Monday, April 7, 2014

Passion Fruit Muffins with Passion Fruit Glaze #MuffinMonday

Many passion fruit recipes suggest that you strain out the seeds but I happen to like the pop and crunch they add to a dish, dessert or baked good. I am delighted to share that they are also reported to be a nutritious addition, adding fiber, antioxidants and magnesium to a healthy diet.  

Although I spent some time in tropical climes when I was a child, passion fruit only reached my consciousness when I moved to Brazil as an adult. There it is called maracujá and features in many desserts, especially the local favorite, ubiquitous at every restaurant and house party, mousse de maracujá. It occurs to me that I’ve never posted that recipe here and perhaps I need to rectify that.

Meanwhile, since my local grocery stores are filled with passion fruit at reasonable prices, and since it is Muffin Monday, I put them in beautiful, flavorful muffins. I think they would be great for the upcoming Holy Week, the week before Easter, which commemorates the passion of Christ. Maybe I can start a new worldwide tradition of baking passion fruit muffins in addition to hot cross buns. Anybody else game to join me?

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups or 190g flour
1/2 cup or 115g sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup or 60g butter, melted then cooled
1/2 cup or 120g passion fruit pulp, including the seeds

Optional glaze – passion fruit pulp from two small passion fruit (1/8 cup or 30g) plus an equal amount of powdered sugar (1/4 cup or 30g) and small pinch of salt.

Method
Preheat your oven to 350F° or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by greasing or lining with paper muffin cups.

In a large bowl mix together your flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.



In a smaller bowl, whisk your milk, eggs and melted butter, along with the passion fruit pulp.



Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients and stir until just combined.



Evenly distribute the batter among the muffin cups.



Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

Meanwhile, make the glaze, if using. Mix all three ingredients together in a small bowl, until all the sugar has dissolved.




Remove the muffins from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.


Remove the muffins from the muffin pan and finish cooling on a rack.


When the muffins are completely cooled, carefully spoon the glaze over the tops. It will soak in and make the muffins even more moist.



Enjoy!



Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Orange Rosemary Boule #TwelveLoaves

This orange rosemary boule is a yeast bread flavored with orange and rosemary. It makes a lovely accompaniment to your soup or salad. Or just eat straight up, spread with butter or cream cheese!
 
In every Paris boulangerie you will find boules for sale, breads shaped like the eponymous ball. Often they are so-called country loaves or pain de campagne, but they almost always have a crusty exterior and a soft crumb inside. Despite its shape, this particular boule bakes up more like a pain de mie, with a soft crust and a soft crumb inside. 

I am loathe to speak badly of Paris, because it’s a city I love, but there were times, many times, in the three years we lived there that I would have given anything just to see some sunshine. Winter was cold and grey and rainy. And long. The girls were little and seemed to have constant colds, accompanied by the inevitable runny noses and consumptive coughs that keep a mother up at night. 

Once the baby’s congestion was so bad that the pediatrician wrote her a prescription for a therapist who came to the house to bang her on the back and suction the mucus out of her chest. Too much information for a food blog? Yeah, well. That was my life. On the other hand, I learned to appreciate whatever joy I could find, even through the cold, wet days. 

One was the daily pleasure that was watching my children blossom and grow as little, articulate people. The other was the bakery just around the corner from our home. I’d bundle the girls up and we’d go for a walk, just to get out of the house. Stepping into the headily yeasty boulangerie, with its eye-goggling display of artisan breads and fancy pastries and Viennoiseries, a subclass of baked goods that include croissants, pain au chocolat and brioche, we were transported to a place where it was warm and inviting, indeed summer all year round. 

My elder daughter almost invariable chose a palmier – a sweet treat made from puff pastry, baked to a golden crunch, and my younger daughter, when she got old enough, chose a pain aux raisins – a brioche bun baked with raisins. My favorite take-home was a baguette they called tradition, shorter than a baguette ordinaire or standard baguette, that is baked after a longer fermentation time, with a thicker, crustier outside.

Orange Rosemary Boule

For this month’s Twelve Loaves, our ingredient is oranges which easily lends itself to many sweet options. I decided to go savory and add rosemary to the mix, forming the dough into a boule or ball. As it baked, both the oven and the wonderful aroma of oranges and rosemary warmed our rented house in Providence, taking me back to the welcome we received at La Fournée d'Enfance all those years ago.

Ingredients
1/2 cup or 120ml water
1/2 cup or 120ml orange juice
2 tablespoons olive oil plus a little extra for oiling bowl for proofing
2 tablespoons grated orange zest plus extra for garnish
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 oz or 7g active dry yeast
Several sprigs fresh rosemary plus extra for garnish
1 teaspoon sea salt
2-3 cups or 250 – 375g unbleached wheat flour (If you are using regular all-purpose flour, you might use even more.)
2 tablespoons milk

Method
In large bowl, measure in 1/2 cup or 60g of your flour and make a little well in the middle. Sprinkle in your yeast and then pour in 1/4 cup or 60ml of the water that has been warmed. Let this hang out for a few minutes, while the warm water activates the dried yeast.



Meanwhile zest and juice your orange. Mine was a Minneola, a special hybrid between tangerines and grapefruit, distinguished by the knob at the end and being extra sweet and juicy. One Minneola gave me a 1/2 cup of juice so I ended up not needing the second one and just peeled it and ate it. Lovely! They are only available in early spring but if you can find some, buy!



Pull leaves off your rosemary sprigs and mince most of them finely. Keep a few leaves for garnish.

To your yeast/flour mixture, add in the orange juice, oil, zest, honey, rosemary, and salt. Be sure to reserve some zest and rosemary for garnish before baking.



Mix until you have a loose batter.


Mix in enough flour, a 1/2 cup or about 60g at a time, to form a soft dough. I used unbleached wheat flour. When I finished adding two cups, it was already fairly stiff so I kneaded in the last half cup. Bleached flour doesn’t absorb as much water so it might take you more if you are using regular all-purpose flour.



Turn dough out onto floured board and knead it for about five minutes, sprinkling on extra flour if needed. Form the dough into a nice round ball. Wash out your mixing bowl then dry it and oil it. Put your dough ball in and toss it around a little to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with a cloth or some cling film and put it in a warm place for about an hour. Meanwhile, grease your baking pan with a little more olive oil.





After the hour is up, punch the dough down and knead again for a minute or two.


Form the dough into a nice round ball and put it in your baking pan. Cover it with the mixing bowl and put it in a warm place for the second rising of about an hour.



When your hour is almost up, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

When your hour is up, use a very sharp knife or lame, to cut a cross in the top of the dough. Gently brush on some milk with a pastry brush. (I didn’t have a brush so I used some spare sprigs of rosemary. They didn’t add any flavor, of course, but I felt resourceful and creative so that’s worth something.)


Sprinkle on your reserved zest and rosemary.


Bake the boule in your preheated oven for about 45-50 minutes or until the dough reaches 180°F or 82°C when measured by thermometer in the middle or is golden brown all over and sounds hollow when tapped.



Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before slicing. If you can wait that long.


Enjoy!

One of the goals of each month’s Twelve Loaves challenge is to encourage bread baking. I hope this wonderful list of orange flavored recipes inspires you to create some warmth in your own kitchen.



If you would like to join us this month, it’s easy:

1. Bake a bread using oranges and post it on your blog before the end of April 2014. This must be a new post. Your bread of choice recipe can include oranges, orange marmalade, orange zest, in fact, anything orange related but it must be IN the dough. In addition to being in the dough, it could also be added to a glaze. Whatever you bake, (yeasted, quick bread, crackers, muffins, braids, flatbreads, etc) have fun!
2. Mention the Twelve Loaves challenge in your post. This helps us to get more members as well as share everyone's posts.
3. Add your link to the linky tool at the bottom of this post.

#TwelveLoaves is a monthly bread baking party created by Lora from Cake Duchess. #TwelveLoaves runs so smoothly thanks to the help of the Renee from Magnolia Days and Heather from girlichef.





Monday, March 31, 2014

Pesto Feta Muffins #MuffinMonday


These tasty savory muffins are a great use of leftover pesto if you have such a thing. I always seem to have a half jar kicking around the refrigerator. Use any cheese you have to keep the pesto company but I can highly recommend feta.

As you read this, I’ll be back on an Emirates 777, winging my way from chilly New England to already-summer-in-March Dubai with high temperatures reaching 90°F or 32°C. How blessed we are to live in the age of flight, even with the occasional tragic airplane crash. Before I left home on this trip to spend time with my daughters, I expressed this to a friend who completely agreed. In the old days of expatriate assignments, folks had minimum two-year contracts and the most efficient method of travel was a ship that might take weeks to get home again so home leaves were undertaken only when the work contract was up. The new non-stop Emirates Boston-Dubai flight takes about 13 hours. You eat, you sleep, you watch movies, you try desperately to sleep some more (There may possibly be some serious drinking of red wine in order to help the sleeping. Or maybe that's just me.) and you are there. See you all on the other side!

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 cup or 60ml pesto (homemade or store-bought – I used Whole Foods brand 365)
1/4 cup or 60g butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1/2 cup or 3 oz  or 85g crumbled feta

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and either grease your 12-cup muffin tin or line it with paper liners.

In one big mixing bowl, add your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.


In small mixing bowl, whisk the melted butter, milk and pesto with your eggs.



Fold the liquids to the dry mixture, stopping when they are just mixed.


Fold in the feta.


Divide the batter between your prepared muffins cups.


Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.



Remove from the muffin tin and finish cooling on a rack.



Enjoy!