This one was amazing with portobello mushrooms, roasted red peppers, onions, and yeah..a little chipotle. I can’t get past that spicy, smoky combo!

I have found that by letting the pizza crust rise in the pan, baking at 500F on a stone until done, and then adding ingredients and baking at 375F until cheese melts I end up with crispy, chewy, yummy crust.

Adding 1-2 tablespoons straight gluten flour to your pizza crust recipe will also give you that awesome chewy crust.

You can use homemade sauce or Newmans Own Sockarooni. I love that stuff. Use a combination of cheeses:

• Fontina
• Mozzarella
• Romano
• Provolone

Or whatever you like.

Anyway, try the method. Just preheat the oven  (and stone if you have it ) to 500F. Bake your crust. Reduce the oven temp and then add the toppings.

Perfect crust every time.

Here are some pizza crusts on Baking Delights:

• Daring Bakers Pizza Crust
• Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

You can try these or use your own recipe with this technique.

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I found a french vanilla flavoring at the store the other day, and I was writing an article for a local magazine on..ice cream.  I had all ready done the vanilla, but wondered…with some adjustments? What would triple french vanilla taste like?

Triple French Vanilla Ice Cream is NOT for the faint of heart

Triple French Vanilla.  Sensual, seductive, intense…almost chocolate in character…think of expensive ivory silk (peace silk, of course) and the way that it feels on a hot day when you slide on that luxurious silk robe after a fragrant bath.

And you can add things to it.  Jimmies, sauce, fruit, or…my personal favorite, (dirty-little-secret ) pretzels.

Marye's dirty-little-secret

This ice cream is my base for most other ice creams I make.  It is intensely rich and if you have trouble with fats you can switch the half and half for whole milk but don’t unless you absolutely have to.  This is so creamy, and silky, and amazing that you have to expience it once in awhile.  If you want to add chopped fruit or a fudge swirl do it just at the end of the freezing time.  It is important that you let it ripen in the freezer over night.  I know, but really the texture gets better and it doesn’t melt so quickly.  Trust me. Lick the dasher and stop whining.

(Wordpress refused to upload my last photo..I will try to get back later!)

Triple French Vanilla Ice Cream

• 3 cups half and half
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
• 2  3-inch vanilla beans, split
• 1 1/2  teaspoons pure Vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon French Vanilla flavoring
• 1 tablespoon bourbon (optional)
• 1/8 tsp salt

1. Heat the sugar, salt, vanilla beans, bourbon, and half and half in a heavy saucepan until it is very hot and bubbles form around the edge.  Do not let it boil.  Remove from heat, cover, and allow to cool completely.  Longer is better.  Overnight will yield the most vanilla flavor.
2. Remove beans.  Scrape the seeds and pulp back into the cream mixture, discard the shell.
3. Beat the  heavy cream until soft peaks form.  Add vanilla extracts.
4. Fold into half and half mixture carefully.
5. Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions.

Makes ½ gallon

images:maryeaudet

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Well, I didn’t get time to cook it Tuesday or Wednesday and so I ended up doing it Thursday.  By then it had had nearly an entire week in the brine.   I was a little concerned about the meat being tough, or stale, or…you know, there are a million things that can go wrong with a recipe that you are trying for the first time, right?

I shouldn’t have worried at all.

I rinsed the corned beef according to directions and placed it in a large stock pot.  I added about 2 teaspoons more pickling spice, some more peppercorns, two bay leaves, and three peeled cloves of garlic.  I covered it with water, covered the pan and simmered for about 4-5 hours.

Wow.  It was amazingly flavorful.  I think it picked up a little too much salt from the extra two days in the brine but it was still, by everyone’s vote, better than anything that came in a package (complete with chemicals) from the store.

Sliced thin, stacked on the plate, served with potatoes and steamed cabbage, with citrus rolled sponge cake (recipe forthcoming), it was an amazing meal.

Next time I will add a couple of hot dried peppers to add a bit more spice.  It was very tender, though, and the flavor was just what it should be.

There is seriously no reason not to take the time to make corned beef yourself.  It is simple and delicious and even a great money saver.  Well, kind of.  It is so good that your family will eat all of it and there won’t be leftovers.  In fact they ate it so fast that I did not get the pictures I wanted to!

image: (c) marye audet 2009 all rights reserved

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Making a bread braid is not hard.  It is just like braiding hair, only doughier.

You will cut the dough lengthwise into three narrow pieces, and then squish together at the top firmly.  Now just braid until you get to the bottom.  Turn the ends under and place in your greased pan…perfect!

This is a lightly sweet white bread with a sprinkle of sesame seeds. The heavy amount of dairy in here gives it it’s light, delicate texture and tender crumb, almost cake-like.   This recipe makes 3 loaves.

 Honey Sesame Braid 

1 pkg dry yeast

1/2 c warm water

1 1/2 c milk, warm

1/4 c warmed (not hot) honey

1/4 c melted unsalted butter

1 tbs salt

3 eggs-room temp

7-9 cups flour

1 egg white beaten, for wash

a few tablespoons full of sesame seeds

Combine water and yeast.  Set aside to get foamy.

Combine milk, butter, honey, and salt. Cool to lukewarm.

Ad the milk mixture to the yeast mixture.  Mix well and then add flour a little at a time until dough leaves sides of bowl.  Knead  until springy and elastic and no longer sticky.  Set in a greased bowl.  Grease the top and cover with a tea towel.  Set aside in a warm place to rise for  1 1/2 hours.

Punch down.  Shape into loaves or your choice of shapes.   Allow to rise about 1 hour.  Brush with egg white and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

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Long before vanilla beans were being imported into Europe and North America, rosewater was being included in cakes, cookies, pies, and confections. A classic combination is rose and almond but the versatility of this flavor allows for more contemporary renditions. I love rose and white chocolate, and rose and lemon, for example. Don;t expect the flavor to jump out at you no matter how much you put in, it is a nuance not a major player.

If you have never added rose petals to a salad , cake, or other food, then you are missing out. Make sure that they are unsprayed! Red ones tend to be a touch bitter, but pink and white have the delicate rose flavor.

I made over a gallon of this stuff yesterday afternoon and it was fantastic. I think it needed white chocolate chips to be perfect, though. If you allow your ice cream to ripen in the freezer overnight it will be a better texture but we can never wait that long.

Again, I used goat’s milk and cream for this, like with the Earl Grey ice cream I posted on Kettle and Cup a few days ago. If you are not using fresh goat’s milk then use half whole milk and half- half and half (that is an odd sentence!)to make up for the loss of creaminess. Yes this is high fat. That is what makes ice cream so good. If you want low fat eat jello.

Rose Vanilla Ice Cream

Yield:about a gallon

10 c goat milk or 5 c milk and 5 cups half and half

2 c heavy cream

3 c sugar

pinch salt

1 tablespoon rose water

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp lemon peel

Mix together well and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. Some great additions would be:

chopped almonds

white chocolate

milk chocolate

strawberries

raspberries

Other recipes with rose that you might enjoy are:

Victorian Rose Pound Cake

Key Lime and Rose Muffins

Rose Crackle Cookies ..in fact you could make awesome ice cream sandwiches out of the ice cream and these cookies!

on Kettle and Cup:

Rose and Cinnamon Scones

Images: Marye Audet

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Summer is the time for cook-outs for sure. When you can make homemade, delicious (soft!) hot dog and hamburger buns in less than an hour why in the world would you buy them?

Did I say less than an hour? Yep!

These freeze well so you can make them ahead of time. If you have a regular baking day, or OAMC weekend make up a few batches of these for the month and freeze them for quick meals anytime.

Most of us do not consider how many chemicals we take into our bodies. We watch fats, and eat healthy, but when you are buying prepared foods, like bread, you are getting all kinds of things that are unpronounceable. Even if you are not eating organic (and I really encourage you to do so as much as you can) making your own foods will keep many chemicals out of your family’s bodies.

And just because I am on a soapbox here….

Rant:Americans, for the most part, spend the least percentage of their paycheck of anyone in the world  on groceries. We would rather have cable t.v. and a new car than high quality foods. What has happened in the last 50 years is that we have lost flavors! We are used to eating so bland that fresh foods taste too intense sometimes. You cannot buy a two week old carrot from Kroger and expect it to taste like a carrot picked fresh from your garden. You cannot buy beef that has been raised in stressful factory conditions, pumped full of hormones and antibiotics and forced to be cannibalistic, ground up and then pumped full of stuff to make it red, and expect it to taste like beef that has been pastured and allowed to be raised in a humane and ethical manner. It amazes me that people will pay 4.00 a gallon for gas so they can run to the mall and yet will gravitate toward the 1.99 a lb stuff at wal-mart. End Rant

Give these a try, even if you aren’t used to working with a yeast dough. They are super simple!

Homemade Hot Dog or Hamburger Buns

1 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup unsalted butter
4 1/2 cups flour (unbleached, whole wheat, or a mix)
1 package instant yeast
1 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 egg, room temperature

Heat the milk, water, honey and butter until butter is melted. Check temperature. Depending on the temperature, let cool to 120F. Carefully beat in egg.
Mix 2 cups of the flour, yeast, and salt. Mix into the milk mixture. Stir in the rest of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Beat well after each addition.
When the dough pulls together, (it will form a soft ball) turn it out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. This should take about 5 minutes.
Divide dough into 12 -16 equal pieces. This will depend on the size you want for the finished bun. Shape into smooth balls, flatten slightly, and place on a silpat covered baking sheet.
Let rise for 30 to 35 minutes. When buns have almost doubled bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.
If you are making hot dog buns I find it easiest to roll the dough out into a large rectangle and cut into smaller rectangles. Let rise with sides touching.

You can brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, coarse sea salt, or whatever you like. You can add dry onion soup mix for onion rolls. These are very versatile!
Makes 12-16

Image: Marye Audet

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I love the word hearth, it conjures up romantic images of cottages, crackling fires and romantic heroes.

And the cake? That picture is from 1963…and I will share the story in a day or so…

Anyway, Valentines Day has become a holiday that is all about how much you spend, just like Christmas and Easter. The candy companies have convinced us that without a $20 box of chocolate our day is incomplete and we are unloved.

Is there anything more loving that homemade? I don’t think so. Here are some ideas for you, some are mine, some are from around the web. Take back the day. Simplicity is good for our budgets, our environment, but most importantly, simplicity is good for the soul.

Oh, and remember, if you are not reading this at http://bakingdelights.com, then you are reading stolen material.

1. A Chocolate Portrait. Seriously this site shows you how to do a portrait from a black and white picture in chocolate! What a great gift!

2. Decorated Cookies. I love this sugar cookie recipe. I will be making some Valentines Day cookies from it closer to Valentine’s Day. Beautiful with pink sprinkles, or glazed, or gilded with tons of royal icing flowers.

3. Chocolate & Earl Grey Terrine. This is rich, chocolaty and luscious. And sensual. Perfect with a sparkling dessert wine.

4. Melt some good chocolate and dip pretzels in it. Yum.

5.Chocolate Truffle Brownies

6. Apricot and white chocolate scones, cut in a heart shape? Or substitute dried cherries and dark chocolate!

7. Make your own truffles. It really is easy, and believe it or not you can make them as well as Godiva. I promise.

Basic Chocolate Truffles

8 oz good quality chocolate (50% cocoa, preferably higher) broken into pieces
1/2 c heavy cream

1 Tsp corn syrup

1 Tbs unsalted butter

Bring cream, butter, and corn syrup just to a simmer. Remove from heat, and add in chocolate. Do not stir but allow chocolate to soften for 3-5 minutes. Stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth. refrigerate until set. Using a melon baller, dip out the cold ganache and roll into balls. Dip into melted chocolate or roll in cocoa.

8. You can also make tea infused truffles, Earl Grey Truffles

9. Three Cheese Fondue with Champagne. I would be impressed.

10. Chocolate Covered Cherries. Yum

Not only that…but over the next week or so I will be giving my recipe for a Romantic Valentines Day dinner, as well as some yummy chocolate covered espresso beans over on Kettle and Cup… I LOVE Valentines Day..so check both blogs …
Today is the first day of voting for the chocolate contest. You can vote for me AND register to win a matching trip yourself…just click on the link.

Post from: Baking Delights

Is there anything more sacred to childhood than a couple of graham crackers and a tall glass of cold milk? I don’t think so. Like so many convenience foods though, it is easy to pick them up at the store and lull our taste buds into mediocrity. Seriously, try homemade crackers, especially homemade graham crackers, and you will be hooked on them. The taste is very intensely different. The graham flour is different than regular whole wheat flour, you may need to get it at the local Whole Foods type store.

I was going to make these today and post the pictures however life happened and so I will be making them tomorrow…and posting pictures. But, as a fair trade I decided to post a picture of my favorite vintage tea set. Enjoy!

Homemade Graham Crackers:

350F 4 dozen
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat graham flour (Bob’s Red Mill is the brand I use)
1/2 cup sugar (use half brown sugar)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

4 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup cold water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or maple extract..yum)

In a food processor or the bowl of an electric mixer, mix together the flours, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add the cold butter and mix or process until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the honey, water, and vanilla. Mix until the dough comes together in a ball. Between 2 sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap, roll the dough 1/2-inch thick. Chill for 1 hour, until firm. Lightly flour the dough and roll 1/8-inch thick. With a sharp knife or cookie cutter, cut into 2-inch squares. Arrange the crackers on nonstick, silpat, or parchment lined cookie sheets. With a fork, prick several holes in each cracker. You can sprinkle with some sugar crystals if you like. Bake for 15 minutes, until lightly browned at the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan.

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