Thanksgiving 2019

I love thanksgiving. It was another great one this year. There were 16 of us this year including grandpa, grandkids, an aunt and uncle, and some cousins with their kids. A good bunch! I’ve made the same turkey for the past several years. It’s from Bon Appetit and it has turned out great every year. This year I wanted a slightly bigger turkey but know that this can present a problem with roasting evenly so I decided to roast the turkey in parts instead of whole. Just a few days later, lo and behold, I was listening to Bon Appetit’s podscast where they mentioned their turkey receip this year called for the turkey to be cut into pieces before roasting. Perfect!

I listened to another podcast where Alison Roman was talking about her new cookbook and what she was going to make for thanksgiving this year and she mentioned her turkey was dry-brined in a mixture of herbs and brown sugar, and then stuffed with lemons and red onion. I thought this flavor combo sounded great so I decided to combine the two recipes.

I cut the turkey into parts (2 leg/thigh combinations, 2 wings, and one double breast) and then dry brined it (it was a 21.4 pounder this year so I increased the total amount of dry brine accordingly) in Alison’s mixture of sugar, salt and thyme but added in a good amount of lemon zest. I let that sit for 2 days on baking sheets in the fridge, uncovered. I then baked it on Thanksgiving morning following the Bon Appetit method, on a wire rack at 425 degrees initially, and then decreasing to 300 degrees until done. I put a few cut up red onions and two full heads of garlic under the wire racks as well. I glazed with the Bon Appetit glazed as well, but substituted lemon for orange. It ended up baking at 450 degrees (I decided to up the temp just a bit since my bird was so big) for 25-30 minutes, and then another 60-65 minutes at 300 degrees. I had to pull the legs a few minutes before the breast was done.

The final result? It was great! Both the white and dark meat were cooked perfectly, no dry over-cooked breast meat here. I let the turkey sit for about an hour before carving. While it was resting I made Alison Roman’s turkey gravy which turned out beautifully smooth and glossy. It was rich and buttery and so delicious. Overall the combination of recipes and a fresh local turkey came together for another win.

Had one fail this year, thankfully it wasn’t the turkey. And thankfully I had the time to fix it! In addition to the turkey, every year I also enjoy making dinner rolls. This year I was planning on making two different recipes; a simple sourdough white roll, and a slightly sweetened molasses and oat sourdough bun which was dairy free for some family members with food intolerances. Since the molasses buns were a new recipe I tested them twice, TWICE in the week before Thanksgiving and was feeling good about them.

I started these rolls again the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving. The first rise went fine, but after shaping them on Wednesday I left them in the fridge overnight for the second rise. In the morning they didn’t look like they had done a lot, they were still pretty flat, but I had to get them in the oven so in they went after warming on the counter for an hour or two. In the oven they did not rise at all. Not one millimeter. They came out as flat little pancakes of dense dough. I have no idea what went wrong. I know the started was active because I used the exact same starter for the other batch of sourdough rolls and those rose just fine.

I was stumped but didn’t have time to dwell on it. I thankfully knew I had time to whip together something else and get it baked before everyone showed up at 12:30. I found a good basic soft and buttery dinner roll on a dependable blog. I’ve made very similar recipes in the past and knew it would probably be fine. It was. This recipe was simple and rose easily and baked up like a dream. They were not dairy free but they were delicious so that’s what we went with! Phew, saved the rolls!

——————————————————————————————

Spiced and Glazed Roast Turkey
From Bon Appetit
Ingredients
Turkey

• 1 12–14-lb. turkey, cut into pieces

• 2 Tbsp. whole black peppercorns

• 2 Tbsp. whole pink or black peppercorns

• ½ cup Diamond Crystal or ¼ cup plus 1½ tsp. Morton kosher salt

• 2 Tbsp. garlic powder

• 2 Tbsp. onion powder

• 1 Tbsp. light brown sugar

• 1 Tbsp. smoked paprika

Glaze and Assembly

• Small handful of hardy herbs (such as sage, rosemary, bay leaves, and/or thyme)

• 4 garlic cloves, crushed

• 2 2x1" strips orange zest

• ⅓ cup low-sodium soy sauce

• ⅓ cup (packed) light brown sugar

• ⅓ cup sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar

• 6 Tbsp. neutral oil (such as vegetable, peanut, or canola)

Brining the Turkey: Place turkey pieces, skin side up, on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle salt mixture liberally all over turkey, patting to adhere. You may not need all of it, but it’s good to have extra since some will end up on the baking sheet. Chill bird, uncovered, at least 24 hours and up to 2 days.

Glaze and Assembly: Remove turkey from wire rack and rinse baking sheet and rack if needed (turkey will most likely release some liquid). Line baking sheet with 3 layers of foil to make cleanup easy and set rack back inside. Arrange turkey pieces on rack, skin side up, and let sit at room temperature 2–3 hours to help decrease the cooking time.

Meanwhile, cook herbs, garlic, orange zest, soy sauce, brown sugar, and vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved and glaze thickens slightly (it should just barely coat a spoon), 10–12 minutes. Remove glaze from heat.

Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 425°. Rub turkey with oil and pour 1 cup water into baking sheet. Roast turkey, rotating baking sheet halfway through, until skin is mostly golden brown, 20–25 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300° and continue to roast turkey, brushing with glaze every 20 minutes and adding more water by ½-cupfuls as needed to maintain some liquid in baking sheet, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of breast registers 150°, and 170° when inserted into the thickest part of the thighs, 50–70 minutes longer (total cooking time will be 1–1½ hours). [Mine ended up going an additional 60-64 minutes] Skin should be deep golden brown and shiny. Transfer turkey to a cutting board; tent loosely with foil. Let rest 30–60 minutes before carving.

——————————————————————————————

Dry-Brined Turkey with Sheet-Pan Gravy
From Alison Roman
Ingredients

Turkey:

• 1 bunch fresh thyme

• ⅓ cup kosher salt

• ⅓ cup light brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

• 1 12- to 14-pound turkey

• 4 to 5 medium red onions, quartered

• 3 lemons, halved crosswise

• 2 heads garlic, halved crosswise

• ⅓ cup olive oil

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter

Gravy:

• 3 cups Chicken or Turkey Stock, plus more as needed

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter

• ½ cup all-purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, plus more to taste

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar, plus more to taste

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Turkey: Strip the leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme, and coarsely chop the leaves. Place in a medium bowl along with salt, brown sugar and pepper; mix to blend well.

Place the turkey on a rimmed baking sheet lined with a wire rack. (If you do not own a wire rack, just place the turkey directly on the baking sheet.) Make sure the giblets (the bagged heart, kidneys and liver, and the neck) are removed from the cavity. Using paper towels, pat the turkey dry on all sides. Sprinkle with the salt mixture, making sure to distribute the seasoning evenly to all the bits and parts. Refrigerate turkey, uncovered, for 8 to 24 hours — the longer, the better.

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Remove turkey from the fridge, and transfer it to another clean rimmed baking sheet (discard any liquid that has accumulated on the first baking sheet). Stuff turkey with remaining bunch of thyme, a few of the quartered onions and half of the lemons and garlic. Scatter remaining onion quarters, lemons and garlic around the turkey. Combine olive oil and 6 tablespoons butter in a small pot over medium heat until butter is melted. Pour half of the mixture over the turkey and onions. Toss the onions lightly to evenly coat; season everything with salt and pepper.

Roast, rotating the baking sheet every hour or so, until the turkey has reached 160 degrees when a thermometer is inserted in the deepest part of the thigh, 2½ to 3 hours. The turkey will be cooked through and tender, and the skin will be brown, but you can and should get it browner.

Increase temperature to 425 degrees. Pour remaining butter mixture over the turkey (warm it slightly if solidified) and continue to cook until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees and the skin is very deeply browned all over, 20 to 25 minutes. It's OK if the internal temperature is just shy of 165 degrees, it will come to temperature as it rests. (If you find the skin is browning too quickly, especially on the top at the breast, place a sheet of foil over the breast.)

Remove turkey from the oven and let rest on the baking sheet for 30 minutes (and upward of 45 minutes). Tip the turkey, cavity-side down, making sure the aromatics stay inside the cavity and letting any juices run out onto the rimmed baking sheet. Transfer the roasted onions, lemons and garlic to another dish and set aside. Transfer the turkey to a cutting board and let it continue to rest while you make the gravy.

Gravy: Pour about 1 cup stock onto the baking sheet. Using a spatula, scrape up the bits from the turkey drippings, just as if you’re deglazing a skillet after searing a piece of meat. Carefully pour the contents of the baking sheet into a large measuring cup or other spouted vessel. Add remaining stock until you have 4 cups liquid; you may need more or less stock depending on how juicy the bird was.

Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Add flour and cook, whisking constantly, until flour is sizzling furiously and well-toasted, about the color of a graham cracker, 4 to 6 minutes. (The mixture will be thick at first but will thin as the flour cooks.) Slowly whisk in fortified stock mixture, about ½ cup at a time, letting it bubble, thicken and incorporate completely between additions until all of it has been added.

Add soy sauce and vinegar, and season with salt and pepper. Continue simmering until gravy is at your desired viscosity and the flavors have all melded together, 5 to 8 minutes. Add more soy sauce if you think it needs more depth of flavor, vinegar if you want more acidity, and salt and pepper for seasoning. Remove from heat and set aside until ready to serve.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Soft and Buttery Dinner Rolls
From Sally’s Baking Addiction
Ingredients

• 1 cup (240ml) milk, around room temperature

• 2 and 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

• 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, divided

• 1 large egg

• 1/4 cup (60g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature and cut into 4 pieces

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour or bread flour

• Optional topping: 2 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter mixed with 1 Tablespoon honey

Add flour, salt, sugar and yeast to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Whisk to combine. In a separate bowl whisk together the milk and egg - add to the flour mixture. Beat on low speed for 30-60 seconds, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed until all of the flour is moistened. Then increase to medium speed and knead until the the dough is well developed and comes together to form a soft dough. It will be sticky. Add flour as needed to make it manageable but don’t add too much so it becomes too dry.

Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise in a relatively warm environment for 1-2 hours or until double in size.

Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan or two 9-inch square or round baking pans. Set aside.

When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 14-16 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth ball. Arrange in prepared baking pan. (For a 9x13 inch pan, 15 rolls is nice to arrange in 3 rows of 5 rolls each).

Cover shaped rolls with plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise until puffy, about 1 hour. Near the end of the rising time, preheat oven to 350°F. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top, rotating the pan halfway through. If you notice the tops browning too quickly, loosely tent the pan with aluminum foil. Remove from the oven, brush with optional honey butter topping, and allow rolls to cool for a few minutes before serving.

Beginner's Sourdough Bread

Over the past several months (I guess even 6-8 months!) I have gotten back into the habit of making myself bread every week or every other week. I’ve been really enjoying the process and seeing how each loaf and recipe turns out. Some are better than others, but they’re all good. I’ve been using the book, Artisan Sourdough Made Simple which really is simple and the recipes fit my lifestyle well.

However, more recently I’ve been wanting to experiment with some other recipes for fun. See what else I can make. I’ve been eyeing some recipes on the blog The Perfect Loaf for literally years now, and finally went for it and decided to try what looked like the simplest recipe on the blog, his Beginner’s Sourdough Bread. While the overall process was longer than the recipe I’ve been making, it was just as simple and was really fun and rewarding to try.

I started the dough on Thursday night and was able to bake off the two loaves on Saturday mid-afternoon. There really was very little hands-on time. Just a lot of checking in to see how things were going, deciding when to slow things down in the fridge vs leaving it on the counter. I didn’t follow the timings exactly as written in the original recipe (which is very precise), mainly because my house is much colder than the temperature that he calls for you to rise the bread at. Not a big deal, but takes a lot more monitoring how the rising is going to figure out when to move on to the next step.

End result: This recipe turned out two beautiful loaves! Some of the best I’ve made. The crumb was tight and even, no big, uneven holes. It got some great oven spring and browned up well. The crust was thin and snappy. Overall extremely happy with this recipe and am excited to see what else I can do with it in the future!

——————————————————————————————

Beginner’s Sourdough Bread
From The Perfect Loaf
Ingredients
Levain

• 40 grams Mature sourdough starter (100% hydration)

• 40 grams Whole Wheat Flour

• 40 grams Bread Flour

• 80 grams water, at room temperature

Dough

• 748 grams Bread Flour

• 110 grams Whole Wheat Flour

• 49 grams Dark Rye Flour I did not have any rye flour so I used more of the same whole wheat flour

• 691 grams water (warm/cool water temperature to meet the desired dough temperature)

• 18 grams salt

• 184 grams mature, 100% hydration levain (from Levain Build, above)

Directions
LEVAIN: Mix together everything called for in the Levain Build section above in a clean jar in the morning and store somewhere around 74-76°F (23-24°C) ambient for 5-6 hours. Keep an eye on how your levain is progressing during this time. When its ready to be used it will be expanded, bubbly on top & at the sides, and smell almost a little sour.

AUTOLYSE: Using your hands mix all the flour and most of the water (reserve 50g water for later) called for in the “Dough Mix” section above in a bowl until all dry bits are hydrated. Cover the bowl and store somewhere warm (near your levain is convenient) for 1 hour. (Note that this autolyse stage does not incorporate or use salt or the levain build in any way, they are two separate entities at this point that will be mixed together later in the process.)

MIX: At this point your autolyse is complete and your levain is ready. Add salt, reserved water, and levain to your already mixed flour & water and mix thoroughly. I like to spread everything on top of dough resting in the bowl and use my hand to pinch all the ingredients together. Transfer dough to a tub or thick-walled bowl for bulk fermentation.

(At this point use your instant read thermometer to take the temperature of your dough to get your final dough temperature. If your FDT is below 78°F (25°C) next time use warmer water, and conversely, if it’s above 78°F (25°C) use cooler water.)

BULK FERMENTATION: At 76-80°F (24-26°C) ambient temperature bulk fermentation should go for about 4 hours. [I actually ended up bulk fermenting for close to 24 hours in my cool house, it’s been a very cold November and I keep the house at around 64 degrees at night, and during the day when I’m at work. Even with this much prolonged rise the dough did not seem over-risen. It worked out great in the end. But I had to keep checking on it and had to decide at what point did I think it was ready to shape. I ended up using my bakers intuition which seemed to work well this time] Perform 3 sets of stretch and folds during bulk fermentation, spaced out by 30 minutes.

Each set consists of 4 folds, one at the North, South, East and West sides. Wet your hands with a little water to prevent sticking and then lift up one side (North) of the dough with two hands. Stretch the dough up high enough just so that you can fold it completely over to the other side of the dough in the bowl. Rotate the bowl 180° and do the other side (South). Finish the other two sides (East and West) to complete the set. Let the dough rest 30 minutes, covered, between sets.

After that third set of stretch and folds, let the dough rest the remainder of bulk fermentation. During this time we let the flour ferment further, aerating it (making it rise), strengthening it and developing flavor.

At the end of bulk fermentation your dough should have risen anywhere between 20% and 50%, should show some bubbles on top, sides and the edge of the dough where it meets the bowl should be slightly domed showing strength.

DIVIDE AND PRESHAPE: Lightly flour your work surface and dump out the dough. With your bench knife in one hand divide the dough into two halves. Lightly flour your other hand and using both the knife and your hand turn each half of dough on the counter while lightly pulling the dough towards you. This gentle turning and pulling motion will develop tension on the top of the dough forming a round circle.

Let the dough rest for 25 minutes, uncovered.

SHAPE: Lightly flour the top of your dough rounds and the work surface. Working with one at a time, flip the round so the floured top is now down on the floured work surface.

Lightly flour your hands and grab the bottom of the round and stretch it lightly downward towards your body and then up and over about 2/3 the way to the top. Then, grab the left and right sides of the dough and stretch them away from each other, fold one side over toward the other and repeat with the other side.

Then, grab the top of the circle and stretch away from your body and fold down and over all the way to the bottom of the resting dough. You’ll now have a tight package that resembles a letter.

Finally, flip, or roll down the dough so the seams are all on the bottom and using two hands cup the top part of the round and drag the dough gently towards your body. The angle of your hands will gently press the bottom of the dough on the counter creating tension, forming a skin on the top of the dough as you drag.

After shaping, let the dough rest on the bench for a few minutes and then place seam-side-up into a towel-lined kitchen bowl that was lightly dusted with white rice flour.

REST AND PROOF: To prevent your dough from drying out overnight, place your bowls containing your shaped dough in plastic bags sealed shut with a rubber band. I will usually puff up the plastic bag around the bowl by opening it wide and then quickly closing the opening.

Once covered, let the dough rest on the counter for 20 minutes. Then, retard in the refrigerator at 38°F (3°C) for 16 hours. During this time overall fermentation will slow, but (good) bacteria activity will continue, contributing to a more complex flavor and deeper crust coloring.

BAKE: Preheat your combo cooker or Dutch oven inside your oven for 1 hour at 500°F. If you’re using a combo cooker, place the shallow side face up on one side and the heavier, deep side, face down on the other.

When you’re done preheating, take one of your plastic bag-wrapped loaves out of the fridge and unwrap it. Cut a piece of parchment paper so it fits over the top of your basket and place on a pizza peel. Invert the peel and parchment paper so they are resting on top of your basket containing your dough. Then flip the whole thing over. Remove the basket and your dough should be resting on the parchment.

Score these loaves at a 90° angle between the razor blade and dough. If you want a more pronounced “ear” at each score line, lower the angle between the blade and the dough (so the blade is close to horizontal with the dough).

While wearing your oven mitt, and with caution, pull out your shallow side of the combo cooker, or your Dutch oven base. Using your pizza peel, drag a corner of the parchment paper to slide your dough into the combo cooker. Place it back into the oven and cover the shallow side with the deep side to create a seal, or cover your Dutch oven with the lid.

Turn the oven down to 475°F and bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, use your oven mitt to very carefully remove the top of the combo cooker or the lid of the Dutch oven. Close the door, turn the oven down to 450°F (232°C), and bake for 30 more minutes. If you are unsure if your bread is done, use your thermometer to test the internal temperature, it should register over 208°F (97°C).

When done, carefully use your oven mitt to remove the bread from the combo cooker and cool on a wire rack. Place the combo cooker or Dutch ovdn back in the oven and bring the temperature back up to 500°F. Repeat for the second loaf.

Wait 1-2 hours before slicing the bread (I know, it’s hard to do this) to ensure the interior is set.

Thick Chocolate Walnut Cookies

Aldea coffee is one of my favorite coffee shops in the area. Their first shop is in Grand Haven and I must stop there pretty much every time I’m in the area. They recently opened a second location in Muskegon that I’ve been wanting to visit. Since Muskegon is not right down the road it wasn’t some place I thought I’d get to soon. Thankfully this weekend I decided to go hiking at Hoffmaster State Park which is only about 10 minutes from the new coffee shop so I had to stop and visit!

One of my favorite things about Aldea is the cookies they sell. They’re from Laughing Tree Brick Oven Bakery, and they are sooooooooooooo good. I often get their “Hippe Cookie” which is vegan I think, and full of peanut butter and chocolate. Thick and dense. I’ve tried to recreate it, even writing the bakery to see if they would share the recipe (they won’t sadly), but I have not been successful thus far. At this most recent visit to Aldea I got their walnut chocolate chunk cookie and it was also one of the best things ever. So thick and dense and chewy and hearty. When I got home I decided I wanted to make something along the same theme, it had hit the spot so well.

THE INSPIRATION

I looked at a few recipes and decided to try this one for a “Fluffy” chocolate chip cookie. It looked thick, dense and large just like I was hoping.

So how was it? A great cookie! I put a lot of finely chopped walnuts into the cookie to add nubbly goodness and big chunks of chocolate because that is required, and this would help recreate the Aldea cookie. I think one of the biggest keys to recreating a “bakery style” cookie is to make them big enough. Not just a little big, bu really big, bigger than you might think. This recipe makes 6 huge cookies. Each cookie was 105-110 grams of dough (almost 4 ounces!). They spread a little with baking, but still stayed nice and thick. It’s also key to not over-bake make sure the center is still nice and gooey. I ended up baking around 19-20 minutes total and think I probably should have pulled them a minute or two sooner. They were still great, but I think they could have been even a little bit better!

—————————————————————————-

Thick Chocolate Walnut Cookies
From Show Me The Yummy
Ingredients

ALDEA!

• 1 1/2 cups (188 grams) all purpose flour I used 50 grams of whole wheat flour

• 1 tablespoons cornstarch

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/2-1 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1 large egg

• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter cold and cut into cubes, 1 stick

• 3/8 cup (83 grams) brown sugar, packed

• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks

• 1/2 cup chopped pecans toasted* I used walnuts and chopped them very fine so there weren’t big chunks, but little nubs spread throughout the cookies

Directions
Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Set aside.

Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl: flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. Set aside.

In a small bowl whisk together eggs, vanilla, and almond extract. Set aside.

In your stand mixer, cream cold butter until fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Add in brown sugar and granulated sugar. Beat for an additional 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of your bowl. Pour in egg mixture and mix until just combined. Add flour mixture 1/3 at a time until well combined, scraping down the sides as needed. Stir in both chocolate chips and pecans.

Using about 1/3 cup, scoop out dough and form 6 cookie balls. Place 6 on baking sheet Place in fridge and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and bake for 17-21 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Yeasted Pumpkin Bread

I have recipes not turn out from time to time, but typically they don’t completely fail. The first time I made this bread however it definitely didn’t work. Not because the measurements were off or I did something wrong when putting it together; it just didn’t bake long enough. The recipe called for a total of 1 hour of bake time, but as I found out this was not nearly enough.

After it failed the first time (the dough was raw in the center when I cut it, not just a little mushy, completely raw) I was determined to make it again right away and make sure it worked. I nibbled on the end-y of the first loaf, a part that did cook through, and it was so good.

So round two went much better. I used a thermometer to check the temperature before calling it done. I ended up baking it for 20 minutes longer than the original recipe called for, the internal temperature was 205 degrees when I pulled it out. I didn’t make any changes other than the baking time.

The dough did not rise a ton, but by the time I shaped it it was definitely puffy. The final loaf didn’t get a whole lot of oven spring either, so it was a little dense but not in a bad way. It is a lovely loaf that the pumpkin flavor definitely shines through.

The filling in the original recipe called for dried cranberries. I used raisins the first time, and cut up prunes the second time (all I had left!) and both work just fine. I skipped the orange juice soak both times; with the raisins I used a little hot water and with the prunes I skipped the soaking and the spices because I was just too lazy. Not as much spice flavor because of it but that was okay.

Final thoughts: a delicious and fun fall bread. I would like to try it again and get a little more lift in the dough, not quite as dense.

——————————————————————————————

Yeasted Pumpkin Bread
From Artisan Sourdough Made Simple by Emilie Raffa
Ingredients
Bread

• 50 g (1/4 cup) bubbly active starter

• 250 g (1 cup plus 2 tsp) of warm water

• 184 g (3/4 cup) Pumpkin purée

• 500 g (4 cups plus 2 Tbs) bread flour

• 9 g (1 1/2 tsp) sea salt

Fillings

• 130 g (1 cup) dried cranberries

• 12 gram (1 Tbs) sugar

• 5 g (1 tsp) sugar

• Pinch each of ground cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg

• 4 clementines or 1 orange

Directions
Make the dough: in a large bowl, whisk the starter, water, and pumpkin purée together with a fork. Add the flour and salt. Mix to combine until a stiff dough forms, then finish by hand until the flour is fully absorbed. Replenish your starter with fresh flour and water, and store according to preference. Cover the dough with a damp towel and let rest for 45 minutes to one hour.

Meanwhile, add the cranberries, sugar, vanilla, and spices to a small bowl. Halve the clementines and squeeze the juice over the cranberries. It's okay if the cranberries are not completely submerged. Stir well to combine.

Add the fillings: After the dough has rested, add the cranberries with their soaking juice to the bowl. Gently knead the fillings to incorporate, about 1 minute.

Bulk Rise: Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let rise at room temperature, 70 degrees, for about 6-8 hours, or until double in size.

Shape the dough: Remove the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Shape it into an boule and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, line a proofing basket with a towel. With floured hands, gently cup the dough and pull it toward you to tighten its shape. Place the dough into your basket, seam side up.

Second Rise: Cover the dough, and let rest until puffy but not fully risen, about 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Cut a sheet of parchment paper to fit the size of your baking pot.

Score: Place the parchment over the dough and invert the basket to release. Make a long cut down the length of the dough using the tip of a small serrated knife or a razor blade. Use the parchment paper to transfer the dough into the baking pot.

Bake: bake the dough on the center rack for 20 minutes, covered. Remove the lid, and continue to bake for 40 minutes or more, mine took an additional 20 minutes, so all together 80 minutes To ensure it is done, use a instant read thermometer to check the internal temperature of the bread, it should be 205-210 degrees. Cool completely before slicing.

Cider Glazed Apple Cake

I saw this recipe pop up recently on my Instagram feed, perfect for the fall! The original was a beautiful bundt cake, but I generally don’t need an entire bundt cake at once, that’s a lot of cake! I searched the internet to find the recipe (it’s from America’s Test Kitchen and their recipes can be tough to find!) and thankfully I was able to find it without too much difficulty, and the recipe even stated that it could also be made into two loaves pans, perfect! Just cut in half and it’s a much more manageable size for me.

The only issue with halving the recipe was that the original called for 3 eggs, I ended up just using 1 egg to make things easier. I also cut back on the sugar when making it for myself which seemed to work out fine. With all the apples for added sweetness I found half a cup of sugar was plenty.

I have now made this recipe twice, the first time I used apple cider as called for which really helped amped up the apple flavor, however, I usually don’t have apple cider in the house and if I want to make a quick and delicious apple bread I don’t always want to have to go out and buy it. I was thinking about making a quick simple syrup, but then I remembered that I had some fun liqueur in the basement that would probably work. I ended up using a sweetened espresso liqueur. I didn’t end up really tasting it in the finished product but it still worked out well and if I had a stronger flavored liqueur it might shine through.

——————————————————————————————

Cider Glazed Apple Cake
Original recipe from America’s Test Kitchen

The original recipe was double the recipe found below and called for a bundt pan, but could also be made into two 9x5 inch loaf pans. I halved the recipe and made one 8.5x4.5 loaf.

Ingredients

• 2 cups apple cider (reduced to 1/2 cup) the second time I made this I didn’t have any cider so I used some coffee liqueur instead, straight up without reducing it any

• 1 7/8 cups (9 3/8 ounces) all purpose flour

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/8 teaspoon all spice

• 3/8 cup (1 1/2 ounces) powdered sugar

• 1 stick butter

• 3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) dark brown sugar I cut back on the sugar and only used 1/2 cup (3.5 oz)

• 1 1/2 eggs - I used 1 egg to make things easier on myself

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 3/4 pound of Granny Smith or Honeycrisp apples, shredded - I shredded up two medium sized Fuji apples and it was almost exactly 12 ounces, shredded, and that worked great. I also did not peel my apples although the original recipe said to peel before grating.

Directions
Bring cider to boil in large skillet over high heat; cook until reduced to 1/2 cup, 20 to 25 minutes. If you accidentally over-reduce, just add a bit of water to make sure you have 1/2 cup of liquid in total.

While cider is reducing, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour your pan. Whisk flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and allspice in large bowl until combined.

Place powdered sugar in small bowl. Add 1 tablespoons cider reduction to powdered sugar and whisk to form smooth icing. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

Set aside 3 tablespoons of the remaining cider reduction. You will use this later to brush on the baked cake.

Pour remaining 1/4 cup cider reduction into large bowl; add melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Pour cider mixture over flour mixture and stir with rubber spatula until almost fully combined (some streaks of flour will remain). Stir in apples and any accumulated juice until evenly distributed.

Transfer mixture to prepared pan(s) and smooth top. Bake until skewer inserted in center of cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs, 40-45 minutes. (mine took closer to 50 minutes)

Transfer pan to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet. Brush exposed surface of cake lightly with 1 tablespoon reserved cider reduction. Let cake cool for 10 minutes. Invert cake onto wire rack and remove pan. Brush top and sides of cake with remaining 2 tablespoons reserved cider reduction. Let cake cool for 20 minutes. Stir icing to loosen, and then drizzle evenly over cake. Let cake cool completely, at least 2 hours, before serving.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

I made a slightly “healthified” version of these cinnamon rolls in the past but it has been a few years. It was time to re-visit the recipe for a recent fall block party. I followed the recipe as written this time (other than substituting a basic glaze for the cream cheese glaze that is attached to the original recipe because I didn’t have any cream cheese and wasn’t interested in going out to get any!). They turned out great! Super light and fluffy, a lot of nice fall spice thanks to the nutmeg in the dough, as well as the spiced filling.

They came together easily and the dough rose quickly. I started making them after lunch and they were out of the oven by mid-to-late afternoon. Highly recommend for a special fall treat.

The recipe as written made 12 small-ish (aka appropriate!) sized cinnamon rolls. I was able to fit 10 rolls in a 9.5x7 inch pan, and then baked the additional two rolls in a mini-loaf pan. Not a huge recipe, but perfect for the party, and easy to scale up as needed.

—————————————————————————-

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
From Sally’s Baking Addiction
Ingredients
Pumpkin Dough

• 1/3 cup milk

• 2 Tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter

• 1/2 cup (120g) canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

• 1/4 cup (50g) packed light or dark brown sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 large egg

• 2 and 1/4 teaspoons (1 standard package) instant yeast

• 2 and 2/3 cups (335g) all-purpose flour

Filling

• 6 Tablespoons (86g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

• 1/2 cup (100g) packed brown sugar

• 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

Instructions
Make the dough: warm the milk and butter together over the stove or in the microwave. Warm the two together until the butter is just melted. You want the mixture lukewarm (105°F-115°F). Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix together the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, nutmeg, and salt. Add the warmed milk/butter and mix until combined, then add in the egg and yeast. Add 1 cup of flour. Mix for 1 minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently. Add 1 and 1/4 cups more flour and beat for 1 more minute. The dough will be very soft, add more flour as needed. Place dough into a greased bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in size. This will take about 1 – 1.5 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently knead a few times until smooth.

Assembly: Roll the dough out into a 18×10 inch rectangle. Spread the softened butter evenly on top. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and spices into a small bowl. Sprinkle all over the top. Roll it up tightly. Using a very sharp knife, cut into 12 pieces, about 1.5 inches each. Arrange rolls into a greased 9-inch or 11×7 inch pan.

Cover with plastic wrap and allow the rolls to rise again until doubled in size. This will take about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake the rolls for 15-20 minutes, covering with aluminum foil at any point to prevent heavy browning. Remove from oven and allow to slightly cool as you prepare the icing as detailed below. When ready, drizzly or pour the icing over the rolls. You will have leftover icing.

Simple Vanilla Icing
Ingredients

• 2 cups powdered sugar

• 2 tablespoons melted butter

• 1/4 cup milk

• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions
Sift powdered sugar into a small bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until smooth.

Vanilla Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

A family friend reached out to me a few weeks ago and asked if I would be willing and able to make a cake for her parent’s surprise anniversary party. I love sharing my love of cake with others so I was excited to help. She wanted a simple vanilla cake, which is my favorite as well, and then I had free range to decorate it however I wanted. She was decorating with eucalyptus and gold and white pumpkins so I used that as my inspiration to create this beautiful cake.

Since I had just made a vanilla cake a few weeks prior (for my own birthday) that turned out great, I used the same recipe, replacing the 1/3 cup lemon juice + 2/3 cup milk with 1 cup of (homemade) buttermilk. I made the full batch of Swiss meringue buttercream and it was the perfect amount to frost this cake without worrying about running out of frosting. I had a little frosting leftover (maybe around a cup).

Vanilla Butter Cake
Adapted from Liv for Cake
Ingredients

Vanilla Cake:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 Tbsp baking powder

• 3/4 tsp salt

• 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature

• 2 cups granulated sugar

• 4 large eggs room temperature

• 2 tsp vanilla

• 1 cup buttermilk at room temperature

Elderflower Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

• 6 large egg whites

• 2 cups granulated sugar

• 3 cups unsalted butter room temperature

Directions
For the Cake: Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 8" cake rounds and line with parchment.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and beat on med-high until pale and fluffy (approximately 3mins). Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla. Alternate adding flour mixture with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of buttermilk). Fully incorporating after each addition. Spread batter evenly between the prepared pans and smooth the tops.

Bake for approximately 28-30 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely

For the Swiss Meringue Buttercream: Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined. Place bowl over a pot with 1-2" of simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture is hot and no longer grainy to the touch or reads 160F on a candy thermometer (approx. 3mins) Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 10mins).

Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth.

Basic Pumpkin Muffins

I had a friend over a few weeks back to hang out and do some fall baking. We decided to bake something pumpkin-y. It was a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon at the beginning of fall so what could be better. I found a pumpkin bread recipe from Smitten Kitchen where she uses an entire can of pumpkin which is what I like, instead of a recipe that leaves you with 1/4 or 1/2 cup of pumpkin that you don’t know what to do with.

These muffins were super easy, as most muffins are, and baked up beautifully. I really loved the cinnamon sugar mixture sprinkled on top. Just a little something extra that makes them even more special. This is a super recipe that I would make over again and again, perfect when you need something pumpkin-y quickly, and don’t have time to browse through recipes, not that you would need to because these are perfectly simple and delicious.

————————————————————————

Pumpkin Bread or Muffins
From Smitten Kitchen
Bread/Muffins

• 1 15-ounce can (1 3/4 cups) pumpkin puree

• 1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable or another neutral cooking oil or melted butter (115 grams)

• 3 large eggs

• 1 2/3 (330 grams) cups granulated sugar

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 3/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt

• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• Heaped 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

• Heaped 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

• Two pinches of ground cloves

• 2 1/4 cups (295 grams) all-purpose flour

To Finish

• 1 tablespoon (12 grams) granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 6-cup loaf pan or coat it with nonstick spray (alternatively you may make muffins see below).

In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs and sugar until smooth. Sprinkle baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnanmon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves over batter and whisk until well-combined. Add flour and stir with a spoon, just until mixed. Scrape into prepared pan and smooth the top. In a small dish, or empty measuring cup, stir sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle over top of batter.

Bake bread for 65 to 75 minutes until a tester poked into all parts of cake (both the top and center will want to hide pockets of uncooked batter) come out batter-free, turning the cake once during the baking time for even coloring.

You can cool it in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove it, or cool it completely in there. The latter provides the advantage of letting more of the loose cinnamon sugar on top adhere before being knocked off.

Cake keeps at room temperature as long as you can hide it. I like to keep mine in the tin with a piece of foil or plastic just over the cut end and the top exposed to best keep the lid crisp as long as possible.

***You can also make this as muffins. It should make about 18 standard ones and you can distribute the cinnamon sugar (perhaps make 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon worth) across the tops before you bake them. They should bake for 25 to 30 minutes.