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How To Bake a Perfect Artisan Round Bread and French Baguettes Easily

 

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I consider myself a good baker but I never thought I could make bread the way I did last weekend.  I had help from Emile Henry.  I was sent the Emile Henry Bread Cloche  and Baguette Baker in beautiful, warm red.

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emile henry baguette baker

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As I looked at the recipe book, I marveled at how quickly you could make bread, artisan style bread that looked delicious. I still doubted mine would turn out as perfectly.  I started making the quick-bake recipe of the round bread and it was so easy.

3 cups of bread flour

1 cup of warm water (95 degrees F)

2 tsp of salt

2 tsp of granulated sugar

2 tsp of dried baker’s yeast

2 tbsp. of milk

In a large bowl mix the bread flour, salt, sugar and dried yeast.

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Pour in the warm water and knead for about 2-3 minutes.

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 Form the dough into a ball and cover with a dish towel.

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Put the covered bowl in a warm place away from drafts to rise for 20 minutes.  Uncover the dough and knead to remove the carbon dioxide, form the dough into a ball.  Sprinkle some flour on the platter of the bread cloche and place the ball of dough on the platter.

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Cover with the cloche and let rise for another 45 minutes at room temperature.

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Brush a little milk over the top at the end of the rise time and sprinkle with flour.

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Make several incisions on the top and cover again with the cloche. Bake in a preheated oven of 460 degrees F for 35 minutes and then allow the bread to cool on the platter with the cloche removed.

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The whole process was fast and easy and I cannot tell you how impressed I was when I removed the Cloche after baking and saw that beautiful round artisan style bread on the platter.  It tasted as good as it looked and the whole family enjoy it right from the oven.

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The baguette baker was the next thing I tried and even though the first time baguettes could use a little artisan tweaking the taste of them was better than anything we have ever tasted.  The way the baker cooks the crust but leaves the middle soft and chewy is unbelievable.  My kids ate those faster than you could say Bon Jour.  The are definitely one of our new favorites and I only wish my parents were still alive to taste these breads because they would have loved them!  I never knew that you could bake this kind of bread at home and now that we know, we are baking bread almost daily.

For the Baguettes we used the “Real French Baguette” recipe below:

2 cups of bread flour

1 cup of warm water (110 degrees F)

1 tsp of fine salt

1 tsp of dried yeast

I added about 2 tsp to 3 tsp of granulated sugar ( I added by eye)

Mix flour, salt and yeast in a mixing bowl and add the warm water and knead the dough about 5 minutes until you can form a smooth ball.  Cover the bowl with a dish cloth and let rise in a warm location, away from drafts for about 40 minutes.

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After 40 minutes, knead the dough again to remove the carbon dioxide and then divide into three equal portions. Sprinkle each piece with flour and shape into a rectangle about the size of your hand then roll the dough a little longer in length than the depression in the baguette pan and about 10 cm wide.  Fold one side about 2/3 of the way over and then the other side 1/4 of the way over to form a cylinder shape.

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Sprinkle the baguette pan with flour and turn the formed dough with the folded side on the bottom and place in the pan.  Repeat with the other 2 pieces.  Cover with the lid and let rise for 2o minutes while you preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

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After 20 minutes open the cover and brush with water, sprinkle with flour and make several diagonal cuts in each baguette.

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Replace cover and bake for 25 minutes and then remove the cover and continue baking for 2 minutes until they are nice and brown.

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As soon as these came out we ate them hot with fresh butter and they were gone in minutes!

If you like to bake bread or if you have never made bread, you have to try these Emile Henry accessories.  You will not believe the bread you will be making and neither will your family.

Quality Bakeware For Breads:

Emile Henry enters the artisan bread baking category with the Bread Cloche. The ceramic Bread Cloche with its bell-shaped cover allows you to proof your bread directly in the bread cloche. The lid also traps steam from the baking bread to create an environment similar to a steam-injected oven. The steam gives the bread a crunchy, chewy crust. The Emile Henry Bread Cloche is sized for a round loaf made with 3-cups of flour. Recipe and Instruction booklet included. Like all Emile Henry products, the Bread Cloche is made of all natural materials and is backed by a ten-year warranty, which is not offered by any other ceramic manufacturers. Emile Henry is located in the Burgundy town of Marcigny, France.

The new ceramic Baguette Baker from Emile Henry bakes three, 13½inch long by 2¼ inch wide, artisanal French baguettes. The Baguette Baker traps steam from the baking bread to create an environment similar to a steam-injected oven. The steam gives the bread a crunchy, golden crust and a chewy interior. The Baguette Baker simplifies the process so home bakers have more consistent, delicious results every time they make bread. A recipe book is included with the product so even a novice baker will be confident in baking bread at home. The Baker, made in France from Burgundy clay.

 

Emile Henry’s Oven Ceramic bakeware and tableware is made in Marcigny France since 1850 from high fired Burgundy clay. The natural clay is unsurpassed for conducting and retaining heat. Emile Henry’s Oven Ceramic is made with an exclusive process to produce strong and durable ceramic bakeware and tableware for everyday use.

  • Resistance Against Mechanical Shocks: During everyday use, there are many opportunities to bang a dish or a set of plates. Particularly resistant to shocks, our ceramic is even used in restaurants!
  • Resistance Against Temperature Changes: A dish or stewpot should be able to withstand wide variations in temperature. Our ceramics allow our products to be taken directly from the freezer to the hot oven (+250°C/500°F).
  • Resistance Against Fading Colors: Heat, the dishwasher or sharp instruments will all have an ageing effect on a product. Our glazes are particularly resistant to the dishwasher and the most aggressive of detergents.

The quality of these pieces is extraordinary and the ease of use and clean up is absolutely divine.

Emile Henry is sponsoring a giveaway on Mommy Ramblings!  One lucky blog reader will receive their own Bread Cloche and Baguette Baker- A $260 value!!!  Thank you to Emile Henry for the review pieces and for sponsoring this awesome giveaway on Mommy Ramblings!!!  Open to US residents.

Emile Henry Bread Cloche and Baguette Baker Giveaway on Mommy Ramblings Rules:

Enter to win using the Rafflecopter widget below.  Good Luck!!!

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Glazed Lime Blueberry Pound Cake!!!

First weekend after the start of school and a busy one it was!  We have so much going on, sometimes it feels like a three-ring circus!  We had a #FitMadeFun Party to kick off the launch of LeapFrogs new LeapBand Activity Tracker for kids.  It was a lot of fun and there was a huge variety of kids Cliff protein bars but more to come on that soon.

I did some baking too and I want to share with you a lime blueberry pound cake I made.  It really was supposed to be a lemon blueberry pound cake but I  found out I only had limes so I went with that.  It was really good and really tasted like lemon to me.  It must have tasted good to everyone because it did not even last 6 hours before it disappeared.

I found a recipe online that was inspired by the Starbucks’ Lemon Loaf and as I said above I made some changes.

 

lime collage

This is the recipe:

Glazed Lime Blueberry Pound Cake:

Ingredients
Cake:
  • ⅓ cup buttermilk
  • 3 tablespoons of lime juice
  • Zest of 1 lime, finely grated
  • 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoons salt
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup blueberries with 2 tablespoons flour

Glaze:

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 4 to 6 tablespoons of lime juice
  • milk for glaze (add enough to get it to the right consistency for glazing)
Lime

I wash my limes with a toxic free soap to get rid of the wax and any other dirt on the limes.

When grating the zest of lemons or limes just grate the colored rind and not the white pith as that is very bitter.

When grating the zest of lemons or limes just grate the colored rind and not the white pith as that is very bitter.

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Love these Juicers, so great to get every drop of juice out of the limes.

Love these Juicers, so great to get every drop of juice out of the limes.

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Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Spray a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment paper with the paper hanging over the sides. I sprayed my parchment paper with a bit of coconut oil.
  3. In a small bowl, pour in buttermilk, lime juice, and lime zest. Set aside.
  4. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
  5. In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat the butter and sugar.
  6. Add 1 egg at a time, mixing well in between each egg.
  7. While mixing the batter on low speed, add the flour mixture and then the buttermilk mixture until batter is smooth. Do not over mix.
  8. In a small bowl toss the blueberries with about 2 tablespoons of flour to coat them. (This prevents the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the cake.)
  9. Stir in the flour-covered blueberries.
  10. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Using a spatula spread the batter so it is spread out evenly in the pan.
  11. Bake in a preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes. Let cool completely.
  12. Prepare the glaze by mixing 2 cups powdered sugar with 4 to 6 tablespoons of lime juice.
  13. If your glaze is too thick (mine was) add milk a tablespoon at a time until it is the desired consistency.
  14. Pour over the top and sides of the cooled cake.

Let me know if you give this recipe a try, remember if you like use lemon instead of lime.  For another great blueberry cake recipe check this one out too! Moist, Delicious Blueberry Pound Cake!


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Moist, Delicious,Blueberry Pound Cake Recipe!!!

Blueberry-Pound-Cake-bpk

The blueberries in New York State are abundant and ready for picking. We went out to pick our first batch a couple of weekends ago.  There are so many ripe berries and so many that are ripening now, that I plan on making lots of blueberry recipes.

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Blueberry-Picking-1

Blueberry-Picking

Blueberry Picking

Our first batch went to make a delicious, moist blueberry pound cake. This pound cake is so easy to prepare and you just layer the batter and the berry, cinnamon, sugar mixture, cover with the batter and repeat the whole process.

blueberry cake

2 cups of freshly picked blueberries tossed with the cinnamon and sugar

This is the mixed cake batter ready to start layering in the bundt pan.

This is the mixed cake batter all ready to start layering in the bundt pan.

First Layer-Pound Cake Batter

First Layer-Pound Cake Batter

Second Layer-Half of the Blueberry Mixture

Second Layer-Half of the Blueberry Mixture

Third Layer Is The Second 1/3 of the Cake Batter.

Third Layer Is The Second 1/3 of the Cake Batter.

Fourth Layer is The Rest of The Blueberry Mixture

Fourth Layer is The Rest of The Blueberry Mixture

Fifth and Final Layer is the Rest of the Pound Cake Batter.

Fifth and Final Layer is the Rest of the Pound Cake Batter.

Bake Cake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Bake Cake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Mix up the sugar glaze before the cake is completely cool.

Mix up the sugar glaze before the cake is completely cool.

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I adapted a recipe I found online, if you want to try it, the recipe is below.  If you do try it, leave a comment and let me know how it turned out.

Blueberry Pound Cake Recipe


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Hershey’s Spread the Possibilities Sampling!!! #Spreadpossibilities

Hershey's Spreads

Well, if there was ever a right time to experience a taste of summer, it’s right now.  Today was in the high 30’s and I tell you, it felt like a heat wave!  Coming out of that frigid Arctic blast was a blessing and to celebrate we made S’mores.

Now we did not gather around the outdoor fire pit but we took advantage of a new Hershey’s product to help us get to yummy super fast.  I was selected to receive Hershey’s Chocolate Spread from CrowdTap and we wasted no time in fixing up some Winter S’mores!  It was simple to do with graham crackers, Hershey’s Chocolate Spread and miniature marshmallows.  The kids enjoyed a sweet treat after coming in from playing in the snow and we all savored a little taste of summer, which was delightful after freezing our tootsies off the last week!

Hershey's Label Crowdtap

 

Hershey's Spreads Tapped

 

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Hershey’s Spreads come in three delicious flavors: Chocolate, Chocolate with Hazelnut and Chocolate with Almond. Click HERE to browse some great recipes using Hershey’s Spreads.  So get yourself some today and Spread The Possibilities!


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No Bake Cake Pops Using OREOS

Long time Mommy Ramblings’ readers, probably remember that my first sponsored review and giveaway was for, My Little Cupcake Cake Pop Mold.  At that time, there was only one style available, the little cupcake.

Well, it has been some time since that first review, and as Mommy Ramblings has grown so has My Little Cupcake.  They now feature other cake pop molds. and I recently had the opportunity to review their set of 4 different shaped cake pop molds available in their variety set.

Now, you may recall when I did my original review, I did not use the no-bake Oreo recipe. but instead used two 9 inch layers of red velvet cake that was freshly baked and crumbled and my own cream cheese frosting.

This time I decided to go with the Oreo recipe that comes with the molds.  It was so easy to prepare.  You just take 1 package of Oreos (3 Sleeves if you buy the family pack) and crush them in your food processor.

 

Then, add an 8 ounce package of cream cheese and process until it is all combined and makes a sort of dough. Chill the dough for 20-30 minutes.  One of the things I noticed was, if the dough is not chilled enough or becomes warm while waiting to be molded, it is harder to work with and will not mold as well.  You may want to work with half at a time, and keep the other half chilling.

Once you get the knack of how much dough you need to make a complete mold, you will easily mold the dough into the variety of shapes.  It is a bit of a messy process, because you need to overfill the molds a little, and the excess will be squeezed out.  Be prepared for your hands to get very messy!

 

When you have finished molding all the dough, you chill or freeze them for another 20-30 minutes.  I found it best to take only a few out at a time and keep the others in the fridge until you are ready. This prevents them from getting warm before you dip them. I found the best results came from the pops that were the coldest, because they are more solid and easier to work with.   So for best results the colder the better because they are more solid and easier to work with.

You need to melt chocolate for the coating. You can use a variety of dipping chocolate, I have found the Almond Bark or the Candi Quick give me the best results. Some of the wafer varieties do not melt thin enough and Crisco is recommended to thin it. I don’t like using Crisco, so that is why I opt for Almond Bark or Candi Quick.

You  need to have your pop sticks handy and a block of styrofoam to hold the pops as they dry.  First dip the stick top in some chocolate, and then stick it in one of the molded tops.  You can place the pop in the styrofoam while you do a few others, and then you can start to dip the first one.

Now, you can get as creative as you want with the dipping.  For instance, with the cupcake style if you want a two-tone color, you need to dip the bottom first and then place it on the stick. Then, when the bottom is dry, you can dip the top in another color.

Another option, is to dip the entire cupcake in the color you want on the bottom, let dry and then, dip the top in a different color. You can also quickly add sprinkles or other decors before the chocolate dries.  I will repeat the key tip is to keep the pops as cold as possible until you are ready to work with them.

You can go crazy with these pops, transforming them into people, animals and more! The Variety Assortment gives you the ability to create many different kinds of cake and cookie pops.  The molds are so easy to clean. I  throw mine right in the dishwasher, and it could not be easier.

The heart mold is one of my favorites because it makes a nice plump pop and there are a lot of ways you can embellish it to look like different things.  I still like the cupcake and think it is pretty easy to get a great two-tone result using it.  The cone is a nice unique shape that can be used for christmas trees, candy corn, hats, and lots of other things.  The ball is good if you want perfectly shaped cake balls or truffles.

In conclusion, I found it much easier working with the Oreo mixture and it was much faster, letting me get to the fun part faster.  Beyond that, the Oreos and cream cheese have a great flavor and moist texture inside the pop.

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The Best Coconut Oil, Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe!

If you are ready to try the best chocolate chip cookie recipe made with coconut oil, look no further.  Seriously, everyone I have shared this recipe with raves about it.  They are absolutely one of the easiest and best chocolate chip cookies you will ever make and eat.  So let me show you what to do so you can get baking.

 

 

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies:

  • 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. sea salt
  • 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
1. With an electric mixer or stand mixer, beat coconut oil, butter and sugars together until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
2. In a small bowl, mix flours, baking powder and salt. Gradually add to the wet ingredients until a soft dough is formed. Don’t over mix the dough, or the chocolate chip cookies will be tough.
3. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if using.
4. Refrigerate dough at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, drop chocolate chip cookie dough onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8-15 minutes, until cookies are golden brown around the edges, but still soft inside.
When my husband saw that I was using coconut oil he was skeptical, he does not like coconut.  When they were done I could taste a hint of coconut but the cookies were soft, chewy and delicious.  The true test came when my husband tried them.  He did not mention any taste of coconut but did say they were absolutely delicious and helped himself to a few more.

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil.  As always my words and views are 100% my own.


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Some Cake Pop After-Thoughts!!!

Can you believe it?  I am writing about cake pops once again.  Over the hours I have had to reflect after making them yesterday, I have had a lot of thoughts.  First, since I wrote my review last night right after making them, I do not think I was far enough away from the process to truly form an evaluation.  We all know that recipes are trial and error and that we often come away with things we would do different next time to improve the process.  So now that I have had the proper time to contemplate everything, I can say that I will attempt to make cake pops again.  I have to give it at least one more shot.  I think I will try the mold inventors recipe of using 1 package of Oreo cookies and one brick of cream cheese.  I do not think I will ever make cake balls again with red velvet cake.  It is not that the cake did not taste good but being they were on traveling sticks and having 5 kids that include two toddlers,  it had its problems.  Since the cake balls can fall off the sticks and some little children may then accidentally step in the fallen cake balls or go to pick them  up and accidentally make contact with my walls, there are some issues.  See, my kitchen tile floor and the hallway look like they would in the aftermath of a mob hit.  There is even a red hand print on the window of my side door.  Looks like the person fought until the end.   So today as I have been scrubbing up the evidence of the cake ball massacre, I have come to the conclusion that said children will only be allowed to eat the cake balls in their appropriate chairs.  Beyond that, I have found that it would have been easier if I had thinned the dipping chocolate with Crisco.  I hate using Crisco so I don’t have it in the house but after researching the web it seems that it is the thinner of choice.  Also, I think I would use different dipping chocolate.  I spent twice the price getting some premium brand and it seems I would have been better off with one of the more inexpensive choices out there.  So I guess we live and learn and I am no exception.  Sometime this week I will get to the store to get some more supplies and try this adventure again.  As I look at some of the alternatives to how others get a cupcake shape on the stick using a series of cutters and molding, I can safely say the “My Little Cupcake POP Mold” is a much easier and friendlier option.  You can also use powdered sugar on your hands to make handling the mixture less sticky.  So with all this said, I will indeed embark down this road again with my newly gained knowledge.  I will of course let you all know with pictures and words how it goes.   So yes, there will be more posts about cake pops in the future.  I certainly hope the winner of the give-away mold will send me some pictures of their creations so I can post them for you all to see as well.  Hope you all are enjoying Superbowl Sunday.  Jimi made a huge spread of goodies, wings, spiedies, dips, veggies, and more.  I love being married to a man who can cook.


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