Tuesday, October 2, 2012

An apology and a recipe!

Oh dear... Another four month radio silence on my part. I have no good excuses. And what's worse, I have to break the promise I made back in June of a tutorial for the hammock chair swing I made. I never got around to perfecting how it's hung, and as it was, it just wasn't right. And now that the back porch is filling up with the winter's firewood, the swing is now in storage for the winter. So sorry to anyone who was hoping for that tutorial.

Despite yet another hiatus, this blog still seems to be getting halfway decent traffic, which surprises me (in a good way!), especially since it's been 4 months since my last post! (Since then it's still gotten several hundred page views!) So welcome to any new readers! Please forgive my trend (which will probably continue, what with Baby Zoe due to arrive in a month and a half or less!) of long periods of time between posts. I have great ambitions to be an awesome blogger, but just haven't been able to put them into practice yet ;)

All that said, with the hopes of making up for the long break between posts and the lack of the promised tutorial, I want to share a recipe I invented today when struck with a craving for donuts. Pregnancy cravings are a bitch, especially when you live so far from town that it's not possible to just go to the store to satisfy them. Case in point- two weeks ago, after having a conversation about favorite Thanksgiving recipes, I caved and spent a Saturday cooking an entire Thanksgiving meal, just for the three (and a half) of us. A pregnant girl's gotta do what a pregnant girl's gotta do. So when a craving for donuts struck while trolling Pinterest, I knew the only way I'd get my fix was to get up off my bum and get in the kitchen. I didn't want to fry anything though, and decided that I wanted something lemony, so I came up with what is really a sweet, lemony challah recipe. Challah, a traditional Jewish bread, is light and fluffy and all around awesome, since it's enriched with lots of egg, and I figured it would lend itself nicely to a little extra sweetness and flavor. I used butter in mine, but if you're keeping kosher, just use veggie or canola oil instead. I decided to do these as rolls, rather than a traditional braided loaf, so that I could play around with toppings, and also so you get the most exposed surface area to get that awesome golden flaky crunchy crust that challah is famous for. You could always do a traditional braided loaf, or even just plop the dough in a greased loaf pan and call it good. The hardest part is waiting (and salivating!) while the dough rises!


Lemon Challah rolls- makes about 12 rolls

In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 2 1/4 tsp yeast (1 packet) and 1/2 cup *minus* 2 Tbsp warm water and let sit until the yeast is dissolved, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, lightly beat 2 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks. Add eggs to the yeast and water, then add 4 Tbsp salted butter, melted and slightly cooled (so it doesn't cook the egg when you add it), 5 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 cup all purpose flour, and 3 Tbsp lemon juice (fresh will be best, but I used bottled cause it's what I had).  Stir (by hand with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, or on low speed with the dough hook) until well combined. Gradually add 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, mixing by hand or with the dough hook on low speed, until the dough is smooth, firm, and quite elastic (adding about 1/4 cup flour more, if needed).  Cover and let rise until doubled in size, roughly 2 hours.

With lightly floured hands, turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead it a few times. Break off balls about the size of a lime and roll them into balls, place them on a floured surface or on parchment, cover again and let rest and rise for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  In a small bowl, whisk 1 large egg with 1 1/2 tsp sugar or honey.  Grease and sprinkle cornmeal on a baking sheet, or line a sheet with parchment, and place the rolls a couple inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.  Brush each roll with the egg wash, and bake until the crusts are a rich, dark, golden brown, and the bottoms sound hollow when tapped, about 20-25 minutes (when in doubt, go a little longer!)

In the last couple minutes of baking, combine 1 Tbsp melted butter and 1 tsp lemon juice. As soon as the completed rolls are cool enough to handle (but still quite warm), brush the crusts with the lemon butter, and roll them in sugar, and allow to cool (or chow down right away, depending on how patient you may or may not be!). Enjoy!

Edit: Now that we've had a chance to enjoy them, I just want to add- these are not as sweet as a donut, but I think that's a good thing! The lemon is subtle, so if you want them to really be lemony, add at least a tablespoon of lemon zest. I would have, had I had an actual lemon, but I just had bottled lemon juice so I went with what I had. If you want something really sweet, try a liquid glaze (like on a glazed donut). Yeast donuts in and of themselves are not very sweet at all, it's all in the topping, so keep that in mind if you're in the mood for something sweeter. Personally, the subtle lemony sweetness of these is perfect, not cloying or heavy. They'll be awesome as a breakfast roll (you can bet that's what I'll be having tomorrow!). They should be stored in an airtight container, either at room temp or in the fridge (that's up to you. I never refrigerate bread, but some do, and that's fine.).