Kugelhof

The Great British Bake Off is a bad thing.  My Beloved keeps saying "if you want to make that . . ."  When the yeasted cake week came about, the kugelhof looked very interesting.  I know from past experience that I would have to say yeasted cakes are a favorite.  Since I have started making this kugelhof, there has been one in the house.

Kugelhof is nice by itself.  It is nice warmed with a bit of butter.  It is nice toasted or warmed with Boursin.  Boursin with garlic and herbs.  I have not tried the others.  It is just lightly sweet.  I do not have the traditional pan and my bundt pan is quite interesting so the first loaf I tried in that was yummy but very ugly.  I have been making small loafs since.  I actually made loafs for the Christmas boxes I send out.

I started with David Lebovitz recipe tweaked it.  Levain (sourdough) like normal.  I changed the fruit and changed the porportions of flavorings.  Then I tweaked the sugar glaze that you brush over it.  It is a lovely recipe without any tweaks but I like how I have changed it.

Kugelhof

Note:  adapted from David Lebovitz.  I make a small loaf or cob.

sourdough

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup milk

1/3 cup flour

1/4 cup chopped sour cherries (1/2 cup unchopped)

3 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1 1/2 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

zest of one lemon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 large egg yolk

about 2 cups flour

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons orange extract

In a large bowl, mix the sourdough, 1/3 cup water, and 1/2 cup flour.  Cover and let sit over night until it is bubbly.  Save a bit for the next bake.

Mix in the milk and 1/3 cup flour.  Mix well.  Let sit a bit to let the yeastie beasties start bubbling.

Mix in the cherries.  Mix in the butter.  Stir until most of the lumps are gone, or appear gone with the cherries in the dough.  Mix in the sugar and salt.  Mix in the lemon zest and vanilla.  Mix until the lemon looks like it is all through the dough.  Mix in the egg yolks.  Mix well enough until the egg yolks are completely incorporated.  Mix in 1 1/2 cups flour.  It should be a soft dough.  If not add another 1/2 cup flour and mix well.

Turn out the dough onto a clean surface dusted with flour.  Knead until the dough turns smooth.  Yes, there is lumps of cherries.  When the dough is kneaded smooth, put in a clean bowl and cover.  Let rise until double.  It can be a slow rise.

Line a small loaf pan with parchment paper.  When the dough has risen, shape into a small loaf and place into the pan.  Let proof about an hour or until puffy.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes.  The bread will be golden and thump hollow.

In a saucepan, bring the 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup sugar, and orange extract to a boil for one minute.  After the loaf has rested for 10 minutes, brush with the glaze.  This is enough glaze for many loaves.  I brush the loaf multiple times.  It helps with the keeping time.

It is just so yummy!

I have baked enough to share and take to the mountain next week.  I am hoping I can eat more of this then food out.

chocolate coconut meringue cake

This is the cake that was the hit at the potluck.  It is a chocolate coconut meringue cake.  The coconut is so light it is not very noticeable so people who like me do not really like coconut like this cake.  The other big selling point is that this cake is gluten free, nut free, seed free, soy free, and dairy free.  Yes, that is how food sensitive the people I work with have gotten.  

This cake takes time.  An electric mixer is nice but it can be done by hand and I have done it by hand before I blew my shoulders out the last time.  This time, I switched early on to the electric whisk because my shoulders were getting very tired.

I also froze the cake for transport and keeping in the office.  I brought it out at the beginning of the meal and most people really seemed to like the cold.  Up to you on this one.

It is lovely.

chocolate coconut meringue cake

6 egg whites

1 cup granulated sugar.  I used a Mexican sugar this time that is less processed and a bit of a brown sugar taste

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

One recipe whipped coconut cream

One recipe black onyx fudge sauce

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 C) and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Draw four six inch circles on the two sheets of parchment paper.

Beat egg whites, vanilla, and salt together until foamy. Add sugar, slowly, and continue beating until it reaches glossy, stiff peaks.  Using the back of a large spoon, spread an even layer of meringue in a six inch circle on the baking sheets, four times.  The circle will actually spread as they bake so the finished cake will be closer to seven inches across.

Bake for approximately 2 1/2 hours or until dry and crisp, rotating pans every 20 minutes, and moving them up and down in the oven.  After the 2 1/2 hours of baking, leave the meringues in the turned-off oven for another 60 minutes.

Remove from oven and leave on tray in cool, dry area, to cool and you are ready to use.

Make the whipped coconut cream and fudge sauce.

On a large plate, place the first meringue.  Spread a quarter of the whipped coconut cream on top.  Drizzle an even layer of fudge sauce on top of it.  Put in the freezer for a bit to firm if your kitchen is warm.

Repeat with every meringue circle.  I finished the cake with whipped coconut cream and fudge sauce on top.  The fudge sauce dripped out but no one seemed to mind but a large plate is a must.

Put in the freezer.  Once the fudge sauce is set, cover with plastic wrap and store in the freezer until about twenty minutes before serving.

There are no elegant pictures of this from the potluck.  Our utensils were blunt and plastic.  It was destroyed but thoroughly enjoyed.  I brought my dish home and it was licked clean here before washing.

It is truly lovely.

whipped coconut cream

I am wiped out.  Not sure I was going to get here today but I did.  I dealt with a toxic situation.  I went with my gut and everything will be okay but I think I surprised the other person in the situation.  I did not take the option with the most pennies attached or potential for pennies.  I chose the option that is the healthiest for me in the long run.  Does not mean I am not wiped out because I am.

But this post is about whipped coconut cream.  I was told about this development after Thanksgiving and since I was making a cake for a couple people with many food sensitivities, whipped coconut cream was the best choice.  I was told I could buy it.  But, because it was so close to Thanksgiving, it was not in stock.  Time for research.

I was surprised with how well this turned out.  I am not a coconut fan but I found the flavor of this so mild that I could eat the whipped coconut cream.  It did not whipped as hard as cow cream but I did not have to worry about making butter either.  That is a plus since I have made butter in the past.  I will make whipped coconut cream again. 

whipped coconut cream

Note:  I am thinking about trying a can of unsweetened coconut cream used for pina coladas but below works.

2 cans of coconut milk, refrigerated

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

Open the cans of coconut milk.  Spoon the cream off the top and put in a large bowl.  Scoop out any solids you can find but leave all the coconut water behind.  There was much less cream then I expected.

Add sugar and vanilla.  Whip.  The cream will thicken and increase in volume but it will not create the stiffness as cow cream.  

Yummy for replacing dairy whipped cream.

fudge sauce (dairy free)

Yes, it has been quiet around here.  I have been busy with working on holiday bits and pieces but we have also been dealing with tummy troubles like dragons who eat spicy tacos (it is a book).  It seems to take a bunch out of everyone, even those who may not be having the tummy troubles but just taking care.  

I have been getting a lot done but by the time I usually write, I am asleep.  Oh well.  At least I do not have tummy troubles.  Let us see about tomorrow.

There was a potluck at work today to celebrate the holidays and all the good work of the year.  This year, there are more people with food allergies and sensitivities then we have had in the past.  Since I actually can bake for that, I came up with a couple of desserts that everyone could eat.

The first one I am going to write about is the meringue cake I made.  I based it one I have made in the past but I had to make sure there was no gluten, no seeds, no nuts, and no dairy.  I am going to write down all the bits so I can find them later when I need them.

The first thing I put together was a fudge sauce for the layers.  My Beloved licked the pot I made it in and could not seem to stop.  Highly unusual for him.  He is usually one bite and then good.  Not with this fudge sauce and that seemed to be the consensus.

This was lovely between the layers of a cake.  It would also be lovely warmed and put on top of ice cream.  Stirring it into some type of milk might work as well.  I would not be the one to ask about that because I really do not like just a glass of milk.

dairy free fudge sauce

Note:  I read a couple of hot fudge recipes and liked the recipe and technique best in Chocolate, Chocolate, and More. I used her recipe as a go by but then tweaked.

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup black onyx cocoa powder

1 cup water

1/2 cup coconut oil 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a pot over medium high heat put the sugar, cocoa powder, and water.  Bring to a boil.  Add in the coconut oil and whisk for five minutes (yes really, it makes the sauce lovely).  After five minutes, mix in the vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.  Whisk well until all is dissolved.  

Cool before using on a cake.  Use immediately over ice cream.  Store in a jar in the refrigerator and heat for next time.

Nobody seemed to be able to get enough of this one.  Truly.

spudnuts (potato doughnuts)

When we travel, we listen to a lot of audio books.  One of our favorite series is by Patricia Briggs Mercedes Hauptman books.  Mercedes lives in the Tri Cities area of Washington and spudnut doughnuts make appearance more then once.  In my search for the best doughnut holes, I was asked to try spudnuts.

The dough is basically a brioche dough which is what I have decided I like best, with the addition of potato.  Of course, doughnut holes are best eaten when hot but I find the staying power of these with potato and sourdough is very impressive.  If you chose not to make doughnuts with the dough but bread, the bread is very good.  The gotcha with these is you have to make sure that they are well proofed.  If not, they sink to the bottom of the pot of oil.  I actually like the bread a bit underproofed just for the tighter structure.  Especially for cheese and bread.

The reason I am writing this down today is because my baking apprentice, the small bear who has been running around in a just t-shirt, sweater, and apron, may have to take over tomorrow morning with the help of Grandpa.  I have an early meeting.  Early meetings get in the way of baking

potato doughnuts

sourdough

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup water

1 cup mashed potatoes, as for eating.  I used yukon golds mashed with butter, cream, and salt

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup soft butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

3 to 4 cups flour

oil for frying

glaze made with powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk or water for glazing.

The night before, mix the sourdough, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/3 cup water in a large bowl.  Cover and let rise until bubbly.  Take a bit of the levain out for next time.

Mix in the potatoes,milk, sugar, butter, and egg.   I actually give the batter a hard stir after each.  Mix in the salt.  Mix in 1 cup of flour at a time until 3 cups of flour have been added.  The dough should be soft but dough and not batter.

Turn out onto a clean floured counter.  Knead until smooth.  Put into a cleaned bowl and cover.  Let rise until double.

When double, I create about a dozen or two dozen doughnut holes.  The rest of the dough I make into bread.  Let the shaped bread and doughnut holes proof until puffy.  About double.

Bake the bread at 350 degrees Fahrenheit  for about one hour.

Heat the oil to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  I am never that accurate so it is usually about 360 to 380.  I over bake too many doughnut holes but they eat.  Drop in the hole when the oil is hot.  It should come up to the top of the oil if hot enough and proofed enough.  Turn over when that side is golden.  Fry a few minutes.

Remove from the oil and let drain.  Roll in the glaze.

Feed to Koda Bear.  

These are quite addictive.  Fair warning.