TWD: Semolina Bread

This week with TWD...Semolina Bread! 

For some reason, I was really productive the day I made this bread. I woke up at 5:50 am, stood straight up, went to the kitchen and started the bread making process. While I was waiting for the first rise and the second rise, I made apple butter, which I have to say, was totally awesome in flavor content. I also scrubbed my car mats, did loads of dishes, cleaned the kitchen, and did other household chores. I have no idea what was up with me. Whatever it was, it felt great! Woo who!

When baking the bread, it smelled fantastic in the kitchen. The room had a beautiful sweet bread aroma that reminded me of my time working at a bakery. I was a cashier/cookie maker/cookie eater.
I had a hard time slashing the bread. My super sharp knife kept getting caught on the sticky dough. Maybe there's a trick to slashing dough? If anyone knows one, I would like to hear about it and try it out!

I enjoyed eating this bread toasted. It had a nutty taste that reminded me of popcorn and toasted walnuts. It especially tasted like popcorn when I slathered melted butter and sprinkled sea salt on it. That was definitely the best way to eat it. Though, I did thoroughly enjoy it with the newly made apple butter as well.
When it wasn't toasted, it had a subtle tangy flavor that reminded me of buttermilk, which I'm not sure why.

If would like to enjoy making and eating your own popcorn bread, check out Anna's blog, Keep it Luce, or Renee's blog, The Way to My Family's Heart. They are this week's hosts!

TWD: Hazelnut Biscotti

When I saw that the next recipe was Hazelnut Biscotti, I was whatever about it. But then...the more I thought about making them, the more I wanted crunch. Everyday, I wanted crunch. I wanted crunch breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Crunch toast. Crunch bacon. Crunch sandwich. JEN CRUNCH!!! Though, nothing seemed to satisfy my crunch craving until I made the biscotti. 

They were fairly easy to make. The best part was blanching the hazelnuts. The purple foam and black water was spooowooooky.

During my first bake, there were warm hints of hazelnuts and sweet bread. MmMm...It also reminded me of the smell of popcorn, which I'm not sure if that's a good sign or not, but I like it! 

When they came out of the oven, the sweet smell of the cookie was abundant. Similar to when you stick your head in a box full of fortune cookies. Ok, I've never done that, but that's the first image that popped into my head when the first bake was done. 

Sadly, my two logs formed into one weird log. So, some of my biscotti looked like Super Mario Bros. clouds. Once, I started I slicing them, I had the theme song stuck in my head. There it is again! Doo do doo. Doo do do do....

The second bake took a lot longer than I thought. But they were worth the wait. I took a huemungo bite and with a loud crunch I was satisfied. 

These babies are also satisfying with some hot chocolate, warm milk, or black tea. If you would like to make some of your own (I'm not sharing), check out Jodi's blog, Homemade and Wholesome, and Katrina's blog, Baking and Boys. They were this week's hosts. Yay biscotti!


-----Update-----
Here's a picture of my Super Mario Bros biscotti:

TWD: French Peach Cake

This week at TWD, we were suppose to make a French Strawberry Cake. Instead of strawberries, I made it with peaches.

We had a bbq last week and had some leftover peaches when we made grilled peaches with rosemary ice cream (from Cooking with Michele). Yum!
Since I couldn't get myself to buy strawberries when I had perfectly yummy fruit at home, I went with peaches.

This was a pretty intimidating recipe. From reading the TWD bakers' failures and successes, I got a little scared. Since it's a genoise cake, the egg/flour folding was the make or break stage of the recipe. I took the advice of a fellow baker and sifted the flour into the batter. This definitely helped decrease the clumps and decrease the folding.
I didn't have a 8" pan, so I used a square pan, which made the cake look like a cute french cake. Yay.

The day I made the cake, I felt it had a very subtle peach flavor and the cake itself was quite dry. I was quite disappointed with it all and was thinking of throwing the whole thing away. But good thing I'm a lazy bum and just stuffed in the fridge, because the next day...man oh man....it was soooooo much better! It seemed the cake just needed a little time to absorb the moisture from the peaches. It turned out to be moist and airy with a beautiful peach flavoring. Very nice.

Since I had some leftover grilled peaches with brown sugar syrup, I drizzled that on top of the cake. It made it even better. It gave the cake a smoky flavor to it.

If you are interested in making this wonderful cake, check out Sophia's blog, Sophia's Sweets, and Allison's blog, Sleep Love Think Dine.

Notes: I used 4 good sized peaches for the filling. Since they were pretty juicy, I cut them a little differently. I cut them in half, twist the halves apart, and then using a paring knife, ran the blade around the seed. I grabbed the tip of the seed and popped it out. If anyone knows a better way to keep a peach intact, please tell me. It took me a few peaches to figure this method out. Hmm..I guess I could’ve googled it. Lesson learned (the hard way).
I didn't have a slotted spoon, so I used a colander with a bowl under it to drain the peach mash liquid.

TWD: Oasis Naan

Who doesn't love a pretzel? That's what it tasted like to me. A really chewy bread with flakes of salt and green onion on it. mMmMmMmm....
I made four round oasis naan to go with our take-out Indian food. We had tikka masala and saag paneer. The naan didn't taste like something I would find at a restaurant, but it was still tasty with the food.
I used a pizza stone to make these, so I made them one by one. Each a little a different. The first one was by the book. It came out super pretzel like. The second, I decreased the borders. The third, I made it thinner and decreased the borders some more. Also, I added the green onions 4 minutes in, because they were burning. By the fourth one, I decided to go even thinner. It made a nice crunchy bottom with a soft layer on top.
Next time I make these (if I'm not too lazy), it would be better if they were even thinner. Also, I would decrease the baking time by 3 minutes.

For the recipe, check out this week's hosts, Maggie of Always Add More Butter and Phyl of Of Cabbages & King Cakes.