Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Orange pull-apart bread....yummy!

Last week I mentioned that I was baking a pull-apart orange bread.  It turned out great....as a matter of fact, the kids had devoured almost half a loaf by the time I got to tasting it.  So in my books, if its a fav of the kids, its a "keeper" recipe.


I found this recipe online and am sure glad I did!  There are lots of great colourful photos and the instructions are so easy to follow.  I must say that I got  two loaves out of this recipe....not sure if my loaf pans are really small but the dough rose so lovely considering it was -30 C something outside!


Here is the recipe I used found here.
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Pull-Apart Orange Bread

Ingredients
2 envelopes active yeast (2 scant tablespoons)
1/4 cup warm water mixed with a pinch of sugar
1 cup scalded milk, cooled slightly
2 large eggs

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Finely grated zest of 2 oranges

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

Vegetable oil cooking spray, for bowl and tins

Method

1. In a mixing bowl, sprinkle yeast over sugar water; let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add milk, eggs, granulated sugar, salt, half the zest, and shortening. Slowly add flour, mixing until combined. Knead until shiny and elastic, 3 to 5 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl; cover with plastic. Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/4 hours.
2. If you’re making the dough the night before, like I did, so it is all set to roll and bake in the morning, this is the part where you can cover your dough and let it rise in the fridge overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make filling: In a small bowl, mix remaining zest, 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, and butter. On a well-floured work surface, gently knead dough 3 to 4 times to release air pockets. Roll out dough to an 18-by-14-inch rectangle, dusting with flour as needed. Brush some of the filling over bottom half; fold to enclose. Brush half with filling, and fold again to enclose. Let rest about 5 minutes.
4. Lightly roll out dough again to a 12-by-8-inch rectangle. Brush half with remaining filling, and fold. Cut into squares. Place squares in coated pan with layers facing up. Let rise until almost doubled in bulk, 12 to 15 minutes.
5. Bake until golden, about 30–35 minutes. Remove from oven; let rest 5 minutes in pan, then transfer loaf to a cooling rack.
6. Make a thick icing by whisking together remaining 2 cups confectioners’ sugar and the juice. Drizzle over loaf. Pull apart and taste pure heaven.

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Here are a couple photos from my own breadmaking session.




In the oven....smells yummy!


Ready to eat.....its still warm!

After the kids had some.

My two loaves drizzled with the glaze


Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Winter has officially arrived!

Winter has officially come with a vengence here in Saskatchewan.  Why just a week ago it was in the plus temperatures (plus 3 Celcius) to be exact.  Well this is what my thermometer read this morning.....


This is what winter temperatures can reach here in SK.  It is always a bit of a shock to the system when this happens.  School buses don't run and when that happens DD gets to stay home from school which is always a treat.  It is not the normal temperature for this time of year though.  I think the normal daytime high is -16 Celcius which to me right now would be kinda balmy.

Needless to say we are staying indoors and keeping busy with movies, crafts and baking.  Today I am making a yummy looking orange bread that if it turns out to be a keeper recipe I will post it next week.

Hope everyone is warm and comfortable wherever they are!

Monday, January 16, 2012

Happy New Year!

Wishing all of my readers a very Happy New Year!  May you all be happy and healthy in 2012!