Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Breakfast-in-Rome Lemon Cake
March 12, 2024 at 5:04 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 12 CommentsTags: baking, brekkie, cake
Somehow neither The White Lotus nor seemingly the entire world’s fabulously dreamy Instagram summer vacay pics have spurred me to book a flight to Italy yet, but this Breakfast-in-Rome Lemon Cake may do the trick. I can imagine being pretty happy for a few days to wake up to a double espresso and a slice of the breakfast/snack tube cake known as chiambella. Until I get my passport renewed, luckily Dorie has provided us with her Italian vacation version to bake at home. She makes a lemony separated egg sponge that results in a tall, light, bouncy cake. Berries are optional, but since I had some frozen blackberries in my mess of a freezer, I rummaged around and found them. If I’m going all the way to Italy, I’m not just going to Rome…I’m also going to the Almalfi Coast, so I drizzled the top of my cake with a little limoncello while it was still warm and at its most absorbant for another hit of lemon.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Potato Flake Biscuits
March 12, 2024 at 1:47 am | Posted in biscuits/scones, breakfast things, BWD, groups, other savory, savory things, tuesdays with dorie | 2 CommentsTags: baking, biscuits
You’d think that with Cook the Book Fridays being behind us, I’d not have so much trouble spitting out just bi-weekly blog posts, but here I am, two weeks late with these Potato Flake Biscuits. At least I did bake them on time for last month’s posting, I promise! I don’t make biscuits or scones very often. It’s not that I don’t like them, I just never crave them like I do cake or ice cream, and I have to be a bit choosey where I spend my pastry calories. I made a half recipe of these biscuits for a more controlled amount (just four squares) for the two of us, allowing me to fairly quickly resume my standard diet of cupcakes.
These savory biscuits came together easily. They are flavored with sautéed onion (I used scallion for extra green bits), some herbs and some Parm. Instant mashed potato flakes are their secret ingredient, which I think gives them a lightness. Really, they had great texture and flavor. I have two of them unbaked in the freezer, and I think I’ll do like Mardi and bake them off to go with chili before the weather warms up.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Pecan-Cranberry Loaf
November 14, 2023 at 7:16 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, cakes & tortes, groups, muffins/quick breads, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 CommentsTags: baking, cake, loaf
I made this Pecan-Cranberry Loaf two years ago, and really, I think I should have made it again so I could write a more comprehensive post. I remember liking it, that I swapped the coriander with five-spice and that I made a honey-cream cheese schmear to go with. But the whole group really raved about it (and called for more cranberries!), so I think that’s giving me some FOMO this week. Maybe after I buy my Thanksgiving crannies, I’ll have round two with this one.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Banana Breakfast Squares
September 12, 2023 at 8:30 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, cakes & tortes, groups, muffins/quick breads, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 CommentsTags: baking, scones
This Banana Breakfast Squares recipe is banana bread with all the healthy, hearty, sweet-but-not-too-sweet things you need for a morning boost. In addition to bananas, there’s whole wheat flour, oats, pecans, dates, flax seeds and the most essential thing for brekkie– espresso powder. I made just a third of the recipe in my six-inch square pan and still got nine soft and chubby squares out it. TBH, I’m never up early enough to actually make breakfast treats for breakfast. When I make muffins or scones, I usually just wind up having breakfast for dessert, which these squares are fine for, too, but they’re such good keepers that I actually have been able to enjoy them with my morning coffee for the last couple of days.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Cheddar-Scallion Scones
June 27, 2023 at 11:17 am | Posted in biscuits/scones, breakfast things, BWD, groups, other savory, savory things, tuesdays with dorie | 2 CommentsTags: baking, scones
I have a job through the summer testing recipes for a savory baking cookbook, and my freezer is stuffed with odds and ends of different breads, puff pastry hand pies and cheese muffins. You’d think maybe I wouldn’t have the appetite for one more savory breakfast treat (and you’d be mostly right), but these Cheddar-Scallion Scones looked to good to skip out on.
Cheddar cheese and a bit of paprika make these bake up beautiful golden. I egg washed my biscuits and decorated them with some extra scallion greens. I was annoyed to forget the mustard powder in the dough (what kind of lousy recipe tester am I?!), so I sprinkled a bit on top at the half-time baking rotation. This cheddar-scallion combo makes these good for not just a scrambled egg breakfast, but as a sidekick to any number of things…we had a couple with BBQ chicken the other night. I made six petite scones from a 1/3 batch, so I have a few added to my freezer stash of savory goodies, but I have a feeling they still won’t last very long.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Cinnamon-Raisin Bread
April 25, 2023 at 10:30 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, groups, sweet things, sweet yeast breads, tuesdays with dorie, yeast breads | 5 CommentsTags: baking, cheese, savory
For the past couple of years, I’ve been playing around with sourdough bread at home. While I enjoy the long process and the suspense of making naturally leavened bread, my results can still be a bit hit-or-miss. Baking a yeast bread, like this Cinnamon-Raisin Bread, every once in a while is kind of nice. I was able to mix this dough up in the morning, give it two quick rises and butter up a nice, thick, squishy slice for my after-lunch snack. Looking to boost the standard white bread flavor of the recipe a bit, I did replace a little of the AP flour with whole wheat (something like 75-100 grams worth) and added in a fat tablespoon of my sourdough discard. Although the black tea idea sounded nice, I soaked my raisins in a combo of hot water, more cinnamon and Combier.
I used my 9″ pullman pan here because I like its straight sides, but it’s a bit smaller than my regular 9″x5″ loaf pan, so this was a seriously high riser. (If I make it in the pullman again, I’ll probably scale the recipe back to 75% of the original.) Nervous that it might explode in the oven, or something like that, I scored the top of the loaf before buttering and cinnamon-sugaring it. My bread came out of the oven sporting a golden brown bouffant. I will definitely be having another slice with breakfast tomorrow, and I’m very much looking forward to it.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Carrot Muffins
March 28, 2023 at 2:59 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, groups, muffins/quick breads, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, muffins
I’ve spent a good chunk of my pastry career working in bakeries (and making lots of muffins), but I don’t work baker’s hours at home. The only muffin that ever gets served for breakfast here is a leftover one. These Carrot Muffins were made as a coffee break snack.
These are not carrot cake masquerading as muffins. Instead of a dense cake filled with add-ins and warm spices, these are really light and springy and are spiced with sunny flavors like ginger, vanilla and orange zest. They have a surprise ingredient, pomegranate molasses, which (surprise!) I didn’t have. I subbed it with date molasses and then turned the sitch into a double date by using dates as my chopped dried fruit component. They’re not just for brekkie- they’re good anytime of day.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Iced Honey-Apple Scones with Spelt
January 24, 2023 at 10:37 pm | Posted in biscuits/scones, breakfast things, BWD, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, scones
If I don’t need to blog about scones, then I really don’t make scones (or muffins, for that matter) because I’m never able to get a baked good cranked out by breakfast time. And no way I’m waking up early on a weekend to try, so these Iced Honey-Apple Scones were consumed as dessert. Actually, I froze two of them to be a future microwave-defrosted breakfast treat. These scones contain pretty much what their name says, plus some tangerine zest. I don’t have any spelt flour right now, but do have a box of farro flour, so I made that swap in the the dry ingredients. I cut my apples into quite a small dice, and I had nice little bits running throughout the dough. The dough was sticky, but I liked portioning the scones with a quarter-cup scoop and think the mounded look is quire appealing.
Just a bit of honey sweetened these scones, so the icing was definitely welcome. I have a bottle of boiled cider, and used that as the liquid to make the powdered sugar icing. Instead of bee pollen (come on Dorie, who has that?) as garnish, I just grated on some more flecks tangerine zest since I wanted a bit more of that flavor anyway. For breakfast or dessert, these are good, and not too much in terms of size, sweetness or richness.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Chocolate Babka
December 27, 2022 at 10:38 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, groups, muffins/quick breads, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 8 CommentsTags: baking, brekkie, cake
I don’t really have a baking bucket list, but if I did, I’d now be able tick babka off it. Any good New Yorker knows that Chocolate Babka is the superior babka, so I was pretty excited (but a little intimidated) to make this. Turns out, it’s not too hard; it just requires some time spread out over a couple of days. Dorie’s buttery brioche dough is the base for this sweet yeasted loaf, and we’ve made that dough a number of times now. Like making cinnamon buns, you roll out your well-chilled dough, smear it with a sweet cocoa paste and then spiral it into a log. Unlike cinnamon buns, you cut the log in half lengthwise to expose long ribbons of the chocolate filling, and then twist the two halves into a ropey thing and squeeze it into a loaf pan to proof. Before going into the oven, Dorie tops her babka with a crust of crisp, rubbly streusel, which not all babkas have and is kind of gilding the lily, but I’m here for it.
My loaf rose and baked tall, and I was so excited to cut into it and see what kind of pattern the chocolate took on. Some slices had stripes and others had swirls. All tasted equally delicious…buttery soft bread with chocolate pockets and crunchy topping. Elaine is right that it is dinner party-worthy.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Cranberry Spice Squares
November 20, 2022 at 11:36 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, cake, holiday
Here we are, a couple of days out from Thanksgiving, and I still don’t really know what I’ll be making for dessert (although I have a few ideas). If I hadn’t already baked, frosted and polished off these Cranberry Spice Squares, they’d be contender. Think spiced molasses gingerbread with pops of fresh cranberries and swoops of cream cheese frosting. Good, right? This is a great snacking cake for the holiday season, and if you have leftover crannies after the big dinner, think about putting them towards this. Toasted or candied nuts make a good sprinkle.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Baked Fresh Weekly
Blog at WordPress.com.
Entries and comments feeds.
