Twisted Sweet Potato-Cranberry Rolls

My favorite breakfast rolls that also delicious for snacking in the afternoon with a cup of tea or coffee. The orange flavored cranberry adds a bit of tanginess, and it really perfumed this delicate rolls. If you live in the United States, you can find orange flavored dried cranberry at Trader Joe's. Otherwise, regular dried cranberry will work pretty well for this recipe.

The idea of twisted rolls came when I saw Cindy's posted a mouth watering looking bread called KRANZ. I wanted so badly making this bread, but didn't have the time to invest in rolling and folding the dough required in the recipe just yet. So, based on her idea on twisting the dough, the Twisted Sweet Potato-Cranberry Rolls was born. You can see her step by step instruction on how to twist here, follow the step # 15 through step # 19, then connect both end together to make sweet potato-cranberry rolls.

Twitsted Sweet Potato-Cranberry Rolls

make about 14-16 rolls

~elra~

1 cup mashed sweet potato

2½ cups all purpose flour

1 tsp dry active yeast

3 tbs sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup water

2 tbs butter, room temperature

¼ cup or more orange flavored dried cranberries (or regular dried cranberries)

egg wash (1 egg yolk + 2 tsp milk, mix well)

Demerara sugar for sprinkling, optional

• Put everything in a mixer bowl, but leave out the butter. With dough hook attachment, mix on low for 3 minutes, then increase the speed to medium low (speed#2 on a Kitchenaid mixer), mix for 5 minutes (if the dough seems too wet, add a little bit more flour), now, add butter in two addition, continue to mix until the dough is elastic and shiny, it all depends on your machine it could take about 5 to 10 minutes to get the consistency you want it.

• Place the dough into a bowl that has been lightly coated oil, let it rest for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, fold the dough, and place it back into the bowl, let rest for another 40 minutes.

• Preheat oven to 375⁰F.

• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside

• Turn the dough onto floured counter top. Roll into rectangle (more or less about 14 inches by 17 inches), distribute cranberries evenly, press lightly with rolling pin. Cut lengthwise into 3 equal portions, stack each portion on top of each other (cranberries side up), now you have a dough with 6 inch wide and 17 inch long. Cut into strip about 1½ inches wide (take a look at Cindy's step by step photos here).

• To shape: take one strip of dough, holding one end with your left fingers and the other hand with your right fingers, slightly twist the dough in opposite direction (check Cindy's step #19), then connect both end together. Place it into baking sheet and leave enough space in between the rolls. Continue to work in the same manner with the rest of the dough. When you are finish, brush them lightly with egg wash, let rest at room temperature for one hour, or until double in volume. Brush again with egg wash, sprinkle with demerara sugar. Bake for 25 minutes, or until dark golden brown. Serve warm or cool. Personally, I like to eat it while it is still warm.

As always, I like to show off my bread baking to Susan at Wildyeast, who created a popular even called "Yeast Spotting". Click here if you are interested to submit yours. I am also sharing this to Natashya who will be the host for BBD #30. This will be my first bread to send to BBD event which was a brilliant idea of Zorra of kochtopf.

Daring Bakers' Challenge May 2010

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

I am supposed to make CROQUEMBOUCHE for this month challenge, but I was too ignorant, and too overly confident that the challenge was going to be quick and easy. Well, I was wrong. I thought I could make it on time, but you see, I only started in the early evening before the due date, by the time all components were ready, there was no light anymore. It was too dark, and too late to take photographs. So, I apologize that I couldn't post final result. At least I made the choux pastry and the creme patissiere. Let see what happen tomorrow, if I still have the energy to assemble the pastry, I probably will post the final result. Right now, I am just feeling exhausted, and very sleepy. I must go sleep now ....

As always, thank you to Cat for choosing the delicious challenge, and for Lis and Yvonne who created the Daring Bakers Challenge.

Pain Au Levain, And Vegetables Garden In May

I am posting this bread recipe for my sister and a good friend of mine who are just starting to enjoy making homemade bread. I gave them some of my wild yeast (hope that they still keeping it alive), I also introduced them to my favorite bread blog, which they started to read and already decided what they are going to make next. It amaze me how quickly they get enthusiastic and most pleasant thing I heard was that they both enjoy the process of making the bread. My friend even start to slowly fill her kitchen with new kitchen equipments. It feels so good to be able to convince someone who almost never cooked or baked anything before.

yield 2 small or 1 large

Liquid Levain:

3 tbs wild yeast (still have yours, and alive, right? otherwise, come and get some of mine). For those of you who want to make your own wild yeast, check here

¾ cups filtered water (not a tap water)

1 cup bread flour

Mix the wild yeast and water until well mix, add flour and mix well. Cover the bowl with plastic, let rest undisturbed at room temperature for 12 hours.

Final Dough:

3 cups bread flour

all the liquid levain, above

1¼ to 1½ cup filtered water

2 tsp salt

In a mixer bowl with a dough hook, add all ingredients, then mix on a first speed for three minutes. Adjust hydration (the amount of water) if needed, and if you think the dough is too dry, which sometime can happen depending of the type of flour you are using, add more water, a little at a time.

Increase the speed to the second speed, mix for three minutes until the dough is elastic. Turn off the machine.

Transfer the dough into lightly oiled bowl. Cover tightly with plastic. Let rest at room temperature for 50 minutes.

Take out the dough and place it on a floured counter top. Fold the dough onto itself, and place it back in the bowl with seam side down. Cover, let rest another 40 minutes. repeat the process once more. Cover with plastic, let rest for 50 minutes to an hour.

Take a clean kitchen towel, sprinkle with lots of flour, place the towel on a cookie sheet, set aside close by to you (within your reach)

Take out the dough and place it on a lightly floured counter top, shape into a ball, battard or torpedo, or any shape. Then carefully transfer it on top of the prepared kitchen towel (with the seam side up). Cover the dough with lightly oiled plastic. Refrigerate for 12 to 18 hours.

Preheat the oven including the baking stone or pizza stone to 460⁰ F. When it reaches 460⁰ F, Spray the oven wall with water (about 8 sprays). Shut the door immediately. Take the dough out from the refrigerator.

Carefully transfer the dough by flipping it over onto baker's peel (if you own one), or use a cookie sheet that has been sprinkle with cornmeal. Cut a few slashes with a very sharp serrated knife if desired (I didn't because I didn't want my dough to collapse, since it was quite a soft dough) then slide it directly on to baking stone.

Spray the wall oven once again. Shut the door. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. But, make sure to take a look through the window oven from time to time, so it won't be too burn.

Cool completely before serving.

I am sending this to Susan for her yeast spotting event.

Do you mind if I share my excitement with you about my vegetable garden?

I seem to be lucky this season, no gophers to devour them, and mother nature has been so kind and generous to water them. So, with all of those advantages, I am going to plant more as soon as my seedling are ready to be transplanted. By the end of the season, I should be able to harvest lemon cucumber, lavender color eggplant which I really adore, beautiful melons, and of course Thai chile pepper. Thank goodness for all the rain that oddly enough come in May, I can conserve quite a bit of water (sometimes I feel guilty to complain about the gray and wet weather).

Tarte Tatin

Simply delicious tarte, no surprise it becomes a family and friends favorite dessert. Never seemed to fail to impress them, is another good reason why I make this pretty often. The process is pretty manageable and uncomplicated. Today, I'd like to share the recipe with you (once more), I hope you will try to make it in your own kitchen, and hopefully it becomes your favorite as well. The recipe only need 4 basic ingredients, apples, sugar, butter, and flour. That's all, no fancy ingredients, and it's quite inexpensive to buy. I am sure that most of you have this ingredients on hand.

Tarte Tatin

~elra~

serve 8 portions

1 recipe of simple sweet pastry
5-6 large golden delicious apple
1½ cup sugar
6 tablespoon unsalted butter

• Put sugar in a tarte tatin's pan, or a 9 inch cast iron skillet.
• Peel, core and quartered the apples and arrange in circular, pack them as tightly as possible.
• Cut butter into small pieces and scatter them on top of apple. Cook on low heat until it caramelized. As the apple started to cook, they will also start to shrink, so you will see gap in between. If you like your tarte with a lot of apples in it, tuck in another apple quartered here and there.
• Cool completely so it become confit (I normally leave it until the next day, it really make a big different in taste and texture)
• Roll out sweet pastry large enough to fit the size of your pan, transfer it directly on top of the apple and trim the excess. If you like, place it in the refrigerator to let the dough to rest about 15 to 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400⁰F. Bake Tarte Tatin for about 40 to 45 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.
• Take Tarte Tatin out from the oven, wait 2 minutes before flip it over. If you wait too long, it will stick to the bottom of the pan. Also worth noted, that if you are using cast iron skillet, please be extra careful as the pan is extremely hot and heavy, so don't burn yourself!

Norwich Sourdough With Flax Seeds

This Norwich sourdough is becoming a must bread to make at least once a week in my kitchen, I have been making it since I first discovered the recipe at Susan's blog, the Wildyeast. Sometimes I would add different kind of seeds, nuts or dried fruit just for variation. The picture you see here is the one with toasted flaxseeds. So, for those of you who haven't tried to make this Norwich sourdough, I highly recommend that you try it. I am sure it will be your family favorite as well. The weather has been a little too grey for May, but that doesn't stop me from doing my favorite activities in the garden. I have been sprouting, weeding, and busy cutting some unwanted plants and busses. As long as it doesn't rain, then you will be able to find me in my garden. Oopps, almost forget to mention that I am sharing my Norwich sourdough with flaxseed to all yeast spotting member. Hope they like it as much as I do.