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.

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.

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

12 Weeks of Christmas Treats ~ Week 9 ~ Apple Pie with Crumb Topping

Apple Crumb Pie by Bakewell Junction

It’s the ninth week of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats blog hop hosted by Brenda Thompson from MealPlanningMagic.com.  If you’d like to join us, please fill out the form on Brenda’s blog.

Today I’m sharing an Apple Pie recipe that I’ve been trying to perfect for a while.  I like to use Honeycrisp apples because they have a lot of flavor, are very juicy and give the pie an awesome aroma. Once I attempted a pie recipe that said it was the best apple pie but I was disappointed because there were too many apples for each slice.  The recipe called for 4 1/2 pounds of apples sliced in thin slivers which made the pie very dry as there was no room for the pie juices.

One of the problems I’ve had with my current apple pie recipe is that apples take a long time to become fork tender, so I’ve modified the recipe to incorporate the Honeycrisp apples.  Another issue I’ve had is with pie crusts, so I’ve taken to only having a bottom crust and crumbs for the topping.  The crumb topping is very tasty but I still need a good crust for the bottom.  I happened to see a tutorial to make flaky pie crust on Annalise’s site Completely Delicious.  This is the first time I used the recipe and I’m confident that it will be a hit.  Annalise’s tutorial is detailed and very helpful to those of us who are pie crust challenged.  You should check it out on her site.  I was debating whether to share this recipe with you because my crust shrunk a little during baking, although this doesn’t affect the delicious flavor and aroma.  I thought the shrinking wouldn’t happen this time but I figured out that it was because the crust warmed up when I rolled it and pie was sitting on the counter while the oven was heating up, so I added some additional chilling/resting time before and after filling the pie this way you won’t have the same thing happen to you.

This pie will be for Thanksgiving but I think it’s a great addition to any Christmas treat table.  Since this post is published before Thanksgiving, I’ll have to update it later with a single slice of the pie after we dig in on Thursday.

Dig in.

Enjoy.

Apple Pie with Crumb Topping

Yield:  1 9 inch pie                  Cook Time:  100 minutes

Crust

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup buttermilk, cold (substituted 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice and enough milk to come up to 1/2 cup)
• 1-2 tablespoons vodka or water, cold (substituted rum because I was out of vodka)
• 1 egg (I use extra large)

Filling

• 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
  
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel (substitution 2 teaspoon lemon juice)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 3/4 pounds Honeycrisp apples (about 6 medium), peeled, halved cored, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices and then 1/3 inch chunks (about 8 cups) (can use yellow-skinned ripe Golden Delicious)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Crumb Topping

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (I used Kosher salt)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Garnish

• Whipped Cream (optional)
• Vanilla Ice Cream (optional)

Directions:

Step 1:  For the crust, use 1/2 the recipe stated for one bottom pie crust.  Add flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.  Add butter and coat with the flour mixture.  Pour the mixture onto a work surface.  Using a rolling pin, roll the flour and butter mixture into thin sheets until the butter is combined with the flour.  Gather the mixture back into a pile and scrape the rolling pin as necessary.  When done the mixture will look flaky.  Move the mixture to the bowl and freeze for 15 minutes.

Step 2:  After the mixture is chilled, add the buttermilk.  Stir mixture with a spoon until it forms a ball.  You may need to do some of the stirring by hand.  Shape dough into a flat disc.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or overnight (will keep for up to three days).

Step 3:  To roll out the refrigerated dough, let it sit for five minutes in your workspace.  Place the chilled dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll to 1/4 inch thick with a floured rolling pin.  The rolled dough should be about 13 inches in diameter.  Use your rolling pin to lift and move the pie crust to your 9 inch deep dish pie plate.  Cut off any excess dough.  Fold under any extra dough and crimp to have a nice finish.  Place the pie plate in the refrigerator for at least an hour until the filling is ready.

Step 4:  For the filling, mix brown sugar, flour, lemon peel, and cinnamon in large bowl.  Add apple slices, raisins, and vanilla.  Mix until well coated.  Move the mixture to a stock pot and begin heating on medium for about 10 minutes.  When the mixture begins bubbling, turn it down to low and cook for another 20 to 30 minutes until the apples are fork tender.  Let the mixture cool to about room temperature.

Step 5:  Transfer filling to unbaked crust but remove about 1 cup of filling juices and let filling mound slightly in the middle.  Place the filled pie in the refrigerator for at least an hour.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Bake for 40 minutes with aluminum underneath to catch drippings.

Step 6:  In the interim, prepare the topping.  Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.  Mix butter into the flour mixture with finger until clumps begin to form.

Step 7:  Remove pie from the oven and sprinkle topping on the pie.  Return pie to the oven and bake for another 20 minutes.

Step 8:  Remove pie from oven and let cool on rack for at least two hours.

Tips:  To make flaky pie crusts it helps to chill butter and flour before using.  Follow Annalise’s tutorial on Completely Delish.

Storing:  Store baked pie in sealed plastic wrap.  You can freeze the unbaked pie and put it directly into the oven provided it isn’t in a glass or ceramic pie plate.

Enjoy!!!

Filling and crumb recipe adapted from Bonappetit posted by Chris Hall.
Crust recipe from Completely Delish

Have a look at the other great cookies in the blog hop by clicking on the Linky Tools link below.  Sorry my blog doesn’t support the blog hop participant icons directly.

12 Weeks of Christmas Treats Blog Hop

Week 9, November 21, 2012

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I’ve seen some of the other bloggers that participate in the 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats listing their submissions from the prior weeks.  I like this idea, so I’ve incorporated it into this week’s post.  If you’ve missed my posts for the prior weeks, here’s a reminder:

• Week 1 – Almond Crescent Cookies
• Week 2 – Pizzelle
• Week 3 – Phil’s Grandmother’s Italian Cookies
• Week 4 – Giant Ginger Cookies
• Week 5 – Italian Almond Crescents
• Week 6 – Baci di Dama
• Week 7 – Mini Linzer Cookies
• Week 8 – Christmas Tree Vanilla Sugar Cookies

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

12 Weeks of Christmas Treats ~ Week 4 ~ Giant Ginger Cookies

It’s the fourth week of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats blog hop hosted by Brenda Thompson from MealPlanningMagic.com.  If you’d like to join us, please fill out the form on Brenda’s blog.

Most of my Christmas treats are cookies.  Hopefully you don’t mind this.  This week I’d like to share a recipe that I got from a magazine that a friend of mine gave me a couple of years ago – Better Homes and Gardens Ultimate Cookies & Bars magazine.  I added the Giant Ginger Cookies to my Christmas cookie list and made them last year.  They were a hit.  My husband has always hated gingerbread cookies but even he said that these are really good.

Now I wouldn’t really consider these cookies giant – I reserve that for the cookies that are the size of a dinner plate – but they are larger than the average cookie (about the size of a coaster) and pretty thick too.  The demerara sugar coating gives the cookies great added texture.  Ginger cookies always remind me of the holidays and they are a staple for most everyone.

Enjoy.

Giant Ginger Cookies

Yield:  24 cookies                  Cook Time:  11 – 13 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups shortening (I used Crisco Baking Sticks)
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 3/4 cups Demerara, turbinado or granulated sugar

Directions:

Step 1:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Step 2:  Combine flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in a separate bowl and set aside.

Step 3:  Using an electric mixer on medium to high speed beat shortening in a large bowl for 30 seconds.  Scrape the sides of the bowl as you go when necessary.  Beat in the 2 cups of sugar.  Combine eggs and molasses into the mixture.  Beat in as much of the flour mixture as possible.  Finish combining the remaining flour using a spatula.

Step 4:  Add the demerara sugar into a small bowl.  Roll dough into 2 inch balls using a 1/4 cup measure or ice cream scoop.  Coat with coarse sugar by rolling in the small bowl.  Place 2 1/2 inches apart on the parchment lined cookie sheet (or ungreased cookie sheet).

Step 5:  Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned and tops are puffed slightly.  Cool cookie on racks for 2 minutes.  Remove the cookies from the pans and let cool completely on cooling racks.

Tips:  Do not bake cookies too long.  Sometimes it’s a bit annoying to measure shortening using the water displacement method, so this time I used Crisco Baking Sticks which are softer than regular shortening and are as easy to use as butter, since they are shaped like a stick and have the measurements similar to the way they are on a stick of butter.

Storing:  Store cookies in a sealed plastic container.  The cookies are fine for several days when stored this way.  Freeze up to three months.  Do not store with cookies that aren’t spiced as the other cookies will take on the flavors of these cookies.

Enjoy!!!

Barely adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Ultimate Cookies and Bars magazine.

Have a look at the other great cookies in the blog hop by clicking on the Linky Tools link below.  Sorry my blog doesn’t support the blog hop participant icons directly.

12 Weeks of Christmas Treats Blog Hop

Week 4, October 18, 2012

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Sour Cream Coffee Ultimate Crumb Cake

Last weekend I went to a pig roast on Saturday and met up with my cousins at my sister’s house on Sunday, so I made two of these cakes and they were the hit of each party.  I’ve had the recipe for the crumb portion of this recipe for the better part of 22 years and I had gotten it from a coworker but I don’t know where she had originally gotten it from.  The cake portion of the original recipe was a doctored up box mix but I wasn’t happy with it, so a few years back my sister-in-law found a coffee cake recipe that went with the crumbs very well and this recipe is the result of that pairing.  If you liked what Entenmann’s Ultimate Crumb Cake before they turned into the version they currently sell (which is a mere shadow of what the product started as), this is the crumb cake for you.

There is a warning that goes along with this recipe also.  You can’t be concerned with your weight or cholesterol while eating this cake.  The cake is filled with so much buttery goodness and you’ll agree it’s just worth it.

Enjoy.

Be sure to scrape down the sides of your bowl to ensure all ingredients combine well after beating.

First (1/3) flour addition.

First (1/2) sour cream addition.

Second (1/3) flour addition.

Last (1/2) sour cream addition.

Last (1/3) flour addition.

Ready for the oven.

Meanwhile, prepare the crumbs.

Ready to top with crumbs.

Crumb-topped and ready for final baking.

Fresh out of the oven.

Topped with powdered sugar and ready to eat.

Enjoy.

Sour Cream Coffee Ultimate Crumb Cake

Yield:  12 – 24 servings                Cook Time:  60 – 70 minutes

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 2 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Icing:

• 1 lb butter, melted
• 5 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Garnish:

• Powdered sugar, a few tablespoons

Directions:

Step 1:  For the cake:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a 13” by 9” pan with parchment paper and ensure some of the parchment is higher than the sides of the pan on all sides to help keep the crumbs in place.  Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix well.  Combine the sour cream and baking soda in a small bowl.

Step 2:  Using a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together.  Add eggs and vanilla and bead on high speed (Kitchen Aid 6) for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.  Scrape down sides of the bowl occasionally to ensure the ingredients are incorporated properly.  Mixing each addition until just incorporated with mixer on low (Kitchen Aid 1), add 1/3 of the flour mixture; then add 1/2 the sour cream mixture; then add 1/3 of the flour mixture; then add the remaining sour cream; then finally add the remaining flour mixture.

Step 3:  Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan and spread evenly across the entire pan.  Bake for 40 minutes.

Step 4:  For the crumbs:  While the cake is baking, mix together all the ingredients for the crumbs with a fork to start.  Finish mixing with fingers.  There should be large crumbs.

Step 5:  To finish the cake:  Remove pan from the oven and sprinkle all the crumbs evenly on top of the cake with fingers.  Try to ensure the crumbs on the edge of the cake are as thick as in the middle.  It’s likely the crumbs are higher than the sides of the cake pan and the parchment is holding them in place – this is fine.  Also, the weight of the crumbs will flatten the cake somewhat.

Step 6:  Raise the oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake on a higher rack for another 20 – 30 minutes.  The crumbs will brown ever so slightly.  Cool in the pan on a rack for at least 20 minutes.  Use the parchment paper to help remove the cake from the pan and cool completely on a rack.  Transfer the cake onto a serving tray and sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar.  Cut into 2 to 3 inch squares and eat.

Enjoy!!!

Cake recipe adapted from Everyday Food.
Crumb recipe from a co-worker.

Snickerdoodles with Biscoff Filling

I’ve never had Snickerdoodles before and neither had my head taste tester.  Back in December I had set aside a recipe I had read on Maria & Josh’s blog ‘two peas & their pod‘.  The base snickerdoodle recipe was from Martha Stewart.  This past weekend I decided to give the Snickerdoodles a try.  It was a busy weekend and I was running out of time but late Sunday night I got started.

These snickerdoodles are great on their own but the filling puts them over the top.  I got rave reviews by everyone who tasted them.  I hope you like them as much as my taste testers do.

Yield:  24 sandwich cookies                 Cook Time:  8 – 10 minutes

Ingredients

Cookies:
2 3/4 c all purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 c sugar
1 c butter, room temperature
2 large eggs

Coating:
2 T sugar
2 t cinnamon

Biscoff Cinnamon Filling:
3 T unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 c Biscoff spread
1 c powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 t cinnamon
3 T milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt (I mixed them together but didn’t sift) and set aside.  Add butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment.  Mix about 3 minutes on medium speed until pale and fluffy.  Add in eggs, one at a time and incorporate completely for each.  Reduce speed to low and and gradually add in flour mixture.
3. Combine cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar in a small bowl.  Shape dough into balls.  I formed the balls into about 3/4 inch size.  Roll balls in cinnamon sugar mixture.  Place cookie dough balls on prepared baking sheet and bake for 8 – 10 minutes until edges are golden.  Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to let cookies cool completely before filling.
4. To make the filling, combine the butter, Biscoff Spread, confectioners’ sugar, and cinnamon in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.  Beat on medium speed until smooth.  Add the milk and beat until fluffy.
5. To assemble the cookies, use a knife to spread about a tablespoon of the Biscoff filling on the inside of one cookie. Sandwich with another similarly shaped and sized cookie.

Snickerdoodle recipe from Martha Stewart
Snickerdoodle Biscoff Sandwich Cookie recipe from  two peas & their pod