fromscratch

hot buttered pretzels

yummy pretzels

this recipe comes courtesy of king arthur flour and is my first "double" challenge entry in the daring bakers.

this was a wonderful and easy recipe to work with, i didn't need to do much to adapt it to our family. the changes i made? first off i made two batches, because i had a feeling 8 wouldn't be enough...especially because i was also choosing to make a cinnamon-sugar version...my only other adaptation...besides using a vegan butter.

so how did i do it?

step 1:

well the first step is to mix all the dough ingredients in the bowl of a mixer until well combined. in all the bread baking i've been doing the last few months i've learned that salt kills yeast so i first placed about half of the flour into the bowl, added the yeast, covered the yeast with the rest of the flour and then proceeded to add the rest of the ingredients into the bowl. this way the salt and yeast don't come in contact (at least in my head they don't...until its time).

this is what my dough looked like before kneading after mixing until well combined.

afterwards...knead for about 5 minutes...

dough after kneaded

the dough transforms into a smooth and soft dough with a lot of "slack" to it. i had a lot of fun passing it from one hand to another.

step 2:

flour the dough and put it into a greased bowl covered with a greased piece of plastic wrap...let it rest for 30 minutes.

this is my dough ball "before" the 30 minute rest.

this is my dough ball "after" the 30 minute rest...completely filling the bowl.

step 3:

afterwards, divide the dough into eight equal portions, make sure to lightly grease your surface and your cutting tool. for "cutting" my dough i used the side of my large off-set spatula...and it worked like a charm. according to my scale...i had equal portions of 2.4 ounces each.

"cutting" my dough

the easiest way to cut the dough i've found is to first split it in half, then split those halves in half (making four) and then splitting those four pieces in half (making 8). at this point you can start measuring the dough balls and adding and subtracting here and there as needed.

measured dough balls.

allow the pieces to rest about 5+ minutes. this is important, if the dough doesn't rest enough, when you try to roll the dough out into ropes the dough will "snap back" and not want to stretch. when this happens the dough starts to tear...and i'm not exactly sure why, but i know you don't want that.

equal portions of dough...resting

step 4:

time to get to shaping. if your area is lightly greased this shall be a fun step. roll your dough out to about 28-30 inches long. the longer i find the better...as it allows you to shape a pretzel with larger "windows," which is a good thing because as they rest/rise and then bake those nice little holes/windows will close up.

during this stage you are also instructed to do a baking soda wash. i could not for the life of me get the baking soda to disolve fully in the water...i tried and tried and it didn't work...i didn't want spatchy pretzels, not to mention when i tried dipping them it became a mess...so only two got dipped and i just forged ahead...the wash just gives them a nice browning...that i felt i could do without and also the salt. so my pretzels got shaped and placed right on the baking sheet. this is important, as i found that you don't want to move the shaped pretzels too much, if at all...they easily loose there shape.

rolling the dough:
there are two ways in my eyes to roll the dough. one way is to roll the dough on the table (make sure it is lightly greased) starting from the center out. and the second way is to hold it between your palms and roll it.

rolling it on the table...

rolling it between my palms...

after rolling it...shape it into a pretzel. this is easy to do, but hard to explain...

a shaped pretzel

the easiest thing i can tell you is that if you hold both ends of the rope,one in each hand, the middle point is the bottom "v" of the pretzel, the ends then come up as if to make a heart, wrap around each other and then "stick" down to each side of the pretzel.

next, let the pretzels rise for about 10 minutes...then bake them for about 8-9 minutes in a 500 degree (preheated) oven.

lastly...you want to really butter these babies down...use all the butter...as that is what really kicks off the flavor...if your making cinnamon/sugar, roll the buttered pretzels in the cinnamon sugar..

enjoy!

yumminess!

my love affair with mustard continues...

cinnamon sugar...

these were excellant and really easy to make...the quick rising time makes them doable even if you need them in a jiffy...they also go great with soup...ask me i know!

try em' you won't be disappointed.

happy baking!

paz,
ki

l'opera cake, vegan

almond coconut opera cake

opera cake is generally seven layers high, and include three layers of coffee soaked jaconde (almond sponge cake) with layers of coffee flavored buttercream, a layer of chocolate ganache and finally covered with a layer of chocolate glaze.

for this daring bakers challenge, we were to lighten the cake in flavor and color, by omitting the coffee and chocolate and choosing "light" flavors, such as lemon, vanilla, coconut, almond. read more about it.

my cake features a vegan almond flavored "jaconde" soaked with a simple vanilla syrup, coconut buttercream and a dusting of powdered sugar instead of a glaze.

vegan almond "jaconde"

to make the the jaconde, which is generally a sponge cake consisting of half a dozen egg whites and eggs, i turned to bryanna clark grogan's vegan lemon genoise cake. its an excellent recipe and with a few alterations it fit the bill.

here's my adaption:

vegan almond jaconde (adapted from bryanna's vegan lemon genoise cake)

* for this cake you need two full cakes. if you have two pans, prepare both pans in step 2, and while measuring the dry ingredients for the first cake, measure out the dry ingredients for the second cake in a separate large bowl. set aside. also, measure out the second set of wet ingredients and set aside. by doing this, the second cake can be made in a couple of minutes immediately after the first cake is made, poured in the prepared pans and both cakes can be baked at the same time.

2 1/2 c. plus 2 T. cake flour
1 1/2 c. white sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. plus 2 T. vegan "butter"
2 T. milk *i added a few drops of coconut flavor to this, you can use coconut milk
1 c. water
3/4 c. milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract

1. preheat oven to 350. if baking two cakes, place one oven rack at upper portion of oven, and second rack in the lower middle portion of oven.

2. prepare two large jelly roll pans for baking. lightly spray the bottom with cooking spray, or grease with "butter," cover the bottom with parchment paper, letting the long edges hang over the pan. this allows for easy removal of the cake. spray/grease the parchment.

3. place all the dry ingredients in the bowl of a mixer. add the "butter," water, and 2 T. of milk. beat well. add remaining ingredients and beat an additional minute.

4. pour the batter into the prepared pan. bake for 25-30 minutes till cake test done with a toothpick and is lightly brown.

once cakes are done allow them to cool on the parchment paper on a cooling rack. the parchment allows the cakes to retain some moisture, but by placing them on the racks the cakes are still allowed to cool more quickly and throughly.

note: if you are making two cakes at a time, you want to make sure and measure two batches of the ingrediants at a time. when baking with chemical leaveners you want to get them in the oven as soon as possible for the best rise. don't skip this step it allows you to "throw" together the second cake in a flash.

while the cake is baking prepare your syrup and butter cream.

simple sugar syrup.

1/2 c. water
1/3 c. white granulated sugar
1-2 T. of flavoring * i used 1 T. of vanilla for this cake

1. place water and sugar in a small sauce pan. stir to desolve sugar.

2. cook over high heat, until it comes to a full rolling boil. stir often.

3. once mixture is boiling, remove from heat and allow to cool to room temp.

4. stir in flavoring right before syrup is to be used. *make sure mixture is cool.

vegan coconut buttercream

2 sticks of vegan "butter" (1 cup), room temp.
2 lb. bag of confectioner's sugar, plus more for thickening if needed
6-8 T. of milk
1 T. plus 1 tsp. of coconut flavoring

1. whip "butter" in mixer until fluffy, about 30 seconds.

2. add the sugar, milk, and flavor. blend on low speed until sugar is incorporated, about a minute. mix at high speed until the frosting is light and fluffy. add more milk or sugar as needed to get desired consistency.

assembling the cake

to assemble the cake, first gather all the components and make sure you have a large work space. you'll need:

1. cakes

2. syrup, cooled

3. buttercream frosting

4. powdered sugar for garnishing, or other garnish

i find the following tools helpful:

1. long serreated knife to cut cakes.

2. a ruler for measuring.

3. pastry brush for brushing on syrup

4. large off set spatula for smoothing buttercream

5. another set of hands for moving and placing cakes, or lots of large spatulas.

assembled tools. from left to right: large off set spatula, small "icing" spatula, pastry brush, sugar syrup, and coconut buttercream.

step 1.

cut the cakes. cut a 10 x 10 square, leaving a 10 x 5 rectangle out of each cake. you should have four pieces in total.

start with one large cake

four cut layers

step 2.

place one of the 10 x 10 cake squares on a piece of parchment. gently brush on sugar syrup.

first cake layer with syrup brushed on.

spread a nice thick layer of buttercream on top of the jaconde.

almond jaconde soaked w/ sugar syrup and them spread with buttercream

step 3.

in the next step we will place the two "small" rectangles side by side on top of the previous buttercream layer to make one layer.

soak these two layers like the previous layer, and spread with another thick layer of buttercream.

second layer of jaconde, syrup and buttercream

step 4.

in this step we will repeat the last two steps, this time placing the final 10x10 jaconde square on top of the previous layer of buttercream, brushing it with syrup and adding a final layer of buttercream.

final layer of jaconde, syrup and buttercream

after step 4, place the cake into the fridge for about 30 minutes or so to firm up and make cutting the cake into a clean rectangle easier.

step 5.

cut your cake into a traditional rectangle or buck tradition and cut your own shape.

nice clean layers

finishing...

to finish generally a opera cake is glazed, however, being that the cut off layers tasted perfect and were already sweet...i decided to just sprinkle with a light dusting of confectioner's sugar.

with a nice cold glass of vanilla almond milk

a beautiful finale...

for more information about the daring baker challenge, head over to my main blog.

and be sure to check out the daring bakers to see the long list of wonderful daring bakers and their interpertations.

paz,

ki