Mandel Bread

One of my favorite things about growing up in New Jersey was having so many Jewish friends. The rich history and culture was something that was so fascinating to me and talk about the food! 

Mandel bread was something I remember crunching away on whenever I was with the Cohen Family and this holiday season my friend shared the family recipe. Since I made a vegan version, I used this recipe for the egg substitute, but followed my friend's recipe. 

Vegan Mandel Bread recipe from the Cohen's

Ingredients

Wet

3 eggs (at room temperature) - (vegan substitute = 3 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 9 tbsp hot water)

3/4 c sugar

3/4 c vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

Dry

3 and 1/2 c unbleached, all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 pinch salt

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350.

2. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry until about half way mixed through. Then add semi-sweet chocolate chips and walnuts.

3. Mix everything (best to use your hands at this point) until all combined into a big dough ball. Do not overmix!

4. If the dough is too dry, add a little bit of OJ or milk. If the dough is too wet, add some more flour—everything should combine easily into a ball.

5. Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil or use a silpat like I did. 

6. Section the dough into thirds. With the palm of your hand, spread out the dough into rectangular loaves, approximately 1/2-3/4 inch thick, 3-4 inches wide, and 7-9 inches tall 

7. Each baking sheet will then have 3 loaves.

8. Bake the loaves for about 35 minutes, or until top looks cooked (should still be pale in color, not brown).

9. Cut the loaves into 1/2 inch wide slices and turn the cookies on their sides. Put back in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until they are lightly brown and toasty. Some prefer them a bit more crispy, and some like them more doughy—either way, it's all up to you!

Variation: Drizzle with chocolate for a festive decoration or dip in chocolate. 

Apparently, mandel bread is Yiddish dessert that has connections with Italian biscotti - hence the shape and texture. These are fabulous with some afternoon tea or lazy weekend coffee. 

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas everyone! 

Japanese Custard Pudding

If you've ever been to Asia, you likely have encountered various forms of pudding made of yellowy, egg custard topped with a layer of velvety caramel sauce. This much beloved dessert has spawned cartoon characters, popsicle flavors, and even pudding-shaped costumes. 

This weekend, The Husband and I decided to try our hand at making this dessert with the help of the Cooking with Dog series. This is a hilarious Japanese youtube series in which a gray poodle narrates all of the instructions while a deft Japanese woman demonstrates. 

Japanese Custard Pudding

Serves 4, depending on size of custard cup

Ingredients

Caramel Sauce

4 tbsp Sugar


1 tbsp Water


1½~2 tbsp Hot Water

Custard Pudding

2 Eggs


250 ml Milk (8.45 fl oz)


5 tbsp Sugar

4 Pudding Molds

Small tab of unsalted butter

Directions

1. Coat inner surface of pudding mold with unsalted butter. Makes removal from molds easier after the custard has set.

2. For caramel sauce, place sugar and room temperature water in a pot and heat at medium heat. Swirl the pot back and forth while the sugar caramelizes to a golden brown color. (Make sure you don't burn the sugar or it will taste bitter!)

3. Remove from heat. Then pour hot water into the caramelized sugar to thin out the caramel and deglaze from sides of the pot. (Be careful as this process will release a lot of steam so don't burn yourself.)  Pour sugar into pudding molds. 

4. Crack eggs into a bowl. Lightly beat the egg with a whisk and keep the whisk on the bottom of the bowl to prevent too much air/foam from getting into the egg mixture. 

5. Add milk and sugar in a pot. Stir and heat on stove until sugar is dissolved. 

6. Combine milk and egg mixtures. Strain through strainer and pour mixture into pudding molds. Cover each mold with aluminum foil. 

7. Heat water in a pan with a small towel at the bottom of the pan. Water level should cover bottom half of the pudding molds. Keep water temperature at just below the boiling point and steam for 18-20 minutes. Watch the water periodically to see if it has developed into a boil and adjust temperature as needed. 

8. Remove pudding molds from pan and chill for several hours until the custard has set. Then use a thin knife to separate the sides of the custard from the mold. Tap around the mold to release the custard from the mold. Flip upside down on to a shallow bowl or plate. Serve immediately. 

The combination of lightly sweetened smooth custard and the slightly bittersweet caramel sauce was quite divine. The slight bitterness of the caramel reminded us of a coffee flavor, which is commonly added in some recipes. The little dimples throughout the outside of the pudding seemed to result from foam or bubbles during the custard-making process. We'll definitely try to fix that problem before we serve to guests. 

In doing our research for this pudding, we found that this type of pudding is found in many different European, Latin, and Asian cultures all with their own little spin. Some adding condensed milk and some adding cream. The possibilities are endless with this dessert as you start to include additional flavorings such as coconut, coffee, or mango. 

Hope you give this recipe a try or at the very least watch some of the Cooking with Dog series. It is quite hilarious! 

Have a joyous Wednesday! 

Rosemary Bread

This post is dedicated to two amazing people, J & V, whom I've known since 1st grade and who are also getting married to each other this week. I get to make a trip to our childhood town (it's been a long time) and celebrate their wedding day!

The backstory to this bread is that V proposed to J by asking their local, favorite bakery to bake a ring into their signature rosemary bread (how cute!). Unfortunately, the ring was in the middle of the bread so J had to eat a lot of bread (with the prodding of V) before realizing what was about to happen.

To add to the beauty of this story, the recipe was on the back of their gorgeous wedding invitation, which J drew by hand. I just had to try this recipe out in honor of their big day. :)

Rosemary Bread by Amy's Bread
Makes 2 loaves of bread

Ingredients
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup cool water
1 tsp active dry yeast
2 cup starter (below)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
3 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup organic whole wheat flour
1 tbsp + 2 tsp kosher salt
_______________________________________
Starter
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup very warm water (105-115 F)
3/4 cup cool water (76-78 F)
1 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp unbleached all purpose flour

Directions
1. Stir the yeast, warm water, and starter in a large bowl until yeast dissolves. Let stand 3 minutes.

2. Then add cool water, olive oil, and rosemary. Mix.

3. Add all purpose and whole wheat flour and salt. Mix together into a ball.

4. Knead dough for approx. 7 minutes until smooth and supple. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.

5. Return dough to lightly floured surface, knead 2-3 minutes until soft and loose.

6. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rise for 1 hour. Then fold dough onto itself a few times and let rise again for another hour.

7. Place dough in a lightly floured surface, divide into 2 loaves. Form dough into 2 tight balls.

8. Cover a sheet pan with parchment paper and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place dough on to parchment paper. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

9. Mist tops of loaves with water. Using a lame blade cut a shallow tic-tac-toe pattern on top of each loaf.

10. Slide loaves onto a baking stone, which had been preheated at 450 F. Bake for 20 minutes. Then reduce temperature to 400 F and bake 10-15 minutes longer until the loaves are light brown and sound hollow when tapped on bottom.

* Note: My first loaf got a little burnt based on these instructions so for the second loaf I only baked for 20 minutes at 450 F and then removed from oven to cool. The result was identical, but with a less burnt top.

11. Place on a cooling rack. Enjoy while still warm and crusty.

I've never made bread that has had to rise over the course of several hours, but the results are amazing. The center was super fluffy and chewy in texture and the crust was crisp and crunchy. Being my first bread that wasn't based on Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day like here and here, this was quite flavorful with strong notes of rosemary and a good amount of salty bite. This would be fabulous dipped in some high quality extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Congrats J & V. Can't wait to see you both on your wedding day. :) 

Have a love-filled Monday!

Paper Wrapped Cake

Ever walk into your neighborhood Asian bakery and catch a whiff of that mildly sweet, eggy sponge cake that's often wrapped in paper like pretty little bouquets? There are only 2 locations (to my knowledge) that make these cakes in the Triangle area, one of which is a far drive and another of which is not my favorite place to shop.

The Husband always asks, "Oh, can we get one of these?" every time we're at one of these 2 locations. The look on his face when he eats these cakes with whipped cream and strawberries just tugs at my heart strings every time. So, I thought, "What's made in a bakery, surely can be made at home. Right?"

The key to these cakes is the light, fluffy texture and slightly sweet, eggy flavor. Anything that involves baking and detailed instructions tends to freak me out. But, what the heck... life's too short to live in fear of flat, soggy sponge cake. So, I gave it my best shot. The original recipe can be found here and while the measurements are not US friendly, they are easily decoded with any measurement converter.

Paper Wrapped Cake
Makes 5 medium or 6 small cakes

Ingredients
5 eggs, whites and yolks separated
50 grams (1.76 oz) butter, melted
60 ml milk
100 grams cake flour
80 grams sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 355 F. (I actually had the oven at 180 F for the first 4 minutes of baking until I realized that the original recipe was 180 C. This conversion actually matters!)

2. Combine melted butter with milk. Sift cake flour into butter and milk and mix well. (It might look kind of like a white glob. This is normal.).

3. Whisk egg yolks. Add egg yolks and vanilla extract to cake flour, butter, and milk mixture. Whisk until smooth.

4. Use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer to whisk egg whites for 3 minutes on high. Add cream of tartar and mix 1 minute more. Add sugar and whisk until egg whites form stiff peaks.

5. Fold egg white mixture in thirds into cake flour mixture with a rubber spatula just until all ingredients are combined. Do not stir or mix otherwise you will deflate the batter.

6. Line oven-safe mugs or tall cake cups (like these) with baking paper (not waxed paper). You want the paper to be higher than the edge of the mug in case the batter rises.

7. Pour batter into the lined mugs. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check centers with a toothpick and if clean, remove from heat.

8. Allow the cakes to cool in the mugs for 1-2 minutes. Then remove and let cool on a wire rack.

Don't let the number of steps fool you. This is not hard to make and in fact it is super easy as long as you follow the directions. While we were waiting the (excruciating) long 25 minutes for the cakes to bake, we kept wondering whether they would be flat, dense cakey messes at the bottom of our mugs. But we were pleasantly surprised and devoured 3 of them before they completely cooled.

Hope you try these and prove to yourself that you (too) can bake delicious Asian pastries at home.

Have a fabulous Monday!

Garlic-Flavored Kale Chips

Oh, the many uses of Kale. There are several varieties, but you can't miss the curly, dark green bunches that often sit untouched at many grocery stores. Sometimes bitter in flavor especially when over-baked and other times just grassy and tender in a vegetable soup. Some people will never love kale and that's just the reality of it. 

When baked, it can be crisp, light, and smoky and robust in flavor. A lot of people have compared kale chips to potato chips and I couldn't agree less. Kale chips are not like potato chips and neither should you expect them to taste like potato chips. However, if you can appreciate kale chips for what they are, you just might like them. 

Garlic-Flavored Kale Chips

Ingredients

1 bunch of kale

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt to taste

5-6 cloves of garlic, minced

Directions

1. Preheat oven 300 degrees.

2. Wash kale and remove green leaves from hard stems. 

3. Chop or rip kale leaves into bite-sized pieces. 

4. Toss with 1 tbsp olive oil and some salt (not too much! you can always add more later).

5. Arrange in one layer on a baking sheet (you can layer on top of parchment or foil for easy cleaning). 

6. Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Flip or shake around half way through (if you remember). 

7. While kale is baking, saute garlic in remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil until fragrant and crisp. Set aside until kale is cooled. 

8. Once kale is cooled, toss with garlic and more salt if necessary. Serve and enjoy! 

For all of the super nutrients in kale, you might as well make an occasional batch and crunch away if you can't stomach it any other way. The Husband even ate it, which I guess says something! 

Hope everyone has a restful weekend! 

Dining In: Cary, NC - La Farm Bakery

We rarely make the trek to Cary/Raleigh. Although it's really not that far, it just feels far in our minds. For this place though, we would happily make that trek on a weekly basis if possible. La Farm Bakery is a bakery and cafe that specializes in French-inspired foods and baked goods. 

While Chocolate Mini Baguette. (To die for!) 

Beautiful cheesecakes, fruit tarts, and chocolate tortes.

Chicken and Duck Liver Paté with an Old Style French Baguette.

We polished off the paté within 24 hours, which left us craving for more. The Sister, who doesn't usually enjoy paté, actually found it quite delicious. This place is perfect for breakfast, lunch, dinner... dessert...snack. Pretty much any excuse you can find to eat here is totally worth it. 

What other fabulous bakeries are there in the Triangle area? 

Vegan Orange Berry Scones

I love the flaky, moist texture of scones. However, it is hard to justify the amount of butter that goes into traditional scones and to eat them on an even semi-consistent basis. So, I wishfully thought perhaps vegan scones could be "healthier." I found this recipe last week and decided to try them this past weekend. 

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup dried cranberries

2/3 cup chopped walnuts

6 tbsp canola oil

1/2 cup maple syrup

2/3 cup orange juice

zest from 2 oranges

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, wheat flour, baking powder and salt. Add the cranberries and walnuts and set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, maple syrup, orange juice and orange zest. Combine with the dry ingredients to form a thick dough.

4. Spoon by large tablespoons or shape into triangles. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for about 12 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. For us, it took closer to 15 minutes of bake time for complete doneness. 

Finished product.

Full disclosure: The Sister admitted that she might have under measured the maple syrup resulting in a drier dough, but we liked it anyway. Next time, we'll actually measure out the correct amount. ;) 

With no butter or sugar, they came out with a crisp outer layer and a soft, moist center. I'm a realist. And while I ultimately believe that scones with butter are pretty darn good, this was a healthy alternative that I would still be interested in eating after all the unhealthy ingredients have been cut.

I also made some fresh, hand-squeeze (literally since I don't own a citrus press) orange juice with all of the leftover oranges to accompany the scones. It was so good.

Have a great start to the week! 

Banana Cream Pie

The Husband is in love with Banana Cream Pie. I'm not sure if it's nostalgic of his childhood or if it is the light, creamy custard that fills your mouth with every bite. So of course, I had to make it for his birthday. The only problem is that I've never really made a pie neither have I ever made pie crust from scratch. 

My first thought was to see if Mark Bittman had any insights in How to Cook Everything. Flaky Pie Crust Recipe. Check! I used the custard recipe from a fellow blogger, beurrista, but decided to use Bittman's pie crust recipe because I didn't feel like buying shortening (as directed in the custard recipe).

I've linked the recipes here because they are quite long and why reinvent the wheel when they have already been posted elsewhere. The only thing I did differently for the custard was to fold in 1 cup of the whipped cream to create a lighter texture. I made a separate cup of whipped cream for the topping. 

Note to self: Pie crust is filled with butter and will be very difficult to roll out unless well floured. 

Note to self: Custard will curdle easily if left unattended. One batch of custard went down the drain because of inattentiveness. 

My edit of the custard recipe: Fold in whipped cream with the custard to lighten the texture. 

For my first pie-from-scratch attempt, I couldn't have asked for a simpler pie crust recipe. The custard and filling was quite an endeavor, but manageable as long as you are paying attention. The result was a flaky, crispy crust that withstood the tender, light custard and whipped cream topping. 

The Husband said that the pie was one of the top three Banana Cream Pies that he's ever tasted in his life. I'll take that! Thanks beurrista for the custard recipe. It was just as you described - heavenly. :)

No cooking this weekend. Last beach trip of the summer for some much needed R&R. See you next week where I'll feature what we had for The Husband's birthday dinner! 

Bizarre Food Birthday Challenge

Here are some pictures from our Bizarre Food Birthday Challenge. We had a blast trying new foods and hanging out with our friends. I didn't have a chance to capture every dish, but here is a sampling of items from the party. 

Preserved Duck Eggs with Rice and Scallions.

Grass Jelly Drink.

Spicy Thai Cantaloupe. 

Assorted Indian Delicacies.

Cake Pops.

Chocolate Covered Bacon. 

Kimchi Fried Rice.

Pork Ear and Tongue. 

Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter, and Bacon Cookies.

Fresh Durian. 

The Full Roster. The winner was the Chocolate Covered Bacon. 

And, I finally made my first cake from America's Test Kitchen.

Coconut Layered Cake

Ingredients

CAKE

1 large egg

5 large egg whites

3/4 cup cream of coconut

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coconut extract

2 1/4 cups cake flour (9 ounces), sifted

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon table salt

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into 12 pieces, softened, but still cool

2 cups packed sweetened shredded coconut (about 8 ounces)

BUTTERCREAM

4 large egg whites

1 cup granulated sugar

Pinch table salt

1 pound unsalted butter (4 sticks), each stick cut into 6 pieces, softened, but still cool

1/4 cup cream of coconut

1 teaspoon coconut extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. For the Cake: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans with shortening and dust with flour. 

2. Beat egg whites and whole egg in large measuring cup with fork to combine. Add cream of coconut, water, vanilla, and coconut extract and beat with fork until thoroughly combined.

3. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on lowest speed to combine, about 30 seconds. With mixer still running on lowest speed, add butter 1 piece at a time, then beat until mixture resembles coarse meal, with butter bits no larger than small peas, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes.

4. With mixer still running, add 1 cup liquid. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 45 seconds. With mixer still running, add remaining 1 cup liquid in steady stream (this should take about 15 seconds). Stop mixer and scrape down bowl with rubber spatula, then beat at medium-high speed to combine, about 15 seconds. (Batter will be thick.)

5. Divide batter between cake pans and level with offset or rubber spatula. Bake until deep golden brown, cakes pull away from sides of pans, and toothpick inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes (rotate cakes after about 20 minutes). Do not turn off oven.

6. Cool in pans on wire racks about 10 minutes, then loosen cakes from sides of pans with paring knife, invert cakes onto racks and then re-invert; cool to room temperature. 

7. While cakes are cooling, spread shredded coconut on rimmed baking sheet; toast in oven until shreds are a mix of golden brown and white, about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring 2 or 3 times. Cool to room temperature.

8. For the Buttercream: Combine whites, sugar, and salt in bowl of standing mixer; set bowl over saucepan containing 1 1/2-inches of barely simmering water. Whisk constantly until mixture is opaque and warm to the touch and registers about 120 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 2 minutes. 

9. Transfer bowl to mixer and beat whites on high speed with whisk attachment until barely warm (about 80 degrees) and whites are glossy and sticky, about 7 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-high and beat in butter 1 piece at a time. Beat in cream of coconut and coconut and vanilla extracts. Stop mixer and scrape bottom and sides of bowl. Continue to beat at medium-high speed until well-combined, about 1 minute.

ASSEMBLING THE CAKE


1. With a long serrated knife, cut both cakes in half horizontally so that each cake forms two layers. 

2. Put a dab of icing on a cardboard round cut just larger than the cake. Center one cake layer on the round.

3. Place a large blob of icing in the center of the layer and spread it to the edges with an icing spatula.

4. Hold the spatula at a 45-degree angle to the cake and drag it across the surface to level the icing. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with remaining cake layers.

5. To ice the sides of the cake, scoop up a large dab of icing with the tip of the spatula and spread it on the sides with short side-to-side strokes. 

6. Sprinkle the top of the cake with coconut. Then press the coconut into the sides, letting the excess fall back onto a baking sheet.

It was a massive feast and now I think it is time to detox. More details on that endeavor in my next post. Have a great Monday!