Croissants

I can still vividly recall sitting in a bistro in Paris and biting into a freshly made croissant. I also remember how I groaned with delight after taking my first bite. That crispy, flaky outer layer and all those light and airy butter layers on the inside. It was heavenly.

A couple of weeks ago, I made crescent rolls. Having had success with them, and knowing that the overall technique was similar for croissants, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and give them a go.

Now while there may be some similarities in how the two rolls are made, like layering butter, folding the dough, making triangles, etc., croissants are way more time consuming and persnickety. The recipe I used (courtesy of Fine Cooking) is four pages long and a three day affair. 

I had been forewarned by others who had made croissants that they swore to never make them again, due to the time commitment and challenge of keeping the dough really, really, really cold. Factor in that I was going to attempt this while living in a tropical location, and I probably should have backed away. But no, it was just too tempting of a challenge to not try.

So if you have the time and inclination, follow me around the kitchen for The Great Croissant Challenge.

Day 1 - Make Dough

This was an easy step. All that needed to be done was to combine flour, cold water, cold milk, some sugar, a few tablespoons of softened butter, instant yeast, and salt. 

The dough was mixed on low speed in my stand mixer for three minutes, then on medium speed for three minutes. 

All the ingredients came together into a beautiful, silken ball of dough. 

Per the recipe, I transferred the dough to a lightly floured plate, sprinkled some flour on the top, wrapped it tight with plastic wrap and refrigerated the dough overnight.

As I said, easy-peasy, so far.

Day 2 - Make Butter Layer

Knowing from the recipe of what was in store for this day, I enlisted David's assistance at various points.

The first thing that needed to be done was to cut 10 ounces of butter into 1/2 inch slabs to form a 5 to 6 inch square. The butter square was placed on and covered with parchment paper, then whacked with the rolling pin so the butter slabs would adhere.

Once done, the butter layer was put in the fridge, while we tackled the dough that was made the day before.

Laminating the Dough

The dough was unwrapped and rolled into a 10 1/2 inch square. The butter layer was placed on top of the dough so that the points of the butter were centered along the sides of the dough.

The dough flaps were then folded over.

The edges of the dough were pressed together to make a tight seal, so the butter wouldn't escape.

Using the rolling pin, the dough was pressed to make it a bit longer initially, then rolled some more until it was 8 by 24 inches.

When we reached the desired length, the dough was folded over so there were three layers.

The buttery dough was put on a baking sheet, covered with plastic wrap, and placed in the freezer, along with the aluminium rolling pin, for 20 minutes. It was a good time to take a quick break on the porch.

Once the allotted time was up, the dough and rolling pin were taken out of the freezer. The whole rolling out to 8 by 24 inches, folding the dough into thirds, and freezing happened two more times.

It's at this juncture that I should mention that as the dough is really cold (a good thing), it's also very stiff. That means you really need to exert pressure while rolling to get the dough to the right length. Needless to say, your arms, shoulders, and neck muscles get a workout. And when you have skinny, chicken-like arms like me, well, let's just say that Ibuprofen was my good friend later that day.

After all the rolling and folding was done, the dough was put back on the baking sheet, covered with plastic wrap, and popped into the fridge overnight.

Day Three - Divide the Dough

I was feeling fairly confident at the end of Day Two and even started envisioning the delivery of awesome croissants to our friends, not to mention wolfing down one or five on my own. But before that dream could become a reality, there was lots of work to be done.

The first thing that needed to happen was to "wake the dough up" by firmly pressing the rolling pin along the length of the dough. This is done to begin to lengthen the dough.

Next we needed to roll the dough out to about 44 inches. Yes, you read that correctly. Forty four freakin' inches.

Thank goodness our island counter top is long. As an aside, you might notice that unlike the day before, all the bits and bobs that normally live on that counter space are gone. We wanted and needed as much room as possible.

David and I took turns rolling out the dough and we had to stop from time to time, because the dough was getting too warm. We folded the dough into thirds, popped it in the freezer for about 15 minutes and got to rolling again.

When we hit the 44 inch mark, David took over for the measuring and making of the triangles. I am hopelessly math challenged, I knew he was the man for the job.

It was at this point that things started getting a bit out of hand. The dough seemed awfully thin and it was getting too warm. Because of the thinness factor, not to mention the length, it was impossible to fold and freeze the dough. There was nothing else we could do but soldier on.

Shaping the Croissants

Once the triangles were cut, David used a paring knife to make a 1/2 inch notch in the center of the short side of each triangle. Each triangle was gently stretched to about 10 inches and rolled up.

Proofing and Baking the Croissants

An egg wash was brushed on each croissant and the rolls were left to proof for two hours.

After the proofing time was done, I had another wave of concern because I didn't see the layers of dough from the side. 

With figuratively crossed fingers, the rolls were placed in a pre-heated 425-degree oven for about 10 minutes.

They hadn't browned as much as they should, so I let them go for another 5 minutes.

They seemed to look okay at that point.

After they were left to cool a bit, but still warm, we tested one. Let's just say I wasn't instantly transported back to that Paris bistro. The outside was flaky enough but the inside was too doughy. 

Figuring I had nothing to lose at that point, I popped the rolls back into the oven to bake for another few minutes.

It didn't help. 

While edible, they certainly aren't croissants that I would proudly offer to friends. After doing more croissant research that afternoon, my theory is that not only did we let the dough get too warm, it also got overworked. I also don't think it needs to be rolled out to 44 inches. Something along the lines of 35 inches might to the trick, with more frequent visits to the freezer.

Will I attempt these again? You bet. But right now I need to pop a couple more Ibuprofen, take a deep breath, and psych myself up that I can make these happen.

Crescent Rolls

I was trying to figure out what my next baking challenge should be and decided to tackle homemade crescent rolls. I love tasting all those buttery layers, and, as I want to try my hand at making croissants, crescent rolls seemed like a good starting point.

I landed on this recipe (courtesy of Half Baked Harvest), donned an apron, and was ready to spend my morning in the kitchen.

The first step was to make dough and chill it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Once sufficiently chilled, the recipe calls to place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll the dough into a large rectangle. Now here's the thing -- we live in the tropics, so keeping the dough in a somewhat chilled state was going to be a challenge. 

I managed to get around this problem by first chilling a baking sheet in the freezer during the last 15 minutes the dough was chilling in the fridge. I turned the baking sheet upside down, dusted it lightly with flour, and it really helped keep the dough at a consistent temperature.

The other item that came to the rescue was my new kitchen toy -- an aluminum rolling pin!

It even has graduated measurements on both ends!

This beauty was also placed in the freezer with the baking sheet.

Here you can see the rolled out dough and it's spread with 8 tablespoons of softened butter.

 The next was to fold the dough into three layers.

I wrapped the dough in plastic wrap and placed it, the rolling pin, and the baking sheet in the freezer for 10 minutes.

When time was up, the dough was rolled out again into a rectangle, folded in three layers, then put back in the freezer for another 10 minutes. This process was repeated two more times. 

And just so you know, because the dough is chilled the rolling out process is a great workout for your wrists and arms. 

Once the final folding and freezing step was done, the dough was rolled out for the final time, cut into triangles, and rolled up.

The pan was covered with a towel and left to rise for about an hour.

When done resting, I brushed the rolls with egg wash, then the pan was placed into a pre-heated 400-degree oven for about 12 minutes.

And this is a sample of the lovely goodness that came out of the oven:

All those layers! And oh so buttery. I was very pleased with the result.

And let me just say that the rolling pin worked like a charm and worth every penny. It was true to its word of being non-stick, kept the chill for a good amount of time, and was a breeze to clean.

Looking forward to upping my game with croissants!

Oat and Wheat Sandwich Bread

I was getting a little bored making the same old recipe for sandwich bread. It's good and all that, but it was time to try something else. This recipe (courtesy of Smitten Kitchen) caught my eye, mostly for rolled oats being one of the ingredients.

Now a word of warning: this recipe is a two day affair. But with planning it is totally worth the time and effort.

To make the dough, it's just a matter of combining water, milk, honey, and yeast. An egg and oil gets added, then the flour*, oats and salt. Everything mixes together for about one minute, then the dough rests for 5 minutes. After resting, the dough gets mixed again for about two minutes.

After turning the dough out on a floured surface, knead it for just a bit, then pop it into a lightly oiled bowl.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough proof for about an hour.

Transfer the covered bowl to the fridge to ferment. This fermentation time can be just overnight or as long as five days, depending on when you want to bake the bread. I've just done it overnight thus far, but plan to try a three and five day ferment to see if there's a marked difference in taste.

Anyhow, when you're ready to bake the bread, divide the fermented dough into two equal pieces. Form the loaves and allow to proof for about an hour.

When this round of proofing is done, pop the pans into a pre-heated 350-degree oven and let bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

The end result is scrumptious! The crumb is tight, the crust is crunchy, and the rolled oats add a subtle texture to go along with the wheat flour. Providing my cooking and baking schedules allow, I plan to keep making this recipe on a regular basis.

*The recipe calls for 5 cups of whole wheat flour. I wanted to lighten it up a tiny bit and substituted 2 cups of all purpose flour, making the final amount for the wheat 3 cups. 

Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread

There's something about the aroma of cinnamon and sugar that always makes me feel warm, comforted, and hungry. When I saw this cinnamon bread recipe (courtesy of Tasting Table), I just knew it would be the perfect thing for my craving.

Before I started making the dough, I re-hydrated raisins in a little water. This way they would be plump and juicy. 

The dough preparation got underway by combining yeast, sugar, and water and letting it sit until foamy.

Milk powder, salt, re-hydrated raisins and flour were added and mixed together with a wooden spoon, until a shaggy dough formed. Then small pieces of softened butter were incorporated.

The dough was turned out on a lightly floured counter and kneaded for about 10 minutes. I formed the dough into a ball and put it into a lightly buttered bowl. Some plastic wrap went on the top and the dough was left to rise and double in size for an hour.

While the dough was on the rise, I combined some cinnamon and sugar and took a deep sniff. Immediate happiness. 

When the dough was ready, I flattened it out into a rectangle, then sprinkled the cinnamon and sugar combo on top.

Starting at the short end, I rolled the dough into a log, pinched the seam, and placed the dough log into a lightly greased loaf pan.

The plastic wrap was placed on top, and the dough rested for about another hour.

The now ready loaf was scored down the middle, brushed with some melted butter, and placed into a pre-heated 350-degree oven for 55 minutes.

The aroma coming from the oven was swoon-worthy and I want our kitchen to smell like that on a regular basis.

The recipe calls to let the bread rest for 30 minutes before cutting. Those were some of the longest 30 minutes of my life. But in the end, it was worth the wait. The outside has a lovely crunch and inside there are airy layers where the raisins and cinnamon sugar come together in a magical way. 

As tempting as it was to devour the whole loaf in one go, I wrapped the remainder in foil and put it in the fridge. The next day, we decided to have a couple slices for breakfast. When cutting the bread it felt almost on the stale side, but never fear. Once those slices were toasted all was well. 

I have a funny feeling this bread will become one of my regular, weekly baking items. YAY!

Donut Muffins

I have no idea as to why, but I've been on a baking jag over the last week or so. Maybe it's the cooler temperatures. Whatever the reason, I decided to try out this recipe for Donut Muffins (courtesy of allrecipes) and you should too. Chances are you have all the ingredients and the batter comes together in a snap.

All one needs to do for the batter is combine some sugar, nutmeg and butter in a large bowl. Stir in milk, then mix in baking powder and flour.

Pour the batter into a greased mini-muffin pan (24 count) and pop it in a pre-heated 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes.

But wait, it gets better! 

When the muffins are done and are cooling just a bit, pour some melted into a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon.

Take each muffin from its cup, dip it into the melted butter, and roll it in the cinnamon sugar mixture. 

These babies are highly addictive. They're slightly crunchy on the outside, but soft inside. Not too sweet, but the cinnamon and sugar are the perfect toppings. In less than an hour you could be enjoying these tasty morsels! Go for it.

Coconut oil Poundcake with Almonds and Lime Zest

Here's a fun fact about Belize: Lemons are a rarity. Yes, they make an occasional appearance in the markets, but they're not something you can find on a regular basis.

Limes on the other hand? These are plentiful. Matter of fact, we have four different varieties growing in our yard. So when I find a recipe that calls for limes, you bet I'm going to try it out.

This recipe (courtesy of Nutmeg Nanny) popped up in my Facebook feed and, after looking it over, I realized I wouldn't have to substitute a single ingredient! This a rarity.

The recipe makes one 9" x 5" loaf or four mini loaves. I went with the larger size.

One of the steps calls for melting the coconut oil in a small pan. I could skip this step, because I already had pourable coconut oil. However, when temps drop here, the oil will solidify and melting would come into play.

I put the oil into a large bowl, then whisked in sugar, milk, eggs, and lime zest. In a separate bowl, the dry ingredients -- flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt -- were whisked. The dry ingredients got folded into the wet and poured into the loaf pan.

To make the topping, the almonds were stirred together with some sugar and water. This mixture was sprinkled on top of the batter.

The cake was popped into a pre-heated 350-degree oven and left to back for an hour.

The final result:

This cake has a really nice balance of flavors and textures. The taste of coconut comes through, without overpowering the lime. The almonds provide a wonderful crunch. The crumb is dense, but moist. Best of all, it's not overly sweet.

If you're looking for a tasty snack, why not give this cake a go?

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Over the holidays, this cookie recipe (courtesy of Frieda Loves Bread) appeared on a regular basis. I loved the look of "crinkles" and made a batch. 

It's very important to not skip the step of chilling the dough, because the mixture will end up being too moist to shape into balls.

My cookie yield was about 2 1/2 dozen, due to the fact that I used a heaping teaspoon versus 2 tablespoons that the recipe called for.

In spite of the white and powdered sugars, these cookies are not overly sweet and stay moist for a good amount of time, if sealed in a zipped bag or some closed container. However, these guys are so good that you may not have any leftovers to deal with.

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

Last week, David had a yen for some oatmeal cookies. In rummaging through my online files, I found this recipe (courtesy of food.com) tucked away in my bookmarks. While I didn't have any raisins, I did have a bag of dried cranberries hanging out in the fridge.

Having worked with various cookie recipes in the past calling for raisins or other type of dried fruit, I learned the best way to bring out their flavor and texture is to rehydrate them. I popped the cranberries into a pot of simmering water and let them plump up. They got drained and set aside to cool.

Typical of most cookie recipes, I creamed together the softened butter with brown and white sugar. Because of the sweetness of the cranberries and the fact that honey would be added later, I only used 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar.

Next eggs were added, along with the honey and vanilla. Once everything was incorporated, the dry ingredients were added in two batches.

At this point, the cranberries were cooled off and stirred into the batter. After spooning the batter onto prepared cookie sheets, they were put into a pre-heated 350 degree oven. The recipe suggests a 9 - 11 minute bake time, but I found my cookies were done closer to 8 minutes.

The end result? Oatmeal cranberry cookie bliss. I was impressed that the cookies retained their chewiness, not only for that day, but in the days that followed. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies

I had some homemade mascarpone left from when I made a recent chicken dish. As we had already explored a savory way to use the cheese, I wanted to do something more on the sweet side. Enter Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies (courtesy of Food.com).

Spoiler Alert: these brownies are not low-cal. 

Things got started by chopping up some chocolate and melting butter in a saucepan. When the butter was hot, it was poured over the chocolate bits and stirred until the chocolate was completely melted.

Sugar and cocoa powder was sifted into the melted chocolate and given a stir to combine.

Next came beating in the mascarpone, eggs, and vanilla extract. When that was combined, flour and salt was then folded in.

My island counter top at this stage of the recipe:

Hey, sometimes it's good to be messy!

The brownie batter was poured into a pan and put into a pre-heated 325 degree oven to bake for about 45 minutes.

After they were taken out of the oven, the brownies cooled on a rack for about 20 minutes. 

Without a doubt, these are the best brownies I have ever made and eaten. Thick, rich, almost a fudge-like denseness. Simply over the top. You might note that recipe calls for making a ganache to be spread on top. I personally think it would be way too much sweetness. But, hey, that's just me. But no matter what you do, make these brownies posthaste!

Singapore's Roti John

I was looking for something different and, dare I say it, a bit on the healthier side for dinner this week. So when this sandwich (courtesy of Honest Cooking) filled with a veggie omelet, cucumber, curry, and hot sauce appeared on my Facebook feed, well, I just knew I had to make it.

But here's the thing -- the recipe calls for serving all those luscious veggie bits on a baguette. This is not the type of bread commonly found in Corozal. What to do? Of course, make my own.

I've made baguettes in the past, but wanted to see what other recipes were out there to play with. I landed on this one (courtesy of Food Network). 

After mixing together all of the ingredients, proofing the dough for about 30 minutes, it was time to shape the baguettes.

Whatcha' think?

Looking pretty fine, if I don't say so myself.

After resting for another 25 minutes, it was time for the oven, which was pre-heated to 450 degrees. I had put an oven-proof pan on the bottom rack during the pre-heat and, when ready to bake the bread, threw some ice cubes into the pan, quickly put the bread in, and shut the oven door.

The baguettes only needed about 15 minutes in the oven before they were done.

Ooooh...ahhh! Immediately out of the oven, the crust was nice and crispy. However, it started turning soft as the bread cooled. I'm fairly sure the reason this happened is that I should have cranked the heat up in the oven during the pre-heat stage, then lowered the temp down once the bread was put in. 

As I plan to make more of these in the future, there will be plenty of opportunities to perfect the crust.

Moving on...time to make the Roti John.

Here's what went into the prep:

On the cutting board, there are thin sliced cucumber, onion, and green pepper. Behind the cutting board, there's a bowl with some mayo mixed with a good hit of sriracha. Next to that is the bowl containing small chunks of onion, green pepper, and mushrooms. Next door is the bowl containing four lightly beaten eggs. Oh, and of course one of the baguettes.

With the prep out of the way, it was an easy thing to saute the chopped veggies, then add some curry powder, and chopped cilantro. When that mixture cooled, I mixed in the eggs.

The veggie/egg mixture was then ladled into a non-stick pan and the sliced baguette was pressed gently on top to sop up some of the egg. In about a minute, the egg mixture was done, so I flipped the baguette over to warm the other side.

When done, I finished the sandwich by schmearing the mayo/sriracha mix on one side of omelet, layered on the sliced onions, green pepper, and cucumber.

Voila!

In spite of the baguette not having a crispy crust, this sandwich was awesome! Having two textures of the veggies -- thin sliced and chunks -- was a treat, and that mayo? What a great pop of flavor. I will definitely be making this again. 

It's actually the type of sandwich I would love to see in some restaurant here. It's full of flavor, nothing is fried, and is easy to pull together using ingredients that are readily available. And while baguettes are not something everyone wants to make, I think this combo could work even on a toasted bun.

White Sandwich Bread

My bread baking bonanza continues. A couple of weeks ago, I knocked out a batch of focaccia, then shortly after decided to make ciabatta. Still looking for a challenge, I decided to try my hand at white sandwich bread.

I found this recipe created by Julia Child. There is nothing wild or crazy about the ingredients or the technique. If you have ever made a loaf of bread, you'll recognize the steps of proofing the yeast, adding the flour, a bit of butter, and salt and mixing everything together to form a smooth and elastic ball of dough.

There are two proof cycles for the dough, which will take a total of about 2 - 2 1/2 hours. I will say by the end of the second cycle the bread puffed nicely above the lip of the loaf pan.

The bread bakes in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

This is what mine looked like straight out of the oven:

It had good coloring and a nice, uniform shape. When the loaf had cooled, I sliced it to take a look at the crumb.

Not as uniform as I would like, but it was my fault in how I formed the loaf. The overall taste was good, far better than store bought. However, I was bit underwhelmed. Maybe it's because we don't normally eat white bread for sandwiches, so am not accustomed to the taste. I will say it does toast up well and, spread with a bit of homemade butter, it makes a nice snack.

Ciabatta

While I usually crank out a couple loaves of whole wheat sandwich bread every other week, I was in the mood to do something different. Enter ciabatta.

This bread takes some time to make, but the effort is totally worth it. The night before making the dough, I got the biga, or starter, going.

I combined 1 cup of flour, 1/8 teaspoon of instant yeast, and 1/2 cup of room temperature water. All that got stirred around, then the bowl was covered with cling wrap and left to stand overnight.

The next morning, I put the biga into the bowl of my stand mixer, then added 2 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of instant yeast, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, 3/4 cups of water, and 1/4 cup of milk. The water and milk were at room temperature.

Starting with the paddle attachment, the dough mixed at low speed until it was roughly combined and shaggy looking. It was unbelievably humid the day I made the dough, so I found that a bit more flour was needed to get the mixture to the right consistency. I scraped down the sides of the bowl, then continued mixing on medium-low speed until the dough started to collect on the paddle. I changed over to the dough hook and and kneaded the dough for about 10 more minutes.

Now came the fun part -- transferring the dough to a bowl. This dough is extremely sticky. I did find that spraying the pastry scraper with some cooking spray helped.

The bowl was covered with cling wrap and the dough was left to rise for about an hour.

When it had doubled in volume, I sprayed the scraper again, and folded the dough over itself. After turning the bowl 90 degrees, it got folded again. I kept turning the bowl and folding until eight turns were completed.

The cling wrap was put back on the bowl and the dough rested for another 30 minutes. Then the whole turn the bowl, fold the dough was done again, and another 30 minute resting.

This is what the dough looked like at this point in the process. It's a bit difficult to see, but if you look close you can see that bubbles have formed, which is a good thing.

I cut two pieces of parchment paper and put lots of flour on them, as well as liberally dusting the counter. 

After turning the dough out on the counter, I cut it in half, formed my loaves, and placed them on the parchment paper.

Before popping the dough into a pre-heated 450 degree oven, I spritzed the top of the loaf with water. Once the loaf was in the oven, it got spritzed again.

After baking for about 24 minutes, the bread was ready to come out of the oven.

I love the crispiness of the crust and chewiness inside. This isn't the type of bread recipe I plan to make all the time, but it certainly is a tasty change of pace.

Chocolate Roulade

I had been on the lookout for something different to make as a dessert. So when this recipe (courtesy of mon petit four) appeared on my Facebook feed, it looked so pretty that I knew I had to try it.

The first thing I did was to line my sheet pan with parchment paper. I find that applying a light spritz of cooking spray to the bottom of the pan helps keep the parchment paper in place.

Next I whipped up the egg whites until they achieved wet, soft peaks.

The egg whites got set aside and I started whisking the egg yolks and sugar until they turned pale yellow. Then I sifted and whisked the dry ingredients together.

The dry ingredients were combined with the egg yolk/sugar mixture, then the egg whites were folded in.

So far, all was going to plan. I poured the mixture into my prepared pan, smoothed it out, and popped the pan into a pre-heated 425 degree oven. After three minutes, I rotated the pan, then set the timer for three more minutes to test for doneness. The cake seemed to be done, but there wasn't as much spring to it as I had hoped. 

This is the point where the wheels started to fall off, a bit. 

Per the recipe's instructions, I let the cake cool for a couple of minutes, then turned it out on a kitchen towel that had been sprinkled with confectioner's sugar.

I peeled off the parchment paper, then oh-so-gently, rolled the cake in the towel and let it cool.

Once cooled, I unrolled the cake.

Dagnabit! The cake cracked. I suspect I might have over-baked by about 30-45 seconds. It was apparent, to even the most casual observer, the final outcome was not going to be overly pretty.

Moving on, I whipped up the cream, confectioner's sugar, and vanilla. That got spread on the cake.

It was time to roll it back up.

Okay, looking down on it, the cake didn't look too bad. But you really need to see it from the side.

Oy. Clearly lost some major style points on this one.

The upside? My faithful testers thought it tasted just grand and they really seemed to like the richness of the cream. Also, everyone seemed to be in favor of being guinea pigs again as I experiment with the cake side of things. Am thinking something more of a sponge cake might do the trick. Will let you all know how that goes in an upcoming post.