When Dale Carnegie wrote his famous self-help book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People“, he listed six ways to get people to like you. I’m here to present you with a seventh way: make these cranberry apple cinnamon danishes and share them with whomever you are hoping to befriend.
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I came across this recipe for brioche buns filled with pistachio cream and strawberry jam and brushed with rose-flavoured syrup in the Food52 Baking Club on Facebook, where we are baking from the book “Golden” by All my uncertainty was for naught, because THESE – these are amazing!
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Guys, I’m having a serious moment with Stella Parks, aka BraveTart. By which I mean, I want to bake all her stuff. Luckily, “her stuff” includes a killer recipe for hot cross buns, so I’m back this year (after a brief hiatus last year) with HCB take seven on the blog. In the past I’ve dabbled in various combinations of chocolate, sourdough, cider, porter, honey, and tea infused HCBs, and this year’s version comes with a hit of vanilla and the unexpected addition of Greek yogurt. One of the things I love best about Parks’ recipes is the way she explains the science behind certain ingredients. In this case, the Greek yogurt adds softness and moisture to the dough, and its acidity also helps with gluten development (and now I understand what “The Lemon Juice Secret” is from the back of the Rogers Flour bag!).
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Imagine if a cinnamon bun and a croissant had a baby, only the baby was smarter, taller, better looking, and more popular than both its parents. This baby would be the Franzbrötchen, a cinnamon-sugar filled flaky pastry of German persuasion that is right up there among the best things I’ve ever baked.
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Before we get caught up in the pumpkin spice madness that seems to take hold in the fall, let’s take a moment to appreciate the humble grape. Grapes are one of those fruits that I could usually take or leave, except for during the small window from the end of September to early October when Concord grapes are in season. So ten days ago when I saw some Coronation grapes – similar to Concords with with their dark blue-ish purple skin and tangy juice – at the grocery store, I snapped them up because 1) YUM and 2) I’ve been wanting to make schiacciata con l’uva, a Tuscan grape focaccia only made in September to coincide with the wine grape harvest, commonly made with Concord or similar grapes elsewhere in the world. And WOW – this stuff is amazing, the purple grape-iness mingled with rosemary, all sprinkled with coarse sugar and a little salt, not to mention the olive-oil infused focaccia bread base.
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With our Around the World in 12 Plates leader, Gabby, spending the month of July in Turkey on an archaeological dig (#lifegoals), it only made sense that this month’s destination was Turkey! Seeing her post delicious-looking photos of her meals on Facebook, I was intrigued by her mention of a bread called “simit” that is commonly eaten at breakfast (although it is also popular as a snack any time of day). Simit is sometimes called a “Turkish bagel” because of its round shape, hole in the middle, and sesame seed-covered exterior. Made with a very simple lean dough (just flour, water, yeast, and salt), the dough is rolled out into long ropes and twisted together before being shaped into rings, giving simit its characteristic coiled look. Before baking, each ring is dipped in a mixture of pekmez (a fruit-based, molasses-like syrup – I improvised with half regular molasses, half pomegranate molasses) and water, then coated in sesame seeds and baked until crisp. Once cooled, the crust softens slightly and yields to a deliciously stretchy, soft yet chewy inside.
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I’m a sucker for beautiful bread, and Israeli-Danish baker Uri Scheft makes some of the most beautiful bread I have ever seen. I found a Google Books preview of his recent book, Breaking Breads, and his challah – OH THE CHALLAH – is so lovely I could weep. It reminds me of some rare and mysterious sea creature. Seriously, go look at it right now. Page 41. I’ll wait.
[…whistles, twiddles thumbs…]
Anyway, when Israel was announced as the Around the World in 12 Plates destination for May, I knew immediately that I would be making Uri’s challah. So I did! I’ve made challah before and gotten fancy with the braiding, but this time I got extra fancy with both the braiding AND the garnishing, because challah is a special occasion bread, after all.
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Every Easter for the past six years, I’ve posted a recipe for hot cross buns, so rather than post version number seven this year, I decided to branch out and explore another kind of Easter bread: the Italian Crescia al Formaggio, an egg-rich bread loaded with parmigiano reggiano and spiced with cracked black pepper.
I’ve been on a bit of a bread baking kick lately (by which I mean I’ve made bread twice this month, but that’s twice more than I have any other month in the past year) and I’m reminded of why I love it so much. Homemade bread rocks. Taking flour, yeast, and water (and in the case of Crescia al Formaggio, some butter, eggs, and about $10-worth of imported Italian parmesan cheese – it’s a special occasion bread for sure) and turning it from raw ingredients into a gorgeous loaf of delicious bread is like having a super power. And no, I’m not hyperbolizing (much).
Crescia al Formaggio in particular is pretty spectacular: instead of kneading the high hydration dough with a dough hook, you beat it with the paddle attachment of an electric mixer until it is shiny and stretchy, giving it an amazing light and fluffy yet chewy and shreddable texture. Combined with the savoury, umami-rich parmesan, the end result is a loaf of bread that slices like a dream and makes the best toast imaginable. And though I’m still going to make a batch of hot cross buns this year (I have my eye on Aimee’s maple version), if you were to present this bread at your Easter breakfast table instead, I am quite sure that no one would be complaining….
I’ve been feeling a little bereft after the disbanding of the Daring Kitchen last month – those challenges have been a constant in my life and on this blog for the past six (!!) years, and they always provided me with that nudge to get in the kitchen, make something, and post about it, no matter how busy or unmotivated I might otherwise be. So, I’m pleased to have found a new monthly challenge to take part in, hosted by Gabby, aka The Food Girl in Town. Myself and eight other bloggers will be cooking, baking, and eating our way “Around the World in 12 Plates” (or ATW12P), expanding our horizons and learning about other cultures through my favourite medium: food! Each month will feature the cuisine of a different country and our task is to do some research, choose a recipe (or several), and make something we haven’t made before. I am all about baking, so that’s how I’ll (most likely) be participating.
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The May Daring Kitchen challenge was brought to us by Tandy of Lavender and Lime, who provided us with a beautiful bread recipe and a fun twisting technique to shape it. I used to bake bread almost weekly, and this was a nice reminder of how much I like doing it. Homemade bread really is magical, especially when it looks this pretty.
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