Global Search
Tuesday June 18, 2013
Let's talk food, from restaurants and recipes to farmers markets, food issues and wine. Lee Svitak Dean, Rick Nelson, Kim Ode and Bill Ward will start the conversation.

Posts about Baking

Snow-day doughnuts

Posted by: Rick Nelson Updated: April 11, 2013 - 9:41 AM

  • share

    email

 

 

Today's snowstorm knocked out my plan to drop by Mel-O-Glaze or Mojo Monkey Donuts -- just a few of the doughnut-makers featured in today's Taste rundown on don't-miss doughnuts -- to pick up some deep-fried goodies for my colleagues. Sorry, guys.

I mean, driving any more than I have to when the roads are this bad? Forget it. I don't want to even drive to the end of our alley. But pulling out our heavy-duty Staub cast-iron pot and engaging in a little a.m. deep frying? Why not? 

 

 

By some miracle, we had all the ingredients for making old-fashioned sour cream doughnuts, and for reasons unknown, I remembered that I had a doughnut cutter in our kitchen's tool drawer. Talk about your rainy- (OK, snowy-) day good fortune.

I've only made doughnuts once before, at a remote lake cabin, on a similarly precipitation-ruined day, and here's what I'd forgotten about the process: it's really easy. 

My results may not be on the same level as the marvelous cake doughnuts at A Baker's Wife's, or the Lynn on Bryant, but in a snowstorm-ed pinch, they'll do just fine. Better than fine, actually; they're moist and cakey, and have a pleasant crusty outer shell. And they came together in a snap. 

I'm left with just two concerns. First, how am I going to properly dispose of 24 ounces of vegetable oil?

But my greater worry is wondering how many of these cute little doughnuts (and doughnut holes, which I tossed in sugar and cinnamon a few moments after they came out of the pan) will actually make it all the way to the office? After all, with winter storms like this one, it's wise to keep an emergency rations kit in the car.

 

 

OLD-FASHIONED SOUR CREAM DOUGHNUTS

Makes 6 to 10 doughnuts.

From "Doughnuts: Simple and Delicious Recipes to Make at Home" by Lara Ferroni (Sasquatch Books, $16.95).

For doughnuts:

1 1/4 c. flour, plus extra for rolling out dough

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

1/3 c. superfine sugar

1/4 c. sour cream

1 egg

1 tbsp. unsalted butter (or vegetable shortening), at room temperature

Vegetable oil for frying

For glaze:

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar, sifted to remove any lumps

3 to 4 tbsp. milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

To prepare doughnuts: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and reserve. In a medium bowl, whisk sugar, sour cream, egg and butter (or shortening) until smooth. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, until a solid dough forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate dough for 15 to 20 minutes.

On a lightly floured work surface, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out dough to about 1/2 inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch doughnut cutter, cut out doughnuts (and doughnut holes), re-rolling and re-cutting any scrap dough.

In a heavy-bottomed pot over high heat, add at least 2 inches of oil and heat until a deep-fat thermometer registers 360 degrees. Using a metal spatula, carefully place doughnuts in oil. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes per side, or until light golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Repeat with remaining doughnuts and doughnut holes. Let cool just slightly before glazing.

To prepare glaze: Place powdered sugar in a medium bowl and slowly stir in milk and vanilla extract, a little at a time, to make a smooth, pourable glaze. Dip doughnuts in glaze and transfer to a wire rack until glaze sets.

Making cornmeal (and rosemary) magic

Posted by: Rick Nelson Updated: April 4, 2013 - 7:33 AM

  • share

    email

 

Beth Dooley's absorbing article on cornbread in this week's Taste reminded me of a favorite recipe.

It's for scones -- although they're billed as "cakes" -- and it's from a cookbook by Los Angeles baking titan Nancy Silverton. The easy-to-prepare formula calls upon the complementary flavors of cornmeal and rosemary -- such a harmonious flavor combination -- and the end result gracefully skirts the line between sweet and savory. Try them, you'll love them.

The recipe's source, Silverton's "Pastries from the La Brea Bakery," belongs on every baker's kitchen bookshelf. If for no other reason, buy it for the bran muffin recipe to end all bran muffin recipes, or for the page-turning chapter that Silverton lovingly devotes to doughnuts.

Oh, and that cornmeal from Riverbend Farm (pictured, above) that Beth wrote about? It's amazing, truly one of the region's great farmstead products. After test-driving this golden, fragrant reminder of late summer -- when I opened the package and that corn perfume hit my nostrils, my mind immediately flew to August -- I'll never bake with shelf-stable cornmeal, ever again. 

CORNCAKES

Makes 12 scones.

Note: Author Nancy Silverton suggests using extra-large eggs. From "Pastries from the La Brea Bakery" (Villard Books, $35).

3 3/4 c. unbleached pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for shaping dough

1 3/4 c. yellow cornmeal

1 tbsp. plus 1/4 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary

3/4 c. light brown sugar, lightly packed

1 1/2 c. (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and frozen

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. mild-flavored honey, such as clover

1/2 c. plus 2 tsp. heavy cream, plus extra for brushing tops of scones

24 small tufts of fresh rosemary for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade (or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment), combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, chopped rosemary and brown sugar and process (or mix) on low until incorporated. Add butter and pulse on and off a few times (or mix on low), until mixture is pale yellow and the consistency of fine meal.

Transfer mixture to a large bowl and make a well in the center. Pour in eggs, honey and cream and whisk together the liquids. Using one hand, draw in the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.

Wash and dry your hands and dust them with flour. On a lightly floured work surface, turn out dough and knead a few times to gather it together into a ball. Roll or pat dough into a circle about 3/4 inch thick. Using a 3-inch round cutter, cut out scones, cutting as closely as possible and keeping trimmings intact.

Gather scraps, pat and press the pieces back together and cut out remaining dough. Place scones 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheet. Brush tops with cream and poke 2 small tufts of rosemary into the center of each.

Bake until slightly browned and firm to the touch, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes before transferring scones to a wire rack to cool.

Brownies, Ediner-style

Posted by: Rick Nelson Updated: February 15, 2013 - 11:02 AM

  • share

    email

In this week's live chat, a participant who calls herself "popovergirl" (a woman after my own heart) chimed in during a thread on the late, great Ediner.

"I have a recipe for Ediner brownies somewhere...." she wrote. Later that day, she generously forwarded it in an email.

"I don't think I've ever made them, but my friend Beth has," she wrote. "[It's] from a weird charity cookbook she had called 'Food for Show, Food on the Go!'"

Then she added a link; she had discovered a copy of the book for sale on Amazon.

Anyway, I baked them this morning. They're pretty swell. Not that I'm surprised, because in its heyday, the Ediner really had it going on.

 

 

The restaurant -- a retro-bathed tribute to short-order cooking, done up to resemble a railroad dining car and originally located in the Galleria -- was founded in 1982 by Susan and Jack Seltz. The concept (a diner, in Edina; get it?) quickly blossomed into a mini-chain with six locations, with additional outlets in Roseville, Minnetonka, Uptown Minneapolis, Detroit and Toronto.

Unfortunately, the growth was short-lived (after the Seltzes sold the company, it went through three different ownerships), and when the Calhoun Square location sputtered to a close in 1992, only the original Ediner in the Galleria remained standing; it shut down in 1995. But it was fun while it lasted, right? (The Galleria location has been home to Big Bowl for nearly 15 years, and the Calhoun Square location is now the site of Republic). 

As for the recipe, it's one of many bonuses found inside our live chats. We conduct them on Thursdays from noon to 1 p.m. (the next one is Feb. 21st). Find them at startribune.com/taste, and the transcripts are archived here.

EDINER SUPER BROWNIES

Adapted from "Food for Show Food on the Go" by the Mt. Sinai Hospital Auxillary (1983).

Makes 12 to 24 bars.

For brownies:

1 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2/3 c. (10 2/3 tbsp., or 1 stick plus 2 2/3 tbsp.) unsalted butter, plus extra for pan

5 oz. unsweetened chocolate, broken into pieces

2 c. granulated sugar

4 eggs slightly beaten

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans

For icing:

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, broken into pieces

1/3 c. (5 1/3 tbsp.) unsalted butter

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

1/4 c. hot coffee

Directions

To prepare brownies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter bottom and sides of a 9x13-inch baking pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt and reserve. In a double boiler over gently simmering water, melt butter and chocolate and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and cool about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, using a rubber spatula, stir together butter-chocolate mixture, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract until well-combined. Stir in flour and mix and until well-combined. Stir in nuts.

Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top with a rubber spatula. 

Bake until center has just set, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer pan to a wire rack to completely.

To prepare icing: In a double boiler over gently simmering water, melt butter and chocolate and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat, add powdered sugar and coffee and whisk until smooth. Let cool slightly before spreading evenly on cooled brownies. Allow icing to set before cutting brownies.

 

 

 

 

The search for holiday cookie tins

Posted by: Rick Nelson Updated: November 28, 2012 - 4:45 PM

  • share

    email

 

 

I can't be the only baker in the world -- or the Twin Cities, anyway -- who enjoys giving the gift of colorful tins filled with holiday cookies, particularly when we have so many terrific recipes in our 10th-annual Taste Holiday Cookie Contest.

But I was starting to feel that way when I went out in search of them and came up short. I ran through Target, Tuesday Morning, Crate & Barrel and Macy's -- heck, even the Container Store -- and walked out empty handed.

Then my editor gave me a tip: Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft. True confessions: I've never set foot inside a Jo-Ann store; up until a few days ago I was only vaguely aware of the company's existence. But the chain is now on my radar, thanks to its impressive cookie tin inventory (pictured, above). More than a dozen festive patterns are stocked in several sizes, with prices ranging from $5.99 to $7.99. When it comes to cookie tins, Jo-Ann is the mother lode.

 

 

Not being much of a scrapbooker, I'm not terribly familiar with Michaels, either. But the crafters' paradise is another reliable source for cookie tins. I counted nearly 10 different decorative options (pictured, above) in a range of shapes and sizes, sold at $1.99 to $6.49. 

 

 

Cost Plus World Market has returned to the Twin Cities, and while the selection is slim -- I found just one rectangular container (pictured, above), which was priced at $4.99 -- the store also had a decent array of holiday-themed cardboard cookie boxes (6 or 10 for $4.99). To my eye, they're the cookie equivalent of using a gift bag rather than a gift-wrapped box, but that's just the traditionalist in me. Still, they're better than having to resort to a coffee can. Wait, is coffee still sold in cans?

 

 

Strangely, cooking stores, their shelves heaving with bakeware, come up short. Williams-Sonoma, Sur la Table and Cooks of Crocus Hill don't keep them in stock, although I did encounter two at Kitchen Window (pictured, above): a small, candy-appropriate container for $3.99, and a cookie-scaled tin for $4.50. Better than nothing, right?

 

 

I would probably brave the big-box gauntlet that is IKEA for a few of the Swedish giant's stackable, white-and-gold "Tripp" containers (pictured, above, in a provided photo). The price is right, too: a set of three is $9.99. 

Two other possibilities that I didn't check: I've heard that various dollars stores (Family Dollar, Dollar Tree) occasionally keep cookie tins on hand. For vintage versions, check out a thrift store near you, or click into eBay.

Oh, and because there seems to be a website for everything, there's always cookietins.com. 

Where do you find them? 

 

Cookie contest: We tested, we tasted, we judged.

Posted by: Rick Nelson Updated: October 29, 2012 - 11:23 PM

  • share

    email

 

Which one is it?

We're not saying, at least not yet. But somewhere on this platter is the winner of our 10th-annual Taste Holiday Cookie Contest. 

It has been a busy day here at Cookie Contest Central. And yes, it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.

That someone being 21 judges, who gathered today at the Star Tribune and sorted through a table overloaded with semi-finalists. And when I say sorted, I mean we ate.

But first, we baked: Twenty-eight different cookies — a record number and a reflection of the unprecedented high quality of this year's submissions — selected from a pool of 254 entries (most of them are pictured, above).

Then we gathered around a conference table, glasses of milk in hand, and passed around trays, plates, platters, Tupperware containers and baking sheets bearing all 28 cookies.

Some serious nibbling ensued, and then we compared notes, and argued. Politely, anyway; this is Minnesota, after all.

Finally, we unanimously selected a winner, and chose four finalists. We’ll reveal the results — and you’re going to love them — on Nov. 29th in Taste. (You’ll be able to meet our bakers at a fun, open-to-the-public bake-a-thon on Saturday, Dec. 1, at the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis).

Plenty of trends presented themselves among this year’s entries, clearly a microcosm of what’s popular in contemporary baking. We’ve never received so many gluten-free recipes. Ingredients lists peppered with beer and spirits (brandy, whisky and bourbon) also caught our notice, as did a pair of cookies that called for everyone’s favorite ingredient, bacon. A number of high-end salts (Maldon, for example) also captured our attention. Other popular ingredients: Cream cheese, caramel, Nutella, crystallized ginger, hazelnuts and lard.

Thanks to everyone who submitted a recipe, and a story; we’re grateful that you shared them with us. As always, the tales behind the recipes are fascinating and lovely, brimming with the beloved traditions that make the holiday season so special.

“This recipe has been made every year for Christmas for 75 years,” wrote one. “This recipe I received from a relative shortly after we married over 56 years ago,” wrote another. “I got this recipe about 35 years ago at a neighborhood cookie exchange and have made it several times for family and friends each holiday season since then,” wrote another.

When it comes to family heirlooms, this comment might take first prize, at least in terms of longevity: “The following cookie recipe I got from my mother and she got it from her mother,” wrote the contestant. “My grandmother would be about 140 years old, and my mom would be about 110 years old.”

Among the entries were six previous finalists and winners, which we’re taking as a testament to the fun they had — and the fame they enjoyed — in prior competitions. This year’s contest also featured a first: An entry from an incarcerated baker, obviously thinking of happier and more productive times outside the county jail.

“I guess you could say that I’m a recipe for justice,” she wrote.

Naturally, we were tickled to read about the contest.

“Every year I get together with one of my best friends shortly after the recipes are announced, for a day of baking,” wrote one baker. “We both select the recipes from the year’s winners to try out. My favorite recipe EVER is the Pistachio-Orange Cookie from 2010!! Hers are the Double Chocolate-Cherry Espresso Drops from 2008. I also love the Chai Crescents and the Lime Coolers from 2007.”

We're crazy about all of them, too. Here’s hoping that our 2012 winners will find a place in that holiday baking schedule, and in yours.

from the homepage

ADVERTISEMENT

recent posts

Post By Category

Restaurant Bargains (1) Holidays (42)
Deals (1) Farmers markets (62)
Baking (50) Chefs (84)
Cookbooks (36) Cooking at the cabin (3)
Farmers and foraging (26) Healthy eating (31)
Locally-produced food (57) Minnesota newsmakers (95)
On the national scene (86) Openings + closings (26)
Recipes (97) Restaurant news (184)
Restaurant reviews (14) Beer (1)
Food, beer, wine events (13) TV food shows (12)
Wine (9)

ADVERTISEMENT

Connect with twitterConnect with facebookConnect with Google+Connect with PinterestConnect with PinterestConnect with RssfeedConnect with email newsletters

Links

ADVERTISEMENT

inside the StarTribune

jobs

2013 Top Workplaces

home

'Giving up the Ghost,' a serial novel by Mary Logue

lifestyle

Best of MN 2013: Guide to state's finest

sports

New Vikings stadium section: The game plan

local

Follow Star Tribune on social media

sports

Guide to Minnesota's 18-hole public golf courses