Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Big Banana Muffins





If you have an over ripe banana 
lurking about or a stash 
of frozen ones, 
Rose's Big Banana Muffins
maybe the answer.
With a few simple pantry ingredients,
a batch of lovely muffins 
are ready in no time at all.

I added a dash of cinnamon and Rose's
option of chocolate chips plus
white chocolate chips.


The interior crumb is light, not dense.


Perfect with a warm cup of coffee
on a cold winter day.
~
by
Rose Levy Beranbaum





Friday, November 10, 2017

The Bread Bible Crumpets



Crumpets!

If DNA has anything to do with it,
these should be a breeze to make
thanks to all my English, Irish and Scottish genes.

The Alpha Bakers 
made them while baking through
The Baking Bible.
was that attempt.
Oddly, I had a great deal of trouble getting
the crucial amount of bubbles on that go 'round.
This try,
 out of The Bread Bible,
there were plenty of bubbles.
Such a funny dough,
very stiff and sticky 
before the first rise.



An absolute snap to mix the few
ingredients together.

After an hour rise, the bubbles began to appear
and the dough completely changed texture.



Stirred in the baking soda and water,
left it for a short second rise
and the bubbles made themselves known.
Success!
or so I thought.



Poured into rings on an electric frying pan
I was so hopeful.


I think they needed to cook longer.
The interior crumb wasn't right.
Not giving up though!
They might not look 
like Trader Joe's crumpets
but the flavor is far superior.
~
by
Rose Levy Beranbaum






Saturday, September 9, 2017

Carrot Bread


I was not expecting Rose's 
Carrot Bread
to be a tea loaf.
I had visions of a fluffy, yeasty,
kneaded bread.
It couldn't have been easier to make.
In fact the entire batter can be mixed
in a bowl with a spoon if one is so inclined.

I was not.


I hemmed and hawed making this 
easy peasy bread
because I dreaded shredding carrots.
My Cuisinart had gone back home with Elle
as the thing terrified me.
It was a super deluxe Christmas present
from her and I never overcame my fear.
The blades looked like lethal weapons in a Ninja warrior movie.
 I bought the simplest one I could find
and shredded these carrots!


The raisins soaked in rum
for a week.  This is destined
for my brother who doesn't like raisins.
As long as they are golden
and soaked in rum
he doesn't mind.


Flour, sugar, eggs, oil, baking powder, baking soda,
salt and cinnamon
with the carrots and raisins.
I wish I had noticed there was no vanilla
and poured some in.
I love vanilla,
expensive though it may be these days.

top
I made a foil tent for the top.
It needed a few extra minutes baking
in my cranky oven.

side

The kitchen smelled amazing
and letting this thing cool, 
then wrapped for overnight
was too much.
I sliced off the end 
for a taste.
It's good now
so can only imagine
how it will be tomorrow.
I have visions of slathering
a slice with apricot jam.
It's a denser tea bread
with nice texture 
which I like.
~
by
Rose Levy Beranbaum





Monday, July 3, 2017

Perfect Pizza Dough


Making this pizza dough could not 
have been simpler.
Such minimal effort for
a delicious crust.


Flour, water, salt, yeast, sugar
stirred together
then coated in olive oil.
Rose gives the option of a cool overnight
rise in the refrigerator
to develop the flavor further.


The dough is warmed up to room 
temperature for one hour
then pressed into a pan.
She uses a great step of first baking the dough
plain before adding the toppings.

As per usual, I missed this bit
and piled on the toppings.


For the marinara,
I drained San Marzano canned tomatoes,
added minced garlic, pinch of sugar 
and then pulverized with an immersion blender.
The result was a less watery sauce.
Covered in mozzarella, basil and parmesan,
it baked in about twenty minutes.


I've wrestled with pizza dough before
but this was easy to work with.
The aroma in the kitchen was amazing.


Next time it will be with pesto topping.
What a fun recipe!
~
by
Rose Levy Beranbaum




Monday, May 1, 2017

Walnut Fougasse


Making Rose's Walnut Fougasse
was certainly a learning experience.
I had no idea what this should be.


After reading the instructions 
a few times,
I played it safe and made a list.

Dough after the first rise

There are so few ingredients;
unbleached flour, yeast, salt,
milk, walnuts and walnut oil.

The texture of the dough is very stiff
compared to other breads we have made.

After each rising, and there are three with
additional rest times,
the dough becomes fluffier.
It was a bit tricky kneading in the walnuts.
They kept wanting to pop out.

Didn't open the slits wide enough

With so much oil added in between risings,
I had difficulty getting the bread to knead
back together.
I would really like to see a video of
Rose making this bread.


I did tent the bread with foil
for the last few minutes
until the internal temperature was reached.


When I pulled it out,
all I could think of was 
the Disney song from Peter Pan
"Never smile at a crocodile"

I will say this is an amazingly
textured bread.
It reminds me of our family's
very favorite pizza crust
from an authentic Italian pizzeria,
minus the walnuts.

This bread peaked my curiosity
and I've spent a fair amount of 
time watching different bakers
making it on youtube.
I'll definitely have another go at Fougasse.
Oh, and the house smells wonderful!
~
by
Rose Levy Beranbaum









Monday, April 10, 2017

Flaxseed Bread


This is wonderful bread toasted,
just like Rose says in her recipe
for Flaxseed Bread.
A truly simple bread to make
with very few risings,
it came together quickly 
and easily.
So easily,
in fact,
this little lady 
made it entirely on her own!


She's ten years old now and loves 
baking and cooking; it's at the top of her list
of fun things to do.
  This is the first start
to finish loaf of bread she's made.
My only interference was 
wrestling the dough into the 
too small loaf pan.
I stood with her as she weighed
out the ingredients and promised
the craggy dough would magically
turn into lovely dough with those 
two little teaspoons of yeast.

The dough was a little too dry
so more water was added.
Not sure if it was because we used
ground flaxseed or due to an
unexpected cold snap that
left us with very dry air.
I kept telling her that my fellow
bakers always say bread dough
is very forgiving.

Dough coming out from the microwave proofing sauna

Definitely need to invest in a slightly bigger bread pan.
My other one was way too large for this recipe.


The poor child was in agony waiting the recommended 
two hours for the bread to cool.
Wrapped up she took it home where it was 
very much enjoyed toasted with Irish butter
and Irish cheddar cheese.


So this is the second generation of 
Rose's bakers.
I'm happy to have gotten over my yeast phobia
through The Bread Bible baking group
and very happy to be passing on the love 
of baking bread to my granddaughter.
~
by
Rose Levy Beranbaum 





Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Olive Bread


Rose's Olive Bread 
is a nice easy recipe.
It turned out to be one of those
breads that puts me in 
a good mood to make;
not too much fiddling,
straight forward with minimal rising times
resulting in a great bread
for minimal effort.


The biga is simply mixed
in a bowl with a spoon.
Set over night to bubble away,
mine was left in the frig for 
another twenty four hours.


This was the first time I proofed a bread
in a towel lined strainer.
The dough is lighter than air.
Flipping it over onto the pan
took a gentle hand so as not to deflate.


The baking temperature is decreased
by increments.
I made a foil tent for the last few minutes.
Honestly,
this bread is one
I'd gladly pay for in a restaurant.
Definitely on the 
make again list.
~

by
Rose Levy Beranbaum