Pineapple Upside Down Cake from The Wright Taste

No, I didn't take this beautiful photo of a Pineapple Upside-Down Cake - all credit for that goes to KimberlyVardeman over at Wikimedia Commons. I honestly can't remember if we ever did take a picture of any of the dozens of these yummy cakes we made.

For the most part, we always said "if it can be baked, we can make it!" Very rarely did I ever tell a customer "no, I can't do it." We did turn down requests for sour dough bread because of the storage issue and I experimented (badly) with pumpernickel bread. So, when a man asked if we could bake a pineapple upside-down cake, of course the answer was "yes."

I started searching through my cookbook collection. A lot of the newer books didn't even have a recipe for this heritage cake. I struck gold with "Blue Ribbon Recipes", published in 1968. When Gramma passed away in 2004, I received her collection of cookbooks and this book was in there. I was a little surprised to see it listed and available on Amazon. If you have an appreciation for heritage recipes, this book is a steal at $8.95. "Blue Ribbon Recipes" is a compilation of county fair prize-winning recipes from throughout the country during the fifties and sixties. Some of the ingredients might make your inner foodie say "eewww" but I've been able to modify successfully.

A pineapple upside-down cake is basically a moist, vanilla-flavored cake baked in an iron skillet that has been layered with melted butter, brown sugar, pineapple rings and maraschino cherries for color. It's a simple cake that comes out of the pan already decorated. One word of warning - don't be tempted to let the cake cool in the pan before turning it onto a plate. The brown-sugar glaze will stay in the pan!

This recipe doubles easily in order to make a 9 x 13 inch sheet cake. The original customer came back the very next week and ordered TWO 9 x 13 cakes. It will be a little less thick than those baked in a skillet, but it will be just as moist. I've also baked the batter strictly as cupcakes or cake layers (double the recipe for a 2-layer cake) and it is the most moist, delicious cake I've ever made. Beats any box ever!

So, Kathy Poe of Placerville, Calif. who won a ribbon at the El Dorado County Fair: if you are still out there, thank you for this recipe.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
6 canned, sliced pineapple rings in natural juice, drained
6 maraschino cherries
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter, softened**
2/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt 1/3 cup of butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium low heat. When melted, remove from heat and sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter. Arrange the pineapple slices and cherries over the brown sugar/butter mixture and set the pan aside.

In a medium mixing bowl (or your stand mixer), combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix thoroughly. Add the softened butter, milk and vanilla extract.*** Mix on low speed for 2 minutes or "300 vigorous strokes by hand". Add the egg and mix for 2 more minutes.

Pour the batter over the fruit and bake in the preheated oven 40-50 minutes or until a tester is clean. Immediately invert the cake onto the serving plate. Allow to cool to room temperature before serving (the caramelized sauce will stick to you and burn!)

**Ms. Poe used "soft shortening" rather than butter in her recipe.

***I know that current cake gurus recommend creaming the sugar and fat, then alternately adding the dry and wet ingredients, ending with the dry. I used my stand mixer but figured if Ms. Poe could win a ribbon with this recipe, I should probably follow her method.

Our KitchenAid 600 Professional 6-Quart Mixer

I'll admit the picture isn't that great. I was making bread the other day and thought "I've never really explained how important this machine is in our lives!" The sun was so bright but you can get the idea.This is a KitchenAid 600 Professional 6-quart stand mixer. It's actually our second and I'll explain that part later.

When we started The Wright Taste in 2007, I borrowed two KitchenAid stand mixers - one from Mom and one from my friend Heather. Each had a 4-quart bowl and I could make a standard batch of bread (two loaves) in each one. We had no idea how popular that bread would become and soon I was making 8 to 10 dozen loaves in one day. Those mixers were on from the crack of dawn until the middle of the night.

One day, Mom showed up and told Harry he needed to go out to her car. She decided we needed a bigger, more powerful mixer so nothing would happen to Heather's. So, Mom's investment in The Wright Taste was a KitchenAid 600.

Suddenly, I could mix FOUR loaves of bread at once. I can't count how many loaves of bread, dozens of garlic & cheese rolls and cinnamon rolls our mixer has made. The other night, we realized that we've had this mixer since around October of 2007. While for a normal kitchen, it's still an infant, our KitchenAid 600 has done the work of at least a hundred home kitchens in that amount of time.

In almost 4 1/2 years, Harry has given it the occasional tune-up (it's out of warranty now) and in 2010, we needed to replace some funky rotor thing that makes the attachments go around. It's due for another tune-up in which Harry takes it apart and cleans all the insides and with a little as we use it now compared to the way we used it then, it will probably last the rest of our lives.

We have practically every attachment available, if not all. We've ground meat, we've used it to make tomato juice and we've made pasta with the extruder.

About KitchenAid's warranty: I broke my first 600. I followed the instructions as to how much whole grain flour it recommended but my Multi-grain bread was too stiff. The KitchenAid started clanking something horrible and I'd only had it a few months. I called the toll-free number for service, hoping to have it repaired.

The rep asked me to turn the mixer on and he immediately heard the awful noise. No problem - we'll send you a new one right away. I had a brand-new in-the-box KitchenAid 600 delivered to my door in 2 days. They included a shipping label for the broken machine and FedEx came back the next day to pick it up. That's why we will continue to buy KitchenAid products that fit our needs - the service and I have proof of how much abuse one of their stand mixers will take.

Is there a tool in your kitchen that you can't live without? Feel free to leave a comment or a link to a post - I'd love to hear about it!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls Harry's Way

I really do have to give Harry the bulk of the credit for these cinnamon rolls that we sold so many of. He tried to get me to make them for two years before I finally relented. I said they were too labor intensive. He said they would sell like hotcakes. We were both right. That's why we had to throw in the towel in 2011 - he was working full time and asking him to come home after a hot day in the plant and spend 2-3 hours rolling out cinnamon rolls would have been incredibly rude. And, I didn't have the upper body strength or the patience to do them myself.

GOOD cinnamon rolls are time intensive and fairly labor intensive. For the time, there are two risings involved with an egg dough. Sometimes egg yeast doughs go crazy and other times they take their own sweet time getting to "ready to bake" stage. For the labor, rolling and shaping the dough takes patience. Harry used a tape measure for every single batch to make sure the dimensions were perfect. He might have been a bit more precise than those cinnamon roll shops you can watch in the mall.

I won't bore you with pictures of all the ingredients - watching those big, burly hands in action should be good enough!

This recipe makes two dozen cinnamon rolls. To be precise, Harry weighed every single batch and cut it in half. He asked me to meet him at Adobe Gila's one afternoon for margaritas. It was there that he presented me with this rolling pin. I know it's kind of strange, a man giving a woman a rolling pin as a gift but know this: Harry uses it more than I do.

After rolling the dough into a 16 inch by 24 inch rectangle, it's time to spread the butter. Please, please, please: don't ever try to pass off cinnamon rolls made with margarine. You MUST use real butter. What you might not know is that Harry MUST use a very particular flexible plastic spatula. It works best if the butter is room temperature but don't ever be tempted to melt it. Just be patient - it will spread.

After sprinkling on a very generous amount of brown sugar mixed with a heavy dose of cinnamon, Harry meticulously spreads the mixture to a uniform thickness. THIS is why I mix the dough and put the cinnamon rolls in the oven, and then squeeze on the icing. Harry does the detail part. It worked well that way.

Ignore the stainless steel table - I'm proud of this shot. You really can see the evenness of the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture. And those big manly hands were able to start the rolling process very tightly.

Yes, he used a tape measure to cut every cinnamon roll. Remember that you will have to go through all of the above steps twice with this recipe.

Why yes, I did learn a few decorating tips while I worked at the Kroger bakery! Yes, I'm left handed but this is how you should twist a pastry bag and hold it. We were making these cinnamon rolls for Harry to take into work, so we made them in four-pans for traveling ease. A cookie sheet works well when you are serving them individually.

To smear or to drizzle, that is the question. When we were selling these rolls, we were not the only vendor with this as a product. A comment we heard more than once was "Oh, these don't have so much icing on them." Yeah, a mall cinnamon rolls smothered in cream cheese icing is fine but our informal survey says a little goes a long way. Only let the rolls cool for about 3-4 minutes before you start to drizzle. That way, the icing can kind of ooze down between the layers.

And yes, this was breakfast!!

Yes - the baked cinnamon rolls can be frozen. If you're into nuking your goodies to warm them up (from room temp) my mom says 30 seconds is perfect. You can also retard the second rising by putting the cut rolls on the pan into the refrigerator the night before you'd like the gooeyness for breakfast. Pull them out of the fridge when you start the coffee. When the rest of the lazy-bones are ready to eat, preheat the oven and bake as directed.

Recipe for Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Dough:

2 cups milk
2/3 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons quick-rise yeast
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
8-9 cups bread flour

Heat butter and milk over medium-low heat to 110-125 degrees Fahrenheit. While heating, combine yeast, sugar, salt and 2 cups of bread flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. When milk mixture is warmed to temperature (the butter may not be melted), turn mixer on low and pour milk mixture in. Stir on low for 2-3 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl once. Add eggs, while mixer is on low, mixing until well incorporated. Add two more cups of flour and continue to mix on low speed for 3-4 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl once.

Increase the mixer speed to two and gradually add the remaining four cups of flour until the dough begins to clean the side of the bowl. Continue to knead for 10-12 minutes on speed two, adding additional flour if necessary, until dough is smooth and elastic, and no longer sticky.

Remove the dough (and dough hook) from the mixer bowl and shape the dough into a ball. Add a small amount of canola oil to the bowl, place the ball of dough top-side down into the bowl, and then turn it over, coating the dough. Cover with a clean towel and set aside to rise until doubled (about one hour).

Filling:

2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl and set aside.

Shaping the Cinnamon Rolls

When the dough has doubled, punch it down. Divide the dough in half and leave one half covered. Working on a large surface, roll the dough half into a 16 inch by 24 inch rectangle, keeping the edges square. Spread 1/3 cup of softened butter across the dough surface. Sprinkle one-half of the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture over the butter. Using clean, dry hands, spread the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture evenly across the butter.

Working from the 24-inch side of the dough nearest you, roll the dough tightly in jelly roll fashion, taking care to keep the ends even. Cut the roll into 12 even portions and place them cut side down on a greased (or sprayed) baking sheet. Repeat with second half of dough.

Cover the cinnamon rolls with a clean towel and allow to rise until doubled - at least 1 1/2 hours.

Baking and Icing the Cinnamon Rolls

When the cinnamon rolls have doubled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake on the middle rack for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

Cream Cheese Icing (but you can use your favorite buttercream)
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 cups sifted powdered sugar

Combine all ingredients in a large mixer bowl and beat until smooth. Spoon into a pastry bag and cut the tip.

Remove the cinnamon rolls from the oven and allow to cool for 3 to 4 minutes. Without covering the tops, liberally drizzle the cream cheese icing over the cinnamon rolls.

Try not to burn your tongue by eating them while they are too hot!

Why my bread didn't rise...

You might remember that I talked about my recent bread failure the other day. As planned, I set out to prove my hypothesis via the scientific method as to what I believed went wrong and why the bread didn't rise.

I was wrong.

Not that I think I was wrong with regards to my hypothesis. But, things kind of turned out differently so I will continue more testing to prove my thought. But, my initial reasoning was not the cause of the Muffuletta bread's failure to launch. And that leads me to a simple Thursday tip:

Always proof your yeast!

I honestly didn't think the yeast would have died in the cupboard. I bought this pound in early June, right before we made the decision to close The Wright Taste. As I always did in the past, I opened the vacuum sealed package and placed it in a container and kept it in the cupboard.

Was it the loss of its hermetically-sealed environment that led the yeast to an early death? I will say that this is the longest time period I've taken to use a pound of yeast in years.

For my experiment, I set up three bowls. In one, I measured a teaspoon of the "old" yeast (which was almost empty, anyway) along with one teaspoon of sugar and one-half cup of 110-ish degree water. In the other two (because I didn't have enough of the old yeast), I set out to prove my hypothesis from Tuesday with a freshly opened bag of yeast, set to expire in November of this year.

Within 5 minutes, the two experimental bowls were going crazy - foamy, happy, that rich yeasty smell you yearn for when you are baking. I quickly gathered the rest of the ingredients and put my Kitchen-Aid to work.

After 10 minutes, the old yeast had not yet begun to bubble. There was absolutely no reaction at all and I can only conclude it was dead.

If you bake bread regularly, it is so much less expensive to buy it in one-pound or even two-pound bags. Save yourself some aggravation - proof the yeast every single time you bake. I pay $2.99 for a one-pound bag of rapid-rise yeast at GFS Marketplace. I can't even buy three 3-strips for that price that will only yield 6-8 loaves of bread at the most. Even if I have to throw away one-third or one-fourth of my original pound of yeast, I'm far ahead on price.

Proof. Your. Yeast.

It didn't rise...

School work and trying to cram as much Harry time in as possible this weekend led to a delay in his Muffuletta. Last night, almost immediately after he got home from work, I started to make the Muffuletta bread. I started with my usual hoagie recipe from Bread Day and went about my normal thing.

I cut the recipe in half because I didn't want to deal with making hoagie rolls or sandwich buns and I've done it before. I still had close to a pound of dough after I portioned out the 20 ounces for the Muffuletta loaf and just rolled it into a long, rustic loaf.

Four hours later, after an emergency change of dinner plans, the bread still hadn't increased in volume and I gave up and went to bed.

I think I've figured out the problem and I'll use the scientific method to prove my hypothesis this afternoon when I try again. Funny enough, I'm positive it wasn't one of the simple problems I wrote about back in the AC days. In fact, I think I'll need to revise that article.

I just wanted to post to leave it out there: no matter how many times we do something right, sometimes it can go wrong. I've baked thousands of loaves of bread and I've had two failures in less than two months - the dinner rolls for Thanksgiving dinner didn't rise, either.

Easy Shortbread Cookies

There are a lot of good things to love about these Shortbread Cookies and nothing to hate! Well, other than getting used to the technique.

I love shortbread. There is something about that simple yet rich taste that can't compare to chocolate - believe it or not. The raspberry preserves I normally use add a layer of flavor that is simple yet decadent. One of the best versions I've made was topped with Chocolate-Raspberry Preserves from Ann's Raspberry Farm in Fredericktown, Ohio. Sadly, they don't have their website up and running for orders and I wasn't able to get to the Mount Vernon Farmers Market on the Square at the right time this year to score a jar for Christmas. le sigh. All I can say is this: I have never tasted a more decadent jam-ish treat in my life! Ann's has scored a few awards for some of their other concoctions.

I shape these Shortbread Cookies two ways - in discs or in logs that I cut while they are still warm. When I want to transport them, I use the discs. The log cookies can be fragile and break when someone picks them up from the cookie platter. I also learned something about the red stuff while I was making them for this blog post.

Do NOT use any commercial stuff called "jelly" to top these Shortbread Cookies. In most "thumbprint"-type cookies, the expectation is there that the jam will soften and melt from the heat that is held in the cookies. Commercial jellies contain enough pectin to keep it jelled through a nuclear blast. To make these, I only had strawberry jelly (yes, from Kroger, please don't judge me!) on hand and it was 4 AM. After I added the jelly, I put them back in the oven to warm it. Even after 10 minutes (hot ovens but turned off), the jelly wasn't soft enough to completely break down. Note to self: just don't.

This recipe for Easy Shortbread Cookies can be multiplied up to 4 times the recipe successfully. OK, I'll admit to not trying to go any higher. Once you get used to the method, they are quick to create - so quick, you can put these on a plate within an hour of receiving that holiday phone call that starts with "we were in the area and thought we'd drop by!"

So few ingredients: flour, sugar and butter.

I have no scientific evidence that pouring the dry ingredients over the butter is better for making shortbread cookies than my own experience or likes. I like doing it this way because the flour/sugar is what my pastry blender will come into contact with first, coating the blades before they go into the butter.

I'm sorry Alton Brown. I know that my pastry blender is a unitasker and I could accomplish cutting the fat into the dry with a pair of knives. In my own defense, I've owned this pastry blender for more than 10 years, long before I was exposed to your wisdom that I worship.

A lot of recipes for pie crust or the like include a description along the lines of "cut the fat into the dry until the mixture resembles fine crumbs like cornmeal." Well, I never quite get to the cornmeal stage with my shortbread cookies but this is the texture I strive for.

When I'm "kneading" - meaning, squishing the shortbread cookie dough into a ball - I run cold water over my hands to chill them, and then dry my hands very well. The cooler temperature of your hands will keep the butter from melting as quickly.

This is the shape I like before baking when I'm planning on the shortbread cookies doing some traveling. A much sturdier cookie, I just take a walnut-ish size wad of dough, then shape it into a flat disc and put a thumbprint into it.

The other shape I use for shortbread cookies involves taking each half of dough and shaping it into a 2" by 8" log. Do not use this method if you are shipping your cookies.

After shaping the dough into a flat, log-like thing, use a spoon to form a trough down the middle of the dough. This will create a more thin layer of cookie in the middle, making it possible for the cookies to break when someone picks it up.

While the shortbread cookies are baking, you'll make the glaze. Make sure it's thin - you aren't shooting for a spreadable icing. And yes, pure vanilla extract will cause your glaze to take on a beige-ish color. Clear vanilla extract might leave it white but it doesn't have as good of a flavor.

These easy shortbread cookies don't actually rise in the oven, but they do puff up a bit. You need to reform the divot as soon as they come out of the oven.

The same thing applies if you use the log-shape method. Run a spoon down the middle to form a trough for the preserves.

See??? Reforming the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven!

I've added the (completely misinformed) jelly to the cookies!

After I warmed the log in the oven, I was able to spread the jelly a little easier - still not as smooth as I like!

Aren't they pretty? You could probably use a green mint jelly if you like to keep with the Christmas theme but I think red is best. Cut the logs on a bias (diagonally).

Easy Shortbread Cookies

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1/4 cup of your favorite red preserves or jam
1/2 cup sifted powder sugar
1/8 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-3 teaspoons milk

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium bowl, combine the flour and sugar. Add the butter and cut it in using a pastry blender or a pair of knives until the mixture resembles crumbs. Pour the mixture onto a clean work surface. Working quickly with cool hands, knead the mixture until it holds its shape.

On an ungreased baking sheet, shape the dough into 2 logs 2 inches by 8 inches OR into discs using a walnut-sized piece of dough. Form indentations that will hold the preserves.

Bake at 325 for 20 minutes or until bottom edges are very lightly browned. Working quickly when you remove the cookies from the oven, reform the indentations with a spoon. Add a dab of preserves to each cookie or fill the trough if you made logs. Drizzle lightly with the powdered sugar glaze and allow to cool completely.

To make the powdered sugar glaze: Combine the powdered sugar and vanilla in a small bowl - it will resemble a very dry paste. Add the milk, 1 teaspoon at a time until it is thin and runny.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie - yes, really!

I don't keep a vegan kitchen but a few years ago a customer ordered a vegan pumpkin pie. Without even thinking, I said "yes!"

Then I turned to the web to learn about vegan food.

Learning that vegans don't consume anything produced by animals produced a challenge: how do I make a custard without eggs or milk? After all, a pumpkin pie filled with nothing but pumpkin with a few spices is pretty lame and looks disgusting. The custard gives it that smooth texture people remember.

It took a bit of experimenting but I adapted my friend Miriam's pumpkin pie recipe to satisfy a vegan lifestyle. A combination of vanilla-flavored soy milk (which I now drink regularly) and corn starch thickened the pie to provide a texture very similar to a standard custard.

Follow the link to my Recipe for Vegan Pumpkin Pie!

Sour Cream Zucchini Bread: Most Requested Recipe from The Wright Taste

This is the one. I don't know what it is about this zucchini bread but I can't seem to make enough of it no matter how many gardens Dad raids for zucchini. It's moist, it has a touch of cinnamon and...nothing else fancy.

When we're baking for farmers markets, I have to move as quickly as possible. I know there's a school of thought that you should always sift together the dry ingredients but honestly? We go through flour so quickly that I don't get any lumps. I add the dry ingredients in a particular way that seems to evenly disburse the leavening, giving the dense bread a bit of lightness.

Public Service Announcement regarding sour cream: Have you ever read the label on your sour cream? With the exception of one major brand - Daisy - most of the commercial sour cream you buy in the stores contains gelatin. Why? What's so hard about sour cream? I'll admit to not realizing it until a few years ago. When we switched our supply shopping to Costco, the only brand they offered was Daisy. I realized I would have to change the labels for the products that used it and found it refreshing. Suddenly, I only had three words to type rather than 15 - (cultured cream (MILK)).

Remove a few more chemicals from your life by looking for the word "Natural" on your sour cream. Kroger's Natural Sour Cream is the same price as the others.

3 large eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups shredded zucchini, drained
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (Fahrenheit). Grease and flour or spray 2 9 x 5 inch bread pans.

In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, oil, sour cream and vanilla. Beat on medium until well-combined. It will smell VERY good! Turn off the mixer.

Add one cup of flour, the sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir at low speed (to keep flour from flying all over the kitchen) just until blended. Add the other two cups of flour and again, on low speed, mix just until blended.

Fold in the zucchini and walnuts, being careful not to over-mix.

Divide the batter between the two prepared pans and bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes. You need to use a cake tester for this bread - when the tester is clean, the bread is done.

Let the zucchini bread cool in the pans on racks for 10-15 minutes, then turn out of the pans. If you can stand it, let it cool at least another 10-15 minutes before slicing into it and smothering it with butter.

After the bread is completely cooled (and if you have any left!), store at room temperature in a sealed zip bag. Or, if you've invested in the right size containers, use those. The zucchini bread also freezes very well for at least one month.

Bread Day: Hoagie Rolls and Sandwich Buns

After trying this a few times, I'm positive I've finally gotten the hang of it. Sandwich buns have eluded me - too fluffy, too heavy. A bit of playing around and a memory of my torturous night in the Kroger bakery finally put it all together in my own kitchen.

Steam. No, I don't have one of those fancy-schmancy steamers in my oven. But, a spray bottle filled with cool water gives these hoagie rolls and sandwich buns just the right chewiness in the crust. As soon as I put the rolls and buns in the oven, I sprayed them liberally and quickly closed the door. This built up enough steam to get the right texture.

Only six ingredients and, for the two of us, more than enough bread for a week. A larger family might not have the same issues but I had to freeze some of it.

Make sure you use your digital thermometer to make sure the water is the right temperature. Too hot, the yeast will die an agonizing death. Too cold, it will never make it out of the starting gate.

When you see the phrase "proof the yeast" in a recipe, this is what it looks like when the yeast is ready.

 Yes, this picture is kind of dizzy, but one of the silly little things I didn't understand when I first started baking bread in the 80s was how "clean" the bowl should actually be. It comes with time, the same as learning the feel of the dough in your hands when it's been kneaded enough.

Another bread term "until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl". It's not going to be spotless.

 This is a 2-rise method using instant yeast. Yeah, I'm a rebel that way. After the first rise, in a large bowl, divide your dough. We weighed the different pieces. The hoagie rolls are four ounces and the sandwich buns 2.5 ounces. Shape the rolls into a log, slash the top and place on a sprayed baking pan.

Six hoagie rolls after they've risen. I slashed them before rising to get them into the "groove".

 I made sure to flatten the buns before they rose, then gently pushed down a bit with the flat of my hand after the second rise. They are still going to "pop" in the oven but this way they weren't so tall.

Eight sandwich buns. Harry likes big buns. Seriously - have you seen my hips?

"Amish Bread" was a 25-year quest. I finally got it Wright enough that Mom loves it!

 Each sandwich bread loaf starts with 20 ounces of dough. Use the large bread pans. Below, you see the Muffuletta bread. We've had two problems in the past - too thick of a loaf and a crust a bit too "crusty" for our tastes. So, Harry's idea was to put the dough on a piece of parchment to rise and cover it with a sprayed 10-inch cake pan. The result: It rose perfectly, we left the pan on for the first 10 minutes of baking to keep from getting too much pop. When I removed the pan, I sprayed the loaf with some water.

The Muffuletta bread is crispy on the bottom with a nice solid crust that didn't get soggy from the olive salad but not too much bread OR hard crust.

Beautiful, aren't they? In the back is the Muffuletta Bread

 Golden brown buns with enough interior body to stand up to anything you fill them with!

Chewy crust, firm texture that won't fall apart under juicy cheeseburgers, Phillies, or Meatball Subs!

All of these beautiful pieces of bread art came from two batches of dough - the one below made the buns & Hoagie rolls plus I used my standby white bread recipe for The Wright Taste to make the bread and Muffulatta. While the bread was rising both times, I was making a monstrous batch of homemade meatballs!

No - seriously! Less than 30 minutes "hands-on" time.

I use a Kitchen-Aid Pro 600 - when you bake as much bread in the summer as we do, I need a big mixer. The instructions are easy to adapt to a smaller mixer, or a hand mixer or a spoon. Just make sure to knead the bread properly no matter what instrument you use.

Multi-Purpose Sandwich Recipe:
1.5 tablespoons instant yeast
3 cups warm water (110-155 degrees)
2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
8-9 cups bread flour

1) In the bowl of your mixer, place the yeast and 1/2 cup of the warm water along with one tablespoon of sugar. Allow to sit still for about 5 minutes until the top is foamy.

2) Add the rest of the water and sugar plus the salt and oil and about 4 cups of flour. Mix on low with the dough hook until the flour is incorporated.

3) Increase the speed to medium-low (I go to two) and gradually add enough flour until the dough starts to clean the side of the bowl. Continue to knead at the same speed for 5-6 minutes. Harry read yesterday that Alton Brown says 15 minutes. I'm working on my patience.

4) Lightly sprinkle your surface with flour - I mean just a couple of tablespoons. Give the dough a few turns of manual kneading and it should have the right "feel". Not too dry and not soppy-sticky - maybe a little tacky. Speaking of tacky, I always give my dough a smack kind of like football players slapping each other on the butt. Just for luck.

5) Place the dough in a large bowl with just a teaspoon of oil in the bottom. Turn the dough ball all around to coat it. Cover with a clean towel and let rise for about 45-60 minutes until it's double in size.

6) After the dough has risen, punch it down. That's right - make a fist and push it down and squish all the gasses out that built up over the last hour. Now it's time to shape the buns and Hoagie rolls.

7) I use a scale to measure all of my dough and even have a fancy-schmancy dough blade that I use to cut with. Divide the dough in half.

8) With one half of the dough, cut it into six equal pieces. Shape each into a log, keeping it on the long and thin side. Place the logs on a sprayed baking sheet. With a sharp knife, cut a diagonal slash across each log. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until doubled, about 30-40 minutes.

9) With the other half of the dough, divide it into eight equal pieces. Shape each roll into a kind of flat disc - something like a donut without a hole - but not too flat. Place them on a sprayed baking sheet, cover with a clean towel and they will rise to double in 30-40 minutes. Using the flat of your hand, gently press down on the buns so they don't rise too high to eat.

10) Bake the rolls and buns in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 18-20 minutes, until golden brown. To give the rolls a chewy crust, spray them with cool water as soon as you slide the pans into the oven.

11) Allow the buns to cool completely before sentencing them to a storage container. These freeze well for at least three weeks. That's all I know because that's how long I kept ours in the freezer before using them.

Carnival...and King Cake!

Unless you live near New Orleans, don't waste your money on a store-bought King Cake. More importantly, if you've ever had a "real" King Cake in NOLA, don't buy one - especially from someplace like Kroger in Central Ohio. The disappointment and angst will overtake your taste buds.

I'm foregoing the King Cake baking this year because my ass doesn't need it! This recipe makes TWO King Cakes and Harry won't eat enough of it to save me from myself. I'll just look back with fond memories...


While Mardi Gras isn't until March 8, we're officially into the Carnival season and it's time for King Cake. Well, apparently not in Central Ohio - 'round these parts they seem to think King Cakes are only to be displayed on one day of the year. Silly grocers...

Isn't it pretty?

Central Ohio - you can buy the King Cake babies at Cake Craft. It's on Cleveland Avenue just South of 161 on the east side across the side street from GFS Marketplace.

Mardi Gras King Cake with Cream Cheese Filling

Another pumpkin shortage? Not really!

A lot of people might remember last year's shortage of canned pumpkin in the stores - the entire 2009 Libby's harvest was processed, delivered, stocked and sold by Thanksgiving. Heavy rains in Illinois prevented the tractors from getting in and out of the fields and the pumpkin disappeared from store shelves faster than you can bake a pumpkin pie.

We always process real pumpkin - you know, those big orange things you cut funny shapes into every Halloween and stick a candle inside? My frozen supply ran out early during this year's farmer's market season and I was a little worried. No fears - I've been buying #10 cans of pure pumpkin puree at GFS Marketplace since July. In fact, I've never seen the shelves empty until my friend and fellow vendor Denise mentioned the store we both buy supplies at was out last week.

Part of this is because of memories of last year's shortage. People are panicking and buying more than what they normally would "just in case". Libby's has assured everyone the pumpkin harvest is fine this year, but it takes a little time to process those orange beauties and get them into the stores. E-bay sellers are scoring should-be-illegal prices. I'll admit to feeling more than a little bit of glee at seeing the price on a listing I was watching for research drop by over $20 since Libby's made their announcement - especially because the seller stated "They are already predicting a pumpkin shortage" in the listing.

So...I did rant a little bit:

The Great Pumpkin Shortage of 2010?

On to how to...

It really doesn't take any special skill to process your own pumpkins at home to use to baking anything pumpkin - pumpkin bread, pumpkin rolls, pumpkin pies. Canned pumpkin IS one of the few products out there that really is nothing but - no fillers, preservatives, additives, just pure pumpkin. But, with some time you can save a lot of money by buying pumpkins at the farmers market and making your own frozen pumpkin puree.

How to Make & Freeze Homemade Pumpkin Puree

Plenty of pumpkin in 2010 - Photo courtesy www.sxc.hu/dbgeorge

Yes you CAN make homemade bread!

For years, I battled bread dough. I could never get it to rise properly and it made me crazy. I would put the yeast away, refusing to attempt something I would fail at. Then, one night it just clicked. I don't know if it was just finally "my time" or I found the proper descriptions over at The Fresh Loaf but I finally got a beautiful loaf of artisan-style bread.

This is the base recipe I use to start all of The Wright Taste's crusty artisan-style breads. I change a few ingredients around when I want a different flavor.

Play with it - see what kind of success YOU can have!

Bread Making 101 - Easy Artisan Bread

Good luck!