TWD Lemon Loaf Cake

TWD Lemon Loaf Cake


What a great and pretty simple recipe. We decided to make this a week ahead so that we could enjoy for Easter.



There she is the pint-size broad brook baker.  She has her favorite food in her hand...butter!




We have a new microwave.  I might have commented on this before but I was so pleased that the butter melted and did not turn into molten lava.





Action shot.  Sarah loves to stir with the big whisk. The smell of lemons was wonderful.  I was a bit worried that without the lemon juice it might not be as lemony as I like. But alas I was not disappointed, but I'm getting ahead of myself.





I noticed that the baking took longer than the time listed on the recipe.  I may have baked for slightly too long but regardless I think my oven took a bit longer.  We made this loaf on Saturday and put it on the counter until we served on Sunday.  I think the day of it sitting did some good.




We served with berries, whipped cream and vanilla ice cream.  My mom commented that it was a wonderfully, almost "light" dessert, after a big Easter afternoon meal. This really is a delicate version of a pound cake.

I can't wait for May; I've been eyeing that Hungarian Shortbread recipe for quite some time.  Until then!

Christina and Sarah signing off.

TWD: Pizza Rustica

TWD: Pizza Rustica


It was a treat to have a savory dish this week.  I invited my mom and brother over for Sunday brunch. Brunch is one of my favorite kind of meals.  Breakfast and lunch together - sweet and savory.  And you can get away with wine before noon!





Sarah and I made the dough on Saturday; it was simple to prepare in the food processor. When we were ready on Sunday to get started we left the dough on the counter for a few minutes before rolling out.  




Divide the dough into two pieces, one twice as large as the other.  After reading this instruction about 10 times and having both my daughter (5) and son (7) ask why I was staring at the book, I continued to contemplate.  How about Divide the dough in thirds, I say! My husband, the math and computer geek, was baffled by my annoyance in these instructions.




I've not met any dish or dessert that called for ricotta that I did not like. It looks so pretty with parsley.




There's my Baking with Julia in the background.




I have a box down in the basement that holds all those random cooking utensils that you only need like once a year.  In my stash, I found a cutter that makes a scalloped edge.  It was not so evident after it was baked but looks pretty cool here.




Next time we make this, and there will be a next time, I will make earlier in the morning.  It was better fully cooled. The crust is sweet and crispy and the filling is creamy and salty.  We paired it with a salad made with romaine greens and dressed with a white peach balsamic dressing (homemade.) The white balsamic vinegar is from a cooking supply store in Portsmouth, New Hampshire called Le Roux.  This place is amazing.  But I digress...




I also had a glass of pinot grigio with it. The wine cut the creaminess nicely.




I think I'll get another slice.


Broad Brook Baker Sarah loved the crust.  Nathan was not inclined to try but Jason had two slices! Big thumbs up from Baci (my mom) and Uncle Jon.


Looking forward to Lemon Load Cake.

TWD: Irish Soda Bread

TWD:  Irish Soda Bread

I was pleasantly surprised with this recipe.  I've only had Irish soda bread a couple of times and I cannot say that it was all that memorable. Hey, sorry but I'm half Italian, a quarter Polish and a quarter Canadian French! This ended up really fantastic and I'm pretty eager to try other versions.  I wanted Nathan and Sarah to try our final product and I thought the recipe was too plain even with lots of butter, so we added three tablespoons of sugar and the zest of about one and a half lemons to half of the recipe and then to the other half cranberries in addition to the sugar and lemon.



Both Nathan and Sarah helped stir and then knead the dough.  But I think they actually got a little bored it was easier than making waffles! They are Broad Brook Bakers and all!

They don't look like much going in the oven but they came out crunchy and golden.









We ate after only about five minutes of sitting. Really great with butter! Nathan, Sarah and I pretty much munched on this all Sunday evening, pretty much constituting our dinner.


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Nathan finished off the simple lemon version the next day. I placed in the toaster to heat and freshen up.

That's signing off for March.  See you in April!

TWD: Rugelach

TWD: Rugelach


I made this recipe years ago at Easter time.  My uncle, Chick, does not eat chocolate, so if I remember correctly I was in search of something out of the ordinary.  Flipping through the pictures in Baking with Julia, how can you not stop and admire this amazing cookie.  I can only hope, as every baker does, that it came out just a little better this time than the first time.


We tackled the apricot lekvar first.  I did not have Amaretto so my brother-in-law, Chris,  suggested Maker's Mark Whiskey.  It turned out to be a great suggestion.  The Maker's Mark is fruity in nature and it really gave the apricot a kick.




Sarah did not like the texture of the apricots.  She helped me place them into the pan and she did not want to touch them. Take a look at how she is gingerly adding them to the pan.



Sarah loves when she gets to work the Cuisinart.  She did all the pureeing.




The lekvar was really quite easy to make.  I started to dream how good it would be slathered on those croissants that we will one day take on in this baking adventure. If I used it as a spread, I might add a little bit more brown sugar.



I put together the dough using the KitchenAid and then let the dough sit in the refrigerator overnight.



I chopped all the nuts without my Broad Brook Baker Sous Chef Sarah and got ready to assemble the next morning.



Sarah had fun adding all the layers on the dough.  She loves sprinkling!



I went a little too light on the first two rolls and then the next two were even that much more generous.



Take a look at this very clean, brand new oven.  As we all finish up this book in a couple of years I imagine this will not look the same!



I had two right out of the oven.  The dough is so flaky and rich at the same time.  I can't get enough of the cinnamon sugar coating.  We used raisins and cranberries for the fruit in addition to the apricot lekvar.  The nuts consisted of walnuts, almonds and pistachios.  I completely forgot that I had a bag of cashews, I bet those would have been good as well.



Extreme close-up.  Can you see in the lower part the green of the pistachio.  The cranberries and pistachios provide some really nice color.

I shared with some of the members of my children's school council today.  I could not resist so had another one tonight and it is still very crisp. I'm going to freeze a few to share with family later in the month.

Looking forward to connecting again in a couple of weeks.

TWD: Chocolate TruffleTartlets

The Broad Brook Bakers are at it again.  Sarah suggested that we get tie dye shirts with the words Broad Brook Bakers on them. Stay tuned for when we have a moment for that side project.


We did the chocolate dough the day before. It was very crumbly as the recipe said it would be.  I added one extra tablespoon of water because it did not look like it would come together.  I think the day that it sat in the fridge made a difference. We had packed away (we are moving) the all-purpose flour so we used cake flour for rolling out.  Using that did not make any difference which was a good thing!

I really thought the rolling out of the dough would be more challenging then it was. If a space needed to be filled with dough it was easy to press in some more.

Ummm. Chocolate.  

The crusts smelled delicious.







I realized that my mixer needed to be raised up because the whisk did not reach the very bottom so I had to scrape the bowl quite a bit.





Ready to go in the oven.  The biscotti I bought had almond and anise which I love but the kids were not that crazy about the taste.  So we added the biscotti to three of the tartlets and left the other three without.  









Right out of the oven.  We ate one 20 minutes after they came out of the oven as recommended and it was excellent.  Very rich indeed.  We put in the refrigerator the next day and I ate a piece cold.  It was like a truffle with a crust.  Nathan wanted his piece warmed up so I placed it in the microwave for 10 seconds and it came out like the night before, warm and gooey.  I  like both of our versions, with or without the biscotti.


Looking forward to baking again in our new house next month!

TWD: White Loaves

It's broad brook baker's first post on Tuesdays with Dorie: Baking with Julia!

Sarah and I worked on this one together.  I must admit that I've probably made this recipe at least a dozen times, but I think all the success should be attributed to this is simply a great recipe.  I've had my KitchenAid mixer for ten years; my husband and I placed on our wedding registry. I was wondering if perhaps this mixer was finally showing its age. But,

I noticed in reading other posts that plenty of you experienced, as I did, the struggle of the mixer during the kneading.  I added a tablespoon or so of water early on and that seemed to make it a little better.   Once we added the butter, the mixer had a much easier time.  Next time I might cut the recipe in half and make one loaf at a time.

I placed a rubber band over the plastic wrap to get a real tight seal, that seemed to really help in the rise.  

This was Sarah's favorite part! Except of course eating!

  

I know it did not call for slits in the bread but I always think this just looks so much nicer.  I let rise a little longer than the directions because the first time I did the finger press check it was not ready yet.  We ate some warm out of the oven and then the next day for toast.  The toast is perfection.  My Nona used to bake homemade bread every day.  On Sundays after church, my dad would bring us to visit and we would have toast and hot chocolate with Creamora in it.  God that was amazing, this gets pretty darn close.  I had this toast this past Sunday with espresso, so good!

Nathan will be my sous on the 21st bake, check us out again then.

The beginning

I was inspired today to begin a blog to enable me to participate in the Tuesdays with Dorie: Baking with Julia. It started snowing here early morning so basketball for Nathan and Sarah have been cancelled freeing up some welcome time to begin. I believe that I received Baking with Julia at least 15 years ago gifted by my brother.  It's become one of my most treasured and tattered cookbooks. Having made dozens of the recipes over the years, I've yet to tackle, dare I even write the word...croissants. I've read the recipe over and over in these last 15 years and still can't grasp when I can find the time and the energy (to fail) with this particular croissant challenge.  I guess this adventure, beginning February 7, will force me to take the plunge.

But what about, January 21, 2012.  We took out a pork butt for Sunday dinner, the meat bought from a local beef and pork provider, Broad Brook Beef.  I imagine that the butt will not disappoint.  What better meal to take out of the slow cooker as the Patriots game begins on Sunday.  Alas but what about the worthy chicken wing!?