I absolutely hate store bought bagels, but love making them. This recipe has do be started days in advance. If you want same day bagels use this recipe which is tasty but not as pretty.  It’s based on Peter Reinhart’s Recipe from Crust & Crumb. I’m going to give directions as if you wanted fresh bagels Saturday Morning.

Sponge
1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
2 cups  or bread flour
2  water, room temperature

Dough
1 Cup Sponge (set out for 1 hour before using)
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1/2 C lukewarm water (85 degrees F)
2 1/2 cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
1 C Whole Wheat Flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoon malt syrup or honey

To Finish
1 tablespoon baking soda

Sesame seeds, Sunflower Seeds, poppy seeds, kosher salt, rehydrated dried minced garlic or onions

1. Day one (Thursday after Work): To make the sponge, stir the yeast into the flour in a mixing bowl. Add the water, whisking or stirring only until it forms a smooth, sticky batter (like pancake batter). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for approximately 5. Refrigerate for 1-3 days.

2.  Day Two (Friday after work): To make the dough, add the additional yeast to the sponge and stir. Then add flour,  salt and malt.

3. Knead in your mixer on medium for 10 minutes.

4. Immediately divide the dough into 4 1/2 ounce pieces for standard bagels, or smaller if desired. Let rest 5 min.

5. Form the pieces into balls. Poke a hole in a ball of bagel dough and gently rotate your thumb around the inside of the hole to widen it.

6. Let rise for 1.5 hours (25% doubled). Check to see if the bagels are ready to be retarded in the refrigerator by using the “float test”. Fill a small bowl with cool or room-temperature water. The bagels are ready to be retarded when they float within 10 seconds of being dropped into the water. Take one bagel and test it. If it floats, immediately return the tester bagel to the pan, pat it dry, cover the pan, and place it in the refrigerator overnight (it can stay in the refrigerator for up to 2 days). If the bagel does not float. Return it to the pan and continue to proof the dough at room temperature, checking back every 10 to 20 minutes or so until a tester floats. Refridgerate for 6 hours or overnight.

7. Day Three (Saturday Morning) Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add the baking soda.

8. Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and let them sit at room temperature for 30-60 min.   and gently drop them into the water, boiling only as many as comfortably fit (they should float within 10 seconds). After 1 minutes flip them over and boil for another minute.  While the bagels are boiling, sprinkle the same parchment-lined sheet pans with cornmeal or semolina flour.  If you want to top (see note below) the bagels, do so as soon as they come out of the water. You can use any of the suggestions in the ingredients list or a combination.

9. Bake at 475 for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

10. Remove the pans from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for 15 minutes or longer before serving.

• 2 fresh ripe mangos
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 Tbsp. coconut milk
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 small container whipping cream (about 1 cup)

Put cream in stand mixer with whip attachment. Whip cream on medium speed. Add 2 T of the Sugar. Whip until soft peaks form.  Put the mixer bowl in the fridge while working on puree.

Place room temperature fruit in a food processor or blender. Add the remaining sugar blend until smooth.

Add the coconut milk and lemon juice, and blend.

Put the the whipped cream back on the mixer and add the puree. When combined,put the chilled purée into your ice cream maker, mix in the tequila. Transfer mixture to a freezer safe container and place in your freezer until firm.

Red Velvet Cake – serves 12

CAKE:

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups (11 1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
A pinch of salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons natural cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
2 tablespoons (one 1-ounce bottle) red food coloring (I use ordinary McCormick’s)
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar

FROSTING:

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
4 cups (16 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
A pinch of salt
16 ounces cream cheese, cut into 8 pieces and softened
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1.  For the cake: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.  Whisk the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla, and eggs together in a medium bowl.  Mix the cocoa and food coloring together in a small bowl until a smooth paste forms.

2.  With an electric mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed in a large bowl until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Add one-third of the flour mixture and beat on medium-low speed until just incorporated, about 30 seconds.  Add half of the buttermilk mixture and beat down the sides of the bowl.  Repeat, ending with the flour mixture.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl,  add the cocoa mixture, then mix on medium speed until completely incorporated, about 30 seconds.  Using a rubber spatula, give the batter a final stir.

3.  Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake and and smooth with a spatula. For cup cakes, use a 1/4 cup ice-cream disher to portion into liners.  Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes, rotating the cake pans halfway through baking.  Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely, at least 1 hour.

4.  FOR THE FROSTING: With an electric mixer, beat the butter, confectioners’ sugar, and salt on medium-high speed in a large bowl until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Add the cream cheese, 1 piece at a time, and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds.  Beat in the vanilla.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

5.  TO ASSEMBLE: Place one cake layer on a cake plate or cardboard round.  Spread 2 cups of the frosting evenly across the top of the cake with a spatula.  Place the second cake layer on the top, then spread the remaining frosting evenly over the top and sides of the cake. Serve.

WHERE THINGS CAN GO WRONG: This recipe must be prepared with natural cocoa powder.  Dutch-processed cocoa will not yield the proper color or rise.  Also, overcooking makes an acceptable, but much less flavorful cake.  The difference between just right and over cooked is about 3 minutes, so careful monitoring during baking is needed.

Daniel’s Dish: Entertaining at Home with a Four-Star Chef

(makes 30 cupcakes)

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch process)
• 1/4 cup instant coffee powder
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1/3 cup coffee beans, crushed
• 8 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 cups mascarpone cheese
• 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

To Make the Chocolate-Coffee Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 30 standard muffin cups
with paper liners.

Combine the milk, cocoa, coffee and 1/4 cup water in a small sauce-
pan and bring to a boil, constantly whisking, until the cocoa and coffee
have dissolved. Let cool and pour into a liquid measure.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of a mixer,
cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until light and
fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with
the milk mixture in three batches, ending with the liquid. Fill each
muffin cup halfway with the batter. Bake 18 to 20 minutes until a
toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the
cupcakes from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Mocha Ganache and Mascarpone Cream

Combine 1 cup of the heavy cream and coffee beans in a small sauce-
pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from the heat, cover,
and let infuse for 10 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a
clean saucepan and bring back to a boil. Put the chocolate in a medium
bowl and pour the hot cream over it, stirring slowly, until the ganache
is smooth. Spoon enough ganache over each cupcake to fill the liners
to the rim.

Using a whisk or in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a whisk attach-
ment, whip the remaining 2 cups of heavy cream to stiff peaks. Add
the mascarpone and confectioners’ sugar and whisk until smooth.
Spoon the mascarpone cream into a pastry bag fitted with a medium
round tip and pipe the cream on top of the ganache in a circle.

Pattern at:

http://bittersweetblog.wordpress.com/2007/08/14/bake-me-a-cake/

We made these cupcakes in the culinary school cookies & cupcakes class.  The sunflower cupcakes are from the class and the lavender cupcakes I made a week later.  This is a recipe for a half batch of what we made but it should be plenty.  I had never made Swiss Meringue but it was lovely. For the sunflowers, we used ganache and chocolate sprinkles to make seeds.

Chocolate Cupcakes

(Coming Soon)

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

(Coming Soon)

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• Zest from one lime
• 4 cups of Frozen Mango Chunks
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• Pinch salt
• 3 Tbsp tequila (optional but does make it taste like a mango margarita)

Heat the sugar, water, and lime zest in a medium saucepan until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add mango chunks which will cool down the hot syrup.

Put the mango pieces, sugar water, lime juice, and salt into a blender. Blend until completely smooth. The frozen mango should have cooled off the syrup. If not, place in a covered bowl and refrigerate until completely cool.

Put the chilled purée into your ice cream maker, mix in the tequila. Transfer mixture to a freezer safe container and place in your freezer until firm. My kitchen-aide icecream make makes edible sorbet right away but 2 hours in the freezer is nice also.

1 and 1/2 C Fresh Rose Petals (1/2 dried)

2 Cups Boiling Water

1 Cup Sugar

2-oz package powdered pectin

1/4 C fresh-squeezed lemon juice

2 Cups Cold Water

Fresh Rose Petals for Garnish

1. put the rose petals in a large, heat proof measuign cups and pour on to boiling water. Allow the mixture to stand for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, stir together the sugar and pectin

2. Strain the rose petals ‘tea’ over the sugar and pectin ans stir until pectin and sugar are completely disolved. Sir in lemon juice and cold water.

3. Chil the mixture in the refrigerator, then freeze in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Server in chilled glasses with a few rose petals for garnish.

• 3 ounces good vodka
• 3 ounces fresh watermelon puree (blend seedless watermelon)
• 1 1/2 ounces sweet and sour
• 1 1/2 ounces fresh lime juice
• Sugar, to taste (optional)

Sweet and Sour Mix

• 1 – 1 1/2 tbs. Lemon Juice
• 1 tsp. of Powdered Sugar

Paul’s Recital (video)

Scarborough Faire (video)