Baking Style Diary

deluxe

lisa — Sat, 19 May 2012 12:53:43 +0000

If I had some understanding–a clue, even–as to why, over the last few weeks, my mixing bowl was repeatedly filled with varied cornbread batters, I’d tell you. It’s probably simply an extended craving which takes hold and continues until the next one grabs me.

Cornbread. Once again. How duplicative of me. Yet, how wonderful that I am so repetitious. People Who Love to Bake, this one is a deep-dish wonder, and different from my blue corn cake that weakened my knees not too long ago. You’ll love it for its deluxe qualities of depth and richness. Slices sit so pretty in a bread basket. The crumbs are irresistible. Leftover slices, if it’s possible to have them, toast well.

I’m inclined to prepare a meal around this quick bread–tall and mighty. The formula boasts an authoritative use of corn meal and lush dairy staples. This one is for the go-to recipe file.

tall and mighty cornbread

lisa — Sat, 19 May 2012 12:52:52 +0000

batter

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup fine yellow corn meal
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 pound (16 tablespoons or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to tepid

procedure

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Film the inside of a 9 to 9 1/2-inch baking pan (2 1/4 inches deep) with nonstick flour-and-oil spray.

For the batter, whisk the flour, corn meal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. In a medium-size mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and buttermilk until well blended; add the melted butter and whisk for 1 minute. Pour the whisked ingredients
over the dry ingredients and stir to form a batter, using a wooden spoon or paddle. The batter will be moderately thick, gently gritty, and slightly lumpy.

Spoon the batter into the prepared baking pan, smoothing it into an even layer with a rubber spatula or narrow offset palette knife.

Bake the bread in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until risen, set, and golden on top. risen, set, and golden on top. A wooden pick inserted in the center of the bread will withdraw clean.

Cool the bread in the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Invert the bread onto another cooling rack, lift off the baking pan, then invert again to stand right-side up. Servce warm or cool completely. Cut the bread into pie-shaped wedges for serving, using a serrated knife. Store in an airtight cake or bread keeper.

creates

one dozen slices

store

on baking day, or up to one day in advance, stored in an airtight cake or bread keeper

notes

◊ using fine corn meal creates a lightly gritty, tender cake/bread
◊ use fresh leavening agents for the best overall lift to the batter as it bakes
◊ be sure to mix the batter thoroughly to catch any pockets of flour/corn meal, but do not over-mix (small lumps may remain)

lisa — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:40:29 +0000

baking style diary Recipe Tracker: I’m cornbread-ing again, and a deluxe version is wooing and wowing me–coming soon in a diary entry.

lisa — Thu, 17 May 2012 04:41:05 +0000

To reply to visitors of baking style diary asking about adding chopped nuts to the lush whole wheat soda bread dough from Baking Style: Art, Craft, Recipes, I would recommend using coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans.

lisa — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:56:12 +0000

Baking Style Tracker: Once again, the recipe for my lush whole wheat soda bread from Baking Style: Art, Craft, Recipes that appeared on The Splendid Table site is available here.

Cookies at Home with The Culinary Institute of America, by Todd Knaster (Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2011), $34.00

lisa — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:45:19 +0000

The content of Cookies at Home with The Culinary Institute of America follows a traditional model, arranged by form (“Drop Cookies,” “Bar Cookies,” “Rolled, Cut-Out, and Sliced Cookies,” Molded, Stenciled, and Shaped Cookies,” and “Piped and Twice-Baked Cookies“), then veers slightly to savory recipes in an ingredient-based category (“Savory Cookies“). How-to chapters round out the volume along with concluding back matter (“Glossary,” Resources,” and ”Template“) and the overall presentation is a competent look into cookie-ing devoted to the home baker.

Cooks looking for familiar flavors and textures will be rewarded. Chocolate Chip Cookies (page 47), Peanut Butter Cookies (page 49), Gingersnaps (page 53), Turtle Bars (page 101), and like treats appear in the book along with cookies that move beyond the classics, such as Agave-Peanut Butter Granola Bars (page 110), Cinnamon Bun Cookies (page 122), and Jalapeño-Cheddar Zaleti (page 181).

Two recipes, Rocky Road Cookies (page 59) and Fudge Brownies (page 86), were selected for baking because, well, I was in my usual must-have chocolate mood. The procedure for the Rocky Road Cookies required air-drying miniature marshmallows overnight before incorporating them in the dough, a technique that relieved the baked cookies of one of my favorite characteristics–a slightly gooey, luscious-sticky pull to the inside of a baked cookie (suggestion: use them as is, right out of the bag)–with this in mind, the batch of cookies would make a good cookie-jar item. Fudge Brownies, made with cake flour, turned out fudgy, as promised.

Cookies at Home with The Culinary Institute of America is an approachable primer, and offers an uncluttered foundation for learning the basics.

What is the best way to prepare cookie dough ahead of time? I like to serve cookies that have not been lying around in a container for a few days but am unsure of how to work the dough into my schedule.

lisa — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:51:35 +0000

Certain types of prepared cookie dough can be refrigerated or frozen to bake off for future enjoyment. Just recently, I put together another batch of brown sugar chippers with the understanding that portions of dough would be stored in the freezer (my freezer “pantry” sort of thing going on) and baked-to-order sometime in the not-too-distant future. I did the same with a double recipe of my joy of toffee cookies. (Both recipes are available to bakers far and wide on this blog.) The ingredients in each “creamed” cookie recipe combine to create a dough stable enough to endure a rest in the freezer–the elements that contribute to this stability are a respectable amount of butter, the correct balance of sugar and eggs, and enough flour to promote and develop texture. Over the years, I have found that the best way to store this type of drop cookie dough cookie dough is to divide it up into the portion size called for in the recipe, freeze the plump scoops until firm, wrap them two to a package, and tuck them into a self-sealing freezer bag or sturdy lidded container. You can bake the pre-formed dough scoops directly from the freezer or refrigerator-cold.

lisa — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:05:26 +0000

I brought scoops of frozen cookie dough to a Mother’s Day celebration, then baked off the cookies (fresh!) to enjoy with ice cream and hot fudge sauce. Once baked, the cooler-packed (then refrigerated on site) mounds of brown sugar chippers tasted just as delicious as if the dough was prepared that morning. (Dough mounds may be stored in the freezer for 3 weeks.)

lisa — Sun, 13 May 2012 13:56:33 +0000

To reply to visitors of baking style diary asking about including miniature cinnamon chips to the dough for my cinnamon-sugar scones, a recipe published recently in the Boston GLOBE, you can add 3/4 cup along with the liquid mixture.

Pretty Cupcake Kit by Shana Faust and Elinor Klivans (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2011), $19.95 and Princess Cupcakes by Chronicle Books Staff (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2011), $17.99

lisa — Sat, 12 May 2012 14:58:46 +0000

Nearly any sort of cake batter can be spooned into and baked in single serving containers, but cupcake-size treats win out for their undisputed charm.

Introduced into The Universe of Cupcakes are two delightful boxed sets: Pretty Cupcake Kit and Princess Cupcakes. The former contains cupcake papers in mostly-pastel colors, decorative flag cupcake picks, and a booklet containing a few recipes. The latter holds cupcakes papers in the colors of springtime (pink, pale green, lavender) and fairly firm paper crowns to wrap around the base of frosted cupcakes. Each would make a sweet gift, alone or paired with a few enhancements–like sprinkles or a pastry bag-and-tip set.

Aspiring cupcake artists of all ages will get a jump start on the decorative aspect of cupcake-ing by dovetailing the colors of the liners with a few special effects by tinting creamy frosting to match the hue of the papers, finding jimmies to match, and customizing the treats with a theme in mind.

Craft meets baking in the Pretty Cupcake Kit and Princess Cupcakes.