Peanut Butterscotch Chews

This was the Food Porn Friday recipe for the week. It was my turn to pick and I confess I forgot so this was more of an impulse choice than an informed wish to increase my baking skills. I was totally sucked in by the butterscotch in the title and the fact that I had everything I needed to make it in my pantry already, always a bonus.

These were more peanuty than butterscotch in my opinion but were still pretty tasty. Easy to put together, held together well when cut into bars, overall a good bar cookie. I think that the next time I will drizzle a little semi sweet chocolate over the top to balance some of the peanut taste but they were still good without. I did have to adjust the baking time and temp and have written the recipe to reflect those changes. Maybe it was my oven so take that under advisement.

Peanut Butterscotch Chews
Baking in America-Greg Patent

1 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 T. (1/2 cube) butter
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 c. evaporated milk
1 large egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/3 c. dry roasted peanuts, finely chopped

Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 8 in square baking pan and set aside.

Sift the flour, soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a bowl and set aside.

Melt the butter in a med. saucepan over med. heat. Add the brown sugar and stir constantly with a wooden spoon for 1 minute or until the mixture starts to smell kind of toasty. Add the evaporated milk and blend well. Bring mixture to a boil. Cook while stirring constantly for exactly 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool to warm.

Beat the egg with a fork in a cup; add to mixture and blend until smooth. Add vanilla and blend well. Stir in the flour mixture only until incorporated, then add the peanuts. Spread the batter evenly in the pan.

Bake for approx 30 min, until a toothpick comes out moist with a few crumbs sticking to it. Do not overbake-bars are intended to be very moist. Cool on wire rack for 5 minutes, them tamp down the sides of the cake with your fingertips to level it. Cool completely and cut into squares.

Shannon's Gammie's Lemon Bars

Woo! Food Porn Friday rises again! Hopefully. If we can get our acts together.

This week rather than choosing a recipe from our books Shannon was kind enough to share a family recipe from her Gammie with us. It is so fun to see her grandmother's handwriting on the recipe card. It reminds me of my own Grandma's handwriting and the good memories I have of awesome deliciousness coming out of her kitchen for the long car rides home from her house. I imagine that her recipe cards looked very similar...well that is if she actually wrote things down. Her chocolate chip cookie recipe is lost forever. Flashlight Girl (Julie, my sister) actually has come close to duplicating them but they are still slightly different. ANYWAY...

Lemon Bars. I love them but have had poor luck finding a recipe that I liked enough to do more than once so I usually content myself with indulging when they are brought to me as a gift or I find them at pot lucks. This recipe is quick and easy enough that I will probably just do my own now. :) This makes me very, very happy!

Things I learned:
1. Pyrex shatters into dust when tapped just right with a lid from another pan. My favorite frog dish is now just a fond memory.
2. Always double check the recipe if it doesn't seem quite right, you may have omitted something vital like sugar.
3. If you have an heirloom like a recipe card written in your Grandma's handwriting take care of it. It can never be replaced, it's truly priceless.

Shannon's Gammie's Lemon Bars

1 c. butter
1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 c. flour
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
4 T. flour
4 T. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt

1. Mix powdered sugar, flour and butter with mixer until crumbly. Press into bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of 9x13 buttered baking dish. Bake 20-25 min in 350 degree oven.
2. Beat eggs, sugar, flour, lemon juice and salt together. Pour over baked crust. Bake 25 minutes in 350 degree oven.
3. Sprinkle top with powdered sugar while still hot.

Bulgur Bread

This bug has been a doozy; I've been fighting it for almost 2 weeks now but in the interest of keeping up with my personal goal for Food Porn Friday I figured I should bake this bread today. After all, how hard is bread? It's time consuming to wait for the raising but it isn't really hard so I should be able to handle it.


Melissa choose this recipe and I honestly wasn't sure what bulgur was, I knew it had something to do with wheat but wasn't sure where I would find it or how involved preparing it would be. Turns out it's basically cracked wheat cereal...who knew! Anyway, I used Bob's Red Mill brand bulgur that I found at Smith's but after using it I've decided that you could totally sub whatever cracked wheat cereal you can find. Personally I like the Red Rose brand. :) As far as the bread goes, this is a very good whole wheat bread for people that like the rustic version of bread with the little nuggets of chewy goodness in it. I enjoy it, Randy not so much (he's a Wonder bread fan at heart). It's a definite do again. I do like that it only makes 2 loaves and it can fit in your Kitchen Aid.

Bulgur Bread
2 loaves
Baking in America-Greg Patent

2/3 c. med bulgur
1 1/3 c. unsweetened apple juice
2 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
2 1/4 tsp fast rise active dry yeast
1 c. warm water
2 large eggs
2 1/2 c. bread flour or unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 c. veg oil
2/4 T. water
4 tsp. salt

1. Combine the bulgur and apple juice in medium saucepan and bring to a boil over med heat, stirring occassionally. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally until bulgur is tender and juice is absorbed, about 10 min. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. In a mixer bowl stir together the whole wheat flour and yeast. Add the warm water and eggs.
3. Beat on medium speed with the paddle attachment 4 minutes. Scrape bowl and beater. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temp until double in volume, about 1 hour.
4. Add the bulgur, 2 1/2 c bread flour, oil, 2 T water and salt. Attach dough hook and knead on low for approx 8 minutes until dough cleans the sides of the bowl and is moist, elastic, and only slightly sticky. If dough is too sticky add a little flour, if it's too dry add some of the remaining 2 T water.
5. Lightly oil a large bowl or coat with cooking spray. Scrape the dough into the bowl, turning to coat. Pick up dough and form a smooth ball. Return dough to bowl, cover tightly and let rise until almost tripled in volume, 1 1/2 hours.
6. Butter or spray with non stick spray 2 loaf pans. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat gently to remove any air bubbles. Divide dough in half and shape each piece into a loaf. Place in pans. Cover loosely with lightly sprayed plastic wrap and set aside at room temp until the centers have risen 1 1/2 -2 inches above the rims of the pans. (1 hour)
7. About 30 minutes before loaves are ready to bake put oven rack in lower third position and preheat oven to 375 degrees.
8. Bake for 35-45 minutes until loaves are well browned ; they won't rise much. Cool on wire racks, then wrap airtight. Bread freezes well for up to 3 weeks.

Banana Split Layer Cake with Chocolate Frosting

This is LAST week's Food Porn Friday pick. I'm getting farther and farther behind! Actually I've been sick so cooking anything has been at the very bottom of my priority list, way behind swallowing without feeling like I'm eating razor blades and keeping my fever down.

I chose this recipe for the group because I thought we needed some chocolate and of course I had bananas that needed to be used. I swear I'm going to do a post about 101 ways to use bananas one day. At any rate it was a GOOD choice. Bri and I had a hard time waiting for the cake to cool, we were ready to eat it without frosting or filling it smelled so good. It wasn't hard to put together, just kind of time consuming but now that I've done it once it should go much faster the next time. The only think I don't think I will do again is the frosting. I just really like my own recipe for Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting better.

*I don't typically have cake flour in my pantry so what I do is put 1 T cornstarch in the bottom of my 1 cup measuring cup and then spoon all purpose flour into the cup to make one cup. Sift it altogether and you will never know the difference.

Banana Split Layer Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Adapted from Baking in America-Greg Patent
16 servings

Filling
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. evaporated milk
2 large egg yolks
3 T. butter
1/4 c. mashed banana (1 med)
3/4 c. finely chopped walmuts (opt)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cake
3 cups sifted cake flour*
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter at room temp
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, separated
3 large eggs
1 cup mashed bananas (2-3 med)
1/2 cup buttermilk

Frosting
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
4 T butter
1/4 cup milk, plus more if needed
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. For the filling, stir together the sugar, evaporated milk, egg yolks, and butter in a medium heavy saucepan set over med heat. Cook, stirring occassionally with a heatproof rubber spatula until the butter is melted and the sugar dissolved. increase the heat to med-high and stir constantly, scraping the bottom, until the mixture boils and thickens and becomes opaque and tan. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the consistency of a thick cream sauce. Remove from the heat and stir in the mashed banana, walnuts, and vanilla. Let cool completely, stirring occasionally. (The filling can be made a day ahead, covered and refrigerated. Bring to room temp before using.)
2. For the cake, adjust two oven racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter or grease three 9 inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms with rounds of waxed paper or cooking parchment. Butter the papers and dust the bottoms of the pans with flour. Knock out the excess and set aside.
3. Resift the flour with the baking soda and salt; set aside
4. In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 1 minute, until smooth. Add 1/4 cup of the sugar and the vanilla extract and beat on med high speed for 1 minute. Beat in 1 1/4 more cups of the remaining sugar 1/4 cup at a time, beating for about 15 seconds after each addition, then beat for 5 minutes. Add the egg yolks and beat for 1 minute. Add the whole eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each. Beat in the banana on medium speed.
5. on Low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour and beating only until the batter is smooth.
6. With clean beaters, beat the 2 egg whites in a medium bowl on medium speed until they form soft drooping peaks. Beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar 1 T at a time, beating 15 seconds after each addition. Increase the speed to medium high and beat only until the whites form shiny peaks that curl slightly at their tips. using a large wide rubber spatula, fold the whites gently into the batter only until no whites show. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans. To level the batter, rotate the pans brikly on your countertop.
7. Place the pans in the oven, two on the upper rack and one on the lower. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the layers are golden brown and spring back when gently pressed in the center. (The layer in the bottom rack with be done first.) Cool in the pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Run the tip of a small knife around the sides of the layers to release them, cover with wire racks, and invert. Carefully lift off the pans and the papers. Replace the papers on the bottoms, and flip cake right side up and cool completely.
8. For the frosting, melt the chocolate with the butter in a small heavy saucepan over very low heat, stirring occasionally with a whisk. Whisk in the milk, place the powdered sugar in a medium bowl, add the chocolate mixture, and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until very smooth. Beat in the cocoa and vanilla, then beat on medium speed until thick and smooth. The frosting should be spreadable; beat in a few droplets of milk if necessary.
9. To frost the cake, place one of the layers upside down on a cake plate and peel away the paper. using a narrow metal spatula, spread the layer with half of the banana filling. Remove the paper from a second layer and set it upside down on the filling. Spread with the remaining filling. Place the last layer right side up on top. Spread the chocolate frosting on the sides and top of the cake. let stand until the frosting has set.

Vanilla Lemon Cheesecake with Raspberry Topping

This is the FPF recipe for LAST week...obviously I was time challenged yet again. Actually, it's a bit more complicated than just simple procrastination. This week's recipe required "yogurt cheese" to be made before you actually started on the cheesecake. Well that was a totally foreign thing for me and I started it on Thursday just like the recipe said. I bought the exact yogurt that the recipe called for and waited with baited breath for 18 hours. Nothing happened...no draining of whey, no cheese, just yogurt in a dishtowel over a strainer exactly like it was the day before. I went back to the grocery store and was unable to find a substitute yogurt without any gelatin type additives so I had to improvise. I ended up getting Greek yogurt (plain) and some Haagen Dazs French Vanilla ice cream, melted the ice cream and mixed it together and then started over and crossed my fingers. It worked! It was actually kind of a fun little science project to watch the whey drain away and see a soft cheese form. You can use this cheese as a substitute for cream cheese in a lot of recipes and it might be a fun thing to do with your kids. Mine were unimpressed but they probably would have liked it before they became all mature and cool and stuff.

Anyway, the cheesecake finally got put together and although I think that the original recipe was intended to be sweeter and more vanilla-y this was a pretty good improv in my opinion. I used Biscoff biscuits for the crust because I couldn't find chocolate wafers and they were yummy, I may forgo graham crackers in the future completely as they were so tasty. The cheesecake itself had a light lemon flavor and was more dense than I expected, really very good all in all. I couldn't find raspberries in syrup and was too lazy to make raspberry sauce (obviously) but as I was eating it I was thinking that it would be super yum with an assortment of fresh fruit topping. Next time...

Here's the recipe. Plan ahead as you realistically won't eat this for 48 hours after you start the cheese process.

Vanilla Lemon Cheesecake with Raspberry Topping
Baking in America-Greg Patent

1 2 lb container low fat vanilla yogurt (I used 32 oz plain Greek yogurt and 2/3 c. melted French Vanilla ice cream

Crust:
15 chocolate wafer cookies (I used 17 Bischoff biscuits)
2 T dry bread crumbs
1 large egg white

Filling:
1 8 oz Neufchatel cheese, at room temp
1 c. light sour cream
1/2 c. sugar
3 T. cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
finely grated zest of one lemon
2 T fresh lemon juice

Topping:
1 c. light sour cream
1 T sugar
1 large egg white
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 10 oz pkg frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed

1. Rinse a large square of cheesecloth, squeeze out the excess moisture, and line a strainer with it. Set the strainer over a deep bowl, place the yogurt in the strainer, and refrigerate for 12-24 hours, covered loosely with plastic wrap to drain thoroughly. Discard the liquid, transfer the yogurt cheese to a covered container, and refrigerate until needed. (I used a flour sack dishtowel and twisted the top rather than using plastic wrap. I also periodically gave the dishtowel a gentle squeeze to help drain away the whey)

2. For the crust, adjust an oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Butter a 9 in springform pan; detach the sides and set aside.

3. Put the cookies in a zip lock bag and crush into fine crumbs with a rolling in. Add the bread crumbs and shake to combine well. In a small bowl beat the egg white with a fork to break it up. Add the crumbs and mix with the fork until thoroughly moistened. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the springform pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

4. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium until smooth. Add the yogurt cheese and beat for 1 minute. Add the sour cream, sugar, cornstarch, and salt and beat until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating only until thoroughly incorporated. Beat in the lemon zest and juice.

5. Reassemble the springform pan, turn the filling into the pan and spread it level. Bake for 45 minutes; the filling will be very soft and wobbly.

6. Meanwhile, for the topping, whisk together the sour cream, sugar, egg white and vanilla in a small bowl.

7. Gently spoon and spread the topping evenly over the cheesecake. Bake for another 15 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in for 1 hour more with door closed. Cool the cheesecake to room temp on a wire rack, then refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 8 hours or overnight before serving.

8. To serve, run a small sharp knife around the edges of the cake and carefully remove the pan sides. Rinse a knife in hot water and shake off the excess water before making each cut. Spoon some raspberries and syrup over each portion.

Apple Walnut Muffins

This is Food Porn Friday a couple of days late. For no discernible reason my weekend kind of got away from me. Time management obviously isn't my best skill.

Shannon was in charge of the recipe this week and she chose Dena's Great Apple Walnut Muffins from the Bakewise book. This was a much faster recipe to go together than last week which is a good thing and it used all ingredients that I already had in my pantry which was another plus. I hate it when I go to put something together and have to run to the store because I need some weird ingredient that I missed when I read through the recipe initially. Ok, I take that back, my oranges were scary so I skipped the orange zest but on a normal day I would have had one in the house.

I thought that the muffins turned out great. I liked how the whipped cream fluffed up the batter and made the whole muffin lighter in texture. I think that next time I will stir a bit more before I add the cream to develop a bit more gluten as the end result didn't hold together as well as I thought it should. You couldn't have taken these in the car on the way to work because they would be too messy. A little more gluten would help them hold together better as you eat them. I LOVED the big chunks of apples. I was a little leary of them when I realized how many were going to be in each muffin but they were the best part of the whole thing. I can totally see making this recipe with more toffee and chopped peanuts and calling it a Toffee Apple Muffin....but that's a post for another day.

Here's the recipe as written. I did sub pecans for the walnuts (I bet that surprises no one. )

Dena's Great Apple Walnut Muffins
Bakewise-Shirley Corriher
12 muffins

1 1/2 c. walnut pieces
3/4 tsp salt divided
1 Tbs butter
2 cups all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 c. sugar, divided
2/3 c. English toffee bits
2 large eggs
1/2 c. canola oil
1/2 c. buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
zest of 1 orange
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 1/2 cups peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped Fuji apples
nonstick cooking spray

1. Arrange shelf in lower third of oven, place baking stone on it, and preheat the oven to 350.
2. Spread the nuts out on a baking sheet, place in the oven on the stone, and roast for 10 minutes. While nuts are hot, stir in the butter and 1/4 tsp of the salt. When cool, coarsely chop and set aside.
3. Turn oven up to 425.
4. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the flour, baking powder, the remaining 1/2 tsp salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 2/3 c sugar for 30 seconds to blend well. Stir in the toffee bits by hand.
5. In a medium mixing bowl, stir the eggs with a fork, then stir in the oil, buttermilk, vanilla and orange zest.
6. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir together by hand. (this is where I would stir more)
7. In a cold bowl with cold beaters, whip the cream until soft peaks form when the beater is lifted. Beat just a little beyond this stage. Stir about one quarter of the whipped cream into the batter to lighten. Then fold the rest of the whipped cream into the batter.
8. Fold apples and roasted, chopped walnuts into the batter.
9. Spray your muffin pans with nonstick spray (like a lot; the sugar on the tops will make them stick to the top of the pan)
10. Fill the muffin cups almost full. Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 cup sugar on top of the muffins. Turn the oven down to 400 and leave the oven door open for about 10 seconds. Place the muffin tin in the oven on the hot stone and close the door. Bake until muffins are well risen and lightly browned, 15-20 minutes.
11. Cool muffins in the pan for about 5 minutes. Jar the edge of the pan on the counter to loosen and carefully transfer them to a cooling rack.

Tunnel of Fudge Cake

This is this week's Food Porn Friday attempt. I was lucky that any of the batter actually made it to the pan...it was pretty darned tasty. I may or may not have cleaned that beater right off without even offering any to my kids. I'm such a bad mom!

The recipe this week came from Bakewise by Shirley Corriher. This book is also a big girl's cookbook; not many pictures but the recipes are written in a very detailed, user friendly format that even I can't mess up. An added bonus is the cool science of baking and food information that is packed into every page. The tunnel cake recipe was used to illustrate the ways sugar effects food. The fudgey "tunnel" is created because the high sugar content doesn't allow the center to set with the given bake time and temperature. Also, the brown sugar intensifies the fudge flavor and roasted nuts are always a win in my opinion.

I did have a sticking issue, getting the thing out of the pan was a bit more challenging than I imagined it would be so don't skimp on the non stick spray. The sticking drama however is totally worth it after you taste the finished product. Holy yum! Super, super rich chocolaty flavor with almost a brownie texture "outside". We ate it at room temperature and you can see in the second picture that the "fudge" is still slightly wiggly. It's not Chili's Molten Lava Cake runny but I think I like this better actually. I loved the nuts and I'm not always sold on nuts in cake or brownies. Served with vanilla ice cream it would be pretty close to the perfect chocolate dessert. You might want to schedule a check up with your dentist for shortly after you indulge however! :)


Tunnel of Fudge Cake
Bakewise by Shirley Corriher

2 1/2 c. walnut pieces or mixed walnuts/pecans (I used all pecans because we don't like walnuts)
1 1/2 c. plus 2 Tbs unsalted butter, cut into 2 Tbs pieces, divided
3/4 tsp salt, divided
Nonstick cooking spray
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup canola oil
2 large egg yolks
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup natural cocoa powder
4 large eggs
2 1/4 cup spooned and leveled all purpose flour
Confectioners' sugar to garnish

1. Arrange a shelf in the lower third of the oven, place a baking stone on it, and preheat the oven to 350.
2. On a large baking sheet, roast the nuts for 10 minutes. Pour into a bowl, add 2 Tbs butter and 1/4 tsp salt and toss well. When cool, coarsely chop and set aside. (I just used pre chopped pecans and saved time)
3. Spray a 12 cup Bundt pan generously with nonstick cooking spray
4. With a mixer, beat the remaining 1 1/4 cup butter to soften and get to the fluffy stage. Add the granulated sugar, then the brown sugar, and continue to beat until light and airy. (This takes longer than you would think using cold butter) While beating, feel the bowl; if it does not feel cool, place in the freezer for 5 minutes, and then continue beating.
5. Beat in the remaining 1/2 tsp salt and the vanilla. Blend in the oil and egg yolks.
6. By hand, stir in the confectioners' sugar, then the cocoa powder.
7. By hand, one at a time, stir the eggs into the batter, with minimum stirring just to blend them into the batter well.
8. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour and roasted chopped nuts. Fold the flour-nut muxture into the batter and pour into the prepared pan. (Heating the pan in the oven for 5 minutes before you put the batter in helps ensure that you have a good 3/4 inch of well set cake to hold the fudge center.)
9. Bake for 45 minutes. You can't use the toothpick test for doneness because this cake has so much sugar that the center is not going to set, but remains a "Tunnel of Fudge" in the center. You are totally dependent on the correct oven temp of 350 and the 45 minute cooking time. (If your oven is sketchy with temps you should invest in an oven safe thermometer so you have a good feel for what is actually happening inside your oven...and a light that works is also good!
10. When you remove the cake from the oven, you can't see it but it will have a runny fudge core with an air pocket above the fudge. This air pocket is not desireable and will become a hole under the fudge when the cake is chilled. To minimize this pocket, about 20 min after you take the cake out of the oven, while still in the pan, press the inside and outside edges of the cake bottom down all the way around. This will press the whole bottom down and reduce the air pocket. Leave the cake in the pan until completely cooled. (2-3 hours) With a thin knife, loosen the cake around the edges. Place a platter on top of the pan and invert.
11. Cool completely. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar or drizzle with some tasty drizzle. Vanilla, chocolate or rum (the recipe is in the book) would all be good.

Russian Cake Bread

So, I have these friends...we met on a Weight Watchers message board several years ago and have become invisi-sistahs. We obviously all love food and have spent many an hour talking about completely non-Weight Watchers friendly food. Food porn we call it. Last week they had this great idea to pattern a group baking day after Tuesdays with Dorie so we all pulled out our matching cookbooks and decided to give it a whirl. The weekly event was dubbed "Food Porn Friday" and I am fairly certain that nothing healthy is ever going to come out of that particular day. We are dedicating it to baking and I've got to tell you I'm a little bit intimidated. Baking is my absolutely worst kitchen skill so it could make for some hilarious stories!

Today's recipe was Russian Cake Bread taken from Greg Patent's "Baking in America". I have to admit I've read the book almost cover to cover this week like it was a novel and there are some seriously mouth watering things in there. This is like a big girl's cookbook because there is a serious lack of pretty pictures but I'm persevering. I guess if I don't have a picture to compare the finished product to I can't be too horribly discouraged!

The texture is extremely cakelike, duh, cake bread, and it's very sweet. Bri loved it and is ready to make it again already. :)


Russian Cake Bread
recipe from Baking in America

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour, plus more if needed
1 1/4 oz pkg (2 1/4 tsp) fast rise active dry yeast
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp salt
8 Tbs unsalted butter
1 1/4 c. milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Stir together 1 cup of the flour, the yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir in the milk and heat the mixture until very warm (110-115 degrees). Reserve 1 Tbs of the beaten eggs for glaze. Add the remaining eggs, the warm milk mixture, and the vanilla to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until they are well moistened, then beat until the batter is smooth. Gradually addd the remaining 2 cups flour, beating until smooth after each addition.l The batter will be very thick and elastic. Add a bit more flour if necessary to bring the dough to the right consistency. Scrape the bowl, and cover it tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place (85-90 degrees) until doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
3. Stir the dough down with a wooden spoon, cover it, and let it rise again in a warm place until doubled, 45 min to 1 hour.
4. Butter 2 8.5x4.5x2.75 inch loaf pans. Divide the batter evenly between the pans. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled and very light.
5. Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 350.
6. Gently brush the loaves with the reserved egg; try not to let any egg run down between the dough and the sides of the pans, or the dough may stick and rise unevenly. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until the tops of the loaves are a deep golden brown and spring back when gently pressed. Cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes. Run a knife around each loaf to release it, and carefully remove from the pans. Set upright on wire racks to cool completely. To serve, cut the bread with a sharp serrated knife. Well wrapped the loaves freeze well for up to 1 month.