Muffin Party Memories

So I've continued my muffin obsession with several new batches of different muffins. The most recent ones are by far my favorite because they have the elusive ability to be moist, delicious and healthy. Pinch me!



I think I've mentioned that I'm also somewhat addicted to apples. I eat one just about every day. And for the record: an apple a day DOES NOT keep the doctor away, as I keep getting sick. Is someone poisoning my apples? Quit it. Anyway, apples are not my most favorite fruit but they are pretty reliableon the delicious scale. My very favorite, pears, hate me and go from rock hard to rotting when I turn my head. Oranges are a close second and besides the fact that they make my tummy die with their acidity, picking oranges is kind of dicey and a dry orange is the worst thing ever. Apples are pretty much delicious all the time. And since going without fruit is not an option for me, apples are usually around.

Recently Joe and I bought our standard big batch of local apples that would last me about 30 minutes or possibly week if I had self control. Unfortunately this was a rare batch of bad apples. Occasionally local apples can be a bit mealy and these guys had no delicious apple friends to forgive the presence of their mealy neighbors. So I decided to make apple muffins to put the apples out of their misery. Or out of my misery. That does not make sense but let us pretend it does, shall we?

And have I mentioned I LOVE THESE like a loving bear, as Joe and I would say in our horribly cheesy love language. Joe and I should really should be socialized like puppies because we don't function well outside of the safety of our apartment. I remember one time we were at the BMW dealership waiting for Joe's car to be fixed and I was holding a bunch of stuff and dropped one of them. Instead of responding like a normal human being, I pointed at it and squeaked, "Aaaaaiiiiee!" at Joe until he picked it up for me. I really did not think this was abnormal until Joe told me I can't do that sort of thing in public. Oh.

Healthy Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 heaping tablespoons apple sauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 apples - peeled, cored and chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease six muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2. Stir together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. In a separate bowl mix together egg, oil, applesauce and vanilla. All apples to dry ingredients and mix until apples are coated. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling to the top of the cup.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

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Easy peasy and delicious... smishious?

In other news I've recently begun pulling my old journal entries off the web and into a word document. I kept online journals throughout middle school and high school and I've been meaning to get a hard copy of my entries to have around in future. My middle school entries are just tragic and do not deserve to see the light of day but there are some good parts and tons of memories that I would have otherwise forgotten. The Muffin Story I thought was suitable for this entry.



Background: In high school I went on a student exchange trip to Germany and hilarity ensued. Here is one journal entry from the trip:

"On our last day in Korchenbroich, all the German students and American exchange students had a muffin baking party. I have no idea why, perhaps it's some strange parting tradition in Germany. Anyways, it was good times. The German students had to write down ten actions in English they didn't already know, like "to whisk" or "to pour". Andrew and Alex convinced some Germans that one action was "to secretly taste". They also convinced a few others that along with preheating overs, there was also "post heating and the recovery phase".

Then Andrew forgot the word "batter" and was really troubled by the notion of "muffin dough". "This isn't muffin DOUGH... this is muffin... okay, what the hell is it?"

Finally, hot Michael was practicing his English and when he bit into a muffin, he yelled, "This is SENSATIONAL!" and I laughed and said, "Dude, nobody actually says 'sensational' in the US. Unless you're a interior decorator or something."

How could I not save these heartwarming memories?

May Daring Baker's Challenge: Apple Strudel

Greetings from California, where I am staying with my sister and her amazing bug hunting kitty. This entry is brought to you by sunshine and good produce, which are handy little things not found in Ohio. Next Monday I will be back in Alaska and I can write and bake more regularly. Until then: Daring Bakers!

This month's challenge for the Daring Bakers was something I probably would never make on my own: apple strudel. When I visited Joe in Austria last summer, we went to a bakery where we saw a young German woman flip out a six-foot-long paper thin sheet of strudel in about 90 seconds while looking slightly bored. It was amazing and something that did not look capable of mortals. Young Austrian bakers are not mortals, clearly. How else could their hair be so naturally blonde?

So when I first saw this challenge, I immediately thought TIME and LACK OF COUNTER SPACE. Each challenge is announced at the end of the previous month, and at this time last month I was finishing finals and we were beginning to move out of apartment. In the midst of moving and cramming for finals, I had neither time or counter space. Not like we even HAD counter space to begin with-- what college student does?

But I decided to do it anyway as best as I could and it worked better than I imagined. We were allowed to make any strudel filling we wanted but since I already had no idea what I was doing with the dough, I just did an apple strudel. I had Joe help me to stretch and roll the dough to Austrian approved thinness and efficiency and I'm really glad I had help, this would be a lot harder without a partner. With it though, it wasn't too bad.


Would I make this again? No, probably not. It was easier than I thought but was still way more trouble than it's worth, I think. Then again, I don't really like crust and strudel is all about that flaky, crusty strudel thing, eh? I did LOVE the apple filling I made up but that does not require strudel. Also, peeling and cutting 900 lbs of apples gets tiring quickly. Unless I wanted to charm my German ancestors, I wouldn't make this again. But your great aunt Nannerl would be duly impressed.

I think the best part of this challenge was that I got to abuse my sub-par, high school level German all day. "Ja, ich habe eine apfelstrudel?!? Meine apfelstrudel ist lecker, nein?!? Erm... super! Fantastisch? JA!!" Luckily, most Germans speak English better than I do and I had no problem getting across what I wanted in Germany and Austria. Bless Europeans.

So let's make some apple strudel, nein?

Blurb-o-the-month: The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

First I made the dough. Do not be afraid, prettys. Just grab a partner and when in doubt, leave the dough to rest if it's not doing what you want it to do. Here's the strudel recipe:

Apple strudel

Strudel dough
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.
Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.
Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.
Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

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Here is your efficient, paper thin strudel dough with a creepy hand lurking underneath. Fantastisch!

All right, while it was resting I made the filling. Use whatever filling you want, really, sweet or savory. I kind of came up with my own thing, subbing matzo meal for bread crumbs and cooking the apples before baking. Here's the filling recipe we were given:

Apple Strudel Filling

from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum
3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs
strudel dough (recipe below)
1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts
2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking)

1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.

3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.

4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

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Here is my naked, unbaked strudel. I think I rolled this a bit too tight, my filling exploded a little bit. But you cut it up anyways so that will be our little secret, ja? THE GERMANS MUST NEVER KNOW.

And here is the finished product, all crisp-like and hot. And cleverly photographed as to not show the shameful burst bits. I think I could've let it bake a little longer, even though I left it in longer than it said to. It could be a bit more golden brown, I think.

In spite of everything, it was tasty and I enjoyed this challenge. I mostly picked at the filling throughout the days but at this point we didn't have much food left in our dwindling kitchen and I think there were a few days in which Brian survived solely on strudel. There are worse things for a poor college student to eat.

Ich bin ein Auslander und spreche nicht gut deutsch. Bitte langsam, bitte langsam, bitte spreche sie doch langsam. What? Fun challenge, can't wait until next month when I actually have a kitchen again!

Clean Kitchens and Cinnamon Applesauce

No baked goods today, as I currently still am trying to feed banana cookies, fig cookies and breakfast bars to anybody who comes within 50 feet of the apartment. Brian is catching on to the fact that he eats the majority of my baked goods and started to complain that I'm going to make him fat. I'm such a terrible roommate, always forcing gourmet baked goods on him and obsessively cleaning the kitchen. *tiny violin*

Yes, I've recently become obsessed with cleaning the kitchen, which perhaps proves that I am my father's daughter after all. My dad is a typical virgo and maintains a pretty spotless environment. Despite being born on the same day as my dad, I've always been the messy child. My sister loves to insist that I would hoard egg shells and onion skins in my room as a child but since I don't remember doing this (or um, selectively blocked those memories out), in Sophie-land this never happened. I'm told that when my uncle house sat for our family once, he was convinced we had been robbed because obviously my room had been looted. Slightly embarrassing.

It's not that I like being messy. I really prefer when things are clean, I just can't be bothered to keep them that way. If I had my way, I would move into a new room every week or so, leaving the old one torn apart and then moving on to a nice, fresh one. Either that or hire a live in house cleaner, that may actually be cheaper.

But since I spend a lot, a LOT, of time in the kitchen, I find that it just makes me less anxious if it's clean all the time since I can't actually conjure up a nice new kitchen whenever I want. Brian is actually quite the clean freak but he won't step near the kitchen, as it's usually so dirty that it gives him panic attacks. With Joe gone all the time at Sweeney Todd rehearsals (the show is now over though, hoorah!), I've been left with the disaster zone that is the kitchen. And I was sick of it. So I've just started cleaning it whenever I have a spare moment and lo and behold it's not disgusting 24-7 anymore. Ah, relief.

However, the cookies are still moving fast (BJ can't resist my cookies, bwa hahaha) and here's what's on my to make list:
- maple meringues from my one true love The Sweet Life
- shortbread from the cookie magazine
- apple galette
- pumpkin muffins. or pumpkin something, hmm.
- apple pie
- banana biscotti
- cornmeal biscotti
- candy cane biscotti. I'm craving biscotti lately.
- My very first Daring Baker's challenge! Each month, a recipe is given to the Daring Bakers community, usually some sort of semi-difficult baking recipe. Everybody posts what they've made on the last day of the month, so it's top secret until then! It's going to be delicious though, stay tuned.

And although I'm not baking something today, I did stew something. The local market I so adored shut down for the winter and I had to get produce at Whole Foods so I got a big bag of local apples for a good price last time I was there, only to discover that 95% of them were bruised and inedible when I got home. *shakes fist at Whole Foods* I didn't want to waste them though, so I made cinnamon applesauce tonight since that kind of hides all apple sins.



This isn't really a recipe since you just throw a bunch of apples in a pot and add what you think needs to be added but none the less:

Cinnamon Applesauce

INGREDIENTS:

- a couple lbs apples (I used about seven small)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- Juice from 1 lemon
- Pinch salt
- Brown sugar/granulated sugar, optional (I added a little less than a Tbsp this time, it depends how sweet the apples are)

DIRECTIONS:

Core the apples, throw them in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat. Add the cinnamon stick, lemon, salt and sugar, if using. Cover and let stew, stirring occasionally, until the apples break down, about 25 minutes. Remove the skins, if you want (I left them on this time, it makes the applesauce a pretty color and, if you blend it enough, doesn't change the texture) and then whiz up the apples either with a hand blender or a food processor. I also added a dash ground cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Chill.

Pretty ridiculously easy. And tasty. I'd do it more often if I happened to have tons of extra lbs of apples sitting around but I usually just eat them as is. I need an apple tree.

The fig cookies continue to be tasty, I sent my mom some as a surprise as she approved of them too, see the comments for details. I baked more of the remaining log yesterday, baking them for the full 15 minutes this time because Joe liked them better crispy. So good both ways, depending on your cookie preference. Yum!