It's the Yeast I Can Do

Cinnamon pecan coffee cake, 05.02.13

“April is the cruellest month.” — T.S. Eliot

Man, I really thought after SXSW was over I’d be baking up a storm, but instead, my jobs have been eating my life, and any time I haven’t been writing or watching screeners or asleep, I’ve been sobbing softly into my keyboard, which makes reading recipes difficult.

But it’s May now, and here’s this coffee cake I did for a meeting at KUT that got cancelled, so it’s going to be sold at the Austin Bakes for West bake sale tomorrow. I’ll be at the Stiles Switch location, but there are posts all over town with bakers more talented than me, so stop by anywhere 10am-2pm; you can’t lose.

Recipe via the Cake Mix Doctor

Momofuku confetti cookies, 04.01.13

This photo is terrible. Like, truly just awful. It’s out-of-focus, the colors are whatever, and it does nothing whatsoever to give you an idea of the texture of these cookies. Also, like an idiot, I cropped it so you have no sense of scale.

What’s so hilarious about this photo being so bad is that these are probably one of the most amazing things to ever come out of my kitchen. They’re five inches across, for starters. They have a delicate, crunchy exterior that belies the supersoft crumb within. The sweetness of the sprinkles plays off a lightly salted crunch of the cookie crumbles baked in. Truly, everyone who’s had one has had nothing but moaning and expletives to say about them — but, like, in a good way.

And I only made 12.

I prepped the recipe about a week ago, and then left the sheet in the fridge as instructed, and baked off two or three at a time as needed. A few for immediate consumption, a few for Richard, one each for Zoe and Austin’s birthdays, etc., etc. And, knowing that I’d bake them off in multiple rounds, I just snapped a couple shitty shots after the first round and figured I’d do better “next time,” “later,” “in the daylight,” “when it’s not March anymore.” Guess who didn’t do that?

And so here we are with my shitty picture of my amazing cookies. There’s one more left of the batch — in the freezer, waiting for my mom — so if I manage to do better then…

Via Momofuku Milk Bar

Lemon poppyseed bread, 03.27.13

My in-town mom gave me some leftover lemon curd that she made (in the microwave!), so I found a bread recipe that called for some and made this. I didn’t have the zest, which was a bummer, but I also had no interest in venturing to H-E-B after the month I’d had, so I blew it off. It wasn’t quite as sweet as I expected, but all in all, definitely an experiment worth repeating.

Via Williams-Sonoma

***

4 eggs 
1 1/2 c milk (I used almond out of desperation)
1 c canola oil  
1 1/2 c sugar 
2 t grated lemon zest (didn’t have this, wish I did)
2 t vanilla extract 
3 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 T baking powder 
1 t salt 
1/4 c poppy seeds  
1 c lemon curd
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans and line the bottoms with buttered parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk until blended. Whisk in the oil, granulated sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla. In another bowl, using a large wooden spoon, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the poppy seeds. Combine wet and dry mixtures and stir just until blended. 

Spread about three-fourths of the batter in the prepared pans. Drizzle half of the lemon curd over the batter. Spread the remaining batter over the curd, and then top with the remaining lemon curd. Gently swirl the curd around with the tip of a knife.

Bake until the bread is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool on a wire rack in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn the loaf out onto the rack and peel off the parchment paper. Turn the loaf top side up and let cool completely on the rack. Dust the top lightly with confectioners’ sugar.

Makes 2 loaves, so you can eat one immediately and no one will be any the wiser.

Engine 2 cookies, 03.23.13

You should know better than to think I really went two weeks without stress-baking. My roommate is a couple of months in to the Engine 2 diet, this sort of horrifying gluten-free-vegan disaster that I could never follow in a million years, and he wanted help making a diet-approved treat. Sure, these are a little more like granola clusters than what I’d call cookies, but they’re not half bad.

***

1c unsweetened applesauce
2T ground flaxseed meal in 1/4c water
2/3c light brown sugar, packed
1/2c raw sugar
1T egg replacer in 1/4c water
1t vanilla
1 1/2c whole wheat flour
2t cinnamon*
1/2t nutmeg*
1t sea salt
1t baking soda
3c rolled oats
1c raisins

Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine the first four ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer**. Beat in the “egg” and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients except the oats and raisins. Gradually combine the dry and wet mixtures until blended, and then stir in the oats and raisins. Drop heaping spoonfuls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.

* Spices have been doubled from the original recipe because flavor.

** You can always do this by hand instead, but why?

Pretzel rolls, 03.17.13

I’ve spent something like 25 of the last 26 days in the office. (All you SXSWgoers, I hope you’re happy.) But on my day off last weekend, I wanted to feel human again, so I slept in, worked out, got my taxes done, went bowling, and baked. Success.

I picked this recipe to bake because I knew I had everything on hand (or thought I did, anyway – came up short when it came for the egg white glaze, but I think they did perfectly fine without, honestly) and I hadn’t worked up the motivation to brave the grocery store yet.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Chocolate chip pecan blondies 03.10.13

South by Southwest is the worst thing ever. Not only have I been too busy to bake for most of the last few months, but now it’s so bad it takes me a week to even post a shitty picture? Geez.

I ate a large chunk of this, took most of it to work, and found a reserved corner in my messenger bag the other morning at La Barbecue. That’ll do.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Oatmeal pancakes, 02.24.13

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Pancakes are what lazy Sunday mornings are all about.

Chocolate root beer bundt cake, 02.21.13

The fourth in a series of chocolate things for James’ birthday. I’d been meaning to remake this cake with enough time to do it right after my hurried version last year, and I think it turned out great. I guess they’re serious when they tell you to let things cool completely.

Via Crepes of Wrath

Samoas bars, 02.19.13

For dessert tonight with Christian and Rita. They’re richer than the originals, I think, and with an obviously higher ratio of chocolate to cookie, but I’m not saying that’s a bad thing…

Via Crepes of Wrath