Brioche a Tete

Perfect Brioche a Tete

I have been obsessed lately with watching the Great British Baking Show. I absolutely love Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood! They have inspired me to get in the kitchen and try things that I always thought were too hard for me. I think croissants and brioche are scrumptious and now I can make them at home any time I want! I have to say that these rolls were so soft and fluffy and buttery tasting  that I just can't get enough of them. They taste so special I want to make them every time I have company!
This is Paul Hollywood's recipe and instructions that I saw on the master class on Netflix if anybody wants to go watch it for the perfect instructions on how to make these.
I did not use the proper tins for baking these buns just a Texas sized muffin tin that I already had in my kitchen.

500 gr. Bread flour or 4 cups
50 gr. Sugar, granulated or 1/4 cup
7 gr. Salt or 1 1/4 teaspoon
10 gr. Fast acting yeast or 31/2 teaspoons
140 ml. Whole milk room temperature
5 Eggs room temperature
250 gr. Butter, unsalted and softened or 2 sticks plus 2 teaspoons
1 egg for an egg wash

Put the flour in the mixing bowl with a dough hook then add the salt and yeast on opposite sides of the bowl and give it a slight mix not lettting the yeast and salt touch each other. Now add the milk, eggs and sugar. Mix with dough hook on low for about 5 minutes. When the dough makes a ball turn up to medium speed and mix for another minute or so.
Add the butter in a big chunk in the middle of the dough and mix on medium speed for 6 minutes.
Move dough into a clean bowl and cover with cling wrap and refrigerate over night.
Roll out dough on floured surface making a cylinder or roll. Cut it into six pieces and out of those pieces pinch off some dough to make the round tops. Using your hands as a cage roll the dough around with floured hands to make a ball. You will have six large balls and six small balls. Place the big ball in a tin and then put the small ball on top by making a slight indentation with your finger in the large ball with it being slightly sticky and then set the small ball on top.
Cover with a bag, I use a clean trash bag, and let rise at room temperature until at least doubled in size. About 45 minutes to an hour.
While they are rising, preheat your oven to 400. Make an egg wash and brush the tops before they go in the oven. Don't let the egg was run down the sides or the buns will stick and they won't come out of the tin properly. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm!

Molasses Cookies

Its December and I am trying out a lot of different recipes to compare and see which ones are keepers. Funny thing is that it seems I always come back to my old recipes that have been handed down from my family members.

This recipe came from my mom and I think someone gave it to her when she was teaching school. I remember I brought these cookies to a swim meet during the holidays and one of the officials said that it was his favorite cookie and he hadn't had one that tasted like his grandmothers for a long time and that this one really hit the mark!

I have so many versions I am posting this one so I don't forget again which one is my favorite.

3/4 C unsalted butter

1 C brown sugar

1/4 C molasses

Beat this together for 2 min. at med. high speed until well incorporated.

1 lg egg

Add egg and beat well.

2 C flour

1 t baking soda

3/4 t ground ginger

1 t cinnamon

1/8 t ground cloves

1/2 t salt

Mix together the dry ingredients. Add to wet ingredients and beat until combined on stir. Or low.

Refrigerate a bit then roll into 1" balls or slightly larger but not 2". Place on cookie sheet and then flatten slightly with a sugared bottom of a glass. Then sprinkle with a bit of sugar and bake for 8 min. at 375 degrees. Let cook a couple of min. then place on a wooden surface to cool completely.

Mini Pecan Pies

I remember my Mom making these during the Christmas holidays but I make them all year round now. I think the ratio of filling to pastry is just perfect and not too sweet like a regular Pecan pie can be sometimes.They are the perfect size for a party and super simple to make!

Pastry
1C flour
1/4t salt
1/2C butter
41/2 oz. cream cheese
Beat together with mixer and chill

Filling
1 lg slightly beaten
3/4C brown sugar
1t vanilla
1T melted butter
1t bourbon
1C chopped pecans
Mix egg and br. sugar then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Roll the dough into inch balls and then pat the balls into a shell in the mini muffin tins. Using a teaspoon add the filling 3/4 the way up the shell.
Bake at 425 for 10 min. Or until the dough is a golden brown. Cool slightly then remove to a wire rack to cool.

Christmas Muffins

There muffins can be made big or small but men and boys alike seem to love the mini muffins best. I have fond memeories of my brother popping theses things in his mouth by the dozens. They are yummy muffins rolled in melted butter and then in a sugar and cinnamon mixture. Even though I make these during the holidays they are delicious any time of year. I literally have men beg me to make theses things for them.
The muffins make great give away treats during the holidays as well as a yummy party treat. Don't ever bother making a single recipe or you will regret it!

1/3C butter
1/2C sugar
1 lg egg
1 1/2C all purpose flour
1 1/2t baking powder
1/2t salt
1/4t nutmeg (freshly grated)
1/2C milk
1t vanilla

Topping
6T melted unsalted butter
1/2C sugar
2t cinnamon

Grease and flour either regular muffin tins or mini muffin tins. 18 large or about 36 mini.
Mix together the butter sugar and egg. Mix the dry ingredients and add alternately with milk. Add vanilla.
Fill muffin tins 2/3 full with batter.
Bake at 350 for 15 min. for mini muffins and 20-25 min. for regular sized muffins.
Melt butter. Mix cinnamon and sugar together. You can add more cinnamon it should look like the sand at south padre island.
Remove from pans immediately and roll in melted butter then roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Cool on racks or serve warm.

Eggnog Pound Cake

Ok so this cake is the quintessential Christmas cake because if Christmas had a taste this would be it! The moment you bite into it I swear you hear Christmas carols. It's a pretty cake too with a swirl that you can see when you cut it.

I found this recipe a long time  ago and I think it was in some kind of southern living magazine or cookbook that I came across and no longer have. This is the cake I make every year that looks adorable on my cake stand and is a real crowd pleaser. In fact, Scarlet, my youngest, called for the recipe the other night to take her work Christmas party. Now it will be here and all my girls can access it!

1C unsalted butter

3C sugar

6 lg. eggs

3C flour

3/4t baking powder

1/2t salt

1C eggnog

2t vanilla

2T brandy

1t cinnamon

3/4t nutmeg

1/2t allspice

1/4t cloves

Grease and flour bunt pan.

Beat butter and sugar 5-7 min. add eggs one at a time beating after each. Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Do not add the spices now. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the eggnog beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.beat at low speed. Stir in the vanilla and brandy.

Pour half the batter in to the bundt pan and add the spices to the remaining batter and pour evenly on top of the batter in the pan. Take a butter knife and swirl in the top batter.

Bake at 350 for 50-55 min. or until a wooden toothpick comes out almost clean with a few crumbs attached but not wet.

Let the cake cool on wire rack for 10 min. Then invert on a plate.

1C powdered sugar

2T plus 1t cream

Mix together and drizzle over warm cake.

Chocolate ice Cream with honey and stevia

I have been on the search for the yummiest ice cream recipe made without any refined sugar and after many batches of not so yummy ice cream I have finally perfected a delicious recipe. All the other ice cream recipes I have tried ended up being too hard to even get a spoon to sink into it and impossible to get out of the container after being in the freezer over night.
This ice cream is soft and creamy even after being in the freezer for days!
I have the kitchen aid ice cream maker attachment and that is what I used to make this recipe.
I am pre diabetic and am always looking for dessert recipes that I can use stevia in and still have them turn out right. This recipe also has honey in it but not enough to shoot up my blood sugar. I am not on any medication and manage my blood sugar with diet only. I am so excited to have something chocolate to eat!

2 C heavy cream
1 1/2 C whole milk
7 large egg yolks
1/3 C Hershey's Cocoa powder
2 t vanilla
2 T Truvia
3 1/2 T real honey ( runny not creamed)
1 T amaretto or 1t cinnamon

Put the cream and milk in a pot and scald it over med low heat. That is when it skims over and there are tiny little bubbles around the edges. Do not boil!
Beat the egg yolks with the cocoa, vanilla, Truvia, and honey in a bowl.
Temper this mixture by adding the cream and milk to the egg mixture in a steady stream while whisking continuously so as not to scramble the eggs. Not the whole thing though, after about a cup you can then whisk the egg mixture back into the pot with the scalded cream and milk.
Put back on the stove at med low heat and cook stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon. You can test by running your finger across the back of the spoon and if it leaves a line it's ready. Take off the stove and add the amaretto if you are using it. Pour through a sieve or strainer into a container and cover with plastic wrap against the mixture.
Refrigerate overnight. Pour into an ice cream freezer and churn for about 30 minutes.
Transfer to an air tight container to freeze harder. You can also eat it soft serve style right out of the ice cream freezer.

Biscuits

Right now I am obsessed with biscuit recipes. I have been reading the Lonesome Dove series and hearing Gus talk about making his famous sourdough biscuits got me drooling and thinking. Now I have been making biscuits all of my adult life and I do have some favorite recipes that I rely on but I have never had a sourdough biscuit and I have decided that this is something I have to try.

I needed a starter of course and this takes time when you are beginning from scratch. I don't want to buy one and I don't want to use commercial yeast either so there will be some trial and error happening for a while I'm afraid. Naturally, while this is going on and with biscuits on my mind I have decided to try some other recipes that have always intrigued me in the interim.

I mostly try to post recipes that are my own but these are not and I am putting them here because as I have said before this is an online recipe book for my daughters to access from all over the world. I too am traveling more than I thought I ever would and would like to have my recipes handy!

While waiting on my sourdough starter, I tried the Chuck Wagon Biscuits from Southern Living Hertitage Breads cookbook. They are spectacular! These biscuits are light and fluffy and will remarkably last for three days continuing to be moist and tender. Now I usually make biscuits for breakfast but this recipe needs a rise time so I will only make these as dinner biscuits. Pictures will come later because when I took these out of the oven my realtor had just come by to tell me I had an offer on my house which I am trying to sell in order to move to NYC to live with Micheal and Alexandra, my middle daughter and son in law. In all the excitement over the offer I forgot to take pictures!

My favorite morning biscuits are a cream biscuit and I have seen this recipe floating around in numerous places so I can't say where I originally found it. I am going to place it here and will add pics the next time I make them. I am also going to add the buttermilk biscuit recipe I tried this morning because they had such a good flavor and turned out just as they should with a nice crumb. I put together this recipe from perusing several different recipes from my cookbooks and the Internet. I have another post about my honey butter biscuits which are a drop biscuit and is a perfect accompaniment to fried chicken. I think the chuck wagon biscuit goes perfectly with chicken fried steak.

Chuck Wagon Biscuits
1 pkg. rapid rise yeast
1/2 cup tepid water
1 C buttermilk
1/4 C plus 1T vegetable oil
31/2 C flour
11/2T baking powder
1/4 t soda
1/8 C sugar
3/4 t salt
Combine yeast and water in a small mixing bowl stirring to dissolve. Let stand 5 min or until bubbly. Add buttermilk and oil to yeast mixture and stir well.
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl add buttermilk mixture stirring with a fork until moistened. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead 3-4 times. Shape dough into 2 in balls place 1/8 in apart in a well greased cast iron skillet. Cover and let rise in a warm place(85degeees) for an hour and a half or until doubled in bulk.
Bake at 425 for 12 min or until golden brown.

Buttermilk Biscuits
2 C flour
2 t baking powder
1 t sugar
1/2 t salt
1/4 C plus 1T butter
1/2 t baking soda
1C buttermilk
Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender and mix until it resembles coarse meal. Disolve soda in the buttermilk beating with a fork. Pour into dry ingredients and mix with fork until moistened.
Turn out onto floured aurface and knead about 15 times. Roll out 3/4in thick and cut with 3in biscuit cutter and place on a greased baking sheet. You can reroll out the dough for more biscuits.             Bake at 450 for 12 min.
It makes about 6

Cream Biscuits
2 C flour
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
1C heavy whipping cream
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat whipping cream until soft peaks form(some recipes do not call for beating the cream but I think it makes them a bit lighter). Stir in flour mixture until blended. Turn dough out on lightly floured surface and knead 10-12 times. Roll out 3/4 in and cut with 3in biscuit cutter. Place on greased baking sheet.
Bake at 450 for 10-12 min. It makes for 6-8 biscuits.