Cinnamon

SRC: Cinnamon Raisin Bread

~ lk529 ~ 31 Comments

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Today is another Secret Recipe Club Reveal Day! In the secret recipe club, each participating blogger is assigned a blog from another participating blogger and secretly searches their site for something to recreate. The accompanying blog post then goes live on reveal day! So while I was immersed in my assigned blog, someone else was picking through mine! I’m so excited to be part of this group, to see what on my blog peaks other’s interests and to stumble upon new blogs and new recipes.

This month I was assigned Avril’s blog Baking and Creating with Avril. Avril and I couldn’t be more opposites. I am very hesitant when it comes baking (blogging helps me get over my fears), yet Avril’s blog is almost entirely made up of sweets! She’s also from New Hampshire. One of my best friends is from NH and I know from the amount of complaining she does about Florida summers and winters that this Florida girl lives a completely different lifestyle from Avril.

Despite my apprehension, I searched through her recipe index and saved five contenders to my secret Pinterest board. Funnily enough, all of them involved cinnamon. (Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake, Apple Cinnamon Rolls, Apple-Pear Bread, Applesauce Spice Cake, and Cinnamon Raisin Bread)

And when I was placed on bed rest and my mom was still in town, she tackled my Secret Recipe Club assignment for me. And my mom likes baking! I allowed Mom to pick what she wanted to make from my above list. I’m ecstatic that she chose the cinnamon raisin bread! (Hopefully I’m not breaking any club rules my having Mom make it for me… I watched and directed…)

This recipe makes three loaves of bread. I only have two loaf pans. So we divided the last third into 8 miniature loaves to fit my miniature loaf pan. I imagine this bread would make for phenomenal French Toast, but it didn’t last long enough for that to happen. I had 3-5 slices of cinnamon raisin bread toasted with butter a day!

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

 Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Ingredients:

  • 2 C warm water (105 – 110 degrees F)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp Kosher salt
  • 1/3 C + 1 1/2 tbsp sugar, divided use
  • 2 pkts active dry yeast
  • 1 C buttermilk
  • 6 1/2 C flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 C raisins

Steps:

  1. Dissolve yeast in warm water with the kosher salt and 1 1/2 tbsp sugar. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, until frothy.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine yeast mixture with the buttermilk.
  3. Add the flour to the yeast and buttermilk and knead with the dough hook until it pulls away from the bowl and comes together around the dough hook. Add a little bit more flour if needed.
  4. Cover the dough with a dish towel and rest for two hours, or until doubles in size.
  5. In a small bowl, beat the egg with 1 tbsp water to create an egg wash.
  6. In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1/3 C sugar with the cinnamon.
  7. Divide the dough into thirds. Roll each third on a floured surface to 1/4″ thickness. (Make sure the width of the dough will fit in your loaf pan.)
  8. Brush the dough with egg wash, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, and top with raisins.
  9. Roll the dough width-wise and tuck the ends (see pictures above). Place in greased loaf pans. Cover with a dish towel and allow the dough to rise another 40 minutes.
  10. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F. Let cool completely before slicing.

*This recipe is adapted from Avril at http://bakingandcreatingwithavril.blogspot.com/2010/03/cinnamon-raisin-bread.html?m=1*

Cinnamon Raisin Bread 1 Cinnamon Raisin Bread 2

To see the other bloggers who participated in the Secret Recipe Club this month click here:

Eating the Bible: Journey On

~ lk529 ~ 1 Comment

Today I am taking a very liberal response to my Lenten call to cook through Eating the Bible: Over 50 Delicious Recipes to Feed Your Body and Nourish Your Soul.

I saw that Rena had a recipe for Trail Mix to accompany her study of Numbers 33:1-2 during which the journey from Egypt to Israel is detailed.

Today, Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday, marks the start of Holy Week in the Catholic Church. On Palm Sunday we celebrate Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem the week before his crucifixion. According to the Bible He was greeted by crowds placing palm branches along his path.

I thought that her Trail Mix would be a fun way to prepare for the journey of holy week ahead. During this week we celebrate Holy Thursday, the Last Supper, Good Friday, the Crucifixion of the Lord, and of course Easter Sunday, the day Jesus rose from the dead.

This week is also the last to survive without chocolate, or whatever other vice you gave up for Lent. So, make a healthy snack and power through!

Instead of Rena’s trail mix I made these Cinnamon Raisin Energy Balls – a healthier way to get your sweet tooth fix and a natural boost of energy.

Cinnamon Raisin Energy Balls

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 C peanut butter
  • 1/2 C honey
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 1/4 C instant oats
  • 1/4 C golden flaxseed meal
  • 1/2 C raisins

Steps:

  1. In a microwave safe bowl combine peanut butter and honey. Microwave for twenty seconds.
  2. Add remaining ingredients and mix until combined.
  3. Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
  4. Form into balls.

*This recipe is adapted from Miss Candiquick at http://blog.candiquik.com/cinnamon-raisin-energy-bites/*

Cinnamon Raisin Energy Balls

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. 

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Eating the Bible: Clouds of Obscurity

~ lk529 ~ 1 Comment

In Exodus chapter 20 God appears to Moses and the Israelites from within/behind a cloud. This begs the question of why God didn’t simply reveal himself.

I remember one morning in Sunday School when I was younger being asked, “What do you think God looks like?” There were the expected pictures drawn of a man with a long beard or drawings resembling the pictures of Jesus popular in the U.S. One boy drew a picture of a cloud and I drew Light (or at least attempted to).

I have never pictured God to be in human form. And I’ve never been able to really describe what I think God looks like. To me, God doesn’t resemble anything of this Earth – God doesn’t have a tangible form. The closest I can come is “Light.”

To accompany this passage Rena created a “Thick Cloud Pavlova” by adding 3 tbsp cocoa powder to the egg whites. As I couldn’t find my cocoa powder (fun fact: it was in the make shift pantry in my laundry room) I decided to use cinnamon to darken the “cloud”. We absolutely love the spice the cinnamon gives to the delicate pavlova. A pavlova is similar to a meringue, the main difference being the cornstarch folded in before baking. The cornstarch creates a marshmallow-like consistency inside of a light and crunchy exterior.

Pavlova Steps

Cinnamon Pavlova

Ingredients:

  • 4 large egg whites
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 C sugar
  • 1 tsp white vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tbsp corn starch
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
  2. In a large bowl beat egg whites with a pinch of salt. (Use either a hand mixer or stand mixer.) Once stiff peaks are reached slowly add the sugar, vinegar, and vanilla – constantly beating.
  3. Once the sugar is dissolved gently fold in the corn starch and cinnamon.
  4. Pile the egg whites onto the parchment paper, forming a 7″ circle with a well in the center.
  5. Bake undisturbed for 1 1/2 hours. Turn off the oven and slightly crack the door. Allow pavlova to cool completely.
  6. Fill the well with whipped cream and fresh berries.

*This recipe is adapted from Eating the Bible by Rena Rossner*

Cinnamon Pavlova

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. 

#BundtBakers: Spice

~ lk529 ~ 22 Comments
BundtBakers

I am happy to announce that I have joined another group of bloggers. #BundtBakers is a group of bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bundts with a common ingredient or theme. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme or ingredient. This month’s host is Deepti from Baking Yummies.

Stuart was not thrilled that I signed up for a baking group. He has been complaining that there are too many sweets around the house. Normally that wouldn’t really be a true statement but it seems 2014 has brought with it the “need to bake” with the Olympics, Valentine’s Day, cookies for bowling that turned into rice krispie treats for us, Mardi Gras, and Pi Day there really have been a lot of goodies on our counter. Including sweets from his mom and aunt!

I even think he was trying to sabotage my participation efforts by hiding the bundt pan above the refrigerator. (Note: I’m 4’11”) And “knowing” that I do my baking when he is out training for a race or playing golf it could become impossible for me to make my cake!

Luckily I have a little step stool that I bought my freshman year of college to help me get up in my bed, which we raised to put the mini-fridge underneath. This little stool has been with me since and has even come in handing reserving a parking space during football weekends!

For my first bundt I am making one of my busia’s recipes. Apple Bundt Cake. But to follow the theme of spice I added 1 tbsp of cinnamon to the batter. The baking time of 1:20 was almost torturous – the aromas of baking apples and cinnamon – but that’s nothing compared to the hour you must allow it to cool before making the sauce which finishes off the cake with a glaze of heavenly brown sugar.

P.S. – Stuart, although telling me he was mad at me, greatly enjoyed this cake!

Fresh Apple Cake

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 C vegetable oil
  • 1 3/4 C sugar
  • 4 medium eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3 C four
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 2 C chopped peeled apples
  • 1/2 C butter
  • 1/2 C brown sugar
  • 2 tsp milk

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a bundt pan.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer beat oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
  3. In a large bowl sift flour and mix with baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
  4. Add flour to egg mixture in 3 batches, making sure each addition is combined. With a spatula, fold in the chopped apples.
  5. Pour batter in prepared bundt pan and bake 1 hour 20 minutes. Let cool 1 hour.
  6. In a small sauce pan bring butter, brown sugar, and milk to a boil. Let boil for two minutes. Spoon over bundt pan and spread until cake is covered.

Apple Bundt Cake

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, send an email to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com or ask to join our private Facebook group. This is a purely administrative group. All recipe and photographs can be found on our individual blogs or on our Pinterest board.

And don’t forget to take a peek at what other talented bakers have baked this month:

Orange Cardamom Mini Bundt Cakes by Alice at Hip Foodie Mom

Cinnamon Roll Bundt Cake by Tara at Noshing With The Nolands

Sweet Potato Pound Cake by Renee at Magnolia Days

Rum & Ginger Grapefruit Cake by Kelly at Passion Kneaded

Apple Cinnamon Bundt Cake by Kathya at Basic N Delicious

Spiced Applesauce Bundt Cake with Brown Sugar Rum Glaze by Lauren at From Gate to Plate

Saffron and Tahitian Vanilla Infused Bundt Cake by Laura at The Spiced Life

Honey and Beer Spiced Bundt Cake by Felice at All That’s Left Are The Crumbs

Saffron Vanilla Bean and Orange Mini Bundt Cake by Deepti at Bakingyummies

Peach and Spiced Tea Bundt Cake by Stacy at Food Lust People Love

Mardi Gras Ice Cream

~ lk529 ~ 7 Comments

As a food blogger I feel obligated to present a dish on Fat Tuesday. I’ve never really celebrated Mardi Gras in all it’s glory and never had a King’s Cake until a few weeks ago when a coworker brought one into the office. As luck would have it I found the plastic baby – which means I’m responsible for bringing in next year’s cake. Unfortunately for them we’ll have moved to Ohio by then. So I thought I’d bake a treat and bring it in this year. And of course blog about it – two birds, one stone.

I was hoping to find something simple and these King’s Cake Bars caught my eye. Unfortunately my execution of said bars was abysmal. I think I over mixed the dough for the base and I managed to forget both the vanilla and cinnamon in the cream cheese filling. I used a smaller casserole dish than recommended so my baking time was considerably longer (2x as long!) and came out domed which caused the glaze to run down to the sides of the casserole dish. But, it did flatten out once it cooled. And even though I sprayed the pan and the dough is almost half butter it would not come up.

After the frustration subsided, I thought it’d be fun to make an ice cream. The cream cheese filling reminded me of cheese cake (cream cheese, egg, sugar) so I decided to try a cheese cake ice cream base with cinnamon. I garnished the ice cream with purple, green, and yellow sprinkles to play up the holiday. (I was too nervous to stir sprinkles into the ice cream machine for fear of resulting in streaky brown coloring.)

I have to admit, I was worried I messed up this recipe too. I used too small of a pot and didn’t temper the eggs enough so my custard had a few lumps. But, I decided to strain it and keep going. I’m glad I did because this ice cream is so delicious – it’s rich and creamy with great flavor from the cinnamon.

Cinnamon Cheese Cake Ice Cream

Ingredients:

  • 2 C half-and-half
  • 1/2 C heavy whipping cream
  • 1 C milk
  • 1 1/4 C sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature and cubed
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Steps:

  1. Heat the half-and-half, cream, and milk in a large saucepan over medium heat until it reaches 175 degrees F, but do not let boil. Whisk in sugar until dissolved.
  2. In a small bowl whisk eggs. Take about 1/4 C of the hot milk mixture and whisk into eggs to temper them. Constantly whisking, add eggs to milk. Cook over low heat, whisking, until the mixture thickens and reaches 160 degrees F.
  3. Pour custard through a fine strainer (I opted to line mine with a coffee filter, but I don’t think it was necessary) into a glass bowl. Whisk in the cream cheese until melted and smooth.
  4. Place the bowl of custard in a bowl of ice water to cool and stir for two minutes. (Don’t let the water into the custard.) Stir in vanilla and cinnamon. Remove from ice bath, cover, and place in fridge overnight.
  5. Follow ice cream maker instructions and freeze.

This recipe is modified from Taste of Home.

Mardi Gras Ice Cream Mardi Gras Ice Cream 2

CIC: Gingerbread Spice & Onion

~ lk529 ~ 16 Comments

CIC-header

This month Jutta challenged us with combining gingerbread spice and onion into one dish.

Gingerbread Spice & Onion

I found myself more stumped than I thought I’d be. I considered going in a sweet direction by caramelizing the onions and putting them in a muffin. But I wasn’t sure how the texture would work out. I considered making a warm and hearty soup or stew. And then I decided on a savory bread pudding and mixing in the spice with the custard. But I was really hesitant – I’ve never had bread pudding before and for some reason I fear I won’t like the texture. Maybe I’ll get over this someday and give it a try. So, bread pudding without the eggy custard is essentially a dressing (or stuffing). That would be a perfect fit with Thanksgiving fast approaching.

I procrastinated on making my dish for weeks, blaming allergies that turned into a head cold that turned into a cough. (Which also explains the lack of posts lately) Turns out procrastination isn’t all bad. I was then handed a beautiful, perfect solution to November’s Crazy Ingredient Challenge.

Red Onion Jam Grilled Cheese

Sunday morning after church I turned on Food Network and caught the end of Southern at Heart, Food Network’s newest star Damaris Phillips’ beautiful show. She was making an onion jam with ginger and coriander. Perfect! I substituted the spices for Gingerbread Spice and used red onion instead of Vidalia to add a beautiful holiday color. This jam is perfectly sweet and an excellent accompaniment to your holiday cheese platter. You could even add it to a grilled cheese sandwich or any sandwich for that matter!

Red Onion Jam

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 tbsp butter
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/4 C brown sugar, divided
  • 1/4 tsp gingerbread spice

Steps:

  1. Saute onions in butter with salt and lemon zest until onions are translucent. Stir in gingerbread spice. Add 1/8 C brown sugar and lemon juice. Cook 10 minutes until liquid has evaporated. Stirring occasionally.
  2. Add a little less than 1/4 C water to onions and cook another 10 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
  3. Repeat step 2 three more times. (A total of 40 minutes)
  4. Stir in remaining 1/8 C brown sugar until melted.

Red Onion Jam

To see the other blogs that participated in this month’s challenge click the link below:

Sugar and Spiced Nuts

~ lk529 ~ 3 Comments

Have you ever been to a carnival or amusement park and had the purple paper cone filled with candied nuts? For my husband, it’s a not-to-be-missed treat.

We spent our first anniversary at Universal Studios, where I conquered my fear of rollercoasters. I have a slight obsession with Harry Potter and was so excited to step into Hogwarts and shop the streets of Hogsmeade. I highly recommend a trip… or two! (We went again the following year for my birthday http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Omfiz0c1I0) I could go fly with Harry on The Forbidden Journey all day. Stuart’s favorite ride is still The Incredible Hulk.

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Sorry, I got a little carried away there. Before we left the park on our last day, Stuart was determined to find these magical candied almonds. We finally found them in Seuss Landing.

This recipe for sugar and spiced nuts isn’t an exact replica, but they are delicious. Like Stuart said, “It’s like Christmas in my mouth!”

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Sugar and Spiced Nuts

Ingredients:

  • 1 C almonds
  • 1 C walnuts
  • 1/2 C sugar
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 egg white
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Steps:

  1. In a bowl, combine sugar, salt, and spices.
  2. In a separate bowl whisk together egg white, 1 tbsp water, and vanilla until it foams.
  3. Toss nuts in the egg white mixture. Strain nuts and toss in the sugar mixture. (I forgot to strain the nuts, they still turned out great, but instead of individual nuts they turned out more like balls of candied nuts.)
  4. Spread nuts on a foil lined cookie sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes. Toss and roast another 15 minutes.

*This recipe is modified from Kristi at http://www.30poundsofapples.com/2012/09/sugar-n-spiced-pecans/*

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And here’s a bonus recipe idea – I reserved 1/8 C of the sugar and we sprinkled it over buttered bagels before putting them in the toaster oven.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Pear Syrup

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

This time of year the internet is overrun with pumpkin treats and apple ciders. The pear, although also in season, doesn’t seem to get as much publicity. I don’t know why not! Have a pear, you’ll taste fall.

This plateful of pancakes dressed in pear syrup was a perfect autumn breakfast and no pumpkins were harmed in the process.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients:

  • 3 C flour
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 3/4 C buttermilk
  • 3/4 C milk
  • 1/3 C butter, melted

Steps:

  1. In a large bowl combine dry ingredients.
  2. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs. Add in both milks and the melted butter.
  3. Combine wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
  4. On a hot buttered griddle drop 1/3 C of batter into pancakes. Flip pancakes when batter starts to set and bubbles form in the center of the pancake.

Pear Syrup

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 C pear nectar
  • 1 1/2 C sugar
  • 1/4 C light corn syrup
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch ground cloves

Steps:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil.
  2. Boil for 60 seconds. It will foam!
  3. Remove from heat. Skim off the foam.

*The pancake recipe is adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/buttermilk-pancakes-ii/ and the syrup from http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipes.recipeListing/filter/dianas/recipeID/407/Recipe.cfm*

Buttermilk Pancakes & Pear Syrup

Spiced Apple Popsicles

~ lk529 ~ 1 Comment

I found these popsicle molds at Walmart at the beginning of summer for $1. I’d been wanting to use them, but I never got around to it. Before I knew it summer was over! But hey, I live in Florida, it’s still hot out, so therefore I can still enjoy homemade popsicles!

Evan couldn't get enough!
Evan couldn’t get enough!

This recipe is actually a perfect way to end the summer and start the fall – they taste like the Motts cinnamon applesauce from when I was a kid. Stuart said they reminded him of an apple cobbler.  These fall flavors are wrapped in a summer treat! I’ve made them twice already and earned the seal of approval from a 17-month-old. Evan actually ran around the table after finishing his popsicle to try and steal the one Stuart hadn’t yet finished!

Spiced Apple Popsicles

Ingredients:

  • 2 C Simply Apple Juice
  • 1/4 C brown sugar
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 3 whole allspice berries
  • 1/2″ piece of ginger root, peeled
  • pinch of kosher salt

Steps:

  1. Combine ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil. Turn off the heat and bring down to room temperature.
  2. Strain popsicle mixture into a measuring cup and pour into popsicle molds. Freeze.
  3. Run the popsicle mold under cold water to make popsicle removal easier.

*This recipe is adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/sweet-apple-pops-recipe/index.html*

Spiced Apple Popsicles 1 Spiced Apple Popsicles 2