Gingerbread Cake/Bread

Serious question: why don't you get a spring break (or Christmas break for that matter) once you have a career/full time job?  I honestly feel like you need it more than when you're in college!  C is enjoying this last spring break this week, before he graduates in May.  I must say, work seems a little harder when you can just imagine all the lucky people laying on the beach drinking a margarita.  

Now that I got all of that out -- let me get to the main attraction.  Technically I guess this is a cake, but it's in close relations to bread.  It's diverse, it can be a breakfast food, or a dessert.  Win, win.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter a flour a loaf pan, or a muffin pan.  In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, all spice, cinnamon, cloves and salt together.  In a separate bowl beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy.

Whisk in the pumpkin puree until smooth.

Then whisk in the molasses, eggs and buttermilk.  

Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture in 3 additions, stirring to combine.

Pour into the prepared loaf pan or muffin tin.  Bake until set and puffed, around 1 hour for loaf or 35 minutes for muffin tin. Let cool completely on wire racks.

For the frosting, whisk together powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of water.  

Spoon over muffins or loaf and let glaze set, about 15 minutes before serving.  

This is very tasty cake-bread.  It's spicy and kind of tastes like pumpkin pie.  I really enjoyed a thin slice of the bread as dessert, and also might have had a taste the next morning for breakfast.  The awesome thing about this it's only 185 calories a slice!  You're welcome :)

PS If anyone works for a company that provides a spring break, please fill the rest of us suckers in.  Thanks!

Gingerbread Cake/Bread

Serves 18

Adapted from Everyday Food

1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

2 1/3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoons allspice

1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup pure pumpkin puree

1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Butter and flour a 5x9 inch loaf pan or muffin tin.

In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, cloves and salt.

In a separate bowl beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy.

Whisk in pumpkin puree until smooth.

Whisk in molasses, eggs and buttermilk.

Add to flour mixture in 3 additions, stirring well to combine.

Pour the mixture into prepared pan.  

Bake 35 minutes for a muffin tin, or an hour if loaf pan.  

Let cool completely on wire racks.

Whisk together the powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of water.

Spoon over muffins or bread and let glaze set, about 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Spicy Hamburger Buns

As I promised yesterday here are the spicy buns I used for my buffalo chicken sandwiches.  I have never really made bread before, so the process is pretty new to me.  The closest I've come is Stuffed Focaccia, and although it was bread, the way I made it was more like a sandwich.  Anytime I use buns normally, I use whole wheat, but thought this would be a good alternative, and would add a little extra flavor.  I will say, eating anything on a freshly baked bun is the best! 

Put 1/2 cup of water into a bowl, and with a stand mixer or beaters stir in the sugar.  Sprinkle one package of yeast over the top and let rest for around 10 minutes.

It will look like above after a few minutes.  Then you can continue with the next steps.

Here's where the "spicy" comes in.  You'll need two chipotles, chopped up and around 2-3 tablespoons of the sauce the chipotles are in.  I didn't even use half of this can, but saved what was left for another day!

Canned chipotles, they have quite a strong smell!

Chop them up into small pieces.

Add two tablespoons melted butter, egg, chopped chipotles, adobo sauce and remaining 1/4 cup of water. 

Then add three cups of flour and salt and mix on low.

Knead for 5-7 minutes, until dough comes together and forms a soft, smooth ball. 

Cover the dough, and let rise for 1-2 hours, or until doubled.  Mine took just around an hour an a half.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and divide it into eight equal pieces.  Shape each piece into a round ball and flatten a little with your palm.  Place buns on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover and let rise for another hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Brush the buns with 1/2 tablespoons of melted butter and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden.  Remove from the oven and brush with any remaining butter.  Let buns cool before slicing.

These tasted so fresh, and the chipotles did add some spice, although not overpowering.  These were perfect with the buffalo chicken, and we also tried these on hamburgers and they tasted great then too.  I will say you have to freeze them to keep them good for more than a few days, but other than that I really enjoyed this recipe.  It takes some patience and some love, but it was worth it.  They're soft and the extra flavor is tasty!

Spicy Hamburger Buns

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Serving Size 8 buns

3/4 cup very warm water, divided

1 package yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons melted butter, divided

1 large egg

2 chipotles, chopped +2-3 tablespoons adobo sauce (from the can)

3-4 cups flour

1 1 /4 teaspoon salt

sesame seeds

Put 1/2 cup water into the bowl and stir in sugar with your standing mixer or beaters.

Sprinkle 1 package of yeast over the top and let rest for 10 minutes.

Add 2 tablespoons of melted butter, egg, chopped chipotles, adobo sauce, and remaining 1/4 cup of water.

Add 3 cups of flour and salt and mix on low.

Knead for 5-7 minutes until dough comes together in a smooth ball.

Cover the dough and let rest for 1 to 2 hours, or until doubled.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and divide it into 8 equal pieces.

Shape each piece into a round ball and flatten with your palm.

Place buns on a parchment lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for an hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Brush the buns with 1/2 tablespoon of melted butter and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden.

Remove from the oven, and brush with remaining butter.

Let buns cool before slicing.

Turkey Meatballs & Spicy Tomato Sauce

Is it me or is this week really long?!  I don't know what you all wear to work, but I wear business casual clothing every day except Fridays.  This week was special because on Wednesday we got to wear jeans, and it threw me completely off.  Don't get me wrong, I like wearing jeans; I would rather it be sweatpants, but you have to pick your battles.  Going forward I need to just stick with jeans on Friday's so I don't get confused :) 

Now, let's talk about food shall we?  Here's the uber-healthy version of spaghetti and meatballs.  I've posted a couple times about how I'm loving turkey meat.  I'm finding more versions of popular dishes that substitute with turkey.  When I saw the spaghetti and meatball twist with turkey, I had to try it!

I thought it was interesting to add carrots to the meatballs.  I had just bought fresh organic carrots from Central Market and thought they were perfect to grate and add to the meat.

Along with grated carrots, you'll need to chop a 1/2 cup of onion, mince two cloves of garlic and grated Parmesan.

You can either use 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs, or tear about a slice of whole wheat bread.

In a medium bowl combine the ground turkey with the carrot, Parmesan, onion, garlic, parsley, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper to taste.

Then add egg and stir to combine all the ingredients.

Form into 2 1/2 inch balls and place on baking sheet, that's been sprayed with non-stick spray.  Preheat the oven broiler, and broil for around 10 minutes until browned and almost cooked through.

The main ingredient in the tomato sauce is fire roasted crushed tomatoes.  I found a can of organic tomatoes at the grocery store and they worked perfectly.

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large sauce pan.  Add onions and saute for around 3 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for another minute.

Add the fire roasted tomatoes and stir in with the onions and garlic.

Then add tomato paste, cayenne pepper, oregano, and salt.  Bring to a low boil, reduce and heat for around 15 minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Once the sauce has simmered for around 15 minutes, and the meatballs are cooked, add them to the sauce.  Cook for an additional 10 minutes, until the meatballs have absorbed some of the sauce.  While the meatballs are cooking cook the pasta according to package directions.  Once pasta has been cooked, drain, and toss into the sauce over medium heat.  Garnish with parsley and grated Parmesan.

I really liked the fire roasted tomatoes and the cayenne pepper together, it gave the normal tomato sauce a bit of a kick.  The turkey meat balls were great, and again I couldn't tell much of a difference between turkey and ground beef.  I think from now on I'll only use fresh bread crumbs, I could taste the difference as opposed to normal packaged bread crumbs.  Enjoy!

Turkey Meatballs & Spicy Tomato Sauce

Adapted from: Food Network.com

Serves 4 (I cut in half)

Meatballs:

cooking spray

1 pound ground turkey

1slice fresh whole wheat bread, torn into crumbs

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1/2 cup finely grated carrot

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2 large garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves, minced

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

black pepper

16 oz whole wheat penne or spaghetti

Sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 (28 oz) can crushed fire roasted tomatoes, including liquid

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons oregano

salt

To make the meatballs: preheat the broiler.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Combine the turkey with all other ingredients in a large bowl.

Form into 2 1/2 inch balls and place on baking sheet.

Broil for around 10 minutes, or until browned and almost cooked through.

To make the sauce: heat olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan.

Add the onions and saute for around 3 minutes.

Add garlic and saute for another minute.

Add crushed tomatoes and stir to combine.

Then add tomato paste, cayenne pepper, oregano, and salt.

Bring all ingredients to a boil, reduce heat and cook for approximately 15 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the meatballs to the sauce, cover, and cook for another 10 minutes.

While the meatballs are cooking in the sauce, cook the pasta according to package directions.

Drain pasta and return to the pot, add the sauce and meatballs. 

Toss and heat through over medium heat.

Divide and garnish with parsley and Parmesan.