Molasses Crinkle Cookies and the Great Molasses Flood of 1919

January 21, 2019

Hello Bakers,

Have you ever heard of the Great Molasses flood of 1919? Until last week I had no idea that exactly 100 years ago, 231 million gallons of molasses destroyed a portion of Boston’s North End.

I explain what happened in the video below:

Molasses Crinkle Cookies

Yield: 24 Medium size cookies

Equipment: Stand Mixer fitted with paddle attachment, spatula, offset spatula (good for cleaning batter off of paddle, 1/2 sheet tray lined with parchment, 1/4 sheet tray lined with parchment, #30 scoop **cookies can be made larger or smaller - increase or decrease baking time by a few minutes.

Ingredients:

3 ounces (85g) Butter, slightly softened

2.43 Ounces (69g) Shortening

5 1/4 ounces (149g) Granulated sugar

4 1/2 ounces (128g) Molasses **I used Grandma’s brand

2 eggs (large)

12.75 ounces (361g) all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 Teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon (good pinch) cloves

1/8 teaspoon (good pinch) nutmeg

Molasses Crinkle Cookies - Mise en Place

Extra Sugar for rolling cookie balls in.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, shortening and sugar on low speed for one minute if the butter and shortening are not smooth, mix an additional 30 seconds.

Stop the mixer and scrape down. Add molasses, mix for 1 more minutes on medium speed.

Add eggs, one at a time at low speed, stop the mixer and scrape down between each addition, mix only until the eggs and butter mixture are combined - no more then 45 seconds of mixing at medium low speed.

Sift together, flour, salt, baking soda and spices.

First addition of flour, ready to mix - remember mix on low speed just until combined. Do not over mix

Add flour in two increments, mixing only until just combined.

Chill the dough for one hour. **Pro tip!!!! Scrape the dough onto a parchment lined quarter sheet pan, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate - this is what professional and pastry chefs do when they want to chill dough quickly. It works for custards too.

Preheat oven to 350

Scoop the cookies into balls and slightly round. Roll in extra sugar and place on baking tray 1 - 1 1/2” apart. (How many place here). Sprinkle a little extra sugar on top.

I was able to fit 12 on a half sheet pan.

Bake for 12- 14 minutes. Double pan at the 8 minute mark. When baked they will have lost their shine, the sugar should sparkle but they shouldn’t take on extra color. Increase or decrease baking time depending on how large or small you have scooped them.

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks with a few slices of apple. If you like to send cookies to families and friends this is a good choice.

Sweet spicy goodness…perfect with a cold glass of milk…

Sweet buttery bliss…bake these then grab a moment for yourself….

Baking Bliss...Blueberry Muffins, New Years and Tidying...

January 06, 2019

Hello Bakers,

The holidays are fun but I love it when they are over and the New Year begins. I know … I sound like the Grinch but I love the feeling of getting back on track. Do you get super energized in January? I do - and it’s been worse this year because I have been watching “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” on Netflix. The show has inspired much tidying on my part. Which is great but tiring and overwhelming at times. I am loving the boxes though and the folding - life changing for drawers.

Now the antidote for tiredness and overwhelm coming from tidying, too much work, the news and our rushed life in general is right here on the blog - that’s right blueberry muffins.

Sit back and close your eyes...imagine buttery sweetness, light textured fluffy crumb that melts in the mouth, the slight tang from the buttermilk or sour cream, the zing of the optional lemon zest and the blueberries bursting with flavor. Pair this with a steaming cup of coffee or tea and it’s Bliss - hence the title. All the madness can be forgotten with each delicious bite.

I love big muffins - big Texas style muffins - so big that I can go breakfast to dinner without stopping. Normally, I am into miniature pastries and desserts but not when it comes to muffins.

You might like smaller muffins and this batter can be scooped into a normal 12 cup muffin tin or made into mini muffins. No matter what size I am in favor of muffin liners - so much easier to remove and one baking not with out them the crust of the muffins is more caramelized. Pair your scoop size with the cup size. And speaking of scooping usually for muffins you want the bottom of the scoop slightly rounded not flat.

Here are some scoop sizes - It’s good to have a variety - mine all bring me joy.

One large scoop for 12 cup pan and one large and one medium scoop for the 6 cup muffin pan and the third scoop from the left for the mini muffin pan

I hope you get a chance to try this recipe and then find a moment to sit back an savor one while it is still warm…

Happy Baking! XO, Colette

Blueberry Muffins

Equipment: stand mixer, paddle, muffin tin, paper liners, scoop, spatula, small bowl for berries.

Ingredients:

Blueberry Muffin Mise en Place - The blueberries are tossed in 2 Tablespoons of flour (extra flour) and then placed in the freezer until needed. They need to stay frozen until needed.

8 oz. butter

7 oz sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 lemon zested (optional)

2 eggs

12 oz all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

½ tsp. salt

10 oz sour cream, buttermilk or yogurt

10 oz Frozen blueberries - toss with 2 Tablespoons of flour

Method: Creaming Method

Oven: 350 degrees

Yield: 6 large muffins, 12-14 regular size muffins, 24-28 mini muffins

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar and vanilla and optional lemon zest until light and fluffy - this takes about 10 minutes - I time it - on medium speed. This is an important step as the creaming of butter and sugar aids in the leavening process.
Add eggs one at a time, mix on speed 1 for 20 seconds and then speed 2 for an additional 25-30 seconds until the egg and butter are well combined. Turn off mixer and scrape down the mixer in between adding eggs.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Alternate adding the flour mix (3 increments) and sour cream (2 increments).
Lightly toss frozen blueberries with 2 Tbs of AP flour. Fold in the blueberries to the batter very gently by hand with a spatula.
Scoop into muffin tins. Top with streusel, sanding sugar (large crystal sugar) or granulated sugar (this can be mixed with lemon zest. If you have leftover batter after scooping you can put it in the refrigerator until the first batch comes out of the oven or bake it in a well greased Brioche a tete mold or a greased mini muffin pan.
Bake at 350 degrees. Start checking at 20 degrees - depending on the size they can take 25-35 minutes. When are they done - when a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Baked muffins can be frozen for about a month. Thaw and refresh in a 350 degree oven for 5-7 minutes. Photo step by step below.

Butter and sugar after creaming - it should lighten in color.

Flour is in - mix only until the dry ingredients are incorporated.

Scooped muffins, topped with granulated sugar mixed with lemon zest

Golden brown…and they test clean with a skewer

Cranberry Braid - need a show stopping Holiday Breakfast?

December 16, 2018

Years ago, I ran a Bed and Breakfast in Ashfield Massachusetts. Ashfield is at the foot of the Berkshire Hills in the western part of the state.

This was with my first husband and we loved the place. It was a thirty-one room Georgian mansion with eight guest rooms and four shared (clawfoot soaking tubs bathrooms). It sat on ten acres. I was totally in my element, cooking and baking all day long. It was a lot of work and I am happy that we experienced inn keeping when we were younger.

During the holidays, we were packed with family - visiting their families who lived in town. Holiday mornings, I set out a big buffet and always made this braid. Well I made several. It was a hit and I am thrilled to share the recipe with you. I have been meaning to for a long time.

It can be made a day ahead and refreshed - sweet doughs are good that way. They are sturdy.

The braid can also be made with croissant or danish dough if you have any hanging around in your freezer - even scraps work because we don’t need a the dough to achieve a lot of volume.

That being said - I encourage you to try this sweet dough - it’s rich and orange scented.

Let me know what you think when you try it and let me know if you have questions.

Happy Holidays and Happy Baking! Colette

Sweet Dough

Equipment: Stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, whisk, bowl scraper or spatula, 1/4 sheet pan lined with lightly buttered parchment paper or a greased one gallon sized ziplock bag (this is for storing the dough overnight or freezing).

Ingredients:

150g Milk - warmed to 90 degrees

2 Large eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

14g Instant yeast or 16g active dry yeast

90g granulated sugar

454g All purpose flour

11g Fine sea salt

Zest of 1/2 orange

Place milk, eggs, vanilla extract and yeast in mixer bowl. Lightly whisk and let sit for 5 minutes.

The yeast, milk and eggs - sitting for 5 minutes - you can whisk the eggs in more then this - I did after I took the photo - just wanted to make sure you saw them.

Add sugar, flour, salt and orange zest.

Mix dough on speed 2 for 4 timed minutes until it clears the side of the bowl. Dough will be soft and slightly sticky - that is correct.

Place the dough on at the parchment paper or in a buttered bowl.

For overnight fermentation, place dough on buttered parchment, use a double sheet so that you can fold the buttered parchment over the parchment and the wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

To use the same day (use the bowl), cover and ferment for 1 hour at room temperature. Or refrigerate the dough (on sheet pan, well wrapped)for 8-16 hours. The dough can also be frozen for a week. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

Cranberry Filling

Equipment: Small saucepan, whisk, wooden spoon.

Ingredients:

170g (6 ounces) fresh or frozen cranberries

99g (3.5 ounces) Granulated sugar

2 teaspoons Cornstarch

Juice and zest of one orange

Whisk together sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan.

Add the rest of the ingredients.

Cranberry filling ingredients in the saucepan.

Cook over medium heat until the cranberries pop open and the filling has a jam like consistency.

Remove from heat and cool. The filling keeps one week in the refrigerator.

Shaping the braid:

Equipment: 1/2 sheet tray lined with parchment paper, rolling pin, dusting flour, ruler, bench scraper, dry brush, wet brush and pastry wheel, proofing bag, mug of steaming water 3/4 full

Sweet Dough is best shaped cold. So the braid is formed with the dough right out of the refrigerator - this makes it easy to shape and you won’t need to use a lot of flour to roll it out.

But, that being said, the dough can be made start to finish in a few hours. It may need a little extra flour to roll out - use just enough to keep it from sticking.

Dust the work surface lightly with flour. Roll the dough out to a 14” x 10” rectangle. Transfer to lined sheet tray. Spread the cranberry filling down the middle - a 3” wide swath of filling is good. Using your pastry cutter, cut 1” strips on either side of filling. Start at one end, cross the bottom strips and then criss cross the strips, tucking in ends until you get to the other end. There is a video of this below.

2. Place the tray in the proofing bag and slide the mug of steaming water along side it, carefully. Seal the bag. Set a timer for 60 minutes. When the dough is cold, it takes a while to proof. If you are making this braid without chilling the dough - it will take about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

***Here are some notes on sweet dough, they take a while to rise and when ready the cut edge of the strips will look slightly lifted and expanded. The rise is not at all dramatic. The dough will take on a slight marshmallow texture too - like all our other yeasted doughs.

3. Next egg wash and bake - For sweet doughs the egg wash I like is one egg beaten until smooth - with a splash of milk or cream. Sweet doughs can take on color in the oven quick so a little milk in the wash helps slow all that caramelization. Set your timer for 15 minutes, double pan at this point and continue to bake until light golden brown - depending on the oven this can be 15-20 more minutes. Here we are looking for color - no pale dough in the overlapping strips - just an overall light golden brown.

The braid can be made the day before, wrap well and store overnight at room temperature, then refresh the next day in a 350 degree oven for 5 minuted. Ice with flat icing. Pour mugs of delicious coffee and enjoy. This will be a hit at your holiday breakfast - I promise.

Vanilla Bean Flat Icing with Orange Variation:

9 ounces powdered sugar, sifted, 1 ounce melted butter, 2 ounces milk and 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract.

I used a whisk to load on the icing, production bakers sometimes use a gloved hand and you could pipe the icing on too.

In a medium bowl whisk all the ingredients together until smooth. Can be made a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator. ***You can replace the orange juice with milk and add some orange zest if you prefer.

Let's Practice Pies - Part 2 - Pumpkin Chiffon! And working with Gelatin....

November 14, 2018

Hello Bakers,

Here’s part two of Let’s Practice Pies. With one more weekend to go, you have time to try out this pumpkin chiffon pie. Chiffon pies were very mid-century. They are light and delicious. This is the perfect pie when you want the flavor of pumpkin but not the heaviness of a traditional pumpkin pie.

I am filming all weekend so I won’t get a chance to post again until early next week. so good luck with your ingredient shopping

And you can make your flaky pie crust this weekend and freeze it - just remember to pull it out of the freezer the night before you want to bake.

Let me know if you have questions.

Happy Baking! Colette

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Graham Cracker Crust - It is also to fine to buy a pre made graham crust of you are short on time.

Equipment: Scale, medium bowl, small saucepan for melting butter, 9 or 10 inch pie plate, lightly brushed with melted butter, spoon, 8 inch pie plate (optional) helps with pressing down crumbs

Ingredients

6 ounces (170g) graham cracker crumbs,

1 ounce sugar,

3 Tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces (43g) melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine sugar and graham cracker crumbs in bowl - stir to combine.

Pour melted butter over crumbs and stir. Crumbs should be fully coated with the butter and should hold a shape when squeezed.

Dump crumbs into lightly greased pie pan. Press firmly into pan. I leave the top lip of the pan clear of crumbs. It helps with serving. The 8” pie pan can be used to tamp down the crumbs - see photo.

Larger pan used to tap down crumbs - Lip of pan is clear

Bake crust at 350 for 5 minutes - cool on a rack while making filling.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

Equipment: Lots of bowls, medium saucepan, whisk and spatula, instant read thermometer

9g powdered gelatin (or 1 package) gelatin or 3 leaves gelatin (any grade) soaked in ice water.

1 1/2 ounces (43g) cold milk

1 can pumpkin 15 3/4 ounce size) any brand for once it dies not matter

7 ounces brown sugar

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon ginger and 1/8 teaspoon allspice

2 1/2 ounces milk

3 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 egg whites

1 ounce water (for Italian meringue)

1 1/2 ounces (43g) sugar

4 ounces (113g) cream whipped to soft peaks and placed in refrigerator

Dissolve the powdered gelatin into the cold 1 1/2 ounces of milk - yes it it will look really strange. See photo:

In the medium saucepan, combine pumpkin, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice and milk. Use a whisk to smooth out the ingredients but to do not whip any air into it.

Heat over medium heat for one minute and add egg yolks, heat, whisking slowly to 185, remove for heat and whisk in gelatin and milk mixture. Now be forewarned , this is a challenge - you need to whisk slowly until there is not not a speck of gelatin visible - this will take a while. If using leaf gelatin, make sure to squeeze out any excess water before adding to the warm filling (it must be 140 degrees to dissolve the gelatin.

Then cool over an ice bath to 85 degrees (watch it closely as it does not take long. Do not cool until the gelatin solidifies or congeals at all.

In a small saucepan combine water and sugar, cook over medium heat until it reaches 236 degrees (soft ball). Small amounts of sugar cook quickly so you can start the egg whites on medium speed as you begin to cook your sugar.

Whip the egg whites on medium speed until cappuccino foam and pour in hot sugar carefully. Whip until soft peaks are achieved - the angle of the peak is at 10:00 - see photo above.

When pumpkin mixture is 85 degrees with a whisk fold in 1/4 of the egg whites ands then the rest of the egg whites. Follow with whipped cream. Be very careful to make sure there are no streaks.

Filling components - whipped cream, soft peak meringue and pumpkin

Whipped cream goes in after meringue - always

Mixed - make sure there are no streaks - scrape the bottom a few times - i used a spatula to mix

Pour into cooled graham cracker shell and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Optional garnish:

Caramelized Pecans:

Equipment: Small Saucepan, skewer or cake tester, parchment paper

2 ounces (57g) water

3.5 (99g) sugar

12 pecan halves

Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the caramel is light amber.
Working quickly and carefully (the caramel is hot) dip the pecan halves into the hot caramel. A skewer works well to get them out of the hot caramel. Set them right side up on a piece of parchment paper to cool.

Chantilly Cream

Equipment: Stand mixer with whisk attachments or hand held mixer with whisk attachments or standard beaters. Large whisk and a large bowl will also work and it a workout too.

8 ounces (227g) Heavy cream

1 1/2 ounces (43g) Confectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Whip cream until it is is the consistency of yogurt, add sugar and vanilla and whip until the cream holds soft peaks.
Place cream in piping bag fitted with a 824 - 826 tip (medium open star)

To finish: Score the top of the pie into 12 slices. Pipe a big rosette of cream on each slice and garnish the rosette with a caramelized pecan.