New York Cheesecake

NY Cheesecake | Bakewell Junction

Happy Mother’s Day!  My hubby and puppy haven’t been feeling well plus most evenings I’ve been waging the annual losing battle with the dandelions, so haven’t posted in a few weeks.  I’m glad be back and I baked a couple of yummy sweets for today.

My Sister-in-law has made a delicious cheesecake with a chocolate graham cracker crust on many occasions and she was kind enough to give me the recipe several years ago.  I’ve made this cheesecake many times with delicious results each time.  This is a creamy and delicious treat that I’m sharing with you today.  The crust reminds me of the Carvel crunchies in their cakes.

I also made Lizzy’s Moomie’s Cinnamon Buns.  Lizzy’s blog is That Skinny Chick Can Bake and she has so many lovely recipes that I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to make all those I’d like to make but be sure to take a look at this recipe, it’s a hit.  Here’s my first attempt with this recipe and both my Nieces loved them.

Moomies Cinnamon Rolls | Bakewell Junction

Enjoy!

New York Cheesecake

Yield:  12 servings                  Cook Time:  60 minutes

Crust:

• 16 to 18 chocolate graham cracker squares (about 1 1/2 cups finely ground)
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:

• 3 8 ounce tubs of whipped cream cheese, room temperature
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 16 ounces sour cream, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs, room temperature

Directions:

Step 1:  For the crust:  If your spring form pan leaks, line the outside with aluminum foil (it may be better to do this regardless).  Finely crush the graham crackers.  I generally do this by hand while the crackers are still in the plastic package but you can put them in a mini chopper or food processor.  Place the crackers and the 5 tablespoons of melted butter in a medium bowl.  Mix thoroughly.  Lightly spray the pan with cooking spray.  Transfer the mixture to a 10 inch spring form pan.  Distribute the mixture evenly across the pan.  Press the mixture onto the bottom of the pan and at least 1/4 to 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan.  Set the prepared pan aside.

Step 2:  For the filling:  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the whipped cream cheese, butter, sour cream, cornstarch, vanilla, lemon juice and sugar until well blended.  Scrape down sides as needed.  Add eggs one at a time.  Mix each addition until completely combined before adding the next.  Scrape down sides as needed.

Step 3:  Transfer the filling into the pan and spread evenly across the pan.  Fill a roasting pan (that is larger than the spring form pan) 1/3 of the way with hot water.  Place the filled spring form pan in the center of the roasting pan.  Be sure that the water is about half way up the sides of the spring form pan.

Step 4:  Bake at 375 degrees for 60 hours.  After the cheesecake is finished baking, I usually let it cool completely with the oven door open.  I believe this helps resist cracking.

Storing:  Store in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap.

Tips:  Drizzle with Hershey’s syrup after plating.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe from my Sister-in-law and I believe originally adapted from Philadelphia Cream Cheese.

This post may also be entered in the following linky party. Click the button below to see the other great posts in the blog hop.

Berry Bread with Spread #TwelveLoaves April

Berry Bread | Bakewell Junction

For this month’s #Twelve Loaves linky party, the theme is berries.  Now I don’t normally make bread with berries, so I needed to find a recipe that I would like – not an easy task since I’m kind of picky.  As it happens, I found this recipe on Taste of Home and both my husband and I liked it.  The bread is sweet and moist with a lovely flavor.  I’ll definitely make this again.

It was a little odd with the frozen strawberries was that there seemed to be more liquid than strawberries but it turned out well, so who am I to question?  Also, the spread can be used on regular toast or bagels.

Enjoy!

Berry Bread

Yield:  2 Loaves                  Cook Time:  50 minutes

• 2 10 ounce packages frozen and sweetened sliced strawberries, thawed (I couldn’t find this size, so I bought 16 ounce packages and saved the extra)
• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup canola oil (I substituted olive oil)
• 3 ounces macadamia nuts, optional (I skipped the nuts)

Spread:

• 1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 3 tablespoons strawberries

Directions:

Step 1:  For the bread:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray two 8 by 4 inch loaf pans with cooking spray.  Drain the strawberries.  Set 1/4 cup of the strawberry juice aside.  Set 3 tablespoons of the berries aside to be used for the spread.

Step 2:  Mix the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda in a large bowl.  In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, 1/4 cup of juice and the remaining berries.  Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients to create a stiff batter.  Do not over mix.  If using, fold in the nuts.

Step 3:  Divide the batter evenly and place in the loaf pans.  Bake for 50 to 55 minutes.  When done, a toothpick inserted in the bread will come out clean.

Step 4:  For the spread:  While the bread bakes.  Soften the cream cheese in the microwave in small increments. Beat the 3 tablespoons of strawberries set aside earlier into the cream cheese.  Keep the spread in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Storing:  Store loaves in a sealed plastic container or covered with plastic wrap.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe from Taste of Home by Pat Stewart, Lees Summit, Missouri.

What is baking this April in the TwelveLoaves kitchens?  Berry Breads!

#TwelveLoaves April:  Berries.  Bake a bread, yeast or quick bread, loaf or individual.  This #TwelveLoaves is all about breads featuring beautiful berries!  Think luscious quick loaves, sinful scones, delightful Danishes.  Any way you want to feature your berries, we want to see it.  Let’s get baking!

Look at what our very talented #TwelveLoaves bakers have created this April!

• Lemon Blueberry Bread by Alice at Hip Foodie Mom
• Yoghurt Scones With Cranberries by Rossella at Ma che ti sei mangiato
• Raspberry Quick Bread by Holly at A Baker’s House
• Mixed Berry Bread by Renee at Magnolia Days
• Raspberry Danish by Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Strawberry Cinnamon Swirl Bread by Paula at Vintage Kitchen
• Berry Oatmeal Muffins by Roxana at Roxana’s Home Baking
• Strawberry Monkey Bread by Lora at Cake Duchess
• Berry Breakfast Bread by Dionne at Try Anything Once
• Strawberry Scones by Karen at Karen’s Kitchen Stories

We would love to have you join our #TwelveLoaves group; it’s easy!
1. When you post your Twelve Loaves bread on your blog, make sure that you mention the Twelve Loaves challenge in your blog post; this helps us to get more members as well as share everyone’s posts. Please make sure that your Bread is inspired by the theme!
2. Please link your post to the linky tool at the bottom of my blog. It must be a bread baked to the Twelve Loaves theme.
3. Have your Twelve Loaves bread that you baked this April 2013 posted on your blog by April 30, 2013.

You are next… Click here to enter

Lora launched this Twelve Loaves this past May and there have been many wonderful recipes shared since then.  I haven’t participated from the beginning but it’s been fun the past few months that I have participated.
Check out what we have been busy baking!

May theme: Focaccia
June theme: Corn Rolls
July theme: Challah
August theme: Summer Fruit
September: Say CHEESE!
October: Seeds, nuts and grains
November: Autumn Fruits: Apples and Pears
December: Boozy Bread
January: Clean Slate
February: Open Challenge
March: Holiday Breads

Follow @TwelveLoaves on Twitter

See what’s freshly baked for #TwelveLoaves on the growing Pinterest board.

This post may also be entered in the following linky party. Click the button below to see the other great posts in the blog hop.

Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns #Chocolateparty

Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns #chocolateparty by Bakewell Junction

Easter has come and gone but I think Hot Cross Buns are a great treat any time of year.  This is the second time I made this recipe and I made some changes this time because the first time they didn’t turn out so well (at least to my definition of well).  This doesn’t mean that no one liked the first batch – to the contrary, my husband’s co-workers couldn’t get enough of them.  They just weren’t like Hot Cross Buns, they were more like a thick, dense cookie bar.

On to the success story…  My second attempt worked out wonderfully.  The buns turned out fluffy, light and delicious.  How did this happen (you might ask)?  There are three reasons:

1. I’ve changed how I get my breads to rise.  I still put the dough in the oven but I don’t warm it by turning it on, I just add a pot of boiling water to warm the oven and turn the light on to ensure the temperature stays warm enough.
2. I changed the amount of the chocolate chips and the timing of when to add them to the dough.
3. Instead of using milk, I used buttermilk.

The chocolate party is a linky party hosted by Roxana’s Home Baking and has a different theme every month.  As it turns out, the #chocolateparty theme for April pairs buttermilk and chocolate which is great considering the modifications I made to this recipe.  The only thing I would change the next time I make this recipe is to use milk chocolate chips with a rough chop (just because they’re larger than the semi-sweet chips).  I like the flavor of milk chocolate better in some recipes.  Would you keep the semi-sweet chips or change to  milk chocolate?

Enjoy!

Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns

Yield:  15 or 16 Buns                  Cook Time:  20 minutes

Dough:

• 2 tablespoons instant yeast
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, warmed to 110 degrees
• 1 large eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten
• 4 1/2 cups flour plus more for dusting
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted melted butter plus additional for greasing the bowl and baking pan (or you can use cooking spray instead of additional butter)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or substitute milk chocolate chips chopped in half or quarters)

Glaze:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 to 3 tablespoons hot water

Crosses:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 to 2 tablespoons milk or water

Directions:

Step 1:  Warm milk in the microwave to 110 degrees.  One minute and 25 seconds works in my glass 2 cup measure.  I used my candy thermometer to check the temperature.  If you are transferring to a small bowl, warm the bowl so the milk doesn’t cool.  Add the sugar and yeast to the milk and stir to combine.  Set aside for about 10 to 15 minutes.  I used the boiling water in the oven method for this step too.  The mixture should grow and become foamy.

Step 2:  In a large mixing bowl of your electric mixer, stir together flour and salt.  In the center of the flour form a well.  Add the butter, egg and yeast into the well.  Mix the ingredients and slowly incorporate more and more flour until the flour is completely incorporated and a dough is formed.  Using a dough hook on your electric mixer, knead the dough for approximately five minutes.  The dough should now be smooth and elastic.  If necessary, you may add a little more flour.

Step 3:  Prepare a large bowl by greasing it with butter or cooking spray.  Transfer the dough into the bowl and turn it so the entire dough becomes greased.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise for an hour (I used the boiling water in the oven method here too).   After an hour, the dough should have doubled in size.

Step 4:  On a clean work surface, lightly sprinkle some flour.  Place the dough on the floured surface.  Deflate the dough.  Add the chocolate chips.  Incorporate the chips by kneading the dough.  Using a bench scraper or a sharp knife cut the dough into 15 or 16 evenly sized dough balls.  If you’re using a 9 by 13 inch pan, you may want make 3 by 5 rows of buns or your pan may fit 4 by 4 rows of buns.  Let this determine whether you should make 15 or 16 buns, otherwise you could wind up with a few oddly shaped buns.  Place the buns in a greased or parchment lined baking pan.  The buns should be set closely together in the pan.  Cover the buns and let them rise for 20 minutes (since I have a double oven, I used the boiling water in the oven method here too).

Step 5:  In a 400 degree preheated oven, bake the buns for 20 to 25 minutes.  The buns will be golden brown and smell delicious.

Step 6:  Glaze:  While the buns are baking, combine the sugar and 2 tablespoons of hot water in a small bowl.  Mix until the sugar dissolves.  If necessary, additional hot water in small increments but do not exceed a total of 3 tablespoons (i.e. the original 2 tablespoons plus up to an additional 1 tablespoon).

Step 7:  After the buns are finished baking, take them out of the oven.  Using a pastry brush, coat the buns with all the glaze immediately after removing them from the oven.  Move the buns to a wire rack and let them cool in the pan.

Step 8:  Crosses:  In a medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk (or water) to create the icing mixture.  You may add up to 1 additional tablespoon of milk to get to the a piping consistency.  Fill a piping bag with the icing and pipe crosses on the buns.  Alternatively you can fill the corner of a plastic ziploc bag, and snip 1/4 inch opening in end to pipe the crosses.  Many like these buns served warm but I thought they were delicious at room temperature.

Storing:  Store buns in a sealed plastic container or covered with plastic wrap for a few days.

Tips:  If your house is chilly like mine always is and your dough doesn’t rise, you can boil a pot of water while preparing the dough and place the water and dough in a cold oven.  The boiling water will create a warm moist environment in the oven for the dough to rise well.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe from Seeded At The Table, originally from Butter Baking.

This post may also be entered in the following linky party. Click the button below to see the other great posts in the blog hop.

Chocolate Babka #TwelveLoaves March

Chocolate Babka #TwelveLoaves March | Bakewell Junction

Mmmm….  Look at those chocolate swirls.

Chocolate Babka #TwelveLoaves March 2 | Bakewell Junction

Chocolate Babka is one of those things that I’ve wanted to try baking for several years.  I had printed a copy of the recipe I had seen on Smitten Kitchen and had it with all my other recipes (this was long before Pinterest became popular).  Thinking this would be a great recipe for #TwelveLoaves March which is featuring Holiday Breads, I decided to make it.

Babka in Polish means Grandmother and was traditionally made for Easter.  It was also a tradition in Lithuania, Slovakia, Belarus, Ukraine and Western Russia.  Another version of Babka (Chocolate Babka) is associated with Eastern European Jews.  The history behind Babka is a little confusing.  From what I’ve read on the internet, it’s debated as to who started the Babka tradition but it’s usually made around Easter.

This recipe contains a ton of butter and a ton of chocolate.  It is decadent, delicious and smells heavenly.  I would highly recommend breaking the Lenten fast with this sweet bread.  Although it takes a while to make this recipe, I had great results – my dough rose well and it was easy to roll out.  I did have one mishap because I don’t have three of the 9 by 5 loaf pans, so my attempt to put two of the loaves side by side in a half aluminum tray didn’t work out so well.  They were very dense and gooey in the middle but that didn’t alter the taste and they were devoured quickly anyway.  The only thing I would change for next time it to double the crumb topping recipe – you can never have too many crumbs.

Have you ever had Babka?  Which type do you prefer – chocolate filling, cinnamon filling, raisins, etc?

If you’re interested in additional Easter recipes that I make, try my Easter Bread or Prosciutto Bread (Lard Bread) recipes.  They’re delicious too.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Babka

Yield:  3 Loaves                  Cook Time:  70 minutes

Dough:

• 1 1/2 cups milk, warmed to 110 degrees
• 2 1/4 ounce packages active dry yeast or 4 1/2 teaspoons yeast
• 3/4 cup sugar plus a another pinch
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 2 large egg yolks at room temperature
• 6 cups flour plus more for dusting
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature plus additional for bowl and loaf pans (or you can use cooking spray instead of additional butter)

Egg Wash:

• 1 egg at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Filling:

• 2 1/4 pounds very finely chopped semisweet chocolate (I substituted a combination of Hershey’s and Lindt’s milk chocolate candy)
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

Streusel Topping:

• 1 2/3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

Directions:

Step 1:  Warm milk in the microwave to 110 degrees.  One minute and 25 seconds works in my glass 2 cup measure.  I used my candy thermometer to check the temperature.  If you are transferring to a small bowl, warm the bowl so the milk doesn’t cool.  Add the pinch of sugar and yeast to the milk and give a quick stir.  Set aside for about 5 minutes.  The mixture should become foamy.

Step 2:  Stir together 3/4 cup sugar, 2 eggs and yolks in a medium bowl.  Combine yeast and egg mixtures and mix thoroughly.

Step 3:  Add the flour and salt to the bowl of an electric mixer and give a quick stir.  Add the wet mixture to the flour and beat on low with the paddle attachment for about 30 seconds to combine.  Swap out the paddle attachment for the dough hook.  Cut 2 sticks of butter into 1 inch pieces and add to the dough.  Beat with the dough hook until butter is combined.  This will take approximately 10 minutes.  The dough will be soft and barely sticky.

Step 4:  On a clean work surface, lightly sprinkle some flour.  Place the dough on the floured surface.  You may need to scrap the bowl and dough hook to get every last bit of the wonderful dough.  Knead a minute or two.  Prepare a large bowl by buttering it or spraying with cooking spray.  Transfer dough to prepared bowl and turn to coat butter/cooking spray.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap.  Let dough rise in a warm spot for 1 hour to double in size.  My house is always cool so, while I prepare the dough, I boil a pot of water and place it in my oven along with the dough.  This creates a great environment for the dough to rise.

Step 5:  Filling:  Mix the chocolate, 1 cup sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Cut in 1 1/2 sticks of butter using a pastry cutter until you have a homogeneous mixture.

Step 6:  Egg wash:  In a small bowl, beat egg and heavy cream together.

Step 7:  Butter the loaf pans or spray with cooking spray then line with parchment paper. Punch down the dough and wait for 5 minutes before cutting into thirds.  Cover resting dough while working with the first piece of dough.  Flour the work area.  Roll the first piece of dough until it’s about 1/8 inch thick.  It should be about 16 by 16 inch square.

Step 8:  Using the egg wash, moisten the edges of the rolled dough.  Evenly crumble 1/3 (about 2 1/2 cups) of the chocolate mixture minus 2 tablespoons on rolled dough up to about 1/4 from the edge of the dough.  Beginning at one side of the dough, roll the dough up until you reach the opposite side.  Pinch the dough together to seal the edges.  The dough needs to be twisted along it’s length 5 or 6 times.  Moisten the top of the rolled dough with the egg wash.  Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the chocolate mixture on half the roll and press into the dough.  Fold the side of the dough roll without the chocolate mixture onto the side with the chocolate mixture.  Seal edges by pinching.  Twist the roll twice and place in loaf pan.  Repeat  rolling dough through placing in loaf pan for each of the other doughs.

Step 9: Streusel Topping:  Add powdered sugar, flour and butter in a large bowl.  Mix to combine and create small to large crumbs.

Step 10:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let doughs rise for 20 to 30 minutes in a warm spot.  Moisten the tops of the loaves with the egg wash.  Sprinkle the top of each loaf with 1/3 of the streusel.

Step 11:  Place loaves in preheated oven and bake 55 minutes until golden, rotating loaves midway during baking.  Lower temperature to 325 degrees and bake another 15 to 20 minutes until loaves are darker golden.  Cool completely on wire racks.  Depan loaves and try not to eat an entire loaf.

Storing:  Store loaves in a sealed plastic container or covered with plastic wrap.

Tips:

• To finely chop the chocolate easily, break it up into inch size pieces initially.  In small batches, use a food processor or mini chopper to chop it finely.
• The dough can be frozen for 1 month after preparing up to the point where they are ready to be placed in the oven.  Remove the dough from the freezer and wait 5 hours before baking.
• If your house is chilly like mine always is and your dough doesn’t rise, you can boil a pot of water while preparing the dough and place the water and dough in a cold oven.  The boiling water will create a warm moist environment in the oven for the dough to rise well.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen, originally from Martha Stewart.

What is baking this March in the TwelveLoaves kitchens? Holiday Breads!

#TwelveLoaves March:  Holiday Bread.  Bake a bread, yeast or quick bread, loaf or individual.  This #TwelveLoaves is all about the incredible holiday breads featured in March.  Do you have a favorite Easter or St. Patrick’s Day Bread?  We would love to see it.  Let’s get baking!

Look at what our very talented #TwelveLoaves bakers have created this March!

• Grammy’s Italian Easter Bread by Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious
• Hot Cross Buns by Holly at A Baker’s House
• American Irish Soda Bread by Renee at Magnolia Days
• Hot Cross Buns by Lora at Cake Duchess
• Pinca: Croatian Easter Bread by Sherron at Simply Gourmet
• Jamaican Zucchini Spiced Bun by Lyn at The Lovely Pantry
• Plaited Easter Bread with Cream Cheese Filling by Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Greek Easter Bread by Alice at Hip Foodie Mom

We would love to have you join our #TwelveLoaves group; it’s easy!
1.  When you post your Twelve Loaves bread on your blog, make sure that you mention the Twelve Loaves challenge in your blog post; this helps us to get more members as well as share everyone’s posts.  Please make sure that your Bread is inspired by the theme!
2.  Please link your post to the linky tool at the bottom of Lora’s blog (Cake Duchess) or the link below.  It must be a bread baked to the Twelve Loaves theme.
3.  Have your Twelve Loaves bread that you baked this March, 2013 posted on your blog by March 31, 2013.

You are next… Click here to enter

Follow @TwelveLoaves on Twitter

See what’s freshly baked for #TwelveLoaves on the growing Pinterest board.

This post may also be entered in the following linky party. Click the button below to see the other great posts in the blog hop.

Banana Bread

Banana Bread | Bakewell Junction

I have a delicious Banana Bread recipe to share today.  I was looking for a good recipe and a co-worker advised that his wife’s recipe was delicious.  The first time I made this bread I wasn’t happy with it but that was my fault because I mashed the bananas too much making them too watery and they fell to the bottom during baking.  This time it tasted just fabulous.  Do you have a favorite banana bread recipe?  If not (or even if you do), try this easy and tasty recipe.

Enjoy.

Banana Bread

Yield:  1 large loaf                Cook Time:  60 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 beaten eggs
• 2 cups sifted flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 to 5 very ripe medium-sized bananas or 3 large bananas

Directions:

Step 1:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Generously butter a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.  Alternatively you can use cooking spray or parchment paper.

Step 2.  Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.  Cream together butter, sugar and eggs.

Step 3:  Mash bananas with a fork.  Add mashed bananas to the butter mixture and beat on low speed until combined.  Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture.  Mix by hand until well blended.  Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan.

Step 4:  Bake for to 60 minutes in the preheated 350 degree oven or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool in the pan for 30 minutes.  Remove the bread from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!!!

Tips:  Only mash the bananas once along the length of the banana.  If you mash the bananas too much, they will become watery and will sink to the bottom of the bread.

Recipe adapted from Bill’s wife’s recipe.

This post may also be entered in the following linky party. Click the button below to see the other great posts in the blog hop.

Venetians / Rainbow Cookies / Tri Color Cookies

Venetians / Rainbow Cookies / Tri Color Cookies by Bakewell Junction

I’m sharing a delicious recipe that I made a few weeks ago.  This Christmas my friend Chris sent over her cookies and they were unbelievably delicious.  She agreed to give me her recipe and they turned out wonderfully.

My prior attempt to make Venetians with a different recipe a few years ago didn’t turn out well at all so I hadn’t tried another recipe until now.  My husband and I won’t even eat these if they’ve been purchased because they just don’t taste good.  I can hardly believe how delicious these are.

Although there’s some extra steps in assembly, these cookies aren’t really too difficult to make.  I did learn some things while making this recipe.  My Apricot preserves had some apricot chunks in it and I should probably have removed the chunks (although there were no complaints, mind you).  My almond paste wasn’t broken up evenly and it didn’t incorporate evenly into the cake (again, no complaints).  I’ve added tips at the end of the recipe so you won’t run into the same things.

I hope you try this recipe because you will get what I call the “wow factor”.  When you serve these cookies, anyone that tries them will say wow.  So do you like these cookies from the Italian bakeries?  The cookies have so many names, what name do you use?

Enjoy!

Venetians / Rainbow Cookies / Tri Color Cookies

Yield:  48 or 64 cookies (depending on cut)                  Cook Time:  15 minutes

• 8 ounces Almond Paste (I used the Odense 7 ounce tube)
• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 4 tablespoons almond extract
• 2 cups sifted flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 drops red food coloring
• 12 drops green food coloring

Icing and Filling

• 1 12 ounce jar apricot preserves
• 1 – 2 Special Dark Chocolate bars (I used a combination of Lindt and Ghirardelli)

Directions:

Step 1:  Spray 3 13 by 9 by 2 baking pans with cooking spray, line with wax paper and then spray the wax paper with cooking spray too.  I didn’t have three pans of this size, so I prepared my cakes one at a time.

Step 2:  Break apart almond paste until it looks like grains of sand and no lumps remain.  Step 3:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine almond paste, butter, sugar, egg yolks and almond extract.  Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Add flour and salt. Mix until combined.  In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff.  Carefully fold into the batter.

Step 4:  Take 1/3 of the batter (about 1 1/2 to 1 1/3 cup) and add 10 drops of green food coloring.  Using a folding motion mix the food coloring throughout the 1/3 portion of the batter.  Add additional drops as needed to reach the color you want.  Spread the green batter as evenly as possibly in the prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes until the edges become light golden.

Step 5:  Take 1/3 of the batter (about 1 1/2 to 1 1/3 cup) and add 10 drops of red food coloring.  Using a folding motion mix the food coloring throughout the 1/3 portion of the batter.  Add additional drops as needed to reach the color you want.  Spread the red batter as evenly as possibly in the prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes until the edges become light golden.

Step 6:  Take the remaining 1/3 of the batter (about 1 1/2 to 1 1/3 cup) and spread as evenly as possibly in the prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes until the edges become light golden.  Cool all three cakes completely.

Step 7:  Warm the apricot preserves in a bowl in the microwave at 30 second intervals while stirring between intervals.  Heat for a maximum of 1 1/2 minutes.  Place wax paper on a cookie sheet and then the green layer.  Spread 1/2 the apricot preserves on the green layer.  Place the untinted layer on top of the green layer.  Spread the remaining apricot preserves on the untinted layer.  Place the red layer on top of the untinted layer and cover with wax paper.  Place another cookie sheet on top of the layers and place weight on top.  Chill everything overnight in the refrigerator.

Step 8:  Remove the cookies from the refrigerator and remove the weight.  Cut the edges of the layers so there are clean edges.  The cut pieces are great for snacking.  Carefully melt the chocolate in a double boiler or the microwave.  Spread the chocolate on the top and sides of the cookies.  Let the chocolate dry.  Turn the cookies over and spread chocolate on the bottom also.  Let the chocolate dry.  Turn the cookies over and cut into 8 by 8 pieces or 6 by 8 pieces.

Storing:  Store cookies in a sealed plastic container.

Tips:

• Breaking up the almond paste can best be accomplished by breaking it into 1 inch by 1 inch cubes and using a food processor, mini chopper or blender to break it up completely.  If you don’t have access to any of these, you can use a grater to break it up.
• When the apricot preserves are heated, you can remove any large apricot chunks before spreading.  Heating the apricot preserves allows the preserves to soak into the layers and cling together better.
• To cut the layers into pieces, carefully use a sharp serrated knife.  Have the layers placed with the long edge closest to you.   Run the knife under hot water and dry it.  Cut the layers in eight slices (if you want larger cookies, make 6 slices) along the long edge of the layers.  To minimize cracking in the chocolate, start cutting in a sawing motion with the warm knife until you break through the chocolate; then press down until the knife cuts through to the bottom of the layers and chocolate.  You will likely need to repeat running the knife under hot water after four slices.  Turn the pieces that look like long narrow logs sideways.  Repeat running the knife under hot water.  Using the same sawing motion to get through the top layer of chocolate and then pressing down to cut through to the bottom of the layers and chocolate, cut each log into 8 pieces.  You will likely need to repeat running the knife under hot water for each log you cut.  Plus if some of the chocolate cracks, then you have a great snack.
• Making these a few days ahead of time allows the flavors to meld and they taste even better.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe adapted from my friend Chris.

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Black and White Cookies {or Red for Valentine’s Day with White Chocolate} #chocolateparty

Black and Whites | Bakewell Junction

It’s Valentine’s Day in a few days and I’ve been wanting to share a post for Black and White cookies, so I made a few changes to have them fit the holiday.  These are easy to make and tasty too.  As I wrote this post I noticed that Paula Deen’s original recipe got a lot of negative comments but I didn’t have the same problems and I’m glad when I printed the recipe there weren’t any comments yet or I might never have tried the recipe.

I wanted the cookies to have a heart shape, so I tried two different methods to have the cookies turn out that way.  I first tried to make heart shaped molds out of heavy duty aluminum foil but although the shapes looked okay, the cookies turned out more like biscuits because I made the molds too small so the cookies were too thick (that didn’t hurt the taste any though).  For some of the cookies, I cut the round shapes to have a point at the bottom and a divot at the top.  Do you like the look of the smaller and thicker molded cookies or the cut cookies?

Black and White Cookies

Yield:  20 to 25 cookies                  Cook Time:  15 minutes

• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 2 1/2 cups AP flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 sticks butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing and Chocolate

• 1/4 cup boiling water, as needed
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 to 3 ounces chocolate candy bar (use your favorite brand)
• red food coloring, optional
• 1/4 cup white chocolate chips, optional

Directions:

Step 1:  Mix together flours and baking powder in a medium bowl.  Using an electric mixer beat together the butter and sugar until the mixture becomes lighter in color and is thoroughly mixed.

Step 2:  Incorporate eggs into the butter mixture individually at medium speed until each is well incorporated.  Add milk and vanilla and beat until incorporated.

Step 3:  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Prepare cookie sheet by covering it with parchment paper.  For regular Black and White round cookie shape, drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough on the prepared cookie sheet.  For heart shaped cookie molds, place the molds on the prepared cookie sheet and drop the heaping tablespoonfuls of dough into the molds while ensuring that some of the dough will fill the entire shape.  Space cookies at least 2 inches apart and bake for 15 minutes.  Let cool completely before icing.  If cutting the round cookies into a heart shape, cut the rounded edges from the sides to a point at the bottom.  Then cut a divot or “v” at the top of the circle.

Step 4:  Prepare the icing by mixing the powdered sugar and water (as needed) together in a medium bowl.  The icing should be spreadable but not thin.  If tinting the icing for Valentine’s Day, add 20 or more drops of red food coloring until the icing becomes a nice shade of red.  The flat side of the cookie will become the top for these.  Spread the icing on half of the flat side of each cookie.

Step 5:  Break the chocolate candy bar into small pieces and melt in a double boiler or the microwave.  If using the microwave, melt the chocolate in small increments and stir before additional heating until it’s of spreadable consistency.  Spread the chocolate on the other half of the flat side of each cookie.  Let icing and chocolate set.

Step 6:  If using the additional garnish, melt the white chocolate in a double boiler or the microwave.  If using the microwave, melt the white chocolate in small increments and stir before additional heating until it’s of spreadable consistency.  Spoon the melted chocolate into a ziploc bag and snip the corner, making a small hole for piping.  Pipe heart shapes in the middle of each heart shaped cookie.

Storing:  Store cookies in a sealed plastic container.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe adapted from Paula Deen on foodnetwork.com.

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Pfeffernusse Cookies

Pfeffernusse | Bakewell Junction

This week I’m sharing a recipe that reminds me of the Pfeffernusse that my sisters and I loved from Stella D’Oro.  The company is still around but it’s been sold at least once and they no longer make Pfeffernusse or at least I can’t find them.  There are other cookies that we remember fondly but I haven’t found recipes for those yet.

Pfeffernusse (which means pepper nut) are a lightly spiced cookie that’s quite delicious.  Be sure to coat with powdered sugar, since the dough isn’t very sweet.  It’s a great bite-sized treat.

Pfeffernusse

Yield:  75 cookies                  Cook Time:  10 – 15 minutes

• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon anise seeds
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or vegetable shortening
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup finely chopped blanched almonds
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/3 cup brandy
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar for coating

Directions:

Step 1:  Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, black pepper in a medium bowl.  Add the cloves, cinnamon and anise seeds to the flour mixture and set aside.

Step 2:  In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer.  Add the egg and beat well until light.  Beat in the almonds.  The flour mixture will be added to the butter mixture in three additions, alternating with the remaining ingredients.  Mix in the molasses; then mix in 1/3 of the flour mixture; then mix in the brandy; then mix in 1/3 of the flour mixture; then mix in the honey and lemon rind; then mix in the rest of the flour mixture; finally mix in the lemon juice.  Beat well.  Cover mixture with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Step 3:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare cookie sheet by covering it with parchment paper or cooking spray.  Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place at least 1 inch apart on the cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

Step 4:  Place powdered sugar in a small bowl.  While cookies are still warm, roll in powdered sugar until well coated.

Storing:  Store cookies in a sealed plastic container.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe from Barbara Grunes’ Joy of Baking cookbook.

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Brown Sugar Caramels

Brown Sugar Caramel by Bakewell Junction

My hubby has been trying to watch what he eats, so I decided it was time to make something he doesn’t like.  I had seen the Brown Sugar Caramels recipe in a guest post Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake wrote for Lora from Cake Duchess on December 10th and since my hubby doesn’t like caramels, I made the recipe thinking it would prevent him from being tempted.  He hasn’t been tempted all that much but he did taste them and he really liked them.

While my caramels tasted delicious, they didn’t look as good a Liz’s.  They turned out a little soft too.  This could be because of a few factors.  I didn’t have half and half, so I substituted half with heavy whipping cream and half with whole milk – isn’t that what half and half is?  The 3 quart sauce pan I started cooking in was too small and the mixture was about to boil over, so I had to switch to a 4 quart stock pot when I got to about 225 degrees.  I would recommend making this recipe in a pot that is at least 3.5 quarts.  I also didn’t have non-stick aluminum foil, so I lined the 8 by 8 inch pan with regular foil and sprayed with cooking spray.  Liz’s tips were very helpful and the caramels turned out wonderfully since I’d never made them before.  I’ll enjoy making these again.  You can find the Brown Sugar Caramels recipe on Lora’s site.

Enjoy!!!

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Struffoli (Fried Italian Honey Balls)

Struffoli by Bakewell Junction

I have another recipe that you just gotta try.  This recipe is a Neapolitan favorite.  There are similar recipes in other regions of Italy but this is the best.  My husband’s family had a recipe but it just wasn’t quite right, so I was thrilled a few years ago when I found this one.  There are many similarities between this recipe and last week’s post but I always make both because I can’t make just one.

Since this recipe is a little finicky, here are a few detailed tips.

Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and set aside.

Cut in the butter.

Add the vanilla and the first two eggs.

Once combined, then repeat with the next two eggs and again with the last two eggs.

Knead dough for 5 minutes and form into a ball.

Place the dough on floured cutting board and lightly flour the top.

After the dough has rested, begin forming the balls by rolling the 1/2 inch strips and cutting into 1/2 inch balls.

A quarter of the dough formed into balls looks like this.

After 3/4 of the dough balls have have been formed, begin heating the oil to 375 degrees.  Fry the balls in batches.  To ensure the cookies cook evenly on all sides, I shake the basket to turn them.

Just to give you an idea of how much the little balls puff up.

Move drained fried balls to a large bowl lined with paper towels.

After all the cookies are fried, heat the honey in a medium sauce pan.

Add the cookies to a rubbermaid container and pour the warm honey over the cookies and turn them to coat.

Great for gifts in ziploc containers.

Struffoli

Yield:  too many to count                  Cook Time:  90 minutes

Cookies

• 1 cup sugar
• 4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or vegetable shortening
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 6 large eggs
• oil for deep frying (I use olive oil)
• 40 ounces honey or more to taste, slightly warmed

Decorations

• Non-pareils
• White candy coated almonds (Jordan Almonds)

Directions:

Step 1:  Combine sugar, flour and baking powder in a large bowl.  Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in the butter until the butter is completely combined.  Mix in the vanilla.  Mix two eggs at a time.  The batter will look like a very thick cookie dough.

Step 2:  Knead the dough for 5 minutes.  Flour hands when the dough is sticky.  Form the dough into a ball and set the dough on a floured cutting board.  Dust the dough with flour, cover with a clean cloth and let it rest for at least 1/2 hour.

Step 3:  Divide the dough into quarters for easier handling.  Roll each quarter into 1/2 inch logs.  Cut into pieces that are about half of my pinky fingernail or 1/2 inch.  This will make a whole lot of little balls.  Be sure to keep them small as they will grow to 2.5 times the size as they cook.  Repeat with all the remaining dough.

Step 4:  When about 3/4 through forming the dough pieces, heat oil to 375 degrees in a sauce pan or a deep fryer.  I use a cast iron deep fryer with a basket.  Deep fry dough pieces about 2 to 3 dozen at a time depending on space until golden brown and cooked through (this works best if one person rolls the dough and another fries them).  Ensure the cookies are cooked on all sides evenly by shaking the basket to turn them or use a fork.  Place fried cookies in a large bowl lined with paper towels to drain.

Step 5:  Once all the cookies are fried and there is no more dough, transfer them to a large Rubbermaid container.  Heat honey in a sauce pan for at least 5 minutes on medium to high heat until it thins out and is quite warm.  Pour warm honey over fried cookies while they are still warm.  Stir cookies carefully (so they don’t get mashed) to ensure they are all covered with honey.

Step 6:  Place the cover on the container and flip the container upside down.  Repeat flipping the container every 30 minutes or so to ensure the cookies are well coated.  The cookies will soak up most of the honey as they are coated and recoated by flipping the container over and over.  Before serving sprinkle the cookies with hard candy colored balls (nonpareils) for decoration and add the candy coated almonds also.  Try not to eat them all.

Storing:  Store cookies in a sealed plastic container.  The cookies are fine for many days when stored this way.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe from Elodia Rigante’s Italian Immigrant Cooking cookbook.