Anadama Rolls - #BreadBakers

A few days ago, my mother was going over her shopping list out loud. "Glue, pantyhose, bread..."I quickly jumped in. "I'm making bread today  - no need to buy."

"Kelly, your breads are just too rich... you're trying to fatten us."

I started to object but then I remembered that she was with me when I made the Sunflower Bread. In fact, she mixed the half stick of butter with the garlic cloves for the filling. Then later she watched me make garlic knots - lots of brushing with butter. And no one could convince her that the potato rolls (the non-whole wheat version) were not laden with butter. I kept quiet and started thinking about how I could make my next batch of bread less "rich".

Deepti had challenged us to bake rolls for this month's Bread Bakers. I wanted to include molasses, my latest obsession, but I knew the rolls could not be on the sweet side. Molasses plus oatmeal was my first inclination but that evolved into molasses with cornmeal and some whole wheat flour thrown in for good measure. It turns out that that combination already has a name - Anadama. Anadama bread is typically found in loaf form with varying stories about how it got it's name. Was a husband cursing at his wife named Anna? Did he throw a bag of cornmeal at her? Was he forced to make his own lunch and simply threw all the things in the kitchen into the bowl? We will never be sure.

This bread had always had two strikes against it for me. I refused to buy molasses and I don't really like cornmeal (understatement). I have tried to like it but I often can't get past the smell to swallow a bite. On the rare occasion that I accidentally grab corn tortillas, well..., let's keep this post pleasant. I just can't eat it. Last year I started adding tiny amounts to fried dumplings to see how much I could tolerate. It wasn't too bad - there just had to be so much more flour than cornmeal that my dumplings would be barely tinted. For my mother however, I happily threw some cornmeal into the rolls.

I am happy to report that I ate several of these rolls without mishap. You can't taste the cornmeal at all - everything seems to blend well together. I must warn you though, do not use a very bitter molasses. Maybe you call that blackstrap molasses or maybe you're in a country that just labels it "molasses" (like me), but don't do it. I did so that you don't have to. If you have to use a dark, bitter molasses, use half the suggested amount. By the way, these rolls, while soft, are not the typical fluffy dinner rolls. They are hearty and can hold  up to a wet filling,

Anadama Rolls (adapted from King Arthur)

Ingredients

113g  cornmeal

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

43 grams butter

59 ml molasses

227g boiling water

1 egg

280g all purpose flour

113g whole wheat flour

2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

Directions

Mix together the cornmeal and salt and then add the butter and molasses to the bowl. Pour hot water over the mixture. Stir until the butter is melted. Cover and let sit until cool.

When the mixture is cool, mix in the egg then knead in the flours and the yeast. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.

Knead the dough until it's smooth. It will still be fairly sticky but do your best to get a smooth dough. Sprinkle in a little additional all purpose flour if absolutely necessary. At this point you can let it rise in the refrigerator (dough will be easier to handle) or at room temperature.

When the dough has risen, divide into 16 equal pieces and shape each piece into a ball.

Place the dough balls into greased cake pans (I used two 9" pans). Cover and let rise until doubled.

While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350 F. When the dough is ready, bake the rolls for 25 minutes or until they reach an internal temperature of at least 190 F.

• Anadama Rolls from Passion Kneaded
• Bulochki (Russian Sweet Yeast Rolls) from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Cinnamon Rolls from Bakingyummies
• Crescent Rolls from Sara's Tasty Buds
• Feta Olive Knots from Food Lust People Love
• Flax Oat Wheat Dinner Rolls from Cook's Hideout
• Einkorn Parmesan and Garlic Rolls from The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls from A Baker's House
• Hokkaido Milk Rolls from Baking in Pyjamas
• Kahvalti – Turkish-style Breakfast Buns from A Shaggy Dough Story
• Masala Bread Rolls from Sneha's Recipes
• Mini Cheddar Bialys from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Oatmeal Dinner Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Pesto Rolls from Veg Nation
• Raspberry Sweet Rolls from Kylee Cooks
• Savory Cheddar Rolls from Magnolia Days
• Stuffed Vegatable Masala Buns from Spill the Spices
• Twisted Knotted Mint Garlic Rolls from Gayathri's Cook Spot
• Wholewheat Low Fat Stuffed Cinnamon Rolls from Sizzling Tastebuds

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Cinnamon Molasses Muffins - #MuffinMonday

I'm from a "sugar country". My father had a few acres of sugarcane and I still have vivid memories of smelling cane burning during harvest season. (The sugarcane field is burned to get rid of all the leaves. The leaves are not processed for sugar and it is more cost effective to burn them than remove them another way.)  I really loved that smell. We also had a few sugarcane plants at the house. There was no burning required - just a machete - to cut what we wanted to eat. In high school, our final history project was on the sugar industry. Just yesterday, my friends' father gave me a book he wrote on Jamaica's sugar industry. A few of my friends lived on sugar estates because their parents worked in the industry.

I say all of this to emphasise that I have a rich sugar background - a background that goes way beyond pouring sugar into my hand or into a cake. Decades ago, that bottle of white rum that I love to reach for when baking, may have had a tiny bit of cane grown by my own father. But with all of that sugar "experience", I am ashamed to admit that I first tasted molasses in February of this year. This is one of those times you just blame my mother and not look at me like that!

I honestly can't remember if we ever had molasses in the house. I have a vague memory of a gallon bottle of a dark substance being in the cupboard at one point. But that memory could be confabulated. Gingerbread cookies are not part of our culture so we certainly were not using it for that. Perhaps it went into cakes? I really do not know. I'll ask my mother later.

After using it in February, I vowed to use it more often, so it was an easy decision to use it for muffins for this Muffin Monday. I did not want traditional gingerbread - though I must admit that it was DIFFICULT to step away from the ginger. I have used ginger every day for the last two weeks. We are a ginger-loving people. I ditched all the other spices and stuck to just my second love - cinnamon. I fancied making a streusel that would emphasise the cinnamon but there have been murmurs about "Kelly trying to make us fat" so I had to hold back.

I had two bottles of molasses to choose from - one from a US brand and the other, a Jamaican molasses. I grabbed the Jamaican molasses and started pouring into my measuring cup. The little voice in my head said, "TASTE IT". And so I did. What in the world?!! Why is it bitter? I grabbed the American brand - yup definitely sweet. What is going on here? I quickly messaged a friend who quickly gave me the breakdown. The Jamaican molasses is akin to blackstrap molasses and there is very little sugar left so it's not as sweet. In fact, the process of making the molasses may be different in the two countries. There was also a quick lesson on how the process of making rum in French islands differed from in the British islands, leading to a very different taste.

That sugar experience that I mentioned above? Forget it. I clearly do not know my sugar. It's a good think I got that book yesterday. I'll be delving into it over the next few weeks. Maybe in another month or so, I can once again pretend that I know something. But first, I need to acquire "wet sugar". That's unrefined, "new" sugar - still wet from the minimal processing. I'd love to tell you more about it but the first time I saw it listed in a recipe for a popular Jamaican treat, I thought they just wanted me to wet my sugar. Don't laugh (too hard)! Wet sugar isn't popular anymore but only after obtaining some and learning more about it, can I start to claim some sugar experience again.

After all that babbling, here are my Cinnamon Molasses Muffins. Scroll down for more Muffin Monday goodness!

Cinnamon Molasses Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)

1/4 cup molasses (not blackstrap molasses)

Direction

Preheat oven to 350 F and grease or line the wells of a muffin tin. I got 8 muffins from the batch.

Whisk flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, water, coconut oil and molasses.

Gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Don't overmix.

Divide among the muffin wells and bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

• Apple Carrot Muffins from Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Blueberry Cornmeal Sourdough Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cherry Chocolate Chip Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Cinnamon Molasses Muffins from Passion Kneaded  
• Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins from Making Miracles
• Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed Chocolate Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Sour Cream and Green Onion Corn Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Spicy and Sweet Hummus Muffins from Kelli’s Kitchen
• Strawberry Vanilla Yogurt Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

Tunnel of Fudge Cake - #BundtBakers

It's April 21 and two things are happening today. First, it's Bundt Bakers day! And second, it's the sixth anniversary of my craniotomy. I always celebrate with a special cake. However, with the unexpected move, I had no plan in place. I decided to make the bundt the cake this year. But what to bake? The theme this month is a really good one - retro desserts. However, I couldn't think of anything that felt special enough for the anniversary celebration. I asked friends for suggestions and pulled out my mother's cookbooks from the 60s/70s. Lots of great cakes but I just could not think of how to turn them into Bundts. Plus, there are a few ingredient limitations here.

One cake kept coming up over and over though - the Boston Cream Pie. I have always wanted to make one and I had all the ingredients on hand. I even wrote it into the list for this month's Bundt then changed to the Tunnel of Fudge cake right before hitting submit. Bundt cakes themselves are retro and the Tunnel of Fudge cake is the cake that made the Bundt famous. Would that make it the ultimate retro Bundt? Perhaps.

I should point out that I am breaking the host's rules a bit. Felice asked us to recreate retro desserts in Bundt form. I missed that key word. I honestly did not notice it until yesterday. The Tunnel of Fudge isn't a recreation since it was always in Bundt form. Sorry, Felice! I will work on a Lady Baltimore Bundt as my penance. It requires figs though and the likelihood of me getting figs here is miniscule so I'll need a worthy substitute.

This version of the Tunnel of Fudge cake comes from the amazing recipe developers and testers over in America's Test Kitchen. Unlike other versions, this does not include nuts. I don't mind nuts in my cakes but I tend to skip them when I plan to share the cake with friends who may not like nuts in desserts.

Happy anniversary to me! And happy Bundt Bakers day! As usual, links to all the other Bundts are below.

PS. I'm still itching to do a layer cake for my anniversary cake. When I get my all baking supplies in a couple weeks, it just might happen.

PPS. Is it weird that I travel with a Bundt pan and a kitchen scale? I didn't think so.

Tunnel of Fudge Cake

Recipe slightly adapted from:  America's Test Kitchen

Yield: 1 six cup Bundt cake

Ingredients For greasing the pan: 1 tablespoon butter, melted 1 tablespoon cocoa Cake 1/4 cup boiling water 1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 cup all purpose flour 1 cup confectioner's sugar 6 tablespoons cocoa powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract 2 eggs 1 egg yolk 10 tablespoons butter, room temperature 1/2 cup granulated sugar 6 tablespoons brown sugar Glaze 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar 1/4 cup cocoa powder milk to reach desired consistency

Directions Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix together the cocoa powder and melted butter then completely coat the inside of a 6 cup Bundt pan. Pour the boiling water over the chocolate chips. Let it sit for about 30 seconds and then whisk until smooth. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, confectioner's sugar, and salt. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the vanilla, whole eggs, and egg yolk. Cream together the butter and two sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg mixture and beat until just combined. It might look curdled. Next, beat in the chocolate mixture. Finally, stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Pour into the prepared Bundt pan and bake 30 minutes or until the edges start pulling away from the side of the pan and the cake springs back when lightly touched. Note that the centre will be fudgy. Allow to cool in the pan for about an hour then invert onto a plate and allow to cool completely. When completely cooled, whisk together the glaze ingredients then pour over cake.

Notes Be careful not to overbake or you'll lose the fudge effect. My cake here is slightly overdone.

You can see all our of lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about #BundtBakers, can be found on our home page. And don’t forget to take a peek at what other talented bakers have baked this month ~

• Boston Cream Bundt by Andrea at Adventures in All Things Food
• Boston Cream Pie Bundt Cake by Mary at Los Chatos Chefs
• Campbell's Tomato Soup Cake by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Coca~Cola Bundt Cake by Mondo at I Bake He Shoots
• Hummingbird Bundt Cake by Teri at The Freshman Cook
• Inside-Out Ho Hos Lava Bundt Cake by Colleen at Faith, Hope, Love & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Key Lime Bundt Cake by Sarah at The Chef Next Door
• Lemon Meringue Pie Bundt by Felice at All That's Left are the Crumbs
• New York Style Crumb Cake by Tammy at Living the Gourmet
• Nutella Chocolate MIlkshake Bundt Cake by Bea and Mara at I Love Bundt Cakes
• Orange Creamsicle Cake by Sue at Palatable Pastime
• Pantera Rosa Bundt Cake by Rocío at kidsandchic
• Root Beer Float Bundt Cake by Rebekah at Making Miracles
• Sock It To Me Cake by Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Strawberry Milkshake Swirl Bundt Cake by Laura at Baking in Pyjamas
• Tomato Soup Bundt Cake by Tux at Brooklyn Homemaker
• Tunnel of Fudge Cake by Kelly at Passion Kneaded