Homemade Bagels

Recipe: Bagels

(Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day via the kitchn)  I found this on the blog One Ordinary Day.
http://oneordinaryday.wordpress.com/

I just followed this recipe except I took half of the dough after the first 3 minute kneading process and added 1tbs cinnamon and 1C raisins (rinsed with hot water and drained).

Dough

1 tablespoon barley malt syrup, honey, or rice syrup, or 1 teaspoon diastatic malt powder (I used honey)
1 teaspoon instant yeast (I only had active dry yeast and just used that with no problem.)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or 2 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons lukewarm water (about 95°F)
3 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour* (I used 2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour and 1 c. whole wheat flour)

Poaching Liquid
2 to 3 quarts water
1 1/2 tablespoons barley malt syrup or honey (optional) (I used honey)
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt, or 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

Day 1:

To make the dough, stir the malt syrup, yeast, and salt into the lukewarm water. Place the flour into a mixing bowl and pour in the malt syrup mixture. If using a mixer, use the dough hook and mix on the lowest speed for 3 minutes. If mixing by hand, use a large, sturdy spoon and stir for about 3 minutes, until well blended. (This is when I added the cinnamon and raisins) The dough should form a stiff, coarse ball, and the flour should be fully hydrated; if it isn’t, stir in a little more water. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.  Resume mixing with the dough hook on the lowest speed for another 3 minutes or transfer to a very lightly floured work surface and knead by hand for about 3 minutes to smooth out the dough and develop the gluten. The dough should be stiff yet supple, with a satiny, barely tacky feel. If the dough seems too soft or overly tacky, mix or knead in a little more flour.  Place the dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise at room temperature for 1 hour.

When you’re ready to shape the bagels, prepare a sheet pan by lining it with parchment paper or a silicone mat, then misting it with spray oil or lightly coating it with oil. Divide the dough into 6 to 8 equal pieces. (A typical bagel is about 4 ounces or 113 grams before baking, but you can make them smaller. If you make more than 6 bagels, you may need to prepare 2 sheet pans.) Form each piece into a loose ball by rolling it on a clean, dry work surface with a cupped hand. (Don’t use any flour on the work surface. If the dough slides around and won’t ball up, wipe the surface with a damp paper towel and try again; the slight bit of moisture will provide enough traction for the dough to form into a ball.) There are two methods to shape the balls into bagels.

The first method is to poke a hole through the center of the ball to create a donut shape. Holding the dough with both thumbs in the hole, rotate the dough with your hands, gradually stretching it to create a hole about 2 inches in diameter.

The second method, preferred by professional bagel makers, is to use both hands (and a fair amount of pressure) to roll the ball into a rope about 8 inches long on a clean, dry work surface. (Again, wipe the surface with a damp towel, if necessary, to create sufficient friction on the work surface.) Taper the rope slightly at each end and moisten the last inch or so of the ends. Place one end of the dough in the palm of your hand and wrap the rope around your hand to complete the circle, going between your thumb and forefinger and then all the way around. The ends should overlap by about 2 inches. Squeeze the overlapping ends together by closing your hand, then press the seam into the work surface, rolling it back and forth a few times to seal. Remove the dough from your hand, squeezing it to even out the thickness if need be and creating a hole of about 2 inches in diameter.

Place each shaped bagel on the prepared sheet pan, then mist with spray oil or brush with a light coating of oil. Cover the entire pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for up to 2 days. (You can also proof the full piece of dough in the oiled bowl overnight and then shape the bagels on baking day, 60 to 90 minutes before boiling and baking them, or as soon as they pass the float test.)

Baking Day:
Remove the bagels from the refrigerator 60 to 90 minutes before you plan to bake them, and if you plan to top them with dried onion or garlic, rehydrate those ingredients*. Immediately check whether the bagels are ready for baking using the “float test”: Place one of the bagels in a small bowl of cold water. If it sinks and doesn’t float back to the surface, shake it off, return it to the pan, and wait for another 15 to 20 minutes, then test it again. When one bagel passes the float test, they’re all ready to be boiled. If they pass the float test before you are ready to boil and bake them, return them to the refrigerator so they don’t overproof. About 30 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 500°F and gather and prepare your garnishes (seeds, onions, garlic, and so on).

To make the poaching liquid, fill a pot with 2 to 3 quarts of water, making sure the water is at least 4 inches deep. Cover, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to maintain at a simmer. Stir in the malt syrup, baking soda, and salt.

Gently lower each bagel into the simmering poaching liquid, adding as many as will comfortably fit in the pot. They should all float to the surface within 15 seconds. After 1 minute, use a slotted spoon to turn each bagel over. Poach for another 30 to 60 seconds, then use the slotted spoon to transfer it back to the pan, domed side up. (It’s important that the parchment paper be lightly oiled, or the paper will glue itself to the dough as the bagels bake.) Sprinkle on a generous amount of whatever toppings you like as soon as the bagels come out of the water.

Transfer the pan of bagels to the oven, then lower the oven heat to 450°F.

Bake for 8 minutes, then rotate the pan and check the underside of the bagels. If they’re getting too dark, place another pan under the baking sheet. (Doubling the pan will insulate the first baking sheet.) Bake for another 8 to 12 minutes, until the bagels are a golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing or serving.

Variations:

*You can replace any amount of the bread flour with an equal amount of whole grain flour (by weight), such as wheat or rye. If you do so, increase the water in the dough by 1 tablespoon for every 2 ounces of whole grain flour you substitute.



Top your bagels with any combination of the following garnishes: poppy seeds, sesame seeds, coarse salt, or rehydrated dried onions or garlic. (Soak dried onions or garlic in water to cover for at least 1 hour before applying.) The toppings will stick even better if you first brush the top of each bagel with an egg white wash made by whisking 1 egg white with 1 tablespoon of water. If using coarse salt as a garnish, remember that a little goes a long way.

Chocolate Devils Food Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream

I'm following in my same trend of buttercreams!  These were for a friend of Timm's birthday.  I used a devils food cake mix and to it I added chopped up milk chocolate chunks and chopped up semi-sweet chips.  The little fine crumbles I saved for sprinkling on the cupcakes later.  Other than that I followed the directions on the box of the cake mix.  Once the cakes were cooled I made a peanut butter buttercream frosting.  I used all sorts of crazy designs for the frosting on these and then sprinkled some of them with the left over chocolate shavings.  Hope the birthday boy likes these!

Peanut Butter Buttercream

1 1/2 sticks sweet cream butter

3/4C peanut butter

1/3C 1% milk

1tsp vanilla

1/2tsp salt

4-5C powdered sugar

Beat the butter and peanut butter with vanilla until

smooth.  Slowly add in the powdered sugar with

the salt until you reach a stiff texture. Add milk and

 or more sugar until you reach the consistency you

desire. 

ps I always make about 8 mini cupcakes

so that I can taste test them before I serve them!

Also its nice to have some samll bites arounds.

Mixed Berry Cupcakes with Mixed Berry Buttercream

So...I am obsessed with homemade buttercream frosting!!  This time was for the Super Bowl party.  I started again with a cake mix, this was a strawberry flavored mix that I added real fruit to.  I had frozen mixed berries in the freezer so I thawed them out and added them to the mix along with the required ingredients (3 eggs, 1 1/4C water and 1/4C oil).  To make up the water I drained the berry juice and added water to reach 1 1/4C so the cakes would have extra berry flavor and not too much artificial strawberry flavor.  I reserved about 1C of the berries for the frosting.   After mixing the cake batter I gently folded in the thawed fruit so I didn't break up the berries too much.  I then scooped the batter into 24 prepared cupcake liners and baked for 20 min at 350.  Once they were done I let them cool completely before I made the frosting.

To make the frosting I thawed the remaining berries in the microwave for about 2 minutes.  I drained them and discarded the juice.  I placed the berries in a sieve over a small bowl and used a spatula to smash them through.  I wanted to get as much pulp from them as possible.  There were black berries and raspberries in my mix and I didn't want those giant seeds in my frosting.  Similar to my green tea frosting I creamed the berry puree and butter before adding in the powdered sugar. 

These turned out so pretty and yummy! 

I don't think I will ever buy canned frosting again-and I'm out cupcake liners!

Green Tea Cupcakes with Green Tea Buttercream

I wanted to make this recipe for a friends birthday and the idea just popped into my head. I found several recipes online, but I opted for the easier way out and didn't make the cupcakes from scratch. These were a hit with everyone, even the guys who tend to not like things they dont know about.

Cupcakes-makes 24 large cakes:

1 box of white cake mix and ingredients required on box (3 egg whites, 1 1/2C water and 1/4C oil)

3-4T Matcha green tea powder (instant mix, found in asian food stores and online here: http://www.asianfoodgrocer.com/ ) I added 4T because I wanted the flavor to stand out more, for a more subtle flavor use less.

butter flavored cooking spray

24 cupcake liners

Preheat oven to 350, prepare cupcake pans with liners and I spray each one with a little butter spray.

I mixed the water with the tea powder and then combined the ingredients for the cakes and scooped them into the prepared pan and cooked for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Once the cakes are done, let them cool completely before frosting.

Green Tea Buttercream:

1 1/2 sticks softened butter

3T green tea powder

3T milk or water

5C powdered sugar

Mix the water and the green tea powder to make a paste. I used my stand mixer and put the butter and the green tea paste in and mixed them until combined. Gradually add 1C of sugar at a time until you read your preferred consistency. I wanted it stiff so I could pipe it out. Once it is all combined load it into a prepared piping bag with the type of tip you want.

I looked for advice online on how to frost cupcakes and found some tips to keep the frosting/piping bag still and move the cake in a circle starting on the outside and working your way in. I found for me it was easier to hold the cake and sort of twirl it around and move the frosting around the cake in an outside in fashion. I also wanted to use some cute decorator candies to embelish.

Also I have to say these turned out such a pretty green color. They may not show it in my pictures. I'm still working on my photography skills.