In which Baking takes place
Oct. 14th, 2012 02:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
clarentineI had only one set item to accomplish this weekend - plant the garlic. That's accomplished. Also, I double-dug the bed for the garlic to clean out the stones that seem to grow there; I baked, first Monkey Bread on Saturday and then pumpkin scones on Sunday; I harvested parsley and got it into the dehydrator; and I finished up my laundry in the new washer.
(Yes, new washer. We decided repairing the old one was throwing bad money after good, since the only repair guy we could get to come all the way out to our place wanted $125 just for the visit. Then we had to have it delivered, in a saga all its own which took two separate delivery times to accomplish. Let's just say this machine had better last a while.)
The monkey bread thing was instigated by a post I saw over at Pinterest. That recipe used pre-made biscuit dough, though, and I knew I could do better. So, using a recipe from America's Best Lost Recipes (one of the many fine cookbooks from the America's Test Kitchen folks), I came up with the blended recipe below. And--let me just say--everyone in the house immediately went back for seconds. This one's a winner.
Monkey Bread
adapted from America's Best Lost Recipes (Cooks Country magazine) and Gypsys Melting Pot on Fb (http://www.facebook.com/GypsysMeltingPot)
Dough:
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened, plus 2 Tbsp melted
1 Cup warm milk
1/2 Cup warm water
1/4 Cup granulated sugar
1 package rapid rise or instant yeast
3 1/4 Cups all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp apple pie spice
Sugar coating:
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice (or apple pie spice)
Caramel glaze:
1 Cup brown sugar (packed)
3/4 Cup butter
1/4 Cup canned pumpkin
1. Adjust an oven rack to the medium-low position and heat the oven to 200 degrees. When the oven reaches 200 degrees, turn it off. Lightly grease a large bowl with cooking spray. Butter a Bundt pan with 2 Tbsp soft butter. Set the bowl and pan aside.
2. Mix the milk, water, melted butter, granulated sugar, 2 Tbsp of apple pie spice, and yeast together in a large measuring cup. Stir the flour and salt together in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook. With the mixer on low, slowly add the milk mixture. After the dough comes together, increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough is shiny and smooth, about 6-7 minutes. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead briefly to form a smooth, round ball. Place the dough in the greased bowl and coat the surface of the dough with cooking spray (or soft butter, if you have more on hand). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the warm turned-off oven until the dough is doubled in size, 50-60 minutes. (If by the end of that time the dough hasn't doubled, place another bowl filled with just-boiled water in the oven alongside it, being careful not to slosh or burn yourself!)
3. In a large bowl, mix ½ Cup granulated sugar and 2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
4. When the dough has doubled, gently remove it from the bowl and pat into a rough 8-inch square. Set the oven to 350 degrees; re-set the racks. Cut the dough into 64 pieces with a bench knife. (Quarter, then divide each quarter into quarters, then each quarter again into quarters.) Gently roll each dough piece into a ball and, working one at a time, roll the balls in the sugar coating. Place the balls in the buttered Bundt pan, staggering the seams where the balls meet.
5. Make the caramel glaze - mix together ¾ Cup butter, brown sugar, and pumpkin over medium heat. When it boils, cook and stir one minute. Pour over the dough balls in the Bundt pan, being certain to cover all of the upper surfaces.
6. If, like me, you are actually using a tube pan of the sort where the bottom is removable and thus can leak, take a piece of foil slightly larger than your pan and, folding the edges in just a little, lay it on the oven rack to catch any leaks. You definitively do not want the caramel dripping into your oven.
7. Put the pan into the oven and bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden brown. Cool in the pan for ten minutes - no longer, or you could have trouble unmolding it as the caramel cools and gets sticky. Lay a piece of foil or parchment paper on the counter. Put a plate across the top of the pan, and turn the whole thing over so the bread slides out onto the plate. Caramel will come cascading out over and around the bread; make sure you have that piece of foil under the plate to catch the drips! Serve warm.
(Yes, new washer. We decided repairing the old one was throwing bad money after good, since the only repair guy we could get to come all the way out to our place wanted $125 just for the visit. Then we had to have it delivered, in a saga all its own which took two separate delivery times to accomplish. Let's just say this machine had better last a while.)
The monkey bread thing was instigated by a post I saw over at Pinterest. That recipe used pre-made biscuit dough, though, and I knew I could do better. So, using a recipe from America's Best Lost Recipes (one of the many fine cookbooks from the America's Test Kitchen folks), I came up with the blended recipe below. And--let me just say--everyone in the house immediately went back for seconds. This one's a winner.
Monkey Bread
adapted from America's Best Lost Recipes (Cooks Country magazine) and Gypsys Melting Pot on Fb (http://www.facebook.com/GypsysMeltingPot)
Dough:
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened, plus 2 Tbsp melted
1 Cup warm milk
1/2 Cup warm water
1/4 Cup granulated sugar
1 package rapid rise or instant yeast
3 1/4 Cups all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp apple pie spice
Sugar coating:
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice (or apple pie spice)
Caramel glaze:
1 Cup brown sugar (packed)
3/4 Cup butter
1/4 Cup canned pumpkin
1. Adjust an oven rack to the medium-low position and heat the oven to 200 degrees. When the oven reaches 200 degrees, turn it off. Lightly grease a large bowl with cooking spray. Butter a Bundt pan with 2 Tbsp soft butter. Set the bowl and pan aside.
2. Mix the milk, water, melted butter, granulated sugar, 2 Tbsp of apple pie spice, and yeast together in a large measuring cup. Stir the flour and salt together in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook. With the mixer on low, slowly add the milk mixture. After the dough comes together, increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough is shiny and smooth, about 6-7 minutes. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead briefly to form a smooth, round ball. Place the dough in the greased bowl and coat the surface of the dough with cooking spray (or soft butter, if you have more on hand). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the warm turned-off oven until the dough is doubled in size, 50-60 minutes. (If by the end of that time the dough hasn't doubled, place another bowl filled with just-boiled water in the oven alongside it, being careful not to slosh or burn yourself!)
3. In a large bowl, mix ½ Cup granulated sugar and 2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
4. When the dough has doubled, gently remove it from the bowl and pat into a rough 8-inch square. Set the oven to 350 degrees; re-set the racks. Cut the dough into 64 pieces with a bench knife. (Quarter, then divide each quarter into quarters, then each quarter again into quarters.) Gently roll each dough piece into a ball and, working one at a time, roll the balls in the sugar coating. Place the balls in the buttered Bundt pan, staggering the seams where the balls meet.
5. Make the caramel glaze - mix together ¾ Cup butter, brown sugar, and pumpkin over medium heat. When it boils, cook and stir one minute. Pour over the dough balls in the Bundt pan, being certain to cover all of the upper surfaces.
6. If, like me, you are actually using a tube pan of the sort where the bottom is removable and thus can leak, take a piece of foil slightly larger than your pan and, folding the edges in just a little, lay it on the oven rack to catch any leaks. You definitively do not want the caramel dripping into your oven.
7. Put the pan into the oven and bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden brown. Cool in the pan for ten minutes - no longer, or you could have trouble unmolding it as the caramel cools and gets sticky. Lay a piece of foil or parchment paper on the counter. Put a plate across the top of the pan, and turn the whole thing over so the bread slides out onto the plate. Caramel will come cascading out over and around the bread; make sure you have that piece of foil under the plate to catch the drips! Serve warm.
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Date: 2012-10-14 07:41 pm (UTC)