Battle of the Breads! Part Two

Wait no more, my friends! The winner of the Battle of the Breads will be announced shortly. First, let's get familiar with Contestant #2. 

Contestant #2: Old-Fashioned Carrot Bread (found on One Perfect Bite - www.oneperfectbite.blogspot.com)

Our second contestant comes from a blog called One Perfect Bite. It's touted as "a lovely old-fashioned tea cake." From this description, I assumed it would be best for me to keep as close to the sugar suggestion as possible. I try to learn my lessons as I go. Alright, time for the ingredients: 

2 cups all-purpose flour (Again, I used self-rising.)
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup nuts (I used chopped pecans.)
1 cup vegetable oil (I had canola instead.)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 cups sugar (Guess what? I only used about 1 cup. I know. Old habits.)
2 cups shredded carrots
3 eggs

Here's what you do: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Generously grease a 9-inch loaf pan. (Or 2, if you want to go by the last recipe.)

2. Whisk flour, soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. 

3. Add nuts, oil, vanilla, sugar, carrots and eggs. Mix well. 

4. Scrape into prepared loaf pan. Let stand 30 minutes. Now, if you look at the image, it seems like a reasonable amount of batter for that pan. Well, it ain't called self-rising flour for nothing. It was closer to the top after 30 minutes but I decided to risk it.

5. Bake for 60-70 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Turn bread out of the pan and continue cooling on a wire rack (which I don't have, so I used a plate. 

Assessment: Sigh. Okay, so it was a stroke of luck that I decided to put a cookie sheet under the loaf pan in the oven. I checked on it after about 20 minutes when I smelled a slight hint of burning waft through the kitchen. Sure enough, the darn thing had bubbled over and bits of it had turned into burned carrot bread cookie things. I scraped the mess into the sink and replaced the cookie sheet. Then I trimmed the burned edges from the loaf itself and put it back in the oven for the rest of its allotted 60 minutes. 

I'm not too proud to tell you, I wasn't feeling good about this one. 

When the buzzer rang after an hour, I took the bread out of the oven and decided to skip the part where you let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes and just turned it right out onto a plate. Part of the bottom stayed stuck to the pan, furthering my dismay. I left it for about 10 minutes before my curiosity got the best of me. 

Hold onto your seats, folks. 

IT WAS AMAZING! The outside was actually crispy like a cookie but the sweetness - and the fact that I'd scraped away the burned edges - made it really enjoyable. The inside was unexpectedly moist. The pecans added enough crunch to keep things interesting. And I was thrilled with the amount of sweetness, so I'd recommend sticking to a cup instead of a cup and a half. 

I was shocked that this bread could taste so good despite being burned. 

Now, to compare to the other: this one is definitely not the choice you'd make if you want something that tastes "healthy." The other one certainly fits that bill better. This one is going to satisfy a craving for a dessert that isn't really a dessert. It's sweet enough that it feels like a treat without being over the top. Despite having a lot of similar ingredients, these are two very different breads. 

Points out of 10: I have to give this one a 9. 

HOORAY FOR OLD-FASHIONED CARROT BREAD!

If you make these for yourself, please let me know if we're in agreement on the winner! Enjoy!

Battle of the Breads! Part One

Get ready for a battle, y'all! It's time to see which carrot bread recipe will come out on top. Before we get to the competition, let me do a brief explanation of how this idea came about. 

I have been living in a small town where farming is still a way of life for many people. My sister works for one of the churches, so I've been connected to a lot of people through her. One of my favorite people is Lowell. Lowell has come to my rescue a number of times. He helped me free a bird stuck in the fireplace. He saved my cat's auto-feeder from an entire army of ants. And he brings us produce almost weekly. For a time, I would reward Lowell with a pie. On his last visit, he informed me that his wife, Carol, would prefer I not send him home with any more pies. Apparently, I've been giving Lowell a weight problem. The two of them are too cute. 

Back to the produce though.

Now, when I say "produce," I don't mean a piece or two. I mean I could open a veggie stand after Lowell leaves. His last delivery was a giant bag of carrots. I've been debating how I can possibly put them all to use and decided at least a few could go into a carrot bread. While looking through recipe options, it occurred to me that it would be fun to make a couple and compare. And here we are. 

Now, on to the main event!

Contestant #1: Carrot Almond Bread (found on Happy Food Healthy Life - www.happyfoodhealthylife.com)

Our first contestant comes from a blog called Happy Food Healthy Life and is adapted from a recipe that blogger got from an issue of Yoga Journal. For the most part, the instructions are exactly as I found them on the blog, but I have changed a few things and made note. Let's start with the ingredients first: 

2.5 cups all-purpose flour (I used self-rising because that's what I had on hand.)
1 TB baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
2 cups shredded carrots
3 large eggs
3/4 cup light brown sugar (I only did about 1/2 cup because I tend to use a little less sugar than recipes call for.)
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (I used butter because I didn't have coconut oil, but I'd recommend using an oil substitute if you're in the same position.)
1/2 cup applesauce
1 TB vanilla
1 cup chopped almonds (The ones I had were slivers.)
1/2 cup milk or soy milk (I used coconut milk-the kind that's a little sweetened.)

Here's what you do with all these lovely items: 

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Lightly oil or butter two 9-inch loaf pans. (The original recipe said to use one pan, but it was so full that I made an executive decision to split it between two. You do what you want.)

2. In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Then set aside. 

3. In a larger bowl, mix the carrots, eggs, sugar, oil, applesauce, and vanilla until well-blended. 

4. Fold in the flour until just combined. Then gently stir in the almonds and milk. Pour into the prepared pan. 

See how full that looks!? So this is before splitting into two pans.

 5. Bake in preheated oven until top is golden brown and a fork comes out of the middle with some moist crumbs attached. This is going to take about 40-45 minutes if you've split it between two pans. I checked mine after 30 minutes just to be safe. Ten minutes later, I saw exactly what she meant by "moist crumbs." I love when that happens. 

It's time for the assessment. This bread is definitely tasty. I thought it would be sweeter, and then remembered I used less brown sugar than what was called for. I would follow the recipe next time around. No penalties for that. It tastes healthy, too. This is a plus. The texture is perfect: just moist enough inside with an almost-crunch on the outside. I had my first slice with butter, which was really nice. I put honey on the second piece to see if the sweetness added anything to the taste experience. It was good, but my sugar shyness has left me with a not-sweet bread for this round. Totally still delicious though. 

Points out of 10: I'm going to go with 8. 

Tune in tomorrow to see Contestant #2: Old-Fashioned Carrot Bread from the blog One Perfect Bite.

Berry Apple Crumble ala Sissy

This recipe originated at an Election Day party my sister threw last year. She's very good at throwing things together and creating something amazing. And this crumble she came up with was no different. She reprised the recipe at Thanksgiving, but couldn't exactly remember what she'd done the first time around. That's the trouble with improv cooking--sometimes you hit gold and then can't remember how you got there. However, her second attempt rivaled the first and that is the recipe you'll be reading below. She also graciously agreed to be featured in the pictures. This is probably because she likely knows the five people who will see them.  :)

Ingredients: (These are a bit loose, so feel free to play around and add more or less of anything to your own taste.)

1 bag fresh cranberries

2 small containers blueberries

4 medium apples

1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1/4 - 1/3 cup sugar (I'd keep it on the low end and add more if you like your desserts sweeter.)

1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp brown sugar

1/2 cup plus 1/4 cup dry oats

3 Tbsp plus 1/4 butter, softened

Directions:

1. Mix all the fruit together in a large bowl. Add the walnuts, if desired. Add the 1/4 cup each of white and brown sugar. This is where you can add more if you'd like the fruit sweeter.  

2. Mix the cinnamon and dry oats into the fruit and sugar.

3. Add 3 Tablespoons of butter, cut into smaller pieces and combine well. 

4. In a separate smaller bowl, crumb together the 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup oats, and 1 Tbsp brown sugar. (You can also substitute flour for the oats if you want a smoother topping.)

5. Spread fruit and oat mixture in lightly greased casserole or baking dish. Sprinkle the crumble over the top. 

6. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. When the crumble topping is lightly browned, it's done. 

This dessert tastes amazing just on its own, but add a little ice cream or whipped cream to make it super decadent. Also, play around. I think adding a little extra spice to the fruit and oats would be a nice enhancement. Try ginger or maybe even a little clove. Let me know if you add your own twist!

Dad Strikes Again ~ Anise Bread

This is another post on bread my dad used to make. Anise bread was my second favorite bread when I was growing up. It has a slight licorice taste because of the anise flavoring, and I thought it was really cool that bread kind of tasted like candy. Also, it isn't done in an ordinary loaf. Anise bread is really a braid. Of course a little girl is going to love this bread!

First things first - here are the ingredients: (this will yield two braids)
2 pkgs. yeast
1/2 c. warm water
1 c. milk, scalded
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. anise flavoring
6 c. sifted flour
2 eggs

1. Put the milk in a small saucepan and heat until scalded. This occurs when there are little bubbles around the edges of the saucepan, but before it comes to an actual boil.

2. While waiting for the milk to scald, add the yeast to the warm water. If you've read my previous yeast-involved posts, you know that this is a delicate step. But it is not to be feared. Just make sure the water isn't too hot or too cold. Here's how it should look, just in case you need a reminder:

3. Add sugar, salt, and butter to the scalded milk. Stir to combine and allow to sit until cooled to lukewarm. It will be just about right when the butter has melted into the mixture.

4. Grab a large mixing bowl and transfer the milk mixture to it. Add the cinnamon and anise flavoring.

5. Next, add in 2 cups of the flour and mix well. I recommend using a wooden spoon at this point because the yeast is coming next. It's best not to use anything metal when dealing with yeast. This is something I only learned recently, but fortunately I have an affinity for wooden spoons anyway. 

6. Stir in the eggs and yeast and beat well. I actually used a hand mixer to add the eggs and then put the yeast in second and used the wooden spoon. But feel free to skip the hand mixer. Add in the remaining 4 cups of flour and combine thoroughly. 

7. Turn out on a lightly floured table. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Then stretch out your fingers because you're gonna knead that sucker for the next 8-10 minutes. You're going for a stretchy, elastic quality. Sometimes I only make it 5 minutes before giving up and the bread is fine. But if you're a stickler, go for at least 8. Then put it in a lightly greased or floured bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled. 

8. Punch it down in the bowl and then turn back out on the table. Divide the dough into six balls. Cover and let them rest again for 10 minutes. I can't tell you why the dough needs so much rest. After all, you're the one doing the work. But this is a diva bread and that's what it needs. 

9. After they're rested, roll them with your hands to make strands about 16" long. Try not to stretch if possible. I tend to squeeze rather than roll, but whatever works to get the strands. 

10. Braid three of the strands and pinch the ends to hold together. Then repeat with the other three strands. Cover them again and let them rise until almost doubled. 

11. Beat 1 egg and add 1 Tbsp of water. Brush this mixture over the top of the braids for a glossy finish. You can also add sesame seeds if you like, but I didn't have any. 

12. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until done. You'll know it's done when it sounds hollow if you thump on it. Eat with butter or just plain. 

I hope you enjoy! And if you do, leave a comment for my dad in the section below. He'll get a kick out of it. Thanks for reading!

Election Day Cake - Vote Yummy!

So I'm immortalizing another "Dad Tradition" with this entry and sharing the recipe for Election Day Cake. I remember him making this from the time I was little. Elections have always been a big deal for my father. If he hadn't become a pastor, I seriously believe politics would have been his second choice. From my childhood, I most vividly remember the Dukakis-Bush Election in 1988. My sister and I made posters for Dukakis and printed out blank maps so we could color in the states as the results came in. To this day, I have to print out a blank map to color during the election results. Tomorrow, my sister and father are both hosting the Election Day Parties. I'll be at Alison's since she's closer to me, but both parties will feature soups, breads, and the following: Election Day Cake. This recipe actually comes from a newspaper article by Ginnie Mulkey, though she credits the recipe to "some anonymous creative woman."

Ingredients
4-4.5 cups sifted flour
1 cup sugar
1.5 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 ground cloves
1/4 ground mace
2 pkgs. active dry yeast
3/4 cup margarine (softened)
1.5 cups very hot water
2 eggs (room temperature)
1.5 cups seedless raisins
3/4 cups chopped nuts
1/4 cup chopped citron (optional-but recommended)

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, mix 1 3/4 cup flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and mace. Also, in a separate bowl, mix the yeast with some lukewarm water to begin activating it. Let it sit aside for a bit.

My dad knows what he's doing when it comes to yeast!

  2. Add softened margarine to the flour mixture. Gradually add the hot water and beat about 2 minutes with electric mixer.

3. Add eggs and 3/4 cup flour. Beat at high speed two minutes. Add raisins, nuts, citron and rest of flour so that the batter becomes thick. Stir until well combined.

4. Turn into a greased tube pan. I had no idea what a tube pan was. If you're like me, here's a picture:

5. Cover and let rise in a warm place until about doubled in size. It will be about an hour and a half.

6. Bake in a 375 degree oven about 45 minutes. Remove from the pan and allow to cool on a wire rack. Then you can garnish with a sifting of powdered sugar.

It will smell amazing in your house while this is cooking. Get super creative and add some red and blue sprinkles for an extra dose of patriotism.

And don't forget in all the excitement of baking your Election Day Cake to actually get out there and VOTE!!!

Monastery Cherry Jam and Jelly

So, over this past weekend, I went on a retreat to a lovely Benedictine Monastery just outside of Madison, WI. If you want to read all about this gorgeous place, click over to my other blog at http://bloggedyblogblog-mindylou113.blogspot.com/. But for this entry, I'm focusing on a canning class they sponsored Thursday night. If you've ever been curious about canning or just think those little mason jars are too adorable for words, read on.

Let me start by saying that if crepes intimidated me, canning my own jam and jelly absolutely petrified me. I was so excited when I saw this class was being offered to visitors on the exact day I was arriving! It was Fate! So I signed up and talked my dad into doing the same.

 The class was led by Pat Hobbins-Kemps. Here she is:

The recipe I'm including is her recipe, although she was quick to point out that she really just takes it straight from the included sheet from the pectin package! So, let's get the ingredients out of the way:

Ingredients: Cherry Jam
4 cups chopped sour cherries
4 3/4 cups sugar (get this measured-super precisely-before starting, trust me.)
1 packet pectin
1/2 tsp butter (this cuts down on the foaming)

Ingredients: Cherry Jelly
3 1/2 cups sour cherry juice
4 cups sugar (same as above.)
1 packet pectin
1/2 tsp butter

You'll also need mason jars (we used little ones and doubled the recipe, but if you get 10 jars you should be okay on the single batch). I'd recommend making sure you have a canner (see below), a large pot, some hot mitts, a long spoon, the correct tongs (again, see below), and something to scald the lids/caps in. 

I am now going to tell you the FIRST BIG RULE: Do not cut the sugar amount. I know it seems like a lot. But if you change it, the jam and jelly will not form correctly. If you need to find a diabetic option, I'm sure they exist, but I don't know the trick there. So for this recipe, make sure you stick to the amounts given.
 
On to the Directions! One last caveat before getting started: Make sure you have a couple hours set aside where you will be uninterrupted for this process. You have to keep your focus on the cooking or you might burn your fruit. Also, you're dealing with sterilization and high heat. So you're going to be moving fast once things get rollin' and you'll want to make sure no little pitter-patterers will be under foot. Okay, caveat done. Let's get cookin'!

Directions: (This is for the jam, but the jelly process is pretty much identical. The difference is really just ingredient-based.)

1. Wash your mason jars with hot, soapy water. Then put them upside down into a water-filled canner. (I had no idea what a canner was, so here's a photo of what we were using.)

See where those handles are sticking up? It's like a little wire basket that the jars can sit in and then they go into the boiling water an inch or so. You really need the lip to be covered. Boil your jars for at least 10 minutes. Pat is a nurse, so her comfort level was closer to 20 minutes. I'd err on her side of caution, just saying. You're also going to scald the lids, see to the left of the jars? Keep them in a single layer and add more in as needed. These don't need to boil as long, but it's not going to hurt them to boil the same time as the jars.

2. Prepare the fruit. Make sure any stems, pits, vines, and not so desirable pieces of fruit are removed. Then chop. We used a really great food processor that I am decades away from being able to afford. Our cherries weren't totally chopped. We left them sort of chunky. It's a matter of preference. Here are the cherries before being mashed:

Let me just say: that whole kitchen smelled like cherry pie. It was divine.

3. Here's the SECOND BIG RULE: Measure the ingredients exactly. Do not guess. Do not fudge. Do not pass Go. This is not an easy rule for me. I work best when I can dash this and pinch that. But it won't fly on this one, so get precise. Pat also recommended counting out loud to make sure you don't lose count. It's good advice. So put in the exact amount of cherries using a liquid measuring cup. Get eye level to the measuring side and put it into a large cooking pan. Add the pectin and the butter and stir until the pectin is dissolved and the butter is pretty blended.

4. Bring the fruit mixture to a rolling boil. This means that it doesn't stop boiling when you stir it. You'll want it on high heat and make sure you're doing your best helicopter impression at this point. Hover over that baby and keep stirring. There's no such thing as over-stirring, so don't be shy.

5. As soon as it reaches the rolling boil, add your sugar and stir it in quickly. Return to a full rolling boil and keep it boiling for EXACTLY one minute. This is why you're hovering. Watch the time or count to 60, but keep track. After a minute, remove it from heat and skim off any foam that may have formed. Then get ready because the speed round is here.

6. You're going to use a pair of tongs (See images below for tong instructions. The bad ones will drip hot water down your arm. Use the others for your own safety.) to grab out the jars. Tip a jar and grab it by the lip. Don't try to fit the tongs around the circumference of the jar; they'll slip. Set it on the table.

Bad

Good

7. Dip a measuring cup into the hot fruit and then pour the fruit into the jar, leaving about 1/4 inch empty. Don't leave more than this or there will be too much excess space in the jar and it may not seal properly. Dip the tongs in the boiling jar water and then grab a lid/cap combo. Quickly cover the jar with a cap and then screw the lid on. Be careful not to touch the cap (the flat part with the rubber edge) because this will contaminate it. Just use your tongs to place it on the jar and then you can touch the part of the lid that screws on. Get it tight, but THIRD BIG RULE: Don't pick up the jar to do this. Keep it flat on the table to keep any product from touching the lid or cap and preventing it from sealing.

8. Let it stand for 24 hours. Make sure to put space (at least a few inches) between the jars so that air can flow around and between them. FOURTH BIG RULE: Don't re-tighten the jars after cooled or you will break the seal. Also, resist the urge to push on the top of the lid or you may break the seal. Basically, as soon as you tighten the lid, leave them alone. You'll hear them start to make a popping noise as the seal locks in. This is very exciting and caused a grand sense of pride among our group.

That's my dad, gracefully topping off the jar with a cap.

 9. Store unopened jams and jellies in a cool, dry, dark place up to 1 year! Refrigerate opened jams and jellies up to 3 weeks.

 
There were no major differences between the jam and jelly for these two recipes. IF you are doing a different jelly recipe, you may need to boil the fruit first and then strain it to get the "juice" only. Jelly doesn't use any fruit chunks or bits. Only the juice. We had cherry juice at our disposal, so we didn't worry about this. Again, the pectin box comes with instructions and recipes for a variety of jams and jellies, so you can't go wrong following those.

The biggest lessons we learned from the class centered around sterilization and quickness. If you pay attention to those parts of this blog, you should have success in your canning experience!

Big thanks to Pat and Holy Wisdom Monastery for this amazing learning opportunity! Enjoy!      

Fat Tuesday Donuts: Fasnachts

Prepare yourself for the most amazing donut you will ever eat.

Ready?

Okay, here's the story: I grew up watching my dad make these over the course of two days. He would start them Monday night and wake up before the sun to finish them on Tuesday. I would wake up to find every surface in the kitchen covered with cut up dough in a variety of odd shapes. It would take him awhile to get them all fried up and coated in either a glaze or plain sugar. The sugar ones were always my favorite and that's what this recipe is for. Even though he used to make them in two days, they can be done in one if you have the time to let them rise twice. Either way, these are not an instant gratification sort of project, but like the oatmeal bread article from awhile back, they are worth the wait.

INGREDIENTS
3 medium potatoes, peeled and chunked
1/3 cup of lard plus lots more for frying (don't get Crisco, find old school lard if you can)
1 cup of milk (I used whole milk, but anything is fine)
3/4 cup sugar
1 t. salt
2 pkg. dry yeast (this is double the original amount. Trust me.)
2 T. warm water (this is to activate the yeast, so make sure it's not too hot.)
1 cup potato water
2 eggs, beaten
9 cups sifted flour

Here we go.

1. Toss the potatoes in water and boil until soft. It'll probably be about 15-20 minutes. Before draining, make sure to save 1 cup of the potato water. Set that aside and drain the taters. Then transfer them to a big bowl and mash them up. I used a hand mixer to get them really smooth.

2. Mix the yeast with the warm water and 1 teaspoon sugar. Set it aside to activate. When it's ready, it will look like this:

3. Scald the milk. I'll be honest: I looked this up in The Joy of Cooking to make sure I knew what it meant. It means to heat it on the stove until little bubbles form around the edges. So not to a boil, but just beyond a simmer. :) Now remove the milk from heat and let it cool to lukewarm.

4. Melt the 1/3 cup of lard. I do this in the microwave. Then set it aside and let it cool to lukewarm. It will look like this:

*It's important to let everything cool to lukewarm because you're going to be adding these items to your yeast. If they're too hot, your yeast will die. Not to sound too melodramatic, but it really will. And then you'll get a bunch of donut bricks. I speak from experience here. Wait longer if you're not sure the stuff is cool enough. 

5. In a big (and I mean BIG) bowl, put the active yeast, sugar, salt, milk, egg, potatoes, and potato water. Get that all mixed together. Then gradually add the flour. Add the lard at the end when all the flour is blended in.

6. Knead until well mixed. You're gonna have to get your hands in there and get dirty! Add more flour, a little at a time, as and if needed. Let it sit in a warm room. Here is where you can leave it overnight if you so desire. I let it sit in the kitchen for about 2 hours and turned the oven on to about 300 degrees just to keep the room warm.

7. When it's a) the morning or b) doubled in size, turn it out on a floured surface and divide into smaller balls of dough. The recipe calls for 4, but if your space is smaller, you may want to take smaller bits at a time.

8. Roll each section out to about 1/3 inch thick. No need to measure. Just know that they're going to sit and double again, so you want them fairly thin at this point. Cut them using a pizza cutter or cookie cutter. Mine end up being a variety of odd shapes, but be as perfect or imperfect as you want.

9. Now leave them alone to double in size again. They'll look something like this:

10. Now get ready for some work. Hey, you've had around 4 hours of down-time already! Okay, put a big ol' chunk of lard in the frying pan and heat it up until it melts and starts crackling. It's really between a pop and a crackle, but you'll hear it talkin' to you!

11. When that happens, start setting the donuts in the hot lard and let them get brown on one side. Then flip them over and brown them on the other side. Pull them out and dip in a plate or bowl (I used a pie dish, actually) of sugar. I recommend frying a pan full (about 3-5 depending on size) and then do the sugar. Then fry another round and sugar those.

12. This recipe makes about 5 DOZEN of these amazing things, so alert your friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, and hungry-looking strangers. The baker's spoils of eating the first one brings particular pleasure in this instance. They are best in the first two days. After that, they're fine another two days if you zap them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.

Bon Appetit!   :)