Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

This week, I decided to tackle making bread from scratch! No big mixer, no bread machine… just my two bare hands.Something crazy happened - the yeast frothed, the dough rose (and then rose again), the house filled with the smell of bread, the crust browned…. IT WORKED!
It was probably pretty hilarious to see how excited I was when the dough actually doubled in size, when I cut into it and saw a real swirl, and when I finally took a bite and it tasted like bread!! Delicious bread at that! Simple things, I guess.

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

I followed this recipe, but made a few small adjustments:
Ingredients:
Yield: 3 loaves

• 1 1/2 cups milk
  
• 1 cup warm water (must be between 110-115 degrees)
  
• 2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast – I used instant yeast
  
• 3 eggs
  
• 1/2 cup white sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  
• 1 cup raisins – I used up the last of my raisins, which was about 1.5 cups
  
• 8 cups all-purpose flour – I used bread flour, and I ended up using 6.5 cups
  
• 2 tablespoons milk
  
• 1 cup white sugar
  
• 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted (approx.)

*When I make this again, I will probably add one more tablespoon of cinnamon, and use a touch less sugar in the filling mixture.
Directions: Warm the milk in a small sauce pan on the stove until it just starts to bubble, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Let cool until lukewarm, about 120-125 degrees. Dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside until yeast is frothy, about 10 minutes or so (make sure your water is at the correct temperature or the yeast won't activate.) Then mix in eggs, sugar, butter salt and raisins (stir in the cooled milk slowly so you don't cook the eggs.) Add the flour gradually to make a stiff dough. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes until smooth. Place in a large, buttered, mixing bowl and turn to grease the surface of the dough. Cover with a warm, damp cloth and let rise (I like to let my bread rise in the oven with the light on. It has just the right amount of heat and keeps the bread out of drafts.) Allow to rise until doubled, usually about 1 1/2 hours. Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle 1/2 inch thick. Moisten the dough with 2 tablespoons milk and rub all over the dough with your hands. Mix together 1 cup of sugar and 3 tablespoons cinnamon and sprinkle mixture evenly on top of the moistened dough. Roll up tightly (the long way). The roll should be about 3 inches in diameter. Cut into thirds, and tuck under ends and pinch bottom together. Place loaves into well greased (you can use Crisco or butter for this) 9 x 5 inch pans and lightly grease tops of loaves. Let rise in warm place, uncovered, again for about an hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until loaves are lightly browned and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from oven and let cool on rack. Take melted butter and spread over tops of loaves. (I skipped this step) After about 20 minutes, lay loaves on their sides and remove from pans. Allow to cool before slicing.
Enjoy!
R.

Huggy Buggy Bread Pudding

Prior to making this recipe, I’d been wanting to try bread pudding for ages! I knew I would love it, I mean, what’s not to like about bread soaked in cream and topped with cinnamon and raisins.

When I saw this recipe from Aarti Sequeira (love her!) for bread pudding make with coconut milk, I knew I couldn’t wait any longer!!

Oh boy… was I glad made this! It was delicious, and only gets better if it sits in the fridge for a day or two!

I followed the recipe found here, except I used skim milk instead of whole (it worked great!) and skipped the Cardamom because I couldn’t find any. I just added a touch more ginger and cinnamon. The only thing I found about this recipe is that the looking time is nowhere near accurate – mine was in the over for just over an hour. I would recommend keeping an eye on the pudding and removing it from the oven once bread begins to brown and it springs back when touched lightly.

 Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk (not low-fat)
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• Pinch salt
• 1 baguette, cut into 1-inch chunks (about 7 cups)
• 6 dried figs, soaked in hot water for at least 15 minutes, thinly sliced*
• Handful roasted unsalted cashew nuts, whole or chopped
• Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Pour the melted butter into a 9 by 13-inch baking dish and use a pastry brush to make sure the dish is well coated.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together, then add the coconut milk, the whole milk, the spices and a pinch of salt. Add bread and figs and toss. Let soak for 15 minutes.

Pour the mixture into the prepped baking dish and sprinkle with the cashews. Bake until the pudding pulls away from the sides of the dish, about 35 minutes.

Remove the pudding from the oven and serve with ice cream

Make your own Chocolate Vodka!

I recently read an online tutorial which assured me that I could make my own chocolate vodka with two simple ingredients and… a dishwasher? What?

Of course, my curiosity was intrigued. A few of my friends decided to try it last night, and… it worked! Mostly!

Ingredients:

1. Vodka – The recipe says you could use cheap vodka, as the chocolate masks the taste. It does mask the taste somewhat, but the better the vodka you chose, the better this will taste. We used Smirnoff (the bottle above was about $36.00 CAN), my friends used Alberta Pure (about $33.00 CAN), and even then the difference was notable.

2. Chocolate Bars – We used Mars bars, as called for in the recipe. Any chocolate bar will do, as long as there are no fruit and/or nuts, because they will not melt properly.  You’ll need 5-6 full size bars for a 1.14L of vodka.

 

Directions:

1.  Chop Mars Bars into strips thin enough to fit through the neck of the vodka bottle.

2. Pour out about a third to half of the vodka into a glass. Save for a future use (like waiting for your chocolate vodka to finish!)

3.  Place the cut up chocolate bars into the vodka. It will look VERY unappealing    at this point. Don’t panic.

4. If necessary, pour some of the saved vodka back into the bottle to fill to the top.

5. Place the lid back on and secure tightly. We were worried about leaks, so we also secured the lid with some duct tape, which worked well.

6.  Now, place the vodka into the bottom rack of the dishwasher and run for one normal cycle.

7.  Wait for a seeming eternity for the dishwasher to finish.

8.  Once the dishwasher is done, take the vodka and shake, shake, shake it up! There may still be some unmelted chocolate floating around. If you’re much more patient than I, you run it through another round in the dishwasher. We did not do that, but some of the sediment seems to have broken up while the vodka was in the freezer.

9. Place the bottle in the freezer to allow for sufficient cooling.

10. Enjoy!

 

This will go great in some hot chocolate or with some milk for a sweet alcoholy treat! From experience, I do not recommend taking it as a shot!

Now, what to do with the rest of the Costco sized flat of Mars bars?

Dear Santa:

With the days getting shorter and the air getting colder, it’s hard not to think about the upcoming holiday season!

I’ve already started brainstorming for my family’s gifts, but I couldn’t help but take a few moments to rack my brain about my own Christmas list.

Not so surprisingly, my list is almost entirely cooking or baking related!

A Light Box!

This would be great for food photography, especially during the winter when natural light will be hard to come by.

Cupcake Icing Kit

How adorable can these get?

Beautiful cupcake liners

So pretty!

An adorable apron! 

 

I love these super feminine and fitted retro-style aprons!

KitchenAid Mixer

A girl can dream! ;)

What is on your Christmas wish list?

 

R.

Happy Halloween!

 

By the psychotic look of my smile there, Snow White may not be an innocent as she seems!

Snow White and a (giant) Dwarf!

I’ll be back this week with some more posts! I was sick for the better part of the past two weeks, so I decided to rest up and come out strong!

R.

Friday Favourites – Volume 4!

Here we are! Nearly Friday again!

The 5 Favourites for this week:

Grilled Poutine Pizza from FotoCuisine

 

For the Project Food Blog Challenge #5, the contestants were challenged to create a pizza recipe. These guys put together possibly the most incredible marriage of two of the greatest foods on earth! Poutine Pizza! My Canadian heart is all a-flutter!

 

Joe and Betsy: Project Newlyweds

This is such a great idea!  This couple is trying something new together everyday for the first year of their marriage. The blog is a great read! A mixture of a food blog, art blog, healthy living blog with a dash of general awesomeness! Check it out! They also had a great entry for Project Food Blog Challenge #5.

 

Cheesy Clintons from Amuse Bouche

My friends and I have somewhat of a fascination with ridiculous over-the-top snack food. The more EXTREME the better. I was happy to learn this week that the Cheesy Clinton is a piece of pizza inside a grilled cheese. The story of how it originated is quite hilarious, and can be found on the Amuse Bouche entry. I’m pretty sure this would make a good entry on thisiswhyyourefat.com, but I’m also pretty sure it’s genius!

 

Coolest Science Project Ever!

If you’re a bit of a space nerd like I am, this video is worth your 7 minutes. A father and son send an iPhone into space in a weather balloon… it actually ends up 19 miles in the air and still keeps filming. You can see the curvature of the earth! SO. COOL.

 

Curling in Costume!

Last weekend, a couple of friends and I participated in a curling tournament! The theme was Things That Start with ‘C’, so our team went as Canadian Stereotypes. I’m on the left as a hockey goon… complete with a black eye and missing teeth! Also of note: Curling is super fun!!

That’s all for me! Hope you have a great week!

R.

Pumpkin Pie Mousse Tarts!!

As I previously mentioned, last weekend was Thanksgiving here in Canada. This one was extra special for me, because I decided to try my hand at making Thanksgiving dinner -  all on my own!

My mom was a phone call away for all of my novice questions.. “Does the stuffing have to go in a bag, or can it go straight in the turkey?” (For those wondering, either works!)

Luckily,  I avoided making any noob mistakes  - though I narrowly escaped cooking the gizzards in the neck. Somewhat surprisingly, everything turned out great! The turkey was perfectly browned and moist, The stuffing was delicious (even though it wasn’t mom’s recipe), and I managed to get the mashed potatoes right. This is a feat given that I don’t actually like or eat mashed potatoes! Mom was there for guidance while working  on the gravy, which was the most complicated part.

It was a great success!

I have to say though, the star of the show was dessert. Hands down.

I kept everything traditional for the dinner, but wanted to do something a little out of the ordinary for dessert. Being Thanksgiving, I didn’t want to stray TOO far from the standard pumpkin pie. The result was nothing short of amazing.

You know when you make some recipes you have such high hopes and the results end up being  a little “ehhh.” This is not one of those recipes. This recipe was more delicious than I had anticipated. This recipe is super easy and, in my opinion, it is BETTER than pumpkin pie.

 

Pumpkin Pie Mousse!

 

Ingredients:

• 1 can pumpkin – not pumpkin pie filling, not a large can
• 2 small packages instant vanilla pudding
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 cups lightly sweetened whipped cream (make sure to use the real stuff!)
• 1 pre-cooked pie crust or 12 pre-cooked tart shells*

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix both packages of vanilla pudding with 1 cup of milk and stir.

Add the pumpkin. Whisk to combine.

Add the pumpkin pie spice and vanilla. Whisk to combine.

Fold in 2 cups of whipped cream.

Spoon into baked pie crust or tart shells.

Spread whipped cream over pumpkin filling.  (I added dollops to the top of my tarts)

Sprinkle lightly with pumpkin pie spice over the top.

 

* The recipe I used said it serves 8, but I had a full bowl of leftover filling after making 12 heaping tarts. You could probably make 20 regular tarts with this filling.

If you’re looking for something a little different this Thanksgiving, try these! You can thank me later! ;)

R.

Friday Favourites – Volume 3!

It’s Friday already! One of the best part of long weekends in the short work week that follows!

Time for my favourites of the week!

 Candy “Apple” Donuts from duhlicious!

What a great idea! Timbits (for Canadians) or donut holes (for Americans), coated in syrup and dipped in sprinkles, toffee bits and… potato chips? That’s so crazy, it just could work!

 

Brown Eyed Baker

I discovered this lovely blog this week, and I’m hooked! There are tons of great recipes, beautiful photographs and tutorials! She even has a baking ‘bucket list’, which I think it a great idea!

 

Caramel Apple “Pies” from Tasty Trials

I’m going to be honest with you, I don’t particularly like pie crust. I’ll eat it, but it’s usually as a means of getting to the more delicious center of the pie! I’m one of those people who eats the crust first to get it out of the way! But I do love me some puff pastry! I can’t wait to try this recipe, because it’s the best of both worlds! Delicious flaky puff pastry and apple pie filling, with no pesky pie crust in the way!

 

Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes from Liv Life

Sweet Potatoes + Chipotle Peppers + Lime = Happiness.

 

The Social Network

I saw this movie on last Friday, and it was fascinating! I did some research afterwards, and I think the movie took some liberties with the real story of the creation of Facebook. Nonetheless, it’s worth seeing!

Cheers,

R.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

These may well be the best chocolate chip cookies ever! I love soft cookies, and these ones stay that way thanks to a secret ingredient… vanilla pudding mix! They got rave reviews!

Ingredients:

• 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.

*The recipe says 10 to 12 minutes, but I only baked mine for about 9 minutes (granted I am at high altitude). Please keep in mind that these cookies will not look done when you take them out. I just waited until I started to see a light browning on the edge of the cookie, and they were perfect!

Enjoy!

R. 

Friday Favourties – Volume 2!

It’s time for another  round-up of my favourites of the week! Always an honourable mention in the list is the fact that it’s Friday! It’s a long weekend here in Canada too! Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Without further adieu, and it no particular order:

Fresh Apple Bread from Sweet Savory Planet

My co-worker was telling me that she had a laundry basket full of apples from her apple picking excursion, and didn’t know what she was going to do with them all! I printed this recipe for her when I saw it and MAN IS IT DELICIOUS.  She added a little nutmeg to the mix, which was a nice touch! In her words (and I agree wholeheartedly)… “It’s a keeper!”

 

This picture found on yes and yes

 

Yes and Yes is one of my favourite non-food blogs. It’s full of interesting articles inspiring advice, and pretty pictures. Like this one! I love the picture and the message!

 

Bacon Cinnamon Rolls from Framed

 

Yes. You read that right. BACON cinnamon rolls! This woman may have unleashed delicousness of unspeakable magnitude upon us all! I haven’t tried these yet, but I’m fairly confident that when I do, I will never want to eat anything else ever again. Check out the rest of this blog too! I love the writing style, and the recipes are amazing and creative (*ahem* Mac ‘n Cheese Cupcakes and French Toast Muffins) if not a little hazardous to the waistline!

 

Hipster Puppies

The name says it all. It is just pure glory!

 

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’m firmly on Team Soft and Chewy when it comes to cookies! The only time I really like crunchy cookies are when they’re dipped in milk! These cookies are where. it’s. at!

I made them for a charity bake sale at Mr. Aussie’s (my boyfriend) work, and the reviews I received are “the better than the ones from Cookie Occasion (a local bakery)” and “This is one of the best cookies I’ve ever had”. Funny story: The latter review was from a member of the Calgary Police Service who questioned my boyfriend when he saw him walking by with a tray of cookies. Mr. Aussie explained that they were being sold for charity, so 3 officers bought some of the cookies from him before they made it to the bake sale table! Of course, he gave the money to the organizers.

Now who knows, maybe Mr. Aussie is making this stuff up so that I keep baking for him! ;)

Don’t fret.. I’ll share the recipe this week!

Until next time! Cheers!

R.