Cranberry Orange Pound Cake

I had a sample at Kneaders the other day and thought I'd try finding a recipe to recreate the yumminess. I tried several different recipes and this one comes pretty close! I used my new Demarle at Home charlotte mold - easy and I didn't have to worry about them sticking to my pans. YAY! I used a large ice cream scoop to divide the batter and did have a little left, so I baked that in a mini loaf pan.

-Modified from Sophistamom

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature


4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature


¾ cup sugar


zest of 1 orange

2 eggs


3 drops orange essential oil + 1 tsp. orange juice or 1 tsp. orange juice concentrate

1 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (use bread flour or Better for Bread flour if at high altitude)


¾ teaspoons baking powder


¾ teaspoons salt


1 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, roughly chopped or ¾ cup dried cranberries:

Place ¾ cup dried cranberries in a small bowl and pour boiling water over to cover. Let the cranberries hydrate for about 15 minutes. Drain and pat dry

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Place Demarle at Home charlotte mold on perforated baking sheet or butter and flour a medium size loaf pan, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, cream cheese, and sugar. When mixer is light in color and fluffy, add in zest. With mixer on low, add in eggs, one at a time, incorporating well after each addition. Stir in orange oil.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until just incorporated. Fold in cranberries. Using a large ice cream scoop, divide batter into charlotte molds or pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake charlotte cakes for 25 minutes or loaf pan for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven. Place cakes on a wire rack to cool. After about 5 minutes, remove cakes from pans, and let cool on the wire rack. While still warm, drizzle with orange glaze (recipe follows). Serve warm or at room temperature.

Orange Glaze

3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar


1 tablespoon melted butter


zest of 1 orange


2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Add more juice or sugar to achieve desired consistency.

No-Knead Artisan Bread

I love my Demarle molds! I've been trying for a long time to get a crispy crust on my artisan loaves; steam trays, spraying the sides of the oven, ice cubes, etc... This recipe comes from the Demarle website and I tried it out in my large round mold + octagonal silpat. Success!! I do find the longer you can leave your loaf in the oven, the deeper the crust will be and the more likely it won't soften on you. Plan ahead - this takes awhile!

-Demarle at Home

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting

¼ tsp. active dry yeast

1 ½ tsp. salt

1 ½ cups water

Flour, Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

Yields one 1 ½ pound loaf.

In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 18 hours, at warm room temperature. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. (Optional: at this point fold in any add-ins; Kalamata olives, roasted garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, cheese, nuts and dried fruit, etc)

Place Large Round Mold on your perforated baking sheet. Flour Roul 'Pat and pour "dough" on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself and press. Repeat 3 times, rotating dough on Roul'Pat each time. This dough is very sticky at first so don't be shy to use extra flour as needed.

Gently pick up dough and place in Large Round Mold, covering with Octagonal Silpat. Let rise for 2 hours. When dough is almost ready: Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Bake 30 minutes, then remove carefully Octagonal Silpat and bake another 4-6 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. (You can remove the bread at this point, but if you turn off the oven and open the oven door and allow the bread to slowly cool and let the moisture escape, it will produce a more crispy crust.

For Cheese Bread: 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 cup shredded cheese, beaten egg to glaze, 2/3 grated cheese for topping.

Pumpkin Roll

One of my all-time favorites for the fall season! Using the Demarle at Home products make this so much easier!

-Libby's, slightly modified to fit my spice tastes

¾ cup all purpose flour

½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground cloves

¼ tsp. allspice

¼ tsp. salt

3 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup pure pumpkin

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped (optional)

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

Additional powdered sugar, optional

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and place oven rack in center position. Place Deep Flexiflat on Perforated Baking Sheet and set aside.

2. In Mixing Bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and salt and set aside. Beat eggs and sugar in separate Mixing Bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture and spread evenly onto Flexiflat. Sprinkle with nuts if desired.

3. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the top of the cake springs back when touched. Let cool 3 minutes – no more. Unmold cake onto Silpat and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Begin rolling both the cake and Silpat and lay it so that the end is on the bottom, so it doesn't unroll. Place on cooling rack and let cool completely.

4. For the filling, beat cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla in a small bowl until smooth. Carefully, unroll the cake. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the cake, but not all the way to the ends as it will be squeezed out when you roll it. Re-roll the cake. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Can be made up to 24 hours in advance. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Monkey Bread

This year for Conference, we made monkey bread instead of our usual doughnuts. Yummy!
*Don't fill your bundt pan more than ¾ full. If you have dough left over, make a few cinnamon rolls.

-Sally's Baking Addiction

DOUGH

         1 package (2 and 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast

         1/4 cup warm water (110F-115F)

         1 and 1/4 cups warm 2% milk (110F-115F, 2% or higher milk fat, no lower)

         1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

         1/4 cup granulated sugar

         2 large eggs

         1 teaspoon salt

         5 cups all-purpose flour

COATING

         3/4 cup unsalted butter

         1 and 1/4 cups granulated sugar

         1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

         2/3 cup light or dark brown sugar

         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

VANILLA GLAZE

         1 cup (120g) confectioners' sugar

         3 Tablespoons (45ml) heavy cream (or milk for a less creamy texture)

         1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.Make the dough: In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir it around a bit and let it sit for about 2 minutes. Add the milk, melted butter, sugar, eggs, salt, and 3 cups of flour. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes (using a dough hook if you have a stand mixer or using a hand mixer). By hand add enough remaining flour to form a firm dough. About 5 cups total.

2.Turn the dough onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Do not over-knead, which will yield a tough, chewy bread. The dough is ready when it is smooth and when you can poke it with a finger and it springs back. Form dough into a smooth ball and place into a large greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. I greased the bowl with cooking spray. Cover tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

3.Make the coating: melt 1/2 cup of butter in a small bowl. Mix granulated sugar and cinnamon together in another small bowl. Set aside. You will use the rest of the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla later.

4.Spray a 10-12 cup bundt pan with cooking spray. Set aside. Punch the cold dough down very gently to allow the air bubbles to release. Pull apart pieces and roll into balls, about 1.25 inches in diameter. You will need 40-45 balls total, so be modest with their size. Dip each ball, one by one, in the melted butter and then generously roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat them. You may need more cinnamon-sugar depending how heavy you coat each ball. Arrange them in the bundt pan as you go.

5.Preheat oven to 350F. Melt the remaining 1/4 cup of butter and whisk in the brown sugar and vanilla until combined. Pour the buttery mixture over the dough balls in the bundt pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown on top. Cover loosely with foil if the top browns too quickly. Cool for 5-10 minutes and invert onto a large serving plate.

6.Top with the glaze. Simply whisk all of the glaze ingredients together and pour over the bread. You may either cut the bread into generous slices or let everyone pick off the gooey pieces themselves. Monkey bread tastes best served on the same day, but will stay fresh for 3 days if stored covered at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

Baked Ziti

My family prefers this meal over lasagna. It freezes well and is a winner when I need to take in a meal to a friend. Makes 2 8x8 pans, or one large 9x13.

-Six Sisters Stuff, modified

1 lb. dry rigatoni or ziti pasta
1 onion, chopped
½ lb. ground beef (season with salt, pepper, onion powder)
½ lb. ground italian sausage
2 (26 oz.) jars spaghetti sauce (I like Classico)
8 slices provolone cheese
1 ½ cups sour cream
6 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook until al dente, about 7-8 minutes; drain.

In a large skillet, brown onion, ground beef and sausage over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 8x8-inch pans with non-stick cooking spray. Layer as follows in each pan: ¼ of the pasta, ¼ of the sauce, 4 slices of Provolone cheese, ½ of sour cream, ¼ of pasta, ¼ mozzarella cheese and ¼ of sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese and remaining mozzarella cheese.

If freezing, let cool, cover with foil, and place in freezer. To thaw, place in refrigerator at least 24 hours in advance.
If baking immediately, bake covered for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.
When baking cold from refrigerator, 45 min.
When baking from frozen, 90-120 min.