Recently a friend of mine told me that one of our local bagel places, Chicago Bagel & Bialy, was also serving pizza, made with their bialy dough. Bialy dough isn't all that far from pizza dough to begin with, but I misheard him and thought they were somehow serving pizza with a bagel-dough crust. I spent days wondering about the logistics. Bagel dough has to be boiled before being baked, and obviously you can't boil a pizza. Did they steam it before baking? Did they just not bother with the boiling step?
Anyway, I decided to try my hand at "bagel pizza poppers" which are balls of bagel stuffed with a mixture of sauce, mozzarella cheese, and "toppings". I made a batch of King Arthur Sandwich Bagel dough, then added some food coloring while kneading in order to color-code by filling -- red for pepperoni, green for sauteed mushroom, yellow for caramelized onion. I split the dough by weight, hand-stretched each piece and stuffed it with a spoonful of filling, then sealed, boiled, and baked.
They came out really, really nicely -- basically they taste like Hot Pockets look like they should taste, and they still have that nice chewy exterior. A few of them burst during baking, but the filling mostly stayed inside, and they reheat well in the microwave or oven.
[ID: Two images of the pizza bagel poppers. On the left they are not yet cooked, sitting on quarter-sheet pans sprinkled with cornmeal; there are six red ones, six green ones, and five yellow ones (I dropped a yellow one). On the right, they are visible after baking; they have slight browning on top, and the nearest one in the photograph, a green one, has split open slightly to show a mixture of sauce, cheese, and sauteed mushrooms inside.]
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Hereâs that herb bread from yesterday, sliced and buttered.
Itâs far more cheesy than herby so the herb content will need stepped up. This is an interesting effect, since dried herbs are usually more emphatic than fresh ones. Also, even after overnight in a bread bag, the crust remains more assertive than we like.
So today DD is making a Second Draft loaf, with increased herbs (more tarragon, more basil), a bit more liquid so the dough isnât as dense, and shaped a bit thinner. The baking time will also be about 10 minutes shorter. Most of this should produce a less armoured crust.
And, after saying all that, the First Draft bread is still very good; I have a feeling itâs going to make great toast, just the thing for even more cheese on top, or maybe some cold cuts (memo, check freezer for salami or some sliced roast beast.)
I also suspect itâll be great toasted and well-buttered alongside a bowl of nice hearty February-weather soup, like the sausage-goulash soup with peppers & sour cream I made a couple of weeks back; recipe for that queued for later today.
*****
ETA: Second Draft loaves, just out of the oven - the baguette was baked on a baguette tray (duh) and the ammonite was baked in a cast-iron pot.
They smell great, and both have a lot more give, suggesting theyâve got a proper crust instead of an armoured carapace - even though that would be entirely right and proper for the ammonite...
Found in an empty tomb, these sweets have staying power.
I tried this! The cookies were good! Here is my take:
Add a little oil, a tablespoon or two, as well as using the butter. These get rock-like quickly, though they still taste fresh. The next week, I mean. I donât know how theyâll taste in 1,300 years.
These have to cook longer than the recipe says. The first batch took 25 MINUTES to get that toasty color on the bottom.
Use more than two tablespoons of apricot jam. Be brave. You can put any leftovers on toast.
Eat along with a glass of milk, or milk substitute of your choice. They actually taste even better that way!
this 38-hour fridge-proofed, no-knead beer bread managed to have the best crust of any bread ive made so far. i used a local lager, nothing special for a trial run. you want to use something that lacks bitterness and hops. im going to use an oatmeal stout next time đ»
replacing 1/3 of the liquid with beer didn't make a huge difference compared to the generic no-knead artisan recipe i used as a base. it's more savory and yeasty with a hint of bitterness. it's pretty well rounded. the crust has a slight nutritional yeast flavor to it, which i enjoy. i think any more beer would have made it too bitter and messed with the rise.
it turned out short and slightly dense, which i think can be accounted for by the near-disk i formed it into and the extra acidity i didn't account for. the texture is reminiscent of good sandwich bread: soft, springy, no massive holes. i think it will make good french toast in a few days :)
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TIL that blood is an adequate substitute for eggs in many recipes: pancakes, ice cream, sourdough bread, and even merengue.
While studying coagulation, scientists accidentally discovered that blood and eggs have very similar consistencies, as well as similar protein content (albumin!).
So Iâve been reading The New Prometheus, a Jason-Todd-keeps-coming-back-to-life series by Zoeleo. Part of what makes this fic great is the detailed writing, which extends to specific mentions of different meals the characters eat over the course of the fic. And when Jason Todd shows up to spa night (sorry, âSelf-Care Saturdayâ) with Earl Grey-infused cupcakes...
âUh, the batter is an Earl Grey infusion and thereâs lemon zest in the icing. They were an experiment. An homage to Alfred, kind of.â
Experimenting with baked goods? I may not be able to fanart, but I can definitely show my appreciation for a fic with experimental baked goods. Hereâs what I came up with. Itâs under a cut because itâs a long recipe - but not hard, I promise!
(My sincere apologies if youâre on mobile, which will both fuck with the formatting and eliminate the Keep Reading cut...)
Oh, did you notice thatâs not a cupcake? I hate making cupcakes. Who the hell has time to carefully pour batter into 24 cups, decorate 24 individual tiny cakes, and then wash a fucking cupcake pan with all its little pockets of hidden stickiness... ugh, no, you get cake and youâll like it.
Ingredients for cake:
White cake mix (It was late and I didnât feel like measuring dry ingredients)
1/2 c butter, very soft
1 1/4 c milk (you can get away with using water, if you need to)
2 - 6 tbs Earl Grey tea (I used loose leaf, but you can use tea bags if you need to. The amount will vary depending on how much you like tea - Iâve made my recommendations in the recipe steps)
5 egg whites (or 4 whole eggs would probably be fine)
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c water
Ingredients for icing:
3 c powdered sugar
1/3 c butter, softened
3 SCANT tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon zest
^^^ me acting like I know what Iâm doing. Remember kids, itâs not science unless you write it down!
Optional: cup of brewed tea, which helps cut down on swearing while you try to figure out where your egg separator went.
Steps:
Iâve written these out in more detail than you probably need - I always try to write for beginners, so Iâve put the basic instruction by the bullet point and then included more detail in the paragraphs underneath each point (to make them easily skippable if you donât need clarification). If you have questions feel free to ask!
Prep work:
Heat 1 1/4 c milk in a small saucepan. When itâs hot, steep 1 to 3 tablespoons of tea in the milk for 3 to 5 minutes
The amount of tea you use depends how much you like Earl Grey and how stale your tea is - if itâs pretty old, you might want to use more. 1 tbs will give you a very delicate, barely-there Earl Grey flavor. 3 tbs will give you... more.
Tea making advice that will serve you well in life: Steeping black teas for longer than 3 minutes doesnât give you stronger tea. It gives you bitter tea. If you want stronger tea, add more tea leaves or another tea bag, donât just leave your tea in the water the whole time youâre drinking it. The timing is less important when using the tea in recipes like this one, though, since the sweetness of the cake will cut the bitterness (as will brewing the tea in milk).
Strain the leaves out of the milk and set the milk aside to cool.
You want it to be room temperature before adding it to the other ingredients so it doesnât cook your eggs. Press the leaves in the strainer to squeeze out all the nice tea-ish juices.
Pro tip: Straining your tea milk into a giant Harry Potter mug will make it taste better. edit: recycling your giant Harry Potter mug and saying âfuck JKR, trans rightsâ with your whole chest while you strain your tea will make it taste better.
Set oven to 350 (Fahrenheit, please)
Grease and flour your cake pans.
I used two 9 inch rounds, but this will do fine as a 13x9 sheet cake or as cupcakes if you hate yourself for some reason.
Dump about a tablespoon of loose tea in a small food processor, spice grinder, magic bullet, or mortar and pestle. Grind it fine. You need a teaspoon of this stuff and itâs going straight into the batter so you donât want the grain too large unless you donât mind chewing on tea leaves.
The Cake:
Separate your eggs and add the whites to a large mixing bowl.
If, like me, you suddenly realize that you donât own an egg separator, donât panic. Crack the egg on the side of your mixing bowl and pull apart the two halves of the shell without tipping the egg out of them. Gently transfer the yolk from one shell half to the other, letting the egg whites run out into your mixing bowl.
If you get a little yolk in with your whites, donât worry. Youâre not making a meringue, so this is not a disaster.
When youâre finished juggling the yolk and have most of the white extracted, dump the yolk in a separate bowl.
When youâve done all 5 eggs stick the yolks in the fridge. Intend to make custard with them later. Wake up tomorrow morning to discover you forgot to put a little water in the bowl and the yolks are now WEIRD looking and congeal-y. Throw the yolks away.
Add the butter to the egg whites and beat together.
Add the tea milk and 1/4 tsp vanilla and stir
Add your superfine ground tea and the cake mix and beat on medium speed for two minutes.
Depending on the size of your mixing bowl you may want to add the dry mix gradually.
When itâs well combined, itâll be pretty drippy:
Yum!
Pour it into your pans and bake ~25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
My pans are very dark, so my cakes tend to cook faster - you may need more time, or, if you went the cupcake route, considerably less time.
Cool the cakes for about 10 minutes before turning them out onto wire racks to cool the rest of the way.
General cake-baking tip: If you have room, sticking your cakes into the fridge or freezer for a few minutes right when they come out of the oven will keep them moist.
Syrup and Icing:
Next youâre going to make a syrup to brush on your cakes when theyâre cool. I straight-up stole this idea from Liv for Cake, but weâll need way less of it since this is a smaller cake. Youâll notice I linked you to her recipe for Earl Grey cake, which is slightly different from this one, but hey, if you hate mine now you have another option to try :)
Btw, the syrup step doesnât really apply to cupcakes, if thatâs the route you chose to go. I mean, unless you WANT to paint 24 individual little pains-in-the-ass with sticky syrup, in which case, be my guest.
So, for the syrup:
Bring 1/4 c sugar, 1/4 c water, and 1 1/2 tsp Earl Grey to a boil in a small saucepan
I actually used a full tablespoon of Earl Grey here because I forgot what I was doing. Tasted fine! If you like tea.
Itâs actually kind of pretty in person, Iâm just bad at photos.
When the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is boiling, turn off the heat and strain the syrup to get all the crunchy tea bits out. Let it cool completely.
While your syrup and cakes are cooling, itâs a good time to make your icing! My old standby for lemon buttercream is actually just a Betty Crocker recipe that you can find right here.
In this case, though, I wanted it to be a little more delicate so as not to overwhelm the flavors in the cake. Thatâs accomplished easily enough - just use a little less lemon juice and make up whatever extra moisture you need in the icing with milk until itâs a nice spreadable consistency.
Also, you might want to add a touch of yellow food coloring to the icing for the look of the thing, especially if you have nothing else to decorate the cake with, because this icing basically just turns out plain white.
Assemble your cake!
When the cakes and syrup are completely cool, itâs assembly time.
Take the thicker cake round and place it on whatever surface youâre storing your cake on. Lop off the hump (unless youâve managed to make a perfectly flat cake, in which case, what are you reading this blog for? Youâre clearly a wizard and should be out profiting from that with your own wizard bakery.)
Brush that layer with your syrup. When itâs soaked in a little, cover your sins with a very thin layer of icing.
This is going to be frustrating because, since you lopped off a chunk of this layer to make it level, all these crumbs are gonna wanna roll up and mess up your icing. Let âem. Thatâs why they call this a crumb layer.
Get a thin, thin coating on there and then stick this layer in the fridge for a few minutes - since weâre working with buttercream here, itâll set up nicely and make the next layer of icing go on more easily.
Add a second, thicker layer of icing, then pop the next cake layer on top. Do the same with the syrup, marvel at how much easier it is since you didnât have to expose this layerâs innards, and then go to town with the rest of the icing.
Voila! An extremely boring-looking cake. Alas, all I had in the cupboard in the way of decoration were Christmas sprinkles, so weâre gonna say itâs minimalist and call it a day (also it was like, midnight by this point, and I was Done.)
Pair with slow-burn fic with lots of feels.
Congrats on making it to the end of this long-winded recipe. If you have any questions, feel free to hit my ask box!
add 1.25 cups of water at 80~110°f (27-43°c) to a medium sized glass bowl. dissolve in 1 tsp honey. whisk 3 large eggs until smooth; stir into the water. combine .25 c bread flour, 1 packet and .25 tsp instant yeast (2.5t total), and 2t coarsely ground/kosher salt. stir into the egg-water mixture.
NOTE: the instant yeast and flour may get clumpy. just flatten the big clumps on the side of the bowl with your spoon. the rest of the flour will take care of it.
gradually add 3~3.5 cups of bread flour, turning out of the bowl and kneading once the dough begins to pull from the sides. the amount of flour will vary depending on the size and how watery your eggs are. my eggs were on the smaller size of large, but pretty watery, and I added about 3.25 cups.
once thoroughly combined, place in a LARGE oiled container with a lid around 10 cups/2.5L, preferably bigger. oil the top of the dough and place in the fridge. allow to rise in the fridge for 12 hours, punching the dough down after the first 2. secure with rubber bands if necessary after punching down.
your bread has risen! cut the dough in half, shaping into a rough sphere. let proof on a parchment lined pan for an hour to an hour and a half. it's important that the bread comes to room temperature and puffs up considerably. score the dough half way through.
NOTE: if it forms a skin while proofing, it's fine! mine did and that may have actually helped the crust texture.
preheat the oven to 400 degrees. in order to form a firm crust, steam up your oven. boil 2 cups of water and pour into a small loaf pan. put the loaf pan in the oven 5 minutes before your bread. add the bread quicky to prevent stream from escaping!
bake for 30-35 minutes. the bread will be golden brown, hopefully with a bubbly texture from the slow rise. it may look a little delicate near the bottom, but it is done.
Final note: i had some loose instant yeast around so i added more than a packet. if you only do a packet's worth (2.25t/.25oz) your bread should turn out fine. it may rise less dramatically, but that might be good if anything
