Jeffrey's Rosemary Bread

My brother makes this amazing bread at home at least once every couple of weeks, and he just taught me how to make it. Now that we're on break at home with nothing better to do, we're popping out loaves every few days :) Rosemary bread is fragrant and just the right balance of moist/dry--I'll never go back to plain white/wheat!
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Rosemary Bread

(adapted from Jo's Rosemary Bread)

1 loaf (12 servings)

1 c. water

3 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp dried rosemary

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour

1 packet yeast

Add yeast to 1/4 c. warm water, wait about 10 minutes.
Add to a mixing bowl with flour, salt, sugar, and oil. Knead until your arms are tired!
Add oregano, pepper, and rosemary (try other herbs if you like!), knead some more.
Put dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for an hour in a warm place (oven at low temp if you can't find a warm place for it during the winter, like us).
Punch the dough down and let it rise for another hour.
Bake at 375 degrees F until golden brown.
Remove and brush with olive oil if desired.

The last days of freedom...

...dreading another year of dining hall food.

1. Raspberry and buttercream layer cake made by all the blockmates for Alison's birthday
2-3. Chocolate cake I made for Jeffrey's birthday before leaving for school in September
4. Soup my mom made with squash and other Chinese ingredients
5. Spring rolls my mom made--the wrapper hasn't been deep fried, but that's how I like it!
6. Chocolate chip pancakes I made...but Puddles ate most of the stack before anyone else got a bite
7-12. We surprised Alison on her birthday with a homemade picnic by the Charles: sun-dried tomatoes and chicken gemelli pasta, French bread topped with more tomatoes, herbed olive oil, and proscuitto spread, and our beautiful cake (eaten from cups because we ran out of plates :P)

Apple Cinnamon Madeleines adventure

I saw this fantastic Apple and Cinnamon Madeleines recipe by Milk and Cookies some time ago and told myself I'd whip up a batch myself some rainy afternoon before the summer was over...

...well, I got my rainy afternoon yesterday, but it wasn't until this morning that I finally finished the little suckers :P

Obstacles to success:

1. Finding a madeleine pan: I've never made madeleines and couldn't think of anyone I knew who has, but I figured I could just run over to the supermarket and pick up my own pan--not so easy. After scouring the housewares, baking, and crafts sections of 4 different stores, I went back home frustrated and pan-less. I called Grant fuming and expecting him to miraculously conjure up a madeleine pan for me, but even after calling his mom, I was still pan-less. Grant told me to just bake something else, but all I wanted to make was madeleines! I'm infatuated with cute things, and these little shell-shaped cakes are just too adorable to pass up so easily.

Feeling more defeated than I have in a long time, I put away all the sugar and flour I had already gotten out of the cupboards and said I would just have to order my own pan and try the recipe some other time. AND JUST AT THAT MOMENT the phone rang--Grant's mom calling back to save the day! She had found someone in town who happened to have a madeleine pan and was willing to lend it to me--super yay! Totally ecstatic, I ran over to pick it up (thanking her profusely for yet again being way too nice to me) and hurried back home to start baking at the bright hour of 7 p.m. :D

2. Oily, wiggly madeleines?: I followed the Milk and Cookies recipe pretty closely, converting from metric to US units (why can't we just use the metric system like everyone else in the world??!!!), substituting granulated and golden brown sugar for caster and muscovado sugar, and applesauce for pureed apples. She mentioned that her madeleines turned out a bit too dry, so I added an extra tablespoon of applesauce. My measurements weren't exactly accurate after converting from grams to cups/tablespoons but seemed close enough. However, I did mistake 180degrees CELSIUS for 180degrees FAHRENHEIT (It seemed awfully low for baking but I was too excited to think into it more :P) and didn't realize until the cakes had been in the oven for 5 min...I immediately took them out, preheated to 350degrees F instead, and tried again but feared the consequences of my mistake. The result? My first batch of madeleines popped out of the pan fine but were pretty flat, wiggly/spongy, and very oily. I wondered if I should have kept them in longer, so I tried that with the next dozen...about the same result, but they ended up sticking badly to the pan and I had to dump all of them (Puddles the dog stole a few scraps). Finally, I decided to try one more time, leaving out the extra tablespoon of applesauce and greasing the pan really well. This time, the madeleines were a bit more plump and a lot more firm, but still kind of oily. I lay them out on paper towels overnight to see if they would help, and in the morning, saw that a lot of oil had been absorbed. I brushed them with sugar and then thought I would try baking them for a few more minutes, just to see what would happen. After 10 more minutes at 350, I was greeted with 15 pretty decent-looking madeleines--golden and slightly crisp on the edges, light and spongy but firm throughout, no longer oily! I brushed them with sugar again since most of it had been absorbed into the cakes during the re-bake, and voila--not-too-shabby first-time Apple Cinnamon Madeleines!

3. Clouds: I couldn't wait to photograph my newest creations, but the sky was still dark and cloudy from yesterday's rain, and I ended up taking pictures in my dining room with some artificial light despite my better judgment. Of course, photos from my point-and-shoot are never great in general, so these will do for now, but I might try again later today when the sun comes out.

I'll definitely have to try these again when I get my own pan--regardless of what they look like, they taste amazing: not too sweet, fragrant and fruity, just enough apple and cinnamon flavors. I've also found several other madeleines recipes from Milk and Cookies and Tartelette that I would love to try--I think I'm obsessed with these cute little cakes!

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Apple Cinnamon Madeleines

(adapted from Apple and Cinnamon Madeleines)

12 madeleines

1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

3 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened (plus more to grease pan)

1 3/4 tbsp light brown sugar (or light muscovado if you have it)

2 3/4 tbsp granulated sugar (or superfine/caster if you have it)

1 egg, lightly whisked

1/4 c. applesauce

granulated sugar for coating

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Brush madeleine pan with butter.

In a small bowl sift together flour, baking powder and cinnamon.

Cream butter and sugars in another bowl until light and creamy. Add eggs and applesauce and beat until combined. Add flour mixture and fold until incorporated.

Place a tablespoon or so of the batter in each mold and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops are golden. Cool for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and lightly coat madeleines with granulated sugar.

Saturday is Food Day!

Yummy health brunch :)

Scrambled eggs with snow peas and sauteed onions
Heart healthy Quaker oatmeal
Fruit salad w/strawberries, apples, and blueberries
Skim milk




Followed by...cupcake time!

Vanilla cupcakes...







...with chocolate ganache and sugar frosted fruit








yummy :D




We don't have a muffin pan in our condo kitchen, so I used foil baking cups instead. They didn't hold their shape perfectly after I filled them with batter, but it was good enough. We also ran out of granulated sugar, which was a bigger problem, so I had to grind up a bunch of sugar cubes to substitute. Again, not a perfect solution, but it worked out well in the end, especially for sugar frosting the fruit. And it saved me another trip to Giant!
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Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache and Fruit
(from Joyofbaking.com and Cupcakes)
12 cupcakes

Vanilla cupcakes:
1/2 c. unsalted butter, soften
2/3 c. granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon (optional)
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. milk
Chocolate ganache:
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
1 c. heavy cream
Sugar-frosted fruit:
1 c. fruit (I used blueberries and raspberries, feel free to use whatever you prefer and as much or as little fruit as you like)
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 egg white

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper liners (you can also use self-standing foil cups or paper baking cups on a baking sheet).
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Beat in vanilla extract and optional lemon zest.
In another bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
Mix half of this flour mixture into butter and sugar mixture, then mix in milk, and finally mix in the rest of the flour mixture.
Evenly fill muffin cups with batter and bake for 18-20 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes.
To prepare ganache, bring a cup of water to a boil in a saucepan. In a mixing bowl that can rest on top of the saucepan, add the chocolate chips and cream. Stir constantly until chocolate is melted completely and the ganache is smooth and consistent. Remove from saucepan and cool for 5 minutes. Carefully spoon ganache on top of cupcakes.
To sugar-frost fruit, lightly brush fruit with egg white, then roll in sugar. Let dry on parchment paper, then use to decorate cupcakes.
Serve while cupcakes are still warm or after refrigerating.