bakekrazy

I waited yesterday for about 8 hours while a pork shoulder was cooking in my backyard smoker. I took it out of the smoker last night and then pulled it apart this morning. The one thing missing from a great sandwich was the carrier for the pork. I decided to make a sandwich roll which is a cross between a dinner roll and a sub bun.

3 cups bread flour
1 1/4 cup warm water (100 – 110 degrees)
1 oz. dry active yeast
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons sugar
1 oz. dry milk
3 teaspoons unsalted butter (soften)
1 egg

In a small bowl add the yeast and the warm water then whisk to dissolve. In a stand mixer add the flour, salt, sugar, dry milk, butter and egg fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast mixture and mix at a medium speed for approximately 10 minutes. Remove the dough and knead another 1 -2 minutes on a lightly floured surface. Place the dough into a greased bowl, flip coating both sides, cover with a kitchen towel and place in a warm area to proof. (Until double in size) Prepare a sheet pan by spraying with vegetable spray and pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Punch down the dough and remove from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 5oz pieces and roll into logs 10″ long and place 2″ apart on the prepared sheet pan.  Place in a warm area and allow to double, egg wash and bake 12 – 18 minutes until golden brown. Coat each roll with butter while hot, allow to cool slightly then remove from the pan and place onto a cooling rack.

Enjoy
Chef Brian Klauss

We have made banana bread, banana cupcakes even banana cookies so how about a banana cake roll filled with a sweet cream cheese filling.

CAKE
3 eggs (room temp)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 ripe bananas (mashed)
FILLING
1 cup powdered sugar
8oz cream cheese
3 tablespoon milk
SYRUP
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon water
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon rum flavoring
DRIZZEL
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
1-3 teaspoons milk as needed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a 1/2 sheet pan with vegetable spray and line with parchment paper and spray over the paper.

In a small bowl add the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and mix, set aside. In a stand mixer with a whip attachment add the eggs and whip at a high speed until thick and lemon colored (about 5 -6 minutes) Slowly add in the cup of sugar continue to whip at a medium speed until fluffy. Add in the mashed bananas . On a low speed add in the flour mixture until incorporated. (do not over mix). Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared 1/2 sheet pan. Bake 12 to 16 minutes, should spring back upon touch when done. As soon as you remove it from the oven run a knife along edges to release anything that may have stuck. Sprinkle a kitchen towel the size of the sheet pan with powdered sugar and invert the cake onto the towel, remove the parchment paper and sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar. Roll the towel and cake from the short side and set on a cooling rack and cool completely. While that’s cooling in a small sauce pan add the brown sugar water and bring to a boil, reduce the heat and allow the mixture to develop a syrup like consistency (reducing about 1/2) remove from the stove and add in the rum flavoring and butter, stir until the butter melts then set aside to cool. Make the filling by whipping the powdered sugar, cream cheese and milk and 1/2 cup of the syrup mixture.

When the cake is cooled unroll and spread the filling and then re-roll. To make the drizzle mix the rest of the syrup mixture with 1/2 cup powdered sugar adding a little milk if needed. When the drizzle runs from a mixing spoon its completed. Drizzle across the completed cake roll. Refrigerate at least 2-3 hours before slicing to serve

Enjoy
Chef Brian Klauss

One of the most popular breads is the raisin cinnamon bread. I know because my wife loves it, as they say happy wife, happy life. This bread can be made with or without the raisins or even without the sugar cinnamon. You could even add herbs such as parsley, scallions and chives to make it an Herb spiral bread.

Allow about 6 hours or more to complete this recipe. This will make two 8″ x 4″ loafs

Dough Starter
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 3/4 cups 90 degrees water
3 tablespoons Honey
3/4 teaspoon instant yeast

In a medium bowl add all the ingredients and whisk for about three minutes to fully incorporate. Cover with some plastic wrap and set on the counter for a minimum of 1 hour.

Dough
2 1/8 cups bread flour
1/4 cups dry milk
3/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 cup soft butter
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups raisins

Mix in the the flour, dry milk and instant yeast to the sponge mixture. Allow this to ferment for about 1 hour before continuing. In a stand mixer add the butter to the dough and mix until incorporated. Sprinkle the salt onto the dough and mix with a dough hook at a medium speed for about 10 minutes. Add the raisins and mix at a low speed to distribute throughout the dough. Pull the dough from the mixing bowl and knead for 2 -3 minutes, spray the inside of the bowl with vegetable spray and roll the dough inside the bowl to coat both sides. Cover and allow to proof. I use the microwave as a proof box, first I heat a cup of water to a boil then place it in the microwave along with the bowl of dough. This will speed up the proofing. The dough needs to double in size approximately 1 hour inside the microwave approximately 2 hours on your counter. Pull the dough from the bowl and flatten  a lightly floured surface then oil, cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

Cinnamon Filling
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1 beaten egg

Mix the sugar and cinnamon and set off to the side. The egg will be used to coat the dough surface both before filling and before baking.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and place a full sheet pan on the lowest rack

Pull the dough from the refrigerator and divide in half. Roll each dough out to approximately 7″ x 14″. Brush the dough with egg and take half the sugar mixture and spread in the center out to approximately 1/2″ of the edge. Now roll the dough from the short end as tightly as you can without stretching the dough. Place each dough log (seam down) into the prepared pans. Proof until double in size (The dough should crown the pan) If your not using the microwave method make sure you cover the pans with a loose damp kitchen towel. After proofed lightly brush with egg, place both pans onto the sheet pan on the lower rack then bake for 50 minutes (During baking you may want to rotate the pan to allow for even cooking) Using a read thermometer the bread should read 211 degrees. Remove the bread from the oven and brush the tops with butter, remove from pans and cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy
Chef Brian Klauss

This spring I plan to offer some bake goods to our best friends. Thats right dog snacks, every time I bake in my kitchen the one tester I have is my dog Molley. So I decided to add a few to my menu.

1/2 cup corn meal
2 eggs
1 cup of rolled oats
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup powdered milk

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray a dog bone pan with vegetable spray

Whisk the eggs and peanut butter together until completely incorporated. Add in the rest of the ingredients, mix well, then press into the prepared pan. Bake for 18- 22 minutes in the middle rack. Allow to cool 15 minutes then place onto a cooling rack. Your pet will love them, mine did!

Enjoy
Chef Brian Klauss

We use caramel at the bakery in many products, we wrap it around pretzels and dip them in chocolate, add caramel to our cheesecake and cupcakes and use it as a filling for chocolate desserts. In this recipe we will sandwich it between layers of cookie like brownie batter and cut the finished product into yummy bars.

Batter
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

Filling
11 oz of KRAFT Caramels
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons Milk

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9″ x 13″ baking pan with vegetable spray

Mix the flour, salt, baking powder together in a medium bowl (set aside). In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment beat the butter, sugar, vanilla and eggs until smooth. Add the flour mixture slowly until incorporated. Remove 1/2 the batter and smooth it into the bottom of the prepared pan evenly. Bake for approximately 5 minutes. While that is baking add the caramels, butter and milk to a small sauce pan and bring to a slight boil constantly stirring. Reduce the heat and allow the caramels to melt. (continue to stir) Remove the pan from the oven and pour the caramel into the center and spread to just 1/2″ from the edges. Remove the other half of the batter and flatten and spread onto of the caramel. (it will not have to be perfect it will spread as it bakes) Place the pan back in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Once cooled loosen the sides by running a knife around the pan. Place in the freezer for at least an hour. Remove the pan from the freezer and remove the brownie/bar and place onto a cutting board. Cut into bar shapes.

Enjoy
Chef Brian Klauss

Unless your allergic to peanuts this recipe is a simple way to make a great peanut brittle. You could always add in candy, pretzels, and broken cookies to add that additional flavor

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups shelled peanuts

Spray a 1/2 sheet pan with vegetable spray.
In a medium sauce pan over a medium heat add sugar, corn syrup, salt and water, then  bring to a boil. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved then add in the peanuts. Place a candy thermometer in and clip to the saucepan. Continue to boil stirring  frequently until the mixture reaches 300 degrees. Remove from the heat and add in the butter, vanilla and baking soda and stir until incorporated. Pour into the prepared 1/2 sheet pan and spread to cover. Allow to completely cooled then snap apart to your favorite size.

Enjoy
Chef Brian Klauss

Making cupcakes are fun and can be decorated to match the season. The fastest way of course is to use a box mix……..a cup of water, 1/4 cup of vegetable oil and maybe three eggs and you have approximately 24 average size cupcakes. Ready for decorating.
However, here is a made from scratch recipe that will take a little longer but will produce a dense full of flavor yellow cup cake.

2 cups of all purpose flour
2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
1 cup of buttermilk
5 eggs separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Pre-heat the oven at 350 and line a 24 cupcake pan with papers

In a large bowl add the butter and sugar and mix at medium speed until light and fluffy. (set side) In a separate bowl mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda (set aside). In a stand mixer add the buttermilk and yolks, then mix until incorporated. (set side) . Now add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternating with the buttermilk mixture in the stand mixer. In a separate bowl mix the egg whites on a high speed until stiff peaks form then fold into the completed batter mixture. Fill each cupcake paper 1/2 to 3/4 full and bake approximately 20 minutes. Allow to cool, then decorate with your favorite buttercream.

Enjoy
Chef Brian Klauss