baking with julia: white loaves

tuesdays with dorie is now venturing into the world of baking with julia. “white loaves” is the first recipe selected from the new book, and a different group of bakers is on board (for the most part anyway). i can’t wait to check out everyone’s blogs!

i actually made the loaves twice: the first time i omitted the tablespoon of salt because i used salted butter. that was a mistake, and i ended up with some really blah bread. the second go-around gave me the chance to use less flour and add that salt. now i’ll toast through a lighter textured, much tastier loaf. once all the flour was added, my mixer was kind of overwhelmed so i finished kneading the dough by hand. and instead of dividing the dough into two 8 ½” x 4 ½” loaf pans (i don’t own any), i used one 10” x 5” pan (guessing here) and a smaller paper loaf mold.

as long as we’re talking firsts: this is my first post using a photo taken with my new canon rebel dslr. i’m thrilled to have it and it’ll make the whole baking/photo/posting process so much easier.

find the white loaves recipe in baking with julia: savor the joys of baking with america’s best bakers. and here, too: someone’s in the kitchen.

simple apple dumplings

no recipe reveal here: these dumplings are ultra basic and from a betty crocker cookbook that dates to my childhood and is nowhere in sight. but know that they’re made with nothing more than common a.p., butter and water wrapped around organic gala apples that were cored and filled with cinnamon sugar and butter, and then baked with orange juice and even more cinnamon, sugar and butter. voila! don’t forget the vanilla ice cream.

this dessert has a totally different vibe than dorie greenspan’s all-american, all-delicious apple pie and tourtely apple tart, both made with fuji and granny smith apples. huge difference. i baked the dumplings in this smarta dish from ikea – six of them, perfect.

twd: kids’ thumbprints

instead of feeling blue because tuesdays with dorie is wrapping up bfmhty, i’m just excited to start exploring the new book, baking with julia, in a couple months, and begin a brand new year altogether in less than a week.

it’s hard to believe almost two years have passed since my first twd post – this group was, after all, my motivation to start minutes&measure. and please know that although i don’t publish comments, i’ve appreciated every single one of them. what a treat. thanks to all of you who have taken the time to write.

so, about those kids’ thumbprints. side by side, i prefer these to the peanut butter crisscrosses, even without the extra boost from rolling them in chopped peanuts (i used the walnuts i had on hand instead). with the raspberry jam centers, they look kind of holiday-esque.

dorie greenspan picked kids’ thumbprints for december 27, 2011 (thank you!). for the recipe, see dorie greenspan’s baking: from my home to yours.

twd: rugelach

devil’s food white-out cake, espresso cheesecake brownies and rugelach were my finalists for “rewind!” week. even though any recipe in bfmhty is up for grabs, narrowing it down to three was pretty easy. i still want to make the cake (the iconic cover shot), but it just felt too ambitious for the moment. the brownies were a close second, but i knew i was buying (yes, buying) a cheesecake for thanksgiving day. when i read the rugelach recipe – cream cheese in the dough, a smear of raspberry jam, chopped chocolate and nuts – it reminded me of a favorite holiday cookie, and that was that.

when i rolled the first half of the dough and cut 16 triangles per the recipe, the cookies seemed really small, so i went with 8 for the second half (much better). i was so anxious to try them i popped four or five in my mouth hot out of the oven, but they were ten times better room temp the next day when i could taste the cream cheese. i’ll double the recipe next time.

i chose rugelach for november 24, 2011 (a twd pick from november 4, 2008). for the recipe, see dorie greenspan’s baking: from my home to yours.

twd: a fig cake for fall

saturday morning, coffee in hand, i wandered the santa monica farmers market hoping to spot some good fresh figs for my cake. i did, black missions, and i found honey pacifica orange blossom honey there too.

with no ruby port, i poached the figs in red wine (the fragrance!), but otherwise, except for not having any lemons, i was by the book. the cornmeal crunch, for me, is the best thing about this cake. it’s even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

a fig cake for fall was chosen by alvarosa of cookie rookie for october 25, 2011. for the recipe, see dorie greenspan’s baking: from my home to yours.

twd: brioche raisin snails

i liked dorie’s suggestion to divide the recipe as one-part loaf/one-part brioche raisin snails.

the loaf came out just so-so – my pan was a little bigger than it should have been, i forgot to egg wash the top, etc.

but i had better luck fitting nine snails into a 8” x 8” square frame. it kept them nice and moist tucked side by side, but the interior rolls didn’t rise as much. the whole thing did kind of a soufflé (in the oven) and sink (when i took them out). i’ll have these for breakfast the rest of the week.

golden brioche loaves were chosen by margie of tea and scones for august 23, 2011. for the recipe, see dorie greenspan’s baking: from my home to yours.

twd: carrot spice muffins

i went with a streamlined version of this recipe: carrots and cinnamon and not much else in the way of mix-ins. it’s an easy, moist muffin, nice after morning coffee.

carrot spice muffins were chosen by nancy of the dogs eat the crumbs for august 9, 2011. for the recipe, see dorie greenspan’s baking: from my home to yours.