Merry Christmas

May this day be joyous for you and your family.

Caramelized Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting

A November Daring Baker's Challenge

This month's challenge is for a wonderfully moist and flavorful cake. It is fabulous eaten plain or with the caramelized butter frosting. This recipe is from Shuna Fish Lydon of the blog Eggbeater and her recipe can be found on the website Bay Area Bites. Our hostesses for November are: Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity, Alex of Blondie & Brownie (she's Brownie of the duo), and Jenny of Foray into Food. My family thoroughly enjoyed this cake and actually preferred it without the frosting. This recipe is a keeper.

Recipe

CAKE

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp chia seed meal

1/2 cup chestnut flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup sweet rice flour

1/2 cup arrowroot starch

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup milk, at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350F and butter or grease one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan or a large tube pan.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt, and cream the mixture until light and fluffy. Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform. Sift flours, chia seed meal and baking powder together in a bowl.

3. Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.} Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform.

4. Turn batter into prepared cake pan. Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it. Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

CARAMEL SYRUP

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)

1. In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly and is dark amber in color. When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.

2. Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

12 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted

4-6 tablespoons heavy cream or almond milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup

Kosher or sea salt to taste

1. Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool. Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.

2. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month. To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light.

Pizza by Peter Reinhart

October Daring Baker Challenge

The challenge this month is hosted by Rosa of Rosa's Yummy Yums. Rosa chose the pizza recipe from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Maker's Apprentice. This is a wonderful recipe that I've made a number of times to great reviews from my family. In the past, I've topped this pizza with herbed pesto and edam, the classic pepperoni and mozzarella cheese, or ground buffalo and a variety of Italian cheeses.

This time I wanted to satisfy my curiosity about fried sage on pizza. It turned out beautifully and we barely had enough of the sage leaves left from the batch I fried up to put on the pizza. Now we have a new topping option for our family pizza night.

Basic Pizza Dough

1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup corn flour
1 cup oat flour
1 1/2 cup arrowroot starch
2 tsp chia seed meal
2 tsp instant yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
1 3/4 cups water, ice cold (40 degree Fahrenheit)
1 Tb sugar or agave syrup
Cornmeal flour for dusting

DAY ONE

1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl.

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. If the dough is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

3. Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with parchment paper. Lightly oil the paper.

4. With the help of a dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or fewer pieces if you want to make larger pizzas).

5. Sprinkle some corn flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with oil. Slip the pan into a plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to three days.

DAY TWO

8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the number of desired dough balls from the refrigerator. Place on a sheet of parchment paper and sprinkle with a gluten free flour. Delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle the dough with flour, mist it again with spray oil. Lightly cover the dough round with a sheet of parchment paper and allow to rest for 2 hours.

9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on a shelf in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven at hot as possible (500 Degree F/260 Degrees C).

10. Press the dough into the shape you want (about 9 - 12 inches/23 - 30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180 g piece of dough).

11. Lightly top the dough with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

12. Place the garnished pizza on the parchment paper onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jally pan. Close the door and bake for about 5 - 8 minutes.

13. After baking 2 minutes, take a peek at the pizza. For more even baking, rotate the pizza 180 degrees.

14. Take the pizza out of ht eoven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3 - 5 minutes before slicing or serving.


Topping

Olive oil
Minced fresh sage leaves
Minced shallot
Fried Sage leaves

1. Spread olive oil over the top of the dough. Sprinkle the minced sage and shallot over the top.

2. Place the fried sage leaves on the top of the pizza just before serving.


Fried Sage Leaves

handful fresh large sage leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup water
pinch salt
smidgeon black pepper

1. In a small bowl, place in the brown rice flour, water, salt and pepper, then stir. Dip each leave into the batter and allow the excess batter to drip off.

2. In a heavy sauce pan, pour in 1 inch of olive oil and heat to 365°F on a deep-fat thermometer. Fry sage in batches, turning as needed. Using a pair of tongs remove the sage leaves from the oil and place in a paper towel lined pan to drain.