Two - A - Penny...

Well, you had to know I'd do an "authentic" version of hot cross buns after all the waxing poetic I did in my last post! Don't worry, everyone - I have no intention of writing anything nearly that long tonight. The wonderful virus known as Mr. Influenza has decided to take up more or less permanent residence in my body, so I've been spending less and less time in class, and more and more time in bed (though depressingly, not asleep :-( ).

Lucky enough for my dad, I had made the dough for these yeast-raised (as opposed to the other recipe's "quick biscuit" method) buns last week, and let it rise once before shaping and freezing the individual balls (without the paste crosses, obviously). Initially I had done that to facilitate the whole "kitchen share" dance my family has to do every holiday (between the preparation and last-minute cooking of the grand feast, my own, separately cooked and eaten meal and all the extra people in the house it gets hectic!) while still having fresh-baked HCB for my dad. Turns out that advance planning in this case was beneficial in more ways than one! Not only did it make these already simple buns so easy it bordered on inane (especially since I didn't screw them up even while reeling from a heavy dose of Gravol) but the looooong thaw-out / second rise time (twelve hours total, though it varies with each individual kitchen) just developed the dough's flavour and crumb even more.

When they were in the oven, my sister (who is coincidentally turning 18 this Sunday! Eek!) wandered into the kitchen and immediately got hit with a craving for cinnamon-raisin bagels. The spices and fruits coupled with the yeasty aroma really did add to the bagel-shop atmosphere, though the finished product (thankfully, in this case) didn't resemble those doughy rings in the least! In fact, these buns are probably the most indulgent bread I've made (though there are a couple others to give it a run for it's money!) with a hearty shot of buttermilk, a whack of creamy, melted butter and a delicious dose of brown sugar forming a delicious capsule for the sweet fruits and candied peel. Yes, I know... I personally hate candied peel of any kind (and I used orange here), but it is common in traditional HCB (I used an old copy my mom had in her files) and my dad likes it, so in it went. I couldn't bring myself to do the currants though... it's just not right... so instead I kneaded in dark Thompson raisins and dried cranberries that I had soaked overnight in water (yes, this was before my Amaretto epiphany - I definitely plan to try it net time though (or maybe Southern Comfort! Even Frangelico or a fruit liqueur would be awesome, I bet).

The cross is nothing more than flour and water mied into a thick gluey paste, next time I'dd add a touch more water since as you can see the decoration is a little less than dainty. I also opted out of glazing these, mostly because I was not in much of a mood to stand any more than was absolutely essential and als0 because my dad's not really a "sticky sweet" person.

I've got plans to finally finish my dad's birthday cake tomorrow too (why yes, I spoil him rotten!). I can't wait, especially since the design I have in mind will look SO pretty when it's done! Stay tuned for that, and for more upcoming goodies check out my Flickr photostream... my mom was awesome enough to buy me a 1-year pro account that I've finally finished organizing my files on now that I can access all 650+ shots!

Mom's Hot Cross Buns
Makes 12
2 1/4 tsp dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup lukewarm water
2/3 cup warm buttermilk
3 cups flour
1 cup spelt flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, melted
6 tbsp brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup candied orange peel

---Paste for crosses---
3 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. water

1. Place the yeast, sugar and water in a bowl.
2. Let it sit 5 minutes, until foamy.
3. Stir in buttermilk.
4. In another bowl, whisk together flours with the spices and salt.
5. Add 2/3 of the flour mixture to the yeast, stirring well.
6. Mix in the butter, brown sugar, egg and dried fruit and peel.
7. Add remaining dry mixture and mix until you have a sticky (but workable) dough.
8. Knead for about 5 minutes on a floured surface, until smooth and elastic.
9. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise for 1-1 1/2 hours, until doubled.
10. Punch down and divide into 12 balls, placing them in a 9”x13” baking dish, spacing close together.
11. Cover and let rise a further hour.
12. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
13. Mix the flour and water for the crosses, put the mixture in a zip-lock bag and snip a tiny piece off the corner.
14. Pipe a cross onto the top of each bun.
15. Bake 25-30 minutes, until golden.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 274.8
Total Fat: 4.9 g
Cholesterol: 28.4 mg
Sodium: 63.3 mg
Total Carbs: 52.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.6 g
Protein: 6.1 g

These are going over to next week's version of YeastSpotting at WildYeast.

One - A - Penny...

Like most things around the world of food blogging, I am pretty slow off the draw when it comes to the whole festive Easter-baking thing. Actually, come to think of it, our family never really did the whole Easter-baking thing - after (or during) four solid weeks of birthday parties, back-to-back cakes and the yearly Easter bunny visit, rich pastries like Colomba Pasquale, pound cakes and Babkas were not anywhere near the top of our list of things we wanted to eat. Generally, by the time we got to May, even chocolate-hoarding me was craving greens and a big glass of milk. I remember more than once going on a self-imposed Lenten-style fast after the festivities because I was so sick of all the rich stuff!

One thing I do remember always being in the house were hot-cross buns. My dad, as I recall, was really the only person who enjoyed eating these (I know I loathed the currants and candied peel), but nevertheless my mom would faithfully return from the weekly shopping once a year with a bag of them. They were always the same brand - I don't think another kind existed at the time (ironically, they've nixed the currants for raisins) - and my dad would spend the next week toasting them in our finicky Black & Decker toaster oven and topping them with butter, honey or (if we had it) an odd cinnamon spread. If he was particularly fortunate, he's even be able to snag an extra bag on sale after the holiday rush, and he'd freeze them for the next month or so's breakfast.

But we never made them. Mostly due to a sheer lack of time during that point in the year... bread making was my mom's thing, and being a working parent with two young kids and a house to maintain, anything requiring mass amounts of time in the house babysitting something inhuman and immobile was restricted to Christmas and maybe once over Summer break when us kids begged to make a plain loaf of bread. These days, the major breadmaker in the household is yours truly, and though I don't have a ton more time on my hands than my mom did a couple years ago, I'm a little bit freer as to how I spend my leisure hours. Being my mother's daughter of course, I never developed a fear of yeast. Rather, I developed a love for it - the smell of it's initial fermentation in it's little stoneware bowl, the poofing factor it gave to a perfectly balanced dough, and finally the appearance and aroma of the fresh loaves it produced out of the oven.

Soon I graduated from a plain, white-flour pan loaf to sweet cinnamon-raisin swirl, dark whole wheat and molasses, and eclectic beet-spiked loaves, along with pretzels and most recently, the quintessential bagel! Nowadays I make yeasted breads regularly (mostly in the form of the aforementioned bagels), but no longer am I restricted to packets of dried yeast - though they are by far the most convenient bread starters out there, and I still keep several packets of quick-rise as well as a small bulk bag of "regular" active dry in my freezer. Nope, last year I discovered the blissful flavour and texture that is sourdough, and my young starter has made it's way into a ton of my past creations since!

The best part about having the starter is that it gives you a perfect base ingredient for quickbreads in the form of toss-off. It was out of my frugal (okay, miserly) nature a few days back that I began scouring the internet for some simple recipes to use mine, as it had been a good week and a half since I had even looked at my poor starter and even longer since it had been given a "proper" feeding. I had been giving the beasties nourishment in the form of a spoonful or so of flour and water, and occasionally a pinch of sugar, but I hadn't tossed any of the slurry in ages. Luckily, my need for a toss-off use coincided with my discovery of a new blog, Frazgo Feasting, which just so happened to have a ton of sourdough recipes on the front page! A few minutes of poking around later, I had my sourdough answer (and a sudden urge to make hot cross buns) when I found Sourdough Dried Fruit Scones. The ultimate bonus was that because I could make these buns myself, I could control the mix-ins, and not only that but the recipe had no fat at all in it. I know... scones without fat? Cream? Butter? Was it even possible, I wondered... but what did I have to lose other than toss-off I'd be ditching anyway? I decided to give it a shot.

And boy, was I glad I did. Of course, I played around with the recipe a tad to make it a little bit more "Eastery", including soaking the fruit (raisins only, though who knows down the road!) in amaretto liqueur for three hours and making almond-laced royal icing crosses on top of the baked rolls. Surprisingly, they did rise very well, and kept tender (though not as flaky as butter scones) - the perfect sweet roll. I have it on good, maternal authority (the yeast goddess of my youth!) that even a couple days old, you can slice 'em, toast 'em and drizzle on some honey, and the taste can still kick the bagged bun's... well... buns.

Sourdough Dried Fruit Scones
Makes 12
1 cup 100% hydration sourdough starter (can be "old")
1/4 cup 1% milk
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsp brown sugar (more, if you like... for these particular buns I used about 1/4 cup)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup assorted chopped, dried fruit (soaked in water, juice or liqueur)
Milk for brushing

1. Combine starter, milk, flours, brown sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl.
2. Mix well, until it comes together into a ball.
3. Add the dried fruit and mix for 1-2 minutes.
4. Turn out onto a well floured board (I actually like to mix the dusting flour with cornstarch for a less "gluteny" result).
5. Pat dough into a rough square.
6. Cut into even pieces and place on silpat or parchment paper.
7. Let rest while you preheat the oven to 375F (the 15 minutes or so it will take is perfect).
8. Brush scones with milk and bake 30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes on the sheets, then move to a wire rack.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 151.4
Total Fat: 0.5 g
Cholesterol: 0.3 mg
Sodium: 5.3 mg
Total Carbs: 33.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.2 g
Protein: 4.0 g

I'm sending these to the YeastSpotting event at Susan's WildYeast blog this week.

Lemony Love

Holy creeholey, it's Tuesday! And I'm home sick, but such is life, right? After all, this could be a blessing in disguise - it's giving me some time to catch up on the 47 gazillion things on my to-do list, get a blog post in, and maybe... just maybe... even sleep!

One of the things I haven't done today was bake (I know, horrors!), but I did actually do some Easter prep yesterday (while avoiding homework, of course!). A week or so ago (maybe longer, I really can't remember much these days - the old age factor, right ;-) ?) I had an oh-so quiet, demure, hint of a request for some lemon-poppyseed muffins from a certain boy. Of course, I had to oblige - how can I not when he does so much stuff for me?? - and I made quick work of the batter-y goodness, with the plan to deliver the freshly baked puffs to him at work the next day.

Well, since life didn't really work out as planned (and I'm an airhead who forgets things like putting said muffins in the car), I had to freeze the little beauties for the weekend, when Andrew (being the insanely generous person he is) stopped by to take me out for a sushi dinner / movie date.

*Sidebar: Um, yeah, by the way, can you tell I like sushi?? Really though, it's the only "out" food I can eat safely - raw fish = safe... goooo figure. End sidebar.*

So anyways, yes. Muffins. Lemon. Love. They're all gone, and the next request has come in too (for the pumpkin-coconut cake... hey, I can get pictures this time!) - not to mention I made (and delivered on time!) him another batch of muffins last week!

Andrew's Lemon Cupcakes
Makes 18 regular cupcakes
1 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup egg substitute (such as Egg Beaters), or 2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup low-fat plain yogurt
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
1 1/2 tbsp poppy seeds

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin tins with liners or grease.
2. Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, beat egg substitute, oil, yogurt, lemon juice and lemon zest in a smaller bowl.
4. Add wet ingredients and mix lightly, then mix in poppy seeds gently.
5. Bake for 25 minutes, cool 10 minutes in the pan then turn out and cool completely.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 160.3
Total Fat: 6.8 g
Cholesterol: 0.9 mg
Sodium: 22.9 mg
Total Carbs: 22.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.1 g
Protein: 3.1 g

Really That Old...

So, I'm officially allowed to complain about my grey hairs and wrinkles now, right?

Well, I couldn't have asked for a better birthday! Not only did I get my hair all cut and dressed by my favourite stylist, but we went out bowling in the afternoon (where I had an awesome score even though I couldn't beat Andrew!) and I had my grandparents come to dinner with us at a sushi restaurant of all places! AND they both ordered rolls! Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks, eh?

Even though we were all full of rice, tea, (in the older farts' case, warm sake *wretch*) and assorted gifts from the sea, we still managed to clear enough room in our gullets for slabs of my delicious birthday cake! This was the best rendition of my infamous beet cake so far, in my opinion, and no doubt it will become a regular treat on my table - at least for celebrations!


I actually made a fair number of changes from last year's recipe, and now I don't know if I would change a thing more! One of the major swaps was nixing the Splenda for a new product that was graciously sent to me called Just Like Sugar. It's still a diabetic-friendly, calorie-free and low-GI sweetener that measures 1:1 to sugar (by weight, not volume), but JLS is all-natural and a whopping source of fibre: in 100g of the powder, there are 96 g of the good stuff!

The only things in the product (and they offer both a baking version - which I was sent - and a tabletop shaker) are vitamin C, chicory root, calcium, and orange peel, and for those of you observing Passover, it's kosher too! I know I sound like a total ad here, but honestly, if you can find it in your area (it's apparently an international product line), give it a shot in baking. I don't really reccommend it for table-sugar replacement unless you like the slightly bitter herbal taste of Stevia, but it seems to disappear once baked into stuff. The bonus with JLS in baking is that it stays hygroscopic like sugar - no dried out muffins or cake!

I'm hoarding my supply for now, even though you can PayPal order it online in the absence of a physical store... luckily enough I was generously given a full pound of the baking version, enough for four birthday cakes! Thanks so much, JLS - you made my (birth)day!

But enough of the product placement lauding, right? Here's the tasty goodness that was my 21st birthday cake, enjoyed by everyone who managed to snag a piece - and I took 2!

A Very Veggie Birthday Cake
Serves 12
398 mL canned sliced beets, drained
1/4 cup beet liquid
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
2.5 oz low-fat silken tofu
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp liquid honey
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 oz "Just Like Sugar" natural baking sweetener
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
--------------
1 (3-oz) package Fat-Free Jell-O Cheesecake Pudding mix
1 cup cold water
1/2 tbsp skim milk powder
1 cup Cool Whip Free, softened

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Lightly spray one 9 x 13" cake pan with PAM.
2. Put the drained beets into the food processor with beet liquid, water, pumpkin, tofu, vanilla, vinegar and honey. Process until very smooth.
3. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
4. Pour in the beet mixture and stir until well-combined.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Do not overbake!!
6. Cool on a rack 1 hour before frosting.

----Frosting----

1. Whisk together cold water and skim milk powder in a bowl.
2. Add pudding mix and beat until smooth. Let sit 5 minutes.
3. Add Cool Whip, folding in until incorporated.
4. Chill 20 minutes before frosting cake.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 101.0
Total Fat: 0.8 g
Cholesterol: 0.1 mg
Sodium: 126.0 mg
Total Carbs: 31.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 13.0 g
Protein: 3.1 g

Aww, look at us! Going on 4 years, and still stronger than ever! Andrew must have read my mind for this birthday too - we're going to see Great Big Sea this summer!!! I can't wait!! Love you hon, and thanks to EVERYONE for their well wishes!

Clinging Onto My Youth

Well, tomorrow's the big day - yup, as of 10:28 on April 4, 2009, I will officially be the age of majority worldwide. And the funny thing is, I don't particularly care all that much about my own birthday... in all honesty, I'd much rather spend my time baking and decorating cakes and other goodies en masse for everyone else than churning out a single, otherwise unspectacular excuse for a celebratory birthday sweet. Gone are the birthdays past, filled with La Rocca fudge cakes and pizza. Yup, tomorrow will be (a new incarnation of) the chocolate beet cake and sushi.

But enough about tomorrow's squanderings. It is, after all, almost tomorrow! I made these cookies a while back as a total excuse to expend some academic stress energy (and get some more use out of my awesome SilPats) while cleaning out the pantry a bit. An added bonus was being able to send in some sugary goodness to mom's office and the gals at school while experimenting willy-nilly! At the risk (or guarantee) of sounding like a braggart, I pretty much knew these cookies would be a total hit. Dark chocolate - always a hit. Peanut butter chips - yup, pretty much don't know any PB haters out there! And the twist, which really was the screwball in terms of how it would behave in the cookies - dehydrated banana chips. I crushed them up a little bit, so they'd still add texture but not be slabs in the dough balls, and they softened just slightly so that they were mostly chewy but still a touch crisp on the edges. The banana flavour balanced perfectly with the ever so slightly salty cookie dough, bitter chocolate and rich peanut butter too.

Though my cookie-eating days may be over (at least for the moment) I'm sure that my inner child would find comfort in these morsels. Stay tuned, folks... the next post (no promises when, now!) will be the version nouveau of SusanV's beet cake (which I have officially take over, *evil laugh*). Eventually I'll even wind up catching up with all the other stuff I've done too!

Triple - Chip Cookies
Makes 26
1 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup miniature (if you can find them) bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup banana chips, lightly crushed

1. Whisk together the flours, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In another bowl, beat together the melted butter and sugars until well blended.
3. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk.
4. Gently mix in the dry ingredients until just blended.
5. Fold in all the chips.
6. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, chill 12 hours.
7. Preheat the oven to 325F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, but do not grease.
8. Space cookies about 2" apart on sheets.
9. Bake 15 minutes.
10. Cool completely on baking sheets.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 177.6

Total Fat: 8.1 g

Cholesterol: 30.1 mg

Sodium: 54.5 mg

Total Carbs: 24.7 g

Dietary Fiber: 1.3 g

Protein: 2.7 g