18 Mar
TWD: Brioche Raisin Snails
Posted by Chelle as Rolls/Biscuits, Tuesdays with Dorie, Yeast Breads & Baked Goods | 59 Comments
This week’s Tuesdays With Dorie recipe, Brioche Raisin Snails, was chosen by Peabody over at Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. At first I was a little intimidated by this recipe since it combined three different elements: brioche dough, pastry cream, and then the assembly of the actual snails. Sneaky, that Peabody is… she squeezed in three recipes 
I am actually thrilled that she chose this recipe, as brioche has been something on my “must attempt” list and I had never made pastry cream before, so this gave me a perfect reason to try two new things!
I’ll start out with the basis for this recipe - the brioche dough. I am in love. Seriously. So in love that I am going to dedicate an entire blog post just to my brioche (stay tuned). I have been wanting to try brioche for some time and am glad that I finally got the opportunity. I have to say that I give total kudos to the TWD-ers that made this recipe by hand. My KA sounded as though it was on its last leg and got so hot that I couldn’t even touch the top without burning my hand. I didn’t have any trouble with the rising, however both rises took longer in my kitchen than Dorie estimated (about an hour and 10 minutes for the first rise, and about 2.5 hours after it came out of the fridge). I made a loaf of brioche with the other half of the dough recipe that wasn’t being used for the snails and oh the buttery goodness! This is some seriously good bread. I can’t say enough about it…. but I will try, in another blog post
On to the pastry cream. As I said, I had never made pastry cream before, so this was another first for me. I watched a couple of videos online to make sure that I knew what it should look like at the different stages. While mine looked like the videos, it seemed thick to me. But, it tasted divine and it didn’t cause me any problems, so I assume I did everything just right 
And now the raisin snails themselves. I have a confession. I did not flambe the raisins with the rum. I have an enormous, unfounded, and quite ridiculous fear of fire. I can’t explain it. So I merely soaked my raisins in water and let them plump up. Terribly boring, I know. I also took the advice of some others and cut my rolls using dental floss. Genius! I didn’t have to squish them!
The finished product… the Brioche Raisin Snails themselves… were absolutely delicious. They were flaky and tasted like a light, buttery pastry. This may seem like a complicated and time consuming recipe, but each element can be broken down and done easily and fairly quickly. Of course there is the waiting time for the dough to rise, but these rolls are definitely worth it. These would be a wonderful show stopping pastry to set out for breakfast or brunch guests. Trust me, everyone will think you are a domestic goddess!!
EDIT: I just ate another one after dinner tonight and I have to say - these are insanely better the second day! They were incredible when they were freshly made, but after sitting for a day tightly wrapped (as Dorie suggested) the flavors really came together and the dough was remarkably like a danish. YUM!
Our group is still growing, so head on over to the Tuesdays With Dorie blog and scroll through the blogroll to see the snail creations that the rest of the group came up with!
Last week: Russian Grandmothers’ Apple Pie-Cake
Next week: Caramel-Topped Flan
26 Feb
TWD: Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits
Posted by Chelle as Rolls/Biscuits, Tuesdays with Dorie | 42 Comments
Thanks to Ashley at eat me, delicious for picking out this week’s recipe!
Well let’s just get the obvious out of the way first - I had to omit the pecans from this recipe due to my nut allergy, so that’s why you don’t see pretty little flecks throughout my biscuits.
That being said, I loved these biscuits! The butter and brown sugar gave them just enough sweetness that I didn’t think that they needed any butter or jam to add flavor. These were tender and flaky and, in my mind, what a perfect biscuit should be. I will be saving this recipe, however the next time I make them I will cut them out a bit larger. Two inches is pretty small after you see it cut out I’d also watch my browning - I set my timer for the minimum time in the recipe (14 minutes) and my biscuits got a little browner than they should (although I like most everything a little over-done so it wasn’t a problem for me). All in all, another winner by Dorie!
Our group has grown by leaps and bounds. Head on over to the Tuesdays With Dorie blog and visit the blogroll to check out the biscuits made by all of the other Dorie bakers!
Next week: Snickery Squares
Last week: Almost-Fudge Gateau
20 Feb
Chicken and Dumplings
Posted by Chelle as Chicken, Rolls/Biscuits | 0 Comments
I have only had chicken and dumplings once in my twenty-something years of existence. However, I do remember that I loved them. I have been seeing some of these dishes pop up on a number of blogs that I frequent, as well as on some cooking websites. The only problem was that I didn’t *love* any of the recipes. I liked parts of one, some parts of another, and so as a result I just never made any of them! This is where I run into problems, as I am a big recipe follower. Perhaps it’s the baker in me. Bakers NEED to follow recipes, or bad things happen. While this is not so in cooking, I still treat it as such. I am always leery to stray from a recipe, in fear of what might happen. I decided to just create my own recipe for chicken and dumplings (cut to bright lights and angels singing). I must say that I think it turned out fabulous! It felt warm and hearty, just like a good bowl of comfort food should. If you try this recipe, I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did!
10 Oct
Sweet Dinner Rolls
Posted by Chelle as Rolls/Biscuits, Yeast Breads & Baked Goods | 10 Comments
What goes better with a big bowl of warm beef stew, than a soft and sweet roll fresh from the oven? Since work was a little slower yesterday I took advantage of the extra time to make homemade rolls to go with our stew for dinner. While I have made yeast bread before, I had never tackled any type of roll, and now I’m sorry that I didn’t try them sooner! This was a very simple recipe to put together - the ingredients came together quickly and the dough only needed about 5 minutes of kneading time on my Kitchen Aid. It was very easy to work with and I simply divided the ball of dough into 16 semi-equally shaped balls.
30 Sep
September Daring Bakers: The Cinnamon Roll
Posted by Chelle as Daring Bakers, Rolls/Biscuits, Yeast Breads & Baked Goods | 32 Comments
This was my first challenge as a member of the Daring Bakers group and I was excited to tackle it! To be completely honest, I was overwhelmingly relieved that my first challenge appeared to be something I could handle without a lot of complicated steps that might intimidate me.
We were provided with the recipes for both cinnamon rolls and sticky buns and had the option to make either one or both. I stuck with the classic cinnamon rolls because I didn’t have a doubt that they would definitely go.
I didn’t run into any problems and in fact the dough was perfectly soft and silky - maybe the best dough I have ever worked with! There was nothing very difficult about this recipe and I will be saving it as my default cinnamon roll recipe.
Thanks to the Daring Bakers for inducting me and making my first challenge a success, and thank you to Marce for hosting this month!
