Wednesday, February 24, 2010

No-Knead Bread

I must be the last person I know to (not) try her hand at no-knead bread. Even my sister, who is busier than six people, manages to keep a sourdough and use it to make no-knead loaves. I have no excuse. Better late than never, right?
It really is as easy as they say, although I think it takes a bit of experience to get exceptional results. For a first go I was very happy. My loaf had a nice crust; the interior had the right shine and a good tooth. It had a minor rising issue though, maybe because the dough was too wet, or I didn't let it proof long enough, or possibly because the recipe calls for instant yeast and I used the same amount of active dry and Andrew Whitley says that you need twice as much active dry as instant and twice as much fresh yeast as active dry. So there's something to try next time.
I'm also curious to try adding some vital wheat gluten flour. I read an article about making whole grain no-knead breads and the author suggested adding 1-2 tsp. vital wheat gluten per cup of flour, but I wonder if it wouldn't help a white loaf too.

No-Knead Bread

adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery

  • 3 cups bread flour
  • 1/4 tsp. instant yeast
  • 1 1/4 tsp. salt
  • In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
  • Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
  • Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
  • At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
This is the recipe as it was emailed to me by Y., who knew J. in his Sullivan Street days. I thank them both.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Anise Biscotti

These cookies owe their lives to the death of my car, the birth of baby F., and to my father's continued generosity. To the death of my car because had it not died I would have done the milk bottle toing and froing to the farm myself and not relied on my father to do the same. To baby F. because had he not been there to visit I wouldn't have starting baking early this morning in order not to show up at H.'s empty-handed. And to my father's generosity firstly for doing the toing and froing and secondly for secretly leaving Franco Galli's Il Fornaio Baking Book on my table while I was busy decanting the milk. A lucky set of circumstances leading to a most delicious batch of biscotti.

Anise Biscotti

adapted from The Il Fornaio Baking Book

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 heaping Tbs. anise seeds
  • 1 1/2 cups sliced raw almonds
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp. anise extract, if you have it (I didn't)
  • Preheat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.
  • In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, anise seeds, and sliced almonds.
  • Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat at medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition then beat in the extract(s). Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture a third at a time, again beating after each addition. Continue beating until a smooth dough forms.
  • Turn dough out onto a floured work surface. Divide in four and roll each portion into a log about a foot long and 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place logs on baking sheets and gently flatten them until they are only about 1/2 inch thick. Leave a few inches between each log to allow for spreading.
  • Bake about 18 minutes, placing the bottom baking sheet on the higher rack and vice versa half way through, until logs are golden brown. Remove from oven and allow logs to cool on the baking sheets until they can be handled, about 10 minutes. Leave the oven on.
  • Transfer logs to a cutting board and, using a bread knife, cut them diagonally into 1/2 inch slices. Arrange the slices on baking sheets with a cut side down and return to oven. Bake until the edges are golden, 8-10 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and allow to cool completely before serving. Store in airtight containers up to 2 weeks.
Why are they most delicious? Because they have a crunch and stand up to dipping, but they don't break your teeth. Because they're delicately anise flavored (being short ingredients can so often be a blessing). Because the almonds give them that inimitable nutty texture and flavor. Because they're small enough to have two without feeling a single pang of guilt.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Chocolate Ginger Cake with Orange Buttercream

My copy of Joy of Cooking was given to me by my father, who I suspect got it at William James, one of the best used book stores I've ever been in. The previous owner was in the habit of making small exes in pencil next to certain recipes. I wasn't sure if (s)he was simply marking off the recipes (s)he'd tried or if they meant something more than that. There was one such "X" next to the gingerbread recipe. Having baked the gingerbread, with the addition of a little cocoa powder, I can now say that the exes are reserved for those recipes that bear repeating.
It's a simple cake, a quick cake, a seemingly fool-proof cake. It bakes well at any size--I made half a dozen small heart cakes, a 6-inch round cake, and a loaf cake out of one batch of batter. It is moist and fluffy and gingery and if you don't have quite enough honey or molasses it doesn't seem to mind.

Chocolate Ginger Cake with Orange Buttercream

adapted from The Joy of Cooking

  • 1/2 cup butter, melted and allowed to cool
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 1/2 cups pastry flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 3 Tbs. cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 cup light molasses
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1 cup hot water
  • 1 Tbs. orange zest
  • blank
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. soft butter
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 Tbs. milk
  • 1/2 tsp. orange extract
  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour the pans you intend to use and set aside (the recipe was intended for a 9 x 9 x 2-inch pan).
  • In a large bowl combine the melted butter, sugar, and egg and beat well.
  • Sift the flour into a medium bowl and add to it the baking soda, cocoa powder, ginger, cinnamon, and salt. Mix to combine.
  • In a quart measuring pitcher, combine the molasses, honey, hot water, and zest.
  • Add the flour mixture and honey/molasses mixture alternately to the butter mixture blending well after each addition.
  • Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If baking all the batter in one pan this will take about an hour. Allow to cool slightly in the pan and, when you see the edges of the cake shrinking away from the pan, turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
  • For the buttercream: place all ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat with the paddle attachment until pale and spreadable.
Since I didn't have as much honey or molasses as the recipe called for, my cake turned out pleasantly not too sweet. The butter cream, then, wasn't gold on the lily, but a nice contrast. I can also see serving this cake un-iced, warmed, with a generous dollop of whipped cream.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Sour Cream Chai Cake

I wish I could tell you that I've been so slow to post because I was off solving some major world problem. But I wasn't. I wasn't even solving a minor world problem, for that matter. I've just been in a bit of a dwaal, which will hopefully lift as spring approaches. Until then I'll have to find comfort in baking cakes like this rich, moist sour cream chai cake.
You might recognize this recipe. I used a chocolate version of it to make ornaments last December. I noticed last night that a jar of cream had gone sour in the fridge and instead of tossing it I thought I'd make cake. Nigella's sour cream chocolate cake popped instantly to mind, only I didn't want to make chocolate cake. I wondered if I could just leave out the cocoa, so I did, and it worked.
The result was an unbelievably rich, moist, warmly spiced cake. It's the sort of cake that needs strong tea or coffee to cut its richness. I have a feeling it is also the sort of cake that is even better the next day.

Sour Cream Chai Cake

adapted from Nigella Lawson

  • 1 1/3 cups flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp. ground chai spice
  • 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. butter, soft
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. sour cream
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour cake pans or a ring mold and set aside.
  • Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chai spice in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the butter and, using the paddle attachment, combine it into the flour mixture. In another bowl or a quart measuring pitcher, whisk together the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Add slowly to the flour mixture and beat until thoroughly mixed.
  • Bake for half an hour. Allow to cool slightly in the pan then turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely. Transfer to serving dish and dust with powdered sugar.
I like always to have something on hand to offer in case someone pops over unexpectedly. It will be a lucky popper-over indeed who gets offered this cake.