Irish Soda Bread

Pretty easy to make and tastes great. It's like a massive raisin scone. The dough is very sticky and messy when forming into a "round, dome".  Cutting the middle was also sticky but a lot easier than cutting individual scones. It cooked for 1 hour 3min (Rotating at 35 min). My mom said it reminded her of "paneton". I'm not sure what that is (I'll google it later) but apparently she loved it as a child. It only lasts 2 days covered well in plastic (I had a piece on the third and the raisins were rancid). 

134 to Go!

Cornbread

Not so good. It tasted more like corn bread pudding. Too grainy. I learned my lesson to only use the exact stated ingredients. I used Pan white cornmeal instead of stone-ground yellow cornmeal.  I'll try it again someday the way it should be. 

135 to Go!

Fig (Black Mission)-Walnut Bread

I give it a 10! Amazing! 

Our house is leaking and we had to have a plumber come and find out what was going on. I was in the middle of making this bread when I had to move all of my belongings out of my room before they got ruined (I later had to blow dry my precious copy of "Le Cordon Bleu Dessert Techniques" while holding back the tears).  As I resumed the recipe I realized I had simmered ALL the figs (instead of 1 1/2 cup of the 3 cups) and kept it on the burner (supposed to remove it after water simmers and then add figs).  Now I had to puree the whole thing without any figs left to fold in at the end.  I divided the batter in two with 34 oz each and placed pans on baking sheet.  They baked for 60 minutes (Rotating at 30 min). 

Perfect! If you love figs you'll love this (My BFF called and said she gave it an 8. The following day she called and wanted to change her score to a 9). It has many steps but they are so worth it.

It definitely made my "rainy" day a little brighter.

136 to Go!

Pumpkin Bread

My BFF who LOVES Pumpkin gave this a 10.  I thought I had undercooked it but she thought it was "moist". The top began to darken so I panicked and took it out at 47 min (Cool in pan for 10) instead of the 55-60 stated. Each pan filled with 34oz of batter and then placed on baking sheet. I'm not a big fan of pumpkin (bread, pie etc).  I thought it was bland, nothing to get excited about. 

137 to Go!

Banana-Nut Bread

BEST BANANA-NUT Bread EVER! 

 I have been making Nigella Lawson's Walnut-Chocolate Banana Bread as Christmas presents for the past couple of years.  Not any more, (Family and Friends will welcome the change, nothing against Nigella, LOVE HER!). It is also fairly simple

to make. It uses a lot of oil (remember that when trying tell yourself it's OK to have another piece because it's "Healthy"). It also takes a lot of vanilla extract (2tbsp) so make sure you have enough before getting started (Use only the best-Madagascar).  Each loaf filled wit 32 OZ of batter (weighed it).   I placed the loaves on a baking sheet and baked them for 60 minutes (Rotating at 30 min). I made it before work so I only had 5 min to let them cool off in the pan before turning them out (Came out easily). By the time I got to work my mom called to say her and my 2 year old had eaten half a  loaf. 

138 to Go!

"Fennel" and Golden-Raisin Scones

I do not like fennel (Neither does anyone else in my family) so I omitted it from the recipe.  It would not have made a difference because I still did not care much for these.  The combination of butter and olive oil was very confusing in addition to the golden raisins (I did not chop the raisins which made them burst in your mouth with each bite and not in a good way).  The "Unique"  flavors did not work. I'll have to stop by Amy's Bread in NYC to taste the yeast bread that inspired these (or not). I froze the dough for two hours (I think scones taste better if frozen for 1-2 hours instead of overnight.  Back to waking up at 5am!).  

They baked for 35 minutes (10 more than recipe states) and I thought they tasted undercooked and BF thought they were dry.  

Done with Scones and ready for breads. 

139 to Go!

Chocolate Scones

Moist and chocolaty but not too sweet.

They are pretty easy to make except for trying to incorporate the dry crumbs until the dough comes "together" . I used Ghirardelli cocoa powder and Nestle semi sweet chocolate chips (on sale. Now that I know how great these are I'll splurge on better chips next time). I used a round 2 2/3'' cutter which made 10 instead of 6 scones (Yeah!!!). Then I wrapped them in plastic wrap (Have I mentioned how much I dislike plastic wrap? I'm ready to start using duck tape to secure it on the sides) and froze for one hour.

They baked for 29 minutes. 

Great with a cup of milk (Unless lactose intolerant then  with a cup of soy milk!) I had parents and friends fighting over these so make sure to make two batches to avoid problems.

140 to Go!

Oat and Dried Apricot Scones

Healthy and Yummy!

These are easy and fast to make.  The kids loved them for breakfast with Organic Wild Blueberry Conserves. Just be careful because they crumble easily. I baked them for 25 minutes (scones are hard to tell when ready) and were a bit dry. Next time I'll bake them for 23 minutes so they are moister.

141 to Go!

Lemon-Ginger Scones

Not lemony enough for me but an ingenious combination with the ginger.  It took about four lemons to make 1/2 cup of juice.  This time I prepared them at night and baked them in the morning. I am not sure (directions to not say) if I am supposed to let them come to room temperature before baking. I didn't.  They baked for 35 minutes.

A great snack for both kids and BF after a day playing at the pool. 

142 to Go!

Currant Scones

My Favorite of the following three Scones. Simple, Buttery and Flaky. I am not a huge fan of currants (or raisins) but these were surprisingly delicious.  

Cutting the dough  became an engineering project. The pieces came out odd shaped. I wanted to use round biscuit cutters but stayed true to the directions ( After this year I will!).  I don't like having to wait 2 hours for the dough to freeze so from now I'll make them at night and bake them in the morning (Sweet Dreams).  I could only wait an hour an a half. They baked for 29 minutes.

I used organic heavy cream which I think makes a big difference. Sanding sugar is slowly becoming a thorn in my side. I cannot find white sanding sugar anywhere. I am sometimes tempted to use the Halloween colors available now but know enough about psychology to know appearances affect taste.  

Yummy with Strawberry Jam.

143 to Go!

Popovers

My favorite restaurant is Mariposa at Neiman Marcus. They serve the most amazing Popovers with lilikoi butter. These were just as good! I am so excited to be able to make them whenever I want (Neiman still has my favorite tarts). I bought a popover pan at W & S but they only make it for 6 cups. I'll need to buy another so I can bake all 12 at once.  The recipe says to fill each cup with 5 Tbsp which takes forever. I measured it and you can use 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp (much faster). They do deflate fast so make sure to serve and eat them right away. 

They baked for 26 minutes (I loved watching them magically puff and "pop" over the tins!)

144 to Go!

Date-Bran Muffins

Healthy Yumminess but hideously hard to make. 

Have you ever chopped dates? It is not fun. Also made me realize I need to invest in  better knives.  I used Deglet Noor dates ($7 for 10 oz). The eggs do not blend in with the butter mixture. I actually realized I had creamed 2 sticks of butter instead of 1 and 1/2 and had the personal dilemma of going ahead or starting over. I was not going to waste those hard to chop expensive dates and my special trip to the health food store for wheat bran so I started over. I am ashamed to say that as an amateur, untrained baker, I did not know what to do with the brown sugar/butter mixture and threw it away. I am lost with out the Handbook! Reminds me of my boyfriend and his GPS. 

These will keep you more regular than Metamucil and go down easier.

145 to Go!

Cranberry-Zucchini Bread

Delicious! 

After tasting the amazing muffins,  I was energized to go and get the Vegetable oil for the bread. Very moist, "tart and sweet".

Baked for 50 minutes.

146 to Go!

Cranberry-Zucchini Muffins

Surprisingly Delicious! 

A great way to get the veggies into the kids. My 2 year old loved them but my 7 year old was harder to convince (She kept asking what the green stuff was).  I used Canola Oil (Too tired to go to Safeway and get Vegetable oil) and dried Ocean Spray cranberries (Could not find fresh or frozen ones) and thought they worked great.   It was actually really fun grating the zucchini (almost made me want to cook).  It is an easy recipe. I always find baking muffins very comforting and rewarding. 

I  plan on making these a new tradition for Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays. 

They baked for 23 minutes.

147 to Go!