Inhaltsverzeichnis für November/December 2018 in Bake from Scratch

I’m a huge fan of baking with molasses year-round, but there is something about combining it with the baker’s quintet (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice) to create gingerbread that makes it my holiday obsession. If the cookies on the cover aren’t enough motivation, wait until you see our four other iterations of gingerbread, starting on page 87. I can promise you’ll see the Gingerbread Morning Buns in my Instagram feed on Christmas Day (if they last long enough to take a photo). I’ll hopefully be baking them in the Mauviel copper molds we included in our baker’s holiday wish list (page 23) because that’s what this baker really wants under the tree. Check out the guide to see which gift you want this year. (If you’re anything like me,…

Tatte Bakery & Café is a micro-empire with 11 outposts snaking throughout the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts. It’s the city’s fastest-growing bakery and café—and for good reason. Take, for instance, Tatte’s (pronounced like latte) Harvard Square shop at the heart of Cambridge, what founder Tzurit Or refers to as “the full Tatte experience.” On the first level (it’s a large, sprawling location), customers shuffle across a graphic floor decorated with hexagonal tiles of white, black, and gray. White subway tiles line the walls, and the coffee bar and tables are topped with white marble. It’s a clean, well-lit space, the prime backdrop for aesthetically pleasing, Instagram-perfect photos. Behind the till, busy bakers mix batter and knead dough among speed racks full of cooling breads and pastries. During the school…

Wrapped around the nutmeg seed is a scarlet aril covering better known as mace. Once removed from the nutmeg, mace resembles a tendril-like flower and fades in color from red to orange to gold as it ages. Use a spice mill to grind up mace because it is slightly harder to grate than nutmeg. Freshly ground mace is more intense than pre-ground, just like nutmeg. Because of its stronger flavor, mace is less popular than nutmeg, but you’ll find it still plays a vital part in several holiday classics. Find it in our Gingerbread Morning Buns, page 94.…

CRANBERRY-HAZELNUT COFFEE CAKE Makes 1 (10-inch) cake Our moist coffee cake blends buttery hazelnuts and bright cranberries while a crunchy Hazelnut Streusel and zesty Orange Glaze finish it off. ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, softened 1¼ cups (275 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar 3 large eggs (150 grams) Zest of 1 orange (9 grams) 2 teaspoons (8 grams) vanilla extract 2½ cups (300 grams) plus 1 tablespoon (8 grams) all-purpose flour, divided 1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking powder ½ teaspoon (1.5 grams) kosher salt 1 cup (240 grams) crème fraîche ½ cup (64 grams) chopped dry roasted unsalted hazelnuts 1½ cups (143 grams) fresh or frozen cranberries Hazelnut Streusel (recipe follows) Orange Glaze (recipe follows) 1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter and flour a 10-inch tube pan.…

BIEN CUIT New York City, New York This New York institution’s signature Christmas loaf has an almond-rich filling made of eggs, butter, sugar, and almond flour. After the stollen is baked, the bakers dip the loaves in nearly 16 pounds of melted butter and seal them with confectioners’ sugar. DINKEL’S BAKERY Chicago, Illinois Dinkel’s has been pushing its stollen since it first opened in 1922. Norman Dinkel Jr., grandson of the original owner, claims the bread’s enduring legacy is due to its unorthodox but incredibly decadent filling: buttercream swirled with almonds and cashews. FRESSEN ARTISAN BAKERY Portland, Oregon Founded and run by Bavarian expat baker Edward Loesch, Fressen specializes in Germanic breads, including pretzels, bierbrot (beer bread), and, you guessed it, authentic stollen. Edward claims his stollen is best enjoyed…

The Sponge The sponge is a pre-ferment element of the dough. Like a starter, it is made up of liquid and flour. Unlike a starter, it often contains domestic yeast to help kick-start the microbe magic. We mix ½ cup (120 grams) warm milk, yeast, and 1 cup (125 grams) flour to form a doughy mixture. Then we leave it for 30 minutes to double in size. Voilà, a sponge! The Mixing Once you add the rest of your base dough ingredients (butter, sugar, spices, remaining flour, etc.) to your pre-ferment, the dough will need a long period of mixing. Clocking in at a whopping 18 minutes of mixing, you’ll wonder if your stand mixer can handle the pressure. Because the mixer is working at low speed, it’ll take on…

Alternatively, you can steam this pudding in the oven using a 6-cup Bundt pan instead of a pudding basin. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C), and place a deep roasting pan in oven. Follow steps 2 and 3 to prepare pudding batter. Lightly butter and flour Bundt pan, tapping out any excess. Scrape pudding batter into prepared pan, and level out. Wrap pan completely in several layers of parchment paper and one layer of foil. (Because of the hole in the Bundt pan, you need to ensure the entire pan is covered, not just the top like when making in a traditional pudding basin.) Place Bundt inside roasting pan in oven, and fill roasting pan with enough boiling water to reach halfway up sides of Bundt pan. Steam pudding for 3…

Cacao percentage tells you how much of your chocolate bar is cocoa beans (inclusive of any added cocoa butter). Percentage does not indicate quality or flavor—those depend on the beans and the chocolate-making—but it does give you a clue about the balance of chocolate flavor relative to sweetness. Generally, the higher the percentage, the less sweet the chocolate. Fine dark chocolates contain little more than cocoa beans and sugar. So, a 70% chocolate is about 30% sugar, a 60% chocolate is 40% sugar, and a 100% chocolate is pure unsweetened chocolate. Shop by taste when you are buying chocolate to use as mix-ins for cookies or cake. Cacao percentage is not critical in any application where the chocolate will not be melted and mixed into other ingredients. Choose any chocolate…

1. Fill a large bowl with cold water. 2. Roll pomegranate to loosen the seeds. Strike the hull with the tip of a knife, and gently crack open with your hands. 3. Use a sharp knife to slice into quarters. Submerge in cold water. 4. Pull apart quarters, releasing seeds with your hands. The pith will float, and the seeds will sink. Remove and discard pith, and drain the arils. 5. Place arils on paper towels to absorb excess moisture, being careful not to squeeze.…

Every December 13, across the snowy towns of Scandinavia, families rise early in the dark to begin preparing for a centuries-old winter solstice celebration, a festival of lights. The eldest daughter of each household wakes first. Donning a white gown with a red sash and a candle-lit wreath crown, she carries a tray of brilliant golden St. Lucia buns from room to room, singing carols and serving the sweet saffron-scented buns to family and friends in honor of St. Lucia. Soon they will take to the streets for a processional, where a girl—nominated by her town as “Lucia”— carries a basket of St. Lucia buns, handing them out to the merry masses. She is accompanied by girls in white dresses and boys with star-coned hats. They twirl and sing along…

ALICE MEDRICH Author, chocolate chef, and teacher Alice Medrich has won more James Beard and IACP Cookbook of the Year and Best in Category awards than any other author. She is credited with popularizing chocolate truffles in the United States through her introduction of the “American” chocolate truffle at her influential dessert shop, Cocolat, in the 1970s. What baking gift are you hoping for this holiday season? “I want a new toy! Maybe a sous vide device, dehydrator, or pacojet!” JESSE SZEWCZYK Jesse Szewczyk is a food writer and recipe developer based in New York City, New York. He lives with his partner, Kyle (an actual pastry chef); his dog, Fig; and a roommate who has never cut an onion before. He has a degree from the Culinary Institute of…

Nutmeg: the spice that launched a thousand ships, expeditions, and trade wars. It also happens to be the celebrated key ingredient to our merriest of holiday sweets. As soon as you open the spice jar or begin grating delicate shavings from the seed, the warm aroma immediately transports you to cozy evenings by the fireplace sipping a spice-dusted cup of eggnog. Nutmeg’s history tells a fascinating but decidedly less romantic tale. Nutmeg made a mysterious appearance on European tables in the sixth century. It became a medieval sensation, a luxurious ingredient that held medicinal qualities including but not limited to a cure for the common cold, nervous disorders, and the bubonic plague. The aristocrats who could afford it knew it came from the port of Venice, where it was unloaded…

1. MAUVIEL M’PASSION MINI COPPER SOUFFLÉ MOLDS Excellent conductors of heat, these copper molds can be used for more than soufflés, helping you get a crisp, caramelized crust on cinnamon rolls, kouign amann, and morning buns. mauvielusa.com, $65 each Where We Use It: Gingerbread Morning Buns, page 94 2. GOBEL NONSTICK FLUTED BARQUETTE MOLDS Fluted and petite, these 5-inch barquette molds bring a touch of fancy to miniature Breton tarts, financiers, or petit fours. surlatable.com, $4 each Where We Use It: Hazelnut Financiers, page 33 3. PEUGEOT TERNATE NUTMEG MILL Peugeot has been churning out handcrafted spice mills and grinders since the 18th century, and we’re obsessed with their nutmeg-focused mill, which combines form, function, and class, with a powerful grinder on the bottom and sleek nutmeg seed container on…

BRUSH, SIFT, REPEAT: Using a pastry brush, coat the top of your stollen with melted butter. Sift confectioners’ sugar over it until the butter is completely covered with sugar. Brush another coat of butter onto the stollen. This will smear the snowy coat of sugar, but don’t worry—it’ll get covered back up. Sift another dusting of confectioners’ sugar over the top. Repeat this process several times until a thick, luxurious coat of butter and sugar ensconces the exterior.…

CARAMELIZED WHITE CHOCOLATE Makes about 2 cups Use high-quality white chocolate with over 30% cocoa butter content for this recipe. Every white chocolate is different and the amount of time (and stirring) it takes to caramelize will vary, so use your senses and treat this recipe as a guideline. Once the chocolate is a deep golden color and smells like toasted marshmallows, it’s done. 16 ounces (455 grams) white chocolate baking chips ¼ teaspoon kosher salt 1. Preheat oven to 250°F (130°C). In a completely dry 9-inch round cake pan, combine chocolate and salt. 2. Bake until chocolate is smooth and deep golden and smells like toasted marshmallows, 30 to 60 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. (At times, the chocolate will look very dry and chalky, but keep stirring until…

GINGERBREAD LAYER CAKE WITH RUM FROSTING Makes 1 (9-inch) cake This simple cake has a very tender and moist crumb courtesy of a coffee-spiked cake batter. The batter will be loose due to the addition of coffee, but it’ll bake up into neat, fluffy layers, so don’t be concerned. The warm, boozy coat of Rum Frosting complements the hit of gingerbread spices found within. 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, softened 2¼ cups (495 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar 3 large eggs (150 grams) ¾ cup (243 grams) unsulphured molasses 3¾ cups (469 grams) all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon (6 grams) ground ginger 1½ teaspoons (7.5 grams) baking powder 1½ teaspoons (3 grams) ground cinnamon ¾ teaspoon (2.25 grams) kosher salt ½ teaspoon (2.5 grams) baking soda 1½ cups (360…

April Cornell Merry Tartan Plaid Apron and Ovenmitt With exclusive pattern designs inspired by April Cornell’s travels abroad, this old-fashioned apron and ovenmitt set is the perfect complement to a joy-filled kitchen. Made in durable cotton meant for everyday use, they make a lovely gift for new and seasoned bakers alike. WHERE TO FIND IT: aprilcornell.com Southern Marsh Highland Alpaca Blanket in Washed Blue The Highland Alpaca Blanket is the latest innovation from Southern Marsh, a company devoted to craftsmanship and style. Made from a soft, brushed polyester, this blanket is your go-to for those chilly days we all love, cozying up by the fire with eggnog and cookies. Go ahead—give one a try and cuddle up to some authentic Southern class. WHERE TO FIND IT: southernmarsh.com Cane River Pecan…

Three ways to grind nutmeg (and the best tools for the job). Nutmeg Mill Depending on the brand you get (we chose the venerable French brand Peugeot), the mill will produce fine shavings of fresh nutmeg with either a crank handle or turn top. We like that Peugeot’s handsome mill pulls double duty as both a grinder and an airtight container to store loose nutmeg. We Like: Peugeot Ternate Nutmeg Mill; wayfair.com, $40.54 Nutmeg Grater Normally curved outward into an arc with a small-hole grater, this tool is easy to use and produces perfectly grated nutmeg. Be careful when grating, though—the grates are sharp, so slips can prove painful. We Like: HIC Nutmeg Grater; amazon.com, $6.05 Microplane Chances are you already have a Microplane in your kitchen and use it…

In England, Stir-up Sunday is one of the first signals that Christmas is around the corner. The holiday, informally called Stir-up Sunday in Anglican churches, falls on the last Sunday before the start of Advent. Its name is derived from the prayer read during Church of England services on that day: “Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people.” It is a date steeped in tradition. Christmas pudding is one of the most prominent holiday traditions in England, so over the years, the dessert has become commonly associated with the date. Because Christmas pudding benefits from a long ageing process, Stir-up Sunday is the day when families prepare the pudding they will reheat and enjoy on Christmas Day. On Stir-up Sunday, the pudding is steamed…

I can smell chocolate long before I pull into the little visitors’ lot in front of the factory at 10 Guittard Road. Built in 1955 and painted two colors—vaguely chocolate and caramel—it resembles a California elementary school of the same era. The redwood-paneled lobby was last remodeled in 1989. But who needs new or fancy when you’ve got a living cacao tree in the room? The Guittard specimen even has fruit—eight colorful cacao pods hanging from its lower limbs and trunk—and delicate white blossoms called cherelles dot the trunk as well. I saw the same tree over 20 years ago—a spindly sapling in the same lobby. Even if you love chocolate, you may not know that one company in California has been making bean-to-bar chocolate for 150 years—chocolate that now…

POMEGRANATE CRANBERRY CURD TART Makes 1 (9-inch) tart Velvety smooth cranberry curd finds the perfect complement in a crunchy Salty Peanut Crust. A halo of pomegranate arils adds another layer of tart, juicy flavor and a touch of glowing wintry charm. 2 cups (224 grams) frozen cranberries 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar 2½ tablespoons (20 grams) orange zest ⅓ cup (80 grams) fresh orange juice ¼ teaspoon kosher salt ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, cubed and softened 2 large eggs (100 grams) 2 large egg yolks (37 grams) Salty Peanut Crust (recipe follows) ¾ cup (125 grams) pomegranate arils 1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). 2. In a medium saucepan, bring cranberries, sugar, orange zest and juice, and salt to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until cranberries…

CLOVER BEER ROLLS Makes 24 We infused this dough with a light amber ale because it offers subtle notes of toasty malt and sweet citrus that balance out the savory Parmesan and roasted garlic. A hoppy beer (like an IPA) would make the bread too bitter. Place three dough balls into a muffin cup to yield a charming clover shape. 1¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons (450 grams) warm amber ale* (105°F/41°C to 110°F/43°C), divided 1 tablespoon plus 1½ teaspoons (14 grams) active dry yeast 1½ tablespoons (31.5 grams) honey 5⅔ cups (680 grams) bread flour 10 ounces (280 grams) coarsely grated Parmesan cheese, divided Roasted Garlic (recipe follows) 2 tablespoons (24 grams) granulated sugar 2 tablespoons (4 grams) chopped fresh parsley 1 tablespoon (9 grams) kosher salt ¼ cup (57…