Orange Nutmeg Popover Rolls

It has snowed twice since last week's blizzard. It's actually currently snowing in NYC. Winter has definitely decided to stay around. However, I didn't get a snow day from work. No snow day from work = no time to bake.

 

Fear not! I still have something to post! I made these rolls last week during the blizzard along with the Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies. My kitchen was THE PLACE TO BE during winter storm Juno. Just saying.

 

I was excited about these rolls because I love popovers. Also, I was nervous about using yeast. Isn't that silly? I've used yeast many times before and have baked lovely baked goods with yeast and yet I'm always nervous about using it. Probably because yeast is so finicky.

 

This recipe yielded more of a dinner roll than a popover. When I hear "popover" I think of something airy and eggy. This recipe yielded just a normal dinner roll with the added benefits of nutmeg, orange, cinnamon, and sugar flavors.

 

If you're intrigued by the combo or want a twist on the normal dinner roll, by all means feel free to try your hand at this roll. But if you want something more extraordinary, you can skip making this recipe.

Recipe found on Honest Cooking

Bake well and prosper!

Zucchini Bread with Chocolate Chips

Hello lovely readers! This world traveler has finally made her way back to her home, NYC! I've been here for a little more than a week and I've already baked! But I didn't take any photos of the brownies I made. However, my last week in Pittsburgh I baked AND took photos!

The dear friends I made in Pittsburgh who allowed me to bake whenever I wanted in their kitchen let me bake one more time. But they had a request: Could I use some of the zucchini that was given to them?

I was so excited about this request! Last year I wanted to bake with my NYC's friend's zucchini crop from his garden, but his crop was late/non-existent. I was overjoyed and quite amused by how large the zucchini was from the Pittsburgh garden.

 

I easily found a recipe online to make chocolate chip zucchini bread and I was quickly whipping up the batter.

It was still warm when I offered it up to my opera friends during our end of season party. The inside of the bread was moist and almost cake like and the hint of cinnamon paired surprising well with the zucchini. Let's just say it was gone before a soprano could finish singing Sempre libera.

Zucchini Bread with Chocolate Chips recipe found here: cooks.com
Erika's Extras: I omitted the walnuts in this recipe.

Bake well and prosper!

Caramel Rolls

I did it! I finally made my Mom's caramel roll recipe! I wanted to make it last year when I was trying to "challenge myself" in the kitchen, but I just never had the time/the right occasion to make it.

 

The recipe takes about 4.5 hours altogether and involves yeast! (I'm still slightly scared about working with yeast even though I've made these amazing donuts, this heavenly overnight coffee loaf, these delicious croissants, and this yummy from scratch monkey bread. You'd think I'd feel like a pro by now, but I don't. I still think yeast is finicky!)

 

I had to call my Mom twice to clarify some parts of the recipe and she admitted that she didn't have a real recipe for it. She had to kind of make it up when my brother asked for it a couple of years ago. Well, her slightly made up recipe has been delighting me for years and now I've "conquered" it!

Isn't it beautiful? So shiny and caramel-y?

 

I also tried something special with the recipe for Valentine's Day. I made the other dish of rolls with red colored caramel and tried to shape the rolls into hearts. Can you see the heart?

I think the red color scared my taste-testers seeing the natural colored one was eaten first. I don't blame them. As it turns out, the red dye slightly messed with the texture of the caramel.

 

But both versions tasted great! I must admit that I think my mom makes them better, but hey, she has more years of experience on me!

 

Oh, and in case you have 4.5 hours to make rolls, here's what they taste like: cinnamon rolls with caramel and pecans on top instead of frosting. Yum! 

Caramel Rolls (adapted from my Mom's Best Recipes Cookbook)
Ingredients
3/4 C scalded milk
1/4 C shortening
1 scant T yeast (1 packet should do)
3/4 C lukewarm water
1/2 C sugar
1 t salt
1 egg
4-4 1/2 C flour (see directions)
1/2 C light syrup
1 C brown sugar
4 T butter
1/2 C chopped pecans.
1 C cinnamon and sugar

Pour hot milk over shortening in a mixing bowl; let cool to lukewarm. Dissolve yeast in water (100-110 degrees F). Yeast should be good to use after about 5 minutes (there will be some foam on top of the water.) Mix these together along with the sugar, salt, egg, and 2 C flour (not the entire amount.) Beat with electric mixer until there are air bubbles appearing in the batter. Cover the bowl with a cloth and let rise for 1/2 hour. (It might not rise much. This is ok.)

Add the other 2-2 1/2 C flour: knead on counter top for 8 minutes or so. Let rise in a greased bowl, covered for at least an hour.

While it's rising, heat the light syrup, brown sugar, and butter together until melted. Mix well and pour into 2 8x8 or 9x9 baking dishes. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of the caramel.

After the hour of dough rising, roll dough with a rolling pin onto a counter top. Roll out into about an 18 inch by 12-16 inch rectangle. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar (1 1/2 t cinnamon mixed with 1 C sugar.) Roll up dough and cut into 18 equal sections. Place on sides on top of caramel mixture (cinnamon & sugar side down), 3x3 in each pan. Let rise, covered, for 1 hour.

Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until the dough is slightly brown. Remove from oven and flip onto a cooling rack. (Place wax paper under rack.) Make sure to spoon out the left over caramel mixture that is stuck to the pan back on top of rolls.

Eat warm. Add butter if desired.

Bake well and prosper!

Pineapple Coconut Bread Pudding with Buttered Rum Sauce

It's almost the start of the New Year so I've been thinking about what my 2014 New Year's resolutions will be. This got me to thinking about what they were for this year and then I remembered that my resolution involved baking. And I quote (from my blog entry on Jan 16, 2013), "I have decided that 2013 is the year I take on more challenging recipes. Recipes that push me out of my comfort zone and hopefully make me realize that yes, I CAN do it. It will also help me understand different techniques of baking that I haven't dabbled in yet. (Or I'll learn from my failure with the new techniques.)"

 

I've done pretty well this year with trying new recipes that weren't my usual go tos (cookies & brownies.) In fact, I've never made a bread pudding before and lookie here! While it's not complicated, I did get to try something new!

 

I brought this to a holiday party and people raved about it. I used a basic recipe and added a couple ingredients to the bread pudding and then added a buttered rum sauce. I think THAT'S what made people rave. :)

 

Have you thought about your 2014 resolutions? Do they involve baking?

Pineapple Coconut Bread Pudding with Buttered Rum Sauce (adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients for Pudding:

3 eggs

1 cup white sugar

1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

12 slices bread, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I used country-style white bread)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

 

Ingredients for Sauce:

6 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons white sugar

4+ teaspoons of rum

Directions for pudding:Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 baking dish. (Or use ramekins.) Beat eggs and sugar in a large bowl until sugar is dissolved. Stir in pineapple, butter, coconut, and raisins. Stir in bread until well coated. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake in preheated oven until bread is fluffy, about 40 minutes.

Directions for sauce:

When pudding is ready to be served, melt butter in a pan on the stove and stir in the sugar and rum. Once completely melted, drizzle over the bread pudding while warm and enjoy. 

Bake well and prosper!

Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Cacao Nibs

Did you know that when you buy cacao nibs they are never ending? At least that's how it feels to me. It's like the chocolate that keeps on giving. 

 

In my kitchen I had an abundant smount of cacao nibs and a couple of ripe bananas. What to make was a no-brainer. 

 

Then I wondered what else I had that I could use to make this banana bread different. Whole wheat and buckwheat flour became the answer.

 

This yummy banana bread was the love child of all those ingredients mixed together (plus some others.) The wheat factor compliments the cacao nibs and creates a subtle smokey flavor.

 

I shared with my next door neighbors. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did. Maybe next time I'll also add some bourbon to the batter...

Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Cacao Nibs

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2  teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed (about 3 medium bananas)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup cacao nibs + more for the garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan.

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Add the mashed banana until just combined.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and cacao nibs. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread to distribute it evenly. Sprinkle on some cacao nibs on top of the batter. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Bake well and prosper!

Boston Brown Bread with Golden Raisins

Last post from all my baking last week! Woot! (Or maybe this is a sad thing?) Either way, this post is actually a repeat, sort of. I've made Boston Brown Bread before. But I've always wondered what it would taste like with golden raisins.

My friend was a huge fan of these the last time I made them and recently he begged me to make some more. So then I had a reason to try it with golden raisins.

 

It was good, but I think I like the normal raisin version better. However, my friend loved the golden raisins. To each their own.

 

(Wrap them up for a cute looking baked-goods gift.)

Boston Brown Bread (from My Mom's Best Recipes Cookbook)

1/2 C molasses

1/2 C sugar

2 1/2 t baking soda stirred into
2 C buttermilk
1 t salt
1 egg
2 1/2 C wheat flour
1/2 C all-purpose baking flour
1 t baking powder
1 C golden raisins plumped

Combine ingredients. Stir. Grease and flour 5 15 oz cans. Fill about half full with batter. Put cans on a baking sheet or a large pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes with a cookie sheet covering cans. Uncover. Bake for another 10 minutes. Once done baking, remove from oven and then remove bread from cans when still hot. Use a knife around the edges to gently pry out.

Erika's Extra: BBB is best served warm and with butter on top and makes an especially good treat for breakfast. Mmmm!

Bake well and prosper!

Overnight Coffee Loaves

So, last week I had a pretty important birthday.

Watch out New York City! You just gained another 30 year old female! I was very excited to leave my 20s behind. Not that they were bad. But I think there's something great about being in your 30s in NYC. I guess I just feel that this city caters to a slightly older crowd.

 

Speaking of catering to crowds, I baked up a storm to feed my friends for my birthday party! (I'll be posting all my baked goods this week, so keep your eyes out for everything.)

 

To usher in my 30s I decided to give back to my favorite city. I held a two part party. First part was picking up trash in Astoria Park. Second part was meeting at a bar. Those friends who volunteered were treated to a free happy hour on me. Those who decided to not volunteer and just meet at the bar paid for their own drinks. People really enjoyed this concept and everyone understood the rules.

 

Well, I couldn't have people picking up trash on an empty stomach now could I?

 

Since I had taken some days off of work to celebrate my birthday, I decided that I finally had enough time and I was finally mature enough to make Overnight Coffee Loaf.

 

You see, this is from my Mom's Favorite Recipes Cook Book. And all of my siblings and I LOVE this bread. So, I had some trepidations about making it. This bread had a lot of history behind it and I didn't want to mess it up.

 

Guess what. Within the first steps of the recipe I was a mess.

Thus, the bread turned out FANTASTIC.

I was fortunate enough to have a friend over who got to taste test it with me right when it came out of the oven. It was to die for. We ate a whole mini loaf. (I couldn't find my other loaf pan so I improvised. See below.)

I was very excited to share it with my volunteers before picking up trash. Too bad it was a gloomy and somewhat cold day. This bread is just so much better warm than cold. Nobody had a problem eating it though. :) And tons of trash was picked up! (Must have been the boost of sugar that helped. Here's a little bit of the trash that was found.)

Yes, that's a prescription bottle on the bench filled with lithium. Found. In. A. PARK! Eek!

So, as you can see, the first part of my birthday party was a success. Many of my friends told me that they didn't expect to have so much fun picking up trash. Ha!

Second part of party and more recipes from my birthday week to come. For now, here's the recipe for this delicious bread.

Overnight Coffee Loaf (from my Mom's Best Recipes Cook Book)
Makes 2 loaves of bread

1 pkg dry active yeast (or scant 1 T)

1/4 C warm water

4 C flour

1/4 C sugar

1 t salt

1 C butter or margarine (softened)

3 egg yolks

1 C lukewarm milk, scalded and cooled

2 T melted butter or margarine

1/2 C sugar

1 1/2 t cinnamon

powdered sugar glaze (powdered sugar and milk)

Soften butter. Cut in flour, 1/4 C sugar, and salt until mixture looks like a pie crust mixture. Dissolve yeast in warm water and stir with a fork so no big lumps form. Once stirred, mix in yeast, egg yolks, and milk. Cover; refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight. Grease 2 loaf pans. Divide dough in half; roll out each half into an oblong shape that will fit into your loaf pan length wise when rolled up. Does not need to be super thin. Brush one side of each flattened dough with 1 T melted butter. Mix sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle half on each half. Roll up dough, placing seam side down in pan. Cover and let rise 2 hours; dough will not double in size. Bake 350⁰ for 1 hour. Remove from pan and let cool for a couple of minutes. Frost with powdered sugar glaze (mix 1 C powdered sugar and a tiny bit of milk.)

Erika's Extras: Add more cinnamon and sugar for a bolder cinnamon flavor in the bread.

 

Bake well and prosper!

Vanilla Bean Yogurt Loaf

This past Saturday I had tons of friends come out for a picnic in Central Park. It was so much fun and we all brought way too much food (a mark of truly good friends.) I took out my camera and started snapping away at the food that I had made. And then I realized that I forgot to put my memory chip back into my camera.

FAIL.

Oh well. The food, friends, and weather made the day so wonderful that I didn't care about my lack of memory chip. I took some photos with my iPhone camera, but thankfully there were 3 slices left of this bread at the end of the day. So I brought them home and took some photos (this time WITH the camera chip in the camera).

Vanilla Bean Yogurt Loaf (adapted from Cupake Muffin)

1 cup vanilla bean yogurt (I used Cabot's but you can use plain yogurt and add in 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tsp of group vanilla.)

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 T light rum

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

generous pinch of salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a loaf pan.
2. Whisk together the yogurt, sugar, oil, eggs, and rum in a medium bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the yogurt mixture and fold together with a rubber spatula until just combined. It will be slightly lumpy.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Bake well and prosper!

Strawberry Popovers

I had strawberries in my fridge. I hadn't made popovers in a while. What happened in my kitchen was a mixture of these two facts. (Dun dun duhhhhn! - Like Dragnet/Mathnet.)

At Popover Cafe in Manhattan, they serve huge popovers with strawberry butter. I figured I would make strawberry popovers (and add plain butter as needed.) They turned out lovely and the strawberry seeds added a fun texture to the popover.

Strawberry Popovers (basic popover recipe from my Mom's Best Recipe Book)

3 eggs

1 C milk
3 T butter or margarine, melted
1 C flour
1/2 t salt
pulp from 3 strawberries, processed in a food processor

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin pan well. In large bowl with mixer at low speed, beat eggs until frothy; beat in milk and butter until blended. Beat in flour and salt. Stir in strawberry pulp. Fill each muffin cup 1/4-1/3 full with the batter. Bake 30 minutes; then quickly make a small slit in top of each popover to let out steam; bake 8 minutes longer. Immediately remove popovers from pan and serve.

Bake well and prosper!

Bourbon Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Today's is my co-worker's 30th birthday! In America, we tease and call it the Dirty 30...mainly because it rhymes. I figured I'd use this ditty when making a goody for his bday. I knew it was time to make the alcohol and chocolate chip infused banana bread recipe I saw online a couple of weeks ago.

This recipe was fairly easy to make. Too bad I was super tired last night and kinda out of it (I fell asleep 4 times during the last pose in my yoga class!) Due to me being half aware of what I was doing, I got my finger stuck in the stand mixer. Which kinda hurt...still does. I was actually very proud at how well I managed it. I would not recommend sticking anything to poke butter at besides a spatula. (Made a mental note of that yesterday.)

I think I was so tired because I'm still getting over the busy weekend that started with 12 hours of opera stuff. At least I didn't hurt myself singing! Check out my cute costume:

Anyway, minus my finger snafoo (it's fine btw...just a little bruised...they are pretty fat and seem to be able to withstand a lot...), the bread turned out really nicely. I gave it to my coworker along with the rest of the bourbon. :)

Bourbon Chocolate Banana Bread (found on And Now for Something Completely Delicious)
(Feel free to make your own banana bread recipe and add the bourbon and chocolate chips in to it!)
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed (about 3 medium bananas)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons bourbon
1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped (optional)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan.

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the mashed banana, lemon juice, and bourbon and mix until just combined.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the walnuts and chocolate chips. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread to distribute it evenly. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Store bread at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Bake well and prosper!

Cinnamon Twisters Banana Bread

I'm inventive. At least I feel that way about this banana bread. Remember these muffins from a couple of weeks ago? The original recipe called for cinnamon chips and I looked for them at 2 different stores but had no luck in finding them. (I know I'll get 3 comments on this post telling me where to find them in NYC...I hope...)

At home I figured I'd use some cinnamon goodies that I already had on hand. I decided to use the Entenmann's "Ultimate Cinnamon Pastry Twisters" that I had bought from the Entenmann's Bakery Outlet that I live by. Yes. I know. I walk by it everyday on my way home and fight off temptation all the time. Well, 95% of the time.

So, I took these nummies and broke them into pieces and pressed them into the top of the batter. The nice crunchiness and cinnamon flavor made this banana bread quite lovely!

Cinnamon Twisters Banana Bread (adapted from Amanda's Cookin')

2+ very ripe bananas
1/2 cup unsalted butter, butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour loaf pan.

Mash the bananas with a fork and place in a mixer bowl with softened butter. Mix on medium speed until well blended. Add in the vanilla, eggs, sugar and buttermilk and beat on medium speed until well blended.

Whisk together baking soda, salt and flour. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add flour mixture to banana mixture.

Pour batter into loaf pan. Break pieces of Entenman's Cinnamon Twisters and press into top of batter. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool slightly before removing and cooling completely.

Bake well and prosper!