Dough Archives - The Breakfast Hub

Spiced Crostata with Nectarines

Elizabeth — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Good Morning Breakfast Hub readers, I’m Elizabeth from Not Everything I Make is Pretty and I’ll be sharing an easy homemade recipe with you, a Spiced Crostata with Nectarines! It’s really nothing more than a freeform pie with a super flakey crust packed with sweet & spiced stone fruit of your choice. I chose a combination of Yellow and White Nectarines but Plums, Apricots, Pluots, Yellow Peaches, White Peaches & even Apples would all be delicious alternatives! (A stone fruit, I learned, is anything with a pit, so Apples aren’t stone fruit but they would still work wonderfully.)

It’s Nectarine season! Well, it’s the end of nectarine season, but I may have bought a few too many because they looked so good. I had a variety of fresh white and frozen yellow nectarines. I bought a small crate of yellow and when they started to soften (and I realized I couldn’t eat them all before they turned to total mush) I cut them up and placed them on layers of wax paper in my freezer. After a day, peal them off the paper and put them in a freezer bag, they’ll last around 6 months this way. I saw an article in Sunset Magazine for 38 Ways with Summer Stone Fruit and knew this Crostata was the perfect option for my excess of Nectarines. The crust turned out crisp and flakey, it has slightly more butter in it than a typical pie crust which gave it a dense puff pastry like texture.

For the Crust

1 1/2 Cups Flour

1/4 tsp Salt

3/4 Cup Cold Butter

For the Filling

About 2/3 Cup Sugar

3 Tbsp Cornstarch

3/4 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 Tsp Nutmeg

1/8 tsp Cloves

1/8 tsp Allspice

1 1/2 Mixed White & Yellow Nectarines, Pitted & Sliced 1/2 in. Wide

2 tsp coarse white sparkling sugar

Combine Flour and Salt in a medium bowl. Cut Butter with a Cheese Grater.

Sprinkle 1 tbsp. ice water over mixture; gently stir and toss with a fork.

Repeat to add 4 to 6 more tbsp. ice water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, until dough is evenly moistened and a pinch of it holds together.

Gather into a disk, wrap airtight, and chill at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 400°.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll dough into a 13-in. circle, using a floured rolling pin; occasionally slide a metal spatula under dough and re-flour underneath.

Cut around edge of dough with a pastry wheel or knife to neaten. Lift dough to a baking sheet and chill about 15 minutes.

Combine 2/3 cup granulated Sugar, the Cornstarch, and Spices in a medium bowl. If Nectarines are tart, add a few more Tbsp. of Sugar to the Spice mixture.

Stir in Fruit until Cornstarch is moistened, then spoon Fruit onto pastry right away, leaving a 1 1/2 in. rim uncovered.

Fold and pleat rim over Fruit. Brush rim with water and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake until filling bubbles and crust is browned, 40 to 45 minutes.

Cool on pan on a rack at least 1 hour.

Happy Baking!

The post Spiced Crostata with Nectarines appeared first on The Breakfast Hub.

Baby Beignets

Elizabeth — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Last week I was in New Orleans! While there, I ate a lot of beignets. I mean a LOT. Is five times in six days too much? Some might think so, but who doesn’t like fried doughy goodness completely covered in powdered sugar?!

There are two well known places in New Orleans to get beignets, Cafe du Monde & Morning Call and we went to both. I wasn’t there for the beignets alone, we planned the vacation primarily to go to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. And beignet’s are just the beginning of the wonderful food down there. I’ll have a few posts about my trip on Not Everything I Make is Pretty, next week.

With all the expertise I gathered tasting beignets I had to make my own. I have to admit, I nerded out trying to come up with the perfect recipe (wait ’til you see my spread sheet….). I have ideas on what to do next time (there will be a next time) but I’m so excited to share my first beignet attempt with the Breakfast Hub. Enjoy!

Images of Beignets from New Orleans.

Ingredients
1-1/2 Cups Lukewarm Water
1/2 Cup Sugar
2-1/2 tsp Yeast
2 Eggs, Slightly Beaten
1-1/4 tsp Salt
1 Cup Evaporated Milk
7 Cups Bread Flour*
1/4 Cup Butter
Canola Oil, for Deep-Frying**
Confectioners’ Sugar, for Dusting or Burying

Mix water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.

In another bowl, beat the Eggs, Salt and Evaporated Milk together.

Mix Egg mixture to the Yeast mixture.

Add 3 cups of the Bread Flour to the Yeast mixture and stir to combine.

Add the Butter and continue to stir while adding the remaining Flour.

Remove dough from the bowl, place onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.

Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray.

Put dough into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a towel.

Let rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours and place in fridge to rise overnight.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface; roll to 1/4-inch thickness.

Cut into 2-inch squares with a pizza cutter. (3-inch is similar to the Beignets found in New Orleans but fewer will fit in the oil)

Pour oil to depth of 2 to 3 inches into a pot; heat to 350°-370° F, don’t let it get below 350°.*

Fry dough, in batches, 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

Drain on paper towels to absorb the excess oil.

Dust immediately with lots and lots of Confectioners Sugar.

– Thoughts for Next Time –

Evaporated Milk

Other recipes used Whole Milk, Buttermilk, or some combination of the these. I used Evaporated Milk because it was most used I the recipes I researched, the Cafe du Monde Mix mentions both Milk & Buttermilk.

Bread Flour

A recipe I found after I made this batch mentioned using more than just Bread Flour, the Cafe du Monde Mix uses some ratio of Wheat Flour and Barley Flour, another article mentioned the use of Rye Flour.

Frying Oil

I used Vegetable Oil, Cafe du Monde uses Cottonseed Oil. I’m not sure where to get this, I’ll be on the look out…. ** On my second attempt I used Canola Oil and the flavor was much closer to the ones in NOLA. **

Frying Temperature

This recipe requires a Candy Thermometer to measure the temperature of the oil. They’re not very expensive and they come in extremely handy.

Recipes:

Articles:

Happy Cooking!

[yumprint-recipe id=’3′]

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Brown Sugar Cinnamon Rolls

Elizabeth — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

These are almost, Almost Famous Cinnamon Rolls the key diference being: Brown Sugar! I have never made Cinnamon Rolls before. The closest I’ve come is popping open a Pillsbury can. I thought it was time to give it a try, I made sure I had a few hours to dedicate to the process. The dough is what worried me the most, I pictured a burnt outside and completely doughy center or hard as a rock, rival only to the worst of Christmas fruit cakes. Luckily, for me and my taste testers these fears were not realized.

What do you like to add to your Cinnamon Rolls?

The Dough
1 Cup Milk
2 1/2 tsp Yeast
1/4 Cup & 1/4 tsp Sugar
4 Tbsp Butter, Melted (plus more for the bowl)
1 Egg Yolk
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
2 3/4 Cups Flour (plus more is needed)
3/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Nutmeg

The Filling
Flour for dusting
8 Tbsp Butter, Softened (plus more for the pan)
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

The Glaze

2 Cups Confectioners’ Sugar
1/3 Cup Milk or Cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Warm the Milk in the microwave for 30 seconds. Sprinkle in the Yeast and 1/4 tsp Sugar (don’t stir). Set aside until foamy, 5 minutes.

Whisk in the melted butter, egg yolk and vanilla.

In a separate bowl whisk the Flour, the remaining Sugar, Salt and Nutmeg.

Make a well in the center and pour in the yeast mixture. Mix on low speed with the dough hook until thick and slightly sticky. (This is where I REALLY wish I had a stand mixer.) Knead on medium speed until the dough gathers around the hook, 6 minutes. (Add up to 2 more tablespoons flour if necessary.)

Remove the dough and shape into a ball. Butter the mixer bowl and return the dough to the bowl, turning to coat with butter. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, 1 hour minimum.

Roll out the dough. Place the butter first, then filling on the dough. Cut into 12 equal buns. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan; place the buns cut-side up in the pan, leaving space between each.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, 40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325.

Bake the buns until golden brown, about 35 minutes. Cool in the pan 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make the glaze: Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a bowl, then whisk in the cream and melted butter.

Transfer the buns to a rack and spoon the glaze on top while still warm.

Happy Cooking!

[yumprint-recipe id=’2′]

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