Showing posts with label Baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baking. Show all posts
I thought I had already tasted the best molasses cookie ever made. My mother made excellent Molasses Cookies and Molasses Crinkles have always been a family favorite!
Both cookies are cookies I have been baking for years and years. Cookies I grew up loving. Molasses Cookies I just could not get enough of!
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I did not think you could get any better than those. That is until now. Today I baked the best molasses cookies I have ever eaten. The BEST! (Sorry to shout! But I can't help myself!)
I recently purchased a cookbook entitled Smitten Kitchen Keepers, by Deb Perelman. It is filled with loads of tasty sounding and looking recipes that beg you to try them.
I adapted this cookie recipe from the one found in that cookbook. It's marvelous and if this recipe alone is any indication of the quality of the remaining recipes in the book, I am in for loads of treats!
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These cookies are soft and chewy in the middle and crispy coated with sugar on the outsides. They are spiced beautifully with a wonderful mix of the warm baking spices.
The smell of them baking alone is enough to get your tastebuds tingling and I can promise you, your house will smell beautiful while they are baking!
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I did make a few adaptations to her recipe, but they worked beautifully. First I added some ground cardamom to the spice mix. I have always found that ground cardamom works very well in any kind of gingerbready mix.
Next, I used part molasses and part golden syrup. If you don't have golden syrup, by all means use all molasses. I also chose to use soft light brown sugar instead of dark.
And I may have used a bit more candied ginger than she did. What can I say? I love crystalized ginger. It's one of my favorite things.
I also decided to add 2 tsp of finely grated orange zest. I thought it would work very well with everything else and I can say with absolute veracity, it did!
I also put them together slightly differently than she did. It worked beautifully and there was a bit less faff involved in my opinion.
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WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE THICK MOLASSES SPICE COOKIES
If you have a well stocked baking cupboard you probably have everything you need in the house to make these today!
- 2 1/3 cups (305g) plain all purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup (170g) butter, melted and cooled
- 4 1/2 TBS (100g) molasses
- 2 1/4 TBS (50g) golden syrup
- 2/3 cup (145g) soft light brown sugar
- 1 large free range egg yolk
- 3 TBS (45g) chopped crystalized ginger
- 2 tsp finely grated orange zest
- Demerara (Turbinado) sugar for rolling
.JPG "Thick Molasses Spice Cookies")
All of these warm baking spices work beautifully together in unison. There is no one flavor that is over-powering. I found myself wondering as I put them together what the flavor of orange zest would be with the remaining flavors.
I just happened to have an orange in my larder and so I went with my inspiration and added some. It was the right decision.
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Don't mix your measurements. Use only the weight or only the imperial. Don't mix both together. I used the weight measurements (much more accurate in my opinion) and these worked out perfectly.
Using the combination of molasses and golden syrup worked very well. They had just the right amount of molasses flavor in my opinion.
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HOW TO MAKE THICK MOLASSES SPICE COOKIES
These are really simple cookies to make. Be prepared to fall in love.
Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment. Set aside.
Put some Demerara sugar (turbinado) into a small bowl. You will need about 6 TBS. (75g)
Whisk together the flour and all of the spices, salt, pepper and baking soda.
Whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, molasses, golden syrup, candied ginger, orange zest and egg yolk together in a large bowl. Stir in the dry ingredients. The dough will be thick. Make sure everything is well combined.
Scoop out 1 3/4 TBS of dough at a time. Roll into a ball and then drop into the bowl of sugar. Roll to coat with sugar and place onto the baking sheet. Space evenly, leaving about 2 inches between each.
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Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes. They will look a bit underbaked but be crackled a bit on top. Don't worry, they are baked through. Check to make sure they are lightly browned on the bottom.
Leave to cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 8 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Enjoy! Betcha can't eat just one!
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Deb called these her "Forever" molasses cookies. I am calling them my "Happily-Ever-After" molasses cookies. Yes, they are that good!
I can't wait to make them again and try the orange zest addition. I just know it is going to be phenomenal! If you bake only one cookie this week, let it be these!
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Here are a few other Molasses type of cookies from The English Kitchen that you might enjoy:
GINGERDOODLES - The perfect blend of a molasses cookie and a snickerdoodle. Half and half, two doughs rolled together, rolled in cinnamon sugar and then baked to perfection. The best of two worlds!
CHOCOLATE GINGERS - Crisp edges, chewy middles, sugar coated and tastily drizzled with melted semi-sweet chocolate. Chocolate and ginger have a wonderful affinity for each other. These are gorgeous.
Yield: 24
Thick Molasses Spice Cookies
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 15 MinTotal time: 30 Min
These are the BEST molasses cookies I have ever baked and eaten. Be warned now, you won't be able to stop at eating just one! Crispy outside, soft and chewy inside.
Ingredients
- 2 1/3 cups (305g) plain all purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup (170g) butter, melted and cooled
- 4 1/2 TBS (100g) molasses
- 2 1/4 TBS (50g) golden syrup
- 2/3 cup (145g) soft light brown sugar
- 1 large free range egg yolk
- 3 TBS (45g) chopped crystalized ginger
- 2 tsp finely grated orange zest
- Demerara (Turbinado) sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment. Set aside.
- Put some Demerara sugar (turbinado) into a small bowl. You will need about 6 TBS. (75g)
- Whisk together the flour and all of the spices, salt, pepper and baking soda.
- Whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, molasses, golden syrup, candied ginger, orange zest, and egg yolk together in a large bowl. Stir in the dry ingredients. The dough will be thick. Make sure everything is well combined.
- Scoop out 1 3/4 TBS of dough at a time. Roll into a ball and then drop into the bowl of sugar. Roll to coat with sugar and place onto the baking sheet. Space evenly, leaving about 2 inches between each.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes. They will look a bit underbaked but be crackled a bit on top. Don't worry, they are baked through. Check to make sure they are lightly browned on the bottom.
- Leave to cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 8 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Enjoy! Betcha can't eat just one!
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This recipe for Washington Pie I am sharing today is actually a cake recipe, not a pie. It comes from the pages of an old cookery book of mine. Woman's Day, Old Fashioned Desserts by Barbara Myers.
It is a recipe I have been making for a very long time, however. I first tasted this lovely cake when my friend Leona baked it to serve as a dessert when we were invited to her place back in the early 1980's. We fell in love with it. It's a cake that I baked for my children often when they were growing up.
But how does a cake get called a pie? I was intrigued and so this morning I did a search to find out the history behind this delicious cake.
The recipe made its first appearance around 1850 in Mrs. Putnam's Receipt Book. So people have been baking this cake for almost 200 years now.
But why call it a pie when it's actually a cake? From what I have read, it all boils down to equipment used. In the mid 19th century most home cooks often baked their layer cakes in pie tins resulting in many referring to cakes baked in pie tins as "pies."
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It is actually a cake that is very similar to the traditional Victoria Sandwich Cake. Both are layer cakes and both have those layers sandwiched together with jam.
Both are also dusted with confectioners' sugar rather than being iced.
The Victoria Sandwich cake however is created by creaming together margarine or butter and caster sugar, and then having eggs beaten in, along with a quantity of self-raising flour. Generally speaking, the sugar, eggs, flour and butter are of the same weight. This enables you to bake a Victoria sponge of almost any size quite easily.
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Washington Pie, in contrast, uses white vegetable shortening and much more sugar than its British counterpart. In North American generally this means Crisco and in the UK you would use white flora or a vegetable fat called Trex.
I have to confess I prefer the British version over the North American cake, but both cakes are very good. My tastes have changed since living in the UK for as long as I did. I no longer have the same sweet tooth I had prior to moving over there and find North American desserts and cakes quite sweet in comparison.
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WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE WASHINGTON PIE
Simple everyday baking ingredients. You will also need two 8-inch round layer cake tins.
- 2 cups (249g) sifted cake flour (see note)
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- 1/3 cup (73g) vegetable shortening
- 3/4 cup (180ml) milk
- 1 large free range egg
For filling and topping:
- Red raspberry preserves
- Icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)
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There is no such thing as cake flour as far as I know in the UK. In its place just measure out the flour, removing 1 TBS of flour per cup of flour used (or 2 TBS for this recipe) and then replace it with 2 TBS corn flour/starch.
That's what I did as I didn't have any cake flour in the house.
I think I would prefer to make this cake with butter. I know others have and it works fine. I have lost my taste for shortening through the years, I think. I did do a search to try to find a version where they used only butter but came up short.
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I even checked Rose Levy Berenbaum's cookbook, Rose's Heavenly cakes, and Martha Stewart's Bakig Bible, but there were no Washington Pie Cake recipes in either. I cannot say how it would work with butter rather than shortening.
If you are wanting to make a cake with butter than shortening, I would recommend that you use the Victoria Sponge Cake Recipe. I know that recipe works perfectly. It actually uses equal parts margarine and butter, but I have made it with all butter, and it works.
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HOW TO MAKE WASHINGTON PIE
If the use of shortening doesn't bother you then this is the cake for you! It is really a relatively simple cake to make.
Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter and flour 2 (8-inch) round cake tins, tapping out any excess flour.
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the shortening, vanilla and 1/2 cup (120ml) of the milk.
Beat for 2 minutes with an electric whisk, or 300 strokes by hand.
Add the remaining milk and egg. Beat for 2 minutes longer, scraping down the bowl as needed.
Divide the batter between the two prepared pans.
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Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or the tops spring back when lightly touched.
Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then tip out onto the rack and cool completely.
Place one layer (bottom side up) on a plate. Spread generously with jam and then top with the second layer (top side up). Dust with some icing sugar to lightly cover the top.
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I really hope that I haven't put you off this cake with my ponderings on butter versus shortening. This really is a lovely cake. I just find it a bit sweet for my taste. Hasn't stopped me from eating it and enjoying it however!
The mark of a true Glutton!
As you can see it is a very nice cake, light and fluffy with a beautiful crumb. It really doesn't need any frosting in my opinion although I do know some people that frost the top layer only and sprinkle coconut on that. I think it is pretty perfect just as is.
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RASPBERRY YOGURT CAKE - I love cakes which are made with sour cream and yogurt. Adding sour cream or yogurt add moisture and makes for a lovely tender crumb. This is a beautiful cake, with a lovely moist crumb. Its light in texture and filled with pockets of sweet tart raspberries.
FRENCH ALMOND, PEAR & CARDAMOM CAKE - This is a lovely cake, gluten free, loaded with beautiful ripe pears, ground almonds, and I added a touch of ground cardamom as pears and cardamom are such a quintessentially beautiful partnership and marriage of flavors. It is delicious served warm, cut into squares with either lashings of pouring cream or softly whipped cream on top.
Yield: 6 - 8
Washington Pie
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 40 Min
A delicious layer cake which has a layer of sweet jam in the middle and a dusting of icing sugar on top. This is a recipe as old as the hills that I have been making for a very long time.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (249g) sifted cake flour (see note)
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- 1/3 cup (73g) vegetable shortening
- 3/4 cup (180ml) milk
- 1 large free range egg
For filling and topping:
- Red raspberry preserves
- Icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter and flour 2 (8-inch) round cake tins, tapping out any excess flour.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the shortening, vanilla and 1/2 cup (120ml) of the milk.
- Beat for 2 minutes with an electric whisk, or 300 strokes by hand.
- Add the remaining milk and egg. Beat for 2 minutes longer, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Divide the batter between the two prepared pans.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or the tops spring back when lightly touched.
- Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then tip out onto the rack and cool completely.
- Place one layer (bottom side up) on a plate. Spread generously with jam and then top with the second layer (top side up). Dust with some icing sugar to lightly cover the top.
Notes
You can easily make your own cake flour. Simply remove 1 TBS of the flour per cup and replace with 1 TBS corn flour/corn starch. Whisk well together.
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Who doesn't love cinnamon rolls? Not many people I would assert. I saw this recipe for a Pull Apart Cinnamon Roll Bread on Pinch of Yum a while back and had stored it on my Pinterest Bread Board for a couple of years.
I am not sure why it took me so long to get to it, but I can only think that it was because I consider myself to be yeast bread challenged. Sometimes I have success and sometimes I don't. More often than not I really don't.
I can make really good bread using my bread machine, but when it comes to regular bread baking, I am sadly lacking in skills. When my five children were growing up my ex-husband used to bake all of our bread. He was an expert at making bread!
He made beautiful bread. I think it was all that strength he had in his arms that made the difference. He used to make our kitchen table dance across the kitchen floor when he was kneading it.
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This Pull Apart Cinnamon Roll Bread was an easy recipe to make actually. I made use of my stand mixer. It turned out gorgeous!
The original recipe is attributed to a woman named Bea Ojakangas and I found it on Pinch of Yum, as I said up above. I adapted it to use both European and North American measurements and I also cut the recipe in half to make just one loaf.
The original recipe made two. As a single person who works from home, two loaves of bread are far more than I can realistically use. I know I could give one to my next-door neighbor, but every time I give her something she tries to give me something back.
I get the feeling that it makes her feel like she owes me something, which really isn't the case. She's actually doing me a favor by taking the excess, but I get the idea it only makes her feel beholding to me.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE PULL APART CINNAMON ROLL BREAD
Simple everyday baking ingredients. There is nothing out of the ordinary here. It looks like a lot of ingredients, but really it isn't. It is just that there are three elements to the recipe: dough, filling, and glaze.
For the bread dough:
- 1 1/4 tsp dry active yeast
- 1/4 cup (60ml) warm water
- 1 cup (225ml) whole milk, scaled and cooled to lukewarm
- 6 1/2 TBS granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 large free-range eggs, beaten
- 4 - 4 1/2 cups (560 - 630g) of strong bread flour
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter, melted
- 1 small free-range egg, beaten with a fork, to glaze
For the filling:
- 2 TBS butter, lightly softened
- 1 TBS ground cinnamon (can use more if you really like cinnamon, I added an additional 1/2 TBS)
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
For the glaze:
- 1/2 cup (65g) icing sugar
- 1 TBS whole milk
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
Strong bread flour is a type of flour that has been specially designed for making bread. It contains more protein than regular all-purpose flour and is made from a harder wheat berry. It is ideal for chewy and dense baked goods such as bread and bagels.
I would never use it to make pancakes or cakes.
I did use extra cinnamon in mine because I really like the flavor of cinnamon. You can cut it back if you wish, but if you like cinnamon as much as I do, then leave it at my suggestion.
HOW TO MAKE PULL APART CINNAMON ROLL BREAD
This does seem a bit complicated when it comes to the shaping of it. I should have taken photos of it, but really if you hop over to Pinch of Yum, she has perfect photos of how to do just that.
First make the dough. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Leave to sit until frothy. Pour into a bowl. Add the lukewarm water, sugar, beaten eggs, salt and 1 cup (140g) of the flour. Mix on low smooth until smooth and elastic. Add 1 1/2 cups (210g) of the flour and mix together at a slightly higher speed. Stir in the melted butter until well mixed in and glossy. Stir in the remaining flour. until you have a stiff dough.
Tip out onto a lightly floured surface Toss to lightly coat. Return to the mixer and cover. Let rest for 15 minutes.
Using your mixer again, knead on low speed for about 4 minutes or so.
Place into a lightly oiled bowl, turning the dough to coat all of the surface with the oil. Cover and leave to rest in a warm place for 1 hour, at which time the dough should have doubled in size.
Mix together the cinnamon and the sugar. Have ready a large baking sheet lined with baking parchment.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out or pat the dough into a rectangle which is about 1/2 inch thick and 9 inches by 13 inches in size. Spread the surface with the soft butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over top to coat generously. Roll up as for a jelly roll from the long side. Pinch the seam together.
Carefully transfer to the lined baking sheet, seam side down.
Using a sharp pair of kitchen scissors, cut the roll crosswise into slices, about 1 1/2 inches apart, cutting almost all the way to the bottom. Gently pull the slices apart. (HERE IS WHERE YOU WANT TO CHECK OUT HER PHOTOS)
Cover and let rise for about 20 minutes. Brush with the beaten egg.
Preheat oven to 375*F/190*C/gas mark 5. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes. It should be golden brown and cooked through. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly while you make the glaze.
Make the glaze by whisking the sugar, milk and vanilla together until smooth. Drizzle over the loaf and allow to set before pulling apart or slicing to serve.
I found myself wishing I had actually cooked both loaves and frozen one, unglazed, but never mind . . . I will have to do that the next time around!
I found myself wondering how it would be with some raisins and chopped toasted walnuts or pecans would be in the filling. I am thinking they would be gorgeous.
.JPG "Pull Apart Cinnamon Roll Bread")
Some other cinnamon treats I have baked in The English Kitchen that you might enjoy are:
.JPG "Pull Apart Cinnamon Roll Bread")
CINNAMON PULL APART BREAD - This is a non-yeasted version of a tasty cinnamon loaf created by layering slices of an all-butter biscuit dough and cinnamon sugar in a loaf pan. Baked and glazed, it is incredibly scrumptious.
CINNAMON ROLLS (YEAST) SMALL BATCH - This delicious recipe makes only six of the most beautiful puffy cinnamon rolls. Not hard to make at all, they always go down a real treat and is the perfect sized recipe for the smaller family.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
Yield: 1 large loaf
Pull Apart Cinnamon Bread
Prep time: 2 H & 30 MCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 3 Hour
Delicious with loads of cinnamon flavor! This very simple to make loaf was adapted from a recipe found on Pinch of Yum. I used my stand mixer for this. It makes things so much easier.
Ingredients
For the bread dough:
- 1 1/4 tsp dry active yeast
- 1/4 cup (60ml) warm water
- 1 cup (225ml) whole milk, scaled and cooled to lukewarm
- 6 1/2 TBS granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 large free-range eggs, beaten
- 4 - 4 1/2 cups (560 - 630g) of strong bread flour
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter, melted
- 1 small free-range egg, beaten with a fork, to glaze
For the filling:
- 2 TBS butter, lightly softened
- 1 TBS ground cinnamon (can use more if you really like cinnamon,I added an additional 1/2 TBS)
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
For the glaze:
- 1/2 cup (65g) icing sugar
- 1 TBS whole milk
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- First make the dough. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Leave to sit until frothy. Pour into a bowl.
- Add the lukewarm water, sugar, beaten eggs, salt and 1 cup (140g) of the flour. Mix on low smooth until smooth and elastic. Add 1 1/2 cups (210g) of the flour and mix together at a slightly higher speed. Stir in the melted butter until well mixed in and glossy. Stir in the remaining flour. until you have a stiff dough.
- Tip out onto a lightly floured surface Toss to lightly coat. Return to the mixer and cover. Let rest for 15 minutes.
- Using your mixer again, knead on low speed for about 4 minutes or so.
- Place into a lightly oiled bowl, turning the dough to coat all of the surface with the oil. Cover and leave to rest in a warm place for 1 hour, at which time the dough should have doubled in size.
- Mix together the cinnamon and the sugar. Have ready a large baking sheet lined with baking parchment.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out or pat the dough into a rectangle which is about 1/2 inch thick and 9 inches by 13 inches in size. Spread the surface with the soft butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over top to coat generously. Roll up as for a jelly roll from the long side. Pinch the seam together.
- Carefully transfer to the lined baking sheet, seam side down.
- Using a sharp pair of kitchen scissors, cut the roll crosswise into slices, about 1 1/2 inches apart, cutting almost all the way to the bottom. Gently pull the slices apart.
- Cover and let rise for about 20 minutes. Brush with the beaten egg.
- Preheat oven to 375*F/190*C/gas mark 5.
- Bake for 20 to 30 minutes. It should be golden brown and cooked through.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly while you make the glaze.
- Make the glaze by whisking the sugar, milk and vanilla together until smooth.
- Drizzle over the loaf and allow to set before pulling apart or slicing to serve.
Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
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