 What level of lazy is preheating the oven from the comfort of my bed? I wish I was asking for a friend. 😂 Last January we starting dreaming about and planning a kitchen remodel. One of my biggest priorities was adding a second oven. Nothing fancy or specific - just a means of making my baking process more efficient. I ended up ordering a wall oven that has a learning capacity greater than my own. 😅 Either my appliances are getting smarter or I'm getting dumber. This oven has as app that connects to my phone so that I can preheat, set the timer and even scan the barcode on a bag of chicken nuggets and the oven will set itself to the precise cooking time and temperature. 😯  When I first learned about all of the fancy dancy features on this oven - I swore that I would never use them. My intent was to use it to bake - not to create science experiments in this machine.😅 I guess I failed to see the NEED to have my oven connected to my phone. And then I woke up one morning, dreading the thought of getting out of bed to preheat the oven to bake a batch of cinnamon rolls. That is the moment that it dawned on me. 🤣 Preheating the oven from the comfort of my bed is the reason thatt evey oven should have a phone app. 🙃 Did I mention that this oven also has a proofing setting? In a nutshell - proofing is what you do to yeast dough to get it to rise before you bake it. Proofing cinnamon rolls is key to getting that nice soft, fluffy texture. And now that I can preheat my oven from the comfort of my bed and proof them in my oven, there's really no excuse NOT to make cinnamon rolls at least once a week. 😅
Swedish Cinnamon Rolls are amazing. The soft cardamom dough and the sweet, buttery cinnamon filling is the most amazing combination. And a steaming cup of cinnamon spice tea was the perfect compliment to this delicious roll. Don't get overwhelmed by the amount of steps in this recipe. I tried to break everything down to simplify the process but I'm afraid that the lengthy instructions might be intimidating to some. Don't worry though - I got you. The pictures will help and if you need along the way - email me with questions.  Swedish Cinnamon Buns Flour Paste 3/4 cup milk 1/4 cup bread flour Dough 1/2 cup milk 2 cups bread flour 1 Tablespoon instant yeast 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon salt 6 Tablespoons butter 2 teaspoons cardamom seeds Filling 3/4 cup sugar 6 Tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons cinnamon 1 Tablespoon bread flour 1/4 teaspoon salt Egg Wash 1 egg 1 Tablespoon water pinch salt 1/4 cup crystalized sugar
 Bake 13 minutes at 425.   Swedish Cinnamon Rolls require a commitment in time. These rolls actually proof twice. Once is a cold proof - in the refrigerator and the second is a warm proof in the oven. If your oven doesn't have a proofing setting - don't ;et that stop you from making these delicious breakfast rolls. Cover the rolls with a towel and put them in a warm place in the house to rise. My favorite spots are on top of the dryer while it's running or above the dishwasher while it's warm.
Ciao!
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 Leave it to me to take a perfectly good recipe - and mess it up. 🤦🏻♀️ If you've ever picked up a copy of Cook's Illustrated or Cooks Country - you know that before they publish a recipe - they make it at least 50 times. They do all the research. They make it - they make it again, make adjustments, and then make 20 more times until it's absolutely perfect. I put a lot of trust in the recipes that they produce because I know they're tested extensively. What they don't factor into their recipe creation however, is my incompetency. 🤪 In my defense, the day that I made these Cardamom Buns - was the day before Thanksgiving and I was simultaneously making dinner rolls, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, asparagus, standing rib roast, roasted sweet potatoes and these delicious looking buns. 🥐
These breakfast sweet rolls had my attention from the moment that I saw the mouth watering photos on the pages of my favorite cooking magazine. The use of unique spices and the uncharacteristic twisting and braiding, caught my eye. I mean - I would start to question my sanity if I DIDN'T look twice that these cardamom buns. 🤣 So here's my version of the Cardamom Buns that were featured in last months edition of Cook's Country. For the record - I'm blaming my ineptitude on distraction. 😬 Honestly, I'm not sure that I could have reproduced the Cardamom Buns that were pictured even if I had been focusing all of my attention on them - but I'm sticking to my distraction theory. I am going to go ahead and write the recipe - as it should be. As you read through my directions - it will be fairly obvious where I got off track. 😬 Basically, I mixed up all of the filling and forgot to add it to the dough. Soooo, in classic Amy style, instead of wasting the filling or starting over, I slathered the filling on top of the rolls before I baked them. Turns out - they were delicious this way. Do you think Cook's Country would send ME their recipes before they get published, so that I can run them through the Amy test?  Cardamom Buns Dough 3 cups flour 3/4 cup bread flour 6 Tablespoons sugar 1 Tablespoon yeast 1 teaspoon cardamom seeds, ground 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/4 cups whole milk, warm 8 Tablespoons butter, melted 1 egg Filling 12 Tablespoons butter 3/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon cardamom 2 Tablespoons white sugar
 Bake at 400 for 15-18 minutes.  I've made these rolls exactly one time and they were unintentionally "different" from the original recipe. I can't speak for what the publisher intended them to look or taste like, but I can assure you that my version of Cardamom Buns was pretty darn tasty. I may (or may not) have indulged in a few too many of these sweet treats on Thanksgiving morning. Nothing like stuffing my belly before 9 am on Thanksgiving Day. 😂
Ciao!  On a chilly day last January - we started talking about a new kitchen. Adding a second oven, moving the microwave, building out a bigger pantry, venting our ovens outside, sanding and staining the floors - all of that was a part of the initial plan. But... once the ball got rolling - I couldn't stop. 😬I started designing my dream kitchen island, a rolling baking cart to house my Kitchen Aid mixer and a cutting board display rack. I may have been the reason that it took so long to get this project off the ground. 😂 54 days ago - the deconstruction and demolition began. Sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better.🤷🏻♀️ I have to admit - it was a little scary to see my kitchen stripped down to the drywall but I had to have faith that at the end of this journey, my kitchen would be restored to an even better space. 🙏🏻 Before I share with you the big reveal - let me remind you of what our kitchen looked like 55 days ago.  And then there was this stage...  And now - here we are .... presenting our new ( and improved) kitchen!!! 
To say that I'm pleased with the results our of extreme kitchen makeover would be an understatement. I'm more like over the moon, invite everyone I know over to see it and I want to hang out in my new kitchen all day - excited. Best birthday/Christmas/anniversary/Valentine's Day gift ever. 🤣 There are so many little custom touches in this new space that I want to share with all of you. Just when you thought you were finished hearing about my kitchen remodel. 😅 I'll be sharing all of my favorite aspects of this new space with you for the next couple of months, for sure.
I'm spending lots of time getting familiar with my new kitchen. It's amazing how much more efficiently and purposefully I can move through my new space while I work. Cooking, baking and creating is even more fun in my new kitchen. Although we had very little control over the timing of this kitchen remodel - it actually worked out pretty well. As of today, our new kitchen is 99% finished - less than a week away from Thanksgiving and just over a month away from Christmas. If there was ever a time to do some extra baking - this is it. 🍪 😅 This Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake is the perfect holiday sweet that I can make now and tuck away in my freezer for that last minute Christmas gift. This will inevitably get delivered to a special neighbor, teacher or friend next month. Maybe I better make a few more. 😉  Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake Topping ⅓ cup granulated sugar ⅓ cup brown sugar salt ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and still warm 1¾ cups cake flour 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips Cake 1¼ cups cake flour ½ cup granulated sugar ¼ teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons butter 1 egg 1 egg yolk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ⅓ cup buttermilk or yogurt ½ cup mini chocolate chips
 As soon as cake comes out of the oven, sprinkle with 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips.  Cool 30 minutes. Remove from pan and dust with powdered sugar.
Two oven means twice as many Chocolate Chip Crumb Cakes. There's nothing wrong with that. Happy Baking!
Ciao!  Today marks the start of week 4 of kitchen renovation. All things remodel seem to be going along as planned - everything that used to be normal, is out the window at this point. 😅I'm starting to get used to people buzzing in and out of what used to be a VERY quiet house, all day. Washing dishes in the laundry room is even starting to feel like normal. And I've totally embraced the dust and given up on cleaning anything until we're officially out of this remodeling season. 🤷🏻♀️ 😂 As you can imagine, making meals is anything but "normal" since starting this project. Just to give you a visual - picture me juggling a bowl and a whisk in one arm, flipping pancakes on the stove with the other hand and balancing a plate on which to place said pancake on a 3" ledge with my knee. 😅 Heaven help the person who mentions the word blueberries. 🤣  Obviously, there's no bread baking going on in this house right now. For reasons that I cannot explain, making bread is therapeutic for me and it's one of the things that I'm really missing. Getting my hands in the dough and kneading out my frustration, the smell of fresh bread lofting through the house and of course sampling the comforting still warm loaf. Pure joy. 🥖 I love baking bread but I know that it can be intimidating if it's not something that you're familiar with. If you've never tried to make a loaf of homemade bread - and you want to learn - this recipe is for you. It's super simple and it's almost fool proof. Use my pictures to help you through the process and if you've got any questions - send me a comment. I'm here to help.  Artisan Bread 3 1/4 cups bread flour 2 teaspoons instant yeast 2 teaspoons coarse salt 1 and 1/2 cups cool water
 Place bread above pan with boiling water and bake 20-25 minutes.
 Slice when bread is cool.
I hope that by sharing my love for baking bread, I can make bread makers out of at least a few of you. The art of bread baking is so satisfying and deliciously rewarding. I think you're going to love it too. Ciao!  Projects. Everyone wanted to know what in the world I was going to do without a kitchen and the answer is simple - projects. Until my kitchen remodel is complete and I have a functional space to cook again, I'm occupying my time by crossing all sorts of tasks off of my to-do list. This week I pressure washed the front porch and sidewalk, sanded and stained the porch swing, transplanted some shrubs, planted some flowers and vegetables and cleared out my email inbox. 😂Intentional procrastination is what I'm calling it. Purposely not doing something in anticipation of having extra time in the future in which to complete the task. 😅 (I'm pretty sure that's not really a thing but oh well. 🤷🏻♀️) As it turns out, I may have "intentionally procrastinated" way more projects than I'll actually be able to finish in the amount of time that it takes to complete my kitchen renovation. 😬 Do you think it's unrealistic to have all of my Christmas shopping done, my closets completely cleaned out and reorganized, make nine holiday t-shirts and get my yard horticulture digest worthy in the next 3 weeks? 🤣  The truth is that as much as I love to bake - I'm kind of enjoying this time that I have to work on other things. I think it's probably good for me to take a break from baking for a little while and explore some of my other hobbies - even if it IS a forced break. I forgot how therapeutic it was to take long morning walks past the cows and horses while listening to my favorite tunes. 🐮🐴
News of our kitchen remodel evokes a similar response in most people. The first question everyone wants to know is always "What are you going to DO?" which inevitably is followed up with "What are you going to EAT?" 😅 Now that you know what I'm DOING during our remodel phase, I guess I should let you in on what we're EATING. We've actually been able to use our oven, stovetop and microwave throughout this first week of reno. Not having countertops or water presents a challenge but we've managed to fix some pretty great meals in our makeshift kitchen this week. We had shrimp and steak on the grill, tacos and even made fried eggs for breakfast. We have definitely NOT been deprived of yummy food. I also made a small stockpile of goodies and tucked them away in my freezer for just this occasion. I had actually forgotten that I had made this Cinnamon Coffee Cake so when I ran across it in the freezer this week, it was like finding unexpected cash in my jeans. 💵 I probably shouldn't mention that I'd just made this cake 2 weeks ago and yet somehow, I had completely forgotten about it. 🤦🏻♀️ Anyhoo... I took it out of the freezer, defrosted it overnight and then shared it with the remodeling crew this week.  Cinnamon Coffee Cake Filling and Streusel 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 Tablespoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup flour 4 Tablespoons butter, melted Cake 2 1/4 cups flour 1 1/4 cups sugar 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup milk 12 Tablespoons butter, melted 1 egg + 1 egg yolk 2 teaspoons vanilla
 Let cool in pan 30 minutes. Remove from pan.  Cut into squares and serve warm.
This breakfast cake reminds me of one that my grandmother used to make. I never got her coffee cake recipe but I feel like the taste and texture of this cake very closely resembles what she used to feed me as a child. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did. Ciao! |
