Daring Bakers Challenge Dec 2010: Christmas Stollen

The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book.........and Martha Stewart’s demonstration.

December has been a very busy month for me, both at work and at home.  Hence, attempting new kitchen experiments has been a challenge, however, I did not want to miss this challenge as it looked interesting and it was something I had not attempted before.  Tried to squeeze in  time before going on  Christmas vacation to attempt this and I must say, I have no regrets.  It was such an enjoyable experience.  Although the recipe seem lengthy, the whole process is fairly easy.  When I first looked at the amount of servings for the full recipe, I decided to go for half a recipe and that was a big mistake!  Reason being the aroma of the stollen right out of the oven makes one wants to dive into it straight away:)  It not only smells great, it taste really good as well.  Be warned upfront, it is very addictive, after one serving, one wanna go for more:)  Anyways, recipe as per below - enjoy!

Stollen Wreath

Makes one large wreath or two traditional shaped Stollen loaves. Serves 10-12 people

Ingredients

¼ cup (60ml) lukewarm water (110º F / 43º C)

2 packages (4 1/2 teaspoons) (22 ml) (14 grams) (1/2 oz) active dry yeast

1 cup (240 ml) milk

10 tablespoons (150 ml) (140 grams) unsalted butter (can use salted butter)

5½ cups (1320 ml) (27 ozs) (770 grams) all-purpose (plain) flour (Measure flour first - then sift- plus extra for dusting)

½ cup (120 ml) (115 gms) sugar

¾ teaspoon (3 ¾ ml) (4 ½ grams) salt (if using salted butter there is no need to alter this salt measurement)

1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 grams) cinnamon

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

Grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange

2 teaspoons (10 ml) (very good) vanilla extract

1 teaspoon (5 ml) lemon extract or orange extract

¾ cup (180 ml) (4 ¾ ozs) (135 grams) mixed peel (link below to make your own)

1 cup (240 ml) (6 ozs) (170 gms) firmly packed raisins

3 tablespoons (45ml) rum

12 red glacé cherries (roughly chopped) for the color and the taste. (optional)

1 cup (240 ml) (3 ½ ozs) (100 grams) flaked almonds

Melted unsalted butter for coating the wreath

Confectioners’ (icing) (powdered) sugar for dusting wreath

Note: If you don’t want to use alcohol, double the lemon or orange extract or you could use the juice from the zested orange.

Directions:

Soak the raisins

In a small bowl, soak the raisins in the rum (or in the orange juice from the zested orange) and set aside. See Note under raisins.

To make the dough

1 Pour ¼ cup (60 ml) warm water into a small bowl, sprinkle with yeast and let stand 5 minutes. Stir to dissolve yeast completely.

2 In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup (240 ml) milk and 10 tablespoons (150 ml) butter over medium - low heat until butter is melted. Let stand until lukewarm, about 5 minutes.

3 Lightly beat eggs in a small bowl and add lemon and vanilla extracts.

4 In a large mixing bowl (4 qt) (4 liters) (or in the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment), stir together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, orange and lemon zests.

5 Then stir in (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment) the yeast/water mixture, eggs and the lukewarm milk/butter mixture. This should take about 2 minutes. It should be a soft, but not sticky ball. When the dough comes together, cover the bowl with either plastic or a tea cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.

6 Add in the mixed peel, soaked fruit and almonds and mix with your hands or on low speed to incorporate. Here is where you can add the cherries if you would like. Be delicate with the cherries or all your dough will turn red!

7 Sprinkle flour on the counter, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mixing with the dough hook) to distribute the fruit evenly, adding additional flour if needed. The dough should be soft and satiny, tacky but not sticky. Knead for approximately 8 minutes (6 minutes by machine). The full six minutes of kneading is needed to distribute the dried fruit and other ingredients and to make the dough have a reasonable bread-dough consistency. You can tell when the dough is kneaded enough – a few raisins will start to fall off the dough onto the counter because at the beginning of the kneading process the dough is very sticky and the raisins will be held into the dough but when the dough is done it is tacky which isn't enough to bind the outside raisins onto the dough ball.

8 Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling around to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

9 Put it in the fridge overnight. The dough becomes very firm in the fridge (since the butter goes firm) but it does rise slowly… the raw dough can be kept in the refrigerator up to a week and then baked on the day you want.

Shaping the Dough and Baking the Wreath

1 Let the dough rest for 2 hours after taking out of the fridge in order to warm slightly.

2 Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

3 Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4 with the oven rack on the middle shelf.

4 Punch dough down, roll into a rectangle about 16 x 24 inches (40 x 61 cms) and ¼ inch (6 mm) thick.

5 Starting with a long side, roll up tightly, forming a long, thin cylinder.

6 Transfer the cylinder roll to the sheet pan. Join the ends together, trying to overlap the layers to make the seam stronger and pinch with your fingers to make it stick, forming a large circle. You can form it around a bowl to keep the shape.

7 Using kitchen scissors, make cuts along outside of circle, in 2-inch (5 cm) intervals, cutting 2/3 of the way through the dough.

8 Twist each segment outward, forming a wreath shape. Mist the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap.

9 Proof for approximately 2 hours at room temperature, or until about 1½ times its original size.

10 Bake the stollen for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees for even baking and continue to bake for 20 to 30 minutes. The bread will bake to a dark mahogany color, should register 190°F/88°C in the center of the loaf, and should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.

11 Transfer to a cooling rack and brush the top with melted butter while still hot.

12 Immediately tap a layer of powdered sugar over the top through a sieve or sifter.

13 Wait for 1 minute, then tap another layer over the first.

The bread should be coated generously with the powdered sugar.

14 Let cool at least an hour before serving. Coat the stollen in butter and icing sugar three times, since this many coatings helps keeps the stollen fresh - especially if you intend on sending it in the mail as Christmas presents!

15 When completely cool, store in a plastic bag. Or leave it out uncovered overnight to dry out slightly, German style.

The stollen tastes even better in a couple of days and it toasts superbly…. so delicious with butter and a cup of tea….mmmmm

Storage

The more rum and the more coatings of butter and sugar you use the longer it will store.

The following is for the recipe as written and uses the 45 mls of rum and two coatings of butter and icing sugar

1. Stollen freezes beautifully about 4 months

2. The baked stollen stores well for 2 weeks covered in foil and plastic wrap on the counter at room temperature and

3. One month in the refrigerator well covered with foil and plastic wrap.

 

Daring Bakers Challenge November 2010 - Crostata with Raspberry Filling

The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

The month of November seem to be either a tart or pie month for me as most of my food experiments this month seem to have a crusty theme which is not a bad thing as I have mentioned before, I tend to shy away from experiments that calls for short crust pastry or something along those lines.  Hence, I guess the more practice I get, the better I get at making them.  I was struggling a little trying to attempt this especially when come to what filling to have in them.  At the end of the day, I opted to be resourceful instead of creative and used the boxed of frozen raspberry I had in my freezer.  I did not follow any recipe in coming up with the filling but rather used my instinct and prior experience.  The filling did not set properly although I have it in the oven longer than recommended and I know it was because I did not cook the filling long enough. 

For this challenge, we were given two recipe versions of the base and I opted for version 1 which was quite similar to a basic short crust pastry.  Also, it seem easier with lessor ingredients than version 2.  On top of that, 2 methods was also provided, preparing the dough by hand or food processor.  Anyways, recipe as per below - happy experimenting:

Version 1 of pasta frolla

Ingredients:

1/2 c. minus 1 tablespoon [105 ml, 100 g, 3 ½ oz] superfine sugar (see Note 1) or a scant 3/4 cup [180ml, 90g, 3 oz] of powdered sugar

1 and 3/4 cup [420 ml, 235 g, 8 1/4 oz.] unbleached all-purpose flour

a pinch of salt

1 stick [8 tablespoons / 4 oz. / 115 g] cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

grated zest of half a lemon (you could also use vanilla sugar as an option, see Note 2)

1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl

Note 1: Superfine sugar is often also referred to as ultrafine, baker’s sugar or caster sugar. It’s available in most supermarkets. If you cannot find “superfine” sugar, you can make your own by putting some regular granulated sugar in a food processor or blender and letting it run until the sugar is finely ground.

Note 2: There are different ways of making vanilla sugar. I keep vanilla beans in a jar half-filled with sugar until I need to use them, for example, to make vanilla ice cream. After I remove the split bean from the custard that will go into the ice cream maker, I rinse it, dry it and put it back in the jar with sugar.

Making pasta frolla by hand:

1. Whisk together sugar, flour and salt in a bowl.

2. Rub or cut the butter into the flour until the mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs. You can do this in the bowl or on your work surface, using your fingertips or an implement of choice.

3. Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten eggs into it (reserve about a teaspoon of the egg mixture for glazing purposes later on – place in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to use).

4. Add the lemon zest to your flour/butter/egg mixture.

5. Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, and then use your fingertips.

6. Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.

7. Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.

Making pasta frolla with a food processor:

1. Put sugar, flour, salt, and lemon zest in the food processor and pulse a few times to mix.

2. Add butter and pulse a few times, until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal.

3. Empty food processor's bowl onto your work surface

4. See step 3 above and continue as explained in the following steps (minus the lemon zest, which you have already added).

Raspberry Filling (note:  one can fill the crostata with other type of fillings such as pastry cream or other fruit filling)

Ingredients:

1. 400g frozen or fresh raspberry

2. 1 Cup sugar

Method:

1. Place ingredients in a saucepan on medium heat.  Stir until sugar melt into raspberry and the mixture thickens.  This will take approximately 10 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Assembling the crostata:

1. Heat the oven to 375ºF [190ºC/gas mark 5].

2. Take the pasta frolla out of the fridge, unwrap it and cut away ¼ of the dough. Reserve this dough to make the lattice top of the crostata. Refrigerate this dough while you work on the tart base.

3. To help roll the crostata dough, keep the dough on top of the plastic wrap that you had it wrapped in. This can help rolling the dough and can also help when transferring the dough to your pan. You can also use parchment paper for this. However, you can also roll the dough directly on a work surface if you prefer.

4. Lightly dust the top of the dough and your work surface (if you’re rolling directly on a work surface) with flour. Keep some flour handy to dust the dough as you go along.

5. If the dough is very firm, start by pressing the dough with the rolling pin from the middle to each end, moving the rolling pin by a pin's width each time; turn the dough 180 degrees and repeat; when it softens, start rolling.

6. Roll the dough into a circle about 1/8th inch (3 mm) thick.

7. If you used the plastic wrap or parchment paper as rolling surface, flip dough over the pan, centering it, and delicately press it all around so the corners are well covered. Peel away the plastic wrap.

8. Trim the excess dough hanging over the edges of the pan. Press the remaining dough around the border into the sides of the pan making sure the border is an even thickness all the way around.

9. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork in several places.

10. Take out of the fridge the reserved pasta frolla you had cut away earlier. Roll it with your pin and cut into strips or use cookie cutters to make small shapes (this is not traditional, but it looks cute); or roll with your hands into ropes.

11. Spread the jam or fruit preserves evenly over the bottom of the crostata.

12. Use the prepared strips or rolls of dough to make a lattice over the surface, or decorate with the cut shapes. (Note: You can use dough scraps to make cookies: see the Additional Information section for some pointers)

13. Brush the border and strips of dough with the reserved beaten eggs. You can add a drop or two of water to the beaten eggs if you don’t have enough liquid.

14. Put the tart in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.

15. After 25 minutes, check the tart and continue baking until the tart is of a nice golden hue. (Note: Every oven is different. In my oven it took 34 minutes to bake the tart until golden.)

16. When done, remove the tart from the oven and let cool. If you have used a tart pan with a removable bottom, then release the tart base from the fluted tart ring. Make sure the tart is completely cool before slicing and serving.

Fetta, Spinash and Leek Tart - Yes another tart!

After macarons, I think tarts are the next prettiest thing and I can't get enough of it:) While tidying my kitchen cupboards, I noticed a rectangular tart tin that I bought a while ago but haven't had a chance to use it.  Flipped the back of the package and noticed a simple recipe...viola, that will be dinner and leftovers will be for lunch at work...lol.  Give it a try as its simple and pretty yummy too!

Recipe from "Baker's Secret" - Serve 4-6
Ingredients:
200g greek feta, crumbled
1 leek
20g butter
160g baby English spinach leaves
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup thickened cream
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp shredded sweet basil leaves
freshly cracked pepper
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed

Method:
Pre heat oven to  200C. Grease a rectangular loose base tart pan (35 x 13 cm).  Cut the leek in half, wash and thinly slice the white and pale green part of the leek to fill 1 cup, loosely packed.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and lightly saute the leek over medium heat for 4 mins.  Remove to side bowl.  Add the spinach to saucepan, cover and cook until wilted, remove from heat then remove excess moisture by pressing leaves into a strainer.

Combine sour cream, cream and eggs, amd mix together in a bowl.  Add the fetta, leek, spinach and basil, season with pepper.  Stir well.

Line rectangular tart pan with the pastry, over lapping and gently pushing together in the middle.  Gently push the pastry into the sides of the pan then trim the edges of excess pastry.

Place the pastry-lined pan on to a baking tray and lightly prick the base with a fork.  Pour the prepared fetta mixture into the pan.  Bake in the middle of the oven for 30-35 minutes until firm and golden in the middle.

Remove from pan before cutting and serving.

Desserts Collection: Chocolate Terrine served with Brandied Strawberries

I recently went to Melbourne for a business trip by plane.  Each time I fly, I have to have something to read on the plane to distract me from the odd unpleasant experience especially on small planes.  Grab the latest Cuisine Magazine and this recipe caught my attention - Chocolate Terrine!  I have heard of savoury type terrines but sweet terrines is really the first I have heard of.  Also, the picture of the terrine looks divine...can't wait to try it.  The process is very simple and very quick to complete.  Only thing is once completed, it has to be chilled overnight to let it set.  The original recipe had coffee bean anglaise as a side, but with fresh strawberries in season, I thought I would serve it with strawberries instead.  For all those who have not tried a chocolate terrine...this dessert taste like a rich version of a chocolate mud cake:)  Recipe as per below - enjoy!

Chocolate Terrine (Adapted from Cuisine Magazine November 2010 issue, by chef Martin Bosley)
Ingredients:
250g unsalted butter, chopped
250g caster sugar
250g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
5 eggs
1 tablespoon flour

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 180C.  Place the butter in a deep bowl.  Pour the sugar over the butter, then place the chocolate on top (this is so the butter and sugar dissolve and line the bowl, preventing the chocolate from sticking.)  Place the bowl over the saucepan of barely simmering water, ensuring the bowl doesn't touch the water, until the chocolate has melted, then remove from heat.  Transfer the mixture to an electric mixer with the whisk attachment fitted.

2) In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the flour.  With the mixer running, pour the egg mixture into the chocolate and continue to whisk until the mixture becomes smooth and shiny.

3) Line a terrine or loaf tin with baking paper and pour in the chocolate mixture.  Cover with a lid or tinfoil and place in a deep roasting dish.  Pour in water halfway up the sides of the terrine or tin and place in the oven for 1.5 hours, until it is slightly glossy in the centre.  Refrigerate overnight to set.

Brandied Strawberries
Ingredients:
250g fresh strawberries, stem removed and halved
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 tablespoon brandy

Method:
1) Place ingredients in a deep bowl and mix them together until all incorporated.
2) Wrap bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours
3) Serve with chocolate terrine