Can It Up! Cardamom Apple Cider Butter

It’s been a couple of years since the Tigress Can Jam. I thoroughly enjoyed participating in that challenge so when Hima of All Four Burners contacted me to let me know about Can It Up!, I jumped on the bandwagon right away.  Now I have an excuse for being a canning fanatic. Not that I needed one, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. I participated every month in the Tigress Can Jam, but I do like the idea of a more low key challenge this time. 

As you might expect, the fruit of the month for October is Apples. I love Fall and going to the mountains to see all of the beautiful colors and visiting my favorite farm along the way to get apples. I came back with several different varieties of apples, but for this Apple Butter, I used Winesap.

 

I started canning several years ago and now, every year, I make apple butter. I wanted to try something different this year so I searched through all of my canning books for ideas. I finally found two recipes that sounded really good. Both versions use apple cider and one used cardamom instead of cinnamon. I really like cardamom so that sounded like a great addition. I also added some nutmeg to give it a bit of a kick.

I used what I liked about both recipes and streamlined the process by cooking it in my slow cooker, until the water-bath-canning part, that is. So instead of laboriously peeling and coring the apples, and slaving over the stove to cook down the apples, I let my slow cooker do all the work. It made things so much easier.

 

Cardamom Apple Cider Butter

Makes: 4- 6 Pints

Adapted from: Canning and Preserving with Ashley English and Put em Up! by Sherri Brooks Vinton

 

Ingredients:

• 5 pounds of cooking apples, stems removed (I used Winesap)
• 3 cups apple cider, divided 
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon Cardamom
• 1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg

 

Directions:

Step 1: Cook the apples

Wash the apples, remove the stems and slice them into quarters. Place the sliced apples and 2 cups of apple cider in the crockpot. Cook on low for 4 to 5 hours until the apples are soft.  Stir the apples occasionally to make sure they cook evenly.

 

Step 2: Puree the apples

Cool the apples slightly, then run the mixture through a food mill to remove the seeds and skins.

 

I used the medium screen to make the puree.

 

Step 3: Cook the puree until it thickens

Return the apple puree to the pot. Add the additional cup of apple cider,  the lemon juice, sugar, cardamom, and nutmeg.  Cook the mixture on low for a couple more hours until it is thick.

 

Step 4: Ladle the butter into jars

After the butter thickens, ladle it into pint-size mason jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Release the trapped air using a Bubble Remover and Headspace Tool. Then add the lids and rings, and process the jars in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes. For more information on water-bath canning, refer to the National Center for Home Preservation web site.  

 

Step 5: Let jars rest on counter overnight

Turn the heat off. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove the jars, and let them sit on the counter for 24 hours to cool and ensure they are sealed correctly. You should hear the lids pop if they are sealed properly.

 

Step 6: Store jars in a cool, dry place.

Place the sealed jars in a cool, dry place for storage for up to a year. If any of the jars do not seal properly, place them in the refrigerator. They will last for a couple of months in the refrigerator.

 

Thanks to Hima of All Four Burners for starting this Challenge. It’s time to Can It Up!

Happy Canning!

Cathy

 

You might also enjoy these Apple Butter recipes:

• Apple Butter
• Cranapple Butter
• Crockpot Maple Apple Butter
• Sweet and Chunky Apple Butter

 

Canning resources:

• Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
• The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving
• Keeping The Harvest: Discover the Homegrown Goodness of Putting Up Your Own Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs
• National Center for Home Preservation

Russian Mountain Braid with Sprouted Wheat

Today is World Bread Day. A day where bread bakers around the globe come together to celebrate the staff of life.

Throughout history, bread has played an integral role in feeding the masses and in commemorating important traditions and events. Each bread tells a unique story and carves a place in time. Some say bread (or the lack thereof) has been responsible for the rise and fall of kingdoms. All I know is that I like it and I’m happy to be celebrating it today.

As with all bread, there’s a story behind this braid.  It’s actually a story within a story. It all began when Tanya, one of the Bread Baking Babes, suggested that we make Caucasian Bread for World Bread Day.

I know what you’re thinking… what in the world is Caucasian Bread?  Well, it doesn’t have anything to do with white bread. It refers to the geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia which is situated between the Black and the Caspian sea. Home to the Caucasus Mountains. To alleviate any confusion with the name, Tanya renamed our version Russian Braid. I went a step further and named it Russian Mountain Braid. You’ll find out why in a minute.

This bread is a beautiful braided bread that is baked in a spring form pan to help hold it’s shape. It’s supposed to end up looking like a rose.

 

My son was home from college for the weekend and when I took the bread out of the oven, I asked him if he thought it looked like a rose. He said “I can see that, but I can also see mountains.”  My son is very witty and his analytical mom usually has a hard time keeping up with him. I thought he was making a joke because we had just been talking about the origins of Caucasian Bread. I immediately laughed, but he wasn’t joking. He really thought it looked like mountains. So I decided to go with that theme. I developed it further by drizzling a white glaze over the braid to form the mountain peaks.

 

So there you have it … Russian Mountain Braid.  You might need to use your imagination to see the mountain peaks. 

 

Some of the other Babes made a savory version of this bread.  It’s filled with pesto and parmesan cheese. Although that sounded divine, I went with the sweeter version. My version is made with sprouted wheat flour and filled with melted butter and cinnamon sugar and drizzled with a powdered-sugar glaze. 

My adapted recipe is below.  If you want to make the savory version, check out Tanya’s post.

 

Russian Mountain Braid

Makes: 1 Huge Braided Loaf

 

Adapted from: http://mykitcheninhalfcups.wordpress.com/2012/10/15/russian-braidrose/ which was adapted from http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/19320/caucasian-bread

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 300 grams bread flour
• 300 grams sprouted wheat flour (I used Lindley Mills sprouted wheat flour)
• 3 tablespoons flax meal
• 2.25 teaspoons instant yeast
• 10 grams Sugar (0.35oz)
• 10 grams Salt (0.35oz)
• 50 grams Olive Oil  (1.7 fl oz) 
• 1 tablespoon White Vinegar
• 300 – 400 grams water (10+ fl oz)

Filling:

• 3-4 tablespoons melted butter
• Cinnamon sugar

 

Equipment needed: Baking Pan - 10" spring form (no bottom). Take a piece of parchment paper and crimp tightly around the bottom of the spring form, oil the sides.  Place on top of a baking sheet.  Set aside. I didn’t crimp the parchment paper.  I just place it on the baking sheet and placed the spring form on top of it.

 

Directions:

1) Mixing the Dough

Add all ingredients (except the water) in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add in the water gradually as you mix the dough.  You may not need all of the water or you may need more if you are using Einkorn.

 

Using the dough hook, mix 2-3 minutes on low speed and 2-3 minutes on medium speed.  The dough should be supple and not sticky to the touch.  Add water if dough is too stiff or  flour if the dough is too loose.

 

2) Bulk Fermentation

When dough is ready, spray a bowl with oil and gently put the dough in the bowl. 

 

Spray a little more oil on top and cover.  Let rise (80%) about 40 minutes to an hour.

 

3) Roll out the Dough

Lightly flour your work area. Flatten the dough gently with your hands.
Roll the dough as thin as you can using a floured rolling pin. When rolling out the dough, try not to lift and move it too much. 

 

4) Add the Filling

Apply a thin layer of your filling on top of the dough (leave the edge clear 1/4").  I brushed the dough with melted butter then sprinkled it heavily with cinnamon sugar.

 

5) Roll dough into a log

Slowly, tightly and very gently roll the dough into a log.  You will now have a very long log.

 

6) Shape the Braid

Take a sharp knife (not a serrated knife) and cut the log lengthwise. Try to keep the knife in the middle of the log so you end up with two equal parts.

Place the two halves crossing each other (open roulade layers facing up) to create and X shape.  Gently pick up the two ends of the bottom half, cross them over the top half, and place them back down.  Continue this process, taking the two bottom ends and crossing them over the top until all the roulade has been used.

You should now have a two strand rope shape.  If for some reason some of the open roulade layers are pointing down or sideways, carefully turn them so they are facing up.  Gently pinch the ends to seal.

Look at the braid.  If one end looks a little thinner make that your starting point.  If not, just start from either end.  Slowly and very gently, roll the braid sideways (horizontally) without lifting your hands from the table.  You should keep those open roulade layers facing up. Pinch the end delicately. The end result should look like a giant snail shell or a very large cinnamon bun.

 

7) Proof the Loaf

Carefully pick up the braid and place in the prepared spring form.  Keep it flat on the parchment.  The bottom of the braid should set nicely. You may want to sprinkle on more cinnamon sugar at this point, but keep in mind you don't want to cover up the effect of the shaping.

Cover. Let rise until the braid hits three quarters the way up the spring form.  Depending upon the temperature in your kitchen this may take from 20 to 40 minutes or longer.

 

8) Bake the Loaf

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Bake at 400F for 5-10 minutes, then lower the oven to 350F and bake for another 20-30 minutes. There should be a decent amount of oven spring.  The bread should rise above the spring form edge.

 

9) Cool the Braid

When the bread is out of the oven, drizzle it with the powdered-sugar glazer on top. Let cool on a rack.

 

10) Slice and Enjoy!

This bread is as about as good as it gets. My son and I had the same reaction. We took one bite and both said “Oh yeah! That’s I’m talking about!” He called it a toned down version of a cinnamon roll – a huge cinnamon roll!

 

Thanks to Tanya of the Bread Baking Babes for recommending this awesome braid!  And thanks to Zorra for creating the fabulous World Bread Day blogging event. Check out the previous World Bread Day Roundups.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

A Tale of Two Pumpkin Yeast Breads

This is a tale of two loaves of Pumpkin Yeast Bread. These twin loaves from different flours began with the same list of ingredients, but took on a different life when the flour was added. One loaf was made with all-purpose white flour; while the other loaf was made with the ancient grain Einkorn.

The first loaf turned out really fine, dressed in yellow and looking so divine with a beautiful egg wash finish. The flavor was delightful!  The slices tasted great plain, as a sandwich, or toasted and spread with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

 

The 2nd loaf, made with 80% extraction Einkorn flour, was lovely in it’s own right.  It was clothed in yellow as well, but the deep golden brown crust was brushed with olive oil to provide a beautiful sheen. The flavor of this bread was light, rich, and somewhat nutty. It also tasted great plain, or with peanuts. I mean, as a sandwich or toast.

 

Both of these loaves taste so good, they are hard to resist. My youngest son was home from college this weekend so he taste-tested both of them and liked them equally well. He did say he thought the one with all-purpose was a little bit moister and the crust on the Einkorn was different, a bit nuttier. I think I baked the Einkorn loaf a wee bit longer so that would make sense if it wasn’t quite as moist.

 

The recipe below is the adapted recipe using Einkorn flour, olive oil and added cinnamon.  If you want to make the loaf using regular wheat flour, just substitute all-purpose flour for the Einkorn. You’ll probably use about 1/2 cup less all-purpose than you do Einkorn flour. 

Note: This is a very sticky dough with either flour, but particularly with the Einkorn flour.

 

Einkorn Pumpkin Yeast Bread

Makes: 1 Loaf

Adapted from: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/pumpkin-yeast-bread-recipe which was reprinted from the Baker’s Sheet Newsletter.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1/3 cup warm milk (I used almond milk)
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 3/4 cup puréed pumpkin, either fresh or canned
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 1/2 – 4 cups Einkorn flour, plus more for sprinkling (I used 80% extraction Einkorn flour from Jovial Foods)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

 

Directions:

1) Mixing the Dough

In a large bowl, combine the liquid ingredients: water, milk, eggs, pumpkin, oil. 

 

In a medium bowl, combine the 3 cups of Einkorn flour, brown sugar, salt, instant yeast, ginger, cardamom and cinnamon.

Add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients and beat vigorously for 2 minutes.

 
Gradually add remaining flour, a little at a time, until you have a dough stiff enough to knead. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead, adding flour as necessary, until you have a smooth, elastic dough.

 

2) Proofing the Dough (Bulk Fermentation)

Put dough into an oiled bowl. Turn once to coat the dough with oil. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

 

3) Shaping and Proofing the Loaf

Turn dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface. Shape dough into a loaf and place in well-greased 9 x 5-inch pan. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.

 

4) Baking the Loaf

Bake the loaf in a preheated 375°F oven about 30 minutes. Check the internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer; a reading of 190°F means loaf is done.

 

5) Cooling the Loaf

Immediately remove the loaf from the pan and cool on a wire rack to prevent crust from becoming soggy. For a shiny crust, brush tops lightly with oil.  I brushed the one of the right with an egg wash before baking and the one on the left I baked, then brushed with olive oil.

 

This is the loaf made with all-purpose flour and brushed with an egg wash.

 

This is the loaf made with 80% extraction Einkorn flour and brushed with oil.  It actually rose a little higher than the loaf made with all-purpose flour.  This surprised me; however, I think I may have been a bit heavy-handed with the egg wash which made the first loaf collapse just a bit.

 

6) Slice and Enjoy the Loaf

Here is the beautiful Einkorn loaf sliced and ready to eat.

I’m sending some of this bread back to school with my son if there is any left. I told him I would give him the loaf made with the all-purpose flour so he’s been eating the loaf made with Einkorn so he would have more to take back.

 

This bread has been YeastSpotted. Please visit Wild Yeast to view the weekly roundups of lovely breads from bread bakers around the globe.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

My Semolina Spelt Loaf morphed in the oven…

It all started when I saw a post on Facebook by the Cake Duchess. She was announcing the Twelve Loaves challenge for October. The seed had been planted… and, not being one to pass up an opportunity to bake bread, I took up the challenge.

The Twelve Loaves’ theme for this month is seeds and nuts and grains. I decided to make my loaves with Semolina, Spelt and Sesame seeds, the 3 Ss.  Spelt is one of the super grains so I’ve been using it a lot lately. I love breads made with semolina and sesame seeds so I thought these would pair really well with Spelt.

 

 

The inspiration for these loaves came from one of my favorite breads, Pane Siciliano. However, I made a few substitutions. I used an overnight poolish of white Spelt flour instead of regular all-purpose or bread flour and ror the dough, I used a mixture of Semolina and Spelt flour rather than Durum flour. 

These substitutions changed the texture and extensibility of the dough so instead of shaping the loaves in the traditional S-shape, I shaped my loaves into round boules. I decided to experiment even further by scoring the loaves in a different pattern.

 

And this my friends is where the metamorphosis began…

 

Into the oven went these beautiful round Semolina Spelt Boules …

 

… and out came this cute little turtle.  I wish I could say I planned it that way, but he just poked his head out of his shell during the baking cycle.

 

 

 

Semolina Spelt and Sesame Seed Loaves

Makes: 3 Medium Loaves

Adapted from: The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Bread Baking by the French Culinary Institute

Ingredients:

Poolish:

• 260 grams (9 1/8 ounces) white Spelt flour
• 260 grams (9 1/8 ounces) water
• 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

Final Dough:

• 400 grams (~14 ounces) Semolina flour, more for sprinkling on baking sheet and on top of loaf, if desired
• 313 grams (~11 ounces) white Spelt flour, plus extra for dusting
• 425 grams (15 ounces) water
• Poolish (all of the above)
• 19 grams (2/3 ounce) Kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 19 grams (2/3 ounce) toasted sesame seeds
• Additional sesame seeds for sprinkling on top, if desired

 

Directions:

1) Making the Poolish

Mix the Spelt, water and active dry yeast in a mixing bowl.  Stir well using a wooden spoon. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to ferment at 75 degrees F. for 12 to 14 hours. 

The poolish was active and bubbly after 10.5 hours so I proceeded with the rest of the process at this point.

 

2) Mixing the Dough

Combine the semolina and Spelt flours with the water and poolish in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Using the dough hook, mix on 1st speed until the dough is thoroughly mixed.  Let the dough autolyse for 15 minutes.

 

Add the salt and yeast and mix on 1st speed for 5 minutes. Increase to 2nd speed and mix until the dough comes together, but remains slightly sticky.

 

When the gluten has developed sufficiently, add the sesame seeds and mix on low speed until thoroughly incorporated.

 

3) Bulk Fermentation

Place the dough into a clean, oiled, large bowl.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it aside to ferment for 1 hour. Uncover the dough, fold it and place it back in the bowl. Recover with plastic wrap and set it aside again to ferment for an additional hour.

 

4) Shaping the Loaves

Remove the dough from the bowl onto a work surface lightly floured with Spelt. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces, about 415 grams each.  Let the dough balls rest for 15 minutes.

 

5) Proofing the Loaves

Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and sprinkle it with semolina flour. Shape the balls into tight boules by stretching the dough around to the bottom on all sides, rotating the ball as you go. Place the boules on the parchment-lined baking sheet and cover the boules with plastic wrap. Let them proof for 1 hour.

 

6) Preheat the oven. Thirty minutes before you are ready to bake the loaves, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F., with a baking stone on the middle rack and a steam pan on the bottom rack.

 

7) Scoring the Loaves

Score the loaves using a serrated knife or lame in the pattern of your choice. As I mentioned earlier, I decided to try something different.  It turned out to be an interesting experiment.  Although the turtle is cute, next time, I’ll make the slashes a bit longer so the dough rises up instead of out.

 

8) Baking the Loaves

Transfer the loaves to the preheated baking stone. Add 1 cup of ice to the steam pan and spray the loaves with water.  Close the oven door and bake the loaves for 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the loaves make a hollow sound when thumped on the bottom.

 

9) Cooling and Serving the Loaves

Cool the loaves completely on a wire rack before slicing and serving.

These loaves are really good. The semolina and sesame seeds provide a slightly nutty and crunchy flavor and since Spelt is one of the super grains, it provides extra protein and other nutrients.

 

Thanks to Lora of Cake Duchess, Jamie of Life’s a Feast, and Barb of Creative Culinary for hosting the Twelve Loaves challenge.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy