Crumpets!

Tea and crumpets... just saying it makes me feel all sophisticated and ladylike. This month for Taste and Create I was paired with Val a very talented blogger and chef from our neighbor to the north, Canada. When I saw she had quite a few recipe's for crumpets on her blog, I decided that this was something I had to try! The crumpet recipe I chose was one she had adapted from Rose Levy Berenbaum's, The Bread Bible. The process of making crumpets, while not difficult, does take a while as they first need time to rise and then to cook at a very low temperature. Don't be deterred though, they are worth the wait! The final product reminded me of these: Oroweat's Australian Toaster Biscuits! Does anyone else remember those? I used to LOVE them when I was younger, and the crumpets turned out deliciously similar. Soft and lightly sweet. Denser and fluffier than a pancake, and not as dry as a traditional English muffin. I topped mine with butter (highly recommended as the crumpets have lots of nooks and crannys just begging to be filled with rich melty butter). They were also lovely sandwiched together with a generous shmear of jam.

Crumpets

Per Val from morethanburnttoast.blogspot.com

(originally from Rose Levy Berenbaum's The Bread Bible)

Ingredients

1 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons dry milk

1 teaspoon instant yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons water, divided

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp butter

In a large bowl mix together the flour, dry milk, yeast, sugar, and salt.

Add the 3/4 cup of water and, gradually beat on medium for about 5 minutes until completely smooth (I used a hand mixer, which worked great!).

With a piece of tape, mark on the side of the bowl where doubled the height would be. Cover and let batter rise until doubled, about an hour. Once the batter has doubled in size, in a small bowl, mix together the baking soda and remaining 2 tablespoons of water. Stir into the batter and allow to rise again until almost doubled, about 30 min. The batter will be filled with bubbles.

Preheat the griddle or frying pan. If using an electric griddle, preheat to 275 degrees. If using a skillet, heat over low until a drop of water sizzles when added. When heated, brush the pan, and the insides of the crumpet rings (I used circular cookie cutters, which worked fine) with melted butter. Set the rings/cookie cutters in the pan and use a ladle to spoon, or pour the batter into the rings, filling 2/3 full. The batter will rise to the top during cooking. Cook the crumpets for 10 minutes on one side, or until they are nicely browned underneath and have lost their dull shine on top. Turn the crumpets and continue to cook until the bottoms are browned.

When cooked, remove the crumpets and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Suggestion: While crumpets cool, make your tea (or coffee) and grab the paper. Top your crumpet with butter, honey, jam, whatever you fancy. Sit back, relax, and revel in your sophistication!

*Note: Crumpets can be stored over night in a paper bag, or frozen, well wrapped, for up to 3 months. Thaw before toasting. I got a little carried away on the jam...
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Dark Chocolate Dipped Orange Cookies

Today I tried another great recipe from my taste and create partner Min from Bad Girls Kitchen. I love the combo of orange and dark chocolate, so when I came across this recipe, I didn't need any convincing to give it a try! I was feeling rebellious and didn't want to mix the chocolate chips into the batter, so I decided to switch it up an dip the cookies in the chocolate. The rich, bitterness of the chocolate complemented the sweet orange-infused cookies perfectly. The cookies rose up nice and fluffy , thanks to the combo of baking soda and baking powder. I put 1/4 of a teaspoon too much baking powder in my cookies so they were a little too fluffy for my liking (that's what I get for baking in a hurry!) Next time I will make sure to follow the instructions and only add 1/4 teaspoon NOT 1/2.... The recipe also uses all butter, instead of the usual butter/shortening combo, which produced an incredibly moist, soft cookie. These will be perfect for holiday gift giving (made with the correct amount of baking powder of course!).

Dark Chocolate & Orange Cookies

Adapted from Bad Girl's Kitchen

Makes 2 dozen

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

Grated zest of 1 orange

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cup plain flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1/2 pound dark chocolate chips (I used about 1/2 a bag)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Beat the butter and sugar together.

Add the egg, orange zest and vanilla extract. Add in the dry ingredients.

Roll into balls (I used a melon baller). Use your fingers to flatten onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Cool for five minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.

When cookies are cool. Melt chocolate chips in a double broiler or the microwave.

Dip cookies in chocolate and set on waxed paper to harden.

Store in an airtight container for up to five days.

Dark chocolate + Orange = delish

BY THE WAY, just started a twitter account, come be my friend please :) @whiskandaprayer
I'm still trying to figure it out so bear with me!

Brown-Sugar Streusel Bundt

Rich, decadent, buttery. This month for the taste and create challenge, I got paired with Min from Bad Girl's Kitchen. She's got lots of great recipes. This one, for a yogurt bundt cake appealed to me as I recently acquired a bundt pan and had not yet put it to use. The cake turned out delicious, but I neglected to follow the part of the recipe that says "let cake cool for awhile" and as a result, when I flipped it over, this is what happened:

Well, lesson learned! Next time - let cake cool longer. What can I say? I'm not the most patient person ever... Back to the actual cake though, I made it pretty much following the recipe Min gives on her blog. I didn't have any walnuts to put in the streusel, so I increased the brown sugar to a full cup. I loved the way the sugar formed a crisp crust and a beautiful ribbon through the middle of the cake. The yogurt in the batter gave the bundt a moist, rich consistency. I will definitely be making this again, I will just let it firm up a bit before I try and flip it!

Original recipe from Min at Bad Girl's Kitchen

Ingredients

Cake

1/2 pound butter (2 sticks), softened

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 heaping cup plain yogurt (I used fat free)

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

Streusel

1 cup brown sugar

2 heaping teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together butter and sugar. Add eggs, yogurt, and vanilla.

Mix in flour, baking powder and soda. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

Grease and flour bundt cake pan.

Spread 1/2 of batter in pan and sprinkle with 1/2 of brown sugar mixture.

Cover with remaining batter.

Sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture.

Bake in 350 degree F oven for 40-45 minutes. Let cool for at least ten minutes, then turn out onto serving dish.

Look at that yummy caramelized brown sugar....

This cake didn't last long, cause I ate it!

Taste and Create: Peach Cobbler Cupcakes

One of the foods on "The List" for me to make is cupcakes and frosting from scratch. Thus, I was super pumped when I was paired with Stef from The Cupcake Project for this month's Taste and Create. Super pumped, and kind of terrified. She is a cupcake superstar! Whereas I have never ever made a cake or cupcake from scratch... I know, for shame! I usually make everything from scratch, but cake making has always scared me a little for some reason... after looking through her website various times and giving myself a few pep talks, I selected a recipe for peach cobbler cupcakes. I topped them with a peach whipped cream frosting and a sprinkle of granola. OH YUM! I will never resort to a boxed cake mix again! These cupcakes are delish! Light, peachy, moist, and the frosting?!?!? Oh the frosting.... I need a moment.... it is lick the beater good. I must've eaten at least a cup full... I was a little sick later... but it was worth it! I was probably most nervous about the frosting part because when I have frosted my store bought previous cupcakes, with store bought frosting, I have ended up with icky, ugly, flat topped, pasty tasting cupcakes. To psych myself up for the cupcake frosting process, I bought this:

I am so glad I did! It gave my cupcakes a pretty, professional look (ok not quite professional... but prettier than my average smear it on with a butter knife technique). The whipped cream frosting is NOTHING like store bought. It is light, creamy, melt in your mouth... I could go on... but I won't as this post is getting long. Needless to say, I am a cupcake convert. I now understand all the hype, and I'm sure I will be borrowing more delightful recipes from Stef's website! Have a beautiful, cupcake filled day!

Peach Cobbler Cupcakes

Courtesy of cupcakeproject.com

Yield: 16 Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 1/2 C flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 C unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 C brown sugar

1/4 C sugar

2 eggs

1/2 C sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 C peaches, roughly chopped (about 2 medium-sized peaches)

With a fork, whisk flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl.

Beat butter and sugars in a large bowl for 1 minute until light and fluffy (mine didn't really get light and fluffy cause my butter was a bit cold, but it didn't seem to affect the end result too much).

Beat in eggs, sour cream, and vanilla extract until blended.

Mix in flour mixture.

Fold in peaches.

Fill cupcake liners 1/2 full (mine didn't rise a whole bunch probably thanks to not making my butter light and fluffy so 3/4 full worked for me).

Bake at 350 F for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the cupcake clean.

When completely cooled, frost and top with a sprinkle of granola (I used my homemade granola, recipe here)

Peach Whipped Cream Frosting

Recipe: cupcakeproject.com

Ingredients

1 C heavy whipping cream

1/3 C sugar

2/3 C finely pureed peaches, fresh or canned (use fresh if possible!)

Beat whipping cream on medium speed for about five minutes, until soft peaks form.

Mix in sugar.

Fold in peaches to the whipped cream.

Be sure to keep refrigerated.