Daring Bakers October 2012: Homemade Puff Pastry

Our October 2012 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Suz of Serenely Full. Suz challenged us to not only tackle buttery and flaky puff pastry, but then take it step further and create a sinfully delicious Mille Feuille dessert with it! 

I didn't want to go the route of pastry cream, and apples are so delicious this fall that I decided to do a puff pastry apple pie!  I set out to make the puff pastry with the assistance of my favorite co-chef: Bri! He's visiting me for Halloween/Homecoming this weekend in Madison and it has been a blast! Plus, it was perfect to make the pastry and then watch the homecoming game while it was chilling! We had a lovely day :).

I was surprised at how much work/time goes into puff pastry...no wonder it is so amazing.  However, it is not at all difficult! So, if you are looking for a fun/delicious project make some puff pastry.  I

I know that this months challenge was to make the Mille Feuille and to layer the puff pastry with various fillings, but I was really craving this apple pie that I saw over at Create with Mom. So, since I knew I was making some puff pastry, I decided to go ahead and whip up this amazing looking "pie."  I adapted the recipe so that I could make the puff pastry provided for this challenge by Suz and so that I could use the apples I picked up at the farm while pumpkin picking! Stay tuned for the full recipe.  Today I am sharing how to make the pastry!

Puff Pastry (adapted from About .com)

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp cold water
14 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into cubes
3 1/2 tbsp flour

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, mix the larger amount of flour, salt, and cold butter together.  Pinch the butter with your fingers until you have a mixture that resembles wet sand.  Mix in the water and then knead the dough for about 4 minutes using your hands.  Wrap the ball of dough in clingwrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2.  Mix the larger amount of butter with the rest of the flour until you have a paste.  Shape the paste into a square about 5 in. long and 5 in. wide.  Wrap in clingwrap and place in the fridge for 15 minutes.  
3.  Take the chilled dough and roll it out into a square about 7 in. long and 7 in. wide.  Place the butter paste in the middle of the dough and then take the corners of the dough and wrap it around th butter so that you have a litte package.  Turn it over and roll it out with a rolling pin so that you have a rectangle about 16 inch. long and 1/4 inch thick.  You may need flour for the rolling.
4.  Fold the rolled dough into thirds: take the short end of the rectangle and fold it into the middle, then take the other end and fold it over that part.  Roll out the dough again into the rectangle and repeat the folding process.  Wrap is clingwrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
5. Repeat this process 2 times and place back in fridge for 30 minutes.  
6. Repeat this process 2 more times and then use the dough or refrigerate until needed.  You can keep this in the fridge for 2 days.  

Enjoy :)

Daring Bakers' September Challenge: Empanadas

Patri of the blog, Asi Son Los Cosas, was our September 2012 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she decided to tempt us with one of her family’s favorite recipes for Empanadas! We were given two dough recipes to choose from and encouraged to fill our Empanadas as creatively as we wished!

I startled looking through tons of recipes for Empanadas.  I knew that I wanted to make a vegetarian one and I also knew that I wanted to make a whole wheat dough.  After lots of searching, I decided to combine some of my favorite tastes and make something fantastic.  I was inspired by Naturally Ella's recipe, and I adapted from there.   Also, I used the recipe for the dough that was provided from Patri and just used whole wheat flour! 

Sweet Potato Caramelized Onion Goat Cheese Empanada

Ingredients:

Dough Ingredients:
5-1/3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups lukewarm water
1 satchel (1 tbsp) dry yeast
2 tsp salt

4 tbsp canola oil
olive oil, to brush over pre-baked dough

Filling:
2 tbsp (divided) extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 large white onion, coarsely chopped into strips
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
2 cloves garlic
1 cup water
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup fresh cilantro
2 tsp chipotle powder
salt and pepper, to taste
paprika
8 oz goat cheese (I used cranberry cinnamon)

Directions:
1. Make the dough: Mix flour and yeast together and create a hole in the middle of the mixture.  Measure out the water and mix in the salt.  Pour the warm salt water into the hole in the flour and mix to combined.  Knead dough for about 8 minutes or until rough and elastic.  Clean out the bowl, cover with oil, and place dough in the bowl.  Cover witha  a towel and let rest/rise for about 1 hour, or until the dough is about doubled in size.
2. While the dough is rising, make the filling: In a medium saucepan, place 1 tbsp oil, onions, brown sugar, and 1/2 tsp chipotle powder.  Heat over medium, toss to combine, and then let cook, covered for 30 minutes or until onions are caramelized.  Stir the onions ever 5-10 minutes.  

3.  In another large saucepan, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium heat and sauté the peppers and garlic until peppers start to look translucent, about 4-5 minutes.  Next, add in the sweet potatoes and the water.  Continue to cook, stirring once in a while until potatoes are cooked and can be pierced with a fork.  Add in the beans, cilantro, caramelized onions, chipotle powder, and season with salt and pepper.   Remove from heat and let cool.

4.  Once your dough has risen, place it on a floured surface and divide in half..  Roll out half the dough into a rectangle about 1 foot by 2 feet.  Spray a large pan or baking sheet with oil and place dough on the baking sheet.  Make sure the dough covers the bottom and goes up the sides.  Sprinkle with paprika.  Next, take the goat cheese and sprinkle crumbles over the dough.  Pour the filling onto the dough.  Roll out the other half of dough so that it covers the top and goes a little over the edges. Pull the edges together and roll to make sure they stay together.  You can cut off any extra dough and use it to make cool designs (I did a J for Jodie :)).  Sprinkle more paprika on the top and then, using a fork, pierce the dough is several places so that the fork goes all the way through the top to the bottom.  Brush the top of the dough with olive oil.

5.  Preheat oven to 400 and let your empanada bake for about 30 minutes or until crust is golden.  Using a spatula, make sure the bottom is cooked as well.  Serve with salsa or other dipping sauces and...

Enjoy :)

July 2012 Daring Bakers' Challenge: Crazy For Crackers

This month's challenge was brought to us by Dana McFalrland.  Dana challenged us to make homemade crackers.  She showed us a bunch of techniques and a variety of fun recipes and examples.  We were encouraged to go after a flavor combo that really represents our style and taste.  I have such a sweet tooth that when I thought crackers, I immediately thought: Graham Crackers! So, I set out to try my hand at some homemade graham crackers...maybe some s'mores are in my future!

Homemade Whole Wheat Graham Crackers (adapted from Tracey's Culinary Adventures)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3/8 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/8 cup honey

Directions:
1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl beat butter, sugar, and honey together until well combined.  Beat in half the flour mixture until well combined.  Scrape down sides and then beat in the rest of the flour mixture.
3. Shape dough into a rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap, and cool in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
4. Roll out chilled dough on a floured surface and create your cracker shapes with cookie cutters.  Pierce holes in the crackers using a fork, place on a parchment or sillpat lined baking sheet, and freeze for 10 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 350 and bake crackers for 6-7 minutes.  Turn the sheets around and continue to bake for another 6-7 minutes or until edges begin to brown.

Enjoy :)

Daring Bakers' Challenge June 2012: Battenberg Cake

This month's Daring Bakers' Challenge was brought to us by Mandy from What the Fruitcake?!.  Thank you so much Mandy for a fantastic challenge! I had a ton of fun with this one.  Our challenge was to create a Battenberg Cake. Mandy highlighted Mary Berry's techniques and recipes to allow us to create this unique little cake with ease.

I decided to have a ton of fun with this one.  As the guidelines required the typical shape and design of the Traditional Battenberg I had to stick with that.  But, we were encouraged to use whatever flavors and colors we wanted! I decided to dedicate this cake to my little brother.

My brother, Zack, is going off to college for the first time in the fall.  I am a hard-core Badger and I love Wisconsin so I was a little sad to see him choose University of Illinois.  However, the engineering program is going to be perfect for him and he is even trying out for the marching band! I know that he made a great choice and I am sure he is going to have an amazing time.  I made my Battenberg Cake blue and orange in honor of his new school! Good luck in the fall, Zack! I know you will do great!

Traditional Battenberg Cake (adapted from Mary Berry's Battenberg Cake)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 1/4 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup ground almonds
3/4 tsp baking powder
food coloring
1/3 cup apricot preserves
7 oz plain marzipan
powdered sugar (just a little)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350, grease an 8 by 8 inch baking pan, and create a divider along the middle of the pan using foil and parchment paper.  Grease the divider as well.
2. Whisk the flour, ground almonds, and baking powder together in a medium bowl.
3. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs one at a time until well combined and then beat in the vanilla and almond extract.  Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients until just combined.
4. Place half of the batter into a small bowl and the other half into a different small bowl.  Mix in blue food coloring into one of the bowls and red/yellow into the other until you have your desired coloring.  Or, use your own colors!

5. Place each color on each side of the divider and bake for about 30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let cool on a cooling rack.
6. Once cool, trim the sides of the cake and make sure that each side is even.  Cut each color into half and place in the Battenberg design.  Heat up the apricot preserves and brush the strips of cake with them so that they stick together.

7.  Roll out the marzipan on a clean surface sprinkled with powdered sugar into an oblong shape so that the width is the length of the cake and the length can wrap all the way around the cake. Brush the top of the cake with apricot and place on the marzipan.  Brush the other sides and wrap the marzipan around.  Make the traditional markings with a knife and trip off the ends to reveal the Battenberg pattern!

Enjoy :)

May 2012 Daring Bakers' Challenge: Challah

Today is the day I get to share my first Daring Bakers' Challenge!  The May 2012 challenge came from Ruth over at The Crafts of Mommyhood.  Ruth's challenge was to make challah.  When is saw that this was the challenge I got pretty excited.  This was something that I knew about since I am Jewish, but I had never made it before from scratch.  I couldn't wait to get started.  Ruth provides some awesome history on challah bread as well as examples of different ways to braid the challah.  The only mandatory items were to make an enriched bread and to braid it.  I decided to make a more traditional honey wheat challah and then a less traditional blueberry challah.  Most challah recipes make two loaves as it is tradition to provide two loaves of challah on Shabbat so that you have enough for all of Shabbat (you can't "do work" on Shabbat, so you need to get all the preparations done before).  Therefore, I ended up with four loaves of challah.  I'm going to have to think of some fun ways to use up all this bread!

I decided to have a traditional Shabbat dinner for my family and I did it all.  I made the challah, an awesome apricot chicken dish, and some yummy homemade pasta with a white wine mushroom and broccoli sauce.  We gathered around the table, poured the wine, lit the candles, said the blessings, and dug in!

Honey Whole Wheat Challah (adapted from Ruth's Go-To Whole Wheat Challah which was adapted from D's Whole Wheat Challah)

Before Rise

After Rise

Oven Ready- 6 Strand Braid and 4 Strand Round

 Ingredients:
4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tbsp honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
2 tsp salt
extra flour for kneading
Egg Wash:
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
-beat all the ingredients together in a small bowl

Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, mix warm water with honey.  Mix in the yeast and let it sit for 5 minutes, until foamy.  Mix in the brown sugar, butter, and eggs.  Mix in the flour and the oats.  Mix until just combined and then mix in the salt.  Knead the dough in a stand mixer with the dough hook for 5-10 minutes and add flour as needed (haha no pun intended!) The dough should be smooth and elastic. Form dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl.  Cover the bowl with a clean towel and place in a warm, dry place (I put mine in the oven with the light on).  Let the dough rise for 2 hours.
2.  After two hours, punch the dough down (literally punch it) and then recover with the towel and let rise for another hour.
3. After an hour, punch the dough down again and divide it in two.  Braid the challah as you want and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. (I braided one loaf with the six strand braid method and the other with the four strand round method).  Then cover the two loaves with a towel and let rest for about another hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 and once the loaves are ready, brush with the egg wash and bake for 30-40 minutes.  The challah is done when it is lightly browned and sounds hollow when you tap it.

Enjoy :)

Blueberry Challah (adapted from The Challah Blog)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup warm water
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 tbsp agave nectar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
extra flour for kneading
1 1/4 tsp salt
frozen blueberries (or dried-I think dried would have worked better)
Egg Wash (same as above)

Before Rise

After Rise

3 Strand Braid

Just out of the oven

Directions:
1. In a large stand mixer, mix water with agave nectar.  Mix in yeast and let sit for 5 minutes, until foamy. Mix in the eggs and oil.  Mix in the flour.  Once flour is incorporated mix in the salt.  Switch to a dough hook and knead for 5-10 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic, add flour as needed. Form dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl.  Cover the bowl with a clean towel and place in a warm, dry place.  Again, the oven is good.  Let the dough rise for 1 1/2 hours.
2.  Once the dough has risen, turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead in the blueberries.  Divide the dough in two and shape both loaves as desired. (I braided both loaves with the traditional three strand braid method).  Place the loaves on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with a towel.  Let rise for another 30 minutes or so.
3.  Preheat the oven to 350 and brush the loaves with the egg wash.  Bake for about 30 minutes and check often to ensure the dough isn't getting too brown too fast.
Enjoy :)