This Eastern European recipe is from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook. It was one of my favorite bakery treats growing up. It had an exotic blend of chocolate and cinnamon mixed with the yeastiness of bread that I found addictive. It's great with coffee. Wrap the cooled babka in plastic wrap and it will last a week.

Makes 3 loaves.

Ingredients

Loaf

1 1/2 cups milk, 110 degrees

2 packages (4 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast

1 3/4 cups sugar (divided into 3/4 cup and 1 cup)

3 large eggs, room temperature (divided into 2 eggs and 1 egg)

2 large egg yolks, room temperature

6 cups (26 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups (3 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, room temperature divided into 1 cup [2 sticks] and 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks)

2 pounds semisweet chocolate, very finely chopped

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon heavy cream

Topping

1 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

Recipe

1. Pour milk into a small bowl. Sprinkle yeast and pinch of sugar over milk; let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
2. In a bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar, 2 eggs, and egg yolks.
3. Add egg mixture to yeast mixture, and whisk to combine.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour and salt.
5. Add egg mixture, and beat on low speed until almost all the flour is incorporated.
6. Change to the dough hook. Add 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter and beat until flour mixture and butter are completely incorporated and make a smooth, soft dough that’s slightly sticky when squeezed is formed, about 10 minutes.
7. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead a few turns until smooth.
8. Coat a large bowl with cooking spray, place dough in bowl and turn to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
9. Place chocolate, remaining 1 cup sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Using a pastry cutter, cut in remaining 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter until well combined.
10. Spray three 9-by-5-by-2 3/4-inch loaf pans with cooking spray and line them with parchment paper.
11. Beat remaining egg with 1 tablespoon heavy cream to make an egg wash.
12. Punch down the dough and let rest 5 minutes. Cut into 3 equal pieces. Keep 2 pieces covered with plastic wrap while working with the remaining piece.
13. On a generously floured surface, roll dough out into a 16-inch square; it should be 1/8 inch thick.
14. Crumble 1/3 of the chocolate mixture evenly over the dough, leaving a 1/4-inch border.
15. Brush edges with reserved egg wash. Roll dough up tightly like a jelly roll. Pinch ends together to seal. Twist several times. Brush top of roll with egg wash. Bend roll in half (like a horseshoe). Fold right half of the roll over onto the left half. Crumble 2 tablespoons of filling over the roll, being careful not to let mixture slide off. Twist roll 2 turns, and fit into prepared pan. Repeat with the remaining 2 pieces of dough and remaining filling.
16. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
17. Make topping by mixing the confectioners’ sugar with flour and cutting in the butter with a pastry cutter.
18. Brush the top of each loaf with the egg wash. Crumble 1/3 of the topping over each loaf. Loosely cover each pan with plastic wrap, and let stand in a warm place for 30 minutes.
19. Bake loaves, rotating halfway through, until golden, about 55 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake until babkas are deep golden, 15 minutes more.
20. Remove from oven, and transfer to wire racks until cool. Remove from pans; serve.   

This recipe is from Michel Richard’s Happy in the Kitchen. It is a bit more complex and certainly has more calories than standard hash browns but is definitely worth it. The result tastes like something you would get in a restaurant. The best part is that you can make it in advance, put it in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator and finish it just before serving (it takes about 2 minutes under a pre-heated broiler). I like this with over easy eggs on top.

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

1 pound potatoes (2 large or 4 small), peeled
4 tbsp. butter, cut into pieces
1 cup heavy cream
1 clove garlic
¼ cup fresh Parmesan cheese

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Lightly butter a 9” x 13” baking dish and line with parchment paper (the butter will ensure the paper adheres to the dish).
3. Julienne and then dry the potatoes.
4. Heat the cream, butter, salt and pepper to taste over medium – high heat in a large sauté pan stirring occasionally until the butter is melted.
5. Add the potatoes to the cream mixture and mix / fold until completely coated. Cook just until the cream thickens (approximately 2 minutes). Remove from heat.
6. Grate the clove of garlic into the potato mixture and stir. Again, season with salt and pepper to taste (potatoes need lots of seasoning).
7. Spread the mixture evenly onto the parchment paper and flatten using a spatula. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese evenly over the top.
8. Bake in oven 30 – 40 minutes until brown on top. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. If necessary, run a knife between the potatoes and the side of the dish so it doesn’t stick.
9. Put in refrigerator until cold to set. Leaving the potatoes on the parchment paper take them out of the dish and cut into four rectangles with a pizza cutter. At this point you can store them in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator until ready to eat (I don’t know how long they last in the refrigerator as I generally eat them within a day or two).
10. When ready to serve, preheat the broiler on high. Put the potatoes brown side up in a baking pan and broil until the top is crisp and sizzling (about 2 minutes). If you want extra crispy potatoes, turn over and repeat.
11. Drain briefly on a paper towel and serve.

Notes

1. I love the taste, texture and color of Yukon Gold potatoes but it should work well with russets.
2. I use a mandoline to julienne the potatoes but a box grater will work too.
3. A salad spinner works great for drying the potatoes or you can lay them on layers of paper towels.
4. If you use a rasp or microplane grater, the garlic will be nearly liquefied and able to be completely incorporated into the potato mixture.

This recipe is based on a recipe I found on the Food Network web site (one of my favorite places to look for recipes) and adapted for my stand mixer. It was my other first place at the San Diego County Fair (formerly the Del Mar Fair). Because of the almonds the taste reminds me of biscotti.

I used fresh blueberries but it will work well with frozen blueberries if you thaw and drain them. I use a #40 (1½ tablespoon) disher (it looks like a small ice cream scoop). That way the cookies are uniform.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons lemon zest
½ cup chopped almonds, toasted
1 cup blueberries

Recipe

1. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the beater blade, cream together the butter and sugar. Add egg yolk and beat until incorporated. Add milk, almond extract, lemon zest and continue beating until incorporated.
3. With the mixer on low speed slowly add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients.
4. Fold in the almonds first, then fold in the blueberries.
5. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
6. While dough is chilling preheat the oven to 375°.
7. Drop heaping tablespoons of the mix onto cookie sheets. Bake until golden brown around the edges, about 15 minutes.
8. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.

This recipe is based on a recipe in Martha Stewarts Baking Handbook. I entered it in the San Diego County Fair (formerly the Del Mar Fair) and it was awarded a first place ribbon and Best in the Adult Bread Division.

If you are new to bread baking, this is as close to foolproof as you can get for a yeast bread recipe. Don’t worry if the bread ends up huge. You can always cut it into slices, put the slices on a cookie sheet, freeze them, put them in zip top bags (or vacuum pack them if you have a vacuum sealer) and return them to the freezer. When you want a slice, take it out and toast it until warm, brown and delicious.

Finally, it’s called rustic because that’s a bread baker’s code word for hand formed rather than baked in a pan.

Ingredients

2 C. water (110° - 120°)
24 oz. bread flour
1 package instant yeast
¾ C. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. kosher salt
8 oz. kalamata olives, pitted
Cooking spray
Cornmeal

Recipe

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer stir the water, flour, yeast and olive oil until combined. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
2. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add the salt and olives. Mix on low speed until combined. Raise the speed to medium and mix until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl but is still sticky (approximately three minutes).
3. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead for 1 minute and transfer to a bowl that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Let rise in a warm place until doubled (approximately 1 hour).
4. Return dough to a lightly floured work surface. Fold the bottom third of the dough up, the top third down, and the right and left thirds over. Brush any excess flour off and press down to seal after each fold. Turn the dough over and cover with lightly sprayed plastic wrap. Let rest 15 minutes.
5. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. To form the round loaf, flatten the dough again with your knuckles and then fold the dough in onto itself, like you are shaping something that looks like a jellyfish. Turn the dough over and squeeze the bottom together so that the top surface of the dough is smooth. Place the dough back onto the counter and begin to roll gently between your hands in a circular motion. Continue until the dough forms a tight smooth ball.
6. Sprinkle cornmeal on the bottom of a sheet pan transfer the dough to the pan. Cover with the plastic wrap and let rest until slightly puffed (approximately 30 minutes).
7. Preheat oven to 450°.
8. With a razor or a very sharp knife make four slashes on the top of the bread to form a square. Bake the loaf until the crust is a dark golden brown (approximately 35 minutes). Cool bread on wire rack and cool completely before slicing.

I haven’t been blogging lately but I have been cooking. Last Wednesday except for the time I was sleeping I baked for 24 hours in a row to make sure the eight items I entered in the San Diego County fair were fresh and ready.  I went to the fair today to participate in the Ghirardelli Chocolate Championship and found that I had been awarded 2 first place ribbons, a second place ribbon, two third place ribbons and two honorable mentions. Only one of my entries didn't receive any honors. In addition, I received a third place ribbon in the Ghirardelli Chocolate Championship.

All the winning fair recipes will be published in the fair cookbook next year. If you cannot wait, I will be adding them to the site over the next few weeks.

This recipe is courtesy of the Monthly Scavenger Hunt photography group on Flickr. Each month they put up a list of 20 items and each participant posts photos depicting their interpretation of each item. This month one of the items is English Muffins.

These English Muffins are brown on the outside and have the nooks and crannies that make them the perfect delivery vehicle for tuna fish (which I just happen to have, see Note 1).

I also need to thank Alton Brown for the recipe from The Muffin Man episode of Good Eats.

Note 1: You can use small tuna fish cans with the top and bottom removed for the forms. However, you need to be careful. The Starkist cans had bottoms that I could not remove. When I went to the market, I found most of the cans are now made like that. The best I could do was to buy the least expensive store brand which had bottoms that looked like they would be possible to remove (I still had to use a hand opener and some tin snips).

Note 1a: At 2 inches the English Muffins still were a bit small. I will be purchasing 3 inch forms for next time.

Note 2: To fill the forms I used three scoops from a #40 disher (a tiny ice cream scoop that will give you 40 scoops from a quart of ice cream). You can use a 1/3 cup measuring cup instead.

Ingredients

½ cup non-fat powdered milk
1 tablespoon + 1/8 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt (divided in half)
1 tablespoon shortening
1 cup hot water
1 envelope dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
Non-stick vegetable spray

Recipe

1. Combine the powdered milk, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, shortening, and hot water in a medium bowl. Stir until everything is dissolved (the shortening may not melt completely). Let cool.
2. In a small bowl combine the yeast and 1/8 teaspoon of sugar in 1/3 cup of warm water and rest until yeast has dissolved.
3. Stir the yeast mixture to the dry milk mixture. Add the sifted flour and beat thoroughly with wooden spoon until completely combined.
4. Cover the bowl and let it rest in a warm spot for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat a cast iron skillet on the stove between low and medium low.
6. Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt to the mixture and mix thoroughly.
7. Place metal rings (see Note 1) onto the skillet and coat lightly with vegetable spray. Using a #40 disher put three scoops into each ring (see Note 2) and cover with the bottom of a metal pan with a weight[1] on it and cook for 6 minutes until bottom is golden brown.
8. Remove the pan and flip the rings over using a spatula. Cover with the pan and cook for another 6 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Place on a cooling rack, remove rings and cool.
10. Split with a fork, toast and serve.

I just bought a 12-inch pre-seasoned Lodge Logic cast iron skillet this week. Don’t be surprised to see recipes using this heavy hardware pop-up over the next few weeks.

I was watching Alton Brown’s yearly egg nog show and had forgotten that at the end he tells you that you can use the base to make egg nog ice cream (not too surprising since last year I didn’t have an ice cream maker). So I went out, bought the ingredients (it’s definitely not low fat) and proceeded to churn.

Since bourbon and nutmeg are the only flavorings used, the alcohol taste is quite pronounced. I would add some vanilla bean next time. I might also add a stream of caramel syrup during the last 5 minutes of churning to create a ribbon.

Makes 1 quart.

Ingredients

4 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1 pint whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 ounces (85 grams) bourbon (I prefer Maker’s Mark)

Recipe

1. Beat together the egg yolks and sugar until the yolks lighten in color and the sugar is completely dissolved.
2. In a medium saucepan, over high heat, combine the milk, heavy cream and nutmeg and bring just to a boil, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from the heat and gradually temper[1] the milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture. This should bring the entire mixture to 160°F (71°C) where any salmonella germs will be killed (if it isn’t quite there, return to the pot and cook until it reaches the proper temperature and remove from the heat).
4. Stir in the bourbon, pour into a medium bowl, cover and set in the refrigerator. Chill the mixture until it reaches a temperature of 40°F (4.5°C), approximately 4 to 6 hours or overnight.
5. Process in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Serve as is for soft-serve, or place in an airtight container and put in the freezer for 2 to 4 hours for traditional ice cream.

This toffee is a great dessert to have with coffee (it’s very sweet by itself). If you have self-control, you can store it in an airtight container for up to a week. I wonder if it would be a good mix-in for the Egg Nog Ice Cream?

To clean the cooked toffee that is stuck to the saucepan just run it under very hot tap water to melt the sugar based mixture.

Makes About 2 cups.

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
½ cup butter, cut into small chunks
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
½ cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate (either chips or chopped)

Recipe

1. Butter or spray non-stick cooking spray on a rimmed cookie pan.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stir sugar, butter, water and corn syrup until butter is melted and you no longer see sugar crystals. Increase heat to high and boil until mixture reaches 300° on a candy thermometer, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Immediately remove from heat and carefully stir in pecans and vanilla. Quickly spread thinly in the prepared baking pan to about ¼ inch thick.
4. Distribute chocolate over the hot toffee spreading it evenly with an icing spatula as it melts.
5. Let cool until toffee is hard, about 20 minutes. Put in refrigerator until chocolate hardens about 10 minutes.
6. Flex pan to release toffee. Break toffee into bite-size chunks.

Winter may be approaching but that doesn’t mean you can’t make frozen treats. My friend Lisa who asked me to post this recipe doesn’t care what time of year it is. This would be an elegant ending for a New Years Eve dinner.

If you think that sorbet has to have ice crystals, this recipe will change your mind. It is rich and almost creamy (even though it has no dairy). I freeze it in individual glass ramekins with plastic lids. That way when we want it, we don’t need to scoop. Just take it out of the freezer, pop the lid off and dig in. I use a 2 quart Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker that I got at Costco for $50 this summer.

Makes 1 quart.

Ingredients

4 cups water
1 2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Recipe

1. Put water into a saucepan and stir in granulated and brown sugars. Cook over medium heat stirring until sugars dissolve.
2. Carefully whisk in the cocoa and bring the mixture to a simmer. Simmer for two minutes stirring constantly.
3. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl and stir in the vanilla.
4. When cool chill in the refrigerator until mixture reaches at least 40°F (4.5°C) 8 hours or overnight.
5. Stir the chilled mixture and pour it into an ice cream maker. Make sorbet according to the manufacturers directions.
6. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for about two hours.