treeskin

Found this while I was trolling for a recipe for my neighbor. They're rising on the stove right now; I'll let you know how they turn out. I'm going to leave the glaze out. As is, it's not Byron-safe, and we usually like such things unglazed.

Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls

Dough
1 lb sweet potatoes
1 T coarse kosher salt
1 c milk
1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs
7-8 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c warm water (105-115F)
3, 1/4-oz envelopes dry active yeast (about 2 T)
2 T sugar

Filling
9 T (1 stick plus 1 T) unsalted butter, room temperature
1⅓ c (packed) golden brown sugar
2½ T ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground nutmeg
3 T unbleached all purpose flour
1 c pecans or walnuts (if desired)
1 large apple finely chopped (if desired) --next time, I'll use 2 apples

Glaze
2 c powdered sugar
¼ c (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 T (or more) whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
⅛ tsp coarse kosher salt

Dough
Preheat over to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place potatoes on prepared baking sheet and bake for 45 min or until completely cooked. Remove potato skins and discard. Mash potato’s, add salt, milk and butter, mash until butter is melted. Whisk in eggs, then 1 cup flour; mash until very smooth. Let potatoes stand until barely lukewarm, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, pour ½ cup warm water into large bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment; stir in yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add potato mixture to yeast mixture; mix on low speed until well blended, 2 minutes. Using a dough hook mix in 5 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, beating well. Beat until sticky dough forms.

Spread ½ cup flour on work surface. Scrape dough out onto floured work surface. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 8 minutes.

Coat large bowl with butter. Transfer dough to bowl and turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, make filling:

Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour in medium bowl.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 425°F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Turn dough out onto well-floured work surface. Roll out dough to 24x16-inch rectangle. Melt butter and brush onto dough making sure to thoroughly cover the surface of the dough. Sprinkle filling, apple and nuts evenly over dough. Starting at 1 long side, roll up dough jelly-roll style, enclosing filling. Using large knife dipped in flour, cut roll crosswise into 18 pieces. Transfer rolls to baking sheet, spacing rolls about ¾ inch apart. Cover baking sheet loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, about 20 minutes (rolls will be very puffy).

Bake cinnamon rolls until golden, about 12 minutes. Cool rolls 5 minutes on baking sheet.

Meanwhile, make glaze:

Whisk powdered sugar, melted butter, 2 tablespoons milk, vanilla, and coarse salt in small bowl. If glaze is too thick to spread, add more milk by ½ teaspoonfuls as needed. Spread glaze over warm rolls.

Stuffed Focaccia/Stuffed Pizza

Just a heads-up: this makes a BIG batch of bread, that's nearly a meal by itself. It filled my pizza pan, and was 2" thick. Next time I make it, I'll try dividing it in halves or quarters, and adding more pizza-ish stuff.

From the BBC Food website.

For the dough:
750g/1½lb flour (approx 5 1/4 c)
2 sachets instant yeast (I use a tablespoon, which is a little much, but my yeast is a little old, too)
1 T sugar
warm water
large rosemary sprig, chopped

For the filling:
55g/2oz pine nuts
140g/5oz cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tub ricotta
110g/4oz grated parmesan
4 peppers, roasted and skinned and in put in olive oil, then sliced
small handful rocket leaves

I used tomatoes (6-7 romas, plus a medium-sized generic one), peppers, basil, and crumbled feta cheese for my filling...about 1 1/3 c cheese, and probably 2 c veggies, plus a generous handful of basil. So, close to a quart of stuff. It made a thin layer through the bread, just about right I though, but I'd double the amount, at least, if I were doing a stuffed pizza.

Combine the dough ingredients until you have a very sloppy dough (this takes about 2 c warm water. Tip out on to a well floured surface. Knead with more flour until the dough is very pliable. Leave in a well oiled bowl to rise to until trebled in size.

Knock back after it has risen, then tip out on to an oiled surface.

Spread the filling ingredients on to the dough, then pull in the edges to seal and invert.

Invert into a metal pan that is well oiled. Dimple the surface, and pour over olive oil, rosemary, and sea salt. The focaccia should be a rough oval shape.

Bake for 40 minutes at 220C/425F/Gas 7, check during cooking, and if burning turn down a little.

Allow to cool a little, and cut into wedges




Other notes: It's a soft dough throughout...and they're serious about spreading it out on a well-oiled surface. You'll never get it off the counter, otherwise.

Also, the bread portion of this recipe is very very bland. More salt, definitely. And put herbs in the dough, and less on the crust.

A Simple Focaccia Recipe

Nice, simple recipe.

Like the previous one, this makes a very soft dough, that's a little tricky to handle and get onto the pan.

Edited to add: after cutting into this one a day or so after baking, it's got a soft, nearly "white bread" texture. And it's not as bland as the bread in the stuffed focaccia recipe.

MRS GEE'S FOCACCIA BREAD

This bread can be cut into small (3" x 3") pieces to be eaten as an accompaniment or appetizer as is, or it can be split and filled for a sandwich.

o 1 1/4 c hot tap water
o 1 T yeast
o 2 T sugar
o 1/3 c dry milk powder
o 1/4 c olive oil
o 1 tsp salt
o 1 egg
o 3 to 4 c bread flour
o 1/4 c olive oil
o 1 tsp coarse salt

Dissolve the yeast in the hot tap water. Add the sugar, dry milk powder, olive oil, salt, and egg and mix well. Add the first 3 cups of bread flour gradually, mixing well after each addition. Add 1/2 cup of the remaining flour and mix in until smooth. Place some of the last 1/2 cup of flour on the kneading board, turn out the dough onto the board, and knead in only enough flour to give you smooth, barely non-sticky dough.

Continue to knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place in an large, oiled bowl, cover with saran, and allow to double in a warm place (about 90 minutes). Punch down and allow to rise until doubled again (about 40 minutes). Punch down and divide the dough into two parts. Let rest for 10 minutes.

Spray two cookie sheets with a no-stick product (Pam, Baker's Joy, whatever). Spread a piece of the dough out on each of the pans (I use my hands like I was doing a pizza crust) into an approximately oval shape.

Don't try to be perfect. It should have that "rustic" look. Brush the surface with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Indent the surface of each loaf by pressing all over with your fingertips. (Don't make holes.) Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (approx. 30 minutes).

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Press all over again with fingertips. Bake the bread for about 20-25 minutes. depending on how brown and crisp you like your bread.

GARLIC & PARMESAN FOCACCIA
Use the above recipe, except add 6-8 cloves of crushed garlic to the olive oil you brush on the top of the loaves. Be sure you distrubute the garlic bits evenly over the loaves. When the bread comes out of the oven and is still very hot, sprinkle with as much grated parmesan (or Romano) cheese as you like.

GREEN ONION FOCACCIA
Use the above recipe. When the bread loaves have baked for 15 minutes, sprinkle the top of the loaves with a mixture of 1 bunch of green onions (finely chopped) and 2 T GOOD DARK olive oil. Continue to bake for the remaining time.

VIDALIA ONION FOCACCIA
Use the above recipe. Just before putting the loaves into the oven, sprinkle the tops of the loaves with thinly sliced vidalia onions mixed with just enough olive oil to moisten them. We like lots of onions.

TOMATO BASIL FOCACCIA
Use the above recipe. Just before putting the loaves into the oven, top each with 1/4 slices of roma tomatoes and fresh basil leaves. Brush the tops of the tomatoes and basil leaves with a little olive oil.

NOTE: As you can see the variations are limited only by your imagination. We use other herbs and toppings depending on what we have on hand or have a taste for. The focaccia shouldn't look like a pizza ....it is a bread. It also warms (almost like fresh-baked) in the microwave, so you can enjoy for several days. Often I will bake only one loaf, putting the other half of the dough in the freezer to be baked fresh (maybe with a different topping) at a later time.