Krumkake

Winter and the weather that accompanies it tend to force me inside and make me want to bake.  We, in Eastern Nebraska, have been quite lucky this winter, so far.  The weather, while cool, has yet to be frigid.  In fact, until today, I was still wearing shorts.  Granted, I would wear sweatshirts and a jacket, but shorts were still the order of the day.

Today's Icy View

With the Winter Solstice this morning came howling winds, a temperature drop, freezing rain, graupel, snow, and my long jeans.  The calendar also says that Christmas in in 4 days. Christmas in the country is different.  There is no crazy hustle and bustle, no sense of urgency to spend, spend, spend.  No insane desire to decorate, inside or out.  And unless you have an office party, or school classroom of kids that demand you provide sweets and goodies, great piles of holiday treats don't get made either.

It's not that I don't WANT to.  I just don't NEED to and we certainly don't need the extra calories just sitting around here.  Growing up, the house was filled with holiday goodies from Thanksgiving to after New Year's.  Looking back, it was an insane amount of sweets.  But I do get a hankering for them; cookies- all varieties of drop and pressed, date and coconut balls, brownies, cakes, pies, seven layer cookies, fudge, rum balls, whoopsie pies, ice cream, toffee, and candies.  I mentioned in a previous post about a family tin that we had that always held a variety of goodies at anyone time.  Even in the summertime, you could open that stored, empty tin and smell the ghost of seven layer cookies.

My sister bakes like a mad woman possessed at Christmas.  She runs a cookie exchange/give away for all the employees of a very large city middle school.  EVERY employee goes home with a plate of mixed cookies.  She bakes 14 dozen of cookies, fudge, and date balls, and other parents do the same. They get together and mix up the cookies, make up the plates and hand them out.  Of course, as long as she's baking for others, she puts some up for her house too.  She makes the BEST brownies!

I personally love buttery, almost raw, soft sugar cookies with a nice buttercream icing.  I've never ever had a decorated holiday cookie that was beautifully decorated and delicious.  It's either one or another.  I also cannot comprehend spending all that time on a cookie that will be gobbled down in under 30 seconds.  I do like to look at them.

So this year, it's just Doc and me.  The Boy is home for the term break, but the need to go all out and bake all those goodies just isn't there.  And I wasn't going to do it. Nope wasn't.  That was until this past week. My sister kept posting her cookie baking adventures, which made me drool.  Contractors coming (or not coming) and going kept me stuck at home, Christmas music kept playing on the radio, and it got cold.  Out came the butter.

Doc signed us up for 7 layer cookies for an office party, and when cut in pieces, the giant pan of brownies wouldn't all fit into the container going to town.  Those taunting little bits of holiday heaven, pulled me back into holiday baking like a Siren's song.  I've managed to behave, for the most part.  I don't make anything new, until the previous sweet is gone, either consumed or shared.

A Twitter acquaintence posted her trays of lovely holiday cookies.  Shamed into baking, I got out the faithful Sawa 2000 cookie press.  Yummy, but oh such a pain in the rear, rather the hand. 
The old Sawa is a fabulous vintage press and always releases great cookies, but oh that handle!  I made almond, coconut, and mint press cookies.  The smell of butter and hot almond extract........

Brain trigger!  (after all, smell is the strongest of the memory trigger senses)



KRUMKAKES!  While growing up, Pizzelles were always around at Christmas.  My mom had a pizzelle iron from the 50s that belonged to my great aunt Martha.  It was boat anchor heavy, the cord made the UL inspectors loose sleep, and got hotter than the sun.  It was finicky, spat hot batter out the side if over loaded, but made the best Pizzelles.  The iron was beautifully decorated and broken down into quarter designs.  When done the cookie could be kept whole, or snapped into smaller wedges.  The old girl finally gave up the ghost.  We went years without them.  I finally broke down 4 years ago and purchased a new fangled, modern press. 
This one is actually a Krumkake press, which is all one design, non-stick, and thermostatically controlled.  It also makes a thinner cookie than the pizzelle iron.

Today, my house smelled gloriously of hot almond extract!  Krumkakes are traditionally either rolled into a tube shape or cone shape while still piping hot and than later filled with creamy goodness.  We like them plain, and for storage, I just keep them flat.

Krumkakes

6 eggs
1 cup of white sugar
1 cup of softened butter

cream these together until the mixture is light and fluffy

Add
1 Tablespoon of Vanilla
2 teaspoons of almond extract
1/8 teaspoon of ground cardamom (optional)
1.5 cups of all purpose flour

Pre-heat the krumkake iron and lightly grease if necessary.  I use a #40 disher to place a large scoop of the batter on the center of the iron.  Gently press the iron shut.

I don't trust the darkness control on my cooker, and choose to just check for color as I cook.  The darker the color, the more crisp the final cookie will be when it is cooled.

When your cookie has reached the desired color (I prefer light and golden), remove it from the iron using a small spatula and place on a cooling rack until completely cooled.

If you are going to roll or shape the cookies, do it immediately after pulling off the iron.  Keep on the mold until completely cooled.

Store cooled cookies in an sealed container.

More Fun in the New Year

Typically, from December 26th until January 2nd, the blog-o-sphere is overwhelmed with a plethora of reminiscent, contemplative, memorializing, reflective posts that usually wrap up with an amazing resolution for the New Year.  This will not be one of those posts.  Why?

Because it's January 5th.  I missed the window. I got busy, and just plain let it slide.  We are now fully into 2017, no two ways about it.  So we're just going to continue on as usual on the Dunrovin' Station Blog.

Lots of little odds and ends added up to eat away at the shortened, frigid winter days. 

The final coats of polycoat, all six of them, went onto the new barn sign. That is now in the work shop awaiting the barn raising. ( If you zoom in, you can see that the acorn is indeed an acorn, and not an inverted Bell :)  The detail is lost in the long shot photo.

I also managed a LOT of baking, A LOT.  You can't indulge in all the insane goodness of the holiday season if it doesn't come from somewhere!  The PLAN was to bake a batch of something fantastic and then put half of it in the freezer for later.  That worked really well for the breads, the cake, the cookies, and the pound cake, but was a complete failure for the seven layer bars.  You see, seven layer bars (also known as Hello Dolly Bars, Magic Cookie Bars, Magic Bars, and Hello Dolly Bars) are my kryptonite. It simply isn't Christmas without it, and I cannot stay out of them.  It's not even possible, even if they are frozen solid.

When I was a kid we had a large black tin container that was made by Guildcraft.   I think it originally had either a giant fruitcake in it or an assortment of cookies.  This thing was black and a heavy duty metal and covered is a folk art tulip print.  Every Christmas, we would make an abundance of a variety of cookies and line the tin with wax paper, fill it with sugary goodness, and nibble and sneak from it for weeks until there was nothing left but a wayward bit of nut and crumbs. 

When I got married, the tin moved with me.  Even in the tropical depths of July, I could open that empty tin and smell home, Christmas, and those seven layer bars.  The tin was destroyed by movers 6 years ago, and I miss it so.  Silly thing, I know, but it's just one of those things.  I thought I found one at an antique store this past week, but it was only about 8 inches across instead of about 14. Sigh.

I digress.

The seven layer bars were made, and over the next few days, disappeared.  Every time you passed them on the kitchen counter, you just had to cut a tiny corner off an edge.  I even hid them in the oven to put them out of sight.  The pan still was loosing bits and pieces.  I was beginning to suspect mice.  I was ready to BLAME mice.  Nope, it was me, and the boy.  Poor DH was at work most of the time, and therefor was unable to stick his hand in and fight for his fair share.  Luckily for our hips, it is still about 350 days until the next batch!

The house, closed tightly against the howling winds and arctic chill smelled wonderful with batches of NewYork Style bagels.  Malt water boiled on the range, the smell of rising dough and baking bagels filled the air from the rafters to the basement.

Batch after batch of egg laden challah dough filled my dough rising pails on the counter.  The last of the goodies to use the Station eggs, before the girls decided that it was just too cold to lay.  The rich deeply yellow, braided loaves, bejeweled in seeds glistened on the cooling racks on the porch.  I swear I heard the UPS man groan with envy when he rang the bell, standing in a heady fog of freshly baked bread.

Round Challah makes a great neighbor gift for their holiday table.  I also

sent some to Pat at Liberty House as she was hosting a Christmas

party for the tourism board.

As long as we are discussing round things.  We have yet another doughnut shop in town. ANOTHER DONUT SHOP! Understand that growing up, doughnuts were everywhere in Ohio.  There were a regular fixture of the house too. (Having a dad that was both a fireman and police officer contributed to that.) I always figured they were popular everywhere.

When we moved down south, there was one mom and pop place along the freeway that sold amazing old fashioned doughnuts and the ever present KrispyKreme.  Besides that, it was a tiny section in the grocery bakery cabinet.  I guess fried chunks of sweet dough aren't high on the minds of sweaty bikini clad bodies.  I don't wear bikinis. I was slowly weaned from doughnuts in those three years.

When we moved a little further north, I was sure that I would again find doughnuts. Nope. Apparently coffee is huge in Alabama, but not the glazed delightful disks that typically accompany them.  Grocery doughnuts just don't cut it.  Who needs them anyway, right?

Fast forward to another move. This time further north, where the wind howls and the snow flies in the winter.  A place inhabited with the descendants of Germans, Russian, Czech, and Nordic pioneer stock that WALKED to get here.  Certainly they brought with them the fried dough cravings of their ancestors and grandmother's kitchens.  Certainly I would find donut shops here! Right?! Wouldn't you think? 

Nope. I don't know if they USED to be here back in the day, and they were killed off by Adkins or the economy, or big grocery, or if they just never were.

Two.  I found two shops when we moved here 3.5 years ago.  (I am not counting grocery store bakery cases.) One was a mom and pop shop that serves amazing donuts at a normal price, if you can overlook the interior which is in need of a good scrubbing, and a staff that would rather be ANYWHERE else but standing there serving people.  The second was a high end boutique doughnut shop in a fancy, new, high rent part of town.  The doughnuts were good.  They thrived on odd combinations and uniqueness, but they just couldn't keep up the quality.  We went 3 times.  The single price of a doughnut was about $1.75.  Fine for a fun quick snack, fine for out of town guest destination, but not as a habit.  Once they became popular, the quality went downhill. Then they opened a satellite shop in town to cater to the working city, and the quality collapsed.

Then a DunkinDonuts opened.  (LOVE Dunkin) And a KrispyKreme (too sweet, too soft)  And another Dunkin. (in the parking lot of my dentist's office, how convenient!) And the latest addition to our search for fried dough, Hurts Doughnuts.  (Hurts, Don't it?)  They have the odd flavours and more of the other boutique shop, are in a better location (even if you have to manage downtown traffic and a maze of one way (and two way -sorry Doc) roads that all go the wrong way, and their prices are that of the grocery store.  Bonus, they are open 24/7/365.  But are they a good doughnut?

They are an OK doughnut.  It depends on what you like in your doughnut.  I still prefer a doughnut that can stand on its own.  Hurts as a plain doughnut are great, moist without being wet, fresh without being soggy.  But a plain doughnut isn't what they are known for.  They are known for their crazy number of dipped doughnuts.  They take a normal delicious doughnut and dip it in icing and then odd toppings, putting them (IMHO) too far over the top. Nothing seems to be off limits, marshmallows, cereal, bacon, crushed candy bars, gummy bears, etc.  To make it more off the sugar charts they make things FROM their doughnuts, like milkshakes. Ugh.

Did it stop me from getting a dozen? No.  Will we go back? Probably a couple of times, definitely when company is in town.  Is it our new go to?  Nope. 

Being far out in the country curtails the ability to lay hands on the craving solution, which is a good thing.  SO for now, we'll stick to it being a treat when we visit the dentist.  Fitting, eh?

When It's Far too Yucky Outside...

... you just have to find something to do INSIDE.

This is what I woke up to this morning.

  Yup, it's JUNE, not February.



At 7am, it was 72' with a dew point of 70'.  Normally I can see the full three miles across the valley to the Convent - Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Valparaiso.  Not today.Nasty isn't even a strong enough word for that.  I snapped a few photos, watched The Boy go out and feed the chickens, and crawled back into bed.  Maybe it would be better in an hour.


I was wrong. 

Oh sure, the visibility was better.  Instead of being a mere 100 yards, it was up to almost 2 miles.  But the temperature was 78' and the dew point was now 72.5'.There was still no breeze to speak of.  I DO have work to do, For Crying Out Loud.

First there is the deck box by the chicken coop.  Flooding rain filled the inside bottom of the box, mixing with spilled seed, spilled feed, and ache/gag, spilled compost starter.  It smelled of, well, use your imagination. 

Of course the girls were happy with me moving the box, its deep dark underside being the lair for earthworms, ants, ant eggs, and YUM, potato bugs.  It was a heavenly Sunday brunch for them.

I then managed one quick coat of paint on one side of the new coop screen door I am building and that was IT. DONE.  FINISHED.  WORN OUT! Even with the massive fan on in the barn, there just wasn't any air IN the air.

Doc and I both bailed on the great outdoors and headed in.  Since the air conditioning was on in the house, bread would have no problem working on a good rise.  Noodle making today is out of the question, but bread - no problem.  (Of course on THIS kind of day, there was no way I was going to fire up the big outdoor wood fired oven.  I'll save that for another day.)

Today would be a couple of nice large loaves of Challah.  The girls supplied the eggs, and those of you with hens, know how quickly you can get up to your eyeballs with fresh eggs.

Let me start by saying that this is not my recipe, but it is one that I have been using for years and it makes a wonderful GIANT pair of braided, freehand loaves, or three very large bread pan loaves, or lots and lots of rolls.  This is my 'go to' recipe from King Arthur Flour - Challah.  I measure by weight, which is far more accurate for the measure of hygroscopic flour.


For a recipe note, I use a Professional Size 6qt KitchenAid mixer.  I would NOT make this in the 4.5 qt.  Even the 5qt is almost not large enough.


Starter

1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) Flour  (DO NOT use Bread Flour)1 cup (8 ounces) water (just warm enough for you to tell it's warm with your finger.  When I had city water, I used bottled for my bread.  There was enough salt and chlorine in it to negatively effect the yeast rise.)2 teaspoons instant yeast (I use FRESH live yeast and use 1.3 Tablespoons of that. It can usually be purchased by the pound at any large grocery store bakery. Simply ask.)

Mix the 1 cup flour, 1 cup water and yeast together in your mixing bowl.  Let the mixture sit for about 45 minutes in a draft free, warm place. It will start to bubble.

Dough
All of above, premixed starter
3 1/2 cups (15 ounces)  Flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup (2 1/4 ounces) sugar
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) vegetable oil
2 large eggs + 1 yolk (save the 1 egg white for the wash below)

Add the above ingredients to the starter and using your dough hook, mix together.  You may have to stop after a few seconds and scrape down the bowl  After a kneading of about 3-5 minutes, a smooth, elastic dough will form. I remove it from the machine and remove the hook.  I spray the top with Crisco spray oil, coconut is my new favorite (no rancid odor or flavor). Cover the bowl and let it rise for 1 1/2 hours, or until it's doubled in size.

Shaping
Now for the FUN part. Free form loaves, bowls, braided loaves, pan loaves, rolls, it is all UP to you! 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over once or twice.  You aren't KNEADING it.  You are simply letting out the carbon dioxide gas from the yeast, and reintroducing fresh areas of sugar food to the yeast.  I make two braided loaves in pans.  I divide the dough in half and put half aside while working with the other. 

I divide that half IN half.  (A quarter of the total recipe.)  With a half piece, I form it into a smooth log shape and place it into a 9 inch loaf pan that has been sprayed with coconuts Crisco spray.  The other half I divide into thirds.  This is the braided top of the loaf.  Roll out three snakes and braid, tucking under the ends.  Very lightly moisten the top of the dough in the pan and adhere the braid to the top.

Repeat with the other bit of set aside dough.

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To make a freehand braided loaves, simply take the whole batch of dough and divide in half.  Divide those halves into thirds. Braid the thirds, tucking under the ends.
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You can also make braids and tuck the ends under and place that into a loaf pan. 

Shaping is up to your imagination and skill level.  Have fun with it.


Wash
1 egg white
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon water
poppy seeds (optional)  (I have also used flax, rosemary, and sesame.)


Combine the saved egg white, the sugar, and the water. Brush your dough with this mixture, reserving some for a second wash. Cover the loaf with lightly greased plastic wrap and allow it to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until it's almost doubled in size.

Bake
Brush the loaf with the remaining egg wash (this will give the finished loaf a beautiful, shiny crust, as well as provide "glue" for the seeds), sprinkle with seeds (optional) and bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 35 to 50minutes, or until the challah is lightly browned. Remove it from the oven, and cool completely before slicing.

***I find that I have to tent a piece of foil over the loaves for about the last 15-20 minutes to keep it from being overly brown, or burned.

 I cook my loaves until they test at 200-210'.

Not only is this a fabulous dinner loaf, but an exceptional sandwich bread and as a day old loaf, make spectacular FRENCH TOAST!

Enjoy!