Sweet Potato Pie Bars

by Michelle @ A Tipsy Giraffe // November 16, 2014 // 40 Comments

In my last post I talked about coming up with Thanksgiving recipe ideas and how there are so many yummy dessert recipes out there and so I didn’t need to come up with my own. Well, need and want are very different things – we may not need another Thanksgiving dessert recipe idea, but I wanted one!

Sweet potato is one of my all time favourite foods, I’ve yet to find a way I don’t like to eat it! But I’d never eaten sweet potato pie before, so naturally I decided I needed to make it! I somehow don’t own a pie plate, I don’t know how this happened but here we are – the need to make a pie but no pie dish to make it in. But who says pie needs to be round anyway? These sweet potato pie bars are the perfect solution to the lack of pie dish conundrum – and I would totally make it this way again even after I’ve acquired my own pie dish. There’s just something about slicing it up into little bars that makes it so much more appealing to me – maybe it’s because I could add a streusel topping and a marshmallow glaze without ruining the clean look of a pie! Making them in bars is a great way to serve them up for Thanksgiving too – no fiddly too thin pieces to make sure everybody gets a piece, a fork isn’t even needed if you want to mingle around the the table. I definitely think they have a more rustic, family feel to them, don’t you?

Since I’d never even eaten sweet potato pie before, I decided to start from an established recipe. I chose this one by Joy the Baker because I love her recipes and the ingredients list on this had me drooling! I thought to myself – I can make her one and then make any changes to suit my tastes. Silly me, I should have known I wouldn’t want to change anything about one of her recipes. I used her crust recipe and filling recipe, then just made it in bar form and added a streusel and glaze. I thought about topping this pie with a lattice crust, but my weakness for streusel beat that idea out. And I’m glad it did, it gives an extra yummy layer of texture, and is a great vehicle for the marshmallow glaze. Marshmallow is a go to pairing with sweet potato dishes and there’s a good reason for that, it just plain works! it’s simple to put together too, it’s just butter, marshmallows and sugar. I melted marshmallows to add to the mix, but in a pinch marshmallow fluff would probably do the trick too. It’s a nice, thick glaze too so it holds its own against the streusel!

Coriander isn’t something I would have thought to put in myself, but it really does make this pie shine! You’ll want to buy coriander seeds and grind them yourself too, coriander is one of those spices that tends to lose it’s flavour quickly once ground. There’s a lot of yummy, warming spices in this pie of course – as well as the coriander we have nutmeg and cinnamon. You cook the filling through before adding it to the pie, so you awaken all those delicious spices that bring so much fall flavour. It’s a good idea to blend the filling first too to make sure the whole thing is smooth, I used an immersion stick blender but you could add it to your blender and give it a whirl too.

There’s a fair bit of work in putting this pie together, with cooking the potatoes, cooking the filling, making the crust, making the streusel and the glaze. But it really isn’t very daunting, you can do stages simultaneously and each part is pretty easy. In bar form as well it’s very forgiving – you don’t have to worry about the top of your pie or breaking the crust!

I hope you give this one a go, it’s a great recipe (with most of it coming from Joy the Baker, you can trust me on that) and your family will love it!

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Chocolate Walnut French Toast Two Ways

by Michelle @ A Tipsy Giraffe // November 14, 2014 // 29 Comments

I’m English. I live in England. Yet here I am, posting a Thanksgiving recipe! But here’s the thing, I love holiday baking. Especially if that holiday is in the autumn, because it’s my favourite time of year with all my favourite flavours (I know, I’m such a revolutionary). So while I came up with this yummy French Toast recipe with Thanksgiving breakfast in mind, you can totally enjoy it on any day, anywhere in the world. My total Englishness can attest to that, because enjoy it is something I did with great enthusiasm!

I set out to make a yummy breakfast for Thanksgiving because I figured there’s enough amazing Thanksgiving dessert recipes out there already, my input isn’t need. And you need a fabulous breakfast on Thanksgiving morning before all that food you’re going to eat – call it stretching! I knew I was going to make French toast because I’d just made a Sourdough loaf (I may have made the bread with the sole intention of using it for french toast) and I of course wanted it to be Thanksgivingy, so I was trying to think of desserts I could use for inspiration. Pumpkin Pie was obviously one of my first thoughts, which lead to pecan pie – pecan pie french toast! Perfect! But then I couldn’t find any pecans (what kind of dystopian world am I even living in?!) so I landed on walnuts instead.

Last year I actually celebrated Thanksgiving with my best friend’s family in Atlanta. Her mum made an amaaaazing pecan pie, the thing that tipped it over the edge for me was the chocolate chips – so I knew I had to include chocolate chips in my ~~pecan~~ walnut pie french toast. Why two ways? There’s a couple of reasons actually – I initially made stuffed french toast but I couldn’t eat it myself because the issues I have with my jaw means I’m limited in what I can eat. Plus baked french toast has been on my list of things to bake for a while now, so after I fell in love with the stuffing for this french toast I knew I had to make it in baked form. So Chocolate Walnut French Toast Two Ways was born! Those two ways being Chocolate Walnut Stuffed French Toast and Chocolate Walnut Baked French Toast with a Streusel Topping.

Whichever way you make it, you’re going to love it. The chocolate and walnut filling is sticky and sweet just like pecan pie, you can of course make it with pecans but honestly I loved the walnuts. It made it feel more festive for me! The baked version would probably be your best option for Thanksgiving (or Christmas!) breakfast since you’ll prepare it the night before, no fussing about in the morning when you have 1001 other things to do, you can just wake up, pop it in the oven and serve a delicious breakfast that your family will think you’ve been up since the rooster’s crow slaving away for them! Don’t worry, I won’t tell them 😉

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Sourdough Bread

by Michelle @ A Tipsy Giraffe // November 12, 2014 // 18 Comments

I’m writing this post from my bed while I watch Once Upon a Time. Do any of you watch this show? I recently started watching it, partly on the recommendations from friends and partly because an actor I love is in it. That actor? Sebastian Stan. He’s an amazing actor, he can make you cry with just a look in his eyes! His first episode just started and so let’s just say I’m a little distracted, at this rate this post won’t be finished until next month! Did I mention he’s also extremely attractive?! For those of you who watch the show but aren’t familiar with the name Sebastian Stan – he plays Jefferson/The Mad Hatter. Those of you who don’t watch the show but are still curious, he also plays Bucky Barnes in Captain America and Carter Baizen in Gossip Girl (plus plenty of other things, but those would probably be the most well known).

This is the perfect post for me to dawdle on, since making sourdough from scratch is a lengthy process requiring a lot of patience. Even more so when you’re making your starter from scratch like I did. Of course, if you know somebody who can supply you with a starter from their own by all means use it – but if you don’t, it really is simple enough to make your own, it just takes time. Wild yeast exists everywhere, kind of like magic – baker’s magic anyway. All you need to do is wake it up, and you do that by mixing flour and water and letting it bubble up and grow the yeast that already exists within the flour. I don’t really understand the science behind it, so I’ll stick with it being magic! If you’re the kind of person who likes to know how the science behind it all works, I suggest google, it’s much more reliable than me!

I’ll give you a day-by-day guide on how to get your sourdough starter going here, then at the end of the post I’ll give you a recipe for Sourdough Bread using your starter. You don’t need much to make a starter, just plain flour (all purpose), water, a (preferably) clear container large enough to hold 4 cups/1 litre with space, measuring scales, a spoon and a lid/plastic wrap. It’ll take about 5 days for your starter to be ready.

Day 1 – start your engines… I mean, starter

Weigh 100g Flour and 100g water (I know it feels wrong to weigh a liquid, but trust me on this. 100g is 3.5oz) and pour into your container. Mix vigorously until you form a smooth, liquidy and thick batter. Loosely cover with plastic wrap, or place lid on ajar.

Place container somewhere that’s a consistent room temperature and leave for 24 hours

Day 2 – Feed me seymour!

Fetch your starter, you may see a few bubbles in it that means your yeast is coming to life! The bubbles are from carbon dioxide, which I believe is formed from the yeast eating the flour – that sound like real science right? Let’s go with that! Don’t worry if you don’t have any bubbles yet, some yeast is sleepier than others!

Weigh out another 100g flour and 100g water and mix it into your batter vigorously until smooth. Cover as before and place it back in it’s spot for 24 hours.

Day 3 – It’s hungry again!

Grab your starter and take a look, you should have lots of nice bubbles forming at the top. If you used a clear container, have a look at the sides you might see some bubbles going through too. Again, if you don’t have bubbles yet don’t panic – there’s still time. It should have a bit of a sour smell by now, that’s good – that’s acidity keeping away bacteria!

Weigh out another 100g flour and 100g water, mix it vigorously into your starter until all combined and smooth. Re-cover and place it back in it’s spot for 24 hours.

Day 4 – Yep, you guessed it, it needs feeding again!

Your starter should have lots of bubbles going all through it now, big ones and small ones. It should have a stronger, sour smell too. If you don’t have any bubbles yet, add a pinch of store bought yeast when you feed it to help get things started.

Weigh out another 100g flour and 100g water and mix vigorously into your starter until all combined and smooth. It should be easier to stir now too, with all the bubbles loosening it up. Put it back in it’s spot and leave for 24 hours

Day 5 – It’s aliiive!! Your starter is ready to use

Take a look at your starter – it should have doubled in size and it will be very bubbly and frothy!

If you have plenty of bubbles and it’s smelling nice and sour, you’re ready to go. If you still don’t have bubbles and have no signs of activity, something has gone wrong 🙁 Discard the starter and start over in a clean container. If any mold forms on the starter you’ll want to discard and start again too.

If you’re using your starter today, weigh out the amount you need for your recipe (for this bread recipe it’s 100g) and follow next steps. If you’re not ready to bake with it yet, follow next steps.

Maintaining your starter

You no longer need to bulk up your starter, but it will still need to keep feeding it to maintain it. To do this, discard or use half of it, then feed it with 100g flour and 100g water, mixing vigorously. If you’re using your starter in the next couple days, leave it out on the counter and continue discarding/feeding it as above every day – on the day you use it take out 100g (or the amount you need for your recipe) and set aside for your recipe, then feed with 50g flour and 50g water (basically replacing what you took). Cover with plastic wrap with space to breathe (I poke a small hole in the wrap) and place in the fridge. If you’re not using your starter for a longer time, place starter in the fridge after discarding half and feeding once.

To maintain, remove the starter from the fridge once a week and allow to come back up to room temperature. Discard (or use) 100g and add 50g flour and 50g water, mix in vigorously and leave at room temperature for an hour or so to bubble back up. Cover and return to the fridge, repeat once a week.

Tips

Use filtered water if possible, to avoid any chemicals or limescale potentially damaging the yeast
During the first 5 days of building up your starter, do make sure you store it in a place that’s at a constant room temperature (around the 20C/70F mark), not somewhere that’s gonna get warmer or colder during the day or night (i.e. by a window).
Your starter will last indefinitely if you keep feeding it, I know people that have starters that are over 70 years old (these are generally given to them by other people in a big chain).
You can potentially make this starter with any type of flour, since wild yeast is everywhere. Once you have this one going, you could use it as a “mother” to get started on a say a whole wheat starter!
Sourdough starters are great for baking bread and other goods, they give it a unique taste and texture and are definitely worth the effort. The yeast isn’t as concentrated as store bought dried yeast though, so it will have a slower rise time.
The older your starter is, the stronger it will be. If you’re starting from scratch with your starter, it will be weaker and therefore your dough will need longer to rise. With sourdough starters it’s best to follow the amount your recipe says your dough should rise rather than the time. i.e. if your recipe says “leave to rise until double in sized, about 3 hours” then wait until your dough has doubled even if it takes a lot longer than 3 hours. It’ll be worth the wait!
Sourdough starters aren’t just for baking bread, I’m planning to make donuts with mine soon. If it’s requires yeast you could potentially replace the yeast with your starter , experiment with techniques and flavours, you might discover something awesome!
I’m still new to this sourdough game so my knowledge certainly isn’t complete, hopefully I have given you enough information to set you off on your journey but google is a wonderful place to keep on learning!
UPDATE: a tip from Ginger at Ginger&Bread – once your starter is ripe and ready, it will be fine if you leave it untouched for a month or so. It will bubble up nicely once you feed it again! Thanks!

If you have any questions about getting a starter going, please do pop it in the comments! I’ll be happy to help you out where I can, but again I am also new to this so I do have limited knowledge.

Now for the sourdough bread recipe. It’s a simple recipe with few ingredients, the unique taste you get from a sourdough loaf all comes from that wonderful starter!

Let’s be friends, come join me on social media! You can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ and Bloglovin’

I also want to say thank you for the well wishes after my last post. I’m starting to feel a bit better, still a bit over exhausted but I really enjoyed writing this post so I’m sure I’m on the mend!

Sourdough Bread

2014-11-12 00:41:52

Yields 1

A tasty loaf of bread, made using a sourdough starter

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Total Time

10 hr

Total Time

10 hr

For the sponge

100g starter, brought up to room temperature if stored in the fridge
300ml luke warm water
300g plain flour (all purpose flour)
1/2 tsp salt

For the bread

Sponge mixture
350g strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
2 tsp salt

Instructions

To make the sponge, mix the water, flour and salt together. Add your 100g of starter and stir to combine. Cover with a clean towel and leave to rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size. About 6 hours for a new starter, 3-4 for an older one.
To make the bread, combine your sponge with the flour and salt. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until it is smooth and stretchy - about 10 minutes.
Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size. About 4-5 hours for a new starter, 2-3 hours for an older one.
Tip the dough out onto a floured surface, knock out the air and shape tightly into a round loaf and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Cover and leave to prove in a warm place until it doesn't spring back when prodded - about 1-2 hours.
Preheat your oven to 220C/420F.
Place a tray of water in the bottom of your oven, the steam will help develop a good crust. Score the top of your loaf with a sharp knife (this will stop the loaf splitting).
Bake in preheated over for 40-50 minutes until golden, and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

By Michelle @ Giraffes Can Bake

A Tipsy Giraffe https://www.atipsygiraffe.com/

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Orange Cinnamon and Lemon Cardamom Meringue Nests

by Michelle @ A Tipsy Giraffe // November 7, 2014 // 65 Comments

Does this happen to anybody else ever? You have left over egg yolks so you make pudding, but then you end up needing more egg yolks than you had so you end up with left over egg whites. Now you’re just stuck in an endless cycle of using up leftover parts of eggs! It’s not necessarily a bad thing, it means you end up with super yummy meringue nests you wouldn’t have made otherwise! And aren’t unintended desserts the best kind? I’m sure they don’t have as many calories in either 😉

When I have egg whites to use up my first thought is always meringue, it’s one of my all time favourite sweets. There’s just something about the way it crunches and melts in your mouth all at the same time that is just irresistible to me. I thought about making some meringue to crush up and put in an Eton Mess, but then I decided I should make the meringue a dessert all by itself, it deserves to be the star of the show after all!

As a baker I always like to make sure I at least have lemons and cream in the fridge and a well stocked spice cupboard, there are few things you can’t spruce up with the right citrus and spice (plus lemons are insanely useful for so many things around the house) and cream makes everything better and more decadent. As luck would have it, I also had some oranges in the fridge. Orange and cinnamon are natural partners, their familiar dance on your tongue is traditional but still exciting as the first time. Lemon and cardamom may not be as familiar to some, but when they take to the dance floor it’s clear they were always meant to be. And that has to get an award for the weirdest metaphor I’ve written… this week anyway! So I’m no shakespeare, but I think I got my point across – these are flavour combinations made in heaven!

So with those strange metaphors swimming around my head, I added lemon zest to half of the meringue and orange zest to the other half. Baked them and filled the lemon ones with cardamom cream and the orange ones with cinnamon cream. The food colouring added the meringue is technically optional, but I really do think it’s what makes this dessert look so fun and inviting! So unless you have an allergy or an aversion to food colourings, I would definitely keep them in!

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Neapolitan Pudding

by Michelle @ A Tipsy Giraffe // November 5, 2014 // 46 Comments

“What are you making?” my mum asked me. “Pudding” I replied. “Yeah, but what are you making?” she said “pudding!” I responded. “But you can have anything for pudding! Cake, ice cream, pie…” Now I see where our wires are getting crossed “It’s just pudding, actual pudding. It’s its own thing” I tell her. “Oh, okay” she says “but what is it you’re making”. I don’t think she’s gonna get it you guys!

That conversational circle went on for quite a while. Pudding in the UK is a synonym for dessert (if you read the Harry Potter books and wondered why they always ended meals with “pudding”, now you know they weren’t just overly fond of this custard like dessert!), we don’t have pudding like the US does either – the closest we have is custard which isn’t all that dissimilar really. We do have a type of dessert referred to as pudding and those are usually sponge based and steamed in a basin. However, I love America’s pudding – and not just in my cookies. It was only a matter of time until I made my own!

I love neapolitan ice cream, who doesn’t? We were one of the houses where the vanilla would somehow be the only flavour left though – oh the disappointment of opening up the ice cream tub only to see vanilla left! These days I’d be happy to eat up that vanilla ice cream, vanilla is not as boring as young me thought (if it’s done right anyway!). Did anybody else mix up their neapolitan ice cream to make a brown, gloopy mess though? Oh, to be back in those simpler times! Of course, in my adulthood, I can make as much neapolitan yummyness as I want! So when I was trying to decide what flavour pudding I should make with some left over egg yolks, I thought to myself “why settle for just one?” and so neapolitan pudding it was! Being an adult is swell!

I know neapolitan is normally made with strawberry, but I prefer raspberry plus I had some fresh raspberries just itching to be used! Of course, you can make yours with strawberries, just do a straight switch. I do love the distinct layers in this pudding, it was fun to make and fun to look at – but I will admit, I couldn’t resist mixing it all up into dull brown mess when I ate it. There’s still a little kid inside of me after all!

I do love the little pudding packs you can buy in the grocery store, but you can’t beat the homemade stuff! It isn’t hard to make either, it doesn’t even take very long – you just have to be patient while you wait for it chill (which is usually the hardest part, for me anyway!). Then you just spoon it into your presentation glasses – or just mix it all up in a bowl and cut out the middle man 😉 Either way, it won’t take you much effort to get to the point of yummy goodness! And you really will notice the difference in flavour and I think you’ll agree it was worth it.

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