Empirical Baker

On Wednesday, I attended a Cupcake Business class, sponsored by Cupcakes Take the Cake. I got to meet Rachel Kramer Bussel, and Nichelle Stephens (they cofounded the blog). Nichelle liked my Chocolate Orange Cupcakes with Chocolate Orange Marmalade Buttercream! (Recipe to be posted in a few days).

Presenting at the class were Marlo Scott, owner of Sweet Revenge, and Michelle Dobrawsky. Michelle gave us some great information about the business side of things, including trademarks, and what you can and cannot protect legally.

Marlo talked quite a bit about her business, and the research that went into it. There was a long discussion about branding and image, which is something that I am considering how to do.

We went after the class to her cupcake, wine, and beer bar. I got cupcakes to go. Her “Pure” cupcake was divine! The dark chocolate was very dark, and the Sweet Revenge cupcake was a strong and sweet peanut butter dream. :)

The class talked about protecting recipes, and how to do it. Marlo said that she gave away the recipe for the Pure cupcakes, and it has only helped her business. (BTW, I also learned that I should probably be using quite a bit more extract in my recipes, both her recipe and the one from Erin McKenna of BabyCakesNYC used 2-3 tbsp of flavoring, vs the 1-2 tsp that most of my recipes call for. Will have to try this next time.

What I learned? I probably do not have the passion or time needed to run my own cupcake business. However, one of the main themes of my life is integrating the many things that I am interested in pursuing into one package. (My thesis had four main components.) I am now brewing an idea of how to mix my love of cupcakes and baking/cooking with my want to run a business (or non-profit), and also providing healthy food for my neighborhood. But, I think that will wait until I am done with school. (Don’t worry mom, the idea that I have will use my MSW degree.)

I went to a potluck today. One of the things that happens when people know you are a baker is that you are expected to bring yummy things everywhere. I had very little time to do this, so I wanted something that would be done within an hour.

I was surfing online, and came across This Chocolate Butter Pecan Turtle Bars Recipe. Which is far too long to say. So, this is my adaptation.

* Crust:
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
* 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
* .
* Top Layer:
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
* 3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
* 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
* 1/2 cup white chocolate chips (I fudged a bit on the chocolate, and added more).

Bottom Layer: Mix flour, brown sugar, salt, and butter together. I used a mixer, but I could have gotten away with a pastry cutter. As it was, I had to use my fingers to get the last bit of butter mixed in. Press this into a 13×9 pan. Top with pecans. (I did not chop the pecans, which I probably will do for next time.)

Top Layer: Melt 1 stick of butter in a pan, and add the brown sugar. Cook for one minute after it reaches a boil. Pour over pecans and bottom layer. It did not seem that I had enough, so next time I might make more of the topping, or try to spread it better.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. When it comes out of the oven, top with the chocolate chips. The original recipe said to wait three minutes then mix the two together. I think I would either have to return it to the oven to further melt the chips, or use mini chips. As it was, it was yummy, but the chips did not melt.

Let cool, and cut into pieces. :)

It is called Stuffing when stuffed inside a turkey. It is called Dressing when it is cooked on the side. I had no idea that people actually stuffed turkeys until pretty late in my life.

I have a tiny oven, so I knew I would have little room for the side dishes. But, I happen to have two 5 quart slow cookers (actually, they are Crock Pots by brand). So, one had green bean casserole (exactly as it is written on the package), and the other had dressing.

This recipe is adapted from one my family uses, which comes out of a pretty old cookbook. My grandmothers use it, so it works for me!

Dressing

1 loaf of Bread, diced (I used the Healthy Bread in Five Master Recipe, cooked in a loaf pan).
2 boxes cornbread mix (or, ya know, make your own!)
2 tbsp salt (I should have decreased this, due to not using low sodium broth).
1 tsp pepper
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (I used sage and thyme, as my poultry seasoning was not good).
1/2 cup butter (Or other fat, butter just tastes good)
1 cup chopped onion
2 cups diced celery
4 eggs, beaten
4 to 6 cups broth
4 hard cooked eggs, chopped. (optional)

Bake a loaf of bread a few days before thanksgiving. The day of, cut the bread into small cubes (about 1x1x1 ish, but it does not have to be anywhere near exact). Season the bread cubes with some of the spices, and toast on a sheet pan until slightly dryer. (This does not have to be exact either. Dry is good, croutons would be fine, burnt is not, so whatever.) Bake up two boxes of cornbread mix. (I used one pan of muffins, and one pan of mini muffins. These would have been better had I made them the day before, but they are still yummy).

Dice or chop celery and onions. Saute in 1/2 cups butter (with some salt). You want to have them soft, but not necessarily caramelized.

In a large (Large, I used a 6 quart bowl), break up the cornbread muffins and add the dried bread. Add the celery,onion, and butter mixture. Add chicken stock or broth, and mix gently. The mixture should be moist, but not dripping. Season with poultry seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. (My mother pointed out to me that one should test the seasonings before putting the egg in. Silly me, I did not do this, and had to risk food poisoning to taste test it.) Once seasonings are to your liking, add 4 beaten eggs.

Put into a crock pot (mine fit semi snugly in a 5.5 quart), and cook on high for 3-4 hours, stirring once (if desired) after about 1.5 hours. Serve :)

Well, Liveblogging Thanksgiving did not quite work. Still, I am in absolute shock that Thanksgiving went off as well as it did. The worst disaster was that the pecan pie did not set. Otherwise, it had rave reviews from my friends, one of which said it was the best meal she had ever had. Everyone enjoyed the food. The biggest complaint was that there was too much, and they could not even sample it all.

My family has 16 or more people at most big holiday meals, so I guess I will have to learn how to make smaller portions! Some of the recipes are coming soon :)

The two crock pot dishes were great. I could set them in the crock pots to heat, and not have to worry about them. For someone with a small kitchen, that was really nice. I wish I had more room in the freezer for more preparation time, instead of just that week.

The pizza fondue was a good hit, and I will make it again. I will do more exploring with rolls, since these were really good out of the oven, they went hard and stale pretty quickly. My Thanksgiving gift to myself was the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, so I will have some whole wheat options to try this time. Along with Healthy Bread in Five, I think I will endeavor to have all of my baked goods next year incorporate some form of whole grain. (My partner complained that he has given up hope to have a store bought loaf of bread at my house. Too bad!)

I have joined a Baking Group! We will get started in January with the big things, but here is our first entry, with my Pumpkin Pie Brioche listed! :)

Bread Braid @ Bigblackdogs.net

Pumpkin Brioche Cinnamon Monkey Bread

I am part of the new Baking group for Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

Our first recipe was a secret recipe, given to just the baking group! It is also listed in the book, as Pumpkin Brioche, made with partial white whole wheat flour.

I swear I read Recipes. I dumped everything in the bowl (since this book uses Vital Wheat Gluten, you have to mix the dry ingredients first so it does not lump up. Then put in the wet ingredients.

I, for whatever reason, did not see the water in the recipe! I mixed it up, and it was really really dry. I thought I had done something wrong, but looking at the recipe I still did not see any water. The dough did not rise.

Then, I found the water in the recipe! And it rose beautifully. I doubled the spices in the recipe since a few people said that they did not come through in the dough.

To make the monkey bread, I used small pieces of the pumpkin brioche, rolled them in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar, and put into a large bundt pan. I was in a rush, so they only rose for about 45 minutes. The last time I attempted monkey bread (with the Brioche recipe from the first book), I let it rise overnight in the fridge, and it rose quite a bit higher.

The muffins I used a slightly larger piece, and baked them in muffin pans. they turned out well, they would be good at Thanksgiving with butter :)

Of course, what would this blog be (at least the idea of this blog) without a fail. I burned the mini loaves. And they were baked in silicone!

Attempted Mini Monkey Breads

There will be another secret recipe posted in December, then the actual baking group start in January! I am so excited :)