Back at the beginning of the week I put up a poll about holiday baking, asking what types of recipes you all would like to see featured here on Brown Eyed Baker leading up to the holiday season. (If you haven’t thrown in your two cents yet, head on over and vote!) In the comments section, Heather of Squirrel Bread asked about Lebkuchen and said that she had a couple of recipes but had yet to make them. I emailed her and told her I hadn’t heard of them but would do some research and plan on making them. Less than a day later I was browsing through some of my cookbooks just looking for ideas and inspiration and wouldn’t you know, I ran across a recipe for Lebkuchen. I considered it fate and set out to make a batch right then and there. I did some reading and research and looked at other recipes and came up with this gem.

Lebkuchen is a traditional German cookie that is usually baked for Christmas. It is most like a soft gingerbread cookie, made with molasses and full of warm spices. The glaze provides the perfect complement, a little sweet and with a hint of lemon. All of the flavors blend together so nicely and taste like the holidays; one bite and you will want to crank up the holiday music and trim the tree. You could roll these a little thinner and use cookie cutters to cut out shapes and decorate them. No matter how you make them, you will be glad you did!

Lebkuchen

Yield: 18 cookies

For the Cookies:
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
1¼ teaspoons ground nutmeg
1¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground allspice
1 egg
¾ cup light brown sugar
½ cup honey
½ cup molasses

For the Glaze:
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two baking sheets or line them with parchment paper.

2. Sift together the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and allspice. Set aside.

3. Beat the egg and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl.

4. Beat in the honey and molasses until thoroughly combined.

5. On low speed, stir in the flour mixture until just combined.

6. Turn the dough out from the bowl onto a well-floured surface. Knead the dough, adding more flour as kneaded, until a stiff dough is formed.

7. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.

8. On a well-floured surface, roll out the dough into a 9×12-inch rectangle. Cut the dough into 18 3×2-inch rectangles. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

9. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let cool. Whisk together the confectioner’s sugar, water and lemon juice and brush or spread on top of the cookies.

10. Allow the glaze to firm, and then store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

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Thinking back to when I launched this site, I knew pretty much nothing about taking pictures of food. I made something, put it on a plate or in a bowl, put it on the counter or table, snapped a picture and ate it. It wasn’t until months later, when I was still blogging and photographing food on a very regular basis that I realized I had quite a bit to learn about how to make the food that I knew tasted fantastic look just as good. Let’s be clear – I am in no way an expert when it comes to food photography and still have countless things to learn, but I have received a number of emails asking about how I go about taking my pictures so I thought I would share that information with all of you.

So, how did I go from pictures like this (posted in March 2007, a month after launching the site):

To this (posted four months ago in July 2009)?

After the jump I will outline the tools and methods I use for taking my pictures, and how they go from food sitting on a table to the pictures you see on the site.

I will reiterate – I am not an expert and there are many resources available both on the web and in book form to give you even more information on specific photography techniques and food styling, which I encourage you to take a look at. I try to read as much as I can and pick up tips from a variety of sources. Now, let’s get started!

Part I: Lights, Camera, Action!

Two of the biggest factors in how pictures turn out is lighting and being familiar with the settings on your camera. I’ll talk about each of them separately.

Lighting

By far, the absolute best results will come from using natural light, i.e. no camera flash. In order to do this, you’ll need to photograph during daylight hours, which becomes very difficult after the time changes in the fall. It’s virtually impossible to get pictures of dinner before the sun goes down when it gets dark around 5pm. I will touch on a couple of alternatives in a moment. In addition to using natural light, you’ll want to become acquainted with how light enters your house. I always find it best to photograph near a window, but one that does not generate direct sunlight, as that will typically wash out the photos. So typically a north or south facing window will allow generous light through a window without direct glaring sunlight. The color and intensity of the light will also change throughout the day, so on a free day when you have time to play around, try taking pictures of the same object in the same place at different times and see how the light changes affect the pictures.

Now, as to those alternatives for the nights when it’s pitch dark by the time you sit down to dinner. There are really two ways you can work around this. The first is to set aside enough leftovers in order to re-plate the dinner the next day and do your photo shoot then when it is light out. The second option (which I currently do not do) is to purchase some external lighting. I have heard rave reviews about Lowel EGO lights from other food bloggers, and plan on looking into them in the near future.

I will also note that if at all possible, refrain from taking pictures under fluorescent lights, as they almost always cast a yellow hue to pictures that is very difficult to remove, even when using photo editing software. If there is no way around you shooting your food at night and you don’t have any external lights to use, I would suggest replacing fluorescent bulbs with those that mimic natural daylight, if possible.

Your Camera

The more you understand about how your camera works and the different functions it has the more successful you will be with your food photography. Since different cameras can be vastly different I am going to go through some of the basics. First of all, you do not need a super expensive camera. Digital SLRs are all the rage and they sure are nice, but certainly not necessary. I do all of my photography with a great point and shoot camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 (thank you to my Chief Culinary Consultant for a wonderful gift!), which allows for a great number of manual settings. Some of the settings that you will want to familiarize yourself with on your camera:

♦  No Flash. Turn off the automatic flash on your camera, as it tends to either completely wash out a photo or cast a yellow hue to it. By turning the automatic flash off and adjusting the settings I will describe below, you will stand a much better chance at a great looking picture.

♦  White Balance. This setting can turn your pictures many shades of blue or yellow or a perfect white. Most cameras have several preset settings that you can cycle through to see what comes closest to the actual color based on your current lighting situation. My camera has an option to manually set the balance, where you take a sample shot of a pure white object so the camera has a frame of reference. This single feature is pure gold, so familiarize yourself with what your camera has in terms of white balance settings.

♦  Macro Setting. This is identified on most cameras with a flower. You will want to enable this setting when taking close-up pictures of food. It enables the resulting photograph to display much greater detail since it changes the focus on an object that is very close.

♦  Exposure. On my camera you can change this quickly right on the back of the camera, but you should check where yours is located. Basically, the exposure defaults to zero. If you move it down, the camera will allow in less light (I have done this a couple of times when the light coming in the window was exceptionally bright) and if you bump up the exposure it will allow in more light, which is quite helpful on days when it’s raining or overcast and there isn’t a lot of light to be had.

While there are some other settings that can be manually adjusted (such as ISO speed) I typically keep everything else on automatic and spend my time adjusting the white balance and exposure, and of course use my macro setting. More than anything, just become very familiar with your camera. Bust out the manual and play around with all of the settings so you know what they all do and how they affect the outcome of photographs.

Part II: Set the Scene

Now that we’ve covered the basics of lighting and camera settings, it’s time to whip up the dish and get it ready for its close up. Below are a number of variables that you’ll want to think about as you get ready for your photo shoot:

♦  Plates. You will typically want to stay away from very dark or very busy dinnerware, as it tends to take the focus away from the food. I am a big fan of using white plates, bowls, etc. or ones that have a very minimal design so that the beauty of the food really has an opportunity to shine through. I have, of course, used other pieces of dinnerware and as you start taking more pictures you will start to envision what you want the final photo to look like and will mix and match pieces to build that vision.

♦  More Props & Food Styling. This is an area I am still trying to improve upon and am continually looking for new ideas. Styling the food on the plate to maximize the drool factor will take some practice, as will setting the actual scene that you will photograph. Will you include silverware, a glass, a placemat, etc.? One thing that I have found helpful is to browse through the images on sites such as TasteSpotting and foodgawker to see how some of the better pictures have been set up and photographed and try to incorporate some of those ideas into my staging. If you are looking to pick up some different accessories, check out dollar stores and discount retail stores for some steals that you can use to build your prop inventory.

♦  Backgrounds. What you choose to have in the background of your photo may be greatly determined by how neat or messy your table or counter is. If I can get a clean background on my wood table, I will just shoot on that, which provides a nice contrast to white plates. However, if there is a lot of stuff in the background or I’m shooting at an angle that will get random furniture in the background, I will often times use a backdrop. The tool I use most often is a white foam core board (you can purchase these for a couple of bucks at craft stores) that I will prop up behind my plate. This is also a useful tool for reflecting incoming light from a window. You can also browse a craft store for material of different colors, patterns and textures that you can mix and match based on plates you use and the color of the food.

Part III: The After Party

No matter how great of a job you do at setting your white balance, exposure, judging the light and setting up the perfect picture, it won’t be perfect. It won’t look how you dreamed it would look. Don’t fret – that’s what post-processing software is for, and no, it doesn’t need to cost you an arm and a leg. While Adobe Photoshop is the defacto for those with design backgrounds, it’s expensive and you can do great work using free software such as Gimp, Picnik or Picassa.

Edited to add: Reader Amanda of Amanda’s Cookin’ shared in the comments section that she uses Adobe Elements for her photo editing software and that it is less than $100 and has just about everything that Photoshop has. I wanted to pull this up into the post to be sure everyone saw it – if you are pining for Photoshop but it’s out of your budget, you may want to look into this more affordable alternative. Thank you for the suggestion Amanda!

You want to find a balance between bringing out the best in your picture and over processing. In general, I will use a light touch to adjust the color balance, brightness and contrast, and then will add some sharpness to the photo. That’s usually all I do but it can make a big difference. Don’t be afraid to do some cropping as well – done correctly it can really transform a picture. Here are two recent example of before and after:

Part IV: Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse!

Basically, take as many pictures as you can using as many different camera settings as you can from as many different angles as possible. The more you shoot and begin to get comfortable with your camera and understand how your lighting is affecting the photos, the better your photos will become. It certainly takes a lot of practice, and even then sometimes the stars just don’t seem to align. For any typical recipe you see on this site, I take anywhere from 15-60 pictures depending on what it is and how I want to display it. Sometimes there will be a couple dozen photos that I like of that bunch, and sometimes I struggle to find two that I can use. It’s a constant learning experience and I have enjoyed learning more about photography along the way.

I have really enjoyed putting together this tutorial and hope that it has been helpful and perhaps taken the mystique away from food photography. If you have any specific questions I would be more than happy to answer them for you to the best of my ability. Happy Baking, Cooking, and Shooting!

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Could there be anything better than a rich, decadent chocolate dessert that will please not only kids but also the most demanding dinner guests? Actually, there could be – if such a dessert could take less than 10 minutes to prepare and less than 10 minutes in the oven. And here it is! I give you the most fabulous fallen chocolate cakes (or chocolate lava cakes or molten chocolate cakes – they go by so many names) that I have yet to make. These cakes were recently featured as the Dessert of the Week on dinnervibe, which is a website and weekly newsletter that provides quick and easy recipes and accompanying grocery lists to make menu planning a cinch. When asked to contribute a dessert that adhered to the quick and easy model, I knew in an instant that these chocolate cakes would fit the bill.

One of the best things about these cakes is that on top of being so quick to prepare and bake, you can get them ready far ahead of time to accommodate your schedule. The batter for these chocolate cakes can be refrigerated for several hours until you’re ready to bake them. If you choose to do this, take the molds out of the fridge before starting dinner and bring them back to room temperature before baking. In my ideal scenario, here is how it would happen:

- You prepare these earlier in the day when you have a free few minutes and pop them in the fridge.
- Once you’re ready to start dinner, remove the prepared cakes from the refrigerator.
- Before you sit down to dinner turn on the oven to preheat.
- Enjoy dinner… yum!
- After you clear the dishes, put the cakes in the oven and turn on the coffee – you’ll have a warm dessert in less than 10 minutes!

Seriously, what could be easier? (I feel sort of like Ina Garten uttering that statement!) This is great because it works for a regular week night meal or for when you have company. No matter when you decide to make these cakes, it will turn a great meal into a phenomenal dinner!

If you have a soft spot for chocolate cakes, you’ll love these:
Cookies and Cream Oreo Cake
Gooey Chocolate Cakes
Almost Fudge Gateau
Perfectly Chocolate Cake
Texas Sheet Cake

Fallen Chocolate Cakes

Yield: 4 cakes

Equipment:
4-ounce ramekins

8 Tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), plus more for the molds
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour, plus more for the molds
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
¼ cup sugar

1. Heat the oven to 450 degrees F.

2. Butter and lightly flour four 4-ounce molds, custard cups or ramekins; tap out excess flour.

3. Use a double boiler set over hot (not boiling) water to heat the butter and chocolate together until the chocolate is almost completely melted. Set aside and cool for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, beat the eggs, yolks, and sugar together with a whisk until light and thick. Whisk the melted chocolate and butter together until creamy; it should be quite warm. Pour in the egg mixture, then quickly beat in the flour, just until combined.

4. Divide the batter among the molds. Put the molds on a baking sheet and bake until the center is still quite soft but the sides are set, about 6 to 7 minutes.

5. Invert each mold onto a plate and let sit for about 10 seconds. Un-mold by lifting up one corner of the mold; the cake will fall out onto the plate. Serve immediately. Optional accompaniments: powdered sugar, vanilla ice cream, berries, or whipped cream.

(Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman)

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I have been waiting to share this recipe with all of you for about 10 months now, and am excited to finally unveil it. I was lucky enough to serve as a recipe tester for Peter Reinhart’s new book, Artisan Breads Every Day, and this was by far my favorite recipe of all those that I tested and now that it’s out and in the book, I can share it with you! I have a huge soft spot in my heart for pepperoni bread, as my grandma used to churn out a dozen at a time and we would gobble them up almost as quickly as they came out of the oven. The only way I had ever seen them made was with frozen bread dough – a recipe that I shared in this post. It’s great because it’s quick and you can make large quantities in a short amount of time, but it certainly lacks that distinct homemade bread taste. Using Peter’s cheese bread recipe, I was able to really perfect (if I may say so myself!) pepperoni bread and have to keep myself from making it all the time or I would be in trouble!

I have made the recipe a couple of different ways – both dividing the dough into two as the recipe states and also dividing the dough into four (which is what I did this last time) so as to make four slimmer loaves instead of two large loaves. This is good to do if you want to have more to share! In both instances I made freestanding loaves, or batards. All that I do to transform the recipe below into pepperoni bread is to use shredded mozzarella (or a mozzarella and provolone blend) and add a layer of sliced pepperoni on top of the cheese before rolling it up. Some other variations that I have tried:

♦  Sprinkle dried oregano over the dough before spreading the cheese and pepperoni. Once baked, serve with a side of pizza sauce for dipping.

♦  Add sliced olives on top of the pepperoni.

♦  Use shredded mozzarella, layer on sauteed mushrooms, thinly sliced proscuitto, and basil. (I made this to mimic an awesome appetizer that my Chief Culinary Consultant and I had at Dish Osteria.)

As many of you who visit my site regularly know, I am a huge Peter Reinhart fan. I have made many recipes from his book Bread Baker’s Apprentice and they all have become regular recipes of mine, especially the Cinnamon Raisin Bagels. It goes without saying that if you have any interest at all in making homemade bread Peter’s books deserve a spot on your cookbook shelf. Much like his previous book, his new one, Artisan Breads Every Day, is full of wonderful background information that will make bread baking much less stressful, especially if you are new to yeast breads. Included in this book are not only tons of traditional bread recipes, but also a number of pastry recipes and non-yeast recipes such as biscuits. A trend throughout the book is the way that recipes have been formulated with no poolish or pre-fermenting needed, so that you can enjoy freshly baked bread in a fraction of the time. Certainly a wonderful book that you’ll want to add to your collection.

(Click picture to go to the book’s Amazon page.)

Soft Cheese Bread

Makes 2 large loaves, 4 smaller loaves or many rolls

Equipment:
Stand mixer or Large mixing bowl
Rolling pin
Loaf pan or Sheet pan
Cooling rack

6¼ cups (28 oz/794g) unbleached bread flour
2 teaspoons salt, or 1 Tablespoon coarse kosher salt
5 Tablespoons (2.25 oz/64g) granulated or brown sugar, or 3½ Tablespoons honey or agave nectar
1 cup (8 oz/227g) lukewarm water or beer (about 95°F or 35°C)
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons (9 oz/255g) lukewarm buttermilk or any other milk (about 95°F or 35°C)
1½ Tablespoons (0.5 oz/14g) instant yeast
¼ cup (2 oz/56.5g) melted unsalted butter or vegetable oil
1¾ cups (7oz/198g) diced onion (about 1 medium onion) or 1 small bunch of fresh chives (1 oz/28.5g), minced (optional)
2½ cups (12 oz/340g) grated, shredded, or cubed cheese

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and sugar together (if using honey or agave nectar, dissolve it in the lukewarm water instead). Separately, combine the water and buttermilk, whisk in the yeast until dissolved, then pour the mixture and the melted butter into the dry ingredients. If using a mixer, use the paddle attachment and mix on the lowest speed for 2 minutes. If mixing by hand, use a large spoon and stir for about 2 minutes. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

2. Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium-low speed, or continue mixing by hand, for 3 minutes, adjusting with flour or liquid as needed. The dough should be soft, supple, and tacky but not sticky. Add the onions and mix on the lowest speed or continue mixing by hand for 1 minute, until the onions are evenly distributed.

3. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead for 1 or 2 minutes to make any final adjustments, then form the dough into a ball.

4. Place the dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and immediately refrigerate overnight for for up to 4 days. (If you plan to make the dough in batches over different days, you can portion the dough and place it into two or more oiled bowls at this stage.) The dough should double in size in the refrigerator. If you want to bake the bread the same day you mix the dough, don’t refrigerate the final dough; just let it rest at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes, until it doubles in size. Then proceed to shaping and baking as described below.

5. Remove the dough from the refrigerator about 2 hours before you plan to bake. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and divide it into 2 equal pieces, each weighing about 2 pounds (907 g). Dust each piece with flour, then use a rolling pin to roll them into rectangles about 8 inches wide and 12 inches high. Spread half of the cheese over the surface of one rectangle and roll the dough up like a rug, from the bottom to the top, to form a log. If any cheese falls out, tuck it back in or save it for the second loaf. Seal the seam with your fingertips. For a sandwich loaf, proof in a greased 4½ by 8-inch loaf pan (or a 5 by 9-inch pan if using onions, which increase the volume of the dough). For a freestanding batard or rolls, proof on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Another option is to cut the log into 1½-inch slices to make spiral rolls; place spiral rolls about 1 inch apart in greased round pans or on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Mist the shaped dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap, then let the dough rise at room temperature for about 90 minutes, until increased to about 1½ times its original size. In loaf pans, the dough should dome about 1 inch about the rim.

6. About 15 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C), or 300°F (149°C) for a convection oven. Because of the cheese, there may be air pockets or tunnels in the risen dough that could cause it to separate in the spirals (cubed cheese creates fewer air pockets than grated or shredded cheese). To minimize this, poke through the top crust in a few spots with a skewer or toothpick. The dough may fall a bit, but it will recover in the oven.

7. Bake loaves for 20 minutes, then rotate the pans; rotate rolls after 10 minutes. The total baking time is about 50 minutes for loaves, and only 20 to 25 minutes for rolls. The bread is done when it’s a deep golden brown and the internal temperature is about 185°F (85°C) in the center.

8. Remove from the pans and cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes for rolls and about 1 hour for loaves before slicing or serving.

(From Artisan Breads Every Day by Peter Reinhart)

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Image source: Wilton.com

With Halloween behind us, I am now in full-blown holiday mode. Well, my head, at least, is in full-blown holiday mode. I haven’t purchased a Christmas gift or baked a Christmas cookie yet, but I am ready for snow, Christmas trees, Christmas movies, and of course all of the wonderful aromas wafting from the kitchen while holiday goodies are baking. I am still trying to whittle down my list of cookies and candies and thinking about which I want to make for gift-giving and house visits, and which to make for pure enjoyment.

I’d love to try out some new recipes as well as share some of my favorites with you all here on Brown Eyed Baker, so I’m looking for some feedback. What types of recipes would you like to see featured as we head into the holiday season? I’d love for you to take part in the poll below, and feel free to add thoughts and opinions in the comments section! I would especially love to hear about your favorite holiday recipes.

I will leave the poll up for the next week and then start working through some great holiday recipes here on the site, based on your feedback.

Thank you for participating!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

This cake was done for a bachelorette party that had a theme of black and hot pink and zebra/animal print. It is an 8-inch white cake with a layer of raspberry filling in the middle and covered in white fondant. The black zebra stripes and pink borders are all made of edible fondant. The tiara was also created from fondant; the jewels on the tiara are not edible – the only part of the cake that you can’t eat. I brushed the top of the cake with white shimmer dust, and the tiara was brushed in a silver shimmer dust. The cake was a hit and got rave reviews!

If you are interested in seeing more of my decorated cakes, check out some of them here.

Man cannot live on sweets alone. Most of us will have to repeat this mantra to ourselves over and over again over the course of the next couple of months. Between leftover Halloween candy, pumpkin pie galore, and Christmas cookies by the tin, it’s possible that a lot of us will be in a sugar coma come January 1st. In an effort to bring some semblance of balance to the sweet-fest, I give you savory biscotti. I’ve been eating biscotti pretty much since I cut my first tooth and this was my first time trying a savory version, and I think I may be hooked. Discovering a non-sweet version has just opened up an entire new world of opportunity to me, and I can’t wait to try many more varieties!

The flavor of these biscotti remind me very much of the pigu that my family makes every year for Easter. While the pigu are sort of a baked ravioli with a cheese and black pepper filling, the flavors are remarkably similar. So much so that I’m gobbling up these biscotti at just as quick a pace as I gobble up pigu the week of Easter. If you’ve never tried a savory biscotti, I urge you to give this recipe a chance and see what you think.

Note: These really are quite peppery, which I like, but it might be too much for some, so feel free to adjust the black pepper in the recipe to your taste.

More Biscotti:
Basic Biscotti Recipe
Chocolate Biscotti
Anise-Almond Biscotti

Parmesan Black Pepper Biscotti

Yield: About 5 dozen

Equipment:
Coffee or spice grinder

1½ Tablespoons whole black peppercorns
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
4½ ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated (2¼ cups)
1½ sticks (¾ cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk

1. Put oven racks and upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Pulse peppercorns in grinder until coarsely ground.

3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, 2 cups of the cheese, and 1 Tablespoon ground black pepper in a large bowl. Blend in butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Whisk 3 eggs with milk and add to flour mixture, stirring with a fork until a soft dough forms.

4. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and quarter dough. Using well-floured hands, form each piece into a slightly flattened 12-inch-long log (about 2 inches wide and ¾-inch high). Transfer logs to 2 ungreased large baking sheets, arranging logs about 3 inches apart.

5. Whisk remaining egg and brush some over logs, then sprinkle tops of logs evenly with remaining ¼ cup cheese and ½ Tablespoon ground pepper. Bake, rotating sheets 180 degrees and switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until logs are pale golden and firm, about 30 minutes total. Cool logs to warm on sheets on a rack, about 10 minutes.

6. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F.

7. Carefully transfer one warm log to a cutting board and cut diagonally into ½-inch-thick slices with a serrated knife. Arrange slices, cut sides down, in 1 layer on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining logs, transferring slices to sheets. Bake, turning over once, until golden and crisp, 35 to 45 minutes total. Cool biscotti on baking sheets on racks, about 15 minutes.

(Gourmet, December 2006)

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One of my oldest and dearest friends had her second baby recently (another girl!) and I of course wanted to bring some sweets when I went to visit her and the new baby. I had picked up a set of Wilton baby cookie cutters (set includes a onesie, rocking horse, teddy bear and baby carriage), but had yet to find a use for them. I thought these would be a great way to celebrate the new bundle of joy and give mom and dad something a little sweet to snack on.

I used my standard sugar cookie recipe, and the same method for decorating as I described in the tutorial I posted over the summer, How to Decorate Cookies with Royal Icing. I did a variety of designs including the baby’s name, her monogram, some striped onesies, her birthday, hearts, and flowers. As always, I had a lot of fun decorating the sugar cookies.

Welcome to the world, Ava Lucille!

Scrambled eggs are a popular breakfast staple, but one that can often go painfully wrong. Sure, it’s pretty hard to make scrambled eggs inedible, but there’s nothing worse that rubbery scrambled eggs, or ones that are still quite watery. Once you master perfectly fluffy and moist scrambled eggs, there will be no turning back. It’s so simple and combines a few “secret” methods that together produce some of the most delicious scrambled eggs that will ever pass your lips. Weekend breakfasts will never be the same! Now what are you waiting for? Grab some eggs and practice your scrambling!

I typically like to use a non-stick skillet when making eggs, but as you can use stainless as well. The trick to creating a better non-stick surface on stainless steel pans is to heat the pan first before adding any butter or oil. Once it is to temperature, add the fat and let it melt or heat up. Then add the food. You can use this method for anything you are cooking, not just eggs.

Perfect Scrambled Eggs

Equipment:
10-inch skillet

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon butter
3 large eggs
1 Tablespoon milk
Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat skillet over medium-low heat. Slow and steady wins the race when it comes to scrambled eggs. Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare? The same holds true here. Don’t rush your eggs and you will be rewarded.

2. Add about a teaspoon of butter to the skillet and let melt.

3. Break the eggs directly into the pan. I know this flies in the face of what most know when it comes to scrambled eggs, but trust me!

4. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Using a wooden spoon, continually stir the eggs, scraping the bottom of the pan.

6. When the eggs are almost done but still on the wet side, add the Tablespoon of milk and continue to stir the eggs just until the milk is absorbed.

7. Turn off the heat, serve the eggs and season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.

There seems to be a never-ending debate raging over whether Le Creuset cookware is worth its hefty price tag. In most food circles you will find that the answer is an unequivocal “Yes!” but given the current economic state, the high price certainly can’t be ignored when you are talking about hundreds of dollars for ONE pot or pan. The first piece of Le Creuset cookware that I owned – my 7.25-quart Dutch oven (above) – was purchased at Williams Sonoma with gift money. The price? Around $275. Absurd, you say? Probably. It’s the last piece I bought at full price and hopefully the last.

Do you see the pieces in the picture above? There are two individual ramekins, two 7-inch individual rectangular baking dishes and a butter dish. They were purchased for $28, TOTAL. How, you ask? Shopping the kitchen section of Marshall’s and TJMaxx (I am told that Tuesday Morning also sometimes has Le Creuset in stock). When I first saw Le Creuset pieces in these stores, my heart skipped a beat. Could it be? I immediately checked the bottom of the pieces to ensure they were authentic (they were) and then went over them with a fine tooth comb to see what might be wrong with them. The only thing I have found is a slight bubble in the paint on the butter dish, and we’re talking about the size of a pin head. Essentially, there is absolutely nothing wrong with them and I continue to add to my Le Creuset collection without breaking the bank.

I have seen Dutch ovens at these stores, as well as oval gratins, larger bakers and many of the same pieces shown above. It goes without saying that finding them can be hit or miss depending on what any individual store has in stock, but it is certainly worth the look if you have any of these stores near you. I was amazed at the difference between these prices and even the outlet stores, not to mention what the full price is. For example, let’s talk about the butter dish. I purchased it at Marshall’s for $7. A couple of weeks later I saw it (same color) at a Le Creuset outlet store priced at $23. How crazy is that?!

If you love Le Creuset but don’t love the price, I encourage you to check out some of these discount stores and see what you can find!

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Le Creuset, Marshall’s or TJMaxx. This post was written based on my own personal shopping experiences.

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If you’re looking for a fall dessert that includes all of the best flavors of the season – pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger – and that just so happens to have a healthy dollop of cream cheese frosting on top, then these cupcakes are definitely for you. Warm, spiced, sweet and utterly addicting. In the oven for only 5 minutes and I could have sworn that time had been thrust forward a few weeks and it was Thanksgiving day. The aroma from the cupcakes was heavenly. I almost said, “I wish I could bottle that smell!” but then realized that I could, in fact, go out and buy a pumpkin pie-scented candle

I owe another nod to my Chief Culinary Consultant for this one, as I was trying to think about what to make to bring to a little Halloween gathering that we were going to and he suggested pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Brilliant, of course! The cupcakes were every bit as scrumptious as I suspected they would be.

The original recipe for these cupcakes includes topping them with little marzipan pumpkins. I was thinking about making some little fondant pumpkins to put on top, but didn’t quite have enough time to do so. I think they would be a perfectly festive addition to the cupcakes! Instead I left some cupcakes plain with just the icing, topped some with candy corn and some others with chopped walnuts. I am thinking that the next time I make these (and there will be many, MANY next times) I will add some maple syrup to the cream cheese icing to bump up the autumn flavors even more.

Do you have a favorite pumpkin recipe?

1 year ago: Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake
2 years ago: Bostini Cream Pie

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Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Yield: 32 cupcakes

Equipment:
- Standard 12-cup muffin tin
- Paper muffin cup liners
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Offset spatula or pastry bag with decorating tips

For the Cupcakes:
4 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2½ cups packed light-brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1½ cups canned pumpkin (not pie filling)

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound (4 cups) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

To Make the Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beating until just combined. Add pumpkin; beat until just combined.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be refrigerated up to 3 days in airtight containers.

4. To finish, use an offset spatula or a pastry bag fitted with a decorated tip to top the cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

To Make the Frosting:

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, ½ cup at a time, and then vanilla, and mix until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 3 days in an airtight container; before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again.

(Source: Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes)

Yes, you read it right: I will be posting every single day during the month of November. National Blog Posting Month (otherwise referred to as NaBloPoMo) has been on my radar for a couple of years but I never gave serious thought to doing it because, well, that’s a lot of posting to commit to. Not to mention that it’s a traditionally busy time of the year. I hadn’t really thought about doing it this year either, but last week I saw that a couple of other food bloggers (Ezra Pound Cake and The Way the Cookie Crumbles, specifically) were planning on taking the plunge and made a spur of the moment decision to dive in with them.

It wasn’t until I had already signed on that I went to take a look back at what I had blogged about during November of 2007 and 2008. A whopping ONE blog post, combined. I had 0 posts during November 2008 and only 1 during November 2007. Apparently I hit a bit of a wall once the clocks change. I’m now even more convinced that this will be a great exercise for me.

So, here we go! 30 days – are you ready?!

Thank you to the whopping 646 of you who commented on the BBQ Chicken Pizza post and entered to win a $100 Visa gift card!!

Ramdom.org was used to draw the winner, which was commenter #71, Lauren from Baking, Books, Booze. Her favorite pizza toppings?

“I LOVE a good margherita pizza – tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, spinach, and a sprinkle of feta cheese….now I’m drooling just thinking about it.”

Congratulations Lauren! I’ll be contacting you directly to get your mailing address.

And if you weren’t the winner, don’t worry, there are more giveaways lined up for the near future here at Brown Eyed Baker!

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A few weeks ago I realized that I hadn’t made bagels in a few months and that I was long overdue for whipping up a batch. I asked my Chief Culinary Consultant if he wanted Cinnamon Raisin Bagels (his favorite), plain bagels or something different. He mentioned that he’s always been a fan of egg bagels and wouldn’t mind if I were to tackle a batch of those. I love getting ideas for new things, and jumped at the chance to make them. I ran into a problem, however, after poring over every cookbook I own and realizing that none of them had a recipe for egg bagels. I turned to the web and found multiple recipes that were all very, very similar, so I gave it a shot and they were okay, but certainly didn’t live up to the standard I was used to, which were all variations on Peter Reinhart’s basic bagel recipe. A light bulb finally went off and I emailed Peter to see if he had a recipe for egg bagels that perhaps hadn’t been published, and he was wonderfully generous with his time and explained to me how I could adapt his basic recipe for bagels to make egg bagels.

To sum things up, Peter basically stated that I should add 1 egg (or just 1 yolk for a richer egg bagel, which is what I chose to do) per 1 cup of flour. Since eggs have water content, there needs to be an adjustment of the water that goes into the recipe. As a general rule of thumb, each whole egg contains 1.5 ounces of water, while yolks contain about 0.5 ounce of water. Given those guidelines, I made the adaptation to his original recipe and have shared it below.

The bagels turned out absolutely fabulous! My Chief Culinary Consultant said that while the cinnamon raisin bagels are still his favorite because he loves the flavor, that these egg bagels were, without question, the best bagels I have ever made in terms of texture and traditional bagel flavor. High praise, indeed! A great big thank you to Peter for taking the time to help me create this recipe!!

While I was looking around the cyber world for egg bagel recipes, I read that egg bagels topped with poppy seeds are traditional Jewish fare, which is something I didn’t know. In an attempt to be authentic, I made half of the bagels “regular” plain egg bagels and topped the other half with popppy seeds. Both were phenomenal – the poppy seed egg bagels were great with cream cheese, and the egg bagels were fantastic as typical bagels and also made awesome sandwiches!

1 year ago: Apple Hand Pies
2 years ago: Brown Sugar Raisin Bread

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Reminder #1: You have one day left to enter the giveaway for a $100 Visa gift card! Head on over to the BBQ Chicken Pizza post to get the details on how to enter.

Reminder #2: Voting for the Foodbuzz Food Blog Awards is open until October 29th (and Brown Eyed Baker is a finalist for Best Baking Blog!). If you haven’t voted yet, you can do so HERE.

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Egg Bagels

Makes 12 large bagels or 24 mini bagels

Sponge:
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
4 cups (18 ounces) unbleached high-gluten flour or bread flour
2 cups (16 ounces) water, at room temperature

Dough:
½ teaspoon (.055 ounce) instant yeast
3¾ cups (17 ounces) unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
8 egg yolks
2¾ teaspoons (.7 ounce) salt
2 teaspoons (.33 ounce) malt powder OR 1 Tablespoon dark or light malt syrup, honey or brown sugar

To Finish:
1 Tablespoon baking soda
Cornmeal or semolina flour for dusting
Poppy seeds (optional)

1. To make the sponge, stir the yeast into the flour in a 4-quart mixing bowl. Add the water, whisking or stirring only until all of the flour is hydrated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes very foamy and bubby. It should swell to nearly double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the countertop.

2. To make the dough, in the same mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer), add the additional yeast to the sponge and stir. Then add 3 cups of the flour, the egg yolks and all of the salt and malt. Stir (or mix on low speed with the dough hook) until the ingredients form a ball, slowly working in the remaining ¾ cup flour to stiffen the dough.

3. Transfer the dough to the counter and knead for at least 10 minutes (or for 6 minutes by machine). The dough should be firm, stiffer than French bread dough, but still pliable and smooth. There should be no raw flour – all the ingredients should be hydrated. The dough should pass the windowpane test and register 77° to 81°F. If the dough seems too dry and rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If the dough seems tacky or sticky, add more flour to achieve the stiffness required. The kneaded dough should feel satiny and pliable but not be tacky.

4. Immediately divide the dough into 4½-ounce pieces for standard bagels, or smaller if desired. Form the pieces into rolls.

5. Cover the rolls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for approximately 20 minutes.

6. Line 2 sheet pans with baking parchment and mist lightly with spray oil. Proceed with one of the following shaping methods:

6a. Poke a hole in a ball of bagel dough and gently rotate your thumb around the inside of the hole to widen it to approximately 2½ inches in diameter. The dough should be as evenly stretched as possible (try to avoid thick and thin spots).

6b. Roll out the dough into an 8-inch-long rope. Wrap the dough around the palm and back of your hand, between the thumb and forefinger, overlapping the ends by several inches. Press the overlapping ends on the counter with the palm of your hand, rocking back and forth to seal.

7. Place each of the shaped pieces 2 inches apart on the pans. Mist the bagels very lightly with the spray oil and slip each pan into a food-grade plastic bag, or cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the pans sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.

8. Check to see if the bagels are ready to be retarded in the refrigerator by using the “float test”. Fill a small bowl with cool or room-temperature water. The bagels are ready to be retarded when they float within 10 seconds of being dropped into the water. Take one bagel and test it. If it floats, immediately return the tester bagel to the pan, pat it dry, cover the pan, and place it in the refrigerator overnight (it can stay in the refrigerator for up to 2 days). If the bagel does not float, return it to the pan and continue to proof the dough at room temperature, checking back every 10 to 20 minutes or so until a tester floats. The time needed to accomplish the float will vary, depending on the ambient temperature and the stiffness of the dough.

9. The following day (or when you are ready to bake the bagels), preheat the oven to 500°F with the two racks set in the middle of the oven. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (the wider the pot the better), and add the baking soda. Have a slotted spoon or skimmer nearby.

10. Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and gently drop them into the water, boiling only as many as comfortably fit (they should float within 10 seconds). After 1 minute flip them over and boil for another minute. If you like very chewy bagels, you can extend the boiling to 2 minutes per side. While the bagels are boiling, sprinkle the same parchment-lined sheet pans with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you decide to replace the paper, be sure to spray the new paper lightly with spray oil to prevent the bagels from sticking to the surface.) If you want to top the bagels, do so as soon as the come out of the water.

11. When all the bagels have been boiled, place the pans on the 2 middle shelves in the oven. Bake for approximately 5 minutes, then rotate the pans, switching shelves and giving the pans a 180-degree rotation. (If you are only baking 1 pan, keep it on the center shelf but still rotate 180 degrees.) After the rotation, lower the oven setting to 450°F and continue baking for about 5 minutes, or until the bagels turn light golden brown. You may bake them darker if you prefer.

12. Remove the pans from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for 15 minutes or longer before serving.

(Adapted from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart)

In my previous post about the fabulous Potato Rosemary Bread you may remember that, aside from rosemary, the bread also included roasted garlic, which took the bread’s flavor to a whole new level of wonderful. I said that I would be following up with a tutorial about how to make it at home and, as promised, here it is! Roasting garlic is so incredibly simple and it can add robust flavor to countless dishes including breads, pizza, sauce, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and pasta, to name a few. Not to mention mixing it into things like butter or mayonnaise for a more “gourmet” condiment. Roasted garlic takes on a much milder flavor than raw garlic and as a result its uses are practically endless. With less than 10 minutes of active prep time, this is definitely a how-to that you’ll want to save and put to use again and again. Now let’s get roasting!

What you’ll need:
Whole head of garlic
Salt
Olive oil
Small baking dish (a ramekin works well)

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375°F.

Step 2: Without breaking the head of garlic apart, remove as much of the outer papery coating as you can:

Step 3: Cut off the pointed top part of the head, exposing a bit of each clove:

Step 4: Coat the small baking dish with olive oil and place the garlic inside. Drizzle with olive oil (use 1 Tablespoon olive oil per one head of garlic) and sprinkle liberally with salt.

Step 5: Cover with aluminum foil and bake until garlic is soft and able to be pierced easily with a paring knife, at least 40 minutes.

Step 6: Let the garlic cool until it can be handled easily. The cloves will squeeze easily out of their skins.

Step 7: Discard the skins and use your freshly roasted garlic in your favorite recipe!

I hope that this tutorial has been helpful for you, and would love to hear your feedback on it!

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Reminder #1: You still have a couple of days left to enter the giveaway for a $100 Visa gift card. Head on over to the BBQ Chicken Pizza post to get the details on how to enter.

Reminder #2: Voting for the Foodbuzz Food Blog Awards is open until October 29th (and Brown Eyed Baker is a finalist for Best Baking Blog!). If you haven’t voted yet, you can do so HERE.

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Happy Belated Bread Day! World Bread Day was last Friday, October 16th, and while I fully intended to participate my baking schedule was a little behind, so I bring you a delicious bread to start this week. Each year when World Bread Day rolls around I try to choose a recipe that is different than anything I have made before, as well as something that represents a bit of a challenge to me. Two years ago (my first time participating) I made a Brown Sugar Raisin Bread, which was my first attempt at a swirled bread. Last year I tackled Challah, which introduced me to braided breads. This year I started flipping through my bread cookbooks and, as it had countless times before, this recipe caught my eye. Potato Rosemary Bread sounds so good, and when you throw in coarse black pepper and roasted garlic, it’s nearly impossible to resist. Plus it met my requirement in trying something new: potato bread.

In a word, this bread is spectacular. Utterly spectacular. Probably in the Top 5, maybe even the Top 3, of breads I have ever made. The potatoes give it a soft and tender texture, and all of the ingredients combine for a sensational flavor. Roasted garlic is optional in the recipe, but I highly recommend including it – it adds even more depth and flavor to the bread. If you’ve never roasted your own garlic, it’s super easy and I’ll be posting a tutorial tomorrow with pictures so stay tuned! Now back to the bread – it may sound weird, but I couldn’t stop smelling the bread. It made the house smell fantastic while it was baking, and once baked and cut into, it may have been even better.

If you have some leftover mashed potatoes to use up, you should definitely use them to make this bread. And if you don’t have leftovers… well, everyone loves mashed potatoes! Whip up a batch and use some for this bread. Bottom line: this bread is a MUST to add to your to-bake list. You and everyone you share it with will be glad you made it.

1 year ago: Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake
2 years ago: Sweet Dinner Rolls

Reminder #1: You still have a few days left to enter the giveaway for a $100 Visa gift card. Head on over to the BBQ Chicken Pizza post to get the details on how to enter.

Reminder #2: Voting for the Foodbuzz Food Blog Awards is open until October 29th (and Brown Eyed Baker is a finalist for Best Baking Blog!). If you haven’t voted yet, you can do so HERE.

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Potato Rosemary Bread

Yield: Two 1-pound loaves or 18 dinner rolls

Days to Make: 2

For the Bread:
1¼ cups (7 ounces) biga (recipe follows)
3 cups plus 2 Tablespoons (14 ounces) unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
1½ teaspoons (.38 ounce) salt
¼ teaspoon (.03 ounce) black pepper, coarsely ground (optional)
1¼ teaspoons (.14 ounce) instant yeast
1 cup (6 ounces) mashed potatoes
1 Tablespoon (.5 ounce) olive oil
2 Tablespoons (.25 ounce) coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
¾ cup plus 2 Tablespoons to 1 cup (7 to 8 ounces) water, at room temperature (or warm if the potatoes are cold)
4 Tablespoons (1 ounce) coarsely chopped roasted garlic (optional)
Semolina flour or cornmeal for dusting
Olive oil for brushing on top

For the Biga:
2½ cups (11.25 ounces) unbleached bread flour
½ teaspoon (.055 ounce) instant yeast
¾ cup plus 2 Tablespoons to 1 cup (7 to 8 ounces) water, at room temperature)

1. Make the biga: Stir together the flour and yeast in a 4-quart bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). Add ¾ cup plus 2 Tablespoons of water, stirring until everything comes together and makes a coarse ball (or mix on low speed for 1 minute with the paddle attachment). Adjust the flour or water, according to need, so that the dough is neither too sticky nor too stiff. (It is better to err on the sticky side, as you can adjust easier during kneading. It is harder to add water once the dough firms up.)

Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for 4 to 6 minutes (or mix on medium speed with the dough hook for 4 minutes), or until the dough is soft and pliable, tacky but not sticky. The internal temperature should be 77° to 81°F.

Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and ferment at room temperature for 2 to 4 hours, or until it nearly doubles in size.

Remove the dough from the bowl, knead it lightly to degas, and return it to the bowl, covering the bowl with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in the refrigerator overnight. You can keep this in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze it in an airtight plastic bag for up to 3 months.

2. Remove the biga from the refrigerator 1 hour before you plan to make the bread. Cut it into about 10 small pieces with a pastry scraper or serrated knife. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit for 1 hour to take off the chill.

3. Stir together the flour, salt, black pepper, and yeast into a 4-quart mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). Add the biga pieces, mashed potatoes, oil, rosemary, and ¾ cup plus 2 Tablespoons water. Stir with a large spoon (or mix on  low speed with the paddle attachment) for 1 minute, or until the ingredients form a ball. Add more water, if necessary, or more flour, if the dough is too sticky.

4. Sprinkle flour on the counter, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin to knead (or mix on medium speed with the dough hook). Knead for approximately 10 minutes (or 6 minutes by machine), adding more flour if needed, until the dough is soft and supple, tacky but not sticky. It should pass the windowpane test and register 77° to 81°F. Flatten the dough and spread the roasted garlic over the top. Gather the dough into a ball and knead it by hand for 1 minute (you will probably have to dust it with flour first to absorb the moisture from the garlic). Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

5. Ferment at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.

6. Remove the dough from the bowl and divide it into 2 equal pieces for loaves, or 18 equal pieces (about 2 ounces each) for dinner rolls. Shape each of the larger pieces into a boule, or shape the smaller pieces into rolls. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment (use 2 pans for rolls) and dust lightly with semolina flour or cornmeal. Place the dough on the parchment, separating the pieces so that they will not touch, even after they rise. Mist the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap.

7. Proof at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours (depending on the size of the pieces), or until the dough doubles in size.

8. Preheat the oven to 400°F with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Remove the plastic from the dough and lightly brush the breads or rolls with olive oil. You do not need to score these breads, but you can if you prefer.

9. Place the pan(s) in the oven. Bake the loaves for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees for even baking. The loaves will take 35 to 45 minutes total to bake. Bake the rolls for 10 minutes, rotate the pans, and then bake for 10 minutes longer. The loaves and rolls will be a rich golden brown all around, and the internal temperature should register at least 195°F. The loaves should make a hollow sound when thumped on the bottom. If the loaves or rolls are fully colored but seem too soft, turn off the oven and let them bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes to firm up.

10. Remove the finished loaves or rolls from the oven and cool on a rack for at least 1 hour for loaves and 20 minutes for rolls before serving.

(Source: The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart)

While I love pizza all year round, it certainly seems to become more of a staple as the weather cools. Not only do we find ourselves ordering in more often, but pizza just seems like the perfect option when you’re sitting down to watch a football or hockey game. Even better is that there is now a yeast available for pizza crusts that doesn’t require a rise time so that you can have homemade pizza in two shakes of a lamb’s tail (more on that in a minute – the yeast, not the lamb). I have no idea how I went my entire life without having a BBQ chicken pizza. It’s fabulous!! This is an especially useful way to use up any leftover chicken you have in the fridge. Feel free to use my recipe below as a guide and add whatever ingredients you like – black beans, chopped tomatoes, and avocado would be great additions.

The yeast I used for this pizza is a new line by Fleischmann’s that was designed specifically for pizza crust. The Pizza Crust Yeast has been formulated in such a way that it eliminates rise time and the associated worry that for some reason it might not rise. I was pretty excited to try this. Even though I love my very favorite pizza crust recipe perhaps more than life itself, sometimes you just don’t want to have to wait, and sometimes you just don’t want to drag out your mixer or food processor. This pizza crust yeast provides the perfect alternative. I mixed it in one bowl, with a wooden spoon and then kneaded on the counter, pressed the dough into a pan and topped it and baked it. Less than 40 minutes from when I began until I pulled the pizza out of the oven. It doesn’t get much better than that! On top of the convenience, I really enjoyed the texture and flavor of the crust. It got crisp, but not too crunchy and still had a bit of the chewy factor that pizza crust is known for. I know many people who are intimidated by homemade pizza due to the yeast factor, so I hope this new product gives some of you who may have been hesitant to try yeast-based recipes before the confidence to give this one a shot!

And now on to the giveaway! I’m offering a $100 Visa gift card so you can host your own pizza party! One lucky reader, selected at random, will receive the card, which can be used anywhere that Visa is accepted. Now, for the guidelines:

Deadline: Thursday, October 22, 2009 11:59pm EST

Required: Your email address. You must fill out the email address portion of the comment form (it will not be published) or I will not be able to contact you should you win.

How to Enter: It’s simple! Leave a comment on this post and answer the following question:

What are your favorite pizza toppings?

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Serves about 8

For the Crust:
1¾ – 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 envelope Fleischmann’s Pizza Yeast
1½ teaspoons sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup very warm water (120° to 130°F)
3 Tablespoons olive oil

For the Toppings:
1½ cups cooked, shredded chicken
½ cup + 2 Tablespoons barbecue sauce, divided
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
¼ red onion, thinly sliced
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.

2. Combine 1 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add water and oil. Mix together until well blended; about 1 minute.

3. Gradually add ½ cup flour until soft dough ball is formed; will be slightly sticky. Add additional flour if needed to form dough ball.

4. Knead on a floured surface, adding additional flour if needed, until smooth and elastic; about 4 minutes. With floured hands, press dough out to fill a greased pizza pan, or roll dough into a 12-inch circle and transfer to a greased pizza pan.

5. Mix together the shredded chicken and 2 Tablespoons of barbecue sauce.

6. Spread ½ cup of the barbecue sauce over the pizza dough. Top with chicken, bacon, onions and cheese.

7. Bake on the bottom oven rack for 12 to 15 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and the crust has browned.

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by ACH Foods, makers of Fleischmann’s Pizza Crust Yeast

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Bizarre seeing a healthy recipe on a dessert website, isn’t it? Well, the truth of the matter is that I do need to eat “regular” meals or else I would end up in a sugar coma. When I whip up something that I think is great, I want to share it with all of you. After all, I’m pretty certain you need more than dessert to survive as well, right? These “burgers” are full of flavor and deliciously hearty. Mushrooms and onions are sauteed with seasoning before being combined with the beans, which imparts much more flavor than I have found in more bland black bean burgers. This was also my first time making homemade bread crumbs (can you believe it?!) and I loved it! They were so much fresher than store-bought.

You may remember that I made some other black bean burgers awhile back and might be curious as to my thoughts on the differences between them. Well, the most recent variation is much heartier and feels much more like an actual burger than the previous version. They shape into patties much more easily and have significantly more flavor. That said, they also take a bit more work and time to throw together. If you are looking at it from health perspective, there are probably less calories in the previous recipe. Either way, I love, love, love black bean burgers. I think they’re delicious and make for a great lunch that fills you up. Definitely try these, or both, and let me know what you think!

1 year ago: Lavash Crackers
2 years ago: Hearty Beef Stew

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Black Bean Mushroom Burgers

Makes 4 burgers

1 Tablespoon canola oil, plus more for brushing
1 cup finely chopped onion
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
4 slices whole wheat sandwich bread, lightly toasted
15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 ounces (about ½ cup) shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 English muffins, sandwich pockets, or hamburger buns, split and toasted
Salsa and sour cream, for serving (optional)

1. In a large skillet, heat canola oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until golden, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, garlic, cumin and paprika and cook until mushrooms have released their juices, about 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

2. Tear toasted bread into pieces and place in food processor. Process until broken down into crumbs. Pour the crumbs into a medium bowl. Add the mushroom mixture and beans to the food processor; pulse until combined, but not smooth – leave some chunky bits. Scoop mixture into the bowl with the bread crumbs; add the cheese and season with salt and pepper.

3. Mix ingredients together and divide into 4 equal portions. With dampened hands, shape each portion into four thick patties. Lightly brush each side of all patties with canola oil.

4. Heat a grill, grill pan or skillet over medium heat. Place patties on the surface and cook until thoroughly heated through and the outside has crisped, about 5 minutes per side. Serve burgers on toasted English muffins and topped with salsa and sour cream, if desired.

(Adapted from Culinary in the Country)

If you like lemon, you will LOVE these cookies. And if you love quick recipes that you mix together in one bowl with one spoon and have out of the oven in less than 20 minutes, then definitely keep reading. This is definitely one of the easiest recipes I have ever encountered. You may have seen a version of this recipe before – a cookie recipe based on a box cake mix. I have seen variations floating around the Internet for a couple of years now, but this is the first time I gave them a try. I was admittedly a little hesitant because I do try to make everything from scratch, but sometimes it doesn’t hurt to have a quick shortcut in your back pocket for those days when you need to throw something together in a hurry. This is a delicious solution for those kind of days.

Taking a bite into these cookies and you truly get a “burst” of lemon. The lemon cake mix is augmented with lemon zest, lemon juice and lemon extract. If you wanted to spice things up a bit, you could also substitute limoncello for the lemon juice in the recipe. Mmmm… The cookies, not surprisingly, have a soft and cakey texture. Rolling them in powdered sugar provides a perfect balance to the tartness of the lemon. I think they would be a wonderful addition to a brunch spread, great for a wedding or baby shower, and a great complement to afternoon tea.

More Lemon-y Goodness:
Lemon-Limoncello Cupcakes
Lemon Meringue Pie

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Lemon Burst Cookies

Yield:

1 (18.25-ounce) package lemon cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Zest of 2 lemons
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon lemon extract
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.

2. Pour cake mix into a large bowl. Stir in eggs, oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and lemon extract until well blended.

3. Place confectioner’s sugar in a bowl.

4. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough into balls and roll in confectioner’s sugar until lightly coated and place on baking sheet.

5. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Cool for 2-3 minutes on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

(Adapted from Playing House and My Baking Addiction)

Grab your favorite cookie and celebrate with me! I found out yesterday that Brown Eyed Baker is a finalist in the “Best Baking Blog” category for the first annual Foodbuzz Blog Awards. Foodbuzz received over 3,500 nominations for food blogs in a variety of categories and the top 5 blogs receiving nominations in each category became the finalists. Talk about shock and awe when I found out I was a finalist! I am beyond flattered  that my co-finalists are Bakerella (queen of the cake pop), Joy the Baker (one of Times Online Top 50 Food Blogs), ZoeBakes (Zoe, co-author of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day), and the ever-popular CakeSpy. Good company, indeed. To be mentioned in the same breath as any of these supremely talented foodies and bloggers is a reward in and of itself, so a great big THANK YOU goes out to any of you that may have nominated me. It means quite a lot to me and what I have achieved thus far with Brown Eyed Baker.

You can read about the announcement HERE.

And now a shameless request for your vote, if you feel I am deserving and you are so inclined. You do not have to register on any websites and you can only vote once, so the process isn’t labor-intensive. You can vote by going HERE.

(If you aren’t familiar with other categories, don’t worry, you don’t need to select one for each category. Brown Eyed Baker is listed under the “Best Baking Blog” category.)

I had originally planned on using the title “Marshmallow Chocolate & Peanut Butter Crunch Brownie Bars”. That seems mighty long, but is truly the best description of these bars, and they are absolutely phenomenal. Imagine this: rich, decadent brownies. Topped with ooey, gooey marshmallows. Topped again with chocolate-peanut butter-Rice Krispy deliciousness. Folks, you just can’t get much better than these bars. Part brownie, part s’more, and part Rice Krispy treat. It’s everything you know and love, baked up into one amazing dessert.

It seems insane to think that there is any way that you can improve on these bars, but I do think there is one thing I will do differently next time: I plan on cutting the quantities for the brownie layer in half. As they are, the brownie layer is about twice as thick as the marshmallow and crisp layers, and I think these would be even more awesome if all of the layers were about equal in size. I also think that taking the chocolate/peanut butter/Rice Krispy topping and using it to make an entire pan of Chocolate-Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats would be heavenly. Stay tuned, because that will likely be happening very, very soon. I do have more Rice Krispies left over and, well, that seems like a perfect way to use them up!

You’ll want to hurry up and make these immediately. All of your family and friends will love you forever.

More brownies with a twist:
Chipster-Topped Brownies
Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Brownies
Samoas Brownies

1 year ago: Homemade Pierogies
2 years ago: Outrageous Brownies

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Marshmallow Crunch Brownie Bars

Yield: 24 bars

For the Brownie Base:
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2/3 cup unsalted butter
1¼ cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Toppings:
1 bag (10½ ounces) miniature marshmallows
1½ cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup smooth peanut butter (don’t use natural peanut butter)
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1½ cups Rice Krispies cereal

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13-inch pan.

2. For the brownies: In a medium saucepan, melt the unsweetened chocolate, butter and ¾ cup of the semisweet chocolate chips over medium heat. Stir occasionally while melting. Set aside and cool for 5 minutes.

3. In a medium bowl sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl , whisk the eggs thoroughly. Add the sugar and vanilla and whisk until well blended. Stir the melted ingredients into the egg mixture, mixing well. Stir in the dry sifted ingredients and mix well. Fold in the remaining ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the surface with a spatula. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the corner of of the pan comes out with moist crumbs.

5. Remove the brownies from the oven and immediately sprinkle the marshmallows over them. Return the pan to the oven for 3 more minutes.

6. Meanwhile, place the milk chocolate chips, peanut butter, and tablespoon of butter in a medium saucepan. Melt over low heat, stirring constantly, until completely melted. Remove from heat, add the Rice Krispies and mix well. Allow to cool for 3 minutes.

7. Spread the mixture evenly over the marshmallow layer. Refrigerate until chilled before cutting.

(Adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody; originally from Buttercup Bakes at Home by Jennifer Appel)

A great big THANK YOU to all of you who participated in this month’s Does My Blog Look Good In This? food photography contest. I was in awe of some truly incredible photographs that passed through my inbox and made me want to lick my computer screen. We had a total of 58 entries come in from all around the world. If you haven’t had a chance to check out the online gallery yet, be sure to head on over and take a gander – magnificent photos await you!

Another huge thank you to the judges that helped me with the daunting task of scoring these photos:

♦  Shari of Whisk: A Food Blog
♦  Megan of Tres Jolie Studios
♦  Pille of Nami-Nami
♦  Vera of Baking Obsession

As a review, the photos were judged in three categories: Edibility, Originality, and Aesthetics. There are three overall winners, which had the highest scores across all categories. Let’s get to the winners!

Overall First Place (the picture that scored the highest total combined score across all three categories) goes to:

Caramelized Tomato Tart by Liz of Zested from Brooklyn, New York with a 5D Mark II

Overall Second Place goes to:

Chocolate Dobos Torte by Irina of Pastry Pal from New York, NY with a Sony 350

Overall Third Place goes to:

Creme Brulee by verO of Delimoon from Switzerland with a Canon 350D

Part 2 – Edibility, Originality, and Aesthetics Category: Each picture was scored in three categories: edibility, originality and aesthetics. The photo receiving the highest total score in each of those categories, excluding the three overall winners, is the specific category winner.

Winner Edibility Category: It’s a TIE!

Vegan Chocolate Mousse Cake by Y of Lemonpi from Sydney, Australia with a Nikon D40

Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cake by Karen of Citrus and Candy from Sydney, Australia with a Canon EOS 1000D

Winner Originality Category:

Sea Salt by Nancy of Spicie Foodie from Central Europe with a Pentax K10D

Winner Aesthetics Category:

Garlic by Sefa of Food is Love from Bremen, Germany with a Canon EOS 400D, EF 50mm f/1.8

I was able to select a Host’s Award for a photo that did not receive an overall or category award, but that stood out to me. This photo seemed to jump off my screen at me and it was one that remained vivid in my mind even as tons of others rolled in. For one last fling with summer, I bring you the bright and totally delicious-looking host award…

Winner: Host Award

Blueberry Gelato by Soma of eCurry from Texas with a Konica Minolta Dimage A200

Congratulations to all of the winners, and thank you once again to everyone who participated! Stay tuned for next month’s edition, which is being hosted by Astrid from Paulchen’s Foodblog.

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This risotto dish is one of the very first meals that I taught myself how to cook and it quickly became a favorite with my family. Yesterday was my mom’s birthday and I offered to make her dinner and told her to pick the menu and I’d make whatever she wanted. It took her all of about 30 seconds to decide that this risotto is what she wanted for dinner, and she chose Dark Chocolate Chip Scones for dessert. In addition to all of the creamy goodness that is risotto, this recipe includes Italian sausage, red pepper and mushrooms that add a tremendous hearty flavor. This should definitely be served as a main dish and goes great with Italian bread and a salad. Definitely plan on something light for dessert!

1 year ago: Cream of Mushroom Soup
2 years ago: Cornbread

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Italian Sausage, Red Pepper and Mushroom Risotto

Yield: 4-6 servings

5 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
8 ounces Italian sausage, casing removed (or you could use ground sausage)
¾ cup finely chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
4 ounces white button mushrooms, coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1½ cups Arborio rice
¾ cup dry white wine
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon chopped Italian parsley

1. In a medium saucepan bring the broth to a simmer. Cover the broth and keep warm over low heat.

2. In a large heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sausage and saute, crumbling, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms and saute until tender, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Add the rice and stir to coat. Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 1 minute.

4. Add ½ cup of the simmering broth and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking the rice, adding the broth ½ cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition of broth to absorb before adding the next, until rice is tender but still firm to the bite and the mixture is creamy, about 25 to 30 minutes total. Remove from the heat.

5. Stir in ¾ of the Parmesan. Transfer the risotto to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with the parsley and the remaining Parmesan. Serve immediately.

(Adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis)

My recent obsession with peaches started not long after crossing the Georgia state line en route to Florida on our vacation. My Chief Culinary Consultant mentioned how we should stop to get a slice of peach pie since we were, in fact, in Georgia (the Peach State). I think my face lit up like a Christmas tree and then that was it – I had peach pie on the brain. We never stopped for pie since we were in the middle of a 16-hour road trip, but my craving was fulfilled a couple of days later when we couldn’t stop talking about peach pie and finally went and bought peaches and made a pie. It absolutely hit the spot and was probably the best peach pie I’ve ever eaten. And so my peach spree began.

I went to Sam’s Club the day after getting back from vacation and found one case of perfect-looking peaches. Every single one of them – perfect. How often does that happen? I had to snatch them up, but then I had too many to eat in a reasonable amount of time before they would go bad. So I set off to make something fabulous with them. These crumb bars combine the best of a peach pie and the best of a crumb cake into one amazing dessert. Since I loved the peach pie that we made so much, I used the same filling recipe for these crumb bars. I chose to dice the peaches figuring that it would make biting into the bars easier and less messy, but if you prefer slices you could definitely do that as well. Just make sure you add these to your “to do” list and enjoy every bite!

More fruit-filled baked goods:
Apple Hand Pies
Fresh Blueberry Pie
Russian Grandmothers’ Apple Pie-Cake
Fresh Strawberry Tart

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Peach Crumb Bars

Yield: 24 bars

For the Dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold
1 egg, lightly beaten

For the Filling:
5 cups diced or sliced peaches (about 7 peaches)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.

2. For the Dough: In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter, and then the egg. The dough will be crumbly. Pat half of the dough into the prepared pan. Place the pan and the remainder of the dough in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

3. For the Filling: Place the diced (or sliced) peaches in a large bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice. Mix gently. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour over the peaches and mix gently.

4. Spread the peach mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble the remaining dough over the peach layer.

5. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

(Dough recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen; Filling recipe from Allrecipes)

Raise your hand if you’ve received the email forward about the woman who ate a a cookie at the Neiman Marcus cafe and asked for the recipe, the waitress said it was “two fifty”, the woman thought it was $2.50 and then saw her credit card was charged $250, so she mass distributed the recipe so that no one ever pays $250 for the recipe again. (Phew, that’s a mouthful!) I suspect that many of you are very familiar with this email and may have even made these cookies before. I have received the email countless times, but for some reason never felt compelled to try the recipe. While on vacation my Chief Culinary Consultant’s mom received the notorious email and asked if I wanted her to send it to me. I told her to and figured I would finally give it a try. I am so glad I did because this is an absolutely phenomenal cookie!

The “secret ingredient” in these cookies is oats. Not just regular old oats mixed into the batter, though – in this recipe the oats are blended into a flour-like powder and whisked together with the flour and other dry ingredients. I actually think that this is sheer brilliance; you get all of the wonderful, nutty flavor of the oats while maintaining the texture of a traditional chocolate chip cookies. The resulting cookies are chunky, hearty and substantial and actually feel heavy when picked up. The combination of semisweet and milk chocolate along with walnuts puts these over the top. I still love my favorite chocolate chip cookies (you can’t really ever replace your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, can you?), but these are certainly a fantastic alternative.

1 year ago: Chicken Pot Pie
2 years ago: Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies

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The Neiman Marcus Cookie

Makes about 30 (3½-inch) cookies

2½ cups rolled oats
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
4 ounces milk chocolate chips
1½ cups chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Blend the oats in a food processor or blender to a fine powder. In a medium bowl whisk together the blended oats with the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides and beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. On low speed gradually mix in the flour mixture, beating just until incorporated. With a rubber spatula fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

4. Roll the dough into 2-ounce balls (or about 2 heaping tablespoonfuls worth) and place about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Cookies should be lightly brown and set on the outside but still look a little undone in the middle. That’s okay – they will finish setting up after you remove them from the oven. Let cool 2-3 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.