p>I h</o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ad an itinerary for party prep starting last week Monday.
I began with the best of intentions, I was going to blog every step as I
usually do; cleaning up the kitchen, moving stuff so it looks semi organized
and less like a real person’s kitchen, etc. Yeah…didn’t happen! I will,
however, share my secret (?) family cookie recipe with you; right here:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mom/Grandma's Christmas Cookies</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2 Cups Sugar</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1 Cup Shortening or Butter (I used Shortening)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2 Eggs</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1 Cup Buttermilk</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1 Tsp Baking Soda</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1 Tsp Baking Powder</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1 Tsp Salt</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1 Tsp Vanilla or Almond Extract (I use Almond, of course!)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">4 Cups Flour</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Cream together sugar, shortening/butter, eggs and buttermilk (adding buttermilk 1/2 cup at a time). Alternate adding wet/dry ingredients together. Chill dough for 2-4 hours (or overnight in my case). Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I’ve only attempted this recipe a few times and I’ll tell
you why…it’s a messy, pain in the ass to make. My Mom and Grandma have been
making this for years and probably have it so down to perfection that they can
make it in their sleep. I can only hope, one day, to say the same. But, it’s a
tasty little concoction, and I wanted sugar cookies, so I made them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I threw together my cookie batter, wrapped it up and chucked
it into the fridge to chill until Tuesday evening…<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hello Tuesday. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It’s time to make the cookies! I HATE this part. Every other
time I’ve made these I’ve struggled with rolling the dough, getting the cut
outs right, and then there’s getting the little bastards onto the stupid cookie
sheet. WHY did I decide to make these? Grrr! I’ll tell you why, because I’ve
fallen hard for this whole outline and flood icing technique and I really wanted
to try it out! I know that I could have just bought the dough from the
supermarket, but I love the taste of these (they taste like Christmas, *happy
sigh*), and I’m all about this whole “from scratch” thing now, so what the
hell…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I discovered that it’s best to flour the crap out of my
surface, roll just a little bit of dough at a time, and get enough flour on top
of the dough (and the rolling pin) and just roll it out with the rolling pin a
few times to keep it from sticking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
dipped the cookie cutters in flour also before cutting and gave the cookie
cutters a good wiggle to make sure that the cut outs would get off the work
surface in one piece. I used a thin, metal spatula to get the cut outs from the
counter to the cookie sheet. What made me sad was how much dough I had to
discard. I only did two ‘rollings’ of each dough hunk so as to avoid them
getting too much flour and getting too dry, because that’s happened to me in
the past…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It’s times like this that I’m so happy to have double ovens!
I can get one batch into the oven, set the timer, cut out more cookies, get
them into the other oven, lather, rinse and repeat! Works like a charm! The
cookies just need to start getting a tiny bit brown around the edges to be done
and actually turned out quite moist and fluffy (FOR A CHANGE). I guess I AM
learning a thing or two with all my recent baking escapades!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Once the cookies were cooled, it was into a nice sealed
container for the night. Time to kick back with a nice brewski! Oh, and in case
you’re wondering – one, unfrosted, cookie is 6 Weight Watchers Points Plus!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Wacky Wednesday. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Time to ice the cookies! YAY. My resolve is weakening
slightly. I haven’t been looking forward to this. Up until now, my method of
icing cookies has been just “spread icing with knife, dip into sprinkles, eat
cookie”. Now, I was setting out to, not only make an icing I’ve never made
before, but a take on a new technique I’ve never done before. Yikes. I used the
Color Flow recipe from the Wilton Yearbook. I mixed up my icing, complete with
the Wilton Color Flow powder and about an entire container of “No Taste Red”,
and I STILL didn’t get the color as red as I wanted. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I did manage to outline the cookies pretty well. The first
few were pretty disastrous and were set aside for Fox (my son) to eat in the
days before the party. I also found that putting the tray of cookies on my cake
turntable and sitting down instead of standing was helpful!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Once the outlines were done and set aside to dry I needed to
thin out the icing. The <a href="http://www.wilton.com/idea/Color-Flow" target="_blank">Wilton directions</a> said to add just a few drops of water
at a time, mix well and drop some icing off of the spoon back into the bowl.
Once the dropped icing takes until a count of ten to disappear back into the
rest of the icing, then you’re ready. THIS TAKES ‘EFFIN’ FOREVER! I was getting
so very impatient! But I was afraid to add more water at a time. The thing is,
once it was FINALLY ready per the instructions, I still think that it could
have been thinner! I’ll keep that in mind for next time. Also, the icing tastes
much better once it’s dried (weird) than when it’s wet, so don’t freak if you
taste it and go “ew” like I did! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I didn’t actually figure this out until I was almost
done…PICK UP THE COOKIE to spread the icing out after you pipe it into the
outlines. It’s MUCH easier than trying to spread it out on cookies that are on
a tray. It was late. I was getting tired, so I think I get a pass on that!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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and I think I would make them again! They tasted great too!! Next birthday
party though; I’m doing a half batch! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thirsty Thursday. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Now we’re getting busy! Its cake night, time to make the
cakes and get them into the freezer overnight so I can assemble and decorate in
the morning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This is a three layered cake with three flavors. I’ve baked
and blogged all of these recipes pretty recently so you’ll be able to find the
recipes pretty easily if you’re so inclined to whip one up!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The bottom layer is a 12 inch <a href="http://bakingnewbie.blogspot.com/2012/07/my-first-foray-into-fondant.html" target="_blank">Silver White Cake</a> (doubled
recipe), which I’ve tinted orange. The middle layer is <a href="http://bakingnewbie.blogspot.com/2012/06/red-velvet-fathers-day-suprise.html" target="_blank">Waldorf Astoria Red Velvet</a>
(doubled recipe), and the top layer (a.k.a. Elmo’s noggin’), is one batch of
<a href="http://bakingnewbie.blogspot.com/2012/08/more-fun-with-fondant.html" target="_blank">Confetti</a>. All from scratch (YAY ME!).</span></div>
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Frantic Friday. <br />
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It's 4:00AM. I'm awake and can't get back to sleep. I've taken the day off of work to prep for the party. Maybe my mind is just racing too much with lists of everything I need to get done today. After tossing and turning for an hour, I just decide to get up and take a shower. I shower, eat breakfast, get Fox dressed for daycare and give him and Daddy a nice send off to work and school for the day. I am now left to my own, crazy, devices. It's cake time. <br />
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I start off by making buttercreams. One tripled recipe of my <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/quick-vanilla-buttercream-frosting-recipe/index.html" target="_blank">go-to vanilla</a> and one batch of <a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2011/02/heritage-red-velvet-cake.html#more" target="_blank">cream cheese</a>. I, foolishly, thought that tripling the buttercream would be plenty....NEGATIVE! I wound up making it 3 times for a total of nine batches of buttercream. THAT's NUTS! But it worked! The sheer quantity of butter for just one (tripled) batch of buttercream was mind boggling!<br />
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On top of the butter was the powdered sugar! I used SO MUCH POWDERED SUGAR! There was a thin film of white powder all over my kitchen. It looked like I was running a cocaine cutting operation by the time I was done. It leads me to wonder how much powdered sugar one cans safely inhale before a dust mask starts to sound like a good idea. <br />
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To top things off, my sifter broke. I had to resort to sifting all of my powdered sugar with a colander, which worked better than I thought it would! I just kept sifting all of my powdered sugar into a big bowl and measured it out with my 1 cup, one cup at a time. <br />
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Now to assemble!<br />
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I learned the hard way this long October morning...frozen cakes are hard to torte! I think that I should have, at least, torted the large one before freezing it! It was a bit of a beast! But I managed to get all my layers filled and crumb coated before letting them set a while to rest. </div>
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While my cakes were resting I started in on my cake and cookie pops. I had managed to snag my cake pop maker at Kohls for cheap thanks to a sale, a 30% off coupon and some Kohls Cash! Yes, I used a mix for this...I know. Bad baker, Bad!!!! But I think I'd exhausted my scratch baking on the cake and buttercreams!</div>
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Much like that first batch of pancakes, the first batch was more of a practice round! I found that the sweet spot, as far as time, turned out to be about 2.5 minutes per batch. I melted some Wilton's Candy Coating, dipped the stick, inserted, and allowed to set up for a bit in the fridge before I commenced dipping and decorating.</div>
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I also threw together some lovely Oreo Pops. These were pretty easy to make. Separate the cookie, put the stick into the cream filling, reattach the cookie and hope it sticks! Dip and decorate. I found this giant bar of Ghiradelli White Chocolate coating at Sam's Club and it did the trick!</div>
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Now that I had a nice collection of pops, it was time to decorate the cake! I had really wanted to try out this Viva Paper Towel Method of smoothing icing I had found on the net, but it didn't work for me. I, instead, opted to do it the way I watched my mom do it for years, Really hot water, dip spatula into hot water and spin the cake on the turntable while smoothing. I probably used more buttercream than I really needed, as it was a little thick. But it turned out looking pretty good!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-AsqC5IpSnt9GCcWYXyc3BlXj6POM4zCdbsM3WH2-nu1fHVxazNyrEvH7iDFTcuYVgurkjGsr0oiaW_Reu3ddrcuMWt2ASSr3VxsRfuvQjkaVZK2Zi7HsuxBjPE9kFwZvzDt_u3zSWHt-/s1600/DSCF1534.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-AsqC5IpSnt9GCcWYXyc3BlXj6POM4zCdbsM3WH2-nu1fHVxazNyrEvH7iDFTcuYVgurkjGsr0oiaW_Reu3ddrcuMWt2ASSr3VxsRfuvQjkaVZK2Zi7HsuxBjPE9kFwZvzDt_u3zSWHt-/s320/DSCF1534.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Not bad for my first, really big, cake huh? My biggest compliment was when Fox walked into the kitchen, saw the cake and gave a resounding "ELMO!!!!!!" He sang Happy Birthday all day long!</div>
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Now for the final reveal:</div>
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The birthday boy was pretty jazzed! He even shared with his cousin! Such a good boy!<br />
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Although...I think that he ate too many cake pops because he didn't want any cake once the candle was blown out. He was far more interested in his new bulldozer!</div>
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All in all. It turned out great! Fox was thrilled and everyone loved the food and decorations! <br />
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I'm looking forward to the next party...as luck would have it, my husband is turning the big four oh next year....does anyone know how to make really good black icing?SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-75950740191122635282012-10-18T13:47:00.001-07:002012-10-18T13:47:50.852-07:00Commence Operation ElmoMy son's second birthday party is less than 2 weeks away; let the Elmo madness begin!
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The countdown has begun, and to top it off...I've been home sick from work for two days now. Since I was planning on blogging my party planning journey anyway, I guess there's no better time to sit and type than when you're laid up on the couch. And might I just state for the record, daytime television sucks! Whew, now that I've gotten that out; back to my son's upcoming party!<br />
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I will admit, I sometimes wish that my son's birthday fell in the summer months rather than the end of October, simply because I could invite more people if we could put up a nice tent out in the yard. Alas, that's not the case, so we're happy to celebrate with a more intimate guest list...but that doesn't mean we have to have a tame little sit down either!<br />
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So, with the big day coming soon, it's time to really get started on the cake! As for the rest of my party planning, I have a spreadsheet (naturally), complete with time lines, color coding and lists. Since I'm planning on doing a nice treat table complete with Oreo & Cake Pops, Iced sugar cookies and a yummy sweet chex mix; next week is going to be a nightly dough making, cookie decorating, cake batter mixing, baking and freezing extravaganza!<br />
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If you've read some of my more recent cake posts, you'll see that my love affair with fondant ended almost as soon as it began. I chose to nix covering the cake with all fondant and just do a nice, smooth, butter cream with fondant accents. I did my research and I discovered that it's best to make the fondant accents as far as 2 weeks in advance so to give them adequate drying time which will reduce the possibility of colors bleeding into the butter cream.<br />
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I've been slowly buying my supplies from my local craft store for the past few months, one 40% off one item coupon at a time! I've also rummaged through my mom's cake supplies. Between the two of us, I've got enough supplies to get this party started!<br />
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For my fondants, I went with Wilton's white, black and red. I'd heard that tinting fondant black was a messy and difficult task, so I went the easy route and just bought it that way. For Elmo's cute little orange nose, I opted to color it myself. </div>
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This weekend, I rolled out my fondant and got my cut outs done! Whew! One less thing to worry about as the party starts inching closer and closer!
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The hardest part for me was getting Elmo's eyes the same size and shape! You would think rolling fondant into a ball would be easier! I wound up using my kitchen scale to ensure that they were both the same weight, so at least I know they'll be similar in size!
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So, stay tuned and wish me luck, as I embark on Operation Elmo!
SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-27471660886630213182012-09-19T19:58:00.001-07:002012-10-17T08:25:33.220-07:00My First Macaroon!I would love to say that I skipped ahead multiple chapters in my baking text book and tackled Macaroons; but that would be a lie. I looked at the macaroon recipe in the CIA text and there was little more than a list of ingredients and some abbreviated instructions. <br />
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From what I know of making Macaroons, it's a complicated and delicate process. How else would we wind up with these lovely little footed cookie looking things? So, I visited <a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/p/about.html" target="_blank">Heather's</a> blog and found a recipe for <a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2010/01/macaron-mania.html#more" target="_blank">French Macaroons</a>. Oh Heather, what would I do without you? I promise...I'm going to buy your cookbook soon!!<br />
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It was an interesting afternoon as my husband was wiring up a light switch a few feet from where I was working in the kitchen. I tend to be a solitary creature in the kitchen and seldom have to contend with someone in "my space"; so a few of my photos have some tools in the background. <br />
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With the whirring sound coming from my stand mixer and the grinding of my husband's oscillating saw I whipped up some lovely egg whites and sugar;<br />
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The folding was fun! I've never been a confident 'folder', but Heather's instructions were helpful! Once I got my batter all set, I tinted it pink (naturally) and piped my little blobs out.</div>
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I will admit, I was scared. Scared that I wouldn't get the coveted "feet" on my macaroons. I think I stopped back and stared at my oven more than a few times. When I turned my baking sheet halfway through the baking process, I noticed that I was actually getting some lovely little ruffles at the base of my macaroons!</div>
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Once baking had completed, this is what I had:</div>
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I whipped up a simple butter cream, substituting my normal vanilla extract for some almond extract I picked up from the Penzeys store in Delafield. It was yummy! </div>
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They were a hit! When I brought some over to my sister, she practically ran out of her room when she heard the word Macaroon! My son was a big fan too, he polished off three!</div>
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I think now that I've attacked cheesecake, bread and macaroons I'm off to a great start! I've been finding that you just need to get out there and try a new recipe, you might be pleasantly surprised with what you can do!</div>
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</div>SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-4420993784146898012012-09-09T18:44:00.000-07:002012-09-09T18:44:25.764-07:00Rhapsody in RyeI'm back in the kitchen, and have returned with a triumphant tale of bread making!<br />
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My next recipe to tackle contained a new flour that I've yet to deal with...rye flour. Ladies and gentlemen, I present Cheddar and Onion Rye Dough!<br />
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This recipe will yield 2 round loaves:<br />
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Bread Flour 15.25oz</div>
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Rye Flour 4.75oz</div>
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Instant Dry Yeast 3.5g</div>
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Water 14.25 fl oz</div>
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Salt 0.5oz</div>
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Sugar 10.75g</div>
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Molasses, Unsulfured 10.75g</div>
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Vegetable Oil 10.75g</div>
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Cheddar Cheese, Shredded 4oz</div>
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Yellow Onions, Medium Dice 4oz</div>
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This recipe begins as most bread recipes do. We mix the flours and yeast in one bowl and the water, salt, sugar, molasses in the mixer bowl. Add the flour/yeast mix to the mixing bowl and mix on slow, with the dough hook attachment for 4 minutes. Once 4 minutes have passed, crank it up to medium for another 4 minutes before adding the onions and cheese. Mix on low for another 2 minutes and...Voila! We have made dough!<br />
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I will give you a warning, the dough gets really sticky once the cheese and onions are added in. There is a lot of moisture in onions and you wont have your usual firm ball of dough. <br />
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We allow the dough to rise (covered with a little plastic wrap) for about 45 minutes. <br />
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Once the rising period has completed, it's time to give our lovely dough a nice, gentle fold in the bowl (careful, we're getting into some very sticky territory), before turning the dough (or dumping and scraping in my case) onto the work surface, dusted with some bread flour. <br />
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It is now time to commence preshaping. I divided the dough wad in half and preshaped into two large rounds (see <a href="http://bakingnewbie.blogspot.com/2012/02/lean-dough-take-ii.html" target="_blank">Lean Dough Take II</a> for preshaping instructions). Once preshaped, allow the dough to rest, covered, for about 15 to 20 minutes. <br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">I know what you're thinking...nice huh?</span></div>
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This recipe was actually meant to be rolls, but I was really in the mood for a few actual rustic looking loaves of bread, so I hearkened back to my first successful bread recipe (<a href="http://bakingnewbie.blogspot.com/2012/02/lean-dough-take-ii.html" target="_blank">Lean Dough Take II</a>) and decided to make two boules of bread instead!</div>
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Now that my lovely lady lumps of dough have rested, it's time to shape up to bake! I reformed the balls into new balls (or boules) and let them proof, covered, in a warmed (then switched off) oven for about 45 minutes, while I preheated my other oven to 425 degrees. </div>
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As you can see, the dough grew substantially during the final proofing! You'll want your dough to spring back halfway, slowly, to the touch but not collapse!</div>
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You should score your boules before throwing them into the oven, but I'll admit, I forgot. Not to worry, as the bread came out great! About 15-20 minutes in the oven and I wound up with this:</div>
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You'll know that your bread is done when you thump the loaf on the bottom and hear a hollow sound. Be sure to donn an oven mitt...or risk burning your paws!</div>
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This bread has replaced my Challah as my finest baking trial to date! It was so moist and yummy! Even if you're not a cheese or onion fan, I think you'd like this! The cheese is very understated and the onions seem to make the bread all the more moist! It received high marks around here, and with my extended family across the street!</div>
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For my next trick...I've been obsessing in the back of my mind with making macaroons lately! I think they're so pretty and would be a fun addition to my son's upcoming birthday celebration! It would be skipping forward quite a bit in my text book, but what the hell! I think I'm up for the challenge!</div>
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Happy Baking!</div>
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SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-1944066011631920382012-08-13T19:44:00.001-07:002012-08-13T19:44:19.890-07:00More Fun with Fondant!<div style="text-align: left;">
In my ongoing effort to learn the fine art that is fondant, I made yet another attempt at some lovely fondant fun!</div>
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Since I'm all about baking from scratch now (and I'm trying to get my poop in a group for my Son's birthday party in October), I was looking for a good confetti cake recipe. I found one on <a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/p/about.html" target="_blank">Heather's</a> <a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2010/09/happy-birthday-sprinkle-bakes-and.html" target="_blank">Sprinklebakes</a> site and was revved up and ready to go!<br />
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I mixed up my lovely batter and dumped the sprinkles in with glee! This is WAY more fun than that crappy little packet of sprinkles they give you in the box of cake mix! This recipe takes a good 3/4 cup!!<br />
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I unearthed a few 8 inch pans, lined the bottoms with parchment paper (makes getting it out of the pan so very easy) and got my batter ready to go:<br />
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My cakes came out looking great! I let them cool and got my butter cream whipped up. I'm really digging <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/quick-vanilla-buttercream-frosting-recipe/index.html" target="_blank">this recipe I found on Food Network's website</a>. I find that a batch and a half is just enough for two 8 inch cakes. <br />
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Now, <a href="http://bakingnewbie.blogspot.com/2012/07/my-first-foray-into-fondant.html" target="_blank">the last (and first) time I did a fondant cake</a> I ran into issues with creasing at the base of the cake. I rolled the fondant much thinner than the last time, and managed to get the fondant on the cake without incident or creases! YAY Me!<br />
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I did, however, run into a bit of a bulging issue around the mid section of the cake. Picture a gal with a muffin top in a pair of low rise jeans. I did some poking around on the net today and found that I need to put the butter cream between the layers about an inch away from the edge and should have probably let the cake settle for a few hours before putting the fondant on. Lesson learned! <br />
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Once decorated, this is what I managed to come up with:<br />
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My Momma was making tacos across the street and invited us over for dinner last night, and this made the perfect ending to a lovely meal!</div>
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The cake was SUPER moist and such fun! I would recommend this over a 'cake in a box' any day! </div>
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Now, for what I've learned today. </div>
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I don't really like fondant. </div>
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It looks pretty, tastes OK (and that's only after I flavor it), but the texture is a little off putting. I don't like to serve my desserts with the disclaimer "if you don't like the fondant, just scrape it off". I think fondant is great for a wedding cake (here in Wisconsin, we're usually hammered by the time the cake is served), or one of those fancy show cakes; but for something you're actually looking to eat and enjoy, maybe with a scoop of New York Vanilla...meh. Not my thing. </div>
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I've decided I'm going to try and concentrate on making my butter cream look as smooth as possible and decorate it with fondant cut outs for my son's party! I've already started my research and just need to get some more practice in before October 29th!</div>
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Tune back in soon, I've about a thousand more pages in my CIA text book and I'm cruising right along!</div>
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SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-64464469643991663362012-08-06T19:48:00.000-07:002012-08-06T20:01:05.938-07:00Splendid Sunflower Seed RollsWhat else to do on a lovely Sunday morning? Sleep in? Negative, a toddler lives in my house. The weather outside was actually nice enough to cut off the central air and open the windows, why not bake?! Time to get to work on my next project; Sunflower Seed Rolls!<br />
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Wheat Bran 3oz</div>
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Milk, room temperature 22.5 fl oz</div>
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Bread Flour 1 pound 10oz</div>
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Instant Dry Yeast 4.75 g</div>
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Honey 2oz</div>
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Sunflower Seed Oil (I didn't have this on hand, so I used Vegetable Oil) 1.5oz</div>
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Salt 17.75g</div>
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Sunflower Seeds lightly toasted, plus more for garnish 3oz (+ 2 extra ounces for garnish)</div>
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This project actually began the evening prior. The wheat bran needs to soak overnight in the milk. I put the mixture in the fridge overnight, and took it out first thing in the morning to let it come to room temperature. I've found that if it's not warming up fast enough, putting the container in the sink and filling it (the sink, not the milk/bran container) up with warmer water can speed things up if needed. <br />
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The sunflower seeds needed to be lightly toasted, so I threw them onto a sheet pan and stuck them under the broiler for a few minutes, just until the natural oils started to come out. Yummy! It was all I could do to keep from snacking on them while I was baking!<br />
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This recipe does call for sunflower seed oil, but my grocery store didn't have it. After a quick google search, I discovered that you can substitute vegetable oil, so, substitute I did!<br />
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The flour and yeast are combined in one bowl, and all other ingredients, except for the sesame seeds, go into the mixing bowl. The flour/yeast mixture is added to the mixer and mixed on low, with the dough hood attachment, for 4 minutes. Then we upped the speed to medium and mixed for another 4 1/2 minutes. <br />
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Now we add the sunflower seeds and mix for another 2 minutes on low. <br />
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Now for the waiting, the dough needs to bulk ferment for about an hour. I covered the dough lightly with a dampened tea towel so I could avoid getting a "skin" on it. <br />
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I was feeling particularly creative on this fine afternoon, and, since I was in the kitchen anyways, I made my son a lovely "you eat with your eyes before you shove it in your face" lunch!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Cute Huh?</span></div>
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Once the dough had risen, it was time to preshape the dough into a large round. I'm actually getting pretty good at this! Check out <a href="http://bakingnewbie.blogspot.com/2012/02/lean-dough-take-ii.html" target="_blank">Lean Dough Take II</a> for preshaping instructions. Once preshaped, let the dough rest, covered, for about 15 to 20 minutes. <br />
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Now that we're all well rested, it's time to make our cute little rolls! Divide the dough into 38g pieces with a dough blade and kitchen scale. <br />
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Once divided, time to conquer! I'm going to just quote the textbook here, as they explain it better than I think I could!<br />
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Shaping the rolls was easy, but time consuming because there's so many of them! "Press each piece lightly with fingertips to flatten. Fold the top edge of the dough to the center of the dough, pressing lightly with fingertips to tighten the dough. Rotate the dough 90 degrees, fold the dough in half, and use the heel of your hand to seal the two edges together. Cup the roll in your hand and re round the dough, applying gentle pressure to create a tight, smooth ball."<br />
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Place the rolls onto parchment lined baking sheets and brush with an egg wash. I've used two different methods of egg washing. One is egg and water, the other is equal parts egg and milk with a small pinch of salt. I'm finding that I'm partial to the egg/milk wash. Now is a good time to get ready for proofing. I head up my double ovens to about 100 degrees each for a few minutes, then turn them off. Just to get them warmer than the temperature in the kitchen. <br />
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Once, egg washed. I covered all my little dough balls with tea towels and put them into my warm ovens to proof for about 40-50 minutes. I was delighted to see that the dough had proofed beautifully! The dough sprung back a bit to the touch, but didn't collapse and had grown in size nicely!<br />
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Now, we egg wash again and top with sunflower seeds. You'll want to be really careful when egg washing the rolls once they've proofed, because you could actually collapse the rolls if you jab them to hard with the basting brush!<br />
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And now, we bake! I actually don't have a convection oven. I've had them before, and I've found that they can dry out baked goods. When it was time to pick appliances for the new house, I was totally fine with conventional ovens! The instructions in the text state to bake at 410 degrees in a convection oven for about 15 minutes. I've found a <a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_4898682_convert-convection-oven-regular-oven.html" target="_blank">handy website</a> that gave me the conversion trick for convection to conventional ovens. The formula is to add 25 degrees and 33% more time. This put me at 435 degrees for about 19 minutes.<br />
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The rolls are done when they sound hollow when thumped on the bottom and are a nice golden brown. <br />
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If you can manage to wait, let the rolls cool completely on wire racks. These were nutty, a little crunchy and delightful! My Hubs and Son LOVE them! They also make cute little burger buns!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Yummy!</span></div>
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I asked my son what he wanted for dinner, and he answered with an emphatic "noodles"! Needless to say, these were a great addition to our spaghetti dinner! I would encourage anyone to try these out! They are a bit of work, but the end result is fantastic!<br />
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On a side note...I've graduated from my iPhone camera to a big girl camera and have been psyched by the pictures I've been able to take!SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-88691347307394129822012-07-23T20:35:00.000-07:002012-07-23T20:35:53.847-07:00My First Foray into Fondant!What an exciting weekend!<br />
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It all began when I got the ambitious idea to make my son's cake for his second birthday party in October. I found this adorable Elmo cake on the net and decided that there was no reason for me to shell out another $80 for a fancy fondant cake like I did for the last party, by golly...I'm making it myself! Ambitious, no?<br />
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Ambitious, and quite the undertaking. The cake I found it a three tiered masterpiece, covered in...DUM DUM DAAAAAAHHHHHH...fondant. <br />
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This is what I knew about fondant as of last week:<br />
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1. My mom, the cake decorator, wouldn't touch the stuff. She's old school, royal icing all the way!<br />
2. Fondant tastes funny<br />
3. Fondant instantly makes a cake more expensive<br />
4. Fondant looks AMAZING on all those Food Network Cake Challenge Shows...NO WAY I can pull that off at home. <br />
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Well, I decided if I'm going to make my son's cake, I needed practice. We were planning on hosting my mother in law's birthday celebration at our house on Sunday anyways, so why not just start my practice with that! I decided that if the fondant failed, I'd just rip it of and ice it in butter cream. No harm, no foul. <br />
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I did a lot of research on the net in the week leading up to the party and grabbed a few basic fondant items from the local craft store. I purchased a box of Wilton's fondant, a large fondant rolling pin, some circle cutters, and a fondant smoother and I was ready to go. <br />
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I chose to do a simple white cake from my big, red,<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Betty-Crockers-Cookbook-Everything-Today/dp/0764560794/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343096420&sr=1-1&keywords=0764560794" target="_blank"> Betty Crocker's Cookbook</a>. I went with the "Silver White Cake". <br />
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2 1/2 Cups Cake Flour</div>
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1 2/3 Cups Sugar</div>
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2/3 Cups Shortening</div>
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1 1/4 Cups Milk</div>
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3 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder</div>
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1 Teaspoon Salt</div>
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1 Teaspoon Vanilla or Almond Extract (When given the choice, I ALWAYS use Almond)</div>
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5 Large Egg Whites</div>
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My preference for almond extract over vanilla goes back to my childhood. My grandmother and my mother always used the same Christmas cookie recipe with one difference, Mom used vanilla extract, Grandma used almond. I loved both cookies...but there was always something about Grandma's that had me revisiting that cookie plate at Christmas. Once I was of the age where making Christmas cookies became important to me, I asked my grandma if she did something different than my mom...her answer, almond extract. From that day on, I was an almond extract convert!</div>
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Friday night rolled around, my son is in bed, time to bake the cakes! I gathered up my ingredients and got to work. </div>
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I preheated the oven to 350 degrees and greased up a couple 8 inch round cake pans. I also lined the bottoms of the pans with some parchment paper, which makes getting the cakes out of the pans SUPER easy!</div>
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I mixed all the ingredients except the egg whites in my stand mixer on low for about 30 seconds (scraping bowl), then on high speed for another 2 minutes (again, scraping bowl).Then I beat in the egg whites, on high, for an additional 2 minutes before pouring into my pans. </div>
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I baked for about 25 minutes or so, until the cake sprung back when touched, and cooled for a few minutes on the rack before turning the cakes out to cool completely. </div>
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Once cooled, I wrapped the cakes in plastic wrap and threw them into the freezer for the night. </div>
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Saturday evening, once the little guy was in bed, it was time to get this cake together! I started by making my vanilla butter cream. I found <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/quick-vanilla-buttercream-frosting-recipe/index.html" target="_blank">this recipe</a> on the Food Network's website, and I've found that making a batch and a half usually works pretty well. </div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Don't you just love my messy kitchen!?</span></div>
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Now it was time to assemble my masterpiece! I leveled off my cakes and gave them a healthy layer of butter cream between the cake layers and slapped on a coat on top of everything. </div>
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This is when I ripped open my package of fondant and went to work. I read that fondant will take on some of the flavor of the butter cream, but flavoring the fondant itself is also a good idea. If you are going to flavor fondant (and you want to keep it white), you'll want to use a clear flavoring. Wilton does make a clear vanilla extract, but I still had some almond extract on hand, so I poked a hole into my fondant, poured a little in and kneaded it like it was dough for a while...a long while. If I keep this up I'm gonna have some nice pipes!</div>
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Once my fondant was flavored, and kneaded enough to be rolled, I dusted my rolling surface with some powdered sugar and got to rolling. I needed to get the fondant rolled out to an 18 inch diameter. Once we were all rolled out, it was the moment of truth...getting this stuff on my cake. </div>
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I managed to get it onto the cake without tearing it...but I don't think I cut off the excess quickly enough, as I wound up with this:</div>
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I was a little disappointed, but I planned on decorating the cake with more fondant cut outs, so I figured I'd just cover up all the creases!</div>
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The little instruction booklet that came with the fondant said that I should wait 2-3 hours before I started decorating the cake....crap! It was already almost 9:00PM and I wanted to get to bed sometime before midnight. So, I started on the next part of my project and figured that would just need to be good enough!</div>
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In the event that my cake bombed, I wanted to have some backup...my backup came in the form of cupcakes...from a mix. In my defense, I did whip up a nice batch of <a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2011/02/heritage-red-velvet-cake.html#more" target="_blank">cream cheese frosting</a> (Thanks again <a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/p/about.html" target="_blank">Heather</a> from <a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/" target="_blank">SprinkleBakes</a>) and tinted it pink, my mother in law's favorite color!</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">My kitchen was a freakin' mess!</span></div>
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Now it was time to decorate the cake! I tinted the fondant pink with some decorator's gel color and donned some gloves to knead in the color. I was really impressed by how well the color worked into the fondant (just like on TV)!</div>
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I used my circle cutters to cut out some decorations and applied the cut outs to the cake by brushing the back of the cut outs with water. This is where I employed some camouflage and covered up the creases in the white fondant!</div>
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I planned on decorating the cupcakes the next day and it was after 10:00PM, so I needed a break! I had an "only in Wisconsin" moment and washed down some cake scraps and butter cream with a beer. Don't turn up your nose...it was DELICIOUS!</div>
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The next day (after enjoying a blissful 20 minutes of extra sleep while my husband fed Fox his breakfast), I put everything together! Drum roll Please.....</div>
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Not only did it look great...it tasted great too! The almond extract reminded me of my Grandma's Christmas cookies and the birthday girl was tickled...wait for it...PINK! The other party guests loved the cake (and cupcakes), and there was only one piece left once the party ended!!</div>
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Final Verdict: I'm no longer afraid of fondant!! I know what I need to do next time to clean up some of my boo-boos. First, I will be sure to roll the fondant a little thinner, and second, I need to trim the fondant as soon as I put it on the cake to avoid creasing. </div>
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I plan to make another cake in a few weeks to hone my chops...but I will bring about another bread posting soon! </div>
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</div>SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-59078439810213301292012-07-09T18:45:00.000-07:002012-07-09T18:46:50.842-07:00Challah Back GirlI'm back, and I've brought bread!<br />
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This weekend I sought out to make Challah. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challah_bread" target="_blank">Challah is a special Jewish braided bread eaten on Sabbath and holidays.</a> I chose to make the three-braid variation (there is also a 6 braid variation in my text book). I was excited for this recipe because I've seen Challa on Food Network before, but I've never eaten or made it. <br />
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As always, I quartered the recipe:<br />
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Bread Flour 21oz</div>
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Instant Dry Yeast 0.25oz (which happens to be one packet!)</div>
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Water 8oz</div>
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Egg Yolks 4oz (this worked out to about 6 egg yolks)</div>
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Vegetable Oil 2oz</div>
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Sugar 2oz</div>
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Salt 0.4oz</div>
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Bread Flour for dusting</div>
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Yolks Only Egg Wash (equal parts egg yolk, milk and a dash of salt)</div>
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The flour and yeast are mixed in one bowl, and the remaining ingredients are put into the mixer bowl, then I added the flour yeast mixture to the wet ingredients and mixed on low for 4 minutes, then increased the speed to medium for another 4 minutes with the dough hook attachment. The dough was firm and smooth, not sticky (thank goodness)!<br />
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My lovely dough went into my rising bowl to bulk ferment for an hour.I covered the dough ball loosely with some saran wrap and went to fold some more laundry and load the dishwasher. <br />
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After an hour, I gave the dough a gentle fold and divided it into 156g pieces. This was tricky, add a little, take a little away...I'm super anal retentive and a pharmacy technician. I wanted each piece to be exactly 156g, so this might take you considerably less time than it took me!<br />
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Then the dough pieces needed to be pre-shaped into small oblongs. <br />
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To make a small oblong, you press the dough out into a small rectangle with your fingertips, then bring the left and right ends to the middle, pressing to seal. Next, you fold the top half to the middle, press again, and bring the whole top to the bottom, sealing with the heal of your hand. Then you just go a little Play-doh on your dough and roll it into a chubby little roll about 3 inches long. <br />
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Now, we rest...again. Cover lightly with a tea towel and go take a walk for about 10 minutes. <br />
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Once rested, fold the dough oblongs over into thirds and start to make your ropes!<br />
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This was fun, but harder than you think! The dough ropes tend to spring back and shrink...once I would roll one out to a foot long and set it aside to start on the next one, I would look back and have a 10 inch rope, so make them longer than what you really need!<br />
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The directions didn't say to do this, I just thought it looked cleaner, so I hacked off the ends with my dough blade to make everything even...again, anal retentive!<br />
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Now to braid the bread. I lightly dusted my dough ropes in flour to keep them dry for braiding. You would think that you would pinch the dough together at the top and braid like you would hair, from root to tip. Nope! We start braiding in the middle, flip the braid around and finish the braid, pinching the ends to seal.</div>
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I put the dough braids onto a parchment lined baking sheet and gave them a light little brushing of egg wash and let the braids proof, covered about one hour. I've found the best way to proof dough is to start up my oven at about 100 degrees for a few minutes, then shut it off and put the dough in to proof. This way the dough stays nice and lukewarm and doesn't get too cold in my air conditioned kitchen!<br />
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Once proofed, I added another careful brushing of egg wash and threw these beauties into a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes. I took them out once they were a lovely shiny, dark golden brown. And...a shocker! I actually let the bread cool completely before slicing! Check it out:<br />
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I was so pleased to have this turn out so well!! This is probably the crowning jewel of my blogging baked goods! The bread was perfect! Nice little pockets on the inside, tasty and a beautiful color!<br />
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Final verdict, I will be making this again! We toasted some up with butter and garlic and had it with lasagna for dinner and loved it! I think this would also make a fantastic french toast!SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-37794357294106718432012-06-17T18:58:00.000-07:002012-06-17T19:08:27.467-07:00A Red Velvet Father's Day SupriseYikes! Long time no post (bad blogger, BAD!). My apologies! Between holding two garage sales, dance recitals, camping and 18 month photos I've been a busy Beaver! However, fear not, as I have returned with a triumphant tale of baking from scratch. <br />
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This is another 'Non-Baking-From-Text-Book' posts, but since I delved into the world of cake baking that didn't involve a box of Duncan Hines; I felt compelled to share! <br />
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Some background. I've never liked baking caked from scratch because they never seem to turn out as good as when you use a mix. But, my husband is a HUGE fan of red velvet cake! Every time I visit our local cupcakery, he insists on a red velvet with LOTS of icing! So, with Father's Day fast approaching, I set out to make my husband an extra special red velvet cake with cream cheese icing from scratch. <br />
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My first stop when searching for desert recipes, naturally, was <a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/p/about.html" target="_blank">Heather</a> at <a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/" target="_blank">Sprinkle Bakes</a> (Thank You Again Heather!!). I just love all of her whimsical recipes, designs and easy to follow instructions! I combed through and found the two recipes that I used. The first being <a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2011/09/portrait-of-poe-in-waldorf-astoria-red.html#more" target="_blank">Waldorf Astoria Red Velvet</a> and the second being <a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2011/02/heritage-red-velvet-cake.html#more" target="_blank">Cream Cheese Frosting</a>. <br />
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I banished my husband from the kitchen on Saturday night and got down to business making my cake. I prefer to make the cake the night before and freeze it, which makes for easier decorating!<br />
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I was a tad shocked at the amount of liquid red food coloring needed, 2 ounces seems like a lot, but how else would we get that vibrant red color?<br />
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It turns our, McCormick makes red food coloring in one ounce bottles, so I grabbed two and a pair of gloves and set to work. I've learned the hard way that when working with food coloring or decorator icing color of any kind...gloves are your friend! This stuff seeps into the cuticles and doesn't come out easily. <br />
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The cake batter came together quite easily. My favorite part was getting to mix baking soda and vinegar together again! I haven't done that since I was a kid!<br />
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I baked the cakes on Saturday night, let them cool, and wrapped them in plastic wrap before putting them into the freezer. The next morning, my son and I let Daddy sleep in and started on the frosting. <br />
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I plopped my son down into his chair, gave him an oven mitt and some measuring cups to play with and put together my frosting. <br />
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Once I assembled and decorated the cake, Fox (my son) and I had some yummy cake scraps that met with the "Fox Seal of Approval"!<br />
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Here's what Fox and I came up with! My cake decorating skills are still a work in progress. I've only learned from watching my mom decorate cakes while I was growing up and writing on a cake can be a real chore! </div>
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My husband was thrilled! In addition to the cake, I also made his favorite chicken lasagna and this made the perfect desert!</div>
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Many thanks, again, to Heather at Sprinkle Bakes for the recipes! I'm sure I'll be making this at least twice a year for my Husband's Birthday and Father's Day for many years to come!</div>
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I promise to be back soon with another CIA recipe and hope for a result as good as this!</div>
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</div>SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-55740338835351723042012-05-13T19:40:00.000-07:002012-05-13T19:40:51.546-07:00From U-Bake to Grissini and Back Again...Having the right flour can make all the difference!<br />
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If you've read either my last post <a href="http://bakingnewbie.blogspot.com/2012/04/gah-grissini.html" target="_blank">Gah! Grissini</a> or even <a href="http://bakingnewbie.blogspot.com/2012/03/durum-rosemary-doughi-think.html" target="_blank">Durum Rosemary Dough...I Think</a>, you'd see that I've been waging an ongoing battle against my foe; flour. I just haven't had the brains to find the flour that I truly needed to execute these recipes properly, and it's been my downfall on two recipes. I got on the net, and started doing google searches trying to find a specialty flour or baking shop and the local <a href="http://www.ubakeusa.com/wausau" target="_blank">U-Bake</a> store popped up. I had been under the impression that U-Bake was a place where you went to get frozen dough for breads and cookies (which they do have in abundance)...but they have a lovely selection of flours! When I popped into my local U-Bake location on Friday after work, I was delighted to actually, finally, find High Gluten Flour!<br />
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Not only did I finally find my High Gluten Flour, but U-Bake was a bakers mecca! Every kind of flour I could imagine, and an entire wall of sprinkles!! Since I pride myself on my cupcakes...I'll be returning soon and often to find some fun new decorations!<br />
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Back to this weeks recipe...Grissini, take II, the recipe is as follows:<br />
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High-Gluten Flour 1.25 lb</div>
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Instant Dry Yeast 8.75g</div>
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Milk, Room Temperature 9oz</div>
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Butter, Soft 3oz</div>
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Olive Oil 0.75oz</div>
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Salt 0.5oz (and YES, I measured correctly this time)</div>
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Malt Syrup 10.8oz</div>
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Olive Oil For Brushing</div>
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Optional Garnishes, I used Sea Salt, Poppy Seeds and a Buttermilk Ranch Spice Mix</div>
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As per my usual M.O., mix the yeast and flour in one bowl, and the other ingredients in the mixer's bowl. Mix on low speed (stir) with the bread hook attachment for 4 minutes, then on medium speed for another 3 minutes. The dough should be very stiff, which mine was (YAY!). Let the dough rest in the mixing bowl for 15 minutes. <br />
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Once rested, the dough then needs to bulk ferment for 30 minutes. I transferred the dough to my handy rising bowl (sprayed with a touch of Pam) and covered it with plastic wrap, then I went and folded clothes. </div>
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Now we come to the fun part! Grissini is basically a long, skinny bread stick and the method of making the grissini in my text book is to use a pasta machine. I purchased <a href="http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=13748136" target="_blank">this model</a> from Bed Bath and Beyond a few weeks ago after they sent out a 20% off coupon in the mail. </div>
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I divided my dough into hunks for ease of rolling. The dough needs to be rolled out into strips no wider than the pasta machine and about 12 inches long. </div>
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Once you have your strip of dough, it is run through the rollers of the pasta machine at it's widest setting, then again at setting #5. This left me with a nice thin sheet of dough, ready to be made into thin strips. We're getting ever closer to the elusive Grissini! </div>
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Using the fettuchine cutter attachment, I rolled the dough through my spankin' new pasta machine creating neat little strips of dough!</div>
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The strips of dough then are laid out, not touching, on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. </div>
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Then it's time to let the dough proof, covered for 30 minutes. Once proofed, I lightly brushed the strips with olive oil and sprinkled them with the salt, poppy seeds and ranch herbs. Into a 360 degree oven for about 13 minutes, or until golden brown!!</div>
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HOORAY!!! It only took two tries, but I finally made Grissini!!</div>
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I will say that these were fantastic!! They were light, crispy and were reminiscent of the bread sticks you used to see in Italian restaurants! In addition to being tasty, they were surprisingly easy to make! </div>
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Now that my husband has seen my pasta machine at work, he's excited for me to put it to it's intended use and crank out some pasta! His first request...Buffalo Chicken Ravioli! </div>
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<br /></div>SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-64750049736699361192012-04-29T18:34:00.000-07:002012-04-29T18:34:20.046-07:00Gah! Grissini...This one didn't go so well...<br />
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I started out with the greatest of intentions, however, I was again foiled by flour.<br />
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Grissini was the next recipe in my book, and I was SO excited to try out my pasta 'machine' that I picked up on sale last week. Grissini is basically a long, skinny, bread stick and I was looking forward to spending the week crunching away one grissini at a time. If you sense a hint of sorrow, you are spot on. I hit a wall...a big wall made out of flour. <br />
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The grissini called for 'High Gluten Flour'...unfortunately, what I purchased wasn't actually 'High Gluten Flour' and instead was a <strong><em>pure</em></strong> gluten flour. <br />
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So, what started out as this (cute huh?):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji8a7tjEok3S_vPH8VQyrUwYu23SjG1I67HAlCOtbPJcvVVAWiEUjBhVN2LOM8YEo-k_l1BaVMKx3VfqY93Q-H0id7D0M6SFt0lzmO6PHkFFe8b5ziR9I5zh4X9uC52S_LXbgbDTI04nrY/s1600/017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji8a7tjEok3S_vPH8VQyrUwYu23SjG1I67HAlCOtbPJcvVVAWiEUjBhVN2LOM8YEo-k_l1BaVMKx3VfqY93Q-H0id7D0M6SFt0lzmO6PHkFFe8b5ziR9I5zh4X9uC52S_LXbgbDTI04nrY/s320/017.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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...ended up as this (ew!):</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3T1E350KTkSWf7nGpUFLqT9DTUH3B9Sywxbiw-XC_mU02ifAuFnzpr0NjOszQwR8iIZswTkHvxAF90eEGRJ1QKZ0l6pQu6kdUP-_U-5zd5700-SfFKdhCB7WUxX9Va4ZPC4ivroJgNxrR/s1600/020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3T1E350KTkSWf7nGpUFLqT9DTUH3B9Sywxbiw-XC_mU02ifAuFnzpr0NjOszQwR8iIZswTkHvxAF90eEGRJ1QKZ0l6pQu6kdUP-_U-5zd5700-SfFKdhCB7WUxX9Va4ZPC4ivroJgNxrR/s320/020.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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A pure gluten laden mess...not at all anything even CLOSE to dough. </div>
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I've decided that I need to stop trying to shop at my local grocery store when it comes to an ingredient I've never used or heard of before. I'm seeking out a specialty baking store, or hitting up Amazon to order what I need on the net. </div>
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Stop back soon, because I'm trying this one again.....</div>
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</div>SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-57723499757573653952012-04-15T19:49:00.001-07:002012-04-16T19:25:06.631-07:00Soft Roll DOH-No!!!Knot & Parker House Rolls Using Soft Roll Dough<br />
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Say it with me now...DOH! It was bound to happen again...sooner rather than later, I manage to eff things up. Naturally, I didn't realize that I screwed up until the very possible end; the taste test. Since I did spend all afternoon embarking on my roll-tastic journey, I'll take you through it until the very, very, salty end. <br />
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The next two recipes in my text book were for Knot Rolls and Parker house rolls, both utilizing the same dough, just shaped differently. Being the adventurous sorta gal that I am, I opted to just try them both! I was so psyched to finally have graduated past the 3 ingredient bread phase and was <strong> thrilled</strong> to finally be making something with eggs, milk and butter!!<br />
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Business as usual, I quartered the recipe. Here is where I screwed up, I neglected to quarter the salt Dum Dum Daaaahhhhhh. Essentially, I prepared the dough with 4 times the amount of salt necessary and allow me to say, that sucks! It sucks salty dough balls! Here is the recipe with the <em>correct</em> amount of all ingredients:<br />
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Bread Flour 1.25 lb</div>
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Instant Dry Yeast 8.75 g </div>
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Milk, room temperature 10 fl oz</div>
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Butter, soft 2 oz</div>
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1 Egg, (I always allow my eggs to come to room temperature when baking)</div>
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Sugar 2 oz</div>
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Salt 0.5 oz (<strong>NOT</strong> 2 oz, as I used, I cannot possibly stress this enough)</div>
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Egg Wash (for knot rolls)</div>
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Clarified Butter (for parker house rolls)</div>
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I mixed the yeast and flour in one bowl and the butter, egg, milk, salt and sugar in the mixer's bowl fitted with the bread hook attachment. As I mentioned above, I let my egg come to room temperature along with the milk and butter, I think I learned this from my good buddy Alton Brown...<br />
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I added the flour/yeast mixture to the other ingredients and mixed on low for about 2 minutes, kicking the speed up to medium for another few minutes until I reached the improved stage of gluten development. I checked for this by taking a small piece of dough, dipping it in flour and stretching it to a thin membrane. <br />
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I transferred the dough to my rising bowl, sprayed with a touch of Pam, and loosely covered it with plastic wrap to bulk ferment for one hour. <br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Today, during what I like to call my ‘rising time’, I
actually had some peace and quiet! My poor little son who has been battling
chronic, back to back, ear infections finally decided that a nap was in his best interest, so some rare quiet time was nice! While
my dough was rising, I was able <em>to take my time</em> folding some laundry, something I had come to take for granted. Typically
I have my son in the laundry room with me, and quietly folding towels takes a
back seat to keeping him out of the laundry room cabinets while I hastily wad
up the clean laundry. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As the dough was rising, and I was folding, I was thinking
how nice some homemade rolls would have been during last weekend’s Easter meal.
I decided that, from now on, I would make them my go-to rolls for any
upcoming holiday (made correctly of course). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Once the laundry was folded and another load started (WHEN DOES IT END?!) I gathered up my tools for the next phase. I've come to love these silicone mats that I found at Aldi a few years back, they make for a much easier counter cleanup!</span> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qFmYmwu86etfiZwJsuQAw6-vcoegH_qn5OXtJX_yQby78DD36t7jnAa_9Id4luHasdlHWBgjpd732MpVxGk2M3ddeegyyyyYpiSXalbo8QfztzgstlUx91YkzA0_Qgzd8pyOesmTSa9v/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qFmYmwu86etfiZwJsuQAw6-vcoegH_qn5OXtJX_yQby78DD36t7jnAa_9Id4luHasdlHWBgjpd732MpVxGk2M3ddeegyyyyYpiSXalbo8QfztzgstlUx91YkzA0_Qgzd8pyOesmTSa9v/s320/014.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Once the dough had risen, I gave it a nice fold and divided it into two one pound hunks-o-dough (and one little, leftover, hunk). I preshaped the dough into rounds (check out <a href="http://bakingnewbie.blogspot.com/2012_02_01_archive.html" target="_blank">Lean Dough Take II</a> for preshaping instructions). Once preshaped, I moved the rounds to my baking sheet, lined with parchment paper, and covered with a towel for about 15 minutes to relax (the dough relaxes, I however had a short, little blond gentleman kindly requesting to be rescued from his crib). </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxeaIdtWXpQoN2v2LpxYzq5FpTG2IlOJGY_rBnwDbRHsRjB3siMkLcIXQEQ_AwdJFrrBCTIaLFV2aM-5WhWCRwNyvjL1PQB6L_F0okjaleJND_8HcSE8HJGXKkz5tXfy4wnrPXTLqfkXTe/s1600/016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxeaIdtWXpQoN2v2LpxYzq5FpTG2IlOJGY_rBnwDbRHsRjB3siMkLcIXQEQ_AwdJFrrBCTIaLFV2aM-5WhWCRwNyvjL1PQB6L_F0okjaleJND_8HcSE8HJGXKkz5tXfy4wnrPXTLqfkXTe/s320/016.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Now for the fun part, time to commence roll making! The dough needed to be divided into 50 gram pieces. This sounds easier than it actually is, trying to get a consistent sized dough ball was a little tough, but the scale really helps! If you don't have a kitchen scale by now, do yourself a favor and pick one up! I think mine was about $15 or so and I've certainly gotten a lot of use out of it!<br />
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Now that I have a lot of balls... it's time to shape them out! I decided to do half knot rolls and half parker house rolls. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBw5H6JHsA72vk1Yt1jc-K0ezg5ao8ZsZbhvu3zLgbE_12fqAW7KsdY4u-zZLpgWiQ61oTUwiVfJpL2qsA1f27sqLaZUMIbBA5mq4p-rY0LP_UmretZu8HqHHlpaqvjcls8-FsfHs5V5M3/s1600/021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBw5H6JHsA72vk1Yt1jc-K0ezg5ao8ZsZbhvu3zLgbE_12fqAW7KsdY4u-zZLpgWiQ61oTUwiVfJpL2qsA1f27sqLaZUMIbBA5mq4p-rY0LP_UmretZu8HqHHlpaqvjcls8-FsfHs5V5M3/s320/021.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Starting with the Knot Rolls, you'll need to work sequentially, shaping the first dough piece that you cut, so I worked from left to right. To make the knots, I began by flattening the dough with my fingertips, folding the top half to the middle of the dough, pressing lightly with my fingertips to seal, then folding in half again, sealing with the heal of my hand. Then I just simply rolled it out, Play-Do style, until I had a 6 inch long rope. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja5-GgYAF0iKNMBfDsZdM0qvhnZj-l0a6LRy2-NwHBfcLBlzl0rX9-htdzlv7xuh1j1dm4Sob1owy1wMVy2GDg3eBbc4mPGsSj4_5tl2rzFzyZImNU7W2X_fpOm_4aNOW78OckqOvM1-kF/s1600/022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja5-GgYAF0iKNMBfDsZdM0qvhnZj-l0a6LRy2-NwHBfcLBlzl0rX9-htdzlv7xuh1j1dm4Sob1owy1wMVy2GDg3eBbc4mPGsSj4_5tl2rzFzyZImNU7W2X_fpOm_4aNOW78OckqOvM1-kF/s320/022.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Once rolled, all there is to do is tie the dough in a knot and pinch the ends together. This was a little easier said than done, and I found that I needed to roll the dough into slightly longer ropes to accomplish this feat. Trust me, I got better at this as I went along!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja5SnL10zaHXEM_UaDV1G9ewGald0DTiPfE1NO11upnGybdgqKWyAAqDTCyh5JfJGLXbN2ZWpYHOVcqgpuRixl8aInVG9pFbIVw79pt1p7F0rr56OMvwI7Yei55EYfZYicKwgy7Se6r5iq/s1600/024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja5SnL10zaHXEM_UaDV1G9ewGald0DTiPfE1NO11upnGybdgqKWyAAqDTCyh5JfJGLXbN2ZWpYHOVcqgpuRixl8aInVG9pFbIVw79pt1p7F0rr56OMvwI7Yei55EYfZYicKwgy7Se6r5iq/s320/024.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Once knotted, it was time to egg wash. Just one egg and a little water, beaten together and brushed on. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGdnC_xhDnnZvjOI2_W2QdjL4Gv2i8TUmCZWq0mAV45QwLjo5xvHQQ1XlPlzkBOkM3ZzseYEnjLcKYV7YOZm1nuaNEhhKlmaFtVhB3OLYEq9V2zjgvmGsBsPO9T4tV-tc952QluS7QBNH1/s1600/025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGdnC_xhDnnZvjOI2_W2QdjL4Gv2i8TUmCZWq0mAV45QwLjo5xvHQQ1XlPlzkBOkM3ZzseYEnjLcKYV7YOZm1nuaNEhhKlmaFtVhB3OLYEq9V2zjgvmGsBsPO9T4tV-tc952QluS7QBNH1/s320/025.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3pz_Ykx0FoZHT4IMEaB5lyvR4djy1tkiAROahTPheQ5SDvK2_1WgAFyEpS39YlJvlo0SOdiP8h9EIi1lfr-StkKgyqh7YPqs2xvXzgJ6V906REgekfre2h8r_oWoYCsgbY2Wc5e4GCmj/s1600/026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3pz_Ykx0FoZHT4IMEaB5lyvR4djy1tkiAROahTPheQ5SDvK2_1WgAFyEpS39YlJvlo0SOdiP8h9EIi1lfr-StkKgyqh7YPqs2xvXzgJ6V906REgekfre2h8r_oWoYCsgbY2Wc5e4GCmj/s320/026.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The knot rolls then just needed to rest & proof, covered (they've had a long day) for about 30 minutes, hit 'em again with the egg wash, before going into a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown and shiny. </div>
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Now onto the Parker House Rolls. The instructions seemed simple enough. I started out by re-rounding the dough pieces and letting them rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Rest was a much needed thing at this point, as I'd allowed my son to have free range in the kitchen...needless to say, we were in desperate need of some non-kitchen-play-time!</div>
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Once rested, I finally got to break out my new rolling pin, and rolled each piece of dough into an oval about 5 inches long. The dough was then folded in half (top comes down to the bottom), flipped over so that the fold was closest to me, then I rolled the bottom few inches of the folded dough with my rolling pin to create the Parker House Roll. </div>
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Now all there was to do was put the rolls onto a parchment lined baking sheet and brush on some clarified (basically, melt down some butter in a saute pan, and strain it through a mesh strainer with a piece of paper towel) butter. </div>
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Once bathed in butter (that just sounds amazing, doesn't it), the rolls need to proof for about 30 minutes. I did this by placing them in a slightly warm oven. Once proofed, bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes until golden brown and shiny, brush again with the butter as soon as they come out of the oven. </div>
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Once I had all of my rolls out of the oven and started tasting, my husband and I both proclaimed "these are REALLY salty". That prompted me to re-check my math, and I realized that I added WAY to much salt (as in 2 oz when I should have used 0.5 oz). The rolls were reminiscent of the dough creations some of us made as children with the water/salt/flour dough, painted and gave to our parents as an ashtray or paperweight. </div>
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Quite frankly, these would have made<em> fantastic</em> paperweights! Into the trash they went, and a hard lesson learned. Just like in carpentry, measure twice, cut once! In my case, check your math!</div>
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Disappointed, yes. Discouraged, no. I will make these again, <em>correctly</em>, the next time the occasion calls for a nice dinner roll and I encourage you to do the same! Impress your friends, your family, your mother-in-law, with a scratch made roll, rather than the roll-in-a-can or the par-baked rolls we've all grown accustomed to!</div>
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Tune in again soon for my next (fingers crossed) triumph in baking: Grissini!!</div>SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-21040506141878050072012-04-01T18:29:00.000-07:002012-04-01T18:29:13.317-07:00Ode to baking from scratchWhat a weekend!! I am proud to say that I actually ventured into several new culinary battlegrounds this weekend and emerged, somewhat, unscathed and quite successful! While this is not one of my traditional "baking from the C.I.A. text book" posts, since I did bake from scratch, I felt I should share!<br />
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My husband's sister and her spouse were having us over for a grill out on Saturday and I offered to make the dessert (of course)! I spent about an hour combing through my favorite pastry blogs and finally chose my go-to dessert gal <a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/p/about.html" target="_blank">Heather's</a> newest post <strong><em><a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2012/03/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-devils-food.html" target="_blank">"Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Devil's Food Cake Cheesecake."</a> </em></strong><br />
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Since I spend a considerable amount of time on Heather's blog ogling her tasty creations <em>and</em> I love cookie dough and cheesecake, I decided to take the plunge! I've only recently started making cheesecakes because I'd been afraid of the "water bath" technique forever. I finally braved it over the holidays and actually made several great cheesecakes, so I'm no longer petrified could dive in with confidence. <br />
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I did have to make a few modifications, simply because I wasn't able to locate dark unsweetened baking chocolate powder or sorghum molasses in my local grocery store, so I just used regular unsweetened baking chocolate powder and regular molasses. Lucky for me, I don't think it affected the flavor too much! <br />
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I started this recipe on Friday night, so I could just make the butter cream and assemble it the next morning. I loved how the egg less cookie dough turned out! I never would have imagined that it could actually taste just like real chocolate chip cookie dough!<br />
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The next day, while my son took his morning snooze, I made my very first butter cream!<br />
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Now, I've been making and decorating, what I think and I've been told are great cupcakes, (from a mix and a can of frosting) for years! I WILL NEVER AGAIN USE A CANNED FROSTING!! Butter cream is super easy to make, tastes better than canned, and goes into the piping bag really easily! If you've ever loaded a piping bag with icing from the can, it's super heavy and sticky and I've always had to put the bag into the fridge to tighten it up enough to pipe onto a cake or cupcake. With the butter cream, it was so light an fluffy...I was honestly blown away!!!</div>
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Once I got everything assembled, this is what I came up with:</div>
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I also had quite a bit of butter cream leftover, so I made good use of all the leftover chocolate wafers and made little cookie sandwiches, which I froze and made yummy treats for later!<br />
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The cake was yummy! VERY rich, but very yummy! I would probably use Heather's "I love a little cookie dough" option next time I make it and I would slather on more butter cream! I'm now a tried and true member of the butter cream congregation!!! <br />
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Thanks so much to Heather at<a href="http://www.sprinklebakes.com/" target="_blank"> Sprinklebakes</a> for a fantastic recipe!!!<br />
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Now for today's baking excursion...it wasn't much of an excursion at all! I've made banana bread more times than I can count! It's always a fan favorite and doesn't last very long at all around here!<br />
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My son LOVES bananas (or nanas, as he calls them, pointing to the banana hook on the counter)! But every now and again I get a bad bunch that goes brown if you look at them cross eyed. Last week I purchased one of those bunches and refused to toss them. Why toss when you can bake?!<br />
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So I strapped my son into his chair with some crayons (which he ate the tips off of...yum) and put on a little cooking show for him (which he seemed honestly interested in...gotta love the captive audience)!! The end result was a couple loaves of tasty banana bread which we've been eating at all afternoon!<br />
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To those of you (the few, the brave) who log on to read about my baking exploits, fear not! I promise to return soon with the next recipe from the C.I.A baking text book: Knot Rolls Using Soft Roll Dough! FINALLY, something with eggs in it!!!<br />
<br />SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-6129672165293292472012-03-18T19:21:00.000-07:002012-03-18T19:21:37.600-07:00Durum Rosemary Dough...I ThinkI'm gonna be honest here...I don't think I did this one correctly! I thought about dumping the dough at more than one moment during the baking process, but I pressed on and will happily share my experience with you!<br />
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As always, I quartered the recipe. I've found my 16 years of experience as a pharmacy technician to be very beneficial as far as dividing my 'dosages' a.k.a. ingredients. There's not much of a difference between calculating a dosage and figuring my ingredients when you break it down! I'm working with grams and ounces after all! I almost wish that I had a kitchen scale that extended out a few more decimal places so I could be even MORE accurate! Here's what I broke it down to:<br />
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Durum Flour 1.5 lb, 2.5 oz</div>
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Bread Flour 0.5 lb, 1.25 oz</div>
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Instant Dry Yeast 5.25g</div>
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Water 25 oz</div>
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Salt 21g</div>
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Rosemary, coarsely chopped 7g</div>
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I read through this recipe the day before I went to the grocery store and added my ingredients to my list. I've never actually heard of durum flour, but my local grocery store has a decent organic & baking section so I figured I'd be able to find what I needed....<br />
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I tend to <em>think</em> a lot of things. I <em>think</em> that my son will sleep through the night, I <em>think</em> that I'll get out of bed as soon as the alarm clock goes off, I <em>think</em> that my husband will remember where he put his red sock, and it never really works out that way, does it?<br />
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So my son and I are wading through the various flours and not seeing anything marked Durum Flour! Thank heavens for smart phones, I was able to google Durum Flour to see if I could somehow narrow down what it really was I needed, this is what I learned <a href="http://www.slashfood.com/2008/08/26/what-is-durum-flour/" target="_blank">"The short answer is that durum flour is flour which is ground from Durum wheat. Durum wheat is a type of wheat that has an especially high protein content, and in fact its name derives from the Latin word for "hard"."</a> As I was skimming (yes, skimming, not really reading) I also caught the word <strong>Semolina </strong>which is made from durum wheat (it's also the flour used to make pasta, it has an almost sandy feel to it). So I looked back at the flours and found Bob's Red Mill No. 1 Durum Wheat Semolina Flour. My son was starting to gnaw his way through the zucchini and oranges so I threw it into the cart and moved on before he started eating tampons...<br />
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After I got home and my son laid down for a nice nap, it was time to get started. I had all of my ingredients measured out and ready to go. The dough starts the same as my other doughs do, mix the flours and yeast in one bowl and the water, salt, and this time...rosemary in the mixer bowl. <br />
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Same as before, we add the dry ingredients to the wet in the mixer bowl and start it on the lowest speed for a few minutes, increasing the speed for a few more minutes and we're supposed to have dough. </div>
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What I had was more like a thick batter and I think it had something to do with the Semolina flour. It's a pasta flour, not a bread flour. I was beginning to think that I really made a colossal boo-boo and was contemplating tossing the dough into the trash and calling it a day, but I figured, why not see this through and see what happens. </div>
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The dough/batter was so gooey that I decided to throw caution to the wind and add a little bread flour to the mix to see if I could thicken things up a bit. </div>
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It was still quite a bit sticky, but I didn't want to risk adding too much extra flour, so I set my dough out into my trusty 'rising bowl' for a 40 minute bulk ferment (covered with plastic wrap). </div>
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After the first 40 minutes the dough looked to have risen a bit, but was still quite sticky. I gave it a nice, gentle, fold and let it continue to rise for another 40 minutes. </div>
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This bead, according to the text, was supposed to be shaped into boules (<a href="http://bakingnewbie.blogspot.com/2012_02_01_archive.html" target="_blank">as in Lean Dough Take II</a>), but because of the sticky consistency I opted to break out the old bread pans and make a few traditional loaves. The dough rested in the pans, covered, for about 15 minutes while I preheated the oven to 300 degrees. </div>
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After about a half hour, I actually had a few loaves that were hollow sounding when I thumped on the bottoms (you'll want to take the bread out of the pans before you commence thumping), and they were quite aromatic and dense! The rosemary was a great addition! It made the kitchen smell great all afternoon! </div>
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Of course, the true test would be the taste-test!! I hacked off a chunk right out of the oven (I know you should let it cool, yeah, not going to happen in my house...I'm a carb-a-holic) and it actually tasted great! It's a really dense bread (thanks to the durum) and the rosemary gives it a nice Italian vibe, this would be great with a big plate of spaghetti!</div>
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As always, I gave a slice to my son for taste testing and got the "Toddler Seal of Approval" so I know I couldn't have done to terrible of a job!</div>
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To sum it up, I'd recommend actually finding true durum flour before attempting this recipe, but the mild improvisation I rendered today still produced some tasty loaves that I'll get to enjoy all week long!</div>
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</div>SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-26689351848654515472012-03-04T18:44:00.000-08:002012-03-04T18:44:22.276-08:00Whole Wheat Lean DoughThe next recipe in my text book to tackle is actually bagels, however, there are some oddball ingredients needed in bagel making that I haven't tracked down, so I skipped ahead one recipe to: Whole Wheat bread. <br />
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As in my previous post, I quartered the recipe as below:<br />
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Bread Flour: 0.75 Pounds</div>
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Whole Wheat Flour: 0.5 Pounds</div>
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Instant Dry Yeast: 4.75 Grams</div>
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Water: 14 Fluid Ounces</div>
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Salt: 12.5 Grams</div>
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I was surprised by the white bread flour to whole wheat flour ratio. One would think that when making whole wheat bread, there would be more whole wheat flour in the recipe than plain ole' bread flour, but I pressed on nonetheless.<br />
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I began by mixing my flours and yeast in one bowl, and the water and salt in the mixer's bowl.<br />
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I added the dry ingredients to the water/salt mixture and blended on low (stir) speed for about 2 minutes, then on about medium for another minute or two.</div>
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Once I had achieved the "improved stage of gluten development" which is a thin membrane of dough I was ready to rise!</div>
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The dough needs to do what is called "bulk ferment". What I do is let it sit in this lovely bowl (covering the dough ball with plastic wrap) for 30 minutes. After the first 30 minutes, I fold the dough over once or twice and bulk ferment for another 30 minutes, folding the dough again and giving it another 15 minutes to rise. </div>
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You may find yourself asking; "Jill, what do I do during this 75 minutes of bulk fermentation?". Here's an example of what I did:</div>
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Baked a quick batch of cookies (at darling husband's request), and yes, I used a mix!</div>
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Unload and reload the dishwasher (all this baking is messy)!</div>
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Fold yet another load of laundry (isn't it handy that the laundry room is just off the kitchen)! </div>
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Rescue Son from his crib once he wakes up from nap</div>
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Feed Son lunch</div>
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Clean up all the food said 16 month old Son threw on floor (when does that stage end)?</div>
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Get needed supplies for the actual shaping and baking stage (coming up next)!</div>
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Now that pesky fermenting and rising has been taken care of, it's time to preshape the dough! I began by dividing my dough into the requisite one pound 'hunks'. I used my trusty scale and dough blade for this. </div>
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The 'hunks' now need to be preshaped into a 'large oblong'. This is done by stretching the dough into a rectangle and folding the left and right edges to the middle, pressing lightly with the fingertips to seal the edges:<br />
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Then we fold the top edge of the dough down to the center, press lightly to seal, then fold the top of the dough down to the bottom edge, sealing together with the heel of your hand, then we roll the dough into a tube about 6 inches long (and yes, I really did use a tape measure):<br />
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Once I repeated with the other dough 'hunk' I needed to let the preshaped dough rest, covered, for 15 minutes. I will admit, I neglected to cover my dough...I did notice it was slightly drier than I would have preferred, but it turned out ok, so I'm not too beaten up over it!<br />
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This is the fun part, this is when we get to shape the dough into a batard. This was much easier than shaping a boule and I didn't even need to call my Mom! I started out by gently flattening the dough with my fingertips:<br />
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I then folded the top of the dough into the center, pressing the seam to tighten the dough, and repeated until I had a nice tight roll:<br />
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Then I rolled out the dough tube with my palms, tapering a bit at the ends:</div>
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The next step was to proof the dough once again (there's a lot of freakin' waiting involved in baking bread, it's no wonder people went ga-ga for the bread machines back in the early 2000s), I actually covered the shaped dough with a towel and put it into my cold, bottom (I have a double) oven for 45 minutes to proof. <br />
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While I was proofing, I preheated my top oven to 350 degrees and I made my egg wash. One egg, beaten with some water. <br />
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I scored my loaves with a paring knife and applied the egg wash. The loaves are ready to be baked on my pan (which I've sprayed with some Pam and sprinkled with corn meal):<br />
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The loves went into the oven for about a half hour. I checked to see if done by (carefully, use an oven mitt) thumping on the bottom of a loaf, if it sounds hollow, you're good to go!</div>
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I have succeeded, once again, in the fine art of bread making! <br />
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The flavor of the bread was great! It was a nice, hearty, wheat bread! My son got the first piece and opened his mouth for more, so I take that as a seal of approval! My husband made lunch and used the bread to make little patty melt sliders!</div>
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I will say that I was, considerably, more confident this go-around than the last time (now that I had one success under my belt and was hoping for a repeat performance)! I didn't hold my breath and listen to the dough to see if I could hear it rising, I didn't come back and stare at the bowl for minutes on end, willing it to rise. I was able to walk away, go about my business, and come back to fold every half hour or so. </div>
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My next project should be bagels, provided I can find the diastic malt and malt syrup (I may have order these online), otherwise, you may be looking forward to Durum Rosemary Dough! </div>
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</div>SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-3038937856798701932012-02-18T18:57:00.000-08:002012-02-18T19:05:45.469-08:00Lean Dough Take II<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If at first you don't succeed, try
try again....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Today I chose to try, again, he Lean Dough recipe with the hope
that I might actually produce a loaf or two of actual, homemade, bread.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you
read my last post, you would find that my first attempt did not go terribly
well, but I was determined to get past this first recipe in the CIA text. As my
son napped, I set forth on my second attempt at Lean Dough. This time I quartered the recipe!</span></span></div>
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Bread Flour: 1.25 Pounds</div>
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Instant Dry Yeast: 4.75 g</div>
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Water: 14 fl oz</div>
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Salt: 12.5 g</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Everything fit nice and snug into my
trusty Kitchen Aid mixer! I mixed the dough on the lowest setting (stir) for
about 2 minutes, then upped the speed to 2 or 3 for a few more minutes. I
stopped mixing frequently to check the gluten levels in the dough, stretching a
small piece to see if I could get a thin membrane of dough. Once I achieved
this, I sprayed a bowl with some PAM, placed the dough in the bowl and covered
with some plastic wrap. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I allowed the dough rise for 30
minutes. During this 30 minutes, I actually found myself trying to listen to the dough to see if it was rising. I was so convinced that it was going to fail, that I was grasping at straws, trying to find a reason not to throw out the dough in defeat. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Once the 30 minutes had passed, I wasn't convinced it was working, but I chose to press on regardless. I</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> folded the dough in half, then in a quarter and allowed it to
rise again for 30 more minutes, repeating once again, after another 15 minutes.
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Once the dough had risen, it was time to shape divide the dough into 1 pound 'hunks'. <br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At this point, the dough needed to
be reshaped. This is accomplished by folding the dough in half from the top
down, sealing the seam with the heel of your hand, turning the dough 90 degrees
and folding, again, in half and sealing the seam. </span></div>
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Then came the tricky part, you cup your hands around the lump of dough and move the dough in a circle on your board until you have a nice firm ball of dough with a flat bottom. <br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now, we wait. Cover the
dough balls, and wait for about 15 minutes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is the moment where I paused and called my
mom to come over and show me how to shape a boule. I read the instructions in
the text on shaping a boule (a large round loaf with a flat bottom); they made
zero sense to me. Rather than risk another culinary disaster, I cried uncle, or
rather "MOM". As luck would have it, she lives across the street from
me. She brought with her, my Grandma who was visiting for a
little three generations baking moment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mom instructed me to flatten out the
dough lump with my fingertips then work from the upper corners of the flattened
lump, folding them in, folding the top down over them and repeating, slowly
working into a ball, sealing the seams on the bottom. Eventually, we wound up
with this:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Two lovely lady lumps of dough (or
boules) set upon a baking sheet with a spray of PAM and a sprinkling of corn
meal. I then scored the boules three times with a paring knife and applied a
light egg wash (one egg, beaten with a little water) to the tops. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I covered the boules with a
towel and allowed them to sit for another hour to rise. Once the boules had
about doubled in size, in they went into a 350 degree oven for about 35
minutes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We wait again. I took this opportunity
to spend some time with my, almost, 16 month old son. He kept saying Ga Ga...So I did
what any rational parent would do, I plugged in the iPod, qued up the Lady GaGa
and danced with my son while my bread was baking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thirty five minutes later (drum roll
please)...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>BEHOLD! I HAVE MADE BREAD!!!<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Not only did my house smell amazing,
but I had finally succeeded in making two beautiful loaves of bread! They
received the seal of approval from my husband, son and my parents! I had no
idea that it was possible to make such a tasty loaf from so few ingredients!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3800607212263778482.post-89186387814184792502012-02-05T18:31:00.000-08:002012-02-05T18:31:18.564-08:00Lean Dough ~ Take IIt's a Sunday afternoon (Superbowl Sunday to be precise), I've got a pot of homemade chicken stock simmering on the stove, the house smells AMAZING! There will be chicken noodle soup tonight! My beautiful 15 month old son is taking a nap, it's time for bread... <br />
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Ah bread! How hard can it truly be to make? I'm an intelligent individual, I've been cooking for years with good results, this will be a snap right? As I've made the decision to bake my way through the CIA textbook, I started with the first recipe:<br />
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Lean Dough</div>
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5 lb Bread Flour</div>
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2/3 oz Instant Dry Yeast</div>
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53.5 fl oz Water</div>
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1.75 oz Salt</div>
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As I'm not a complete moron, I realized before I even began that I would need to reduce this recipe significantly! I am, after all, not working out of a commercial kitchen! So, I halved the recipe. </div>
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I began by gathering my ingredients and unpacking my brand new kitchen scale:</div>
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As per the instructions, I combined my flour and yeast in one bowl, and my salt and water in my mixing bowl. </div>
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I then added the flour/yeast mixture to my trusty Kitchen Aid mixer with my never-been-used bread hook attachment and mixed on low for 2 minutes, then on medium for 3 minutes. Per the instructions, my dough should then be "smooth and elastic". </div>
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...cue the sounds effect (wah wah waaaaaaaah). I overmixed. </div>
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According to the text "when dough is overmixed it will be very sticky and wet and will have little or no elasticity. This occurs because the gluten strands have been broken down; the resulting product will not rise or bake properly". </div>
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Naturally, I did what a lot of women would do, I called my mom. I knew the dough was a lost cause, but for some reason I felt the need to share with her. My mother worked for many years in a bakery and suggested that I start out smaller...like Betty Crocker's Cookbook smaller. </div>
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I however am both empowered and encouraged; why you ask? <b>Because I know where I went wrong!</b> Even cutting the recipe in half wasn't enough! I should have cut it down to a quarter. If you look closely at the above picture, the volume of dough is so high, it actually went over the top of my breadhook. My mighty Kitchen Aid mixture couldn't handle the amount of ingredients I threw at it! Poor thing...</div>
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And there is it. My first attempt to bake bread, a failure, perhaps. But it is from failure that we learn to press on, and so I shall. </div>SeeJillBakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05071651222008373654noreply@blogger.com0