spiced pumpkin bread

Yield

Makes 2 loaves

Serve one of these loaves the day you make them. 

Wrap the other in foil and freeze up to one month so 

that you'll have it on hand for unexpected company.

Ingredients

2 cups sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 16-ounce can solid pack pumpkin

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans. Beat sugar and oil in large bowl to blend. Mix in eggs and pumpkin. Sift flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and baking powder into another large bowl. Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions. Mix in walnuts, if desired. 

Divide batter equally between prepared pans. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool 10 minutes. Using sharp knife, cut around edge of loaves. Turn loaves out onto racks and cool completely.

recipe

bread.

on top of all my beekeeping endeavors--i am pursuing the art of making artisan bread. 

until i successfully make my own i will continue to indulge at blue dog bakery & cafe. 

i use their bread to make the most amazing french toast. 

picture sources:

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Egg Strata

The chickens are laying more than ever lately & we have eggs coming out of our ears! With the chickens roaming the yard everyday we have started finding eggs everywhere--the coop, the dog house, our front porch...it has been the most entertaining thing! We were out of town for a few days so we came back to 18 eggs waiting to be devoured. I thought--what's better than to use all of these amazing eggs and throw them in a strata. 

For my egg strata I just put whatever I have in the fridge and improvise as much as possible. 

My favorite recipe is from the book Simply Organic:

INGREDIENTS:

Whatever veggies or greens you have in the fridge:

I used a 1/2red bell pepper, tomatoes, spinach, 1/2yellow onion, & garlic. 

1/2cup or less of basil

12 eggs

2cups of milk

1cup of unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp salt

1/4tsp fresh black pepper

1loaf of brioche or any bread, really(torn into bite-size pieces)

8oz of soft goat cheese

1/2cup of grated asiago or parmesan cheese (or any cheese you have on hand)

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Lightly oil a 13x9in baking dish.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, peppers, tomatoes, & spinach & cook for 4min. Remove from heat and stir in the minced garlic. Drain the oil, remove from the heat, & set aside. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, & basil.  Gradually whisk in the flour, salt, & pepper. 

Spread out the bread in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with half of the veggie mixture. Scatter half of the goat cheese over the veggies. Pour the egg mixture over it all. Top with remaining veggies & goat cheese & press them gently into the egg mixture. Sprinkle with the grated cheese.

Bake for 45 minutes & let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. 

Serve warm.  

This makes 12 servings. 

Cinnamon Popovers

The chickens are giving us lots of eggs lately and I was getting tired of just frying them and eating toast so this morning I decided to make some cinnamon popovers. I've never made popovers before and I really enjoyed baking them. I used a simple recipe out of a cook book that my friend Pattie Read gave me, Chicken & Egg. 

Ingredients:

Popovers

1cup bread flour

1/2tsp cinnamon

1/4tsp nutmeg

1 egg plus 2 egg whites

1cup whole milk

1Tbsp unsalted butter melted

1tsp vanilla extract

Cinnamon Sugar Topping

3Tbsp sugar

1tsp cinnamon

2Tbsp unsalted melted butter

The Recipe:

Preheat the oven to 450*F. 

Whisk the flour, cinnamon, & nutmeg in a bowl. In a separate bowl whisk egg and egg whites until smooth. Pour in the milk , butter, and vanilla, whisking until combined. Slowly whisk the egg mixture into the flour mixture until the dry ingredients are moistened and almost smooth. Let rest for 30 minutes. 

Coat five popover cups (or a wide muffin pan) with nonstick cooking spray (or butter works too). Pour the batter into the prepared cups.

Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temp to 350*F, with out opening the oven, and continue baking for 20 minutes or until puffed, golden brown, and firm. Using a thin knife, make a small slit in the side of each popover to allow the steam to escape. Turn off the oven and let the popovers remain in the oven for 5 minutes to allow the inside to dry slightly. Remove from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack.

Brush the tops with the melted butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture generously over the tops.

Serve immediately. 

Palm Sunday: Red Velvet Cake

Food is the best way to use your hands! Not only does it take copious amounts of effort to prepare a delicious meal but it literally is a beautiful way to share all the ways you love someone. This week is my Father-In-Law's birthday and the first thing Kara and I did was discuss what we were going to cook! The past two years I've really amped up my kitchen by incorporating more unique meals and trying to do all local ingredients. It has been relatively easy keeping things local because Louisville has so many Farmer's Markets and easily accessible places to buy Kentucky Proud Products. Lately baking has been my uphill battle--whether its sifting flour or just adding the correct measurements of all the detailed ingredients--it has definitely not come very easily to me. A couple of months back I got on a Red Velvet Cake kick so I just began experimenting with all different recipes until I finally just took one and kept adapting it until it made my taste buds happy. I don't know if I'll ever be a baker but it is so much fun playing in the kitchen and giving it a chance with no expectations.

-M.

Here is the recipe:

RED VELVET CAKE

Ingredients

Cake

            2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (sifted, then measured)

            2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

            1 teaspoon baking powder

            1 teaspoon baking soda

            1/2 teaspoon salt

            1 cup buttermilk

            1 tablespoon red food coloring

            1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

            1 teaspoon vanilla extract

            1 1/2 cups sugar

            1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

            2 large eggs

 Frosting

            2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature

            1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

            1 tablespoon vanilla extract

            2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

            3 1/2-pint baskets fresh raspberries

            3 1/2-pint baskets fresh blueberries

Preperation

For cake:
 Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Sift sifted flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into medium bowl. Whisk buttermilk, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla in small bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Beat in dry ingredients in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk mixture in 3 additions.

Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 27 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto racks; cool completely.

For frosting:
 Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on platter. Spread 1 cup frosting over top of cake. Arrange 1 basket raspberries and 1/2 basket blueberries atop frosting, pressing lightly to adhere. Top with second cake layer, flat side down. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Arrange remaining berries decoratively over top of cake. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.)

I recommend adding 1 to 4 extra tablespoons of cocoa to the cake mix and 1/4cup to 1/2cup more butter.  If you want to thicken up the icing add more powdered sugar but if you want it a little less sweet and more cream cheesy just leave a little out. Also, there is a lot of icing so it is possible to cut the icing recipe in half! 

Next time I plan on adding ganache between the layers to give the cake more chocolate because chocolate is my favorite thing & its awesome!