I get pissed off every time I make cupcakes. It's true.
Why? They aren't hard to bake--usually, that is, when my oven isn't shutting itself off in the middle of baking. No, it's the little details that I can't ever master that frustrate me. I am annoyingly type-A, and I always have this vision of beautiful cupcakes in my head. Like these. Or these. Big, beautifully rounded tops covered in icing, or the gorgeously piped creations of my fellow bloggers.
What I end up with, invariably, looks like it belongs at a third-grade bake sale. Flat tops, no domes in sight. Paper cups gone translucent from the butter during baking. Frosting that never looks like it should.
Which pisses me off.
Maybe it's the recipes I am using, that are made for cakes and never get that perfect domed top. Although this may have more to do with incorrect leavening and improper oven temperatures. Whatever it is, that's the first part of the problem. Flat cupcakes. Or even worse, mushroom-shaped cupcakes that spill onto the baking sheet.
Second problem? The liner. I have made cupcakes with paper liners and also with the party cups that Cupcake Bakeshop uses. I love the look of the party cups but I can't ever get the amount of batter right, and they either spill over or come up short. Paper liners always have that dorky, bake-sale look. And yes I know Sprinkles uses them, but they must have access to grease-proof ones, because mine always end up looking oily.
Piping the frosting is less of a problem. Use a good buttercream, and a little practice, I can get some nice swirls. But that too is an ongoing process to master, as I have never had a decorating class in my life. Hit or miss, sometimes depending on the frosting recipe, if I have the gumption to whip up a proper buttercream. I still have to learn the proper way to make them smooth if I'm not piping.
I want to know how to bake and decorate create really pretty cupcakes.
I know there are dozens of books out right now. Martha's is huge, but between you and me I never have good results with her baking recipes, so I won't be investing in that one unless it has some really great decorating tips.
These cupcakes were a little project I did recently. My husband went back to work, so I made some "It's A Boy" style cupcakes, wanting to practice my piping. I suppose they were pretty enough to leave the house, but I still am not satisfied with the rise. I just used my current favorite basic cupcake recipe (as far as flavor and texture it's my favorite) and Joe Pastry's Swiss Meringue Buttercream with a vanilla bean tossed in.
I'm experimenting, and we'll return to this topic soon. In the meantime I have plenty to do--BBA Challenge is ongoing, Daring Bakers and Cooks, Suger High Friday, and Bread Baking Day are all the events I plan on doing this month, as well as the weekend Treats for my husband. I am hoping to keep up with the blogging, as well as the housework and my children...not an easy feat!

BBA Challenge - Challah Bread

Back to the kitchen! I have been blessed with a very well-behaved baby, and he is kind enough to allow me the time to tinker around in the kitchen. Since my husband isn't quite back to work yet and I am determined to get back into my pre-pregancy jeans as soon as possible...I opted to continue with my Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge instead of another sweet treat. Especially since I took Challah out of order, I wanted to get back to it and save Cinnamon Buns for another week. And I finally decided on the right use--burger buns. It makes perfect sense, since Challah is a fast-to-make, soft, white loaf, enriched with eggs.
I did want to try the Challah shape, though. I never have braided a bread, and my attempts at shaping very complex and pretty breads often fail miserably. I found this one not too hard, though. I am a girl, and therefore have known how to do a three-strand braid since about kindergarten. It shouldn't be that difficult.
It crossed my mind to attempt some of the fancier braids...but I'd rather have something turn out right this time!
I am getting used to just having an extra cup of flour standing by for the recipes in this book. Here again, I needed almost the entire cup to get a dough that wasn't really sticky, just a bit tacky to the touch. But a lovely, golden yellow dough I did eventually get, and it rose quickly for me.
I divided it into two parts, then made 6 burger buns with one half and three long strands with the second. Braided, washed with egg wash and baked, this really was one of the prettiest loaves of bread I've ever made. It just worked very well, had a beautiful color, and stayed together even when I thought it would certainly split open like the Greek Bread had. I waited to slice it until it was completely cool, and found a nice, tight crumb, not unlike a good soft sandwich loaf. The texture was really close to that, too--soft, lightly sweet, and tender. It'll make some fine French Toast or bread pudding in the days to come. The burger buns, which I didn't snap a picture of, turned out very well too, though I didn't flatten them and they were more like yummy dinner rolls! All in all, a very good recipe--at least I think, because I have never made a Challah before.
Next week...Cinnamon Buns!!

The Newest Addition

This is just a quick update posting--my little one has at long last arrived. Born late Wednesday night, he's just perfect, and is a sweet, quiet little baby, who even sleeps through the shouting of his two older brothers. I'm doing okay, despite that freshly-run-over-by-a-truck feeling. I am lucky enough to have my husband home with me, and he's a huge help, so I'd like to get around to baking pretty soon. I have been looking fondly at my kitchen, and I know I can't stay out of there much longer, despite my husband's insistence I rest.
I hope to be back to baking and blogging soon! Just as soon as I catch a nap...

Reinhart's Poolish Ciabatta --BBA

Well, I'll admit to you that I skipped a week of BBA--I didn't make the Challah. I will, at some point in the future, just to say I made every recipe, but for right now I just didn't feel like making a loaf to go to waste. Challah is a slightly sweet, very eggy enriched dough, and I didn't really have a use for it right now. There's nothing I hate more than seeing food--handmade bread especially--go to waste. So that's why you didn't see it from me. You didn't miss it!
But I was all over the ciabatta. I love the open-crumbed, slack doughs, and the beautiful holey breads that results, despite the challenges in working with them. (Think Nickelodeon Goo. That's about the texture of a proper ciabatta dough!) Not to mention the flavor usually present in these types of breads--tangy, full, and deep. Nothing like the white bread at the store, and nothing like even the "Artisan" style loaves you can get in most supermarket bakeries now. It just doesn't compare.
I started the poolish (wet starter) for this dough early, thinking it was going to need to be made overnight at least. Surprisingly, Reinhart's recipe calls for just a few hours of fermenting, followed by a relatively quick rise for this type of bread.
There are lots of advantages to using a starter (preferment, poolish, biga, sponge, etc)--they give amazing flavor to the bread, they acidify the dough which helps get an open crumb, they tenderize and actually preserve the bread, extending its shelf life, and lend to a beautiful crust. Volumes have been written on this topic, and it's all covered in-depth in his book, so I won't go on. But if you want that wonderful, elusive "bread" flavor, you have to start with something.
Anyhow, I started the poolish, and just like with the bagels, had to stop for the day. I ended up with it at maybe 5 hours room temperature (during which time it nearly exploded the bowl) and then refrigerated it overnight. I let it sit about 2 hours the next day to come up to temperature before finally mixing the dough. What can I say, my life is never predictable. I had to get new brakes and tires on the van! I suspect this extended time may have given my dough a bit more flavor than the standard recipe would have.
Mixing the dough was easy, and the bulk fermentation and subsequent rises didn't take too long at all. Reinhart says this is a same-day bread, but you'd never know it from the terrific flavor and texture. It had that wonderful tang, that indescribable flavor of good bread, that scent to it. Reminded me why I spent an entire summer last year making no-knead breads, cranking my un-airconditioned oven up to 500 degrees day after day to get that amazing flavvor and texture.
The use of a starter will contribute to an open, airy crumb, but really it's the percentage of water in the dough that will get you there. Ciabatta generally has one of the highest percentages of any bread dough, at about 80%, although Reinhart's recipe is less than that. It's a really, really wet and sticky dough, and has to be handled carefully. One of the trickiest things is moving it to its final position on the baking peel, to slide it onto your stone. As Reinhart directed, I used a floured cloth to make a couche, bringing up folds of fabric to separate my loaves. It was sort of tricky to get them to the parchment-lined peel without deflating them, and that will actually make a big difference as well. You want these breads to be very, very puffy, very light and ethereal by the time they're ready to go in, and you don't want to deflate them! You lose valuable air pockets if you do. So in hindsight, next time I make ciabatta or a similar loaf, I think I'll make a couche out of a big sheet of parchment. Then I can simply cut down the folds when I am ready, and slide my peel underneath.
But I still had pretty good results. I was rewarded with a beautifully golden crust, creamy interor, and nicely open crumb. I have read from other BBA'ers that the biga version of this bread actually has a slightly higher percentage of water, and will give you larger holes. I have also read that compared to other recipes with higher hydration, this one isn't as great if that's what you're looking for. That may be true--I mean, the crumb was open, but nothing like a no-knead and nothing like the pictured bread--but it was still better than my previous attempt at a ciabatta had been. It was so soft, so light--I acually made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches the next day. This loaf is actually really good if that's what you're planning on using it for--the holes are not so large that your filling oozes out! So for my purposes, it was still an acceptable loaf. Reading the comments at the BBA Google group, I am very curious to try the other version, and maybe even try Rose Levy Beranbaum's version again from the Bread Bible. I'm a bit more experienced at handling these doughs now than when I initially tried her recipe, so maybe I can have a better result! So it may not be the holey-est ciabatta ever, but I can vouch for the flavor of the bread. And it was good bread.


One other thing I may do is hold back on some of the flour during the dough mixing. I didn't use the full amount of water, but I always find it easier to add less flour than to add more water. I could probably have snuck a few more tablespoons into my loaf, made it even stickier and holey-er, but it turned out great and wasn't too impossible to work with the way it was. I also might try the boule shape, or even baking it in a preheated Dutch Oven, a la the no-knead, just to see what kind of crust and rise I could get. All in all, a pretty good ciabatta.

If you want to join the fun, check out Nicole's blog, Pinch My Salt, and get baking!
If you'd like to try this loaf yourself, and check out some commentary, check out this thread at The Fresh Loaf.

British Invasion--Daring Bakers Bakewell Tart

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

As I write this on Thursday, I am hoping and wishing to be in labor (or done with it) by the time you all read this! I am due technically on Saturday, which also happens to be the reveal date for this month's Daring Baker Challenge. What timing, huh? I made the Bakewell Tart yesterday, which I know was cutting it a bit close, but it was really important to me to get it done and scheduled before it was too late. After all, the Daring Bakers, and blogging in general, is something I do for me. It may take me a bit longer to clean up the kitchen these days, but I still love my challenges.
Although, I may have taken a few shortcuts I wouldn't have normally. I didn't quite have the energy to make my own jam this time. And I made an easier frangipane--more about that in a minute.
The Bakewell Tart is an old English dessert, not well known outside the UK. I had never heard of it, so this was a true challenge. It consists of three components--a shortbread pastry crust, a layer of jam or curd, and then a frangipane topping. Which was something I had never tried, although I'd read about it many times. One of the things I love about the DBers is that the challenges always lead me to try things I never would have been exposed to. Different countries, traditions, techniques--it takes the place somewhat of going on a pastry tour through Europe and learning about the regional specialties. This is especially valuable to me, as I won't likely be seeing Europe anytime soon. Once I do get to pastry school, I will be able to say with confidence--yes, I've made this. And I have the Daring Bakers to thank.
But I digress! Frangipane is really different. It's sort of like a custard, but sort of like a cake, too. It's an odd cross-breed mixture that is used in a lot of European desesrts, usually topped with fruit so that it sinks into the fluffy finished product. It has a soft texture, and as I learned, can vary widely in taste and composition.
The thing with a frangipane is the wide variety of recipes. Traditionally it's made with some combinatin of finely ground and blanched almonds or almond meal, eggs, flour, a bit of sugar and butter. But there are recipes that call for almond flour, for a different nut, and the one I ended up using, which asked for almond paste. I chose this one because I was at the grocery store and they had almond paste--I wasn't feeling up to a special trek to the health food store for almond meal. Normally, I would have been all over that, but not this time. I used the recipe provided by Audax Artifax, a prolific poster on the Daring Baker forums, and an eager and adventurous chef.
I used the provided shortbread tart dough, because I do like to stick to the recipe's components if I can, but it did shrink on me. I really ought to learn to just use my favorite, tried and true recipes when it comes to something as basic as a tart or pastry dough.
But anyway. I prebaked the tart fully, as I always, always, always, always prebake tart and pie shells. Always. There's just no other way to a crisp crust unless you do, no matter how low you park your pie on the floor of the oven. (Even lattice and covered fruit pies get this treatment, with the top crust carefully slid into place after the filling goes in.) Then I strained my (unfortunately store-bought) raspberry jam, added a little Chambord to perk it up, and mixed my first frangipane.
In hindsight, I should have gone to the damn health food store and gotten the almond meal! The recipe was sound, and using the almond paste was easy, but it had the disadvantage of tasting like nothing but almond extract. Don't get me wrong--I love almonds. Plain, roasted, candied, covered in chocolate, ground into flour for a torte. I love them. But I despise almond exatrct. It is one of those flavors that can ruin anything for me, like coffee. Having never bought almond paste I wasn't sure what it would taste like (I assumed....almonds?) but the moment I tasted it I knew I wasn't going to like this dessert. It goes without saying that I skipped the extract the recipe called for (I even added some lemon zest to try to mask it) but it was to no avail.
Texturally speaking, and technically, this tart turned out great. The crust was crisp, yet buttery and tender. The jam was wonderfully tart. The frangipane baked up like a soft cake, golden on top and quite tender, providing a nice contrast to the pastry crust. It's like a cake and a tart got
together and had a love child, this Bakewell. The only downfall for me was the awful fake almond flavor.
If you like almond extract in things, run to this dessert. You will love it, and it's really not hard. As for me, I suppose it's best that I don't have 9 inches of delicious pastry in my fridge calling to me right now--I am having enough trouble staying active and trying not to eat myself ino oblivion! I am actually quite eager to try a frangipane again, although I'd definitely go with a different recipe. Ground almond meal, or perhaps hazelnut meal, which I like even better. (Wouldn't that be terrific with a luscious chocolate layer on the bottom?) Oh, if I had more time and energy and butter, I'd do it over again. This will have to do--a beautiful, perfectly baked dessert that I want no part of!

Hostess: Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict

Co-hostess: Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar
• Rough Durations: Please see individual recipe elements to see how much time you’ll need. You may pull it together in more time or less—it all depends upon your kitchen’s pace. You can complete the tart in an afternoon, or break it up into a couple of days by making the pastry one day in advance.

• Measurements: These recipes were developed using weight and not volume metrics, so for better results, pull out your scales. We’ve done our best with the Metric to Imperial conversions.
• A giant tart, medium tarts or little tartlettes: We’ll leave that to you.
• Mandatory and Optional Elements
Mandatory element 1: Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
Yes, it’s a pie pastry. Don’t look at us like that. It’s sweet and tender and it’s not scary…and we’re encouraging you to do it by hand and put the food processor away (but if you really want to pull out the gadget, go ahead).

Mandatory element 2: Frangipane
We love onomatopoeia of frangipane: it’s rich, sweet and feels slightly luxurious, and can be used in several confections.

Optional element: Home made jam or curd
We know several amongst us are rather jammy with making their own jams and preserves. Go ahead get wild and creative or simply showcase whatever’s local and in season. If you haven’t jammed before and want some hints or recipes, take a look at Bernardin’s homecanning.ca. If you want to just make some jam for this challenge and not go through sterilising jars and snap lids, you can try a pan jam, similar to Jasmine’s Blackberry Pan Jam. If you do use homemade jam, please include your recipe or the link to the one you used in your post.

Bakewell Tart…er…pudding

Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Jasmine’s notes:
• If you cannot have nuts, you can try substituting Victoria sponge for the frangipane. It's a pretty popular popular cake, so you shouldn't have any troubles finding one in one of your cookbooks or through a Google search. That said, our dear Natalie at Gluten a Go Go has sourced some recipes and linked to them in the related alt.db thread.
• You can use whichever jam you wish, but if you choose something with a lot of seeds, such as raspberry or blackberry, you should sieve them out.
• The jam quantity can be anywhere from 60ml (1/4 cup) to 250ml (1cup), depending upon how “damp” and strongly flavoured your preserves are. I made it with the lesser quantity of home made strawberry jam, while Annemarie made it with the greater quantity of cherry jam; we both had fabulous results. If in doubt, just split the difference and spread 150ml (2/3cup) on the crust.
Annemarie’s notes:
• The excess shortcrust can be rolled out and cut into cookie-shapes (heck, it’s pretty darned close to a shortbread dough).

Sweet shortcrust pastry

Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)--I skipped this
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.--I used a food processor.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and freeze for at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 450 during this time.

Prick pastry with fork, line wih parchment, and weigh with pie weights. Bake 10 minutes, then remove parchment and weights and bake 5-10 more, until light golden brown and no longer shiny.

Jasmine’s notes:
• I make this using vanilla salt and vanilla sugar.
• If you wish, you can substitute the seeds of one vanilla bean, one teaspoon of vanilla paste or one teaspoon of vanilla extract for the almond extract

Frangipane--this is the original recipe given, not the one I used. That follows below.

Prep time: 10-15 minutes

Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Annemarie’s notes:
• Add another five minutes or more if you're grinding your own almonds or if you're mixing by hand (Heaven help you).

Almond Paste Frangipane:

* 7 to 8 oz almond paste (not marzipan or almond filling)
* 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
* 2 large eggs
* 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt

Make filling:
Beat together almond paste, butter, sugar, and almond extract in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then mix in flour and salt.
Assembly: Spread jam into bottom of tart. Spread frangipane over top, trying to cover the jam evenly. Bake at 250 for about 1 hour, then increase oven to 350 for about 20 minutes, until frangipane is puffy, firm to touch, no longer jiggly, and golden brown.