As the recipient of a few quarts of wild blueberries, and the need to bake away as much of my 'pantry' as possible, I went all out. On this weekends menu:
Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins
Blueberry Danish Braid
Cardamom Blueberry Sourdough Bagels
Blueberry Mirror Cake
Blueberry Danish Braid
Cardamom Blueberry Sourdough Bagels
Blueberry Mirror Cake
Some of you will recognize two of these as DB re-runs. I wasn't around for the Strawberry Mirror Cake in July of 2007, but being up to my elbows in blueberries, it seemed a good candidate to attempt!
The menu is challenging for a weekend (especially since I started Saturday afternoon - so really 24 hours!), but considering I sold my KA mixer, my food processor, and several baking implements, it seemed near impossible!
I had the sourdough starter already brewing in the fridge, so that was a big help. I took it out Saturday morning and fed it before I went to work. At lunch I threw half of it out and fed it again. By the time I got home from work at 4, I make firm starter and allowed it to proof in a warm draft-free place for 8 hours. After that was done, I washed some blueberries, coated them in sugar, sprinkled some cardamom on them, spread them on a parchment lined baking sheet and put them in the oven at 200 degrees to dehydrate them.
Next on the list was making danish dough. Sans KA mixer, I used the well method. It has been a while since I did any kind of "manual labor" in the kitchen. Add to this that I had a mental midget moment and for some reason decided to double that recipe.... I have no clue why... So I minced up lemon zest, de-seeded vanilla beans, got everthing ready and got started. It was a bit unruly, so there aren't any photos - I didn't want to risk flouring/doughing up the camera - but eventually everything came together :).
With the dough resting in the fridge for 30 min, I pulled out the butter, rolled the sticks in flour then, using a plastic bench scraper, I folded the flour into the butter. Granted, the butter was not as cold as it was when I did this with my KA mixer, but I saw no significant ill-effects from this. I did put it into the fridge for about 10 min to firm it up. When the dough had rested enough, I proceeded to make the pastry dough.
By the time the pastry dough had been turned 4 times, the blueberries were ready to come out of the oven and come to temperature. At the same time, I threw more blueberries into a saucepot and made the filling for my danish.
At 10pm, I was ready to start the cake portion of the mirror cake. About a minute into whisking the eggs and sugar together, my arm was killing me! "WHAT THE H*#$& WERE YOU THINKING????" was going through my head, as I was scouring the steps, coming to the realization that I still would need to whisk up egg whites AND cream... Oy vey...
The cake was easy to make - because I was whisking by hand I don't think the whites were as stiff as they would have been with my trusty KA, so the cake didn't rise as much as I had hoped.
By the time the cake came out of the oven to cool, I pulled out the firm starter for the bagels and proceeded making the bagel dough. At around 11:30 I had the dough finshed as was kneading in my mostly dehydrated blueberries. Since the bagel dough needed another hour or so to raise before forming the bagels themselves, I fould a movie on TV and watched that. Yes, so in the very, very, very early morning, I was up forming bagels. All I know, is I made it to bed around 2 am.
I figured at some point my ambition would be punished. Thankfully my sister, who rarely calls me at home (she usually catches me at work), decided facilitate that by calling at 10 am her time....
Me: "Hello?" (barely audible)
Her: "Where you sleeping?? Oh, isn't it 7 am there???"
Me: "Ummm no - theres FOUR hours difference between you and me...."
So rather than sleep in an extra hour or two, I was put back to work after talking to my sis and then my mom for about an hour total. Good thing too, because there was still a lot to do!
I pulled out the pastry dough, cut it, rolled it, trimmed, filled, and braided it, then let it proof. I also pulled out the bagels and let them come to room temperature (about a hour or so). While waiting, I mixed up my cream cheese mixture and made the muffins. Total this takes about 20 minutes of prep time and 16 or so minutes to bake, depending on how hot I happen to have the oven. You keep the cheese batter and the muffin batter separate and then sandwich the cheese batter inbetween muffin batter in a muffin pan. The cream cheese mixture melts into the muffin batter during baking, giving the muffin a rich creamy taste!
Muffins were done by 9, water was boiling ready to go for bagels. The key to knowing if bagels are ready is if they float in cold water. If they don't float, they need a little more time proofing, just leave them out covered in plastic, until one floats when tested. I boil my bagels in water that's had malt syrup and baking soda added. They boil for 2 minutes (one per side) and drain a few minutes on a rack, are topped with a cardamom-sugar before being placed back on the baking sheet and thrown into the oven. Bagels take about 10-15 minutes to bake at 500 degrees.
Bagels done by 10am, so now the mirror cake. Mashing blueberries by hand to make puree was the worst part - blueberry juice is persistent! I managed to whip up the cream, though i did have a boo-boo and accidentally brought the custart to a boil, which did cause it to curdle a bit. Not to be discouraged, I did finish the cake. Because the steps were a little more time consuming than I had estimated, I have no pictures of the cake. I wish I had - the blueberry puree imparted a lovely violet color to the bavarian cream, and the juice make a deep amethyst mirror. It was absolutely stunning!
So here's a picture of the baked bounty:
I didn't win anything, but that wasn't the point for me. Everyone enjoyed my entries and lucky for me I was one of the few who didn't have to take anything home! I did manage to bake through all my flour, eggs, sugar, and cream which makes me happy. I also felt more relaxed afterward than I had for a while. There is something about baking from scratch BY HAND that is theraputic. Granted, dearest hubby has already told me that my new KA mixer is already waiting for me to come home, so I don't think I'll be signing up for this type of therapy again anytime soon!
The menu is challenging for a weekend (especially since I started Saturday afternoon - so really 24 hours!), but considering I sold my KA mixer, my food processor, and several baking implements, it seemed near impossible!
I had the sourdough starter already brewing in the fridge, so that was a big help. I took it out Saturday morning and fed it before I went to work. At lunch I threw half of it out and fed it again. By the time I got home from work at 4, I make firm starter and allowed it to proof in a warm draft-free place for 8 hours. After that was done, I washed some blueberries, coated them in sugar, sprinkled some cardamom on them, spread them on a parchment lined baking sheet and put them in the oven at 200 degrees to dehydrate them.
Next on the list was making danish dough. Sans KA mixer, I used the well method. It has been a while since I did any kind of "manual labor" in the kitchen. Add to this that I had a mental midget moment and for some reason decided to double that recipe.... I have no clue why... So I minced up lemon zest, de-seeded vanilla beans, got everthing ready and got started. It was a bit unruly, so there aren't any photos - I didn't want to risk flouring/doughing up the camera - but eventually everything came together :).
With the dough resting in the fridge for 30 min, I pulled out the butter, rolled the sticks in flour then, using a plastic bench scraper, I folded the flour into the butter. Granted, the butter was not as cold as it was when I did this with my KA mixer, but I saw no significant ill-effects from this. I did put it into the fridge for about 10 min to firm it up. When the dough had rested enough, I proceeded to make the pastry dough.
By the time the pastry dough had been turned 4 times, the blueberries were ready to come out of the oven and come to temperature. At the same time, I threw more blueberries into a saucepot and made the filling for my danish.
At 10pm, I was ready to start the cake portion of the mirror cake. About a minute into whisking the eggs and sugar together, my arm was killing me! "WHAT THE H*#$& WERE YOU THINKING????" was going through my head, as I was scouring the steps, coming to the realization that I still would need to whisk up egg whites AND cream... Oy vey...
The cake was easy to make - because I was whisking by hand I don't think the whites were as stiff as they would have been with my trusty KA, so the cake didn't rise as much as I had hoped.
By the time the cake came out of the oven to cool, I pulled out the firm starter for the bagels and proceeded making the bagel dough. At around 11:30 I had the dough finshed as was kneading in my mostly dehydrated blueberries. Since the bagel dough needed another hour or so to raise before forming the bagels themselves, I fould a movie on TV and watched that. Yes, so in the very, very, very early morning, I was up forming bagels. All I know, is I made it to bed around 2 am.
I figured at some point my ambition would be punished. Thankfully my sister, who rarely calls me at home (she usually catches me at work), decided facilitate that by calling at 10 am her time....
Me: "Hello?" (barely audible)
Her: "Where you sleeping?? Oh, isn't it 7 am there???"
Me: "Ummm no - theres FOUR hours difference between you and me...."
So rather than sleep in an extra hour or two, I was put back to work after talking to my sis and then my mom for about an hour total. Good thing too, because there was still a lot to do!
I pulled out the pastry dough, cut it, rolled it, trimmed, filled, and braided it, then let it proof. I also pulled out the bagels and let them come to room temperature (about a hour or so). While waiting, I mixed up my cream cheese mixture and made the muffins. Total this takes about 20 minutes of prep time and 16 or so minutes to bake, depending on how hot I happen to have the oven. You keep the cheese batter and the muffin batter separate and then sandwich the cheese batter inbetween muffin batter in a muffin pan. The cream cheese mixture melts into the muffin batter during baking, giving the muffin a rich creamy taste!
Muffins were done by 9, water was boiling ready to go for bagels. The key to knowing if bagels are ready is if they float in cold water. If they don't float, they need a little more time proofing, just leave them out covered in plastic, until one floats when tested. I boil my bagels in water that's had malt syrup and baking soda added. They boil for 2 minutes (one per side) and drain a few minutes on a rack, are topped with a cardamom-sugar before being placed back on the baking sheet and thrown into the oven. Bagels take about 10-15 minutes to bake at 500 degrees.
Bagels done by 10am, so now the mirror cake. Mashing blueberries by hand to make puree was the worst part - blueberry juice is persistent! I managed to whip up the cream, though i did have a boo-boo and accidentally brought the custart to a boil, which did cause it to curdle a bit. Not to be discouraged, I did finish the cake. Because the steps were a little more time consuming than I had estimated, I have no pictures of the cake. I wish I had - the blueberry puree imparted a lovely violet color to the bavarian cream, and the juice make a deep amethyst mirror. It was absolutely stunning!
So here's a picture of the baked bounty:
I didn't win anything, but that wasn't the point for me. Everyone enjoyed my entries and lucky for me I was one of the few who didn't have to take anything home! I did manage to bake through all my flour, eggs, sugar, and cream which makes me happy. I also felt more relaxed afterward than I had for a while. There is something about baking from scratch BY HAND that is theraputic. Granted, dearest hubby has already told me that my new KA mixer is already waiting for me to come home, so I don't think I'll be signing up for this type of therapy again anytime soon!
1 comment:
Wow, am I impressed. I can't imagine baking that much in such a short period of time. It all looks wonderful too.
Post a Comment