More bread; more experiments. The Fig and Pine Nut bread from the other day actually ended up too sweet for a savory dipping bread, so I decided to make this Sun-dried Tomato and Asiago Cheese, which is decidedly not sweet. Really good with olive oil and sprinkle of salt. Line me up for snacking!
More experimenting with artisan non-knead breads baked in my Le Creuset Dutch Ovens. I am still not 100% with the texture of this Rosemary, Fig and Toasted Pine Nut Rustic Loaf — a little too dense — but I actual fear that I added too many figgy bits. Serves me right as I love figs, but too much of a good thing can hinder the rise. nevertheless, a decent attempt, flavor is good and the crusty outside from the dutch oven is amazing.
I thought that I would go healthy this week and make some granola bars. This is my go-to recipe — not too hard that you will break your teeth, but a little soft and definitely flavorful. If you search the site, you’ll see a bunch of variations; this time I decided to go ith apples and almond slices, with a bit of cinnamon and vanilla. Great pick me up afternoon snack!
Once a year, I make a cake, on Annual Cake Day. It’s not that I don’t like cake, but there are things that I like more, and I am not great at decorating. I know, I say this every year. On Annual Cake Day. Well, that day is today, so here it is: a Winter Magic Torte: Chocolate Rosemary Almond Cake, with Sugared Cranberries. It’s a chocolate cake with rosemary buttercream on the inside, deep rich ganache, toasted almonds and sugared cranberries on the outside. And it came out better than I expected, so at least Annual Cake Day 2021 turned out ok. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
I had a bout of insomnibaking last night and this morning. I went to bed at a reasonable time, but then woke up at about oh-dark-thirty, thinking about focaccia. Yep, strange thing to be dreaming about, but I have been ruminating on this recipe for a while, so maybe less of a surprise than one would think. It is actually the base for a pizza/focaccia recipe from America’s Test Kitchen, and then I started drawing with veggies and grains. Anyway, believe it or not, I got up, made the dough for this and went back to bed. Then, as I always get up at about 5 AM, before work I made the rest of it and baked it off just before work. It is actually really good, so even though it is “artwork” (it actually looks like a 4 years old’s drawing), you can eat it. I could see an Italian restaurant serving this as a starter with olive oil and sea salt. Nom nom nom.