Orange Spice Cupcake-Muffins

Here it is again, the recipe I can't seem to stop experimenting with. So far, everybody who's had one of the plain lemon or orange version hasn't stopped there. . .This is quickly becoming a staple in my house and requested by my family and friends.

Today it's orange cupcake-muffins, made with dark brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice for a little added twist and depth of flavor. Preheat your oven to 350° and put paper liners in 2 cupcake pans.

1 big Caracara -or navel- orange

~ scrub, cut off the ends

~ then cut it into pieces

3 lg. pasture raised eggs

1-1/3c dark brown sugar

3/4c Chobani whole milk plain Greek yogurt

3/4c single source EVOO

~ at my little Super One grocery store,

~ this was the ONLY single source EVOO  😕

2t pure vanilla

In a large glass bowl, whisk together:

2c Caputo (Italian) Chef's Flour. . .

~ or a good American all purpose flour. . .

~ such as King Arthur or Bob's Red Mill

1T pumpkin pie spice

1T baking powder

1t Himalayan pink salt

Put the first group of ingredients in your blender jar. Pulse, then blend on high until everything's combined. Pour this into the bowl of dry ingredients, whisk until well mixed then pour into the individually lined cupcake pan.

My next adventure with this will be substituting some pure canned pumpkin for the orange, adding chopped walnuts or pecan and golden raisins. Mmmm. .😃. .Lin

A Whole Grain Focaccia

Creating variations of this bread baking is really becoming a fun thing!

This recipe is almost the same as the previous except for the flour and the seeds/seasonings I added to the dough. Next time I might use some corn flour and increase the yeast a bit.

200g Italian 00 flour - from Caputo, Italy
3T ground flax seed + enough rye flour to = 100g

7g everything bagel seasoning
1/2-1t Himalayan pink salt

4.5g active dry yeast

280g warm (115°) water

2t raw organic honey

Whisk the flour and seasoning in a big glass bowl. Heat the water to 115° and stir in the yeast and sweetener. Once dissolved, let it activate for 10 minutes or so. Pour this into the flour bowl. Working quickly with a silicone spatula, mix this together until all the flour is absorbed.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put in your unheated oven with the light on. That brings the temperature to around 85° and there are no drafts to interfere with the rising process. When it's doubled in size, in an hour or two, take it out of the oven.

Preheat the oven to 395°F (200°C) Butter a glass baking pan very well* Pour and scrape the dough into the pan using the spatula to spread it evenly to the corners.

Drizzle with EVOO and oil your fingers. Poke them into the surface of the dough to make little 'wells'.

Sprinkle the top with flaked salt or any seasoning you like. I used everything bagel seasoning just before baking.

Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned and crispy on top. Cool 20 minutes or so then remove from the pan - this time the bread removed very easily. Cut it into strips and squares. This is really good split and toasted when used as the base of an egg sandwich or avocado toast. . .Lin

Italian Flour Artisan Multi-Grain Bread

Again a reminder. . .baking artisan bread is pretty time intensive. It would be good to read all the way through this process so you're not surprised by that. Tonight, to save time tomorrow when this will come together, rise and bake, I measured and whisked all the dry ingredients into the big bowl. If you find a recipe you want to make on repeat, you can actually do that regularly. Or just whisk a batch or more of all the dry ingredients together, transfer to a big ziplock bag and you've saved yourself some time with the initial prep on bread baking day.

I met with an allergist recently and in conversing, we discovered we're both huge 'foodies.' He bakes all his family's bread and told me he only uses Italian flour since discovering that even people who are gluten sensitive have no problem digesting bread made from European grown grains. No GMO's or other preservatives that we allow here in America. This was inspiring. I did a little digging then decided on Caputo Chef's 00 Flour. From wheat grown, harvested and ground in Caputo, Italy. I've since discovered they have many different types of flour including bread flour. I'll probably have to order some of that soon.

2-1/2c Caputo Chef's 00 Flour

1/4c organic buckwheat flour

1/4c organic corn flour

3T Bob's Red Mill ground flax seed

3T Everything Bagel Seasoning

1-1/2t Himalayan pink salt

1/2t Bob's Red Mill active dry yeast

1-1/2c warm water

2T raw unfiltered honey

Whisk the first group of ingredients together in a big bowl. In a measuring container, mix the warm (110°) water and honey then stir in the active dry yeast. Let it sit 5-10 minutes to get foamy. Add this to the dry bowl mixing with a silicone spatula until the dough is shaggy but the flour is all incorporated. Transfer this to a sheet of wax paper. 

Wash the bowl then drizzle it with a generous amount of good quality EVOO. Put the dough back in the bowl, flipping it a couple times to get the surface completely oiled. Cover and let it rest on the counter, away from drafts, for 8-10 hours. If your kitchen is cool, like mine, it might be good to put it in your oven with the oven light on for just a tiny bit of warmth.

Put a 4 or 6 quart Dutch oven into the oven, set the temperature at 450° and preheat for 30 minutes. Use a 4 quart for a higher loaf, a 6 quart for a flat wide loaf.

While that's happening. . .turn the dough out onto a floured surface, forming it into a ball with floured hands. Cover with plastic or a large inverted bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes. After this time elapses - working quickly - open the oven, and pull out the rack. Flour your hands again and put the dough ball into the hot Dutch oven. Cut a "slash" across the top, about 1/2" deep, with a very sharp serrated knife.

Cover with the lid and bake 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and continue baking another 10 minutes to brown up the top.

Cool completely before slicing.

This recipe creation might have just earned 'artisan bread favorite' status. .😊. .Lin