Cinnabon Imitation Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

1/2 cup boiling water

1 cup milk

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

4 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour

1 box (3.4 ounces) instant (no-cook) vanilla pudding mix

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast or instant active dry yeast

Filling:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional

1/4 cup raisins, optional

Frosting:

 4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

~1-2 teaspoons milk

Instructions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the hot water with the cup of (cold) milk to make a warm milk-water mixture. Add the butter, sugar, salt, egg, and a cup of the flour. Stir to mix.

2. Without stirring between, add 2 more cups of flour, the vanilla pudding mix, and the dry yeast. Then stir to make a sticky dough.

Add more flour as needed (about a cup more, or as much as it takes to make a smooth dough) and stir until too thick to stir.

3. Use clean hands to knead dough for 10-15 minutes, until smooth and elastic. I switch to a dough hook (speed 2 or 3) on my

mixer for this step – while I keep my eye on it, the dough takes about 5-8 minutes to become smooth.

4. With buttery hands, grease the top of the dough and cover the bowl of dough with a clean towel. Place in a warm location* and let

rise until double, about an hour. (to speed this process, place covered dough in oven that is turned off then pour 3 cups of boiling

water in a broiling pan. Shut down quickly to trap steam)

5. Gently punch down dough and knead for a minute or two, to remove excess air bubbles. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough

into a rectangle about 12 inches by 17 inches.

6. Combine the first three filling ingredients and mix well. Heat in microwave 10 seconds to make spreadable. (It's okay if it's fairly

thick.) Spread over rolled dough, covering as much of the surface as possible. Sprinkle nuts and raisins over dough if using.

7. Starting with the widest end, roll dough into a tight log. Pinch edges to seal. With a thin sharp knife (I use thread so it doesn’t

squish the dough), cut log into 12 equal slices. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13-inch glass baking dish. Cover with a clean

towel and place in a warm location to rise until nearly double in size, about 30-45 minutes.

8. Bake rolls in a preheated 350°F oven for 25-35 minutes. After about 20 minutes of baking, check on rolls and cover loosely with

foil if they are getting too dark. Rolls can stay in the dish after baking; set the dish on a wire rack and cover with a clean towel to

let it cool.

9. To make the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and maple syrup and beat. Add enough

milk to make a spreadable consistency, about 1-2 teaspoons.

10. Frost rolls while they are still warm for a drizzly melty look!

Analysis: For this recipe, I used the yeast bread (straight dough) method. This essentially involved dumping all the ingredients for the pastry itself into one bowl and mixing them together. I used bread flour in this recipe since it was what I had the most of on hand and was in the recipe, and the high protein content in this type of flour led to a denser, tougher pastry as the great amount of gluten developed. This gluten development was also aided by my over mixing and adding a bit too much flour to the dough as I didn’t realize the dough was supposed to be sticky.

The final product looked lightly browned, with the icing creating small pools in the recesses and the filling brown and melted. The aroma was of pudding, cream cheese and brown sugar, a warm scent that was very insidious. The aroma was sweet and relaxing. The texture was dense and thick, but chewy and very soft and yielding. The taste was sweet and sweeter. The sugar and icing fought to be the sweetest, which the dough and pudding mix were more undertone.

Overall, this recipe was very tasty once made, and provided something to do on a lazy Saturday, and produced enough, just barely, to share with a few friends. I would make this recipe again.

Phillip Hoffarth

Hour 4

Classic Pumpkin Pie

Classic Pumpkin Pie

Jenny Kaing, Hour 4

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon table salt

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, small dice

1/4 cup shortening

7 to 8 tablespoons ice water

Filling:

1 disk pie dough

All-purpose flour, for dusting

1 15 -ounce can pure pumpkin

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

2/3 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

Coarse sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:

Crust:

In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, and sugar until well combined. Using clean hands, add butter and toss until just coated. Rub butter between thumb and forefingers to incorporate into flour mixture until butter is in lima bean-sized pieces and comes together in quarter-sized clumps when squeezed in palm, about 2 minutes. Add shortening, toss until just coated in flour, then rub into flour mixture until mixture forms pea-size pieces (some big chunks should remain) and comes together in fist-sized clumps when squeezed, about 1 minute. Drizzle in half ice water and rake through mixture with fingers until just moistened. Drizzle in remaining water 1 tablespoon at a time and comb through mixture with fingers to moisten. It will go from being a shaggy mess to coming together. Dough is moist enough when it is moistened through but is not wet when pressed. (Do not overwork the dough or it will become tough.)
While rotating the bowl with 1 hand, push dough between other palm and side of bowl to gather into a ball. Turn dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, press it into a flat disk, then close in wrap. Place in coldest part of refrigerator (usually back bottom shelf) at least 30 minutes before rolling out and forming into a crust.

Filling:

Roll out the dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Ease into a 9-inch pie plate. Fold the overhanging dough under itself and crimp the edges with your fingers. Pierce the bottom and sides all over with a fork. Chill at least 1 hour or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the chilled dough with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Transfer to the oven and bake until the edges are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and continue baking until the crust is golden all over, 10 to 15 more minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely.
Make the filling: Gently whisk the pumpkin, cream, granulated sugar, 2 eggs, the cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and salt (do not over mix). Beat the remaining egg and brush on the crust edge; sprinkle with coarse sugar. Pour the filling into the crust and bake until set around the edges, 50 minutes to 1 hour (the middle will still jiggle slightly). Transfer to a rack; let cool completely.

Analysis:

           For this recipe, I didn't change much. The only things I changed was that I used a pastry cutter and didn't use the freshly grated nutmeg. I used a pastry cutter, because I remembered that if you use your hands to cut in the butter, it can cause the butter too melt and make the crust less flaky. I didn't use the freshly ground nutmeg, because I couldn't find any, so I just used regular ground nutmeg. For the crust, I used the biscuit method. I know it was the biscuit method, because I had to cut in really cold fat to make sure my crust was flaky at the end. The fat needed to be really cold, so it wouldn't melt before it baked, and when it was baked, the fat would then make it flaky by separating it into layers. This recipe was similar to the mini pies, shortcakes and scones that we made in class, because they all required ice cold fat to be cut into the dry ingredients, then adding ice  cold water in increments, so you wouldn't add too much. Adding too much would've made the end products tougher. I think my technique gave me a pretty pumpkin pie at the end, with a really flaky crust. I don't think there's anything about the recipe that I'd change or do differently, since I think the end product turned out pretty well and everyone liked it on Thanksgiving
         I think my pumpkin pie turned out pretty well. I took the pie out of the oven when the middle was still slightly jiggly and when a knife came out clean. When I cut into the pie the next day on Thanksgiving, the pie had set nicely, and the texture was really smooth and creamy. It seemed custard-like, which is probably what it should've ben like. The color seemed a bit lighter than usual, but there wasn't a picture with the recipe, so it could've been the way it should've looked. If it was lighter, it might've been because I added a bit too much cream. The crust was very flaky and had a nice buttery, salty taste, which I like in my pie crusts. The texture was most likely due to me cutting the cold fat into the dry ingredients, keeping the fat cold, so it would separate the crust into the flaky layers.
        In my free time, I think I'll definitely make this pie again. It had a great texture, both the crust and filling.  It was really easy to make, although it was time consuming. By making this pie, I learned  to plan my time more effectively, since it took me a lot longer than I thought it would. Everyone who tried the pie said it tasted really good, so I probably will make it again. Plus, I still have another can of pumpkin laying around, so I do have an excuse to make another one.

Lemon Bars

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
Sift flour and sugar into bowl. Blend in butter with clean fingertips until well mixed. Pat evenly into the bottom of an 8 x 8 inch baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Meanwhile, beat together:

2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
dash of salt

Pour over baked crust and return to oven for 20-25 minutes at same temperature. Cool on rack. Cut in squares. Sprinkle with sifted, powdered sugar.

Preparation Method: 

For my second home study cooking assignment, I chose to bake lemon bars. I was flipping through recipes in my mom's recipe book, and I saw these and decided it would be something fun to make. I love the taste of lemon, and making these was the perfect thing as we head towards December. I stuck very close to the original recipe, and didn't change anything. For this recipe, I used the biscuit method that we learned in classl.

In this method, I made the crust by using the biscuit method. I had to blend in the butter, or cut it in, with my fingertips until the dough was sticky. For the filling, I combined the wet ingredients, and after the crust was finished baking, I added the filling to that and baked it again. This method really helps to create the flaky texture of the crust. Since I was blending in the butter, it helped to coat some of the flour granules with fat, just as we learned in class. It essentially made the flour granules that were coated with the fat nonpolar, because it couldn't bond with water.

We have used this method in class a couple of times, and it was especially prominent when we created our pies. I remember blending in the chunks of the butter into the dry ingredients. It was a long, hard process, that resulted in a decent crust.

This method resulted in very flaky-textured lemon bars. The only error I encountered while mixing everything together was when I was blending the butter into the flour mixture. I didn't blend it as well as I could have, and it didn't bake as well as a result. The crust turned out very dark around the edges, despite the cooking time. It bubbled up in different spots and little pockets of air were present within it. This contributed to how the overall product of the lemon bars turned out.

Critique:

These lemon bars did not turn out as I had expected them to. The crust was a bit darker than expected, and the air pockets contributed to the taste of it all. The filling on top was very runny, even after it cooled.  I didn't sift the powdered sugar to put on top, which made it look less than desirable. They smelled very zesty and sweet, and once I cut into them, I noticed the many layers within. They were very thin. I took a bite and noticed how light it tasted. The flaky, but dark, crust tasted decent, and the filling added a lot of pop to it. My parents each had one as well, and my mom stated to me that eating them brought back memories to her eating them as a child. My dad eats everything, so he liked it, of course. My sister refused to try it, but I enjoyed them nevertheless.

Assessment:

In my free time, I would not make these lemon bars again. I may make them for a special occasion, but for just a recreational baking project, I wouldn't. The crust was very difficult to get right, and blending the butter in with your fingers is a very tedious process. The baking time of this recipe was very off. 20 minutes to bake the crust was way too much, as I noticed how brown it was getting after only 8 minutes. After I added the filling, it just bubbled up in weird places and made air pockets that were not aesthetically pleasing.

I learned from this experiment how difficult it is to get a recipe exactly perfect, especially when the instructions are very vague. These lemon bars could have gone either way, and I'm just thankful I didn't burn them (too badly).

November Blog

Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring
• For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
• 1 pound cream cheese, softened
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time. Then beat in the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and red food coloring. Once combined, add the dry ingredients to wet. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Onto a parchment lined sheet tray, drop batter using an ice cream scoop, forming 2-inch round circles.

Bake for 10 minutes, until baked through. Cookies should be cake-like and light. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

For this month, I decided to make Red Velvet Cookie Sandwiches with cream cheese frosting. I chose to do this recipe because my favorite kind of frosting is cream cheese and I like cookies more soft and almost cake like. For this recipe, I used the creaming method. The goal of this method is to increase the volume of the fat and this is done by sugar acting as an abrasive which creates tiny bubbles. The overall product of the cookies is supposed to have a more fine texture when properly creamed. We have used the creaming method for making a variety of things such as butter cookies and cake batter cookies in class. This recipe did not tell me how long to cream each item, which can affect the overall product in many ways as we learned through our second butter cookie experiment in class. Under creamed cookies turn out crunchy, really buttery, and had a dome like shape to them. On the flip side, over creamed cookies were often bland and super thin. I think that my cookies were creamed "just right" because they were soft, sweet, and had a nice volume to them. When I was preparing, I noticed that I did not have any Apple Cider Vinegar at home and did not have the time or patience to run to the store, so I just left it out. I am not very familiar with this ingredient, but my cookies turned out very sweet and maybe having the vinegar in it would have helped  to balance it. Another thing that might have affected my overall product was I did not have a cookie scoop so my cookies were various sizes. This is a problem because some baked together, and the bigger ones were barely cooked and the smaller ones were very thin and crispy. Next time, I would defiantly make sure my dough scoops were the same size, and maybe even try test baking a few so I can see how much each one spreads. I thought the appearance of my final product looked soft and pale around the edges for most of the cookies. Also, the cream cheese frosting was just oozing out of the sides which made it extra inviting. I thought the taste of the overall product was very sweet and rich, but I wish there was something to balance out the overall sweetness. As for the texture and aroma, the product was very soft and chewy and smelled very tangy and warm. I think I would make this again because it is very different from a traditional cookie and it was very soft and cake like without being too heavy. Through this experiment I learned to really pay attention to detail and make sure I am being consistent with each individual cookie. 

-Emma Anderson

Hour 5 

Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

Total Time:

40 min

Prep:

30 min

Cook:

10 min

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Yield:

12 to 15 sandwiches

Level:

Easy

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Next Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring
• For the Cream CheeseFrosting:
• 1 pound cream cheese, softened
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar

Cinnamon Rolls - Harshitha Ravva - Hour 4

C I N N A M O N   R O L L S

 

 

I N G R E D I E N T S :

DOUGH:

• 1/4 ounce package yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 scalded milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 4 cups all-purpose flour

FILLING:

• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

GLAZE

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanillas extract
• 3 tablespoons hot water

D I R E C T I O N S :

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In a large bowl mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

• When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle. Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough. Sprinkle with walnuts, pecans, or raisins if desired. Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12 to 15 slices.

• Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned.

• Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches desired consistency. Spread over slightly cooled rolls.

P R E P A R A T I O N   M E T H O D :

I did my best to follow the recipe exactly as written. The only problem I encountered was that 4 cups of flour was no where near enough to form the dough. It was so sticky that I had to add almost 1.5 cups more to be able to knead it. One possible explanation is that the person who wrote the recipe counted 4 packed cups of flour, whereas I measured 4 sifted cups. 

The method I used for this recipe is the straight dough method we used to make bread in class. I first combined all the ingredients but the flour and the yeast mixture. Then I slowly added the flour and yeast into the wet ingredients and let it mix thoroughly. Next, I let it double in size before kneading it. Kneading helped to redistribute the yeast and gas in the dough. The only difference between the method used in this recipe and the method we read about in the textbook is that the textbook recommends letting it double in size again after kneading. 

For the glaze, I used the creaming method, though the directions did not specifically say to do so. I combined the butter, sugar, and vanilla first. Then I slowly added water until it reached the desired consistency.

C R I T I Q U E :

Overall, my cinnamon rolls were delicious. They weren't Cinnabon level, but they were definitely good, especially when compared to my previous baking disasters. One thing that I noticed is that the dough tasted a little bland, which can be explained by the fact that I added a lot more flour than the recipe called for. By doing this, I assume that I threw off the proportion of the ingredients, causing the flavor to be slightly off. This didn't cause a huge problem in the overall flavor because the filling and glaze masked the blandness. As far as appearance goes, they looked fluffy, gooey, and tender. The cinnamon rolls also smelled just as good as they tasted. As they were baking, my entire kitchen smelled like sweet cinnamon sugar. 

A S S E S S M E N T :

I would definitely make this recipe again. In fact, i'll probably make them again over Thanksgiving break. It wasn't too difficult to make such a tasty dessert. One thing I learned from this experience is that recipes may not always be written properly. Even though I followed the directions exactly as they appeared, my dough didn't turn out right. This shows how sometimes you might need to work with a recipe a few times before perfecting it.