Soft Pretzels

I've had a craving for big soft pretzels recently! Now, if I were in America, I could walk in to any shopping mall and get my fix. Not so easy here in Australia! Come to think of it, I don't know if I have ever seen them here. Anyone who follows my blog may have caught on by now that some of my favorite things to bake are things that remind me of home and are harder to find here. As I write this blog entry, I am happily munching on a big soft, freshly baked pretzel with yellow mustard on it! Craving needs met! These were so much fun to make and I will defiantly make they again.
ENJOY!

Soft Pretzels

• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 5 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 Tablespoon of water
• 1/4 cup of coarse

• 3/4 cup baking soda
• 10 cups hot water

1. Combine the water, sugar and yeast in a bowl . Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam.
2. Sift flour and salt in to a large bowl and form a well in the center. Add oil and yeast mixture and mix together until dough forms together. (If the dough seems too dry, you can add 2 or 3 tablespoons of water.) Knead by hand for 7-8 mins (I used my stand up mixer with the hook attachment for about 5 mins and this was fine.)
3. In a large bowl, lightly coat with oil. Put dough in oiled bowl and cover completely with cling wrap. Place bowl in a warm place for about an hour or until dough has doubled in size.
4. Preheat the oven to 230 C (450 F). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly brush with oil (I found that cooking spray worked fine.)
5. Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a boil in an 8 quart pan or roasting pan.
6. Turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface (you want to avoid adding any more flour to the dough.) Divide into 8-12 pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment lined baking sheet.
7. Place the pretzels into the boiling water for 60 seconds each. Remove them from water using a large flat spatula. Return to the baking sheet.
8. Once all pretzels have been boiled, brush the top of each with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown, approximately 10 to 12 minutes.
9. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

White Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

Traditionally, a brownie with no chocolate in it is called a "Blondie," and they don't always have white chocolate in them. Some would also argue that white chocolate isn't really chocolate (although there is no cocoa in it, there is cocoa butter!) Regardless... I wanted a white chocolate brownie! There are not a lost of recipes out there for them, so this is my attempt at them. They turned out great ,nice and fudgy, just how I like my brownies. Although, next time I think I will try it with dark chocolate chips rather than the raspberries.

ENJOY!

White Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

• 6 Tablespoons (3 oz) unsalted butter
• 1 cup (8 oz) white chocolate chopped in to chunks
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup of raspberries (or dark chocolate chips)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C.) Grease and flour, or line a 9 in. pan with parchment paper.


2. Melt half of the white chocolate (1/2 cup) and butter in a double boiler over hot water on the stove. Stir until both start to melt, then remove from heat. Continue to stir until smooth, and then set aside to cook for 5 mins.


3. Beat eggs and sugar together until thick and light in color. Add melted white chocolate mixture, vanilla and flour, mix until smooth. Mix in the other 1/2 cup of white chocolate chunks by hand being careful not to over mix.


4. Spread 1/2 of the mixture in to the bottom of baking pan. Arrange raspberries evenly over the top, then spread the rest of the brownie mixture over the top.


5. Bake for 30 mins or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting in to squares.

Pear & Ginger upside-down cake

My poor little blog has been so neglected over the past month! I knew that I would have little time to bake in the month of May. Well, it's now June and I am back in to it! The weather here in Australia has continued to cool down and winter is in full swing. This means warm spiced food, slow cooker meals and comfort food! I thought I'd kick off this month with a recipe featuring my new flavour combination obsession: Pear and Ginger. How have I not discovered this sooner? These two flavours were just meant to be! This was recipe attempt number 3 with this combo. The first was a Pear, ginger and pistachio loaf. It was ok, but the loaf was not "gingery" enough. The second was a Pear and ginger muffin, but I still felt that it was missing something. This one hit the nail on the head. It's a beautiful, moist gingerbread like cake, with caramelized pears and ginger in the upside-down part. Very tasty!

Enjoy!

Pear & Ginger Upside-down cake.

• 1/2 cup butter, plus 2 Tablespoons, room temperatur
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger
• 2 firm pears
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 Tablespoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup dark molasses/treacle
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 175 C (350 F.) Line a 9-inch round cake tin with removable rim at least 2 1/2 inches tall. Line pan with a 10-inch round of cooking parchment, pressing into bottom and about 1/2 inch up sides.

2.Cut 2 tablespoons butter into chunks and drop evenly over parchment in pan bottom. Sprinkle evenly with 1/2 cup brown sugar and the crystallized ginger.

3. Peel pears and cut in half lengthwise, then, slicing parallel to cut edge, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices. With a small knife, cut core from each slice. Arrange slices flat, in a single layer, over sugar mixture in pan, trimming pieces as needed to fit.
4. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and cloves.

5. In another bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat remaining 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup brown sugar until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to medium-low and beat in molasses. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately, beating until incorporated, then beat on high speed just until well blended. Pour batter over pears.

6. Bake 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a rack about 20 minutes. Remove pan sides. Invert a platter over cake, then, holding the two together, invert again. Carefully remove pan bottom and parchment. Serve warm.