For "Baking Week Oh-Ten", I first started off with everyone's favorite: Bagels! I took the easy route on this endeavor ("easy" considering I was making bagels from scratch) by mixing and kneading the dough in the bread machine. Two hours of T.V./random internet surfing later, I was shaping the dough into discs and then punching a hole in the middle to create the classic bagel/doughnut shape.
This all seemed on the straight and narrow until the actual baking/cooking process began. First, I baked the bagels, then boiled them, then baked them again. The first round of baking firmed up the bagels so they would be easier to boil. Once the pot of water got up to something between a simmer and a light boil (if that is such a term), I dropped the bagels in:
Who first thought it was a good idea to put partially baked bread into boiling water anyway? Not surprising, you know what happens when you add bread to water? That is correct, they get soggy. I now had a dozen soggy, very hot, partially cooked bagels (and some slightly scalded finger tips). Pretty ridiculous and unappetizing. The whole point of this step though is that it is the boiling process that gives bagels that awesome dense and chewy center. The longer the bagels are boiled, the more dense they will become, while just quick swim in the hot tub will allow the bagels to rise a bit more as they bake the second time in the over, resulting in less dense bread.
After the relaxing soak, it was time for the second bake. The end result: bageliciousness.
Not going to win any bagel beauty pageants at this point, but so, so, so very tasty.
The next three items were developed in a very roundabout way, so stay with me here. I had to give a presentation at work at 9am about how to use our fixed asset software (generally yawn inducing). We usually joke at work about how our training/education classes would be better with booze (because they would be). So using adult breakfast-style beverages as an inspiration, I set out to create Bloody Mary Muffins and a Tequila Sunrise Scones! (insert grandiose fanfare!)
The base of the bloody Mary Muffins was a tomato muffin recipe I found online that I modified to fit my theme as it called for Parmesan cheese and various spices that didn't fit in with the flavor profile I was going for. Once the muffins were cool, I topped them with a vodka and Tabasco Sauce powder sugar glaze and garnished with a small slice of celery and some fresh cracked pepper.
It turned out exactly how I envisioned it, and as far as I can tell, nobody else has come up with this yet, so here you have it: The World Premier of the Bloody Mary Muffin!
The Tequila Sunrise Scone was not as crazy as the muffins, but equally as awesome. I used a basic scone recipe, but added the zest of one entire orange and then pulverized and added the rest of the orange too. For a topping, I created a powder sugar glaze with tequila and orange juice. Very orange-y with a hint of tequila and, most important: very delicious.
There are some margarita flavor bakery items floating out there, but no scones from what I have seen. So once again, I'm calling it right here, right now: World's First Tequila Sunrise Scone. Bam. Batting 1.000.
And since I didn't think the muffins and scones were enough, and I waned to punish my oven just a little more, I decided on some Apple Pear Turnovers to round out the evening. The inspiration behind this was just looking around my kitchen and seeing what all I had available. Turned out it was some apples, pears and frozen puff pastry. So I diced up the apples and pears, added sugar, spices and flour to create a filling, rolled out the dough, and made some turnovers. To spruce the pastries up a notch, I topped the turnovers with a cinnamon maple buttercream frosting, which was good enough to eat by the spoonful out of the bowl.
Not a world premier here, but I'm still giving myself points for it tasting just so damn good. Booyah.
In the end, my back hurt, flour covered everything, my oven didn't want to play anymore, and I used every mixing bowl I had - twice. Oh, and the baked goods came out perfect, much to my enjoyment. De-freakin-lish.
So there you have it. Hope you enjoyed reading this first food shenanigan installment!
