Bake 52: Week 9

This week is my turn to host.  I had such a hard time choosing a recipe because so many of them look so good and I wanted to pick them all!  I finally decided on.....

BABKA!

OK, so my limited  knowledge of Babka came from Seinfeld.  You remember the one, The Dinner Party.  Jerry and Elaine want to take a Chocolate Babka to a dinner party to impress the hosts.  They wait in the bakery, realizing they forgot to take a number, and another member attending the same dinner party purchases the last Chocolate Babka.  Jerry suggests getting a Cinnamon Babka instead, but Elaine feels that the Cinnamon Babka is the "lesser Babka" but he argues that anything with cinnamon is the best.  Well after the LONG wait, they finally purchase the Cinnamon Babka, only to find a hair on it! Classic episode! 

 Anyway, I've always been intrigued as to what Babka really was ever since I saw this.  When I found it in the cookbook I just HAD to pick it - then when I looked at the pictures I was really excited! It is the Cinnamon Babka - and if it is true that this is the "lesser babka", then I figure the chocolate one must be made with unicorn tears or something because I don't know how you beat this!

(Though I am going to have to try to make a chocolate one now because... well, I'll admit that anything with chocolate really is better!)

OK - on to the recipe!

Babka - from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book

(makes two 9" loaves)

*This dough is very dense and sticky and cannot be kneaded in the food processor or by hand - a standing mixer is necessary.  

DOUGH

1 cup sour cream

3 large eggs

1/4 cup cold water

4 tsp. vanilla extract

5-5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar 

1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp.) instant or rapid-rise yeast

1 tsp. salt

16 Tbs. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" pieces and softened

FILLING

1 1/2 cups packed light or dark brown sugar

8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped coarse

1 cup raisins (optional)

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Pinch salt

GLAZE

1 Tbs. granulated sugar

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 large egg

2 Tbs. water

1. For the dough: Whisk the sour cream, eggs, water, and vanilla together in a large liquid measuring cup. Combine 5 cups of the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook.  With the mixture on low speed, add the sour cream mixture and mix until the dough comes together, about 2 minutes.

 2. Increase the mixer speed to medium low and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. (The dough will be quite sticky)

3. With the mixer on medium-low, slowly add the butter, 1 piece at a time, waiting about 15 seconds between additions.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to knead the dough on medium-low speed until it forms a very soft ball, about 15 minutes longer.  If after 6 minutes more flour is needed, add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour, 2 Tbs. at a time, until the dough clears the sides of the bowl but sticks to the bottom.

 4. Scrape the dough into a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover with greased plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 10 hours or up to 24 hours.  (Because of the high butter content, the dough will rise only slightly.)

 5. For the Filling:  Mix all of the ingredients together; set aside.  Grease two 9X5" loaf pans, then line with parchment paper.

For toasting nuts, the book recommends the following:  To toast a small amount (under 1 cup) of nuts or seeds, put them in a  dry skillet over medium heat.  Simply shake the skillet occasionally to prevent scorching and toast until they are lightly browned and fragrant, 3-8 minutes. Watch the nuts closely because they can go from golden to burnt very quickly.To toast a large quantity of nuts, spread the nuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in a 350 degree oven, shaking the baking sheet every few minutes until the nuts are lightly browned and fragrant, 5-10 minutes.

The filling. I opted out of using raisins.

6. Turn the cold dough onto a lightly floured counter.  Roll the dough into a 24"X18" rectangle, about 1/16" thick, with the long side facing you.  Sprinkle the filling evenly over the dough, leaving a 1/2" border at the far edge.

 7. Loosen the dough from the counter using a bench scraper, then roll the dough into a tight cylinder, brush the border with water and pinch the seam closed.  Lightly dust the roll with flour and gently stretch the log until 24" in length with an even diameter; pat the ends to even them.  Using a serrated knife, slice the roll into 3/4" thick slices (you shoudl have about 32 slices; don't worry if you have a few less.)

These still had to be cut in half one more time, I got too anxious to take a picture

8. Arrange the slices in 2 long rows in each of the prepared loaf pans.  Mist the loaves with vegetable oil spray, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in size and the dough barely springs back when poked with a knuckle, 2-2 1/4 hours.

9. For the Glaze:  Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 450 degrees.  Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the egg with the water.  Brush the loaves gently with the egg wash, then sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.  Place the loaves in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees, and bake until browned, 50-60 minutes, switching and rotating the loaves halfway through baking.  (If the tops of the loaves look like they are getting too dark, tent them loosely with foil.)

10. Cool the breads in the loaf pans for 15 minutes, then remove them from the pans using the parchment and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours, before serving.

I really loved this! It was a lot like a yummy cinnamon roll made into a loaf of bread.  It says to wait 2 hours before cutting - not going to happen in my house! I pulled it out of the oven at 11:30 at night.  I let it cool about 15 minutes and took a thick slice out of the middle....YUM!  Seriously I was dying at how good it was!  The filling was all gooey and the bread part so soft!  I will definitely make this again - it's not fast, but a fun and impressing thing to take to, yep, you guessed it, a dinner party!

Chinese Lemon Chicken

 This is one of our new favorite recipes around here so I thought I would post it.

The sauce is more like a gravy with a sweet and lemony flavor - so yummy!

 

Chinese Lemon Chicken:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
 3/4 ts table salt, divided
 1/4 ts freshly ground black pepper
 1/2 cup + 2 T cornstarch
 1 3/4 cup chicken broth
 2 large egg yolks
 2 T canola oil
 3 T packed light brown sugar
 2 tsp ground ginger
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (can use bottled)
 1 tsp grated lemon zest

 1. Pat the chicken breasts (full or cut into strips/pieces) dry and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt and the pepper

2. In a medium bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the cornstarch, 1/4 cup of the chicken broth and the egg yolks. Whisk until the batter is smooth. Dip each chicken piece into the batter, coating thoroughly.

3. Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken until brown and done inside. Remove from the heat and keep warm using foil over your bowl or plate.

Captured the steam too!

4. In the same skillet, stir together the remaining 2 T of cornstarch, remaining 1/4 tsp salt, the brown sugar and ginger. Whisk in the remaining chicken broth. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and zest.

 5. Serve the chicken and sauce over rice

Teriyaki Sauce

I found this recipe for Teriyaki Sauce on Our Best Bites

It is the perfect Teryaki Sauce...good flavor and not too sweet!  Super easy to make too!

My husband loves teriyaki sauce, but I really don't like it from a bottle. It is too strong for me.I made this sauce before knowing what I was even going to do with it... I just wanted to try it.   And I loved it! I decided to stir-fry some chicken in a little olive oil, added some garlic, pineapple, broccoli, and green bell pepper.  Once that was all ready I poured the sauce over and heated through.  We ate it over rice, it was a really yummy meal!  They also suggest using it as a marinade for steak and chicken before grilling.

 Teriyaki Sauce (Our Best Bites)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 Tbs. cornstarch

1 Tbs. cold water

1. Combine sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and black pepper in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

2. While the soy sauce mixture is heating, whisk together cornstarch and cold water.  When the soy sauce mixture comes to a full boil, whisk in cornstarch mixture and stir sauce until thickened and clear.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Bake 52: Week 8

For Week 8 we baked Peanut Butter Cookies

This was a good recipe.  Peanut Butter Cookies are not really my thing - but as far as they go - these were good. They were chewy, liked the texture and flavor.  It called for chunky peanut butter as well as chopped peanuts which really brought out the flavor.  On the other hand, however, my kids devoured these!  So a good treat for them...despite the 2 full sticks of butter the recipe called for (ouch!) they at least got protein as well!  Oh and these cookies were BIG! They don't look like it here, but they were...3T of dough per cookie - it's a lot!

The book gave yet another fabulously useful tip - by dipping a fork in cold water before cross hatching it, it made it really easy and the fork didn't stick to the dough at all. Seriously, have I mentioned that I love their tips?

Check out Jennifer's Blog for the complete recipe!

Bake 52: Week 7

This week the pick was pizza crust and sauce!

After making this pizza dough, all of my other recipes are pretty much garbage. This is a thin, crispy (but chewy) pizza.  SO GOOD!  You cook it at 500 degrees on a hot pizza stone - I didn't realize what a difference this would make!

I tried the whole wheat version, which was half bread flour and half whole wheat flour.  The texture and taste was great - my kids didn't even notice a difference.  And did they like it?  Oh they only requested that I make it again 2 days later!  So this time I used full white bread flour and decided to follow the recipe listed with the dough to make a Stromboli (which I had never made before)

It starts out just like making a pizza

And then you roll it up

And tuck in the ends, bake, and slice!

We also tried making their easy sauce - the name was right on.  Super easy to make and  really good!

 We will definitely be using these recipes a lot in our house!  I will probably just stick with the regular pizza rather than the Stromboli, just because it's a little less work and a little more traditional, but this is for sure a new favorite recipe.  Now I am going to experiment with it to try making it gluten-free!
Go HERE for the full recipe!

Cinnamon Roll Rice Krispies

My sister-in-law gave me this recipe recently, she thought it would be a good gluten-free alternative for cinnamon rolls.  Although they sounded good, I would have never believed how amazing they actually would be!  Eating gluten-free or not, these are sure to please!

I made these for our Superbowl party and they were the first things to go!
They're pretty similar to making regular rice krispie squares...you melt the butter, but then add cinnamon and molasses before stirring in the marshmallows.  When they are melted you add some vanilla, then mix in the cereal and spread into a pan.

While still warm, you cut and shape and then my favorite part....
the cream cheese frosting!

I added cinnamon to the cream cheese frosting - it was a great addition!

 They stayed really nice and soft...really tasted so much like a cinnamon roll but WAY easier!

Cinnamon Roll Rice Krispies

1/4 cup butter

1/8 tsp salt

2 tsp unsulphured molasses

2 tsp cinnamon

1 (10.5 oz) bag miniature marshmallows

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 cups Rice Krispies Cereal

Butter a 9x13 dish, set aside. 
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium low heat.  Stir in salt, molasses, and cinnamon. 
Add marshmallows and stir constantly until marshmallows have completely melted.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. 
Fold in Rice Krispies Cereal, stirring until evenly coated.  Pour Rice Krispie Treat mixture into buttered dish. 
Spread mixture evenly into pan with a buttered spatula.  Allow to cool several minutes, then cut while still slightly warm. 
Using your hands, round edges of cut squares to make them look more like cinnamon rolls.
Allow to cool completely then pipe Cream Cheese Frosting over top.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup butter, softened

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups powdered sugar

(and try the cinnamon!!)

Bake 52: Week 6

This week the pick was CHALLAH!

If you're like me, you're asking yourself right now what challah is.  When I saw it on the list I thought it sounded really cool, but had to run to get my cookbook to see what we were making!
Here is what it is...

Bread! 

But not just any bread...a fancy bread.  I'll admit, this made me nervous because me and bread- making don't always get along.  And that's simple throw the dough in a pan bread. This is complex bread with a recipe that looked like there was a lot of room for user error. But of course I'm up for giving anything a shot.

After letting the bread double in size (I was worried mine hadn't risen enough, but went for it anyway) you divide it so that one piece is twice the size of the other...

Next, you braid the large piece

Then braid the small piece and attach to the large braid with an egg white mixture in between to stick them together.

After letting it rise again, brush with egg white and poppy seeds and bake.

 I was honestly shocked that it worked! It had a crusty outside and a soft, buttery-rich inside.  It was really good! The next night I used it to make garlic bread and it was perfect for that!

I'm glad I got to try something new...I'm getting braver with bread!

To check out the complete recipe, check out Jen's Blog!

Bake 52: Week 5

Wow! Are we really 5 weeks into the year already? Time is flying! 
Maybe it's because I'm having so much fun baking!

This week's recipe...7 Layer Bars

OK, these turned out so yummy! I seriously could not stop eating them.  I just kept cutting the bars into smaller pieces, thinking that somehow I would just take one more bite...which just kept leading to one more.  They were really sweet and rich, but the flavors all mixed together were to die for!

I accidentally bought the milk chocolate with almonds bar instead of plain milk chocolate and I loved the almonds in it - I would definitely use that again! 
Next time I make these the only thing I think I will do differently is to add the chocolate toffee bits as their own layer.  This recipe has you crush them up with graham cracker crumbs to make the crust, but I think I would prefer to have them as a layer and actually have that toffee taste and crunch.  That being said, I really had no complaints as they were!  It's making me hungry just writing this post!!

This is the foil sling and the chocolate starting to melt over the crust

 One tip I loved is that they have you make a foil sling in your pan by placing sheets of aluminum foil each direction of the pan.  You still lightly grease this, but after the bars were cooled it was so easy to pull the foil out and have perfect edges.  I will definitely do this next time I bake brownies, fudge, or cookie bars! Also made clean up of the pan so super easy! I love these great tips this book gives us!

Pulling the foil off  - loved how they came out!

  Thanks Jesse for picking this yummy recipe and hosting this week!  If you want to check out the complete recipe, go check out Jesse's blog!