High-Rise Cornbread Loaves

Take everything you know about cornbread and erase it from your mind. We're starting over today! This cornbread recipe is a yeast bread, not a snacking cake. That means it's light and fluffy and perfect for sandwiches. Not like the Jiffy box or Marie Callender's version. Not to be eaten with a fork, though you could still serve it with chili. And you can still slather butter or drizzle honey on it. Ok, so I guess it has more in common with its traditional cornbread counterpart, afterall.


The recipe comes from breadmaster Sharon Tyler Herbst in a cookbook I was borrowing from my mom. I was so impressed with it, as were my guests (um, it was quite a low-carb-diet-breaking scene to behold!!), that I went on eBay and bought the book for myself! Very sadly, Herbst passed away much too soon in her life, but her bread leadership and legacy will be honored each time I bake another incredible recipe from her book.


High-Rise Cornbread
Adapted from a recipe by Sharon Tyler Herbst in the first edition (1987) of Breads
Makes 2 loaves

1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup honey
2 (1/4-oz.) active dry yeast (2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup warm water (110F, 45C)
2 eggs, room temperature
4-3/4 to 5-1/4 cups all purpose or bread flour
1 tablespoon butter, melted
3 tablespoons yellow cornmeal

In a small saucepan, combine milk, 2 tablespoons butter and salt. Over medium heat, bring to a simmer. It's ok if the butter does not completely melt. Remove from heat. Slowly whisk in 3/4 cup cornmeal, stirring until smooth. Stir in honey. Set this cornmeal mixture aside to cool.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine brown sugar and yeast in water and stir to dissolve. Let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. Add eggs, cooled cornmeal mixture and 1 to 1-1/2 cups flour. Beat at medium speed for about 2 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. As soon as the dough pulls away from the pan, stop adding flour.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough 8 to 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place dough in greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover with a slightly damp towel. Let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

When risen, punch down dough; knead 30 seconds. Grease 2 (9”x5”) loaf pans. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon cornmeal over bottom and sides of each pan. Divide dough in half, shape each half into a loaf and place in prepared pans. Allow to rise 30 to 45 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Slash tops of loaves as desired. Brush with melted butter; sprinkle with remaining cornmeal. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped on bottom. Remove loaves from pans. Cool on racks.


Step-by-Step in Pictures
Heat milk, butter, and salt together...

Remove from heat. Whisk in cornmeal...

Stir in honey and set aside to cool...

In a stand mixer, stir yeast and brown sugar in water to dissolve. Let stand until foamy...

Add eggs, cooled cornmeal, and some of the flour...

Add enough flour to create a soft dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl...

Knead the dough on a floured work surface and place in a greased bowl to rise until doubled in bulk...

Prepare loaf pans and gently knead the dough...

Divide the dough into two parts to make two loaves. Fold each part like a letter...

Pinch to seal...

Roll ends up and pinch to seal...

Turn loaves over and place into prepared pans...

Cover and let rise for 30 to 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk...

Slash the top, then brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cornmeal...

Bake at 375 degrees F for 30 to 35 minutes, until hollow-sounding when tapped on the bottom. Let cool to lukewarm, then slice and serve!

Notice the flecks of yellow cornmeal in the crumb! Perfection!

Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting and Fleur de Sel

Last year, I attended a talk by a cookbook author at Omnivore Books on Food in San Francisco (an amazing bookstore in one of my favorite neighborhoods of the city - Noe Valley!). The talk was led by Christie Matheson, someone who became so fascinated by salts that she wrote an entire cookbook using various kinds of salts in dessert recipes. It made for a really interesting bookstore discussion. Christie described the difference between Maldon sea salt and fleur de sel and smoked sea salt and all sorts of other types I didn't know existed. I had no idea salt could be an entire new baking adventure. I did, however, know that I loved the taste of sea salt. I also knew that I loved the Chex Mix flavor that combines sweet with salty ingredients, officially and lovingly referred to as Chex Mix Sweet 'n Salty. Don't leave me alone with a bag of that.


It's no secret I love peanut butter and chocolate together. So naturally, when I discovered the photo in Christie's book of these peanut butter cupcakes with a hefty dollop of chocolate frosting, I couldn't turn the page. I stopped in my tracks and my face started to melt. Face melt! These cupcakes were destined to become the next thing I bake. And oh boy, they are delicious! Thank you, Christie! The sprinkling of fleur de sel on the top makes this the perfect marriage of salty and sweet. Wedded bliss. Holy matrimony. And all that jazz.


Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting and Fleur de Sel
Adapted from a recipe by Christie Matheson in Salty Sweets
Makes 12 regular size cupcakes or at least 24 mini cupcakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (regular, not natural)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk (I used 1% and it worked just fine)
Chocolate Frosting (see recipe below)
Fleur de sel or chopped salted peanuts for sprinkling (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Use paper liners to line a 12-cup muffin pan, or just grease the inside of each cup. You can also use a mini muffin tray. You'll make a lot more this way. I made about two trays of mini-sized.

2. In a medium-size bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. Using a stand mixer, beat together the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium speed. The mixture will look light and creamy. Shouldn't take more than 2 minutes..

4. Add the one egg and beat for about 30 seconds. If the mixture has climbed up the sides of the bowl, scrape it back down. Then add the vanilla and beat for a minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.

5. Starting with the flour mixture, alternate between adding the flour mixture and the milk, dividing the flour mixture into three portions and the milk into two portions. Don't overmix. As soon as the mixture comes together, you're done. Turn the mixer off! Walk away from the mixer! :)

6. Pour the batter into the cupcake liners or greased cups, filling each cup three-quarters of the way up the sides. If making regular sized cupcakes, bake for 18-20 minutes. If making mini-sized cupcakes, check the cupcakes for doneness after about 10 minutes. They will bake really fast when they are tiny. You'll know the cupcakes are done when the tops are golden and firm to the touch. Stick a cake tester or toothpick into the center and it should come out clean. Remove from the oven and leave the cupcakes in the pan to cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Then transfer the cupcakes to the rack to cool completely before frosting.

7. Prepare the frosting, then frost each cupcake with an offset spatula or use a piping bag and a large round or star tip. Sprinkle the top of each frosting mound with fleur de sel or chopped salted peanuts. The cupcakes will be their freshest for up to two days. Beyond that, they'll still be enjoyable, but drier, especially the mini-sized. They'll keep in the freezer really well if wrapped tightly.


Chocolate Frosting
Makes about 1 cup (enough to frost about 12 regular-size cupcakes or the equivalent in mini-cupcakes)

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1. Place the chocolate in a medium-size heatproof bowl, such as a glass bowl, and set aside. In a few minutes, you'll be pouring a cream mixture over this chocolate.

2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together the cream, butter, corn syrup, and salt. The mixture will melt the butter and dissolve the salt and be very hot but not boiling. Should take 5 minutes or less.

3. When the cream mixture is very hot but not boiling, immediately pour it over the chocolate waiting for you in that heat-proof bowl. Leave the mixture alone to heat the chocolate for 5 to 7 minutes. That means no stirring! Then whisk until completely smooth. Make sure there are no lumps of chocolate, especially if you're going to be piping the frosting, because little pieces of chocolate will clog up your piping bag and you'll be frustrated (Note: I'm speaking from experience, and boy was that frustrating! I couldn't figure out why the frosting wasn't coming out of the tip...until I found the chocolate culprit!). Chill the mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes, then beat with an electric mixer until the color changes to light brown and the texture is fluffy and spreadable. Store the frosting in the fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight container. If you do this, you'll need to bring it to room temperature before frosting the cupcakes, and possibly even remixing it with your electric mixer.


Step-by-Step in Pictures
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt; then set aside...

Beat together the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and peanut butter...

Add the egg and mix to combine...

Add the vanilla and continue beating...

Add the flour in three increments, alternating with the milk. Begin with flour...

Then add milk. Continue alternating, ending with flour...

Beat until smooth...

Fill each muffin cup three-quarters full...

Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes if making large cupcakes, and about 10 minutes if making mini-cupcakes...

To make the chocolate frosting, first heat together the butter, salt, heavy cream, and corn syrup...

When the cream mixture is very hot but not boiling, pour over the chopped chocolate in a heat-proof bowl...

Stir until melted and smooth, then chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. When ready to use, beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy ...

Spread or pipe the frosting onto each cupcake...

What Happens When a YouTube Celebrity Taste Tests My Baked Goods

Ok, maybe I'm using celebrity a bit loosely. But she's on her way.

So, a couple of days ago, I posted a recipe for Maple Walnut Brownies with Maple Glaze. But what I didn't mention was that I fed them to a YouTube personality for my first ever official on-camera taste test review!

Well, to be more clear, Alison Janes, a prolific YouTuber with a very big sweet tooth and platinum blonde locks (and overall high cuteness factor), asked me if I'd bake her a dessert. And I did! These maple brownies. And spoiler alert...she really liked them! Music to my ears!

You can follow Alison's entire YouTubing adventure at her channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/maltesebluebird.

But right now, let's go straight to the super important stuff: her review of the maple brownies. The review begins at 1:44 in the video.



Think Oprah should be next on my list of video taste test reviews? Reach for the stars, they say!

Maple Walnut Brownies with Maple Glaze

I grew up loving the flavor of maple because my mom is addicted and fed us kids maple-infused foodstuffs regularly. I've made maple desserts before. Try the Northern Maple Nut Pie on Happy Go Marni. Heaven. Or the Maple Walnut Cookies. Delicious. And as I've preached before, don't you dare use Aunt Jemima as a substitute for real maple syrup in these recipes! Not only is it tragedy, it's illegal! I'm going to call the Maple Police if you do that.

This maple-walnut brownie has a third of a cup of maple syrup in the recipe. And that's only for an 8-inch square baking pan! The raw batter was super mapley. Mmmm. I could have eaten the entire batter without baking it.

If you see multiple maple syrups in the grocery store and you're not sure which to use when, go for Grade B for baking and Grade A for drizzling on your waffles and pancakes. The way I remember it is B is for Baking. Easy!

I often skip frostings and glazes in recipes because I'm either lazy or it cuts back on the calories and doesn't seem necessary. With these brownies, though, I highly recommend you go forward with the maple glaze. It adds so much, not only in flavor, but it moistens the brownie. And it's simple to make.

Hooray for another successful maple dessert! Mom is probably bursting with happy tears right now.


Maple Walnut Brownies with Maple Glaze
Adapted from a recipe on the King Arthur Flour website
Makes 16 two-inch brownies

Brownies
1 1/4 cups (5 1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (5 5/8 ounces) brown sugar
1/3 cup (3 1/4 ounces) maple syrup
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon maple flavor (you can use maple extract or imitation maple flavor, too)
3/4 cup (3 ounces) chopped toasted walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare an 8-inch square baking pan by lightly greasing the bottom and sides. If you want, line with foil and then grease. I did this so I could easily lift the bars out of the pan and cut on a cutting board (plus, it kept my pan nice and clean!).

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder; set aside.

In a medium saucepan set over the stove or a medium microwave-safe mixing bowl, melt the butter and brown sugar together. As soon as the butter is melted, remove from the heat and stir to wet the brown sugar and make a smooth mixture. Stir in the maple syrup. Let the mixture stand about 20 minutes or until it cools to lukewarm.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and stir to combine well. Then stir in the maple flavor. Gently fold in the dry ingredients but don't overmix. Fold in the walnuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes (it took me 21 minutes), just until the edges pull away from the sides of the pan. Don't overbake or the brownies will be dry. Err on the side of underbaking. :) Take the pan out of the oven and let cool on a cooling rack.

Once completely cool, cut into squares and drizzle the glaze on top. I placed the individual squares on a sheet of wax paper and then drizzled the glaze so the glaze didn't make a huge mess everywhere. Transfer the glazed squares to a container and place in the fridge for 20 minutes so the glaze can set.


Maple Glaze
1 cup (4 ounces) confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 to 2 tablespoons milk or cream

Place the confectioners' sugar in a small bowl or 4-cup measuring glass. Add the maple syrup and barely any milk or cream. Whisk together and determine if you should add more milk or cream. My glaze was liquidy enough for drizzling with only 1 tablespoon milk. You want the glaze to be able to pour easily but you don't want it so thin that it slides right off the brownie and into a puddle on the wax paper.


Step-by-Step in Pictures
Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder; set aside...

In a saucepan, melt together the brown sugar and butter...

Remove from the heat and stir in the maple syrup, then let cool to lukewarm...

Add the eggs, one at a time...

Add the maple flavor...

Fold in the dry ingredients...

Fold in the walnuts...

Pour into the prepared baking pan...

Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes, then let cool completely...

To make the maple glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar, maple syrup, and milk...

Stir until smooth and add more milk as necessary to make a pourable liquid...

Cut the brownies into squares and place on wax paper...

Drizzle the maple glaze on top and let set (you can place in the fridge to set more quickly)...

Enjoy!