My Baking Adventures

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me!

Hey, hey, it’s my day and guess what I made for myself?

A Chocolate Crepe Cake!

Michele (from Veggie Num Nums) and I both had a crepe cake on our learn-to-do list – so we decided to do it together.

It’s based on a recipe from Chocolate Epiphany – and I knew it would be perfect as my birthday cake. It was tough to decide what to make for myself – after all, it’s hard to beat last years’ cake, Death By Chocolate.

This cake, though, was super easy. Making the crepes was the most time consuming part – but once you get the rhythm down, it goes quickly. And they can be made ahead of time – which is always a plus in my book.

The crepes were much more sturdy than I thought they would be – and oh-so chocolatey:

And once I had everything made, it was time to start the assembly process.

First, lay one crepe on your plate:

Spread with a thin layer of pastry cream:

Lay another crepe on top of the pastry cream:

And keep going. Soon, you will start to see progress (i.e. a nice stack of crepes).

And keep on going, until you reach the end of the crepes:

Now, the completed cake must chill out for at least an hour. Be sure to cover it with plastic wrap first.

When you are ready to serve – or in my case, photograph it – dust the cake with powdered sugar and you are ready to go!

Close up interior shot:

But what you really want to know, I’m sure, is how it tastes. Well, let’s put it this way – it’s chocolate crepes and pastry cream.

DELICIOUS!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to celebrate my birthday at the mall – there are several shops calling my name………

** Oh, before I forget – this is half of the original recipe. I’m guessing, since I got 15 crepes from this quantity of batter, the full version would yield about 30 crepes. Which would be great for a crowd. But there’s only going to be 6 of us for dinner, and I don’t want to be looking at this for a week. So I downsized and therefore the cake is much shorter than the version in the book. But no matter, 15 layers of chocolate/cream goodness is enough for me!

Gateau de crepes - adapted from Francois Payard

1 cup + 1 tbs. all purpose flour
3 tbs. Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 ½ cups + 1 ½ tsp milk
5 tbs. butter, melted

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder and sugar. In another bowl, mix together the eggs, milk and melted butter. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and whisk thoroughly to combine. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, heat an 8” skillet over medium heat and brush the pan very lightly with vegetable oil. Using a ¼ cup measure, pour the batter into the pan and immediately tilt and swirl the pan to create a thin, even layer. Cook until the shine is gone from the crepe and the edges have lifted away from the pan – this process only takes about a minute – so don’t walk away. Carefully flip the crepe and cook the other side for about 30 seconds. Slide the crepe onto a cooling rack and repeat with the remaining batter. You should end up with 15 crepes. (Sixteen if you don’t eat the first one like I did – quality control, you know.)

Vanilla Pastry Cream – adapted from Francois Payard

2 cups milk
½ cup sugar
5 tbs. cornstarch
4 large egg yolks
1 tbs. butter
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract

Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat until bubbles appear around the edges.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and egg yolks. Whisk vigorously until the mixture is thick and pale yellow.

Once the milk is hot, slowly add about ¼ cup of the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly to avoid scrambling the eggs. Add another ¼ cup of hot milk, still whisking, then pour the entire egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan. Return the saucepan to the heat, and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens and boils. Cook for another 30 seconds once it reaches a boil, then remove from the heat and add the butter. Stir until the butter melts and the mixture is smooth. Pour into a bowl, and press a piece of plastic wrap over the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Allow it to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold. Once the pastry cream is cold, gently stir in 1 ½ tsp of vanilla extract.

In a fit of inspiration (and lots of encouragement and friendly help from Wendy), I took the plunge and I made BAGELS!

Now, aesthetically speaking, I realize these are far from perfect. However, what they lack in looks (hey, looks aren’t everything, you know) they make up in taste.  And how do I know this? David, Sabrina and Alexander ate them for breakfast two days in a row. A sure sign of success!

The only problem I ran into was while the bagels were proofing -  they developed a “crust” that cracked as I formed the holes. In order to avoid this next time, I think I need to use a flat Tupperware-type box that has a sealable lid. Because plastic wrap just didn’t cut it!

The very next morning, I was even more ambitious – and made English Muffins! This was a super simple recipe from Alton Brown – and I got to use my nifty new muffin rings that I bought from Sur La Table (FYI – it’s a specialty cookware store similar to Williams Sonoma).

Wait – there’s more! Just look at those nooks and crannies!

Ok, so there aren’t that many – but the flavor and texture was spot on. The only problem I ran into here was overfilling the muffin molds – they puffed up quite a bit and therefore were misshapen. But I won’t make the same mistake twice – I assure you!

All in all, it was a very successful first try with the bagels and English muffins – and I will definitely be perfecting my skill and form over the next few weeks!

Here are the recipes I used:

Bagels - Adapted from The Bread Bakers Apprentice
Makes 1 dozen bagels
Sponge:
1 teaspoon instant yeast
4 cups bread flour
2 1/2 cups water
Dough:
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
3 3/4 cups bread flour
2 3/4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons malt powder
OR
1 tablespoon malt syrup, honey, or brown sugar
Finishing touches:
1 tablespoon baking soda for the water
Cornmeal for dusting the pan
Toppings for the bagels such as seeds, salt, onion, or garlic
The Night Before
Stir the yeast into the flour in a large mixing bowl. Add the water and stir until all ingredients are blended. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for two hours.
Remove the plastic wrap and stir the additional yeast into the sponge. Add 3 cups of the flour, the malt powder (the one unusual ingredient, which I was able to find at the local health food store), and the salt into the bowl and mix until all of the ingredients form a ball. You need to work in the additional 3/4 cups of flour to stiffen the dough, either while still mixing in the bowl or while kneading. The dough should be stiffer and drier than normal bread dough, but moist enough that all of the ingredients are well blended.
Pour the dough out of the bowl onto a clean surface and knead for 10 minutes.
Immediately after kneading, split the dough into a dozen small pieces around 4 1/2 ounces each. Roll each piece into a ball and set it aside. When you have all 12 pieces made, cover them with a damp towel and let them rest for 20 minutes.
Shaping the bagel is a snap: punch your thumb through the center of each roll and then rotate the dough, working it so that the bagel is as even in width as possible.
Place the shaped bagels on an oiled sheet pan, with an inch or so of space between one another (use two pans, if you need to). If you have parchment paper, line the sheet pan with parchment and spray it lightly with oil before placing the bagels on the pan. Cover the pan with plastic (I put mine into a small plastic garbage bag) and allow the dough to rise for about 20 minutes.
The suggested method of testing whether the bagels are ready to retard is by dropping one of them into a bowl of cool water: if the bagel floats back up to the surface in under ten seconds it is ready to retard. If not, it needs to rise more.
Baking Day:
Preheat the oven to 500. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Adding one tablespoon of baking soda to the pot to alkalize the water is suggested to replicate traditional bagel shop flavor.
When the pot is boiling, drop a few of the bagels into the pot one at a time and let them boil for a minute. Use a large, slotted spoon or spatula to gently flip them over and boil them on the other side.
Before removing them from the pot, sprinkle corn meal onto the sheet pan. Remove them one at a time, set them back onto the sheet pan, and top them right away, while they are still slightly moist. Repeat this process until all of the bagels have been boiled and topped.
Once they have, place the sheet pan into the preheated oven and bake for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to 450 degrees, rotate the pan, and bake for another 5 minutes until the bagels begin to brown. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool.

English Muffins - Alton Brown

1/2 cup non-fat powdered milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon shortening
1 cup hot water
1 envelope dry yeast
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup warm water
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
Non-stick vegetable spray
Special equipment: electric griddle, 3-inch metal rings, see Cook’s Note*
Directions
In a bowl combine the powdered milk, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, shortening, and hot water, stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Let cool. In a separate bowl combine the yeast and 1/8 teaspoon of sugar in 1/3 cup of warm water and rest until yeast has dissolved. Add this to the dry milk mixture. Add the sifted flour and beat thoroughly with wooden spoon. Cover the bowl and let it rest in a warm spot for 30 minutes.
Preheat the griddle to 300 degrees F.
Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt to mixture and beat thoroughly. Place metal rings onto the griddle and coat lightly with vegetable spray. Using #20 ice cream scoop, place 2 scoops into each ring and cover with a pot lid or cookie sheet and cook for 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the lid and flip rings using tongs. Cover with the lid and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes or until golden brown. Place on a cooling rack, remove rings and cool. Split with fork and serve.
*Cook’s Note: Small tuna cans with tops and bottoms removed work well for metal rings.

Making graham crackers has been on my “learn to do” list for some time now, and when I saw that Katrina had made them I seized the opportunity to swipe borrow copy the recipe.

The hardest part about these? Finding the graham flour. Katrina used whole wheat, but I was determined to make them as authentic as possible.

I finally found the correct flour at Whole Foods (big surprise), and since it was so close to Easter, I broke out the holiday cutters and went the festive route.

And just to mess with the kids, I used the dog bone cutters too:

They got a real kick out of them.

How do they taste? I’m glad you asked. The graham flavor is very subtle and they are not nearly as sweet as the store-bought brands. These are a bit more substantial to the tooth, with a pleasant crunch, and the cinnamon-sugar on top gives a nice edge.

Alexander liked them, Sabrina did not. All is not lost, however, the leftovers will find their way into a crumb crust at some point.

Graham Crackers - copied from Katrina at Baking and Boys

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups graham flour
1/4 cup granulated  sugar)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon molasses
1/4 cup water

In bowl of food processor, combine flours, sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon.  Pulse a few times.  Add the cold butter and pulse until texture is dry and crumbly.
In a separate bowl, mix together the honey, molasses and water.  Add to food processor and blend together until it forms a ball.  Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for one hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Roll the dough out on a well floured surface (I used all purpose).  Roll the dough out pretty thin and cut with cookie cutters or cut into rectangles.  Make fork marks in the dough.  Transfer to baking sheets lined with parchment paper.  You could sprinkle these with sugar or cinnamon/sugar before baking.

Bake for 11-14 minutes until golden and crisp.

About a week ago, the nice and friendly people at Stonyfield Yogurt contacted me and asked if I would be interested in trying their new Organic Greek Yogurt, Oikos.

Now, if you remember, I just recently learned not only how to make my own yogurt (yay me!), but I also tried (and loved) Fage Greek Yogurt for the first time as well.

So my curiosity was piqued to be able to try another brand of Greek Yogurt, especially a high quality product made without high fructose corn syrup, preservatives and artificial colors.

A quick trip to Whole Foods and I was good to go.

The next morning, I made a parfait with blueberries, flax meal and Kashi granola ~

and ate all of the yogurt in a two day period.

So what’s the bottom line? Not only will I buy this again, I highly recommend you try it. It’s that good.

You can print coupons from their website, which also has great information about all of their products and a store locater to make  it easy to find the products in your area. For me, Whole Foods is the only store in town that carries it – but for something this good, that’s a trip I don’t mind making.

Wow! I made yogurt!

After much research, I finally found the perfect way to hold the yogurt at the correct temperature for the 10-12 hours required. My countertop oven – not to be confused with a convection/toaster oven. This is a roaster oven, which I bought from Target 4 years ago. Why I bought it, I can’t remember, because I have double wall ovens already. But no matter, because it has a super low setting that works perfectly.

After preparing the milk/yogurt mixture, I poured it into a large capacity Pyrex bowl and covered it with plastic wrap. There is a roasting rack inside the oven already, so I set a thick towel on top, set the bowl on that, and then covered the bowl with another towel. Sounds nice and cozy, doesn’t it?

I used my handy-dandy thermometer to monitor the temperature, as demonstrated here:

See the cord on the right side? That leads to the probe sitting on the bottom of the oven – so about every hour or so, I’ll walk by and check the temp. I am in and out of the house all day anyways, so I parked the oven in my laundry room (which explains the little vacuum behind the oven), and it makes this as easy as can be.

Now, when the yogurt is finished cogitating, it is a bit too runny for my liking. So I set it in a strainer lined with paper towels, and let it drain overnight in the fridge.

The next morning, it’s the perfect consistency.

The best part? No high fructose this, additives of that, and other unknown chemicals or stabilizers. It’s very tart – but I happen to like it that way. I do find most commercial yogurts too sweet, with the exception of Fage Yogurt, which I found at Trader Joe’s. I plan on going back to buy a container to use as a starter – instead of the Mountain High I’ve been using. I know you are supposed to hold out 1/2 cup of your yogurt to use as the next batch starter, but somehow I keep forgetting that and eating it all.

Speaking of which, one night I  added a bit of sugar, a splash of vanilla and some fresh fruit (blueberries!) and called it dessert.

It was delicious!

Fresh Yogurt - Alton Brown

1 quart 2-percent milk
1/2 cup powdered milk (I cut this down to ¼ cup)
1 to 2 tablepoons honey ( I left this out)
1/2 cup plain yogurt, room temperature

Pour milk into small saucepan and whisk in powdered milk and honey. Place over medium heat and bring to 120 degrees F on an instant read thermometer. Once milk has reached 120 degrees F, pour into a cylindrical plastic container, reserving 1/2 cup. Whisk in the reserved 1/2 cup into the yogurt and add back to the milk mixture.
Place container into a narrow wine bucket, lined with a heating pad. Set the heating pad to medium. Let the mixture ferment for 3 to 12 hours making sure the temperature stays as close to 115 degrees F as possible.
After fermentation is complete place into the refrigerator overnight.

Early last week, I decided to try my hand at fresh pasta. I was encouraged by the recipe I found for homemade pasta in Gourmet Magazine – after all, it called for semolina flour (check), regular flour (check) and eggs (check).

It was super stiff and difficult to mix, but the instructions said it would be, so I left it to rest and went to get the kids.

When I came home, it was time to get rolling. I’ve had a pasta rolling machine for several years now, but it hasn’t seen any action since the Christmas that we had a professional chef (a friend of my husbands) come in and cook for us. He was at our house from 10 in the morning until midnight. On Christmas Eve. As in, can you imagine how long it took me to clean up? Oh, and I did I mention we had 30 people over that night as well? Now, before I sound ungrateful, we ate very well that night. Rosemary filet mignon, lasagna bolognese, tiramisu – the food was unbelievable.

And so was the mess! Here’s my handy helpful hint of the day – always hire a cleaning crew to come in afterwards. Do you have any idea how messy professional chefs are? I don’t mean messy in a bad way – but they don’t have to clean up the kitchen when they’re done. I did! Now in my husbands defense, he was trying to keep the chef’s wife from falling into our pool – I think she drank an entire bottle of limoncello that night. Nothing like a happy, messy drunk to keep the party going!

It took me 2 years to recover from that debacle. I swore on my husbands life NEVER to do that again. I still get a twitch in my eye just remembering it.

But I digress….

Back to the pasta machine. It’s a nifty little gadget that anchors itself onto the countertop – then you feed the dough through various widths of rollers until your dough is the correct thickness and perfectly even.

Then you attach the spaghetti cutter/ fettuccine cutter – and away you go. You end up with a bed of pasta like this:

So far, so good.

When my parents came over for dinner – I could tell they were impressed.

I, however, wasn’t so sure how it was going to taste. I told my dad, “This is either going to be really good, or REALLY BAD!”

The instructions stated to cook the pasta for 2 minutes.

I tried it after 2 minutes and thought I was going to have to throw it away – it tasted like wallpaper paste! Not that I would know what wallpaper paste tastes like – really, I wouldn’t.

Seriously, the pasta needed about 5 minutes – and then it was cooked to perfection. It wasn’t gummy or chewy like I feared it would be. The noodles were light and delicate. I served it with a simple marinara sauce – but I think it would have been even better with a garlic-olive oil-butter sauce to really highlight the pasta.

I’ll definitely be making this again.

Fresh Egg Fettuccine – Gourmet, January 2009

Active time:1 1/4 hr
Start to finish:2 1/4 hr (includes resting time for dough)

Although this flour, semolina, and egg mixture begins as a stiff dough, it cooks into beautiful, velvety noodles that are as smooth as butter. A pasta machine makes this recipe easy and foolproof. Store-bought fettuccine simply can’t compare to homemade.

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups semolina (sometimes called semolina flour)
5 large eggs, lightly beaten

• Equipment:

a pasta machine

• Make dough:

Combine flour and semolina, then mound on a work surface (preferably wooden). Make a well in center and add eggs and 1/2 tsp salt to well. (Alternatively, put ingredients in a food processor.)
Gradually stir enough flour into eggs (using a fork) to form a paste, pulling in flour closest to egg mixture and being careful not to make an opening in wall of well. Knead remaining flour into mixture with your hands to form a dough (it should be firm and not sticky). Knead dough until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. (If using a processor, blend about 30 seconds total.)
Cover dough with an inverted bowl and let dough rest 1 hour to make rolling easier.

• Roll out pasta:

Divide dough into 8 pieces, then flatten each piece into a rough rectangle and cover rectangles with an inverted large bowl. Set rollers of pasta machine on widest setting.
Lightly dust 1 rectangle with flour and feed through rollers. (Keep remaining dough under bowl.) Fold rectangle in half and feed it, folded end first, through rollers 7 or 8 more times, folding it in half each time and feeding folded end through. Dust with flour if necessary to prevent sticking.
Turn dial to next (narrower) setting and feed dough through rollers without folding. Continue to feed dough through rollers once at each setting, without folding, until you reach the second to narrowest setting. Dough will be a smooth sheet (about 36 inches long and 4 inches wide). Cut sheet in half crosswise.
Lay sheets of dough on lightly floured baking sheets to dry until leathery but still pliable, about 15 minutes. (Alternatively, lightly dust pasta sheets with flour and hang over the backs of chairs to dry.) Roll out remaining pieces of dough in same manner.

• Cut pasta:

Attach fettuccine blades (to cut 1/4-inch-wide strips) to pasta machine. Feed one end of driest pasta sheet (the first one you rolled out) into cutters, holding other end straight up, then catch strips from underneath machine before sheet goes completely through rollers and gently lay across floured baking sheets. (Alternatively, lightly flour strips and hang over backs of chairs.) Repeat with remaining sheets of pasta. Let pasta dry at least 5 minutes before cooking.

• Cook pasta:

Cook fettuccine in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (3 Tbsp salt for 6 qt water) until tender, about 2 minutes (do not overcook). Drain.

• Cooks’ notes:

Dough can be made (but not rolled out) 4 hours ahead and chilled, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap. Bring to room temperature before rolling out.
Fettuccine can be dried until leathery but still pliable, about 30 minutes, then chilled in sealable bags up to 12 hours

Thanks to a gentle nudge (and a few email exchanges) from Natashya, I made ricotta cheese last weekend!

Following her instructions for a 4 to 1 ratio of milk and buttermilk, I cooked the mixture to 185 degrees, then hung it to drain over my sink. I raised a few eyebrows with the set-up – but it worked! I did a happy dance around the kitchen and gave myself a pat on the back.

The consistency was firmer than I expected, but I took into consideration the fact that I am used to the store variety only. The flavor – that’s what got me – it’s incomparable to anything I’ve ever had before.

I added a bit of salt and fresh lemon zest for flavor. It’s a good thing I made such a small amount, because I could have easily eaten the entire batch. Well, I started with 4 cups of milk and 1 cup of buttermilk – so the final yield was only about 3/4 cup. I plan on making more this weekend,  and I can see cannoli in my future! No, maybe lasagna. Well, manicotti would be great too…….

Fresh Ricotta
You’ll need:
- 1 gallon milk (you can use 1 percent on up, remember that the more fat in the milk, the more cheese it will yield.)
- 1 quart buttermilk
- cheesecloth – I used my flour sack towels from Williams Sonoma)
- a thermometer (mine is for oil and candy)

Place buttermilk and milk in a pot, heat on med-low heat until it reaches 185 degrees. It will begin to separate into curds and whey. Be sure to stir occasionally to make sure no curds stick to the bottom and burn. You will see that as the temperature approaches 185, the whey becomes clearer as the curds coagulate more.
Pour the curds into a cheesecloth lined colander. Tie the ends of the cheesecloth together and hang for 10-15 minutes. Remove from cheesecloth and place in an airtight container. Voila! Cheese!

For step by step pictures, head over to Natashya blog – plus you can see what fabulous dinner she created with it!

And in case you are wondering about the ducks in the title, I found these two swimming around the pool in my backyard this morning. And apparently, three dogs standing at the edge of the pool barking like mad didn’t phase them, but the kids running out to see them sure did!

Nothing like an early morning swim – except the pool temperature is about 42 degrees.

Another item off my learn to do list – I successfully cooked dried beans from scratch!

I realized that our winter will be over very, very soon, and before the Vegas thermometer turns from chill to broil, I’d better get my act together and make soup while I still can.

Inspired by Natashya, I decided to tackle Ina Garten’s Rosemary White Bean Soup. Ina’s recipes have never let me down, and quite frankly, either has Natashya, so emboldened by her post,  and  in a moment of confidence, I purchased the beans. But they sat in the cabinet for a few weeks, taunting me every time I saw them.

I’d finally had enough of their name calling, and threw them in a bowl and covered them with water.

Next time, I’ll have to use a bigger bowl, and more water. I didn’t realize that the beans soaked up as much water as they did!

After I sauteed all the onion, I added the drained beans:

And there’s nothing like fresh rosemary:

I was very pleased that the rosemary flavor wasn’t overpowering.

This reminded me of pasta e fagioli soup, so I felt it was necessary to add pasta to it. Now, because this is all white, it was difficult to get a good picture of:

But poor pictures notwithstanding, it was absolutely delicious – and I am so glad I finally learned how to cook dried beans. I’d like to be able to find true Cannellini beans, as the only beans I could find here were small white Northern beans. I wonder if Whole Foods carries them?

Rosemary White Bean Soup - Ina Garten

1 pound dried white cannellini beans
4 cups sliced yellow onions (3 onions)
1/4 cup good olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large branch fresh rosemary (6 to 7 inches)
2 quarts chicken stock
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a medium bowl, cover the beans with water by at least 1-inch and leave them in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight. Drain.In a large stockpot over low to medium heat, saute the onions with the olive oil until the onions are translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook over low heat for 3 more minutes. Add the drained white beans, rosemary, chicken stock, and bay leaf. Cover, bring to a boil, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until the beans are very soft. Remove the rosemary branch and the bay leaf. Pass the soup through the coarsest blade of a food mill, or place in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until coarsely pureed. Return the soup to the pot to reheat and add salt and pepper, to taste. Serve hot.

Presenting…………….

The big Timballo. Doesn’t it look great? I mean really, feel free to lavish praise and adoration upon me.

Go ahead, I’m waiting.

Seriously, though, it wasn’t as much work as I thought it would be. This was unbelievable, fantastic, stupendous, outstanding, stellar………

Shall I go on?

And the best part (no really, it was!) I used a disposable aluminum pan from the Dollar Store, which meant that cleanup was as simple as walking to the trash can.

You could modify this to make it vegetarian by simply substituting marinara sauce for the meat sauce. So if you’ve got a big occasion coming up (ok, I know, Christmas is past, how about a birthday?) this is definitely something to think about.

One important note – I followed the directions EXACTLY…I mean EXACTLY….and it came out perfect. So if there is something to learn here, it’s to follow the directions EXACTLY with respect to the layering and baking process.

**My notes: I used David’s homemade bolognese sauce, not the sausage-based sauce you will find listed in the recipe. Instead of the swiss chard (which doesn’t exist here in my part of town) I used two 10 oz boxes of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry. I also doubled the béchamel sauce recipe because I had so much spinach. The notes from Gourmet state to arrange the very first layer of pasta in an orderly fashion, so when you flip it (and the bottom becomes the top), it looks very neat and organized. Unlike my brain.

Timballo - Gourmet Magazine

1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 lb sweet Italian sausage meat (remove casings if in links)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 (14- to 15-oz) can whole tomatoes in juice, forced with juices through a food mill (1 1/2 cups)
Pinch of sugar

For pasta
3/4 lb ziti

For chard in béchamel sauce
1 lb green Swiss chard, stems and center ribs discarded and leaves coarsely chopped (4 cups)
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1/2 cup)
4 oz fresh mozzarella (not unsalted), cut into 1/2-inch cubes (scant 1cup)

Special equipment: a 2-qt soufflé dish; parchment paper; a 6- to 8-qt wide pot for the water bath.

For meat sauce:
Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté sausage, breaking up lumps with a fork, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add onion and bay leaf and sauté, stirring frequently, until onion begins to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Add carrot, celery, and salt and sauté, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften, about 4 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute, then add wine and deglaze by boiling, scraping up any brown bits, until most of liquid is evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add tomato purée and sugar and boil, stirring frequently, until thickened, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool sauce and discard bay leaf.

For pasta:
Cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling until al dente, then transfer with a skimmer to a colander to drain (do not rinse), reserving water in pot to cook chard. Cool pasta, spread in a baking pan, to warm.

For chard in béchamel sauce:
Add chard to pot and simmer, uncovered, until tender, 3 to 5 minutes, then transfer with skimmer to a bowl of ice and cold water. Drain chard and squeeze handfuls, then finely chop.
Heat butter in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat until foam subsides, then add garlic and cook, whisking, 1 minute. Add flour and cook, whisking, 1 minute, then add milk in a slow stream, whisking. Bring to a boil, whisking. Reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, until sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in chard, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and 2 tablespoons Parmigiano, then remove pan from heat.

Assemble and bake timballo:
Put oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 375°F.
Oil soufflé dish and line bottom with a round of parchment paper, then oil parchment. Cover bottom of dish with a single layer of pasta. Sprinkle 1/2 cup mozzarella and 3 tablespoons Parmigiano over pasta, then spoon half of meat sauce in an even layer over cheese. Arrange one third of remaining pasta over meat sauce in soufflé dish and top with all of chard, then another layer of pasta (about half of remainder). Sprinkle with remainder of cheeses, then spoon remaining meat sauce over cheese. Top with remaining pasta. (You may have pasta left over.) Cover pasta with an oiled round of parchment (oiled side down) and cover dish with foil.
Bake in a in wide 6- to 8-quart pot until bubbling and a metal skewer or thin knife inserted in center of timballo comes out hot to the touch, about 1 hour. Remove soufflé dish from water bath and let stand, covered, 15 minutes. Remove foil and parchment and run a knife around edge of timballo to loosen, then invert a platter over soufflé dish and invert timballo onto platter. Remove soufflé dish and remaining parchment.

Feast your eyes on this, because I DID IT! My second attempt at babka was a complete and total success!

Next time (oh, and there will be a next time!) I will roll the dough a bit larger, so the filling will be dispersed more evenly. It gets a bit tricky once you start rolling, because the dough slides around the filling – but I’m sure with practice I’ll be able to get it perfect.

Wait until David tries this! It tastes like pure heaven, and the aroma is just out of this world. I’ve wrapped it up tightly and it’s in the freezer waiting for him to return from his trip.

Another item to cross off my list!

Chocolate Babka Loaf – The Modern Baker

Babka Dough:
1 ¼ c. milk
4 tsp active dry yeast
8 tbs. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
½ c. sugar
½ tsp salt
6 large egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 ¾ c. all purpose flour

Filling:
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ c. sugar
1 tbs. cocoa powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 c. walnut, coarsely chopped (optional)

Equipment:
Two 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ¾ loaf pans, buttered and bottoms lined with buttered parchment

1. Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it is just lukewarm, about 110 degrees F. Pour the milk into into the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk in the yeast. Whisk in the butter, sugar, salt, egg yolks and vanilla. Use a large rubber spatula to stir in ½ of the flour.

2. Place the bowl on the mixer and use the paddle attachment to beat the dough on low speed. Add the remaining flour, ½ c. at a time, beating to incorporate between additions. When all the flour has been added, beat the dough for 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Beat the dough on low to medium speed for 2 minutes more.

3. Scrape the dough into a buttered bowl, and turn it over so that the top is buttered. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 ½ hours.

4. While the dough is chilling, prepare the filling. In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the chocolate with the sugar, cocoa, and cinnamon and pulse to grind finely. Pour the filling into a bowl and set aside.

5. After the dough has chilled, scrape it onto a flour work surface and press it out into a rectangle about 10” x 15”. Evenly scatter the chocolate filling on the dough. Scatter the walnuts over the dough (if using). Roll up the dough from one long side jelly roll style and pinch the ends to seal. Use a knife to cut the roll into 2 equal pieces.

6. Invert one of the rolls, seam side down, into the prepared loaf pan. Repeat with the second roll. Cover pans with towels or buttered plastic wrap and let them rise until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.

7. About 20 minutes before the babkas are completely risen, set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

8. Bake until the babkas are well risen and deep golden, about 45 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then unmold and cool on their sides to prevent collapsing.

Variation:
Babka with traditional filling: Whip 3 egg whites with electric mixer until they hold a soft peak. Add ½ c. sugar 1 tbs. at a time, continuing to whip until they hold a firm peak. Spread the mixture onto the rectangle of dough, then scatter the chocolate filling over the egg white mixture.