Gone in 21 hours….

And 10 of those Aiden was sleeping!  Aiden has devoured 75% of this yummy cake:

Aiden is my baked goods fiend.  He will try my creations and ask for them over and over again.  Jakob likes certain things I make; chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes, sugar cookies, and chocolate cake.  But when it comes to new things like scones, biscuits, or this ah-mazing Strawberry Cake, he hesitates.  Not sure if he will like it he immediately says “No, Thank You” rather than taking a bite to see if he likes it.  Quite frustrating as this goes with ALL food, if he isn’t sure he will like it he refuses to try it.  Makes for a very limited diet for him.   But I digress.

Aiden makes it easy for me to consider if a recipe is a success or not, usually by how quickly he devours it.  And I will guarantee that this recipe from Maria, Two Peas and Their Pod, is a KEEPER.  With strawberries about to come into season here, I can picture this being made many times over.  And will make it with other berries as the seasonal fruit comes in. I look forward to making it again and adding a little bit of lime to it….maybe a glaze?  Not that it needs it.  It is light, a delicate crumb, with the burst of berry slices peeking out.  It is called a cake, but I had no problem serving and eating this for breakfast….Aiden inhaled his piece! (I also recommend eating this with a little dollop of whipped cream….just saying!)

You can find the recipe HERE.  And while you are there, check out Maria’s recipes for cookies….she always has great cookies going on!

Bread Pudding Letdown

Let me start by saying I LOVE BREAD PUDDING!!! But I don't like this one! Maybe I am a bread pudding purist...I like the original - raisins, cinnamon, rich bourbon sauce on top. And yes, I could have made bourbon sauce to go on top of this....but I didn't. I was expecting to love this recipe, it combines two of my favorite desserts - chocolate and bread pudding! But no. No, I do not like it. And I tried...I ate a huge chunk last night. Even after I decided I didn't like it I still continued to eat it until the huge chunk was gone!

I also am not going to have a chance to try to make this dessert into something that I would eat either, you see I managed to forget to put the bread pudding into the fridge before going to bed last night. So it sat on the counter spoiling as I snored in bed. Dumb, right? Couldn't believe it when I got up this morning and was making a pot of coffee and there it was...just sitting there. Who does that? I have no excuse, I wasn't super busy, super stressed, super drunk, super anything..... just plain forgot. I am kicking myself - SO hard. I had dreams of the ways that I would resurrect this bread pudding, vanilla bean cream sauce, bourbon sauce, chocolate orange ganache to drizzle on top to make it more enjoyable..... so many plans dashed by my inability to put a simple dish in the fridge. Seriously kicking myself hard. All those yummy sauces I want to make and nothing to put them on.....

But back to the bread pudding. Dorie's recipe is super simple. Since I love bread pudding I decided to make a whole recipe rather than halve it...also since I couldn't figure out how to halve 3 eggs! (Suggestions on how to do that would be greatly appreciated!)

I took some great photos of things before I baked it, and planned to take some pics today (in the beautiful sunshine) of the finished product since I baked it last night and not very photogenic in my fluorescent kitchen! Note to self....change bulbs to make nicer photos!

Here you go...

So that is it for the photos...sorry...no after shots....check out the other TWDr's for their posts and some awesome "after" shots! And thank you to Lauren, from Upper East Side Chronicle, for picking this weeks treat...I really thought I would like it!

Better luck next week....Chocolate Cream Tart coming right up!

Take Care,

Tania Love Big, Bake Often

I Ain't no Challah Back Girl!

Well....actually today I was! I was a Challah Girl today. Ok...is that funny? I am trying my hand at being funny here, work with me!

This weeks TWD (Tuesdays with Dorie) recipe is for Chocolate Bread Pudding (YUM!!!) and the recipe calls for Challah or Brioche bread. So rather than go and buy a (usually) expensive loaf of bread I thought I would try my hand at some bread again. I was a little discouraged by my earlier attempts this week - I didn't blog it because it didn't turn out very tasty. But not this time.....It ROCKS! It is so delish. I had a thin slice with some butter to taste test it.... and Jakob had it with Nutella. Jakob's verdict was that it was super yummy mummy! I also made the boys grilled cheeses with it for dinner. It also took everything in me to make the pork chops I had planned for dinner rather than the whole family having grilled cheeses!

Side note....check out Jen's blog Piccante Dolce for recipes and ideas for this month...which happens to be Grilled Cheese month! Bizarre, right? But who doesn't love a good grilled cheese?

But I digress.....

Here is the Recipe courtesy of Sur la Table's...Art and Soul of Baking (Jason ordered it for me as a belated Valentine's gift)

Challah

Makes 1 loaf....a yummy loaf

Ingredients:

3/4 c warm water

2 TBSP honey

1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

2 large eggs, at room temp.

3 TBSP canola or safflower oil

2 1/2 c bread flour or all purpose flour

3/4 tsp salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 tsp poppy seeds (optional - and I opted out)

1. Combine the warm water and honey in the bowl of the stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast over the top. Whisk by hand to blend well. Let the mixture sit for 5 - 10 minutes, until the yeast activates. Add the eggs and oil and whisk together. Stir in the flour and salt. Attach the dough hook and knead on low speed for 2 min. Turn the speed to medium and knead for another 6 to 8 minutes, until dough is smooth, silky and elastic. I found it to be a little sticky and added a little more flour, but it stayed sticky!

2. Lightly oil a tub or bowl. Scrape the dough into the tub and brush the surface with a little oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let the dough rise until doubled in size, approx 45 - 60 min. My mother always told me to put the bread in the oven with the light on to create a nice warm draft free place for the dough to rise!

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Press down on the dough firmly to expel some of the air bubbles, but don't knead the dough again. Divide the dough into three pieces. Work with one piece at a time and roll it gently into a rope about 15 inches long.

4. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat and lay the three ropes on the sheet with ends facing you. Pinch together the three ends furthest away from you. Braid the dough, pinching the loose ends together at the bottom. Tuck the ends under just slightly.

5. Cover the braid with plastic wrap or the damp towel again. Allow the braid to rise until it is almost double in size again.

6. Preheat the oven to 375F and position an oven rack in the center. Gently brush the braid with the beaten egg...you will not use all of it. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until the top and bottom are golden brown. Transfer to rack to cool completely.

7. Then wait as long as you can before digging into the loaf and eating it all up!!

We didn't wait very long...just til it was cool enough to cut! I don't think there is enough to make a full recipe of the Chocolate Bread Pudding so I think I will be halving that recipe this week! LOL!

Here is what the end result looks like......

There will definitely be more of this bread being made in our house...we all loved it. And it was so easy! Thank goodness!

Come back on Tuesday (Wait!!! Come back every day!!!) to see the bread pudding I am making with this loaf.

And also stay tuned for the giveaway I am putting together....going to be a good one, my first one!

Take care,

Tania Love Big, Bake Often

I baked bread!

I use to bake bread all the time. I loved it...but it usually meant that I would eat the whole loaf myself and within a day - maybe two! So I haven't made it in a looooooooooong time. So yesterday when I decided to make bread (ran out), I couldn't find my old recipe anywhere! Bummer...I really liked it. So I did what any blogger would....I searched my google reader and relied on my blogging friends for a recipe. And I found one on Stefani's blog Blue Yonder. I like her blog....it is a good mix of tips, recipes, and family fun. She had made this bread awhile ago and had done it two ways, with and without wheat flour. I didn't have any wheat flour in the house so I went the bread flour and all purpose way. I have to say I was a little worried about this bread.....it didn't seem to want to rise for me. It took over two hours for it to do it's first doubling....I had given up on it and went to sling it (after coming home from the grocery store with new yeast to start again).... and there it was, doubled and ready to be punched. I took it out, punched out the air and shaped it into a loaf and placed it in the loaf pan to double again. I wasn't very hopeful....but an hour and a half later it had risen to the top of the pan and was ready to bake. YAY!!! Surprise!

It turned out great. Light and yummy. You can taste the honey in the recipe. I love fresh bread with butter and sometimes honey or jam....but just a little - I like to taste the butter!

I am sad to say that the batteries died in my camera - we took too many pics over Easter weekend and drained them! But we got some great shots this weekend. Need to remember to get new ones though, Jakob has his first real soccer game this weekend!

Next time I bake bread, and I promise I will do it again soon, I will take pics. But for now here is the recipe..... thank you Stefani! And be sure to stop by Blue Yonder and see what she is up to!


White Honey Bread

2 T warm water
1 ½ t yeast
1/2 t sugar

3 ½ c bread or all purpose flour
¼ c solid vegetable shortening
1/4 c honey
1 c warm water
1 t salt

In a small cup or bowl, combine warm water with yeast and sugar. Let sit for about 10-15 minutes. Then, in a large bowl pour yeast mixture, water, flour, shortening, honey and salt. Using an electric mixer, blend on low until all ingredients are incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix for 7 minutes.

Remove dough and place in a clean bowl that has been greased lightly with oil. Turn dough over in bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp clean cloth and place in a warm spot to allow dough to double in size.

After dough rises, punch down to eliminate bubbles. Spray or grease and flour 9x4 or 5 inch loaf pan. Shape dough into a loaf and place in pan. In warm spot let rise again until double in size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake loaf for 30 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped lightly on top. Makes 1 loaf.

Enjoy!
Take care,
Tania
Love Big, Bake Often