The Girl Who Played With Flour

Peach Pound Cake

I’ve never made pound cake before, but I’ve always heard they were pretty easy recipes to pull off. And with the weather not knowing whether it wants to be winter or spring I really wanted something to remind me of summer, and what better than peaches!

This cake was incredible. The peaches keep it moist, and because you sugar the pans when you prepare them it caramelizes the outside giving it this subtle sweet crunch. This recipe makes two loaves and they didn’t make it through the weekend.

I adapted this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 c. butter
• 2 c. sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 c. canned diced peaches, drained

Preheat your oven to 325(F) degrees. Grease and sugar 2 8x4 in. loaf pans.

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between additions. Stir in vanilla.

In a separate bowl sift the flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Fold in the peaches.

Divide evenly into both pans and bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing.

Cherry Almond Walnut Cake

I made this cake a few months ago, just sorta throwing things together that we had left over in the pantry; but my mom loved it so much I decided to make it again for her birthday that just recently passed. It was just as much a smash now as it was then and I’m sure I’ll be making this cake again in the foreseeable future. It’s just that good.

Ingredients:

• 1 box white cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 c. water
• 1/3 c. vegetable oil
• 1/2 c. maraschino cherry juice
• 1/2 c. chopped maraschino cherries
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

In a large bowl mix cake mix, eggs, water, oil, and juice together until moistened. Fold in cherries and extracts.

Divide batter between two greased 8 in. cake pans and bake at 350 (F) degrees for roughly 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from pans and allow to cool completely before icing.

Icing Ingredients:

• 1 8oz. bar of cream cheese, softened
• 3 tbsp. butter, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 c. powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp. milk
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Beat cream cheese and butter together with electric mixer until creamy. Slowly sift in powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time until well incorporated. If icing begins to get too dense, loosen up by adding milk 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. Mix in vanilla extract.

Once cake has cooled, ice and top with walnuts if desired.

White Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream Frosting

These were a spur of the moment decision for me. I wanted something fun to take to work tomorrow because me coworkers are always wanting to taste the things I bake, and a cupcake is a generally accepted sweet treat that is really easy to get creative with. The batter turned out kinda funny on this one, it was pretty thin and it didn’t really rise well. I feel like that was more me fudging up somehow rather than the recipe being poorly written though, I’ll definitely have to try this one again.

For the Cupcakes:

• 2 c. butter
• 2 c. water
• 4 c. flour
• 3 c. sugar
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 c. sour cream (I substituted mayo, I feel this is why it fell flat)
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1 tbsp plus 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 (F) degrees.

Bring water and butter to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in sugar until dissolved. Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

Add the sour cream (or mayo in my case), eggs (one at a time), and extracts to the sugar/butter mixture. Mixing in between each addition.

Gradually mix the flour mixture into the batter, beating well to incorporate each addition.

Distribute the batter into cupcake cups and bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before icing.

For the frosting:

• 4 tbsp. butter
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 3 c. powdered sugar
• 3-4 tbsp. orange juice
• zest of one orange

Blend the butter with the vanilla ‘til creamy.

Beat in the powdered sugar and orange juice, alternating between 1/2 c. additions of powdered sugar and tbsp additions of orange juice. Beat until desired consistency is reached.

(Note: I iced my cupcakes right after I made the icing, so it turned into somewhat of a glaze. But if you allow the frosting to sit in the fridge for an hour or two and whip it before piping it onto the cakes you get a more airy, richer consistency.)

Carrot Raisin Walnut Bread

I was really in the mood to bake tonight, but I wasn’t in the mood to wait for starters and dough rising and all that hoop-lah. So I flipped through some cookbooks to find a nice batter bread I could make, and I stumbled upon this recipe in The Bread Bible. I kept pretty true to the recipe, only adding walnuts and nutmeg, but the result is pretty much carrot cake in bread form and it’s delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c. plus 1 1/2 tbsp. unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 c. safflower oil
• 1 c. sugar (the recipe calls for turbinado, but I just used regular granulated sugar)
• 1 c. raisins

Preheat oven to 350 (F) degrees 20 minutes before baking.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon or a hand-held mixer, mix together the eggs, oil, and sugar until blended (about one minute). Add the flour mixture and continue stirring or beating on low speed until just incorporated. Add the carrots and continue stirring for another 12 seconds. Stir in the raisins and walnuts.

Scrape the batter into the bread pan. Bake for 1 hour or until the top is golden and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Then, run a small spatula between the sides of the pan and the bread and unmold it onto an oiled wire rack to cool completely.

Wrap the loaf well in plastic wrap and allow it to sit overnight to distribute the moisture.

Crusty Rustic White Bread

My parents bought me The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum (the author of The Cake Bible) and ever since I opened it I couldn’t wait to try this bread. This was the first bread I’ve ever made using a starter, and I thought it was so easy to work with I’ll probably never make another bread without using one. It cut my mixing time in half, and you can’t argue with what it does for the flavor either. This bread was full of it! Wheaty, yeasty, crunchy and chewy. It’s amazing, and I can’t wait to eat more of it honestly. And it couldn’t have been simpler to make!

The book offers two different techniques for making the dough, a hand method and a mixer method. I used the hand method so I’ll give the recipe for that one…

It’s got a pretty long prep time, since the sponge has to sit and rise for at least 8 hours, but this is a great bread to make along the weekend for a Sunday dinner.

Ingredients for Dough Starter:

• 1 c. bread flour (I used all purpose)
• 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
• 3/8 tsp. instant yeast
• 1 1/4 tsp. honey
• 1 1/3 c. water at room temperature (70-90 F degrees)

Ingredients for Flour Mixture:

• 1 3/4 c. bread flour (again, I used all purpose)
• 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt (If making a sponge, don’t put this into the flour mixture, add it when called for later in the recipe)

Make the sponge. In a mixer bowl or other large bowl, place the bread flour, whole wheat flour, yeast, honey, and water. Whisk until very smooth, about 2 minutes. It should be the consistency of a thick batter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and set aside while you make the flour mixture.

Make the flour mixture. In another bowl whisk together the bread flour and instant yeast. Gently scoop it onto the sponge to cover it completely (like in the first photo up top), and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Allow it to ferment at room temperature for 1-4 hours. If letting it sit longer, move to refrigerator to rest for up to 24 hours. During this time the sponge will rise up and bubble through flour mixture, this is fine.)

Take the sponge out of the fridge one hour before you plan to mix it.

Mix the dough. Add the salt and, with a wooden spoon or your hands, mix until the flour is moistened. Knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together, then scrape it out onto a lightly floured counter. (I spray mine down with a little veggie spray as well.) Knead the dough for 5 minutes, adding as little flour as possible to keep it from sticking. At this point, the dough will be relatively sticky. Cover it with an inverted bowl and let rest for 20 minutes.

After the dough as rested, knead again for another 5-10 minutes, until it is very smooth and elastic. It should be barely tacky to the touch. If it is still sticky, add as little flour as possible to develop the dough. (Over all, I probably added an extra 1/3 c. flour to the original flour volume.)

Let the dough rise. Scrape the dough into an oiled bowl. Push down on it gently, and roll it in oil to coat. Cover the container with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise until doubled, roughly an hour.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press down on it gently to form a rectangle. Fold this rectangle in thirds like a business letter, turn the folded dough so the crease is facing away from you, and fold into thirds again. (This is called a business letter fold.) Round the edges and return the dough back to the bowl. Slightly oil the surface again, cover with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise once more for another 45 minutes to an hour.

Shape the dough and let it rise. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and press it down to flatten it slightly. The dough will be slightly tacky, but only use as much flour as needed for shaping. (I simply dusted my hands with flour and it didn’t stick to me at all.) To make a free-form round loaf, round the dough into a ball about 6 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches high and set it on a greased and floured baking sheet or stone.

Cover the dough with a large bowl or oiled plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled. Roughly an hour. When the dough is risen it will spring back slowly when pressed lightly with your fingertips.

Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 475 (F) degrees 1 hour before baking. Have an oven shelf on the lowest rack and place a sheet pan on the floor of the oven before preheating.

Slash and bake the bread. With a sharp knife make several 1/2 in. deep slashes across the top of the dough. Mist the dough with water and place in the oven. Toss 1/2 c. of ice cubes into the sheet pan placed on the floor of the oven and close oven door quickly but gently to allow the bread to steam. Bake for 10 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 425 (F) degrees and continue baking for another 20-30 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when the bottom is tapped. To give the free-form loaf an extra crisp crust, leave it in the oven for an extra 5-10 minutes with the door propped ajar.

Cool the bread. Remove the bread from the oven and transfer it onto a wire rack. Allow to cool completely.

Cowboy Cookies

These cookies were really fun to make. My mother used to bake them for me and my brother when we were younger, and smelling them baking in the kitchen really brought back some nice memories. I ran out of butter the day I baked these, so I had to alter the recipe a little bit to add in some vegetable oil and they still came out phenomenal. They were super chewy the night I baked them, and the morning after they crisped up a little. They’re kinda perfect for ice cream sandwiches really. =)

Here’s the recipe… It makes 4 dozen

Ingredients:

• 1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened (I used 1/4 c. butter and 1/3 c. vegetable oil)
• 1 c. packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 c. granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking sofa
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional, I used it and added 1/4 tsp. nutmeg as well)
• 2 1/2 c. quick cook oats
• 1 c. chocolate chips 
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Preheat your oven to 350 (F) degrees.

Beat butter (and vegetable oil in my case), brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a bowl until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.

In a separate bowl sift flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon (and nutmeg, if desired) together. Add to butter mixture in two parts, mixing until just moistened between parts.

Mix oats, chocolate chips, and walnuts into batter. It will be stiff.

Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute before removing to wire rack.