An Old-Fashioned Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake is my absolute favorite cake, so when my mother asked me to make her a birthday shortcake with strawberries, blueberries, and peaches I was thrilled.  This is a towering, fancy-looking cake that is quite simple to make.  It's also quite special to me because the basic cake recipe is my great-grandmother's.  Isn't that neat?

Here is a copy of the recipe in my mother's hand.  As you can see, it has been well-loved through the years.

I love strawberries with cream, and this is a beautiful, fluffy cake version of just that with peaches and blueberries to add a little pop.  To make a shortcake you need three basic things: two 9-inch cakes, whipped cream, and fresh fruit.  Before we look at any of those things, let's take a moment to examine pan preparation.  You'll need two 9-inch cake pans for this recipe.

Many people grease and flour their pans to keep the baked cake from sticking, but I prefer to line my pans  with wax paper.  I don't always do this when I bake, but I always do so when I bake this cake.  Here's my favorite way to create the perfect wax paper liner.

1. Flip the cake pan over so the bottom is facing up.  Place a sheet of wax paper on top of the pan.

2. Run the blunt side of a butter knife around the rim of the pan, creating an impression on the wax paper.

3.  Remove the wax paper and cut out the circle impression left behind.  Place the cut-out in the pan.  Voila!  

You can purchase pre-cut liners at gourmet shops and baking-supply stores, but it's much more cost-efficient to do it yourself.  At this point you can flour the cut-out for extra assurance if you like.  I generally leave them as they are, and it works for me.  Now that the pans are ready, it's cake-baking time.

Mama Holley's Basic Cake

ingredients:

2 1/4 cups self-rising flour

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup shortening

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

Mix all ingredients thoroughly.  Bake at 325 degrees F until brown.

That's the original recipe in its entirety.  Isn't it beautiful?  I like how simple and old-fashioned the recipe is, but there are a few little tricks that will help when baking this cake.  Most important is the order in which the ingredients are combined.  I begin by mixing the flour and sugar, then working in the shortening with my hands. This will help ensure even distribution of the ingredients.  In a separate bowl mix the milk, vanilla extract and eggs, then add to the dry ingredients.  

Another helpful piece of information that's missing from the recipe is the bake time.  My great-grandmother would probably have recommended baking it "just until it looks about right" if pressed for a time. I'll try to be a little more specific.  :)  At 325 degrees F in 9-inch pans this cake takes approximately 30 minutes to bake.  It may take a little more or less time depending on your oven.  It should be golden on top, and a toothpick should come out clean when inserted in the center.

After the cake has cooled a little, gingerly peel off the wax paper.  Take care not to be too rough or you risk tearing the top of the cake.

Lovely, isn't it?  This cake has a coarse crumb that I adore.

Using a long bread knife, split each cake horizontally so you have two layers per cake.  

Now your cakes are ready, and you'll need some fresh whipped cream.  Whatever you do, don't reach for the Cool Whip!   Try this instead.

Fresh Whipped Cream (a guide, not a recipe)

1 pint (16 oz) heavy whipping cream

approximately 1 Tablespoon confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Using a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer, beat cream until light and fluffy.  Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract.  Beat until fully incorporated.

Spread a covering of whipped cream on the first layer of cake.  Top with sliced fresh fruit of your choice.  Place the second layer on top and repeat.  You should have a total of four layers.  

That's it for a shortcake!  As I mentioned, my favorite shortcake has only strawberries and cream.  I love the simplicity and the intensity of the strawberries in summer.   The addition of peaches and blueberries was nice, and it certainly made a bright, festive birthday cake.  Check out the damage!

The best way to eat this cake is very early in the morning, on a back porch with a cup of black coffee.  It's the best breakfast imaginable.  

Rye Bread: Part Two (Pastoli)

Pastoli!  Do you know what that means?  I didn't either because Charlie made up the word.  :)  I needed a name for the filled rye sandwiches I made with leftover rye dough, and he came up with pastoli.   I decided to keep the name when it passed the google test (it doesn't mean anything terrible and it isn't any sort of brand name as far as I can tell). 

This is a loose recipe for pastoli with salami, provolone, pickles, and spicy mustard. The ingredient quantities aren't exact because of the playful nature of this dish, and a zillion variations are possible. I think rosemary bread with brie, sliced turkey, and granny smith apples would be tasty. Maybe something with pesto? If anyone tries these at home please let me know what fillings you used and your level of success.

Rye Pastoli

ingredients:

1/2 recipe rye dough

8 slices provolone cheese

12 thin slices salami

spicy mustard

sliced pickles

1 egg

kosher salt

Make the rye dough and allow to rise for approximately one hour (first rise).

Take a large handful of rye dough and stretch it into a small square. Using a rolling pin, flatten the dough into a rectangle approximately 8 x 10 inches in size. (It doesn't have to be a perfect rectangle so don't stress over that.)

Place a small spoonful of spicy mustard in the center of the rectangle and spread around the center.

Top with pickle slices, 2 -3 slices of provolone cheese and 3 -4 slices salami.

Fold the short ends toward the center, leaving about 1/3 of the filling uncovered. Fold one of the long ends toward the center. Take care not to tear the dough.

Put a little water on your fingertips and wet the edge of the last side a little. Fold it over and press against the opposite edge to seal. You should have a neat little packet of dough.

Make four packets and place them seam-side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Allow to rise a second time for approximately one hour.

I think they look pretty great at this stage!  Also, this is the point at which you can refrigerate them.  Keep reading for more info on that.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Beat an egg with 1 Tbsp water and lightly brush over each packet. Cut three slits in each bundle and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until bread is baked through and tops are golden.

Take a deep breath while the pastoli bakes because your house is going to smell amazing!  Cut each pastoli in half and serve while still warm.

I love how unfussy, yet somewhat impressive, these are.  Also, they can be assembled up to one day ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to bake.  Just let them come back to room temperature and rise for about thirty minutes.

 I think they would be perfect for taking on picnics because they're so self-contained.  I happen to know they're great around the pool, and everyone I've made them for (only four people so far, but they'll make an appearance at a larger gathering I'm sure) really likes them.  

I think rye bread is perfect for these, but I made another batch a few days ago using different dough and they were good too.  Still, as far as I'm concerned rye is the way to go.  

Rye Bread: Part One (Loaf and Rolls)

A couple weekends ago I assisted a wonderful class on baking bread at The Cook's Warehouse. Chef Doris Koplin, an amazing baker and a delightful person, instructed the class and over the course five hours produced an abundance of flavorful yeast breads. Everything she baked was melt-in-your-mouth good, but I was particularly taken with her rye. It had all the complexity that rye demands while still being light on the tongue.
Flash forward a week -- I decided to bake some rye at home so I could try out a few new techniques and the wonderful new recipe I have. I love this dough. It's so easy to work with, it smells great, and it makes really terrific bread. Also, it's quite versatile (as you will see). Here's the basic recipe.

Rye Bread
adapted from a recipe by Doris Koplin

ingredients:
6 cups bread flour
2 cups rye flour
3 Tablespoons caraway seed
1/4 cup sugar
2 packages (approximately 5 Tbsp) yeast
1 cup warm water
2 cups milk, heated to room temperature
1/4 cup canola oil

Measure dry ingredients (flours, caraway seeds, and sugar) into a bowl. Place the yeast in the warm water and allow to sit for approximately five minutes or until mixture becomes foamy. This is called proofing the yeast. Combine the oil and milk and add to the dry ingredients. Add the proofed yeast (including the water) and mix well with a large wooden spoon. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. This should take approximately five minutes.



Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and set aside to rise until doubled in bulk, about one hour.



Punch dough down and shape as desired (more to come on that). Place breads on baking pan which has been covered with parchment paper and cover again with the damp towel. Allow to rise again until doubled in bulk, about one hour. Brush breads with a beaten egg to glaze, sprinkle with caraway seeds and a little coarse salt. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven, 25 to 30 minutes for loaves, 15 to 20 minutes for rolls.

You might have noticed that this is going to produce a tremendous amount of dough. Eight cups of flour! What could you possibly do with that much rye bread? Plenty. Here are some suggestions.

The most obvious thing to do is bake rye loaves. This is certainly a worthwhile thing to do with the dough, and you'll have plenty to freeze for later. The recipe above will yield three loaves of rye. To make a loaf, divide the dough into thirds (after the first rise). Using one piece of the newly-divided dough roll out an 11 by 9 inch rectangle. Fold the 9-inch ends toward the center, about one third of the way. Now move to one of the 11-inch sides and carefully roll it toward the center until you have a nice tight loaf. Gently place the dough into a greased bread pan, seam-side down. You may need to gently press the ends of the dough toward the center in order to ensure a comfortable fit. It should look like this:



I have no idea why I didn't photograph the other steps, as it would really help to have a few visual aids here. The next time I bake bread (probably this weekend) I'll try to remember to take photos and update this post.

Cover the loaf with a dish towel and allow to rise approximately one hour or until doubled in size. Brush with an egg wash (one beaten egg with a splash of water) and sprinkle with your choice of caraway seeds or coarse salt (or both!). Bake the loaf in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes or until the loaf is golden brown on top and sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom. That's it! Now you have a yummy loaf of rye bread.

If you're feeling a little more adventurous you can make rolls. I think rolls are so much fun to make. There are a zillion ways to shape rolls, my favorite being fancy tucked knots. The entire dough recipe given above will make approximately 3 dozen rolls small rolls or 18 large rolls.

To make one fancy tucked knot roll, pull off a handfull of dough. Using your palms, roll it into a long, thin rope. (This is kind of like making snakes with playdough when you're little.) Don't worry if it isn't perfect.



Now, take the rope and tie it into a knot. Don't make this too complicated! It's just a knot. :) Also, try not to break the dough or stretch it too much in the process. Just go with the flow.



Now take the ends of the rope (sticking out on either side) and tuck them. Go in the direction they're already tending toward. Don't worry if it doesn't look perfect when you finish. They'll rise a little more and that will cover a number of flaws. You can see that mine isn't perfect in the photo below.



Now you have a roll. Place the formed rolls on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, then cover them with a damp dish towel. Allow to rise for approximately one hour or until doubled in size. Glaze with an egg wash and sprinkle with caraway seeds and/or coarse salt. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through. You can use a toothpick to test doneness just as you might do with a cake. If the toothpick comes out clean they're done. If has dough stuck to the sides they should bake a little longer. Pictures of the rolls before the go into the oven:






And after baking:





Yum, yum, yum!

There's one other thing I did with my rye dough, but it will have to wait until later. It's quite wonderful. And we call it...a pastoli! Stay tuned!

This Week's Bread

This weekend I chose to bake Honey and Bran Bread and German Pumpernickel Bread, both from William Sonoma's Baking cookbook.  Both recipes called for wheat bran, but I substituted oat bran since I was unable to find what was called for (see previous post).  Here are the recipes with photos.

Honey and Bran Bread

ingredients:

2 1/4 teaspoons quick-rise yeast

2 1/2 cups lukewarm water

3 cups whole-wheat flour

2 - 2 1/2 cups bread flour

2 cups wheat bran 

1/4 cup honey

1 Tablespoon corn oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 egg yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon water

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of the lukewarm water and let stand until bubbles start to rise, about 5 minutes.  In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine the whole-wheat flour, 1 cup of the bread flour, and the bran.  Stir in the remaining 3 cups lukewarm water, honey, oil, salt, and yeast mixture.  Gradually stir in enough of the remaining bread flour to make a soft dough that holds its shape.

Knead by hand or with a dough hook, adding bread flour as kneaded.  Knead by hand until smooth and elastic, about ten minutes; knead by hook until the dough pulls cleanly from the bowl sides, 6 - 7 minutes.  Form the dough into a ball and place in a clean, greased bowl, turning the dough to coat all sides.  
Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 45 - 60 minutes.

Grease two 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch loaf pans.  Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and press flat.  Cut in half.   Using a rolling pin, roll out each half into a 12 by 7 inch rectangle.  
Starting at a long side, roll up tightly and pinch the seams to seal.  Place in the prepared pans, seam sides down.

 Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 - 60 minutes.   Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Brush the loaves with the egg-yolk mixture.  Bake until well browned and a thin wooden skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, 30 - 35 minutes.  Transfer the loaves to a wire rack to cool.

The honey and bran bread has a very subtle nutty flavor that I just love!  I think the oat bran tastes just fine, but I still want to try wheat bran and see what difference that makes.  The dough was very dense and heavy, which surprised me, and the finished loaves are quite dense.  I'm interested in seeing how it lends itself to making sandwiches, but for now it's just great with a little fresh butter smeared on a slice.

German Pumpernickel Bread

ingredients:

3 cups rye flour

1 cup wheat bran

2 1/2 - 3 cups bread flour

2 1/4 teaspoons quick-rise yeast

1/2 cup lukewarm water

2 Tablespoons dark or light molasses

3 Tablespoons corn oil

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups plain low-fat yogurt, warmed to 110 degrees F

cornmeal for sprinkling

In a bowl, whisk together the rye flour, bran, and 2 cups of the bread flour.  In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine the yeast, 1/2 cup of the flour mixture, and the lukewarm water; let stand until bubbles start to rise, about 10 minutes.  Stir in the molasses, oil, salt, and yogurt.  Gradually stir in 4 cups of the remaining flour mixture to make a stiff but workable dough.  The dough will be sticky.

Knead by hand or with a dough hook, adding the remaining flour mixture and more bread flour as needed.  Knead by hand until smooth and elastic, about 15 minutes; knead by dough hook until the dough is not sticky and pulls cleanly from the bowl sides, about 10 minutes.  The dough will be slightly heavy.  Form the dough into a ball and place in a clean, greased bowl, turning to coat on all sides.  Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 60 - 75 minutes.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and press flat.  Cut in half, knead briefly, and form each half into a ball, stretching the sides down and under.  


Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal and place the loaves on it.  Cover with a clean kitchen town and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 45 - 60 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Uncover and bake until browned and the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottoms, about 1 hour.  Transfer to wire racks to cool.

This is the first time I've ever attempted pumpernickel, and I really enjoyed it!  The dough is just gorgeous and handles very well after enough flour has been added (up until that point it's very sticky).  The photos don't really do the finished loaves justice.  They're beautiful in a very rustic way.  I tried a slice last night with a little butter, and it had the same dense, moist texture as the honey and bran bread.  I wonder if that's because of the oat bran (?).  Does anyone know?

I have a feeling that as it sits the flavors will deepen and it will have a more traditional pumpernickel flavor.  I certainly hope so because I just love a good, deep pumpernickel flavor!

Searching for wheat bran

Two of the bread recipes I plan on trying out today call for wheat bran which sounds like a simple enough thing to find.  I usually make the hike to the Dekalb Farmers Market on Saturdays,  but today it's rainy and I don't really feel like getting out and doing much so I decided to just go across the street to Publix instead.  It turns out that it is super difficult, if not impossible, to find wheat bran at Publix.  I'm not sure if they carry it, but I was unable to find it if they do.  However, I did find the following similar-sounding things:

• Oat bran
• Raisin bran
• All-Bran cereal
• Wheat germ
• Cream of wheat
  

I really debated over just scratching the recipes I'd chosen.  Ordinarily I would just throw up my hands and go to either Whole Foods, The Fresh Market, or the farmers market, but I just didn't feel like it today!  Instead, I decided to choose one of the other things I found and make a substitution.  I have no idea if this will work, as I haven't even started baking yet, but I'm going to give it a go.

I first looked at the oat bran.  It's a hot cereal made by Quaker, and the only thing listed in the ingredient list is oat bran.  This pleases me because it suggests that it is a whole food with no additives.

Next I checked out the raisin bran.  I knew I wouldn't go this route, but I wanted to read the ingredient list and hopefully learn a little something.  Well, raisin bran contains all sorts of things I try to avoid, including high-fructose corn syrup, niacinamide, and a collection of vitamins.  I know it sounds great that Kellogg's adds vitamins, but I prefer to get them naturally through fruits and vegetables.  

All-bran cereal sounded promising so I checked the label.  The first ingredient listed was wheat bran (!).  So far, so good!  Unfortunately, seventeen other ingredients followed.  Again, a highly processed food containing high-fructose corn syrup.  

Wheat germ is all wrong, so I quickly marked it off my list along with cream of wheat.  I was left with nothing else to examine so I decided to go with the oat bran.  I know this will change the texture and taste of my bread, but I'm going to give it a shot!  With the oat bran I know what I'm substituting is a whole food with no preservatives or other additives.  

Since I had so much trouble finding wheat bran I decided to do a tiny bit of research and find out just what I was looking for.  I learned that a bran (such as wheat bran or oat bran) is the hard outer layer of a grain that becomes a byproduct when the grain is processed.  Good to know!  I'll keep looking for it when I'm out and about, but for now I'm going with the oat bran!

The problem with baking bread

As much as I adore the process of baking bread I do have a couple of  problems with it.  I get antsy during the rise times and almost always find another project to work on while the bread is doing its thing.  This is great, except that I always seem to forget about the bread and allow it to rise too long.  Lately I've taken to labeling each dough as it rises with the name of the bread and a time.  When I reach that time I know that it's time to do something to the dough, and I proceed.  This also keeps me from getting my doughs confused when I'm baking multiple types or batches of bread.  Just the same, I often forget and end up with a dough that has risen too much or has risen and fallen (resulting in a more dense and less visually pleasing bread).  

Another problem I often have is planning out the bake times when I'm making several loaves.  Yesterday I ended up with five loaves of bread (three different types) that needed to bake at the same time.  I put the focaccia on top at 400 degrees and sort of crammed the honey-wheat loaves onto the bottom rack (sort of around my pizza stone).  I don't know why I spend so much time preparing the dough if at the end I'm just going to say "Okay, whatever!" and screw up the actual baking.  The focaccia turned out well (see previous post), but the honey-wheat suffered.  It baked unevenly and browned too much on the bottom.

 
Honey-Wheat Sandwich Loaves

As soon as the honey-wheat came out of the oven I raised the temperature to 425 and baked the rosemary bread.  It would have been perfect, but I forgot about it and didn't hear the timer.  Oops.  Fortunately, I didn't forget about it for too long and was able to save it.  It's a bit too brown and isn't quite as moist as I would like it to be, but it's still pretty tasty. 

Rosemary Bread (note the rosemary leaf pattern on top of the loaf.  Cutting that is one of my favorite parts of baking this particular bread.  I think it's quite pretty.)

I think it may be time for me to invest in a few egg timers so I can get the rise time right.  Also, I am going to have to do a little more planning so I can work out the bake times.  

 

Good Bread, Bad Bread

I had a wonderfully successful day of baking though there were some setbacks.  For starters, I realized early on that I would not be able to bake all that I planned.  I decided to remove baguettes from my baking, and I'm glad that I made that choice.  Overseeing three breads was plenty for one day!  

Oddly enough, the breads that I am most familiar with had the poorest showing.  I had a few guests over this afternoon, lost track of time, and overbaked the Rosemary Bread and Honey-Wheat Sandwich Loaves!  Oh well.  I suppose that's how it goes sometimes.

The focaccia worked out quite well.  However, I'm not convinced that it's any better than the recipe I usually use (in fact, I think my normal recipe may have a slightly better texture).  It certainly takes more time to prepare, but it is quite delicious.  I tested it with some friends, and they all seemed to like it.  

The recipe I used today for the focaccia is as follows:

Focaccia

Sponge

1 1/2 cups room-temperature water (68 - 76 degrees F)

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

1 cup bread flour

Remaining Ingredients

2 1/4 cups bread flour plus extra for dusting

4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil plus extra as  needed

2 tsp table salt

Coarse salt or salt flakes for garnishing (I think sea salt would be nice)

To make the sponge, combine the water and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook or in a large mixing bowl.  Stir until the yeast is dissolved.  Stir in the flour to make a soft batter about the consistency of pancake batter.  Mix by hand until very smooth. 

 

Cover the bowl and let rise in a warm place until the sponge is thick and foamy and nearly doubled in size, about 3 hours.

To make the final dough, add the bread flour, 4 tsp olive oil, and table salt.   Mix and knead the dough with the dough hook on medium speed until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat, cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel, and let rise in a warm place until nearly doubled in size, about 40 minutes.

Fold the dough over on itself by lifting the edges up and over the center.  Cover and allow to relax for another 15 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Coat a baking sheet liberally with olive oil.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface and, using your palms, gently stretch the dough into a rectangle that is an even 1 inch thick and nearly the same dimensions as your baking sheet.  Avoid tearing or puncturing the dough with your fingertips.  Transfer to the baking sheet, cover, and let rise until the dough springs back slowly to the touch but does not collapse, about 40 minutes.

Use your fingertips to gently dimple the surface of the focaccia and drizzle with additional olive oil.  Scatter with the coarse salt or other toppings if desired.  

Bake until the focaccia has a golden brown crust and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, 25 - 30 minutes.  Let cool completely on wire racks. 

(I forgot the photograph the finished product until after it was half eaten!)

A few notes:

• The dough was much stickier than expected.  By making a point to completely coat my hands in flour I was able to handle the dough more easily, but it was still quite difficult to deal with.
  
• After stretching the dough into the shape of the final loaf I had some difficulty moving it from the floured cutting board to the oiled baking sheet.  If I had to do it over again I would stretch it on a pizza board so I could carefully slide it off.
• If I make this bread again I will make a point to shape the dough more carefully before baking.  I like the rustic look I ended up with, but I think it will have that appearance even if it is a bit more uniform.  
• I'm also interested in trying various toppings: perhaps rosemary and caramelized onions.
  

The final product had a strong yeasty flavor and was pleasantly chewy.  Charlie (my husband and primary taste tester) noted that it was fluffy and quite salty.  I used kosher salt this time, but I think flaky sea salt might have a better flavor.  

More to come on this weekend's baking...