Sweet tooth, glowing skin? Have your cake and eat it too!

Author

Sarah
July 09, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Good morning!

Mark your calendars, muffin lovers! National Blueberry Muffin Day is just around the corner, and you know what that means – it's time to whip up a batch of those gloriously plump, bursting-with-blueberry muffins we all adore!

THE MAIN COURSE

One of the reasons many people are intimidated by baking is that they love baked goods too much. It’s difficult to resist all the mouthwatering baked goods, so they think it’s best to avoid them altogether.

Luckily, enjoying cookies and cakes can be considered skincare if you know some healthy baked good recipes.

RISE TO THE OCCASION

There are 2 days left until National Blueberry Muffin Day

A SLICE OF INSPIRATION

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Thank you Stephan for another great recipe! Your homemade Italian bread looks amazing!

Homemade Italian Bread  

Starter:

  • 2 cups bread flour

  • 1/4 teaspoon Instant dry yeast

  • 1 cup water (room temp)

Dough:

  • 3 cups bread flour

  • 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast

  • 1 1/3 cup water (room temp)

  • 2 teaspoons salt

Wash and topping:

  • 1/4 teaspoon corn starch

  • 1/2 cup water

  • sesame seeds

  • cornmeal

Homemade Italian Bread Directions:

Starter:

  • Day before make the starter batch, it’s quick and easy, but it creates the breads flavor so don’t rush it.

  • Combine all ingredients in a medium to large bowl, and knead for a few minutes, forming a shaggy dough.

  • Coat the inside of the bowl with cooking spray (pam); this makes things easier later on.

  • Cover tightly with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let sit overnight 16 to 24 hours at room temp.

Dough:

  • Combine the flour, water and yeast in a mixing bowl.

  • Mix for 3-4 minutes and cover dough loosely with a towel; let the dough rest for 20 minutes at room temperature.

  • Coat a glass or plastic bowl with cooking spray prior to putting the dough back in it.

  • After 20 minutes, sprinkle one of the two teaspoons of table salt over the dough

  • Add the starter to the dough by using a spatula to help remove the starter.

  • Mix or knead for another 3 to 4 minutes to thoroughly mix the salt and the starter into the dough

  • Then add the other teaspoon of salt to the dough and continue to knead it for another 3-4 minutes.  Make sure the dough, the starter and the salt are throughly combined

  • Coat a larger glass or plastic bowl with cooking spray and place your dough in it and tightly cover with plastic wrap.

  • Let the dough rise for an hour at room temperature.  Then remove the plastic wrap and gently fold one side of the dough to the other, fold the top to the bottom.

  • Do NOT punch down the dough, but rather carefully folding it upon itself.  Recover tightly with plastic wrap – and repeat this process twice for a total of 3 hours of rising.

  • Flour your work surface and follow the video to braid your bread

  • Transfer the two loaves onto Parchment paper which you previously sprinkled cornmeal

  • Cover the loaves loosely with plastic wrap and let rise one hour

  • (pre-heat your oven to 500°F at least an hour before) place a tray with water in the rack under the baking stone

  • Bake for 10 minutes at 500°F then remove the parchment paper carefully turn loaves 180°

  • Lower heat to 400°F then Bake for another 20 to 30 minutes until loaves are a deep golden brown.  Tap the loaves on their bottom and if they are done they will sound hollow.

  • Remove the loaves to a wire rack to let cool.

  • Enjoy!

THE SIDES

Learning about old baking methods is a great way to go back to your roots. For me, comparing the differences between ancient and modern cooking is fascinating.

While using the right ingredient is essential to a successful bake, you can find effective substitutes for most components. These alternatives will offer excellent results without sacrificing quality.

There are several reasons why your carrot cake didn’t turn out as moist as you had hoped. You might’ve overbaked the cake, added too much flour, or used the wrong baking pan. But don’t worry; you can use a few simple methods to redeem the dry cake, from piping it with a moist filling or splattering a layer of cream cheese.

CHEW ON THIS

❝

“A balanced diet is a muffin in each hand.” – Unknown

THE LEFTOVERS

There are several aspects to breadmaking that warrant your full attention. You will want to knead out the dough, you will want to use the right amount of flour, and you will need to make sure that you allow your bread to rise properly.

If you’ve ever taken a home economics class, you already know that certain ingredients work together to produce certain effects in the foods we cook and this is especially true when you bake something in the oven. So, what exactly does baking soda do?

KEEP ON RISING

Still hungry for more baking knowledge? Dive deeper into past newsletters for tips and tricks you might have missed the first time around. Completely free and available 24/7!

STAY SWEET!

Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to read this newsletter. If you have any comments or question - just reply!

Happy baking!