Whole Wheat, Fig and Hazelnut Bread

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...At this time of year you can be sure of at least two things, the sun and any bread you chose to make will rise. While you can't control the sun, the bread is completely in your hands, and the heat of the summer kitchen will produce gorgeous high-rising loaves that you will be proud to serve. I've wanted to make this bread for a while now and the promise of a warm day and a block of time that would allow me to give it a try converged today. This is an interesting bread whose origins are unclear. A local bakery which makes a bread similar to this, insists it is Sicilian, but others attribute it to the tapas culture of Spain. This dry, firm bread has a near perfect crust and the mellowed tones of fennel and orange make it a wonderful base for sharp cheese and thinly sliced ham. It is also terrific with a simple schmear of cream cheese and plum jam. While the bread is not hard to make, it goes through 3 risings and that may impose problems for those of you working on tight kitchen schedules. This is a lovely bread that I hope you'll have time to try. Here is how it's made.

Figgy Pudding

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite..."Now, bring us some figgy pudding and bring some out here". I'm sure you've heard this secular carol, but have you ever had the pudding the carolers demanded as a reward for their singing? Both the carol and the pudding have stories that are intertwined. In old England, groups of traveling singers would entertain the wealthy for food or pay. These groups were called "waits" and they were extremely popular at Christmastime. There was a Christian tradition of showering them with gifts to thank them for their music. "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" is one of the songs they used to regale their listeners and Christmas pudding is one of the foods used to reward them for their performance. The tradition and this carol were resurrected in Victorian England by carolers who included the song in their repertoire. The distribution of the pudding is even older than the carol and dates back to to 16th century. At that time, the Catholic Church decreed that it should be made on the Sunday before the beginning of Advent, also known as Stir-Up Day. The pudding traditionally would contain 13 ingredients to represent Christ and the 12 apostles. Every member of the family was expected to help stir the pudding , rotating from east to west to commemorate the path traveled by the Magi as they searched for the Christ child. As time went on, coins and other small treasure were buried in the batter and steamed with the pudding. These tokens were thought to bring luck to the person who found them. I've shared another version of Christmas pudding with you, as well as one for a Three Kings Cake that is intended especially for children. I wanted to try a new version this year and as soon as I read Dorie Greenspan's recipe I knew I found what I was looking for. It sounded delicious, though the amount of brandy and rum used in its preparation, make it a truly adult affair. There are lots recipes that soak fruit before adding it to the ingredient mix. The figs and raisins used here are truly soused. If quizzed, many folks express their dislike of fruitcake or Christmas puddings. I'm not a missionary and my intent is not to dissuade them, but I'd love to have them try this version before they completely rule out those desserts. This pudding is like a spice cake that is used to hold fruit and nuts in suspension. It is really lovely. I made two changes to the recipe that I have not noted below. I used a well greased pudding mold instead of a bundt pan to make our pudding. I also added a cup of toasted walnuts to the batter. I flamed the the figs and raisins as suggested by the recipe and I will flame the pudding at the table when I serve it on Christmas Day. I hope you'll give this a try. I think you'll love it. It is a perfect way to end an English-style Christmas dinner. Here's how it is made.

Figgy Pudding...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:
12 plump dried Calymyrna figs, snipped into small pieces
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dark rum
1/3 cup cognac or brandy
1/2 cup raisins
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 (packed) cup brown sugar
2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (made from about 8 inches of baguette)
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup dried cranberries
Optional: 1/3 cup brandy, cognac or rum, to flame the pudding
Lightly sweetened whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or applesauce for serving

Directions:
1) Getting ready: You’ll need a tube pan with a capacity of 8 to 10 cups — a Bundt or Kugelhopf pan is perfect here — and a stock pot that can hold the pan. (If you’ve got a lobster pot, use that; it’ll be nice and roomy.) Put a double thickness of paper toweling in the bottom of the pot — it will keep the pudding from jiggling too much while it’s steaming. Spray the tube pan with cooking spray, then butter it generously, making sure to give the center tube a good coating
2) Put the figs and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and, keeping an eye on the pan, cook until the water is almost evaporated. Add the cognac or brandy, rum and raisins and bring the liquids back to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat, make sure it’s in an open space, have a pot cover at hand and, standing back, set the liquid aflame. Let the flames burn for 2 minutes, then extinguish them by sealing the pan with the pot cover. For a milder taste, burn the rum and brandy until the flames die out on their own. Set the pan aside uncovered.
3) Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt and keep at hand.
4) Working in a mixing bowl with a whisk, beat the eggs and brown sugar together until well blended. Switch to a rubber spatula and stir in the bread crumbs, followed by the melted butter and the fig mixture (liquids included). Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and gently mix them in — you’ll have a thick batter. Fold in the cherries and cranberries.
5) Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and seal the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Set the pan into the stock pot and fill the pot with enough hot water to come one-half to two-thirds of the way up the sides of the baking pan. Bring the water to a boil, then cover the pot tightly with foil and the lid. Lower the heat so that the water simmers gently, and steam the pudding for 2 hours. (Check to make sure that the water level isn’t getting too low; fill with more water, if necessary.)
6) Carefully remove the foil sealing the pot — open the foil away from you to protect your arms and face — and then take off the foil covering the pan. To test that the pudding is done, stick a skewer or thin knife into the center of the pudding — the skewer or knife should come out dry.
7) To remove the pudding from the pan (a tricky operation), I find it easiest to carefully empty the water into the sink, and then carefully ease the baking pan out on its side. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let the pudding cool for 5 minutes. Detach the pudding from the sides of the pan using a kitchen knife, if necessary, then gently invert it onto the rack. Allow the pudding to cool for 30 minutes.
8) If you’d like to flame the pudding — nothing’s more dramatic — warm 1/3 cup of brandy, cognac or rum in a saucepan over medium heat. Pour the warm liquid over the top of the pudding, and then, taking every precaution that Smokey Bear would, set a match to the alcohol. When the flames die out, cut the pudding into generous pieces. Actually, there’s so much fruit in the pudding, the only way to cut neat slices is to make the slices generous. Serve the pudding warm with whipped cream, ice cream or apple sauce. Alternatively, you can cool the pudding completely, wrap it very well in several layers of plastic wrap and refrigerate it for up to two weeks. When you are ready to serve, butter the pan the pudding was cooked in, slip the pudding back into the pan, seal the pan with foil, and re-steam for 45 minutes. Yield: 8 to 10 servings.








Baby Jesus Birthday Cake















Christmas Pudding

Maple, Walnut and Fig Bread

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Continuing with the theme of something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue, I've selected a quick bread to represent the "new" portion of my quartet today. The bread, which comes from a newly revised edition of the cookbook, Amy's Bread, is made with maple syrup, walnuts and figs. The book and the bread are both new to me and thus met the criteria I'd established for classifying a recipe as new. For better or worse, I've developed the habit of perusing cookbooks at the library before buying them. If a book has at least 10 recipes that I find interesting, I'll bring it home and test 2 or 3 of the selections I've made. If they work to my satisfaction, I'll buy the book. Otherwise, I return the book and move on to greener pastures. The approach has saved me a fortune in cookbook costs, and I highly recommend the practice to those who share my love of cooking and the books that expand our horizons. As it happens, while I really liked this bread, I didn't buy the book. It is much like other books already available in a saturated market and it didn't open new doors for me. I'm also beginning to sense that the bread craze, like the cupcake craze before it, may be coming to an end. There is only so much variation possible with flour, yeast and water and there are a lot of angels dancing on the head of the proverbial pin right now. Save for lining the pan with parchment paper to prevent the loaves from sticking, there are no tricks to making this quick bread. It is easy to make and delicious, though the cost of its ingredients quickly mount up and that expense may be off-putting to some. Those of you who like nut breads will love this one. Here's the recipe.

Maple Walnut and Fig Bread...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Amy Scherber, Toy Kim Dupree and Aimee Herring

Ingredients:
2 cups dried figs, diced
1/2 cup warm water (85º to 90ºF)
2-2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1-2/3 cups cake flour
1-3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1-2/3 cups maple syrup, divided use
1-1/3 cups whole milk
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup canola oil
2 cups toasted walnut pieces

Directions:
1) Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease two 9x 5-inch loaf pans. Line bottom of each pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
2) Place diced figs in a medium bowl. Add warm water and let soak until softened.
3) Whisk all-purpose flour, cake flour, oats, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
4) Combine maple syrup, milk, eggs, egg yolks, and oil in a medium bowl, stirring until combined.
5) Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients, stirring with a spoon just until all of the flour is moistened. This should be a wet batter. Oats will absorb a lot of moisture during baking.
6) Fold walnuts and figs into the batter (figs need not be drained). Divide the batter evenly between two prepared pans. Bake for about 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in center of loaves comes out clean. (If your oven bakes unevenly, rotate the pans about halfway through the baking time.)
7) Remove the pans from oven and use a pastry brush to glaze tops of the loaves generously with reservered 1/3 cup maple syrup. Set pans on a rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Turn the loaves out of the pans and set them on the rack to cool completely before serving.
8) Wrap any leftovers tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature. They may also be frozen, wrapped first in aluminum foil and then in plastic wrap or a heavy-duty freezer bag. Yield: 2 loaves.

You might also like these recipes:
Vanilla Bean Banana Bread - Baking Bites
Cardamom Crumb Cake - A Whisk and A Spoon
Best Apple Bread - You Made That?
Apple Cinnamon Bread - Two Peas and Their Pod
Black Walnut Pumpkin Bread - Never Enough Thyme
Quick Bread Round-Up - One Perfect Bite
5 Quick Breads for Holiday Food Gifts - What's Cookin Chicago?

This post is being linked to:
Smiling Sally - Blue Monday