Berlin's Whimsy

Mango Coffee Cake.

Coffee & Coffee Cake anyone? C'mon over!

This scrumptious recipe comes by way of one of my Mom's friends at work. After sampling a few scraps of cake that my Mom was so kind enough to share with us peasants at home (ha!), we knew we had to go to the source for the recipe.

When I asked my daughter to help me with making the cake, she asked me if it was a cake kids could eat. I wondered at her question for a bit and finally asked her why she thought this cake wasn't appropriate for kids? "It's COFFEE cake! We don't drink coffee!" Ah yes, I think I remember wondering this same thing as a child. Even as I tasted coffee cake, I wondered how the coffee flavor was somehow hidden within its sugary depths.

Well, once I explained the coffee cake terminology and added the key ingredient to this particular cake----mangoes----my daughter was sold. Mangoes are her favorite!

This cake is not for the sugar wary-----it's packed with the stuff and I think it would probably be just as yummy with less sugar but for this batch (my first) I followed the recipe as written.

Mango Coffee Cake

Makes 12-16 servings

• 2 C. all-purpose flour
• 2 C. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 C. butter, cut into pieces
• 1 C. buttermilk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 C. coarsely chopped, seeded and peeled fresh mango (about 3)
• 1/3 C. sugar (for sprinkling)
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• Whipped cream for serving (optional)

Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, 2 C. sugar, baking powder, soda nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

In a small bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Add to flour mixture all at once and stir just until moistened. Fold in the chopped mangoes. Spread in prepared pan.

Combine the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top.

Bake for40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Mango pieces will sink towards the bottom of the cake). Cool a bit before serving.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Easy Breakfast Dish---Mmmm

 

I wish I had a better name for this wonderful creation. My Mom made it for my brother and I all during our childhood and I think it might have come from my Great Aunt. As far as I'm concerned, it includes all the ingredients for a perfect breakfast dish: easy, yummy, with many variations. We always called it "that egg pancake-y thing." My daughter calls it, "That Breakfast Cake."

 

Baked Egg Pancake Dish

~1/2 C. Butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place butter in a 8"x8" (approximate) porcelain baking dish. Place the dish in the oven to melt the butter and heat the dish. Meanwhile, blend the following ingredients together in a blender on high speed for approximately 2 minutes...

~6 eggs

~1 1/2 Cups Milk

~1 1/2 Cup All-Purpose Flour

~dash of salt

When the butter has melted and the dish is hot, pour the batter into the dish. Place it back in the oven and bake until the edges have lifted up and the center is cooked through, approximately 20 minutes (jiggle it---when the entire center moves as a mass and you can push on the middle and it provides a bit of resistance then it is ready).

This dish is best eaten still warm. The edge browns and lifts up and the middle is almost like a flan. Some people prefer the edge pieces, some the middle. Cut it into squares and eat with one of the following toppings:

~Sweet ideas: berries and powdered sugar; maple syrup; blueberry syrup; baked apples with sugar and cinnamon...

~Savory ideas: only salt; salsa; hot sauce or ketchup; Or even these ideas: black beans and corn topping with salsa and sour cream or go Mediterranean and warm up a tepanade and slather it on top...

The topping ideas are endless!

 

We ate ours with some huckleberries my Mom gathered in the mountains last summer. She had to fight off the bears to get them! (Well, almost)... My son preferred his with frozen strawberries that we had thawed out.

 

To make a simple berry syrup topping, mix berries with real maple syrup and heat together until just warm. Mmmmm.

Added later: Thanks everyone for sharing your own experiences with this dish! I have a few recipes for Dutch Babies but I found most of them to add sugar to the batter to sweeten them. I like that this recipe is so versatile. The original recipe was double this amount and I thought that if I were feeding a crowd for breakfast, I'd make the doubled amount in two dishes and then set up a "breakfast bar" with both savory and sweet toppings for guests to add... Stacey: I love the name Hootenannies! We might adopt that one. And hey, if you can think of any other topping ideas, please let me know! ;-)

Bread Machine Tips---Daily Bread.

Though I was an artisan-style bread baker, I love my bread machine. I was hesitant at first to use one but I finally relented when I just didn't have the time to make our daily bread from scratch. I prefer to bake my own bread. Many of the commercially produced breads include dough conditioners and other strange ingredients to maintain their product's consistency. I like that I know what I'm putting into our bread. I feel that bread is one of those comforting gifts in life---true foodie alchemy. And when my bread machine dies, I'll probably continue on without it, but for now, I'm thankful...

Bread machines have a tendency to bake bread too fast resulting in a bread that lacks the yeasty depth of flavor that handmade ones do. They also tend to dry out readily. After experimenting with my machine based on my background in baking, I found a few tips that improve bread machine bread.

1) If you can control the timing of your bread machine's phases in some sort of custom setting, do it (this is why I love my Zojirushi). Bread increases in flavor and performance with time and if you can increase the time it ferments or rises, it will improve the flavor. Here is what I have my bread machine programmed for:  Knead for 20 minutes; First Rise is one hour and 11 minutes; Second rise is 45 minutes; Bake for one hour. I always use this custom setting. Remember, time is bread's bestfriend----time adds flavor among other good things.

2) Bread is a living thing and various conditions can change the way it acts. Things such as humidity, barometric pressure, and the flour you are using can change the way flour absorbs water changing the way the bread reacts even when you are using the same recipe repeatedly. For this reason, I check the dough in the bread machine when it is nearing the end of the kneading cycle to be sure the dough is the right consistency. You want your dough to be on the wet side---if you pinch it, you don't want the dough to cling to your fingers but you do want it a bit sticky (stick and release). Creating a dough that is too dry is a common mistake in baking bread. If the dough seems dry, add water to it by the tablespoon-full. If it is too wet, however, add a bit of flour.

Also, check to see where your dough is lying in the bread pan---you don't want it on one side or another (the Zo is really great about setting the dough up to rise in the correct position in the pan).

This is my daily bread recipe. It's based on a recipe from The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook (highly recommended---in fact, all of the cookbooks by Beth Hensperger are wonderful). This is a basic formula that I then add varying ingredients to depending on the grains I have on hand. My kids love it, too.

Crunchy Daily Bread

(Makes a 2 lb loaf)

1 1/2 C. water

1/4 C. honey

1/4 C. molasses

3 T. canola oil or butter at room temp.

3 C. bread flour

1 C. whole wheat flour

1/4 C. wheat germ

1/4 C. flax powder (we use the organic white flax powder from Costco---love it!)

2 T. vital wheat gluten

2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 tsp. SAF yeast (or 1 T. bread machine yeast)

Crunchy Add ins:

3 T. millet

3 T. sunflower seed

3 T. amaranth

Layer the ingredients into your bread machine pan according to the manufacturer's directions (my machine requires first the liquids and then the dry ingredients). Set the machine for your custom setting, or for a Basic Whole Wheat. Check in on your machine as it nears the end of its kneading cycle and add liquid or flour depending on the dough's consistency. Let the machine do its thing and remove your bread after it is finished baking. Cool just a bit and enjoy your nutritious bread!!

 

The Danish Baker

I was surprised the other day when I commented on another blog regarding a scrumptious looking loaf of bread with these words: I used to be a baker. After my fingers typed the words I paused----I used to be a baker? Logically, it made sense. Yes, I used to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to produce crackling loaves of various kinds of bread and bursting-at-the-seams sweet rolls. I no longer do. My clogs with the ever present coat of flour are now clean---the flour scrubbed off long ago.

The art of baking clung to me like the floury paste coating my clogs for months at a time. When I found baking all those years ago, it was an obsession beyond my other obsessions. I taught myself to make almost every type of bread, start sourdoughs from scratch in a vat of organic grapes, and roll out buttery sheets of homemade puff pastry and danish pastry dough. I idolized the U.S. National Baking Team like the geek I tend to be. I belonged to that starry-eyed back-to-basics crowd that dreamed of owning my own bakery one day.

And then I worked as a baker at a small, artisan bakery. Initially, I envied the owner of the bakery. I only worked two days a week during the summer tourist months, allowing her a few days off.

But there was one caveat to my baking aspirations: I am not a morning person. In fact, I take to early mornings like a slug takes to a salt lick. And in my third season of baking, I realized my inner clock would never adjust.

That same summer, I discovered Aebleskivers. They’re like a pancake taken to the cutesy extreme. A ball of dough baked in a specialty pan with jam in the middle and a  faint powdering of sugar---what's not to love here? Of course, my family fell in love. And in my usual obsessive manner, I searched for the best recipe and made them repeatedly until I perfect them (well, as close as I could get).

My daughter played along, too---no surprise since she loves anything with jam. Many weekend mornings were spent cranking out these charming balls of dough for friends while they attempted a pronunciation: Eberskeeber?

One weekend, my Dad telephoned in the midst of my making them. He laughed a knowing laugh, “Don’t you remember your Grandpa making Aebleskivers when you were young?” When he mentioned it, a memory flashed back to my Grandparent's yellow kitchen, and yes, I faintly remembered. My Dad added, “He used to make them in that pan of his father’s---the pan he was so proud of… Well, you do remember that his Dad, your Great Grandfather, was a baker in Denmark, don't you?”

What?! No, I didn't remember this information at all---though it explained a lot. Not that I probably hadn't heard this information before---it was most likely filed away with all the other apparently superfluous information available during my teenage angst years.

So my Great-Grandfather was a baker. In fact, he owned a successful bakery in Denmark before his immigration to America.

Well. No wonder.

And today, we made Aebleskivers again. Instead of heating them on the electric stove, this time we used my Mom's old wood-stove...

I'm also working on a savory Aebleskiver recipe for our Christmas eve hors d'oeuvres... I'll keep you updated!

In the meantime, here is our traditional recipe:

 

Danish Aebleskivers

You will need an Aebleskiver pan. It is a pan with deep indentations that produce these pancake balls. These pans can be found in many kitchenware stores or even thrift shops! Many people have unique methods of turning the Aebleskivers in the pan. I use a knitting needle to hook the side of the ball and quickly turn it---some people bend a tine on a fork to create a hook or you can use two wooden skewers. Experiment to find your preferred method!

1 C. milk

1/2 C. butter

3 eggs, separated

2 T. sugar

1 1/2 C. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

Approximately 1/2 C. jam

Powdered sugar

**Method: Heat milk and butter on stove-top until lukewarm and the butter is melted. Cool slightly and whisk in egg yolks and sugar. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk together. Whip egg whites until stiff. Stir the milk mixture into the dry ingredients. Carefully fold in the egg whites.

Heat your Aebleskiver pan over medium heat. When the pan is heated, drop approximately 1/2 tsp. butter into each indentation. With a pastry brush, spread the butter around.

Spoon approximately 1/4 C. of batter into each well. With a small spoon, drop approximately 1 tsp. jam into each Aebelskiver and top with approximately 1 T. more of the batter. When the batter starts to form bubbles, turn the Aebleskiver and bake for another couple minutes.

Remove the Aebleskivers to a plate, dust with powdered sugar, and serve warm.

Recipe makes approximately 20.

No, I’m not a professional baker, but I’m still a baker at heart.

When all else fails...

When all else fails, make bread.

Especially when a Cannellini Bean, Chicken Sausage & Kale Soup is on the menu for dinner. Mmmmm, it was good, too! I might post a recipe later...

And even more so when the day is full of blustery fall winds.

And when time slips ever too closely to dinner, make a Quick Bread (this one is a Beer Bread)----especially when you have help in small deft hands.

I was thrilled to happen upon one of my favorite cookbook author's blogs, Dorie Greenspan. And look at this yummy quick bread recipe from her site: Savory Cheddar-Chive Bread on Serious Eats. That one is next up on my list to try!

Have you seen the Muffin Man?

What is it with muffins lately? Every time I turn around, I'm making more muffins. Is it something in the air? And I must have close to two dozen muffins stocked in my freezer right now (there's only so many muffins a family of four can eat). I even bought a Muffin mix last weekend at Trader Joes---Green Tea Muffins.

I'm happy my muffin phase came along, though, because I was in a bit of a baking funk. I hadn't pulled out my old Mason Cash bowls for quite some time and now I find them in my wash rotation pretty frequently. I read a wonderful idea on the blog, A Friend to Knit With, in which her children choose a cookie each week to bake. What fun! I think I might try this...! (I better start adding some mileage to the old running regime, though)...

And look what came in the mail this week. The latest Baking Sheet from King Arthur Flour. I've been subscribing to this magazine for a few years now and though it isn't all glossy and fancy like my Gourmet magazine, or Fine Cooking (my favorite), it still has a special place in my cooking magazine pile. Tell me, would you find a recipe in Fine Cooking magazine for Scottish Bridies? Or Toad in the Hole? No, I don't think so! These recipes are straight out of grandma's kitchen and they're the ones my kids love. They don't come around begging for more Goat Cheese Polenta or Thai Pumpkin Soup but they do ask for Bridies and Irish Soda Bread. So, I always look forward to The Baking Sheet's arrival with new baking recipes and techniques. Maybe I'll find my next phase, like cake, as in Jellybean Cake!(?)!

Lovelies...

I made these corn muffins last night to go with some chili I made for dinner and I must say they turned out delicious! They are sweet, so I guess they're in the "Northern" style of cornbread, and they are very moist, too. I have had too many pieces of dry cornbread in my lifetime. I'll post the recipe when I have the chance to write it all out... maybe tomorrow. It's my variation on a recipe from one of my cookbooks. I added canned corn that I pulsed in my Cuisinart and I replaced part of the whole milk with the canned corn mixture. I can't say they're low-fat, however, because of the 10 T. of butter! YUMMY!

I enjoyed visiting Heather Bailey's site this AM (I am SOOO loving Bloglines---it took me a while to find this indispensable blog tool) for the pictures of two new magazines coming out with articles on making aprons and also Heather's cute headband (still haven't made one yet but I plan to real soon). Check out the pictures...

And last but not least, everyday I seem to find another interesting blog with either good knitting/crafting/sewing/cooking information, nice writing with insightful ideas, or I just plain ol' like the feel of visiting their site. It's fun to "meet" so many people out there in the world. Today, I read this one, Kirsten Can. I found it from a link off another new favorite, Vintage Chica.

Added Later!! I've added the Corn Muffin Recipe...

Wear your apron for these muffins!

It seems I'm an apron sort of person. All told, I've spent a few years of my life wearing an apron. Granted, most of the aprons I wear aren't anything to brag about; baker's whites, and the current motley assortment that my co-worker provides.

At home, though, I now have a few beauties to choose from when I get the urge to don the apron. Both of them have their own personalities which cater to a variety of occassions. I have set aside a little corner of my home  to display the aprons when not in use. This pattern is Kwik Sew #3396. I also have a couple other patterns I want to try, as well (see below!). I like the idea of having a variety of aprons at the ready if a guest feels like joining me in the kitchen. The kids need their own aprons, as well, so I think I'll be in the business of sewing aprons for a while.

As if you need any further reason to make an apron for yourself, or to use the one you already own, I have perfected the apple muffin recipe; now named, Apple Pie Muffins, as that is what they taste like to me. Please try them and let me know what you think! (Click on link below)

Pssst! Look at the vintage apron pattern I found on ebay! Love the Red/Pink one!

Help for a Monday Morning...

These Ginger Cookies are the best. I say this in all honesty. I cannot claim the creation of the recipe as my very own but I can claim my variation of it. I watched, baked, mixed, pulled out of the oven, 'checked' so many times at the bakery where I worked that their creation is something innate to me... Their smell is etched on my memory of early mornings and the hum of a busy bakery. Or the embarrassed confessions of customers, "I'm simply addicted to them!"

The cookies were my salvation at 1 AM (yes, one o'clock in the morning!!!) upon my arrival at work for a long day of baking breads (usually six different kinds). Often, my stomach felt a little ill-at-ease from lack of sleep and just one of these crispy/crunchy cookies would get me going (and a little coffee, too, of course). I still use them in this way. When they're done right, they're crunchy, but not too crunchy. They're crisp on the edges but the middle might bend a bit. And you only pull them out of the oven when your house smells completely of ginger and spice and the cracks in the cookies are beginning to darken.

So, I share this prized recipe with you here to help you on those difficult early mornings (they're absolutely 'da bomb' with vanilla icecream)!

What's Better?

Tell me, what's better than a rainy Saturday morning with Apple Spice Muffins baking in the oven, emitting their cinnamony-clovey goodness into the air; all after a hectic week. Ah, time to relax, bake, knit, and catch up on the important things in life. It's in these times of "nothing to do" that we reconnect and process our individual lives... together.

Pssst... the recipe for these yummy muffins is from The Golden Pear Cafe Cookbook (a great one, BTW). They have chunks of apple in them and as they bake in the oven the apples cook within and the result is a cross between a muffin and apple pie...mmm, so good!!! The wonderful cinnamon and clove smell is from the excellent spices I order from Savory Spice Shop run by a couple in Colorado. By all means, check them out!