Braided Challah Loaf

The District is, according to headlines, "completely paralyzed by epic snowfall."  The snowfall is slightly less than apocalyptic so far (about 18 inches), but we're sealed in all the same, steeling ourselves against cabin fever with NPR, early afternoon beers, Roald Dahl, and crafts. Being from Southern California though, I might be a little too delighted by weather and banishment from the outdoors since this snowy stalemate has become the most convenient reason to work on sewing projects and use up all of my flour. It's practically springtime in our house too, as I'm swaying to a dreamy Beach House album and just about sweltering from the heat of the oven and furnaces.  Well, if you've been forecast to be stuck inside for three days too, then challah is a great choice for bread-baking because it will fully perfume your house while it's in the oven and will make the perfect french toast on your final day of weather captivity.  Here's to hoping that my first blizzard is as charming at the end as it is at the beginning.

Challah
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 packet instant dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 1/2 teaspoons + 1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil, plus more for greasing the bowl
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk + 1 more egg for brushing
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup raisins, if using, plumped in warm water and drained
Poppy seeds for sprinkling

1.  Dissolve yeast, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, and seven ounces of lukewarm water in a large glass or metal bowl until yeast foam doubles in size (or close to it).

2.  Whisk oil into yeast, then beat in two eggs and one yolk, one at a time each.  Also add remaining sugar and salt.  Gradually add flour.  When dough holds together, it's ready for kneading.

3.  Turn dough on to lightly floured counter and knead, for eight to ten minutes, until dough is smooth.  Clean out bowl then grease it, then return dough to bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place for one hour, until doubled in size.  My favorite way to do this is to place the bowl in the oven and leave the oven light on--it provides just enough warmth to get the dough going.  Gently deflate dough and let it rise for another half-hour.

4.  Knead the raisins into the challah if using.  To form a braid, divide the dough into six balls and roll each ball into a strand that's about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches thick.  Then follow this video tutorial or check Smitten Kitten's directions if you're not a visual learner.  I couldn't make sense of the written directions, so I won't post them to this blog, but really, the YouTube video helped me along nicely, and SK's directions were well-received in her comments section.  Brush loaf with beaten egg and let rise for another hour.

5.  If baking immediately, heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, brush with remaining egg, and sprinkle with poppy seeds.  Or put loaf in the freezer, and remove at least five hours prior to baking, brushing with egg and sprinkling with poppy seeds once loaf has warmed to room temperature.

6.  Bake in middle of oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden (If you have an internal thermometer, bake until center is 190 degrees.  I don't have one and just went by looks).  Cool loaf on rack, and enjoy!

Note:  Any of the three risings can be done in the fridge for a few hours.  When you're ready to work with it again, just bring the loaf back to room temperature and move on from there.  Also, in my opinion, this would be excellent with cinnamon marbled through it, rolled in to the dough when you roll your strips before braiding.

Old-Fashioned Gingerbread

I'll just say it:  Chocolate has been surpassed by ginger as my unequivocal favorite ingredient to bake with. Maybe it's the winter doldrums, but dudes, these days it's all about flavors that punch you in the mouth. This recipe is for those of you fellow ginger fiends who love rib-sticking molasses baked goods and unabated intense flavors. The combination of molasses and stout beer seriously smacks, and while the cake is pictured here with a dusting of powdered sugar, I found it was even better when I swathed a slice in butter and sprinkled it with sea salt, serious as a heart attack.

Old-Fashioned Gingerbread

Adapted from Claudia Fleming of Gramercy Tavern

1 cup oatmeal or standard stout beer (I used Guinness, but I'd like to try Bell's Kalamazoo or something with a stronger flavor)

1 cup dark molasses (not blackstrap)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons ground ginger (I added an extra 1/2 teaspoon)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of ground cardamom

3 large eggs

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup granulated white sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Generously butter bundt pan and dust with flour, knocking out excess.

2.  Bring stout and molasses to a boil in a medium to large saucepan.  Remove from heat and whisk in baking soda (mixture will bubble up some).  Let cool to room temperature.

3.  Sift flour, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl.  In a separate large bowl, whisk together eggs and sugars.  Whisk in oil, then molasses mixture.  Add liquids to flour mixture and whisk until just combined.

4.  Pour batter into bundt pan, and rap pan sharply on the counter a few times to eliminate air bubbles.  Bake in the center of the oven until a cake tester stuck into the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs adhering, about 50 minutes.  Let cake cool for five to eight minutes, and then turn out onto cooling rack and let cool completely.  Serve dusted with powdered sugar and unsweetened whipped cream, or with unsalted butter and a smattering of salt on top.

*Some have said that this cake is best when made a day in advance.  I made mine the night before, and found it was ever-so-slightly more bitter the next day, which I was way into.

Bittersweet Chocolate Pudding

Last Saturday morning, I woke up with a head cold and a pudding hankering and decided that answering my craving would remedy my illness. Well it did, but not until I had navigated through a minefield of pudding recipes that called for everything from water baths and oven time to egg yolks and butter.  My favorite butterscotch pudding recipe takes 15 minutes to make and 30 to cool, yet I found one chocolate pudding recipe (highly rated at least) that called for seven hours of total preparation time and another that required two pots, a blender, and some baking—egads that's unreasonable. Thankfully, Smitten Kitchen had the answer, and this intense, chocolatey pudding emerged after 24 minutes of practically unattended cooking and one nap's worth of chill time in the fridge—a delicious, three-step cure to any cold.

Bittersweet Chocolate Pudding
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups whole milk
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used 60%, you could also do high-quality semi-sweet for more classic flavor)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1.  Combine cornstarch, sugar, and salt in the top of a double boiler.  Slowly add the milk, whisking to make sure all of the dry ingredients are incorporated.  Place over gently simmering water, and stir occasionally, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides with a heat-proof spatula.  Use a whisk as necessary to prevent lumps.  After 15 to 20 minutes, mixture should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.  Add chocolate, and continue stirring for about four minutes until pudding is smooth and thickened.  Remove from heat and add vanilla.

2.  Strain pudding through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl or measuring cup with a pour spout.  Discard lumps from strainer, and divide pudding between six bowls.

3.  Place plastic wrap directly atop pudding if you don't like pudding skins, or just over the bowl if you do.  Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour (mine was at a good, cool pudding temperature after an hour).  Pudding will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to three days.

Classic Peanut Brittle

Recall:  Jurassic Park when the mosquitos are stuck in the amber.

Most people I know who actively seek out peanut brittle are older, probably verging on elderly (not you Mom!).  The recipes I've seen are almost always family recipes passed down from a sweet-toothed grandparent, and I realized the other day that I hadn't even had brittle since I was a little kid and my own grandparents were zipping around.  When Joey told me his granddad is enamored of the stuff too, well I turned to the blogs to figure out how to make it so we could hostess-gift it on our trip to North Carolina.  What I ended up with though looked like crumbly drywall and tasted exactly like ocean sand—probably the result of the two unholy tablespoons of salt the recipe blithely called for.

Twirls of brittle instead of blocks!

I've never had much luck with desserts needing caramelization, making everything from inedible sugary concrete to butterscotch pudding that didn't taste a lick like butterscotch.  So like everyone before me, I turned to a classic (Mom) for help, and that classic recommended another classic (The Joy of Cooking), the recipe from which my mother very patiently read to me over the phone, and then reread it frantically, but no less patiently, when I called her on speakerphone 30 minutes later with butter all over my hands, not sure what to do next.  Also she just scanned and emailed it to me.  Moms, brittle, and sweet-toothed grandparents—obviously in cahoots for a classically delicious reason. 

Classic Peanut Brittle

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking

2 cups sugar

1 cup golden syrup (available at lots of cooking stores, or corn syrup)

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup cream of tartar

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups peanuts, toasted

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Oil a cookie sheet and set aside.

2.  Bring the sugar, syrup, water, and cream of tartar to a boil in a medium, heavy saucepan.  Stir until sugar is dissolved, washing down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water.  Place a warmed candy thermometer in the pan, raise the heat, and heat without stirring to 265 degrees F (the hard ball stage).

3.  Remove from heat, and quickly stir in the butter and baking soda with a wooden spoon.  Return to stove and heat without stirring to 300 degrees F (hard crack stage). Add the peanuts with a silicone spatula until well-coated with the syrup.

4.  Remove from heat and quickly stir in vanilla.  Pour out onto an oiled cookie sheet, spread flat with the rubber spatula, and let stand for about three minutes until cool enough to handle gently.  Loosen the mixture with an offset spatula, and wearing buttered plastic bags as gloves (!!!), pull and stretch the brittle by lifting it with the spatula and pulling it with your gloved hands until it is very thin.  Let cool completely.  Break into small pieces, and store between layers of waxed paper.

Flashback: Triple Ginger Cookies

A smattering of ginger sugar on top

Remember these crackle-topped, chewy cookies with three kinds of ginger? I made them again last night, this time with three twists of cracked black pepper, which you could round up to one-quarter teaspoon. Verdict: Still delicious, still awesome.