This simple, delicious apple cake may be my new favorite fall dessert.  It is moist, tender, packed with tart apples and cinnamon, and very easy to prepare.  What’s not to love? Continue reading →

Although this was my first time making them, I’m beginning to think that these warm and spicy pumpkin doughnuts are going to become a fall tradition around here.  Filled with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and even a hint of cardamom, these doughnuts will warm your soul on a crisp autumn morning.

Have you ever made doughnuts from scratch?  The closest I had ever come to making doughnuts was back in my college days when I learned how to make faux doughnuts (fauxnuts?) by poking holes in refrigerated biscuit dough rounds and frying them up in a skillet.  They were pretty good if you dipped them in sugar and ate them warm, but not quite the real thing.  Ok, not even close.

I have memories of the real thing, though.  You see, my mom made homemade doughnuts for us once.  They were yeast-raised doughnuts, the kind which are lightly glazed or sugar-crusted on the outside, but only slightly sweet and impossibly soft and fluffy on the inside.  Though I was small, and the recollection is a bit fuzzy, I know in my heart that they were the best doughnuts I’ve ever tasted.  While the “hot now” sign at Krispy-Kreme may make your heart flutter, I’m telling you that nothing compares to a doughnut fried up in your own kitchen.  My mom only made doughnuts once that I can recall, but that one memory fills me with so much warmth, I know that I have to make doughnuts from scratch one day for my own children.  Yes, food memories are powerful. Continue reading →

While some muffins are little more than cupcakes without the frosting, these hearty, flavorful, and nutritious whole grain apple muffins will help you power through your morning.

Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely a fan of cake-like muffins, but I think they generally make a better dessert than breakfast.  Made with whole wheat flour and heart-healthy oat bran, these muffins offer a bit more staying power than something you might pick up at a cafe on your way to work. Continue reading →

Continue reading →

Last week I finished bread #7 in the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge.  The bread was ciabatta and while I was excited to try it, I admit that I was a bit nervous.  Lots of BBA Challenge members finished their ciabatta before me, so I knew that the bread wasn’t turning out perfectly for many people.  Everyone seemed to be saying the same thing:  great flavor, but not enough holes!

In addition to its signature flat and rectangular shape, ciabatta is known for its open crumb with lots of big, shiny holes.  And I’ve learned over the years while trying to perfect my own loaves of sourdough, the open crumb with big shiny holes is much harder to achieve than a great flavor!

Peter Reinhart offers many variations for his Ciabatta formula.  We had the option of using either a Poolish or Biga for the pre-ferment — the main difference being the amount of water added to the flour and yeast during the pre-ferment stage.  A note in the sidebar mentions the option of enriching the dough with olive oil, milk or buttermilk, for a softer, more tender loaf.  And he also gives directions for Wild Mushroom Focaccia, Ciabatta with Cheese, and Caramelized Onion and Herb Ciabatta!  But even with all those choices and variations available, I decided to stick to original formula using only flour, salt, yeast and water. Continue reading →

As you all know, I am a huge fan of simple recipes.  What you might not know is that buttermilk is a staple in my house and I am almost never without it.  I even keep powdered buttermilk in the pantry for those rare times when I don’t have the fresh stuff in the fridge.  It adds such a nice flavor and texture to baked goods that I’ll often adapt recipes to include it even when it’s not originally called for.  So when I saw a recipe in last month’s Gourmet magazine that was simple, included buttermilk on the ingredient list, and looked absolutely delicious, of course I had to try it.

The recipe I’m referring to is Raspberry Buttermilk Cake.  I didn’t have any fresh raspberries on hand, but I did have a handful of blueberries and a pint of strawberries in the fridge, so I decided to adapt.  Although I know the raspberry version is probably delicious, I’m really glad I opted to use the berries I had on hand.  Not only was it a great combination, but this would be a perfect Red, White, and Blue Cake for a Fourth of July barbecue.  Served with whipped cream and extra berries, it would be both festive and delicious. Continue reading →

This savory Italian bread already has all of my favorite sandwich ingredients inside of it!

For week five of The Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge, I baked Casatiello. Peter Reinhart describes it as a rich, dreamy Italian elaboration of brioche.  His description is beautiful and poetic, but the Casatiello is even more so.  Rich, but light and fluffy, studded with chunks of salami and filled with oozing pockets of cheese, this bread stole my heart. Continue reading →