Pistachio Waffles

It’s been a long time since my last post. I can’t claim I haven’t been cooking or baking, but there just hasn’t been anything really inspired lately, and I didn’t want to waste time writing it up. I was at Trader Joes a while ago, and discovered they’d started selling shelled pistachios, and so I bought some (usually buying them shelled is overly expensive). Since then I’ve been looking for a good way to use them, and this weekend I found one. I had some folks over for brunch and I decided to make some pistachio waffles. I used a recipe for hazelnut waffles I got off of culinate, but I swapped the hazelnuts out for pistachios. I thought these waffles were really good, the flavor of the nuts came through subtly. The waffles themselves are not overly sweet, and so are well complimented by sliced bananas, or maple syrup.

Pistachio Waffles

1¾ cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1¾ cups milk

3 eggs, separated

6 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla extract (I used Fiori di Sicilia, if you want the same citrus undertone, add a little orange zest)

¼ tsp. cream of tartar 1 cup chopped pistachios

1. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt

2. In a separate bowl, Whisk together the milk, egg yolks, melted butter, and vanilla

3. In the bowl of a mixer, combine the egg whites and cream of tartar, and beat until soft peaks form

4. Mix together the flour and milk mixtures until just combined. Stir in the chopped nuts. Add the egg whites, and fold until just mixed, you should still see streaks of egg white.

5. Cook according to your waffle makers directions. These are best made crispy. Serve with bananas, maple syrup, and chopped pistachios

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

So, this is a terrible picture, sorry about that. But I baked these on the morning after my Halloween party, and had to have them ready for later that morning. A friend of mine had a birthday brunch recently, and so I decided to try this recipe for pumpkin cinnamon rolls. The pictures and the recipe sound so promising, but these just didn’t wow me. Just as likely it was my own fault, and not the fault of the recipe. I did make mine miniature, and so maybe the result was that I overbaked them or something. But, whatever it was, I thought they were tough, and not particularly sweet. All and all, I don’t think I would make these again.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Makes

Dough

8 ounces (1 cup) cooked pumpkin or winter squash puree (canned pumpkin)

2 large eggs

1 to 2 ounces (2 tablespoons – 1/4 cup) lukewarm water*

2 ounces (1/4 cup) soft butter

10 1/2 ounces (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour

7 ounces (1 3/4 cups) white whole wheat flour

1 ounce (1/4 cup) nonfat dry milk

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

few grates of fresh nutmeg

1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) dark brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons instant yeast

*Start with smaller amount of water and adjust as needed.

Filling

5 1/4 ounces (3/4 cup) dark brown sugar

1 3/4 ounces (1/4 cup) granulated sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

pinch each of salt, freshly grated nutmeg, and ground cloves

2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

2 1/2 ounces (1/2 cup) crystallized ginger, minced

2 1/2 ounces (1/2 cup) dried cranberries

2 1/2 ounces (1/2 cup) pecans, chopped and toasted

Glaze

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

2 tablespoons real maple syrup

1. Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients together by hand or mixer until you’ve made a soft, fairly smooth dough. You can dump it all into the bowl at once and then mix until the sticky dough holds its shape.

2. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 1/2 hours, until it’s almost doubled in bulk.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased surface. Gently deflate the dough and then roll it into a 14″ × 22″ rectangle. The dough will be thin.

4. Mix the sugars, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and cloves together for the filling. Brush the melted butter over the dough and then evenly sprinkle on the filling, leaving one short edge free of filling (to make it easier to seal when rolled into a log). Gently press the filling into the dough. Sprinkle the crystallized ginger, dried cranberries, and pecans atop the filling.

5. Starting with the short end that’s covered with filling, roll the dough into a log. Cut the log into 12 rolls using a serrated knife or dental floss.

6. Place the rolls into a lightly greased 9″ × 13″ pan that’s at least 2″ deep (or 2 round cake pans). Set aside, covered, to rise for 1 hour, or until the rolls look puffy.

7. Bake the rolls in a preheated 375°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until they’re lightly browned and feel set. Remove them from the oven, and set them on a rack. Turn them out of the pan, and allow them to cool for about 15 minutes. Towards the end of the cooling time, make the glaze.

8. To make the glaze, whisk together the sugar and maple syrup. I added a little milk as well to thin it out. Drizzle over the cinnamon rolls.

Brunch Food

I had friends over for a potluck brunch this morning. Earlier in the week the weather got really nice, and it put me in the proper mood (of course today it was cold and rainy). Brunch is one of my favorite meals, mostly because it is an excuse to eat vastly oversugared breakfast foods, along with some fruit, and call it a meal. In keeping with that theme, I decided to make pecan rolls. I followed Dorie Greenspan’s recipe in “Baking From my Home to Yours.” Her recipe, however, calls for a full recipe of Golden Brioche dough to be made, and then only half of the dough to be used. I was having enough people over that I wanted to use the full amount of dough, so I made one regular recipe of Honey Pecan Rolls, and one recipe of Chocolate Almond rolls. I thought both turned out really well. The pecan rolls were sticky and caramely, and the almond rolls were rich and chocolaty (I didn’t make the almond rolls in a caramel glaze). 

I did find that the rolls baked faster than the recipe called for. The recipe also said to knead the dough until it pulls away from the bowl, and after 20 minutes in the mixer, I found this still hadn’t happened. The rolls tasted great anyway though, so I didn’t worry too much about it. I did find that the almond buns got a little burnt on top, because they didn’t have a glaze to sit in. I’m not sure what can be done about that. Fortunately covering them in glaze helps to hide it.

Golden Brioche Dough

Makes 2 loafs

2 packets active dry yeast (each packet of yeast contains approx. 2 1/4 teaspoons) 

1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch water 

1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch whole milk

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 

2 teaspoons salt 

3 large eggs, at room temperature 

1/4 cup sugar 3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature but still slightly firm

1. Put the yeast, water and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the flour and salt, and fit into the mixer with the dough hook, if you have one. Toss a kitchen towel over the mixer, covering the bowl as completely as you can-- this will help keep you, the counter and your kitchen floor from being showered in flour. Turn the mixer on and off a few short pulses, just to dampen the flour (yes, you can peek to see how you're doing), then remove the towel, increase the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for a minute or two, just until the flour is moistened. At this point, you'll have a fairly dry, shaggy mess.

2. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes, until the dough forms a ball. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter in 2-tablespoon-size chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next. You'll have a dough that is very soft, almost like batter. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.

3. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl (or wash out the mixer bowl and use it), cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes, depending upon the warmth of your room.

4. Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap to the bowl. Cover the bowl with the plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Slap the dough down in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours, then leave the uncovered dough in the refrigerator to chill overnight. (After this, you can make the sticky buns or freeze all or part of the dough for later use.)

Pecan Honey Sticky Buns

For the Glaze:

1 cup (packed) light brown sugar 

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces 

1/4 cup honey 

1-1/2 cups pecans (whole or pieces)

For the Filling:

1/4 cup sugar 

3 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar 

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the Buns:

1/2 recipe dough for Golden Brioche loaves (see below), chilled and ready to shape (make the full recipe and cut the dough in half after refrigerating it overnight)

1. Mix the sugars and cinnamon together in a bowl. If necessary, in another bowl, work the butter with a spatula until it is soft, smooth and spreadable.

2.  On a flour-dusted work surface, roll the chilled dough into a 16-inch square. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, spread the softened butter over the dough. Sprinkle the dough with the cinnamon sugar, leaving a 1-inch strip bare on the side farthest from you.

3. Starting with the side nearest you, roll the dough into a cylinder, keeping the roll as tight as you can. (At this point, you can wrap the dough airtight and freeze it for up to 2 months . . . . Or, if you want to make just part of the recipe now, you can use as much of the dough as you'd like and freeze the remainder. Reduce the glaze recipe accordingly).

4. Generously butter a 9-x-13-inch baking pan (a Pyrex pan is perfect for this). In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the brown sugar, butter, and honey to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. Pour the glaze into the buttered pan, evening it out as best you can by tilting the pan or spreading the glaze with a heatproof spatula. Sprinkle over the pecans.

5. With a chef's knife, using a gentle sawing motion, trim just a tiny bit from the ends of the roll if they're very ragged or not well filled, then cut the log into 1-inch thick buns. (Because you trim the ragged ends of the dough, and you may have lost a little length in the rolling, you will get 15 buns, not 16.) Fit the buns into the pan cut side down, leaving some space between them.

6. Lightly cover the pan with a piece of wax paper and set the pan in a warm place until the buns have doubled in volume, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The buns are properly risen when they are puffy, soft, doubled and, in all likelihood, touching one another.

7.  When the buns have almost fully risen center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the sheet of wax paper and put the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Bake the sticky buns for about 30 minutes, or until they are puffed and gorgeously golden; the glaze will be bubbling away merrily. Pull the pan from the oven. The buns must be immediately unmolded. To do this, place a rimmed cookie sheet lined with a silpat directly over the baking pan, and flip everything over. The buns should fall out of the pan onto the silpat. Be careful, the caramel will be scalding hot! These are best eaten as soon as they have cooled enough.

 Chocolate Almond Buns

For the glaze:

1 1/3 cups powdered sugar 

2 T milk 

½ t vanilla extract 

¼ t almond extract 

Slivered almonds

For the filling

¼ cup granulated sugar 

3 T brown sugar 

¾ blanched almonds 

¾ cup mini chocolate chips 

3 T butter

1. Put the sugars and blanched almonds into a food processor. Pulse until mixture is coarse. Stir in the chocolate chips.

2. On a flour-dusted work surface, roll the chilled dough into a 16-inch square. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, spread the softened butter over the dough. Sprinkle the dough with the almond-chocolate mixture, leaving a 1-inch strip bare on the side farthest from you.

3. Starting with the side nearest you, roll the dough into a cylinder, keeping the roll as tight as you can.

4. Generously butter a 9-x-13-inch baking pan (a Pyrex pan is perfect for this). With a chef's knife, using a gentle sawing motion, trim just a tiny bit from the ends of the roll if they're very ragged or not well filled, then cut the log into 1-inch thick buns. (Because you trim the ragged ends of the dough, and you may have lost a little length in the rolling, you will get 15 buns, not 16.) Fit the buns into the pan cut side down, leaving some space between them.

5. Lightly cover the pan with a piece of wax paper and set the pan in a warm place until the buns have doubled in volume, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The buns are properly risen when they are puffy, soft, doubled and, in all likelihood, touching one another.

6. When the buns have almost fully risen center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the sheet of wax paper and put the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Bake the sticky buns for about 30 minutes, or until they are puffed and gorgeously golden. Unmold by placing a rimmed cookie sheet over the top of the baking dish, and then inverting.

7. Mix together the sugar, milk, and extracts until smooth. Drizzle the tops of the buns with glaze, and sprinkle with slivered almonds.

 

Chestnut and Banana Pancakes

A month or so ago I ordered some chestnut flour on a whim from L’Epicerie, largely because they were selling it pretty cheaply. However, I didn’t know what to do with it (although The Cake Bible does have a recipe for a chestnut flour genoise). This morning I decided to make pancakes using it. Aiming for an Italian theme, I used Ricotta as the dairy in the batter and honey as the sweetener. I also added a banana. I thought these pancakes were really good. The batter was very thick because of the ricotta and mashed banana, the ricotta kept the pancakes nice and moist (which is how I like my pancakes), and I thought the chestnut was subtle but present. The recipe is based on my old favorite pancake recipe, which originates from the Tasajara Bread Book.

Chestnut and Banana Pancakes

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour 

2/3 cups chestnut flour 

3 tsp baking powder  

1 tsp salt  

2 T honey 

3 eggs 

1 banana mashed with enough low-fat ricotta to make 1 ½ cups total ½ cup vegetable oil 

Butter for the pan

1. Whisk together the flours, the baking powder, and the salt, set aside

2. Whisk the eggs, add the honey, banana-ricotta mixture, and oil and whisk to combine.

3. Put your pan over medium-high heat and melt the butter. Once the butter is melted quickly fold the dry ingredients into the wet

4. Spoon out pancake batter to make pancakes of whatever size you like. Remember the batter is thick, you may need two spoons.

5. Cook the pancakes 3-4 minutes a side, or until both sides are brown and the pancakes are cooked through. Serve Warm with maple syrup.

A Breakfast of Lessons Learned

This is my first attempt to join a blogging event, a breakfast themed recipe remix. I decided to make Pina Colada pancakes, an idea I had been tossing around in my head for a few years. I wanted to use pineapple rings and make the pancakes around them. Making these pancakes turned out to be more challenging than I had expected, and I learned something with each cake I made. I will recount for you briefly my experiences.

To start with I wanted to caramelize pineapple rings. I was using canned pineapple. For the first two rings I dipped them in sugar, hoping that this would make a nice layer of caramel around the pineapple. Just to see what would happen I also put an un-sugared pineapple in the pan. As it turns out, the sugar mixes with the pineapple juice in the rings, and quickly boils all over the place. The non-sugared pineapple actually caramelized much faster, and with a nicer golden-brown color.

Next came making the pancakes themselves. I’ve never been able to make those nice, perfectly round pancakes you see, probably because of the recipe I use (it’s on the thick side), but I like the taste just the same. For the first pancake I put the caramelize pineapple down in the pan first, and then poured the pancake batter over it. This turned out to be a really bad idea. Because there wasn’t a continuous layer of batter on the bottom, the pancake was impossible to flip. I ended up with a scrambled pancake with a pineapple in it. I put it in a bowl and set it aside to munch on while I was making the pancakes. Tasting that first pancake, I realized that it didn’t taste enough like coconut, and so I added shredded, sweetened coconut to the remaining batter.

Then, there was the issue of a sauce. I thought I would make a simple pineapple syrup. I put the remaining pineapple juice in a small saucepan, and brought it to a boil. I reduced the pineapple juice by about two thirds, but it never got any thicker, even after I cooled it off. As it turns out, if you want to make a syrup out of pineapple, you need to add some other things. Instead I had more of a pineapple concentrate. It still tasted good, but wasn’t thick enough to match the standard breakfast syrups.

Without further ado, here is the finalized pina-colada pancake recipe. The basic pancake recipe I based this off of is the whole wheat pancake recipe from the Tassajara bread book.

Pina Colada Pancakes

Makes ~ 10 medium to large pancakes

1 can pineapple rings packed in unsweetened juice, reserve the juice
2 cups all purpose flour
3 tbs baking powder
1 tbs salt
1 Tbls brown sugar or honey
3 eggs
1 ½ cups coconut milk
½ cup oil
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1-2 Tbls rum (optional)
1 Tbls butter

1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl (if you’re using honey, mix it with the wet instead of the dry ingredients)

2. Beat together the eggs, oil, coconut milk, rum, and a ½ cup of the juice from the canned pineapples.

3. Set the bowls aside (don’t mix the wet and dry together yet). Put a non-stick skillet over high heat, and add as many pineapple rings as you plan on making pancakes. The juice will boil out of the rings for a moment or two. Leave the pineapples on the heat until they are a nice golden color with a little brown, and then flip, doing the same to the other side. Remove the pineapples from the pan, turn the heat off under the pan, and remove the pan from the burner (the pan needs to cool off before the pancakes are made on it).

4. Fold together the wet and dry ingredients, along with the coconut flakes. Place the pan on a burner set at medium heat. Melt the butter into the pan. Pour out pancake batter to whatever size you want. Push one pineapple ring into the batter of each pancake. Let the pancakes cook until large bubbles begin to form in the batter. Flip the pancakes, and cook until done.