Marc is working part time at Home Depot.   I think it has been good for him in the long run- he enjoys it, and working part time has been easier on his knees.  This morning he had to be there at 6:00 so we were up early.  I am a morning person,  I actually like getting up.  Once the sun started coming up this is what I saw:

Could it be?  I opened the door…

This is a lot of snow for my area of Texas! The horses were in the lean to and I was glad we had locked the goats in last night.  I knew the kids would be playing in it-I had all ready promised them a *snow* day.  So I had some coffee and quiet time and made maple crumb cakes for breakfast because…well…because what is better on a cold day than hot chocolate and crumb cakes?

I did not have maple sugar, although this recipe would be better with it.  I used organic maple extract from Frontier.  If you have access to maple sugar, by all means use it rather than the sugar called for!

Maple Crumb Cakes 

2 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c butter

1 egg

1/2 c half and half

1 tsp maple flavor

Sift dry ingredients together and set aside.

Cream the sugar and butter. Add the flavoring and the egg. Beat well.

Add the flour alternately with the half and half, and mix to a smooth batter.  Spoon into muffin cups lined with silicon cups, paper baking cups, or greased.   Top with topping and bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

Topping 

1/4 c sugar

1/4 c butter

1 tsp maple flavor

1/4 c flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c chopped pecans.

Mix dry ingredients, except pecans, together and cut in butter with fingers.  Add maple flavor and continue to cut in until all flavoring is absorbed and mixture is crumbly.  Add pecans.  Top each crumb cake before baking.

All content on this page (c)2008Marye Audet for Baking Delights, http://bakingdelights.com , and B5Media.

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Marc and I are back at the VA today.. If you think about it send up a prayer for us. They are reevaluating his disability today. :/ The VA has him at 10% but he has been in a wheelchair and on crutches since June.

When we go to the VA we never know how long we will be gone, and we always have to leave at some odd hour….so I make things ahead that the kids can grab for breakfast when they get up. I don’t know if this is actually Hungarian or not but I found it in one of my old cookbooks. It is reminiscent of Danish pastry. It has a very tender and slightly sweet crumb, buttery and flaky. Be sure and use the full fat sour cream, the low fat or fat free just won’t work. I braided it rather than doing the traditional crescents because…well because I wanted to!

Butterhorn Braid

4 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tbs sugar
1 envelope of yeast
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter
3 egg yolks, room temp
1/2 cup sour cream, room temp

Mix flour, sugar, and salt. Mix yeast into flour. Cut butter into flour mixture until crumbly. Add beaten egg yolks, sour cream and vanilla. Set dough aside.

Filling:
Beat the reserved three egg whites until stiff. Add 2 cups of sugar, gradually. Fold in 1 cup of chopped pecans and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

Roll sough into a rectangle. Spread filling down center and then cut and braid. Place on a silpat covered baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees until lightly browned. Cool slightly. Serves 12

(c) Marye Audet for B5 Media http://bakingdelights.com  Baking Delights 

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Yeah. Use this recipe carefully, it is powerful.

I am partial to orange and spice combinations. I always pick out the spicy orange gumdrops, for example, because I love the orange and clove combination. The rolls are not harder to make than regular cinnamon rolls, and they really smell wonderful baking on a Saturday morning. You can shape them Friday night, and put them, covered, in the refrigerator over night. Take them out and let them stand about 15 minutes and then bake.

These also freeze very well after they are baked. Just freeze unglazed, and warm in a 375 oven for 10 minutes.

Orange Cinnamon Rolls

3 tbs warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
5 to 5 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tbs finely grated fresh orange zest
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tbs chopped candied ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup warm milk (105-115°F)
2 tsp vanilla
6 tbs unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs at room temperature. I usually just put them in a bowl of warm, not hot, water for 10 minutes or so. They must be room temperature all the way through.

Filling

2/3 cup soft unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

4 tsp. freshly grated orange peel

Stir together warm water, yeast, and 1 teaspoon sugar in the bowl of mixer fitted with kneading attachment. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Combine 4 cups flour with zest, salt, and spices in a bowl.

Add milk, vanilla, butter, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar to yeast, then mix at medium speed until combined. Beat in 3 eggs, 1 at a time, then add flour mixture and mix until combined.

Mix at medium-low speed, adding more flour until a smooth but slightly sticky dough forms. Transfer dough to floured counter and knead by hand until smooth and elastic about three minutes. Dough will still be sticky. Form dough into a ball and transfer to a large buttered bowl, turning to coat with butter.

Cover bowl with kitchen towel and let dough rise until doubled in bulk, two hours.

Turn out dough onto work surface and knead several times to remove air. Roll out into a rectangle and spread with filling. Roll up as for a jelly roll, and slice. Place cut side down on greased baking sheet.

Cover loosely with kitchen towel and let dough rise 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer rolls to a rack and cool, at least 15 minutes. Frost with orange glaze and serve warm.

Glaze

1/4 c unsalted butter
1/4 c cream cheese
1 lb. confectioner’s sugar
cream to reach correct consistency
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix together until smooth adding cream as needed.

All material on this page copyright (c) Marye Audet for Baking Delights (http://bakingdelights.com) 2008. Any use of pictures and or text without prior permission of the author/author’s representative is fraud and punishable by being forced to scrub the author’s kitchen floor with a toothbrush. Yours. Stealing is not nice. Original content can be found at Baking Delights.

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As most of you know, I believe that cooking with your kids is one of the most important investments of time you can make. There is just something about it that unlocks their minds and their tongues. I don’t understand people who complain that their teens never talk to them..I have to generally run mine out of the kitchen with a hot spatula!Anyway…. This is not a breakfast for everyday. There is no way it could be considered nutritious or healthy. It is, however, wonderful. Save it for a snow day, or a gloomy day, or some day when someone needs to feel special. The kids can definitely help with these!

S’Mores Pancakes:

Pancake Batter:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 c coarsely crushed graham crackers
1/2 c mini marshmallows
In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Combine eggs, milk and oil; add to dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips, graham cracker, and marshmallows. Pour the batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a lightly greased hot griddle. Turn when bubbles form on top; cook until second side is golden brown. Marshmallows will tend to stick to griddle as the melt. Spray with cooking spray if needed.

Stack pancakes with butter, and additional marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate chips between layers. Dust with powdered sugar. Serves about 6.

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I was paging through my Farm Journal bread cookbook and looking for something a little different for Sunday breakfast. We are eating alot of eggs now, our chickens are laying close to two dozen a day…That sounds like alot until you figure that my 15 year old eats 4 for breakfast, my husband eats 3 or 4 for breakfast and then everyone else eats 1-2…This morning my son in law ate SIX. Adding that to the baking that is done means that those lovely, organic, FREE free range eggs go very, very fast.

Anyway…I was paging through the cookbook and thinking that there must be something I hadn’t tried and I saw this recipe for Finnish Coffee Braid. I have, over the past year or so, developed an infatuation with cardamom as a spice and so I decided to try it.

The bread is very light and soft, almost airy, with just a faint hint of sweetness and cardamom. I did add raisins and they were good but I think next time I would add orange peel instead.

You can shape it in either round loaves or braids. The braids were very pretty- I took pictures and hopefully can get my photo software installed on this computer tonight and get the pictures up.

I brushed the unbaked braids with an egg yolk wash and then sprinkled with almonds. It made great toast as well as just a breakfast bread for slicing. I thought it went slightly stale very fast, so unless you are going to eat it all the first day freeze the second loaf, or plan on using it for french toast..which I imagine would be fabulous.

Finnish Coffee Bread

2pkg active dry yeast

2 c warm water

1 egg, at room temp

6-7 c flour

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/3 c sugar

2 tsp salt

1/4 c melted butter

Thin Confectioners glaze made from 1c confectioners (powdered) sugar and enough cream to make it runny.

Sprinkle yeast in warm water. Let stand for a few minutes.

Blend in egg, 3 c flour, cardamom, sugar and salt (and 1 c raisins if you are adding them). Beat at medium speed 2 minutes, until smooth. Add butter and enough remaining flour to make a soft dough that leaves the sides of the bowl.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, maybe 8 minutes.

Turn into greased bowl and allow to rise in a warm place until double, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down and let rest 10 minutes.

Turn out on to a lightly floured board and divide in half. Cut each half into 3 equal parts.

Braid loaves, using 3 strips of dough for each braided loaf. Pinch ends and place in greased loaf pans. Brush with a wash of 1 egg yolk and 1 tsp water, and then sprinkle with almonds if desired. Let rise about 45 minutes.

Bake at 400F for 40-50 minutes. Cool loaves slightly, remove from pans and drizzle icing over the top.

2 loaves

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