TWD: Rewind.....Sticky Buns and Popovers

I froze half of the brioche dough from back in May when we made the Pecan Sticky Buns. We loved this breakfast treat so much that I could hardly contain my excitement at the possibility of these flaky wonderfully gooey buns. I woke up earlier than usual to start the rising. 




I removed the dough from the freezer and performed the suggested steps.  Unfortunately, this brioche dough did not rise properly (even with additional time) or retain it's flaky texture when baked.  I take full responsibility for the fair result.  The recipe states that the dough can be kept in the freezer for up to one month.  Next time I will heed those instructions!



Hot out of the oven the buns were still pretty good.  But again did lack a good number of those flaky layers that were evident on the first go-round back in May.



We could not help ourselves but to whip up a batch of the perfect popover recipe from Baking with Julia.  Always a success and never any left...

Warmly,

Broad Brook Bakers

TWD: Bagels

Knowing that this past weekend was going to be a busy one, Sarah and I worked on the dough for the bagels on Thursday evening.  There was plenty of time to rise for the one hour and then I placed into the refrigerator for it's two and a half day rest.



We bought high-gluten flour from King Arthur Flour. We didn't add the pepper to the dough because I was thinking we might make a few cinnamon ones, which we did end of doing.



As with every yeast bread, I had to stop Sarah from pinching too many bites of the dough.




First rise at room temperature.





The dough rose substantially in the refrigerator by the time we were ready for the second half of the project on Sunday.  The dough had a wonderful texture and was easy to work with.  The first batch, Sarah and I shaped into the rings and the second batch we had help from two of our wonderful neighbor friends.



Boiling was the most fun.  So easy! And they really expanded in the water.



Sarah's friend, La'Shion helped sprinkle the poppy seeds on some of the bagels.




Baked, yummy, chewy goodness.




I sliced up a few and we ate right away.




The next day we sliced some up and ate out of the toaster.  

I think bagels are well-worth the time spent to make home-made.  I strongly suggested others to splurge on the high-gluten flour. Not sure if I can eat a Dunkin Donuts bagel ever again.  Simply not worth the calories in comparison to this recipe.

Look out for our re-wind recipe near Halloween.

Until next time,

Broad Brook Bakers

TWD: Cranberry Walnut Pumpkin Loaves

My husband was a full-fledged Broad Brook Baker for this recipe.  He procured the mini loaf pans at the King Arthur on-line store and saw to it that the loaves went in and out of the oven before our son's travel soccer game. Tuesdays with Dorie has become a wonderful family affair.  His assistance on this go around made a lot of sense because this combination of flavors is one of his favorites.



Sarah did the stirring.  Loves this job.



Cranberries are beautiful fruit.  The ones I bought were incredibly tangy and tart; this is the way Jason loves them!



The description that the bread would be somewhat like a brioche was very accurate.  The texture was wonderful and you could easily pick up the hint of pumpkin.



This bread is jammed packed with fruit and nuts.



It took almost 3 hours to get to the proper temperature for the second rise.



I ended up dividing the bread into four and they still rose great.



I love the mini loaves; they are just so darn cute.



I had some out of the oven but I very much preferred toasted the next day.  I froze a couple of the loaves and will enjoy all throughout October. I loved this combination of flavors but I want to try and make this same bread to make a pumpkin cinnamon swirl version.  I've almost made up my mind that this will be my end of October rewind recipe.

Until bagels....Broad Brook Bakers signing off.

TWD: Whole Wheat Bread

This past weekend was very busy so it was wonderful to have a recipe that could be made on Monday. Sarah, Nathan and I got home and got right to work on this bread.



One of my all-time favorite smells is yeast.  I have a love affair with bread.



I was worried that this amount of flour would overwork my KitchenAid but it ended up mixing with no problems. I ended up using 3 cups of bread flour and 3 cups of whole wheat flour with about 3 tablespoons more during the kneading process.



The recipe called for malt extract. We looked up getting this from King Arthur flour but it only came in large quantities.  Apparently malt extract is used in the beer making process. My husband found that you could substitute malt for molasses.  Combined with the honey that the recipe already called for, the sweet taste came  through wonderfully but delicate in nature.



The bread was not baked until after the kids went to bed so they enjoyed in the morning.



I couldn't resist sneaking a couple of slices while the bread was still warm.  

Onward to cranberry walnut pumpkin loaves.  If anyone is looking for the size tins recommended and for the high-gluten flour for the bagel recipe, we placed an order from the King Arthur flour on-line store.

Warmly,
Broad Brook Bakers

TWD: Nectarine Upside-Down Chiffon Cake

It may be called nectarine above but we used peaches.  We have a local peach, apple and vegetable farm.  I bought two boxes of almost-the-end-of-season peaches.



Next time I make this recipe I will slice the peaches a bit smaller. The peaches held up beautifully in the cooking but I like them to be a bit on the softer side. This picture is Sarah pretending to slice the peaches on her own; please no worries I did this job.



We used a bundt springform pan.  This in the end was not one of my best ideas. 



Big slabs of butter.  What could be better.  



The end result was very much like granola.  Next time I would cut down on the sugar for the recipe but it was very good to eat on it's own.




Sarah discovered that she loves meringue. The batter of this cake was very good.



We came back from the day before school open house to the cake ready to plate and eat.



Here's a slice.  Again, the bundt pan was not the way to go.  Some of the pieces came out perfect like this.  But half the cake never made it on the platter.  I'm beginning to think this blog is fine-tuning us more as food stylists than bakers!




Can't resist showing off some lavender harvested the same day. Lavender and peaches are a wonderful smell combination.



See you later this month .....whole wheat bread.

TWD: Popovers

We're not new to popovers. This breakfast has become a once every couple months delicacy.  My husband had popovers for the first time when he was not much older than our son, Nate.  In his family, baking popovers was a birthday tradition.  For years as a couple we've been making the popover recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.  Over the years we learned that a high temperature for a shorter period of time gave us the texture that we like in a popover; slightly crunchy on the outside but eggy yumminess on the inside. I immediately noticed the 425 degree instructions and felt secure that this was going to make great popovers. 




So easy to put together.  Sarah and I whisked the ingredients together; there is really no need to put in a blender.  I also totally ignored the idea of straining the lumps out.  I hope no one bothered to do that. 






Popover perfection.  If you like this recipe, get a popover pan, they work great!




Nathan caught in the act.



Empty plate and my husband. 

Jason thought this recipe was superior to the New Cookbook one.  I totally agreed.  Only one criticism was that we did not make a double batch.

Cheers,

Broad Brook Bakers

TWD: Berry Galette

A week late on our galette post but we did not want to miss the opportunity to make this recipe.  I've made this dough before for the tomato galette which is fantastic.  This time instead of using corn meal, we used masa harina. The masa provided that nice corn texture but there wasn't near as much tooth as the corn meal has in the past.



We used sour cream and doubled the recipe so we could make the tomato galette later in the month.




We opted to make the dough by hand which in the end I think prevented over-working.



Sarah was great at folding up the sides of the galette.





We used blueberries, raspberries and blackberries and served slightly warm as recommended with whipped cream. With peach season right around the corner, it's going to be hard to choose how to use that extra dough.

Happy Baking!

Broad Brook Bakers