the joy of baking

The smell of freshly baked bread is one of life's pleasures.

It's one of those aromas that wraps around you like a loving hug.

I bake something almost daily it seems. Usually it's a whole grain bread

which we eat as breakfast toast, lunch sandwiches, or as a accompaniment with dinner.

Homemade bread does not keep as well as it's store bought

brother loaded with preservatives.

But we use every bit of the bread just the same -

it can become a great base for french toast

or the always useful bread crumbs.   

From time to time I like to make something

a bit more exotic - usually for a potluck or dinner company.

This last Easter I made Foccacia topped with 

red potatoes and fresh herbs from our garden.

This recipe is rather flexible depending on what you have on hand,

or want to use.

Focaccia:

1 package active dry yeast (I used 1 3/4 tsp. yeast)

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon sugar

2 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour (I used 1/2 cup whole wheat with the rest bread flour)

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water with the salt, olive oil, and sugar. Stir in the flour in two or three additions. Once dough has formed, turn it out on a board dusted with flour and knead it for several minutes, adding only enough flour to keep the dough from sticking (about 1/4 - 1/3 cup). When the dough is smooth and shiny, set it in a lightly oiled bowl, turn it over once, cover and put it in a warm place to rise until it is doubled in bulk, about 40 minutes. (I used my bread machine on the dough cycle: I put all the ingredients into the machine and let it do the mixing and kneading. I watched the dough, helping it off the sides of the pan with a rubber spatula. I added about 1/4 cup of additional flour until the consistency didn’t look too moist. My dough cycle runs 1 1/2 hours.)

After the dough has risen (the bread machine dough cycle is complete), spread a little extra virgin olive oil on a rectangular baking sheet (I used a large pizza pan as my rectangular pan does not fit in my small oven) and lightly grease hands. Spread dough out until it is almost covering the pan but don’t let it tear or get too thin in spots. Leave to rise again, covered, for another 20 minutes. Spread across the pan carefully so it doesn’t tar or get too thin, pulling and lifting it (to get air out from underneath), and “dimpling” it with your fingers.

Potato-Herb Topping:  

Chop together a mixture of flat-leaf parsley, rosemary and oregano to equal 1 cup, chopped. (My flat-leaf parsley was rather sparse so I used chives to complete 1 cup of chopped herbs.) Roast one head of garlic, peel, and mince if necessary. (I used several cloves of raw garlic, minced.) Thinly slice about 5 medium to small sized red potatoes. (I used about 8 to 10 as I like to overlap the potatoes - but you can do as you please.) Put in a frying pan, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil and 1/4 cup canola oil (I used all olive oil.) Heat the chopped herbs and garlic in the oil; then set aside to cool.

Spread 1/2 of the herb/oil mixture on the dough. Then layout the thin slices of potatoes in rows. (I usually over lap the slices - in rows in a rectangular pan; this time I was using a pizza pan so I attempted a spiral, starting on the outside edge, moving towards the center.) Put the rest of the herb/oil on top. Sprinkle with some coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Bake at 375-degrees F for 25 minutes. Remove from pan immediately or the dough will “sweat” and get soggy. Cut and serve.

For a recent Summer Solstice Celebration

I made a sun from an easy bread dough recipe that I like to make often.

Once it was cool I cut out the center

for a garlic-artichoke-cream cheese spread.

I made a second recipe of the dough for bread to slice for the spread.

I also like non-yeast breads for their quickness and ease.

I have a scone recipe that I really like -

I change it depending on what I have in stock. 

Above is the Cranberry-Almond version.

And below is the Cinnamon-Raisin.

Here is the original scone recipe:

Whole Wheat Scones:

3 cups flour (1/2 whole wheat & 1/2 all-purpose)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1-1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a cookie sheet. Mix dry ingredients together. With a pastry blender (or two-knives although this method takes me 2 days), cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. (I slice the butter into the dry ingredients to speed up the cutting-in process.) Stir in milk (batter will get rather stiff). Mix in raisins. Knead dough a few times on a lightly floured surface just to make sure all ingredients are thoroughly mixed together. Shape into round about 1-inch thick (do not taper sides). Score top to make it easier to break into eight wedges. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes.

To make the Cinnamon-Raisin version I followed the above but also added 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

To make the Cranberry-Almond version I replaced the raisins with 1/2 cup dried cranberries and 1/4 cup slivered almonds. Next time I think I'll add 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of almond extract too.

This recipe is really flexible - I think a lemon or orange version might be very tasty . . .  

Swedish Visiting Cake is another quick baked good.

I got the recipe off the internet

and it was attributed to Dorie Greenspan.

I made it for breakfast recently and it was absolutely delicious.

Swedish Visiting Cake:


1 cup sugar (plus more more sprinkling on top right before baking)
grated zest of one lemon

2 eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup flour

1 stick melted butter, cooled

1/4 cup sliced almonds

Use a little of the melted butter to grease a 9-inch cast iron skillet (or a regular 9-inch cake pan). In a medium bowl, add the lemon zest to the sugar.  Rub the zest and sugar in between your fingers to release the oils.  Whisk in the eggs one at a time.  Whisk in the salt and the extracts.  Change to a spatula and stir in the flour.  Fold in the butter.  Stir until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and top with the sliced almonds and a generous sprinkling of sugar.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes.  It will be golden and the edges will have a nice crust.  Let the cake cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and then take a knife and run it around the edge of the pan.  This cake can be served warm or at room temperature.