I've been lurking on this site for awhile and decided to register so I can start keeping a log of what I make. My husband loves when I make the Italian bread listed under the Favorite Recipes, so here's how my first batch came out. I melted a little butter on the top after removing it from the oven.
I've been doing quite a bit of baking this weekend. In addition to the Grape Harvest Focaccia I've blogged about yesterday, today I made the potato pizza from Maggie Glezer's "Artisan Baking". The recipe calls for a very wet dough -- more water than flour, actually. You knead the dough using the paddle on your stand mixer for 20 whole minutes. In the process it miraculously transforms from this:
To this:
Today I decided to bake the Grape Harvest Focaccia from Daniel Leader's new book, Local Breads.
Since I prefer my doughs to be lean where possible, I decided to make it without the 1/3 cup of olive oil in the dough that the recipe calls for. I only used about half a tablespoon of olive oil for spreading over the dough before baking. I also increased the amount of red grapes. The amount called for in the recipe didn't seem to be enough.
Some french bread I put together quickly for a pot of black bean soup. Not world class bread, but great for mopping up the soup.
My Christmas Stollen. I used the Peter Reinhart recipe. I changed a few things, like using Amaretto instead of Grand Marnier and dried cranberries instead of raisins. I was very pleased with the results.First off I must admit something. A little while back JMonkey asked me if I still had any of my old starters going, and I told him no, they had all been ditched. Well, come to find out, that was not entirely true. Lurking in the way back portions of the lower fridge a Cambro container of starter was found. So off to the internet to see what month it was when I started it. It appears to be from back in May. Its a little grey (well maybe more than a little) , but its still sealed nicely. Its got a bunch of hooch on top, so I go to my Crust and Cr
Well, I have picked up where I left off and am having a great time.
I tried to make stollen. It was my first attempt, and I think it was ok, but I know what I will change for next year.
Toast the almonds, omit the mixed peel, add more Marzipan perhaps and change some of the fruit I put in. I used apple brandy to soak the fruit which was lovely but could have used more fruit.
[/center]
Even though Santa Lucia Day is 13 December, I made Lucia cats so we could have them for breakfast on Christmas morning.
I now know that I should have placed them further apart on the pan so they wouldn't grow together.As I promised, here's a picture of the one stollen that has survived the initial onslaught. This one, unlike its predecessor, remained mostly intact while it baked.
Inspired by Susan's account in her blog, I decided to make Panettone as presents for friends for the holidays.
Panettone
I hope it isn't too late to add a recipe? I see that TT loooooooves butter so here is a real artery clogger for you. I make it every year to give as gifts because it is easy and tastes wonderful. When I arrived in America in 1967 one of my first friends was a Scottish woman and this is her authentic shortbread recipe.
Margaret McLaren's Scottish Shortbread.
3 sticks butter, at room temperature, 1 heaping cup of powdered sugar, 1 egg yolk, 4 cups ap flour, sifted.
