23.2.13

Cinnamon Bread

Um, so, I was particularly bad a taking pictures with this recipe. You know how I can be.

Ingredients:
1 cup milk
6 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Melt the butter with the milk to warm, not too hot, and stir in the yeast. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Combine the flour and salt in a smaller, separate bowl.

With a mixer, combine sugar and eggs and then add the butter-milk-yeast stuff. (Yes, technical term. Hush yourself.) Then add the dry mixture and beat until combined. 

Then, the fun part: kneading the dough. Do so for about 10 minutes on a flour-covered surface.

Coat a metal bowl in some oil--canola, vegetable, etc.--and dump in the dough. Cover with a damp towel and let rise for 2 hours.

Then, when you come back to it, knead it for about 10 more minutes and roll it out into a rectangle, size up to you. Smear melted butter all over it. Mix up the filling: sugar and cinnamon, and spread over the butter. Roll up the dough over it. Put it in a sprayed loaf pan. I chose to use a class baking pan--I like how those work with bread better. Cover it with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 2 more hours.

Then, when you make it back to it, heat the oven to 350 and bake for 40 minutes.

Banana Bread

Brad requested banana bread when Abby and I had a baking adventure, and I was kind enough to oblige. It was fun, in a way, even though I don't like bananas. I don't know what it is about them, their smell probably.

Ingredients:
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

This is pretty easy, don't even need a mixer. Preheat the oven to 350°.

Mix the butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. 

Add the sugar, egg, and vanilla.

Stir in the baking soda and salt before adding the flour last and mix. 

Pour mixture into a buttered loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour.

Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

It turned out well, even though I didn't eat any. I assume they liked it. Without direct, easy access to a kitchen, I don't get to back much at school, but I do enjoy when I get to.

Dark Chocolate Mint Cupcakes with Orange Icing

Abby and I went on an adventure this weekend, taking a trip to her home 45 minutes away in order to bake a whole handful of tasty treats.

There's a secret to these. It's not an exciting secret, really, but that happens sometimes.

For the cupcakes, it's just a dark chocolate cake mix with a half teaspoon of mint flavoring. I know, disappointing really. Follow the directions on the box of your favorite brand.

Follow the instructions on the box regarding temperature and time.

The icing, though, that's the exciting bit.





Ingredients:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest

First, get your friend to zest the orange for you. It's an awful lot of work, better to just delegate.

Then, mix the powdered sugar and butter together until smooth. Add the juice and zest, mixing well.

When cool, ice. I'd recommend letting the icing set up for a bit first, and cupcakes cool tremendously. I, as you can see, did not. Oh well, it can't always be perfect.