Cardamom and Orange Pull-Apart Bread #Improv

Oh my—it is good to be back! I didn’t realize that I haven’t posted for over 2 months..yikes. For those not in the know, I had the good fortune of being chosen a finalist in the 46^th Pillsbury Bake-Off, so I’ve been a bit preoccupied. What a fabulous party Pillsbury puts on-- I didn’t bring home a prize, but the whole experience was just amazing. I plan on sharing some stories and some great recipes in the near future, but for now let’s get on with some baking!

It’s perfect that the first recipe I’m going to tackle is an Improv challenge sponsored by Kristin of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker. Each month Kristin gives us two ingredients to get creative with. This month we have Cardamom and Orange, two of my favorite flavors (as evidenced in my Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe: Orange Cardamom Blueberry Crostata!).

Have you been seeing a slew of  pull-apart bread pins on Pinterest? I think I might be a little late to the party, but I've been wanting to try a pull-apart bread for awhile since they look so yummy. This is my perfect opportunity. 

Orange Cardamom Pull-Apart Bread

Printable Recipe

Dough:

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon freshly grated orange peel

2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast

3-3 ½ C flour

1 t. salt

2 eggs, slightly beaten

Filling: 

3 tablespoons butter, melted

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

Frosting:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

2-3 tablespoons orange juice

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon freshly grated orange peel

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.; grease a large loaf pan (9").

Heat the milk, butter, sugar, vanilla, and orange peel over medium/low heat until the butter begins to melt and the sugar is dissolved. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer and allow it to cool to 115 degrees F. (bathwater warm). Whisk the yeast into the milk mixture and let it stand for 5-10 minutes, or until it starts to foam. 

In the mean time, whisk together 3 cups of the flour and the salt in a large bowl.  Add the eggs and the flour mixture to the yeast mixture and, using the paddle attachment, beat for about 2 minutes, or until the mixture is shaggy. Switch the paddle out for the dough hook and continue to knead the dough, adding additional flour as needed, for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Shape the dough into a ball and place it into a greased bowl, turning it over once. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for about an hour or until double in size.

I love the orange color.....

Gently deflate the dough and let it rest for 5 minutes.  On a lightly floured surface (I use a Silpat) roll the dough into a large rectangle. Brush the melted butter over the top. Stir together the sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom and sprinkle all of it evenly over the melted butter.

 Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 6 strips, then carefully stack all of the strips into one stack. Cut the stack of strips into 6 slices. Place the stacks of dough, cut side up, into the greased loaf pan (I staggered mine). Allow the dough to rise for about 20 minutes. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes; cover with foil if it darkens too quickly. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Frost while warm.

Carefully stack 'em, then slice 'em again...

Be careful not to crowd the dough...you want to leave enough room for it to rise.

The top may get a little dark in color, but be sure not to under-bake or the middle will be doughy.

I may use more orange juice next time to make more of a glaze...

For the frosting, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar and the orange peel. Add enough orange juice until the desired consistency is reached.

I spooned the frosting into a baggie and snipped the end...this made it easier to drizzle on the warm bread.

So good...and best eaten warm. Oh, go ahead and slather some more butter on it...

Now, let's take a look at what everyone else is making with Cardamom and Orange!

The Pizza Braid

I know. Another braid. It's an obsession. Perhaps it's because I grew up with braids. Yes, I was the Dutch girl with braids. Tempting, they were (at least to Dennis D, who sat behind me in fourth grade and played giddy up with them on a daily basis). At any rate, I have to share my one last braid recipe with you, this time a savory one.

You may recall that a few months ago I had the opportunity to visit the Red Gold Tomato Company. I won a blogger contest and was able to travel to Indiana, where I met up with six other bloggers and was treated to a tour of the Red Gold facilities and a night to remember at The Taste of the NFL. While there, we were introduced to the family behind the Red Gold Company, the Reicharts. I got the feeling they were a little confused as to what kind of recipes The Dutch Baker's Daughter could come up with using canned tomatoes. How do baking and canned tomatoes go together? I ended up promising Brian Reichart, Red Gold's CEO, that I would come up with a pizza bread of sorts. I think a pizza braid fits the bill, don't you?

Don't think I'm really a Red Gold fan? Check out my cupboard....

I had a flavor combination in mind when I started my little pizza braid project....I was looking for a slightly sweet, soft dough wrapped around a spicy sauce. Contrasting flavors, if you will. So, while you can certainly take a shortcut and use frozen bread dough or canned pizza dough, I urge you to try my homemade variety...you won't be sorry.

First, we want to start with the sauce. I made this right before I used it, but it may taste even better if you make it a day ahead. Feel free to add a little salt--we cut back on it at our house.

Spicy Pizza Sauce

Printable Recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic, crushed

½ cup white wine

4 tablespoons tomato paste

1 (28 oz) can petite diced tomatoes

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté until they are soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and the wine; cook for an additional minute. Stir in the tomato paste, diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, pepper flakes and black pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until thickened. Stir in the vinegar; cool.

On to the dough--

First we start with a "sponge"...it gets the yeast going...

For the dough, I borrowed heavily from the King Arthur Flour braid recipe, but I had to cut back on the sweetness and add a bit of savory....adding a little Parmesan cheese helped with that.

Pizza Braid Dough

Printable Recipe

Sponge:

3/4 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F.)

2 teaspoons sugar

1 tablespoon instant yeast

1/2 cup all purpose flour

Dough:

all of the sponge

3/4 cup sour cream

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

4 1/2 to 5 cups all purpose flour

Filling:

2 cups Spicy Pizza Sauce

2 1/4 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

Assorted veggies and or meats of your choice

For the sponge, combine the water, sugar and yeast in a medium bowl. Stir in the flour. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let it sit for about 10 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sponge, sour cream, butter, eggs, sugar, Parmesan cheese, and 4 1/2 cups of the flour. Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment and beat the mixture until the dough is rough and shaggy. Switch the paddle for the dough hook and knead the dough at medium speed for about 6 minutes, or until smooth, adding additional flour if needed.

Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm, draft-free area for 60 to 90 minutes or until about double in size.

Gently deflate the dough and divide in two. Cover one of the halves with plastic wrap and set aside. Roll the remaining dough into a 10"X15" rectangle (do this over parchment paper or a silpat for easy transfer on to the baking sheet).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Spread 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese down the center third of the dough. Top with 1 cup of the pizza sauce and about a cup of assorted chopped veggies. I used onions, green peppers, olives, and spinach leaves, but you could add pepperoni, or crumbled sausage, as well. Top with an additional 1/2 cup of cheese.

Cut 1" crosswise strips down the sides of the rectangle. Starting from one end, bring one of the dough strips across the filling diagonally. Repeat on the other side, crisscrossing the dough strips. Continue down the rest of the braid, alternating strips to form the loaf. Repeat the rolling, filling and braiding with the second braid. Set both braids aside, cover lightly, and allow to rise for 45 to 60 minutes. Brush each loaf gently with an egg wash (one egg beaten with a pinch of salt). Sprinkle with dehydrated onions or poppy seeds, if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

I didn't brush the first loaf with egg wash...it wasn't as pretty.

I ended up sprinkling dehydrated onions on the top of my braid...it gave it a little something.

These take a little time to make, but oh so worth it...

I would love to hear what you would put in your pizza braid. Sauerkraut? Baked beans? It's all good.

Cinnamon Rolls

I've posted Cinnamon Rolls before--Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls. And Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls. I've done Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding and I've contemplated PB&J Cinnamon Rolls, Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls and even Avocado Cinnamon Rolls. Well, maybe not Avocado Cinnamon Rolls. The point is, I've thought of several different versions of Cinnamon Rolls, but I have yet to show you my basic, everyday, out of this world, Cinnamon Roll recipe.

Now, if you have navigated to this page in the hopes of finding a lo-cal version of Cinnamon Roll, you are wasting your time. I use butter. Copious amounts of butter. And I don't skimp on the sugar, either. Seriously, we are talking about Cinnamon Rolls. It is a once in a while treat, not the mainstay of anyone's diet. So let us begin.

Cinnamon Rolls

Printable Recipe

• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature, slightly beaten
• 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup pecans (optional)

 Heat the milk, 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Let cool until temperature is about 110 degrees F (like bathwater warm).

I almost always heat it too much at first. Be sure to let it cool down so you don't kill the yeast. The butter will finish melting, trust me.

In a large mixing bowl, combine milk mixture with yeast, egg, and 2 cups of the flour and the salt; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. (Alternately, just use the dough hook on your mixer and let the mixer knead the dough for about five minutes)

The egg, butter, and sugar will give you a nice rich dough...the perfect vehicle for even more butter.

Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a clean damp towel. Allow dough to rise until double, about 1 hour. In the meantime, in a small bowl, mix together the softened butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll out the dough into a 12X9 inch rectangle (I like to do this on my Silpat). Spread the dough with the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Sprinkle with pecans if desired. Roll up the dough and pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 equal sized pieces and place into a greased 9X13 inch pan. Cover and let rise until doubled.

Add some pecans, if you like. Or some raisins or chopped apple. This batch is going to be plain.

Be sure to use a sharp knife when cutting...you don't want all of the filling to squish out.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until browned. Remove from oven and frost while warm.

You are not required to frost these, but I think it adds a little je ne sais quoi.

I personally like my Cinnamon Rolls frosted with a nice Orange Cream Cheese Frosting, but a simple drizzle of glaze will suffice. If you're interested, here's my recipe...I just used it on my Red Velvet Brownies. :)

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Printable Recipe

4 oz cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 teaspoons freshly grated orange peel

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

2 cups powdered sugar

Beat the cream cheese and the butter in a medium bowl. Add the orange peel, vanilla, and the orange juice, blending until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat to desired consistency.

Soft, warm, gooey, cinnamon-y and good.

 I find that these rolls will last for a day or two before getting stale. While it is rare that there will be any left, keep in mind that they will make a superb Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding. 

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Hot Cross Buns

Hot cross buns!

Hot cross buns!

One a penny, two a penny,

Hot cross buns!

If you have no daughters,

Give them to your sons

One a penny,

Two a penny,

Hot Cross Buns!

   

I’ll be honest—I don’t know the origin of Hot Cross Buns. By some accounts, they pre-date Christianity. I do know this: In modern times, Hot Cross Buns are traditionally served on Good Friday and, for the most part, they start showing up in bakeries as soon as Lent starts. I know this because my mother-in-law, Alice, starts asking for them as soon as the ashes show up on foreheads. 

Now, I can’t say that I’ve ever been a huge fan of the Hot Cross Bun. We scour the bakeries for them every year and it is hit or miss on quality. Most are too dry, skimpy on the raisins, or full of that awful candied fruit. So this year I have decided to make my own. I looked at several recipes, jotted down what I liked about each one, and came up with this version:

Hot Cross Buns

Printable Version

1 cup milk

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/3 cup sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast (one envelope)

4 to 4 1/2 cups flour (I used bread flour, but all-purpose will work)

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

1 tablespoon grated orange peel

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

1 cup golden raisins

In a small saucepan, heat the milk, butter and sugar until the butter is almost melted and the temperature is about 110 ° F. (bathwater warm). If you accidentally heat the milk too much, just let it cool down.

Stir together 2 cups of the flour, the salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cardamom. Set aside.

Combine the warmed milk and the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the yeast and let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes or until foamy. Fit a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the flour/spice mixture to the milk and beat on medium/high speed for about 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and stir in the orange peel, lemon peel and the raisins. Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook. Add 2 cups of flour and knead for about 5 minutes, or until a soft dough forms, adding more flour as needed.

I used the zest of one orange and one lemon. Be careful not to grate the white part of the lemon--it's very bitter.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently by hand briefly until no longer sticky (be careful not to add too much flour). Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning it so that both sides are lightly oiled. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a draft free area for about an hour or until it has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to375 ° F. Punch down the dough, let it rest for 5 minutes. Form the dough into 18 rolls and place on two large cookie sheet (I like to line them with silicone baking mats). Brush each roll with a little melted butter and let rise again until doubled, about 35 minutes. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool for ten minutes and pipe icing* in a cross form on each bun.

*Icing: Stir together 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and enough orange juice to make a spreadable frosting.

                            

Alice and I were very happy with the outcome.

                           

I actually only made 9 Hot Cross Buns. For variety, I cut the remaining dough into three pieces, rolled them into ropes, braided them and made a beautiful raisin egg bread. It looks a little like a German Stollen, but that's the wrong season so we'll call it an Iced Raisin Braid. This I baked for 25 minutes. 

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Friday Night Pizza Party!

Friday night has always been pizza night at my house and last night was no exception. Whoever invented the pizza stone was a genius! Ha—probably a caveman, right? At any rate, I think I make a different kind every time. This is the one I made last night:

Pizza Dough

1 ¼ cups warm water (bathwater warm)
1-2 tablespoons sugar or honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons yeast (or one package)
3-3 ½ cups bread flour (you can sub 1 cup of whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon salt

In mixing bowl, combine water, sugar or honey, oil and yeast. Let this sit for 5-10 minutes or until it gets kind of foamy. This is called proofing your yeast and it makes sure that your yeast is active and working.

If, like me, you are using a stand mixer with a dough hook*, add 3 cups of flour and the salt to your bowl, attach the dough hook to the mixer and knead the dough for about 5 minutes. The dough should “clean” the sides of the bowl. Add more flour, a tablespoon at a time, if it is too sticky. Place the kneaded dough in an oiled bowl, turning it so that both sides have a little oil. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and set it in a warm place to rise for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until it doubles in size.

While the dough is rising, pre-heat your oven and pizza stone to 475 ° F. Punch the dough down (don’t worry—it won’t punch back) and divide it in two. Place one of the dough pieces on a floured surface and shape it into a pizza (about 10”-12”).

I know, it looks a little like the dog peed on it--not my best picture--it's better with the oil spread out.

*If you don’t have a stand mixer, simply add as much flour to the yeast mixture as you can stir with a wooden spoon. Turn this onto a floured surface and knead the dough by hand, adding flour as necessary, until the dough is soft and flexible, about 5-8 minutes.

Topping the pizza:

Put some cornmeal on a pizza peel (if you don’t have one, put it on a cookie sheet) and place the shaped dough on top. Spread a couple of drops of olive oil on the dough and then top with sauce, either homemade or jarred (I used a sauce put out by a local pizza chain). At this point, you can add whatever floats your boat. This time I chopped up some onion, green peppers, fresh banana peppers and mushrooms. Other times, I’ve used sausage, pepperoni, tomatoes, spinach---whatever I have on hand. Then I top it with shredded cheese.

Slide the pizza onto the pre-heated pizza stone and bake for about 12 minutes. I turn on the convection oven for this to brown the top more.

Slide the pizza peel under your baked pie and pull it out. Let it cool for just a few minutes, so as not to completely peel the skin from the roof of your mouth and then enjoy!