Recipes in English

Please, scroll down to see the recipes. I will be posting the English versions of the recipes in Portuguese as I translate them…so, please, be patient. But if you are too crazy for some recipe I still did not post here and you don´t understand a word in Portuguese drop me a line and I will send it too you as soon as I can!

Thanks!

xxxxx

Delicious Easter Folar (Easter Bread)

(Bread Machine)

Dough:
250ml lukewarm milk 
2 teaspoons dry yeast
1 whole egg
110g sugar

570g white flour (or bread flour)
100g softened butter

Eggwash:

1 egg
cold brewed coffee

In your bread machine put the ingredients in the order above.
Select “Dough” cicle and let it finish.  At first the dough will look sticky but as it comes together it will be a great dough to work with.
Split the dough for two loaves or just for one. On a floured surface you should form a ball, rolling the sides down to make it soft.
Flour one bread pan with parchment paper or use a silicon mat and place the bread.

If you wish to braid the bread make little cords with the dough (snake like), I confess that it was not easy for me this first time…should try again!  You can also make small breads.

Mix the egg with the cold coffee and brush the bread.  Let it rest for 15 minutes until the oven warms.
Take to the oven at 356ºF for about 30-35minutes until golden brown.
Unmold the bread and let it cool down in a rack before serve. Very tasty!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Easy Sourdough French Bread (Bread Machine)

Makes a 2 pound loaf.
1 cup water
2 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
4 cups bread flour
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
Measure carefully, placing all ingredients in the bread pan in the order listed by manufacturer.
Select the Basic/White cycle. Use medium or light color crust. Do not use delay cycle. Remove baked
bread from pan and cool on wire rack.

Peanut Bread

10 g dry yeast

3 cups of warm luke water (720 ml)

3 table spoons sugar

1 table spoon salt

1 whole egg

1 kg and 100 g white flour

1 cup raw peanut grinded in the blender

In a bowl put the dry yeast and a little water, let it hydrate for 10 minutes.  Add the sugar, salt and the rest of the water. Add some flour until it looks like a cream and then put the egg, grinded peanut.  Gradually add the flour until you can not use a spoon to mix the dough.  Put the dough in a working surface and knead the dough adding the flour little by little until the dough becames homogeneous.  Wrap with plastic and let it rise until doubles the volume.  Divide then the dough in 4 portions.  Open with a rolling pin and then roll the dough forming a cilinder.  Or the way you wish.  Sprinkle some flour and make some cuts on the surface.  Put in a big pan, buttered and floured, letting some space between the breads so they will rise more.  Let in a warm covered place until it doubles again.  Preheat the oven at 450ºF for 20 minutes.  Put the breads in the oven and put the temperature to 350ºF.  Bake until golden brown for about 45/50minutes.

Let the breads cool for 10 minutes then unmold them and let them cool completelly in a rack.

xxxxxxxxxx

This translated post is dedicated to my dear friend Robert!

Robert, this bread is out of this world! I made in my Bread machine…I´m lazy and can not force my arms too much, but since your´re a professional cook you know it works fine in the tradicional method.

Here´s the recipe I put together:

Brazil Nut Bread

(cup 200ml)

1 cup milk

3/4 cup Brazil Nut shelled

1 tea spoon salt

1 table spoon sugar

2 cups flour

1 cup rye

2 teaspoons dry east

1 whole egg

In the blender beat well the milk and the nuts.  Oil your bread machine bowl and put this mix.  Add the egg, salt, flour and rye, sugar and the dry east.  

I just use the Bread Machine to mix the dough, so I put in the Dough cicle and let if finished, around 1 1/2 h.

Put the dough in a buttered bread pan, make some cuts in the surface with a rasor or sharp knife and let it rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes.

Bake in a pre-heated medium high oven until golden brown. You´ll know it´s ready when you knock with your fingers in the back of the bread and a hollow sound comes out.  Take the bread out of the oven and brush some butter to make it shiny.

Let the bread cool for about 10 minutes in the pan and then take it out of the pan to cool completely over a rack.

Granola

Mix in a bowl: 1k whole oat, 200g shreded non sweet coconut and 3/4 cup of honey (please, use the real stuff!).  Take it to the medium oven in a buttered oven pan for approximately 45 minutes, until it starts to get golden and smells wonderfully. Do not forget to stir it once in a while with a wooden spoon, so it browns evenly.

Take it out of the oven and let it stand at least 5 minutes to cool a little and then add  100g of unseeded organic raisins and 4 table spoons of cracked Brasilian Nut (you can use whatever you prefer or have in hand: walnuts, hazelnuts, cashew nuts, toasted peanuts…). Mix well and let it cool completely before put it in a hermetic container or in a jar.

Bolo de crisma da Lunigiana

(Buccellato della Lunigiana)

• 3 cups of white flour and more to flour the pan
• 2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
• salt
• 3 whole eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 8 tablespoons of butter (100g) and more to butter the pan
• zest of a lime
• 2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice (I used the juice of a whole lime)
• 1 cup milk

Yelds 8 to 10 slices  – Angel food pan

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix in a bowl the flour, baking powder and a dash of salt.
3. Break the eggs in the food processor or hand mixer bowl, put the sugar and beat until the mixture looks pale yellow.
4. Melt the butter in very low heat or microwave, no simmering.
5. Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and sal) to the mixture in the bowl and turn on until it combines very well.
6. Add the melted butter, zest and lime juice and turn on the food processor.
7. While still on, add to the food processor bowl the milk, pouring very slowly, until it is well incorporated to the batter.
8. Butter and flour the pan.
9. Pour the batter in the pan and shake the pan to level it.
10. Bake at medium high until golden and a cake tester cames clean when inserted in the cake.

My hints: don´t be discouraged, at the first time I baked this cake I did not believe that it would work out.  The batter looks strange until the milk is added and the lime juice makes it look like there are crumbles. But give it a try and bake it. You won´t regret!

I like to put a lime sugar sauce on top of the cake: mix juice of half a lime with one tablespoon milk and icing sugar until it hardens a little and feels spreadable.  Put over the cake after it cools and enjoy. 

English Muffins (recipe from Tachos de Ensaio)

3 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of dry yeast

1/2 cup of water

1/2 cup milk

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 nut of butter (I used one large tablespoon)

Semolina flour to dust while dry frying

Dissolve the yeast with sugar in a tablespoon of lukewarm water and reserve. Heat the milk, salt and butter in a pan.  When the butter melts turn off the heat and let it cool a bit.

Sift the flour in a bowl, make a hole and put the liquids and yeast.  With a fork start to mix the flour with liquids slowly.  After all combined put the dough in a floured surface and knead for 5 to 10 minutes, until it becames very elastic and smooth.

Shape into a ball, put in the bowl again and cover with plastic film to double its volume, around 2 hours.  Be sure the place has no ventilation.

Place the dough in a floured surface again and press down with your hands, opening until it is 1/2 inch high. Use a round cutter or a glass to cut discs. I used a tuna can without the top and bottom.

Flour a baking sheet with Semolina and place the discs, cover with a kitchen cloth and let it rise again for about 45 minutes.

Turn on one stove top, put one grinder or heavy iron skillet and put some discs until they are golden, then turn them and do the same in the other side.

Be sure the flame is not high, it should be medium low or it will burn the discs and not bake inside.

Susan´s Honey Bran Whole Wheat Bread (recipe from here)

Makes 3 large loaves, about 36 ounces each
When it comes to baking bread, my motto is If you have friends or a freezer,

4 cups / 1 lb-4 oz / 568 g all-purpose flour
2 cups / 10¼ oz / 290 g bread flour
1 cup / 4¼ oz 122 g oat bran
1 cup / 3¾ oz / 109 g wheat bran
1½ Tablespoons / 1/8 oz / 17 g instant yeast
2 Tablespoons / 30 ml canola oil or melted butter
1/3 cup / 3-5/8 oz / 102 g honey
5 cups / 40 fluid oz lukewarm milk (about 85 degrees F)
4 cups / 1lb-5 oz / 604 g white whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons / 30 ml salt

Mixing and fermentation
In a very large bowl, stir together the all-purpose flour, bread flour, oat bran, wheat bran, and yeast (I use a wooden spoon). Make a small well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour in the canola oil, the honey, and then the milk. Mix well, then continue to stir vigorously, slowly adding 1 cup of the white whole wheat flour at a time, until you’ve added 4 cups, or until you have a soft, slightly sticky dough. This should take a few minutes.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 6 or 7 minutes, adding more flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to your hands or the work surface.
Place the mixing bowl over the dough, and let it rest for 20 minutes. This rest period is called the autolyse. (You can read more about autolyse in the sidebar on my Farmhouse White recipe post.)
Remove the bowl, flatten out the dough with your hands, and sprinkle about half of the salt over it. Begin kneading the salt into the dough. After a few turns, sprinkle on the rest of the salt and continue to knead for 5 to 7 minutes, until the salt is completely incorporated and the dough is soft and smooth.
Place the dough in a large plastic straight sided container with a snap-on lid. With masking tape or a felt tip pen, mark the spot on the container that the dough will reach when it has doubled in volume. Set it somewhere that is preferably between 70F and 78F for about one hour. Ideally, the dough should also be between 70F and 78F. It’s easy to check the temperature of your dough and ingredients with an inexpensive instant read thermometer.
When the dough is ready to be shaped, you should be able to push a floured finger deep into it and leave an indentation that doesn’t spring back. Unless your dough is rising in a straight-sided container, it can be difficult to judge whether it has "doubled in size," which is the guideline most recipes use. I find the finger poking method to be more reliable.
Shaping and final rise (proof)
Turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, flattening gently with your hands to break up any large air bubbles. Divide the dough into three equal pieces.
Shape the dough into loaves and dust the tops with flour. There are dozens of ways to do this; instructions on how I like to shape my sandwich loaves can be found in this post. Place loaves seam side down in greased loaf pans (I’ve become addicted to baking spray—so convenient.)
If desired, an hour before baking, place baking stone in the oven and heat to 375 degrees.
Cover the loaves with a damp tea towel and let them rise for 45 to 60 minutes. The dough should rise well above the rim of the pans, and when you lightly poke it with a floured finger it should spring back just a little.
Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown and the bottoms sound hollow if tapped (you can carefully pop one out of the pan and put it back in if it’s not quite done). Remove immediately from pans and let cool on a wire rack. Try to wait at least 40 minutes before cutting into a loaf, as it continues to bake while cooling. Store at room temperature or freeze in zipper freezer bags. Make sure loaves are completely cooled before sealing in bags.

Cinnamon Rolls (Breadmachine friendly!!!):

Dough:

1 cup lukewarm milk (235ml – mine yelds 200ml)

1 large egg

4 Tablespoons butter

3 1/2 cups white flour

3 Tablespoons sugar (I used 5 instead)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Fillings:

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon (powder)

3/4 of a ripe banana (mashed)

5 Brasilian Nuts cracked

5 dry figs diced

For the dough: put all the ingredients in the breadmachine bowl as indicated above.  Choose dough cicle. When it finishes put the dough on a floured surface and knead for a minute.  Let it rest for 15 minutes.

Flatten the dough in a 35cm x 25cm rectangle. Brush the butter over the dough and the filling.

My way: I marked the dough in three with a knife after flattened and brushed with butter.  Then I spreaded the brown sugar all over. In one third I put the mashed banana with the Brasilian Nuts and cinnamon. In another third I used only cinnamon and the last third was covered with the diced figs

Roll the dough as jellyroll from the longer side.  Cut in 9 rolls around 3 cm each using a wet knife.  Place the rolls in a buttered and floured tube pan and let them rest in a warm place for about 30 to 45 minutes, until they doubled size.

Bake in a pre-heated medium high oven for 20/25 minutes, until golden. Let cool in the pan.

Mrs. Clery Chocolate Cake

cup: 200ml

Dough:

• 3 whole eggs
• 3 Tablespoons softened butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups white flour
• 3/4 cup of powdered Cocoa
• 1 dash of salt
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup milk

Separate yolks and egg whites. Put the whites in a bowl and beat well until  it has formed hard peaks. Set aside.

In another bowl put the butter and sugar and beat well, it should come out a fluffly cream. Add the yolks and the dry ingredients.  At last you should add the milk very slowly.

Mix well and with a wooden spoon mix in the egg whites and the baking powder.

Bake in medium oven in a tube pan buttered and floured.  It is done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool to unmold it.

Icing:

• 1/2 cup of powdered Cocoa
• 1/2 cup sugar (you can try 1/3)
• 5 Tablespoons milk
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 4 Tablespoons shredded bittersweet chocolate

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan on a medium/high flame. It will be well incorporated and a little thick then its done, around 10 minutes.  If you really enjoy icing you should double this…

Beijinho de Côco fácil

(If you make them really small you can get around 100 units!)

In a big bowl put 400g of powdered milk and around the same volume (minus 2 fingers) sugar. Open a 250ml bottle of coconut milk and pour until you find the mixture is easy to handle and to make little balls without sticking to your hands. If you butter your hands a little is even easier. I did not use all the coconut milk. Don´t worry , it will work out! Let the mixture rest for 20 minutes.

For the green balls: I used some drops of green food coloring in a part of the dough and mixed well with my hands…don´t worry, your hands will be green but after washing with soap the color will come out. I made medium balls and rolled them in sugar.

For the white balls: just make the little balls and roll them in sugar.

For the pink balls: put some drops of pink food coloring in a part of the dough and mixed well with my hands…don´t worry, your hands will be pinkish but after washing with soap the color will come out. I made little balls and rolled them in sugar.

Peanut Butter Candy Balls

In a medium saucepan put 395ml of condensed milk (sweetened) and one Tablespoon butter. Cook over medium high flame until the mixture comes out of the bottom of the pan. Put in a serving glass plate and let it cool for a while. When it is almost cold mix in 3 Tablespoons of Peanutt Butter (unsalted) and with buttered hands make little balls, then roll the balls in sugar. You can garnish with half toasted peanuts.  I got from 55/60 units.

French Chocolate Brownies
– makes 16 brownies –
Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1/3 cup raisins, dark or golden
1 1/2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 12 pieces
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil, place the pan on a baking sheet, and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon, if you’re using it.

Put the raisins in a small saucepan with the water, bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until the water almost evaporates. Add the rum, let it warm for about 30 seconds, turn off the heat, stand back and ignite the rum. Allow the flames to die down, and set the raisins aside until needed.

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Slowly and gently melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring so that it melts. It’s important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you’ve got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them—it’s better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole. Set the chocolate aside for the moment.

Working with a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Lower the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter, mixing only until it is incorporated—you’ll have a thick, creamy batter. Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds—the dry ingredients won’t be completely incorporated and that’s fine. Finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula, then fold in the raisins along with any liquid remaining in the pan.

Scrape the batter into the pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the brownies to cool to warm or room temperature.

Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. With a long-bladed knife, cut the brownies into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil.

Serving: The brownies are good just warm or at room temperature; they’re even fine cold. I like these with a little something on top or alongside—good go-alongs are whipped crème fraîche or whipped cream, ice cream or chocolate sauce or even all three!

Storing: Wrapped well, these can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

Açaí Ice Cream

Put in a blender: 500g Açaí concentrate pulp (mine had Guaraná syrup and some sugar added); 1/3  cup sugar; ½ cup water and 395ml cream.  Beat well and take it to the fridge for 2 or 3 hours.  Put in the ice cream maker and let it churn, in 25/30 minutes it will be done.  Freeze for at least one hour until serve.

xxxxxxxxxxx