Break Radio Silence Part Deux

Now you didn’t think I’d forget about the Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes would you? Nah, it’s not in my nature to let things slip through the cracks. That and I’m currently listening to The Ramones and The Stooges so I’m on a roll! All this energy is going straight into typing and blogging!

I’m going to be honest, the most simple thing I do in my life is eating a bowl of cereal, but as my friend Michael Spear can attest to, even that is hardly simple. So as with the Tiramisu Cupcakes, there are a few flavor enhancing steps added to the process. I don’t take shortcuts, so if you’re a Betty Crocker or Rachel Ray kind of person in the kitchen, you’re in the wrong place.

On to the recipe!

Hazelnuts

• 1 Cup Filberts/Hazelnuts
• Sheet Pan

1. Preheat your oven to 350F and toast the Filberts for 10 minutes. Once they become fragrant remove from the oven and pan into a kitchen towel. Allow to cool.
2. Making sure the nuts are securely tucked into the towel, roll your hand around the towel on your counter top. What this does is remove the skins off of the nuts so you are left with the beautiful lightly toasted little Hazelnut! Discard the skins and reserve the nuts for later.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake (Yield 24 cupcakes or 1 double layer 8″ Cake)

• 2 cups + 2 tablespoons Soymilk, unsweetened and plain
• 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups Sugar
• 2-3 teaspoons Hazelnut Extract (expensive, but worth every penny I promise!)(See quick tip below for an alternative)
• 1/4 cup Safflower Oil
• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup Dark Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
• Toasted Hazelnuts

1. Keep your oven on at 350F and prepare your cupcake tins.
2. We’re making Vegan Buttermilk again! Vigorously whisk the daylights out of soymilk and vinegar and set aside to thicken for 5-10 minutes.
3. In your mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.
4. Once the buttermilk is ready, add the sugar and hazelnut extract whisking to return to a frothy state. Slowly add the oil, while whisking, to incorporate the fats and maintain the desired texture of the buttermilk.
5. Turn on your mixer to a low speed, using the paddle attachment, and slowly add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients. Once the liquid is added scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and turn the speed up to a medium-high speed for about 20 seconds, then scrape the sides of the bowl once more. Return the speed to a medium-high speed and beat for a few seconds more or until the major lumps have been beaten out and the mixture looks billowy and luxuriously smooth.
6. Immediately fill your lined cupcake tins with the cake batter filling it 3/4 of the way full. Then for a secret surprise inside, I like to drop one Filbert in the center of the cupcake. As they bake the batter overtakes the nut and right below the surface lays a lovely little nut for you, your friends, or family to bite into! That and the oils from the nut add to the flavor of the cake!
7. Pop the cupcakes in the oven for 18-21 minutes. You want them bounce back at the touch of your finger or you can do the toothpick poke test. When the toothpick comes out clean from the cake they are fully baked!
8. Cool the cupcakes for 5 minutes in the tins then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Hazelnut Buttercream

• 1/2 tub Tofutti Cream Cheese, cold
• 6 ounces Earth Balance, cold
• 3 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
• 1/2 cup Dark Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, sifted
• 1 teaspoon Hazelnut Extract
• Optional: Vanilla Beans from one pod
• Non Dairy Milk, on hand to thin if necessary
• Toasted Hazelnuts

1. Combine the Tofutti and the Earth Balance in your mixing bowl and beat until combined. A very important thing to keep in mind that Vegan “fats” have a higher water content than their dairy cousins, so start cold and DO NOT over mix. The water will separate and you will be left with something…well, weird.
2. Once the mixture is smooth add the (optional) vanilla beans, Hazelnut Extract, Cocoa Powder, and powdered sugar in small stages (3 is a nice number), start on a low speed and work up to a medium-high speed fully incorporating the sugar until the mixture is smooth.
3. Feel free to taste test your buttercream as you go along. I know I do. Sometimes I want the chocolate flavor lighter, or darker. Same with the Hazelnut, if you want Nutella flavored frosting you’re going to want to add more. With chocolate buttercreams I like to keep them a little bit stiffer than vanilla based buttercreams. I don’t know, maybe it’s something about me viewing Chocolate as being more robust and luxurious. Again, you don’t want this to be stiff, envision a thick Chocolate Mousse and you’re on the right track.
4. Fill your piping bag with a star tip 3/4 of the way full. Maintaining a light hand pipe the the buttercream starting on the edge of the cupcake and working your way in pipe in 3 turns. Do not add too much frosting to the cupcake, we don’t need to over power the cake. If you love frosting, save some to eat later with a spoon, but please respect the cake and it’s flavor.
5. Roughly chop up some of our reserved Filberts and place them on the buttercream to your liking. Remember, these are your cupcakes! Have fun with it, be relaxed and make them look like you want them to! No apologies and no excuses! Just love them and all their little imperfections!
6. Bon appetite!

Quick Tip:

• If spending $5 to $6 on Hazelnut Extract is a little hard to swallow (and I don’t blame you) add some additional Hazelnuts to the toasting process and after removing the skin place about 1/2-3/4 cup in your food processor and grind until a powder is formed. Like Hazelnut flour! Whisk into your flour mixture and reduce the flour by 2 tablespoons for every 1/4 cup of nuts you add. Then proceed as usual!

Break Radio Silence

Vegan Tiramisu and Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes

There is no denying that there has been a serious lack of posts on this site as of late, but that is not to say that I have not been busy in the kitchen. In fact it would be fair for you to make the assumption that the less I post on here (or any of my online outlets) the busier I am.

I do bring tidings of great twitterpation! In the culinary world we refer to it as Wedding Season. The time of year when brides-to-be are making their preparations for the big day. I had the great privilege of not only making two new acquaintances, as well as being invited to create the wedding dessert spread for Brianna and Aaron! Seriously a couple of sweethearts. I am always so inspired by people with genuine energy and zeal for living.

Right off the bat they won me over with their flavor selection. Chocolate Hazelnut and most importantly Tiramisu! My goodness is there anything better than Tiramisu. No, no there isn’t. The fun part about all of this is not only do they want cupcakes for their wedding, they have requested that they be Vegan.

If you are at all familiar with Tiramisu you can see what I mean about it being challenging. How you recreate a custardy, egg-ridden, mascarpone cheese laden dessert with no animal product and in cupcake form?! Well, I’m glad you asked!

As I have previously mentioned and will continually remind you, I’m Italian and I have a younger sister who’s favorite dessert EVER is Tiramisu. So for the many years that I spent as a Vegan I had some serious motivation to get this dessert right. Two things I will say on the subject of Vegan products and then we’ll move on to the good stuff. Earth Balance and Tofutti Cream Cheese are gifts from Heaven for the Vegan community. Straight up.

So having these two gifts at my disposal it was really just a matter of recreating the familiar flavors of tiramisu and reconstructing it in a different form.

The base for Tiramisu are little, soft biscuits called Lady Fingers. They have a delightful crust on them so they soak up the espresso (and booze) without becoming soggy. So for the cake aspect, rather than combining the espresso and the Amaretto Liqueur for the soaking liquid, I made an Amaretto flavored cake. For the espresso soaking liquid I pressed freshly ground Espresso beans at double strength, then combined it with Kahlua and a dash of sugar over a medium-high heat in a saucepan to burn away the alcohol and intensify the flavors. The buttercream is where it got a little bit tricky and slightly fancy. Ordinarily if I’m going to be making a cream cheese buttercream, I use a 1:2 ratio of butter (Earth Balance) to cream cheese (Tofutti), in this case though I reversed ratio. I used 12 ounces of cream cheese to 6 ounces of butter. The Mascarpone in the Tiramisu is what gives the dessert that luscious, full and soft mouth feel. To round out the flavor of the Tofutti and the Earth Balance I added Vanilla Beans from two pods and added just a dash of Amaretto. All right, enough back-story.

Espresso Soaking Liquid

• 4 ounces strongly brewed Espresso, cooled
• 1-2 tablespoons of Kahlua or Bailey’s Coffee Liqueur
• Sugar, to taste

1. Combine the ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat and boil for a minute to burn away the alcohol.
2. Reduce to a simmer. If a skin develops on the mixture, scrape off with a spoon and discard.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Amaretto Spice Cake

• 2 cups Soymilk, Unsweetened and Plain
• 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 ½ cups Sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1-2 tablespoons Amaretto Liqueur
• 2 ½ cups All Purpose Flour
• Optional: ¼ cup Cornstarch or 2 tablespoons of All Purpose Flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• ½ teaspoon of Nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon of Cinnamon
• ¼ cup of Safflower Oil

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF and prepare your cupcake tins.
2. To start, we’ll be making Vegan Buttermilk. To do this combine the Soymilk and Apple Cider Vinegar in a mixing bowl and whisk the ever loving daylights out of it until it submits to your authority and becomes frothy and light. Set aside to thicken for 5-10 minutes.
3. In the bowl of your mixer, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (also the Cornstarch if you choose to use it. I typically only use the cornstarch when I am adding wet ingredients such as fruit).
4. Once your Vegan Buttermilk is nice and thickened we’ll be adding the sugar, vanilla extract, and Amaretto. Whisk until the mixture has become frothy once more.
5. Next, while adding the oil it is important to whisk the milk mixture as you slowly pour in the oil as to incorporate the fats and maintain a lightness to the buttermilk.
6. Turn on your mixer to a low speed, using the paddle attachment, and slowly add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients. Once the liquid is added scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and turn the speed up to a medium-high speed for about 20 seconds, then scrape the sides of the bowl once more. Return the speed to a medium-high speed and beat for a few seconds more or until the major lumps have been beaten out and the mixture looks billowy and luxuriously smooth.
7. Immediately fill your lined cupcake tins with the cake batter filling it 3/4 of the way full. We want a level cupcake, not a muffin top!
8. Pop the cupcakes in the oven for 18-21 minutes. You want them to be a rich, golden brown.
9. Cool the cupcakes for 5 minutes in the tins then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Using a straw, poke a hole in the tops of the cupcakes being sure to only go down half way! Spoon a small amount of the espresso liquid into the hole, then lightly dip the top of the cupcake in the espresso as well. We want a soaked cake, not a soggy one. Pop them into the freezer for 10-15 minutes to help set the liquid.

Vanilla Bean Cream Topping

• Tub of Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, cold
• 6 ounces Earth Balance, cold
• 3-4 cups sifted Powdered Sugar
• 2 pods of Vanilla Beans, split and scraped (reserve pods for future use)
• 1 teaspoon of Amaretto
• Non-dairy milk, used if necessary for thinning

1. Combine the Tofutti and the Earth Balance in your mixing bowl and beat until combined. A very important thing to keep in mind that Vegan “fats” have a higher water content than their dairy cousins, so start cold and DO NOT over mix. The water will separate and you will be left with something…well, weird.
2. Once the mixture is smooth add the vanilla beans, Amaretto, and powdered sugar in small stages (3 is a nice number), start on a low speed and work up to a medium-high speed fully incorporating the sugar until the mixture is smooth.
3. You will know when your buttercream is ready to go when you pull your beater out of the mixture and turn it right side up and the buttercream slowly curves downward. You want it soft, but not runny.

Time to Assemble!

1. With an offset spatula or small rubber spatula, put about two tablespoons worth of frosting on the top of the cupcake. Using your secondary hand to rotate the cupcake and your dominate hand to frost, turn the cupcake as you use a circular stroking motion evenly distribute the buttercream around the entirety of the cake while still maintaining a flat top. They don’t need to be perfect, we’ll be covering them with cocoa powder!
2. Once your cupcakes are frosted, get your sifter out and lightly dust the top of the cakes with cocoa powder and just like that, you have Vegan Tiramisu Cupcakes!

It seems like a lot of steps, and it is. I can absolutely promise you this: your home will smell amazing and the sense of accomplishment that you will have once you take your first bite will make you forget about all the labor you just went through!

Better Luck Next Time

This is one of those bummer stories. The kind where things don’t exactly go the way you had hoped, but contains a silver lining. As is the case most of the time with me, the silver lining is inevitably good food.

My friend Michelle began the 26 year of her life this past weekend and wanted to bring it in with her closest friends around her in a relaxed setting, making crafts, and eating delicious treats. My kind of night. Michelle loves anything chocolate and coffee studded and I had every intention of delivering on those goods.

Here’s the background. I don’t own a car, and quite frankly I don’t want one. The only purpose I see one of those behemoths serving is to get me to Disneyland in a time efficient manner. But I digress. I also work nights, which means I have the sometime elusive task of catching my “z’s” during the daylight hours. This was not in the cards for me this past Saturday.

Living across the street from a gorgeous park is utter perfection, until a wretched, indiscernible  70’s cover rock band plays from 9am until 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Needless to say, not a whole lot more than internal desperate pleas for silence and constant tossing and turning until eventually, surrender was inevitable. This unfortunately left me with no energy and feeling ill, which left me unable to make the trek to my friends’ home (it would have been an hours journey, half by bus and half by bike).

This truly hurt all the more because upon walking into my kitchen at 3 o’clock that lovely Saturday afternoon, to what would normally be a view to inspire childlike joy, to look at a plate of perfect, soft, moist, billowy, fudgey, and espresso ridden Brownies. Ah yes, brownies. The deceptively simple, yet complicated dessert. The downfall of women and the weakness of grown men. The childhood favorite, and the future bringer of world peace. Yes the Brownie is all this and so much more, but my sweet Michelle would miss out on these specially made morsels.

That morning that I returned home from work I immediately set to work on these monsters. I am going to be perfectly up front with you about my brownies. I do not like black out, over the top, sugar studded Brownies. Yes, I’m pointing the finger at you box mix! To me chocolate is something to be celebrated and highlighted. You should taste the chocolate, not overwhelmed by it. Second point I will emphatically make. Healthy and brownies will never go in the same sentence. Don’t talk to me about diets, fat free, whole grain, low sugar, or any of that other nonsense when we are talking about brownies. There are certain things that need to be what they are, and brownies should never be diet. So unfortunately if you are one of my health nut or Vegan readers, I must bid you adieu at this point (or stick around if you need a guilty pleasure in your life. I promise not to disappoint).

My brownies focus on depth and combining flavors. It may seem complicated, but if you have a well stocked pantry this will be no big deal. I am a firm believer that in baked goods, never go with one type of chocolate, personally I believe in combining 3 different types, but 2 is absolute magic. This recipe is results in more of a fudgey brownie, not a cakey due to the fact that I melt down chocolate and do not use cocoa powder. The next biggest insight I’m going to lay on you, eggs. Lots of eggs. This not only gives the brownies moisture and structure, but the eggs act as your leavening agent and they give a nice glossy crust that forms on the top of the brownies giving texture as well as adding a whole depth of flavor. With all that said, here comes the recipe!

These Aren’t The Kind of Brownies You Take Home To Meet Your Mother (9×13 pan) (Inspired by Craft of Baking)

Brownie Batter

• 3 sticks Unsalted Butter, room temperature
• 3 oz High Quality Milk Chocolate, roughly chopped
• 3 oz High Quality Unsweetened Chocolate, roughly chopped
• 6 Eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 cups Dark Brown Sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 2 cups All Purpose Flour, sifted
• 2 teaspoons Sea or Kosher Salt
• 2-3 teaspoons Espresso Powder, finely ground
• Dark Chocolate Chips

Espresso Cream Cheese Swirl (There will be some left over, I do this on purpose to have on hand for other baking ventures)

•  6 oz Cream Cheese, soft and at room temp
• 3 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, soft and at room temp
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 Egg, room temp
• 1 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
• Espresso Beans, very finely ground

1. With a hand or stand mixer, whip the cream cheese and butter until combined and fluffy.
2. Add the Vanilla and the Egg and whip until fully combined.
3. Sift in the powdered sugar and whip until fluffy and soft.
4. At this point you are going to want to add the Espresso Powder in small batched until you have achieved the desired coffee flavor. I wound up adding 3-4 tablespoons. The mixture looked like cookies and cream ice cream!
5. Cover and chill while preparing the brownies.

For the Brownies:

1. Preheat your oven to 375F as well as grease and line your baking dish with parchment paper.
2. Get a medium to small sauce pan and fill with and inch or two of simmering water and cover with a heat proof bowl (glass is perfect), making sure that the glass does NOT touch the water. We want to heat the chocolate very delicately and respectfully. Add your 6 ounces of chocolate and the unsalted butter. Using a rubber spatula fold the two together until fully melted and incorporated. Do not scorch the chocolate or leave it alone, burned chocolate will produce tears of bitter sadness. Once the mixture is fully melted. Turn off the heat, but leave the bowl on the sauce pan to keep the chocolate warm.
3. In a large mixing bowl whisk together your sugars and eggs until fully combined and billowy. Do not leave the egg and sugar mixture alone. There is a chemical reaction that takes place where the sugar cooks the eggs. (Isn’t science and baking awesome?!) Once the eggs and sugars are incorporated, slowly whisk in your cooled chocolate mixture.
4. Sift your flour and salt on to the chocolate mixture and using a rubber spatula, gently fold the mixture together. It is of the upmost importance not to over mix the brownie batter. Use a light and delicate hand and just before the mixture is fully incorporated add your chocolate chips and espresso powder.
5. Pour the batter into your prepared baking dish, starting in the center and gently working the batter to the edges. Grab your cream cheese mixture and add 6 dollops on top of the batter. Using a fork, knife, skewer, toothpick, or shoot your finger will work just fine; swirl the cream cheese mixture on the top level of the brownie batter. Be sure not to incorporate the cream cheese into the brownie batter.
6. Bake the brownies for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Check on the brownies at this point and get a gauge for the time. My brownies typically bake for another 10-15 minutes. You will know when they are ready to come out when the crust is formed and there is only a slight giggle in the center of the pan when you shake it. Do not wait until the brownies are stiff, they will be over baked. The more you bake brownies the better you will become at discovering the nuances of when to pull them from the oven.
7. Cool the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then pull up on the parchment paper and let the brownies cool completely on the wire rack.
8. At this point you may do as you please. But also know this, brownies freeze and reheat beautifully! If you are a mom, or a busy college kid who needs a dessert immediately and don’t have time for all these steps, you have a friend waiting for you. Make sure the brownies are completely cooled off then tightly wrap in plastic, these will keep for 2 months. To reheat, pop them in your oven at 350F for 10 minutes and you’re golden!

So the story goes that the brownies turned out absolutely delicious and had a wonderfully strong coffee flavor that was balanced by the creaminess of the cream cheese and the light chocolate brownie. Sadly, my friend didn’t get to have them for her birthday, but I relish the opportunity to be able to do something for her again in the near future. Se la vie.

Take a step back please.

Alright, so I missed my “Inspiration Friday” post yesterday. Believe it or not I have a good reason. I spent all day yesterday crafting and baking cupcakes for one of my dearest friends, Emily. It’s her cousins bridal shower today and Emily and her family graciously choose me to make cupcakes for the event. I honestly feel so humbled and honored whenever anyone asks me to do something like this for them. I had the immense pleasure to be able to do Emily’s wedding cupcakes last year as well!

So the goodies I created were new twists on classic flavors. The theme to the bridal shower is “vintage kitchen” and the future bride’s favorite flower are Sunflowers. I was given full creative license on the flavors, and the only request was that there be variety. Emily’s mom, Vic, LOVES Black Forest Cake so that was an easy choice and to match the yellow of the flower of choice, I went with a Lemon Cake with cream cheese buttercream. Seems simple enough right?

Negative Ghost Rider! Ha! I may put out straight forward, and simply delicious desserts; but my process is usually far from “simple.” For the Black Forest I decided to  change it up a bit and use a lighter cocoa powder (My usual weapon of choice is Valrhona Cocoa Powder. My goodness this is one of the greatest things on Planet Earth) and spice the cake slightly with cinnamon and nutmeg. For the cherries, I roasted them in raw turbinado sugar and sea salt for 15 minutes, then I added about 1/4-1/3 of a cup of a young, spicy  cabernet sauvignon and continued to roast for an additional 5-7 minutes to burn off the alcohol and infuse the flavors. The only thing I have to say on the subject is that they are lucky to be getting Black Forest cupcakes and not plain chocolate cupcakes. I miraculously limited myself to two cherries and I am still enjoying the effervescent notes of dark berries, cocoa, and spice hanging in the air of my studio. Le sigh.

But on to the Lemon Cupcakes! In case you are wondering, yes, the lemons came from the heavenly tree in my mother’s backyard! I zested a large lemon and used the juice from two of the lemons in the cake. While the cupcakes were baking I made a simple lemon syrup by boiling lemon slices in a sauce pan with sugar and water (if you ever want to make a simple syrup the ratio is 1:1. Bring to a boil then simmer for 20-25 minutes and vuala!) Right after the cupcakes came out of the oven I poked holes in them with a toothpick then brushed them with the lemon syrup and alternately rested the lemon slices on the cupcakes so they would soak up as much lemon flavor as possible.

The buttercream was actually the most simple part of this whole process and fortunately I picked two flavors of cake that called for the same type of frosting. Some times I am delighted with how my subconscious helps me out from time to time! My buttercreams are definitely something that I need to nail out a precise recipe for. I treat my baking so much like a chef treats his dishes. I obviously follow very strict ratios and rules, but you would be surprised with how much I work with and adapt my recipes. That’s why it’s hard for me to give recipes sometimes! Knowing Garrett Jones, my dear friend and co-owner of Back to Eden Bakery in Portland, has gotten all of his recipes down pat and I am motivated to pull myself together in that manner. He and John fuse creativity and organization in a way that is completely inspiring. They make me want to grow up and be responsible. So, the moment that I stop being so loosey goosey with my frostings is the day that I will share them with you!

I kept the cupcakes simple, yet elegant. I found these lovely little sunflower and white gerber daisy flowers that I placed on the buttercream and I airsprayed the Lemon cupcakes a light yellow. Nothing too fancy but when they’re all next to each other they look rather delicate and uniform. The shower is today and I just hope that they like the little spins that I put on these classic recipes! I always get so nervous when people eat my food. I may present myself as the most confident woman on earth, but I am a wreck when I send my product out. I put a lot of myself into my baking and cooking. It’s my life, how I express myself, and most importantly how I love people.

So that’s the excuse for missing “Inspiration Friday!” This week it’s a Saturday post which will be coming up moments after this is posted! Have a wonderful weekend!

Lemon Cream Cheese Cupcakes

Black Forest Cupcakes

Labor of Love

There are certain things in life that take a lot of time and work. Some things, like taxes for instance, are not really worthy of our time, while relationships and books are deserving of all the time in the world. Baking and cooking are much of the same way. Dishes like aspics should not have another moment spent on them, while artisanal bread or cinnamon rolls for instance, are labors of pure love and joy.

The other day a lovely coworker gave me about 5 pounds worth of fresh tangerines from the orchard in her back yard. While I would have no problem plowing through them by myself, it hardly sparked any inspiration and wouldn’t be nearly as fun as creating a fun dish from them. Over the Easter weekend I was immensely blessed to be able to spend it with all three of my siblings, my niece and nephew, and my sister’s husband. I was in heaven having my family together. When we are all together we do what Italians do best; eat, laugh, talk and of course eat. Being around my family always makes me think about all the things we did and went through growing up, and one thing that got brought to mind were the Pillsbury Orange Cinnamon Rolls that my mom used to make for us on weekends when we were kids! These were my favorite and truth be told I find these infinitely more delicious than the plain cinnamon rolls! And what do you know! I had all the ingredients on hand to make these from scratch!

When I say cinnamon rolls are a labor of love, I mean it. It’s a 24 hour process and you get to use some elbow grease (especially if  you don’t have a stand mixer!). The recipe posted below is an adaptation from my regular Cinnamon Roll/Pull Apart recipe and my sweet Loraine was kind enough to give me some honest feedback on the rolls! These are rustic to the max, with a chewy dark exterior and a soft, melt in your mouth center. As is true with most of my recipes, these rolls are not overly sweet, but full on flavor. Here we go!

Tangerine Cinnamon Rolls

Dough:

• 1 tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Sugar or Honey
• 1 1/4 cup warm water or buttermilk (110F)
• 3/4 stick Unsalted Butter, very soft
• 2 Eggs, room temperature
• 5 cups, Unbleached Bread Flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoon Kosher/Sea Salt
• Juice from one tangerine

Filling:

• 2 sticks Unsalted Butter, softened
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon, ground
• 1 teaspoon Cloves, ground
• Zest of one Tangerine

Glaze: (measurements not precise, sorry, I like to wing my glazes!)

• 2-3 cups sifted Powdered Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract (if it has alcohol in it, you’re better off without it!)
• Zest and Juice of two Tangerines
• 1-2 teaspoons of Water or Milk

Process:

1. In your mixing bowl combine the sugar/honey and yeast. Pour in your warm water/milk and whisk to combine. Allow to sit for around 1o minutes or until the mixture is bubbly, tripled in volume, and smell strongly of yeast (I swear this may be one of my favorite scents on planet earth!)
2. While the yeast is fermenting, prepare your glaze in a tupperware, you will be using this the following day. Sift the powdered sugar, add the zest,  then the juice from the tangerine, and finally the vanilla extract. Slowly add water/milk as needed, whisking to combine. Taste test as you go along! We really want this to be packed with a Tangerine flavor!
3. Once your yeast is ready; add your flour, salt, eggs, and soft butter. Using the hook attachment, start mixing on the lowest speed, gradually building up the speed to medium. Once the dough begins to slap the sides of the bowl and tornado up the hook it’s close to being fully mixed. The sure fire way of knowing if you have developed enough gluten in your dough is the “window pane” test. Grab a small amount of dough and hold it up to the light. Gently stretch it, if the dough is elastic and can be stretched out thinly without tearing easily then it’s ready to go! Remove the dough from the bowl and knead gently into a ball. Place on a lightly floured work surface and cover with a dampened towel and rest for 10 minutes.
4. While the dough is resting, make the filling! Using the same mixing bowl combine your sugars, butter, spices, and zest. Using the paddle attachment, start on low and work up to a medium-high speed beating the butter mixture until it is very fluffy and light in color. Set aside.
5. Take your dough and gently press down, forming a rectangular shape. Grab your rolling pin and roll out to 1/4 to 1/2″ thick maintaining a rectangular shape. (Don’t be afraid to tug gently on the corners and work with the dough. Get a feel for it’s movement and elasticity). If the dough is not rolling out easily, it needs to rest more because the gluten was overworked in the mixing process. If it is not recoiling, it may be sticking to your work surface, simply fold it back on itself and add more flour to the surface.
6. When you have achieved the desired thickness and shape for your dough, slap on the filling all at once and if you have an off set spatula spread out evenly, spreading out all the way to the edges (if you do not have and off set spatula, a rubber spatula works just fine).
7. Make one last adjustment on your dough making sure it is rectangular and begin the rolling process. Keep it tight and uniform. Feel free to pinch, and stretch the dough as needed. You want to keep this uniform so the rolls proof and bake evenly! When you are finished you should have a nice looooong log on your work surface.
8. Using the sharpest knife you have, cut the log in half, then halve those halves, then repeat once more. This will give you 8 large rolls. If you are a more petite eater, feel free to halve once more.
9. Generously spray your baking dishes. Be sure not to over crowd the rolls, the ones in the center will not get the heat that they need resulting in an under baked doughball. Tightly wrap the dishes with plastic wrap and place in your refrigerator to slowly rise overnight.
10. The next morning warm your oven up to the lowest setting for 15 minutes then turn off. Remove the plastic wrap and place the cinnamon rolls in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until the rolls have doubled in size. Remove from the oven and preheat to 350F (if you want a darker, more crisp exterior on the roll bump up the temperature to 375-400F, but watch them closely). Place the baking dishes on a sheet pan as added security to catch any overflowing sugar and bake for 18-30 minutes (this greatly depends on how large you cut your rolls).
11. When the rolls are dark around the edges and very bubbly remove from the oven and immediately spread on your Tangerine Glaze then Bon Appetite!

Quick Tips:

• If in the mixing process your dough is stiff add a little bit of water or buttermilk, inversely if it is too wet and sticky add a bit of flour. This dough when it is finished mixing should not be sticky at all, but workable and billowy.
• Be gentle with your dough, it didn’t do anything to harm you so treat it with love. No punching, no overworking, get a feel for it’s nuances and character. If you want instructions for hand kneading I will gladly send those along to you!
• I have reduced the sweetness of the filling to make room for a very sweet glaze, if you desire a sweeter more traditional roll, up the Brown Sugar by 1/2 cup.
• Let the tangerines be the star of the rolls. The way to get more flavor is more zest, be careful to only add the sweet, orange part of the peel and not the white pith, this is bitter.
• Be patient and be watchful. Love the process and do not hurry it. That is when things will go south for the winter.

Again special thanks to Loraine for her feedback! Her biggest  comments were that she was surprised by the lack of sweetness, she loved the texture of the dough, and that she LOVED the glaze! Thank you so much my dear for helping me be a better baker!

Build your foundations.

I have a particular attitude about life. I owe this philosophy to the way my parents and grandparents raised me. You start from the bottom and you work hard and earn your way to the top. Nothing should ever be given to you and you should never expect the high seat of honor. Be humble and serve others with absolute dedication, love, and respect. These are the foundations that I live my life by.

In the culinary world, there are foundations as well. I, like many others call them “base recipes.” These are my favorite things on the planet. Once you have the base recipe memorized or down pat you can make countless of variations! One of my all time favorite base recipes is for my scones. I’m going to be up front. My scones are not for the faint of heart. They are not delicate, they are not cakey, they are not overly sweet, and they are not apologetic for it. If  you desire those traits in your scone, Starbucks will get you taken care of. My scones are sturdy, rough around the edges, have a cracking sweet crust, a soft interior, full of natural yet pronounced flavor, all while still maintaining a rustic elegance.

So today I was feeling like I wanted to try something I hadn’t before. I typically make scones with honey macerated nectarines or cinnamon spice and even oatmeal raisin (recipes that will be making an appearance eventually!). On this particular day I was missing my mom, as usual when I’m not in her presence, and I was remembering how much she loves warm Blondie Brownies with Vanilla Ice Cream. Then it dawned on me, I haven’t ever encountered a Blondie Scone, and I just so happened to have butterscotch chips in my pantry so I decided to go for it!

The secret to a good scone, much like a good pie crust, is in the working of the dough. It isn’t always the recipes fault. So I will do my best to walk you through the process!

Butterscotch Blonde Scones (Yield 6 scones)

• 5 ounces cold, unsalted butter or Earth Balance (buy the sticks, trust me)
• 3/4 cup low fat buttermilk (Recipe follows for Vegan Buttermilk)
• 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• Egg (Vegans: Non-dairy milk)
• Turbinado Raw Sugar
• Take the cold butter and quickly slice into thin pieces and place in your mixing bowl. Take the bowl and put it in your freezer for at least 10 minutes, just the right amount of time to gather your ingredients!

• Measure out your buttermilk (or if you’re my Veg friends, this is where you will make your buttermilk), and place in the refrigerator. The key is to keep everything as cold as possible!
• In a medium size bowl combine your flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and sugar. Whisk to combine and until the ingredients are well aerated.
• Pull the mixing bowl from the freezer and add the dry ingredients all at once. Using the paddle attachment (or if you are doing this by hand, a pastry knife, or if you are really desperate work the butter with your fingers, but you will have to work double time to keep the dough cold), mix the flour and cold butter until balls form about the size of your thumb knuckle to the tip of your finger (most recipes call for pea sized butter balls, but we’re walking on the wild side!), quickly toss in the butterscotch chips, then stop mixing after 1 or 2 turns of the paddle. There should even be flour still in the bowl, we are not mixing all the way through, the rest of that will come on the table.

• Immediately dump the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and using light quick movements, press and shape the dough into a rough rectangle and trifold the dough like a letter. Repeat this step once more.

• Roll the dough into a long, rectangular log and flatten out to 1″-1 1/2″ thickness. Using a knife or a bench knife cut the dough into equal sized triangles.

• Place on a sheet pan and wrap tightly with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 45 minutes to an hour.
• Preheat your oven to 425F and place your scones on a new pan, the cold one is of no use to us any more. In a small bowl whisk your egg with a teaspoon amount of water. Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash and sprinkle with the raw sugar.
• Place the scones in the oven an bake for 15 minutes. The scones will need to go for 2-5 minutes longer than this, but at this point you want to watch them closely. The look we want to achieve are dark golden bottoms, dark brown edges, and a soft interior.
• Remove the scones from the oven and cool on a wire rack…but not for too long these are meant to be eaten warm and fresh!
• Bon appetite!

Vegan Buttermilk 

• 3/4 cup Soy Milk, unsweetened plain
• 1 scant tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar

1. In a bowl add the vinegar and the soy milk. Take a balloon whisk and whisk the ever loving daylights out of the milk mixture. You want this frothy and light and creamy. In other words, we want a buttermilk consistency!
2. Set aside for 5 minutes, then re-whisk and you are ready to go!

Quick Tips:

• The true secret to soft scones is all in your handiwork. The less you hand and mix the dough the more tender the crumb will be. The more you work wet flour, the more a protein called gluten forms, which results in dense chewy products (Good for bread, not for scones)
• It is very important that you work quickly and keep the butter cold. If the butter warms up it will melt into the flour and we will lose the layers and wind up with…cakey scones.
• Make sure your oven is fully preheated. If you put the scones in at too low a temperature, the butter will melt out of them and fry the bottoms, which will result in an overcooked, tough base.
• Scones are best enjoyed within 8 hours of being made. Unfortunately they are not long lifers like cookies or cakes. So don’t be shy about gobbling them down!

For your convenience.

This may come as a shock to you, but I’m not much of a sweets person. Wait, scratch that. I adore sweets, I’m just rather particular about which kind of treat I choose to indulge in. I love the sweetness of fruit rather than heavily iced cream cheese cinnamon rolls. The best way to sum this up is with the classic question: Cake or Pie? I am a pie lover through and through. There is no comparison, and no competition. It should be noted that as someone who bakes for a living, I love making cake, and it is an incredible medium to express creativity and try new or even challenging techniques (of which we will be exploring and getting into later!), but when I have the option, nothing beats a slice of warm Apple Pie or my personal favorite Peach Cobbler.

One downside to cobblers and pies is that they’re not the most convenient food on the planet. They take time, money (let’s be honest, the filling are pricey), energy, a lot of labor, as well as all the many technicalities of achieving the perfect flakey crust; it’s  a food not often prepared or taken on the go. Cake is wonderful because you can whip one up within and hour, and there is the fashionable and well traveling cupcake form that makes cake the champion of the sweets world.

Taking all of this into consideration only made me more determined to solve this problem. Those who know me well know that when I am faced with a challenge or a problem I will figure it out and I will not stop trying to solve the problem until I’ve nailed it. Trust me on this point: a failure is NEVER a failure in the baking/cooking realm. It is a precious opportunity to learn, hone in your skill, and learn the nuances of this wonderful craft. Julia Child wisely said make no apologies, just grin and bear it, and learn from your mistakes.

So what was this pie loving baker to do? I needed a treat that was convenient, affordable, health, had a long shelf life, and that I could take on the go. Inspiration came from frustration. I tried a Blueberry Bliss Luna Bar one day and was actually angered by how cheap and flavorless the bar tasted. Then it dawned on me. I would make cobbler bars! The answer was so simple yet so profound.

So I set out to make a recipe that was versatile, healthy, and affordable and came up with these bad boys. What’s nice about these bars is if you do not desire to make the compote, you can use your favorite jams and mix in whole fruit. My dear friend Emily has championed this recipe and I am seriously considering naming them after her. Below I have posted the recipe for the Blueberry Compote, because I’m biased and I love Blueberries best. Silver lining to this cloud is I have found frozen fruits work just as beautifully as fresh, you may need to adjust your sugar and spice levels to make up for flavor, but you will be compromising very little.

Kiki’s Cobbler Bars

Fruit Compote:
•4 cups any fruit (Blueberries, Peaches, Cherries, etc)(Fresh or Frozen! I’ve tried both and they both work great!)
•1/4 cup Sugar (going half n half with Brown Sugar is fantastic with certain fruits)
•1-2 tbls fresh Lemon Juice

-Place 2 cups fruit, sugar, and lemon juice in sauce pan over medium high heat; stirring frequently until until fruit releases its juices. About 6-10 minutes.
-Turn heat up to high and whisk mixture while boiling until it becomes thick and syrupy. Remove from heat and add to remaining 2 cups of fruit in a mixing bowl.
-At this point allow to cool. Or gobble on the spot warm with ice cream or over pancakes or waffles! (Note: there will be extra compote, I made the recipe have leftovers because having a fruit sauce on hand is always a good thing).

Oat Bars:
•1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour (or 1 1/4 APF + 1/4 Whole Wheat)
•1-1 1/2 cup Oats (depends on how much you love them)
•1/3 cup Brown Sugar
•1/3 cup Sugar
•1/2 tsp Salt
•1/2 tsp Baking Soda
•1 1/2 sticks Unsalted Butter (or to be healthier. 1 stick Butter + 1/2 cup unsweetened Apple Sauce)
•1 tsp Vanilla Extract
•Cinnamon & Nutmeg to your heart’s content

-Preheat oven to 350.
–Gently melt the Butter over low heat (if using apple sauce, gently whisk into melted Butter to fully incorporate. The mixture should be thick, light colored sauce). Remove from heat and allow to cool.
-Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk together to evenly distribute ingredients. Add the melted Butter and fold with a rubber spatula until the mixture is moist and incorporated.
-Grease and line a casserole dish (I have made it in an 8×8 up to an 11×13 dish. Depends on how thick you want your crust. The only variant will be the baking time) and spread out half of the oat mixture evenly. Layer the cooled fruit compote over the oat mixture, then break apart the remaining oat mixture in rough clumps over the compote. This will give the bars a rustic and cobbler-like appearance. Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.
-Bake for 30-40 min (smaller the casserole dish the longer the bake time) or until golden and bubbly!

Quick Tips:

• Allow the bars to cool completely on a rack before cutting. Lining the casserole dish with parchment paper or foil will make for an easy dismount. The bars will keep in the fridge, airtight, for 7-8 days. In the freezer up to 3 months. To refresh, pop them back in the oven at 350F for 10 minutes and it’s like they were just baked!
• The bottom layer of the Cobbler Bars do stay soft, if you desire to have a more firm or crisp crust, blind bake the bottom layer, with no filling, for 5-7 minutes to give it a head start.
• VEGANS REJOICE!!! This recipe actually started out as a Vegan Recipe. Earth Balance adds a wonderful dimension due to the salty quality of the butter. My friend Emily is Vegan and she makes these with Vegan butter and loves them!
• If you lack the time or the resources to make a compote, just use your favorite jam in the fridge.
• GET CREATIVE! I never get bored with this recipe and it is a treat that you can enjoy seasonally! I’ve made pumpkin, peach, mixed berry, strawberry rhubarb, ginger apple, banana chocolate chip, the list goes on! 
• Have FUN!