Apple and Pear Coffee Cake with Brioche

jeff 95 Comments

apple-pear-coffee-cake092

The University of Minnesota is a leader in developing new varieties of apples. Among them are the Haralson, Honeycrisp, Prairie Spy and dozens more. The latest to hit the markets is the Sweetango. The new apple is sweet and juicy, like its mother (Honeycrisp), but it has a little more acid to it, from dad (Zestar). The combination is incredibly tasty with a lovely snap.

I moved here from Vermont where the quintessential baking apple was the McIntosh. Now that I live in the land of 10,000 lakes and almost as many apples I like to use a variety of them in my baking. I combine apples that will break down and those that will keep their shape. I also like to use some that are sweet and others that have a bit more acid. To add a bit of perfume and richness to the mix I add a bit of pear.

This coffee cake is a perfect way to show off the autumns best apples. Mixed with brioche and streusel topping the cake is great for brunch or an after school snack. Read More

Pizza Pinwheels (Pizza on a Stick!)

jeff 118 Comments

Pizza Pinwheels on a Stick | Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Today is the first day of school for my two boys. It is always bittersweet. They are excited to see their friends, but the prospect of all that structure and homework has them just a touch apprehensive. I’ll miss them running around the house and yet I look forward to the quiet. I also have another year of coming up with lunches that they will be excited about. The first day of school deserves something particularly special, like something on a stick. This week is also the MN State Fair, where all things edible are on a stick. For some reason everything tastes better balanced on the end of a pointy skewer?

Last year Jeff and I did a baking demo at the FAIR and put cinnamon buns on a stick. One might think pizza is the perfect food as it is, but I think I may have found an improvement, at least for those under the age of 20. Pizza pinwheels on a stick! Read More

Brioche à Tête

jeff 43 Comments

brioche-a-tete

We have finally, finally finished our Final Pass manuscript (final seems to be the recurrent theme).  That means we don’t get to look at Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day again until it’s in print.  The book won’t be on shelves until October 27, and after that, we won’t be posting on good old-fashioned brioche for a while, so I decided to reprise a great post from a year and a half ago, Zoe’s post on Brioche à Tête–I’ll give you the link at the end.  There’s one nice tool to have– the brioche pans, which you can get from Amazon.

It’s also another shameless excuse to savor another great photograph from Mark Luinenburg, who did all the photos in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (above), as well as the new shots for Healthy Bread.  All you need to do is start with our brioche dough, and then go to Zoe’s post on the Brioche à Tête.  It’s much, much easier than it looks (non-chefs can do it).  For something less rich, try the challah dough if you like, on page 180 of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. 

Stay in Touch:  Follow us on Twitter…

Kohlrabi Greens Pesto for Grilled Pizza

jeff 27 Comments

csa-cornucopia

This year my family finally signed up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share.  Every Friday, our farmer wakes before dawn and drives to the Twin Cities and other communities to deliver the week’s bounty of organic produce.  We pick up a half-share; above is just a portion of one Friday’s haul (though this year’s drought has definitely decreased the crop).

Every week, we get whatever’s in the box.  I’d never eaten Kohlrabi before  (the bulbous thing on the right, with greens growing out of it).  When you get lots of something you’ve never eaten, there’s only one thing to do, at least at my house… make it into bread or pizza… Read More

Breakfast Pizza

jeff 66 Comments

bkfst-pizza-cover

We had friends for brunch this past Sunday, and I decided to try something I’ve been meaning to do for a while:  Breakfast Pizza.  It’s basically a pizza dough base, topped with egg, cheese, and whatever meat you like, if you’re a meat eater (we are).  In order to contain the egg, which might otherwise run off the pizza, I baked this pizza in an unfinished, plain black 12-inch cast iron pan.  The result is closely related to the Italian frittata. Read More

Almond Bear Claws

jeff 60 Comments

bearclaw07

A couple of months ago I got a request from one of you for a recipe for bear claws. What fun, my boys absolutely love them, as much for the appearance as for the taste. There are many styles of bear claws, but this one is easy and most of all the kids will get a kick out of it.

Thank you for the requests, we want to hear what you’d like to make with all the dough. If you have an idea for a bread post, just drop us a note in the comments. It may take us a while, but we will try our hardest to make it. Read More

Grilled flatbread, my workhorse summer bread

jeff 68 Comments

stacked-flatbreads-from-the-grill

I’ve spent a lot of time this summer talking about how easy it is to do loaf breads on the outdoor gas grill, but if truth be told, this is the bread I make every day when it’s hot.  Why?  Because it’s crazy easy and fast.  I go into the yard and do it in the morning, before the kids go off to day camp– this is the bread they take for sandwiches.  It’s very, very simple. Read More

Olive, Garlic and Fresh Herb Focaccia on the Grill!

jeff 84 Comments

grilled-foc-011

Today promises to be 95 degrees with humidity that makes my hair as wide as it is long! In other words it is WAY too HOT to bake in my kitchen. As you’ve probably noticed, Jeff and I continue to bake all summer long and most of it happens on our gas grills. With a little experimenting we’ve discovered that you can “bake” just about anything on the BBQ, click here to see some of our other favorites! For this focaccia, which is traditionally done in the home oven with lots of olive oil drizzled on top (page 150), I used a metal pie plate to keep all the oil and toppings in place. This technique is great for indoor or outside baking.

Do you Kindle? Do you know what a Kindle is? Recently Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day became available on Kindle, which is an electronic wireless reading device, that allows you to look at books on a screen. It seems like an amazing way to carry an entire library with you all the time. I’ve never seen one and I’m very curious what you think of this concept??? If you have one, do you use it for cookbooks?

To make the focaccia, Read More