Cupcakes

This recipe, from Alice Water's book, The Art of Simple Food, is the most thorough one I've ever read. It talks about the temperature of the ingredients, the importance of accurate measurements, the specific order for combining the milk and the flour into the batter--it's exactly what I needed.

(Via: http://2000dollarwedding.com/2010/06/cupcake-recipe.html)

Five Minute Mug Cake

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (Microwave Safe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly before pouring in the milk and oil in.  Keep mixing. Add the optional chocolate chips next and vanilla extract, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for three minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed! Allow it to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.


(Via: http://www.grouprecipes.com/73892/5-minute-chocolate-mug-cake.html)

Focaccia Bread

2 teaspoons rapid-rising dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons sugar
3 1/2 to 4 cups flour
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1/4 cup olive oil
Cornmeal, for dusting


Toppings:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
10 Kalamata olives, pitted and quartered
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
1 tablespoon coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary


In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook, proof the yeast by combining it with the warm water and sugar. Stir gently to dissolve. Let stand 3 minutes until foam appears. Turn mixer on low and slowly add the flour to the bowl. Dissolve salt in 2 tablespoons of water and add it to the mixture. Pour in 1/4 cup olive oil. When the dough starts to come together, increase the speed to medium. Stop the machine periodically to scrape the dough off the hook. Mix until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary.


Turn the dough out onto a work surface and fold over itself a few times. Form the dough into a round and place in an oiled bowl, turn to coat the entire ball with oil so it doesn't form a skin. Cover with plastic wrap or damp towel and let rise over a gas pilot light on the stovetop or other warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.


Coat a sheet pan with a little olive oil and corn meal. Once the dough is doubled and domed, turn it out onto the counter. Roll and stretch the dough out to an oblong shape about 1/2-inch thick. Lay the flattened dough on the pan and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest for 15 minutes.


In the meantime, coat a small saute pan with olive oil, add the onion, and cook over low heat for 15 minutes until the onions caramelize. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Uncover the dough and dimple with your fingertips. Brush the surface with more olive oil and then add caramelized onions, garlic, olives, cheese, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Bake on the bottom rack for 15 to 20 minutes.


(Via: http://mycakies.blogspot.com/2010/09/fabulous-focaccia.html and http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/fabulous-focaccia-recipe/index.html)

Pumpkin Cake

-4 eggs
-1 2/3 cup sugar
-1 cup oil
-2 cups canned pumpkin
-2 cups flour
-2 teaspoons baking powder
-2 teaspoons cinnamon
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon soda

Mix together eggs, sugar, oil,  pumpkin. In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, soda. Add to the wet ingredients.

Grease and flour a 9×13 pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 1 hour.

Frost with cream cheese frosting: 1 block of cream cheese (at room temp), 1/2 stick butter (at room temp), 1- lb. bag powdered sugar, and a 1/2 t. vanilla.

(Via: http://www.feminagirls.com/2010/09/23/first-day-of-fall/)

Potato Bread

Combine:
-1 cup warm mashed potatoes
-1 3/4 cup warm potato water*
-1 tablespoon salt
-2 tablespoon sugar
-1/4 cup butter

Add to:
-1 cup wheat flour (optional—replace with white if you wish)
-2 cups white flour
-4 1/2 teaspoon yeast

Mix well. Add approximately 2 c. additional white flour, until the dough pulls away from the side of the mixing bowl, forming an elastic ball around the center of the mixer. Knead by hand or mixer for 10 minutes, adding additional flour only as needed (it’s easy to get too much flour in this recipe).

The dough will be stickier than regular bread dough. Sprinkle with flour if necessary for handling. Place in a greased bowl, cover loosely, and let rise until approximately double in bulk. (Bread dough is risen when a finger indentation stays—if you press your finger into it and it rises right back up, it’s not done rising yet.)

Punch down and divide into two balls of dough. Form into loaves or twists, place in well-greased pans, and rise again. Bake at 350 for 35 to 45 minutes, until the loaves are well browned. Check to be sure they’re done by removing them from the pan and tapping the bottom of the loaf—it should make a hard, hollow sound.

For cinnamon swirl bread: Roll out ball of dough into a long rectangle. The longer the rectangle, the more swirls there will be in the loaf. Spread with butter, powder with a bit of sugar, and sprinkle liberally with cinnamon. Roll up the rectangle of dough, pinching and bringing the ends under to form a loaf.

*Cook a few small potatoes in 2 cups water, until potatoes are soft. Drain and reserve liquid, adding more water if necessary for 1 3/4 c. potato water. Mash and use 1 c. of the potatoes.

(Via: http://littlepinkhouse.net/2010/08/homemade-potato-bread/)