Cardamom Rolls Take 3

Well I'm a fish out of water when it comes to bread making..but I'll try anything! My first mistake? Knowing the difference between active dry yeast and rapid/ instant yeast. I figured yeast is yeast right? Wrong!

The advantage of the rapid-rise is the rising time is half that of the active dry and it only needs one rising.

Instant yeast is more finely ground and absorbs moisture faster, rapidly converting starch and sugars to carbon dioxide, the tiny bubbles that make the dough expand and stretch.{you learn something new everyday!}Unfortunately I didn't realize that they look exactly the same at the store! So my first attempt was not so good!
I made the life less rolls {still ate them!} unsuccessful but it gave me an idea of what I wanted to change from the recipe I pulled from. MORE Cardamom! I love the flavor when most call for recipes called for 1 tsp I opted for 1 tbsp and a half! I know it's a lot of spice! I also added more sugar ! With my "mise en place" another attempt was a project for the next day.
Day two

getting up early again... trying to make this try a success! I had my instant yeast and started back in. After I baked these I realized they still didn't have the texture I was looking for but they had the taste! So I decided... I'm remaking these ..RIGHT NOW!

Third try {Please work!!!}

I figured that the recipe was off and went back to text book bread making Thank goodness I have two text books that have hints and techniques .
I'm going to make this recipe easy to follow


Get your Kitchen aid sift 4 cups of all purpose flour, 1 cup sugar,1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp-1 Tbsp of ground cardamom {to taste I love the spice flavor} with your paddle let it mix up a bit. add 1 stick of butter {cold cut in to 1/2 inch pieces} Mix it up until it looks like corn meal.
warm a 1 1/4 cup of milk to 110-120 degrees add 1 1/2 Tbsp instant yeast let it dissolve a bit
{ you are a bread maker do what ever you do to get your yeast active!} add it to the flour butter mixture paddle for 2 minutes switch to the hook attachment knead it for 3 minutes.



Cover for twenty minutes.

Place on a floured surface

Cut in to 6 -7 balls let rest for another 20-30 min. Pre heat your oven 350 Roll out and cut into three strips {then braid}

I did a "single layer" flat braid then circled it to form roll.
Brush with egg wash I use 1 beaten egg and a splash of heavy cream
sprinkle sugar/ salt topping
3 Tbsp coarse sanding sugar and 1 Tbsp of Kosher salt mix well in a small bowl.
Bake about 30 mins. Let fully cool




{a bit of butter and I'm happy}
Home Baked bread is essentially the best check out more helpful hint on real food for real families!

For the Love of Pie

I was so happy to be invited to a Pie Party hosted by the lovely Vanessa M. To be honest I don't really make pie so I decided make Crostatas. We make these at work in apple and cherry. I added some twists of my own and voila! The pies both savory and sweet were all fabulous! Vanessa make pie pops {so cool}! One of my favorite pies was a red potato one! I had a great time eating endless pies, drinking wine and talking to some amazing ladies.The only down side is I ate way too much!

{ what a beautiful spread!}

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Making Crostata

Making your own dough is simple.

Short Crust Pastry:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon sugar

1 cup butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch pieces

1/4 -1/2 cup ice water

{hello butter}

In a mixer with the paddle mix all dry ingredients. add butter mix until corn meal consistency and slowly add your water until it ball up pull out and wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour before weighing and rolling. You will need flour to roll out.

I made 3 oz balls

I rolled these out and placed a fine disk of almond paste on the bottom before filling.
The fillings I used were Peach Cardamom,Peach Blackberry,Apricot blueberry,Blackberry Lemon and

{Apricot Lavender}
This one didn't make it to the party but it did make it into my belly!

when wrapping these you want to make sure you fold and pinch kinda like a over lapping a tortilla. * Don't over fill it will over flow in the oven

{ready for the oven}

I used a heavy cream egg wash before baking on 375 rotating after 20 mins then returning to the oven for another 20 mins.
I enjoy then fully cooled at room temp!

Petite Cake

Making these petite cakes was easier then I thought. I thought I had to buy small pans and bake individual ones {taking forever}. Nope all you need is a sheet cake and a cutter. I love the idea of individual cakes per guest for an event.

Fondant/gumpaste flowers

{Vanilla bean with a modified Cream cheese Frosting}

This is another post on the Wedding that I just did. I made a variety of fondant/gum paste flowers. I like the mix the two types because the fondant stays softer than gum paste but gum paste is easier to get thin and pliable. I knew I was going to be knee deep in cupcakes so during the week I would make different flowers to top the cupcakes.

{Coconut Cupcake with Coconut Butter cream}

I was so busy that I didn't get a picture of the Lemon Cupcakes with daisy's :(

Making white chocolate curls

Well this is a first post of the many elements that I did for a wedding Sat May 8. It was a all white{color} wedding. The bride wanted 5 types of cupcakes one I decided on was a chocolate cupcake with white chocolate frosting topped with white chocolate shaving garnish.
I have a no big deal attitude when it come to something that I have never done before. I figure there is enough info on the web to stir me in the right direction..then it will be a trial and error from then on out. So I melted down white chocolate {which is harder to work with then regular "real"chocolate}poured it on the back of a cookie sheetand let it cool for only 10+ minutes. The first time I was using a garnish comb which made the shavings way too small. So I redid the process and used a high quality cheese slicer {Better Cheddar $15}. Much better! I think if I did this with regular chocolate it would curl more evenly.