TWD: Irish Soda Bread

Gruyere and garlic chives

Irish soda bread reminds me of Boardwalk Empire. Mrs. Schroeder makes irish soda bread for Nucky and then she tosses it because she gets all upset when he smugs her. psshhh...I just didn't understand. Why would she throw out a perfectly good chunk of bread!? So sad...

Check out one of the TWD host's website for the recipe: Carla and Cathy. 

TWD: White Loaves

Ahhh finally!!! My first Tuesdays with Dorie post! Today's recipe is...white loaves.

I was pretty intimidated by the idea of making bread again. The first and last time I made it was 6 years ago in my boyfriend's kitchen. It turned out awful! We had no idea what we were doing. "Is it done rising? Is it suppose to look like that?" It came out looking like an ancient frisbee. It tasted like one too. Rock hard. Stale right out of the oven.

This recipe makes two beautiful white loaves. My first batch came out a little dense. My guess was that it had something to do with the rise/proofing. Piebird thought it might have been proofed too long. Later I learned, that was definitely the case (thanks for the tip Piebird!), but it still made a tasty roast beef sandwich.

I couldn't start off TWD with a failbread, so I made a second batch and I'm super glad that I did! The crust was amazing and the crumb was nice and fluffy. It reminded me of an English muffin. I could have devoured the whole thing!

I made one with a cinnamon swirl in it. The cinnamon sugar syrup was oozing out from the swirl. My first slice I drizzled icing on top and I instantly engulfed the warm yummy goodness as an afternoon snack.

MMmMm. Goodness....

This recipe can be found in Baking with Julia, by Dorie Greenspan or you can also find it in Jules' blog.

Baking notes: Boiled RO water and dissolved sugar; waited until temperature decreased to 115 degrees F to add yeast. Used SB tap water for the rest of the recipe.
Proofed for 45 minutes in a slightly warm oven.
Cinnamon swirl ingredients - 1/3 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of cinnamon.

Blueberry Pecan Bran Muffins with Spiced Streusel topping

Oh bran muffin! How I love thee so!! The muffin that brings me such joy with your moist goodness and everlasting texture!
I made bran muffins last Sunday to have throughout the week. They were deeeee-licious. There were so many flavors that came forward in every bite! Sometimes I would notice a hint of orange, a light flavor of molasses or come across a nice juicy blueberry. Yum.
The best part about making this muffin was that I learned the importance of flour being present in streusel topping. My first batched had everything in it except flour and it melted right into the muffin. That made it have a nice sweet surprise in the middle, which isn't a horrible mistake in my opinion.
The second batch I added flour to the streusel-like mixture and it looked sooo much better.
I used Joy of Baking's Bran muffin recipe and added 1 cup of dried blueberries and 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans.
For the topping, I didn't measure anything, but it is made up of butter, brown sugar, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, rolled oats and flour. I'll have measure it next time I make it, which I hope it is quite soon!

Tarte Tatin

For New Year's Eve, I made a tarte tatin. I've always wanted to make this but I was always too lazy to do it. My main drive to make it that night was because I've been reading other baking adventures by the TWD bakers for three years now and I thought...yes!!! 2012 will be the year I join them!! So, I thought, I should make something! What should I make? Tarte tatin? Tarte tatin.

I burnt it. 
I kept reading notes that said to keep cooking it til it's a dark caramel!! And that I won't regret it! 
I guess I went too far. Sigh...
It was still awesomely tasty. That deep rich caramel flavor was all throughout every bite. Yum. 
I had to make it again. 
And so I did. 
Three days later. 

I used REALLY BIG Fuji apples for this one. 
I'm not sure which one was better. They both were super delicious! The first one, since it was cooked longer, had an almost dark maple syrup flavor with an aftertaste of apple. And the second one had larger apple chunks, making it have a bigger apple pie presence. 
I don't think I can choose. And...I don't have to. One thing I do know is that I had each of them the next day and it was fantastic! The syrupy goodness seeps into the crust and gives you a buttery, sugary goodness that makes your mouth salivate every time you think about that day you ate the tarte. Sigh...
If you would like to be in sugary bliss as well, you can find the recipe on NPR's All Things Considered or in Dorie Greenspan's awesome cookbook.