Tropical Monkey Bread

April 7, 2016/0 Comments/in Baked Goods, Banana, Bread, Easter, Florida, Guava, Recipes/by Ann Pieroway

Tropical Monkey Bread is absolutely the most delicious bread and it will be a big hit at any brunch or gathering. I served this at our Easter brunch and it was the hit of the day with my Key Lime Pie following close behind. The guava, banana and macadamia nuts adds a delicious favor to the bread. The Tropical Monkey Bread recipe comes from the famous Checca Lodge in Islamorada, Florida.

¼ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits (30 biscuits)
¼ cup chopped macadamia nuts
1 small banana, sliced – not too ripe
½ cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter
2 ounces cream cheese
4 tablespoons butter
¼ cup guava paste
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8- to 9-inch tube pan with non-stick baking spray.
Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a medium-size plastic bag. Open the biscuit tubes and remove the biscuits. Cut the biscuits in halves. Place six to eight biscuit pieces in the sugar-cinnamon mix in the bag and shake well. Arrange the pieces in the bottom of the greased pan. Coat the remaining biscuit pieces with sugar and cinnamon in the same manner. Continue layering the biscuit pieces, sprinkling the macadamia nuts and banana slices among the pieces as you layer them. The pan should be ¾ filled. Do not overfill the pan.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the layered biscuits.
Bake for 40 minutes and remove from the oven. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes; then turn out onto a plate. Let cool for about 10 minutes more before adding the icing.
Allow the cream cheese and butter to come to room temperature. Spray a small saucepan with vegetable oil spray. Place over low heat and add the guava paste.
Cook until the paste is soft and can be blended into the butter and cream cheese. Beat the butter, cream cheese and heated guava paste together in an electric mixer. Slowly add in the confectioners’ sugar. After the sugar is added, mix for 12 minutes (do not shorten the time). When almost done, add in the vanilla extract and lemon juice. Spread over the warm bread.

Serves 10

Cook’s Note: Make sure you spray the tube pan with non-stick baking spray.

Flavors of Key West (2010)

Christmas Cookie Recipe

December 16, 2015/0 Comments/in Baked Goods, Cape Cod, Cookies, Massachusetts, Recipes/by Ann Pieroway

Christmas Cookie Recipe

Dreamy Island Cookies

If you love coconut and chocolate, you will absolutely love this Christmas cookie recipe. This is a new cookie and I must say I love the combination of coconut, chocolate and pecans. I made a slight change to the original recipe because the dough was not binding so I added a little orange juice and voila it came together perfectly. The OJ added a nice flavor.

1⅔ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup packed brown sugar
⅓ cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1-2 tablespoons orange juice
1¾ cups milk chocolate chips
¾ cup flaked sweetened coconut
¾ cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt in small bowl.
Beat butter, brown sugar, sugar and vanilla in large bowl until creamy. Beat in egg.
Gradually stir in flour mixture until well combined; add a little orange juice to bind dough.
Stir in chocolate, coconut and pecans. Drop by large tablespoons onto baking sheets.
Bake 10 minutes for a chewy cookie.

Yields 4 dozen cookie

Adapted from Meet Me In My Cape Cod Kitchen (2014)

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

December 8, 2015/0 Comments/in Baked Goods, Cookies, Cranberry, Massachusetts/by Ann Pieroway

COOKIES FOR CHRISTMAS

Everyone loves these Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies as they are nice and moist. The secret to this recipe is to soak the dried cranberries in orange juice overnight. I use dried cranberries from Decas Cranberries in Massachusetts. You can find their product in stores under the name Paradise Meadows. They are the best!!

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup dried cranberries, soak in
1 cup orange juice
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal

1. Soak the dried cranberries in orange juice over-night.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. In a medium-bowl combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
4. In a large bowl cream butter and add sugar and brown sugar; combine well.
5. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
6. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture; blend well.
7. Drain the cranberries and fold in the oatmeal and cranberries.
8. Drop by rounded teaspoons on ungreased baking sheet.
9. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden. Cool 1 minute on baking sheet for a few minutes; move to wire rack.
10. Store in an air tight container and cookies will keep for several days.

Yields: 4 dozen

Muffin Recipe

September 8, 2015/0 Comments/in Baked Goods, Banana, Blueberry, Books, Food and Drink, Recipes/by Ann Pieroway

Oh, what to do with those overripe bananas?? Usually we bake banana bread, but instead let’s look at a delicious muffin recipe from the “Taste of Home” from University of Massachusetts Dining. UMASS dining is listed as number 1 in the nation for excellence. I adapted this recipe a bit. As bananas ripen their sugar content increases, so they are very sweet. I reduced the amount of sugar from 2 cups to 1/2 cup and I believe that the next time I would reduce it even further to 1/3 cup.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
pinch of cinnamon, or to taste
1 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
5 medium over-riped bananas, mashed
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 cup blueberries
1 cup ground walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 18 muffins cups with baking spray.
2. Whisk together flour, sea salt, baking soda and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, mix together the salt, sugar and bananas. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture, blueberries and walnuts.
3. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Bake until a tester inserted in the center comes out dry, about 25 minutes.

Makes 18 muffins

Adapted from UMASS Dining “Taste of Home” 2014

Yummy Blueberry Plum Crisp

August 31, 2015/0 Comments/in Baked Goods, Blueberry, Food and Drink, Recipes/by Ann Pieroway

A friend gave me 4 pounds of Damson Plums from her tree. They are also known as blue plums. I couldn’t imagine what I would do with all of them. They are small but full of flavor. After reviewing a few recipes, I decided to go with an original creation. I always have blueberries in the fridge and I thought the combination would be tasty. I had wanted to add peaches, but the ones I had bought at a local orchard were not ripe enough. It took about an hour to quarter and remove the pit of all the plums.

Blueberry Plum Crisp

4 pounds Damson or Blue Plums, pitted and quartered
1 pint blueberry, washed and drained
1 package of Phoebe’s Kitchen Crisp mixture
1 stick butter, softened

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place plums and blueberries in oven proof casserole. I used an Dansk casserole dish.
3. Place butter in medium bowl and add the crisp mix. Mix and sprinkle on top of the plum-blueberry mixture.
4. Place in oven and bake for 45 minutes or until bubbly.

Serves 6-8

Lightest most Delicious Blueberry Coffee Cake – Blueberry Boy Bait

August 16, 2015/0 Comments/in Baked Goods, Food and Drink, Recipes/by Ann Pieroway

My childhood friend Irene and I starting making this recipe when we were in our early teens. I can’t imagine how many of these I have made. It came from a Pillsbury Booklet. The story goes that in 1954 a 15-year-old Chicago girl named Renny Powell submitted a blueberry coffee cake recipe to the Pillsbury $100,000 Recipe & Baking Contest (precursor to the Pillsbury Bake-Off). She came in second place in the youth division for her creation. She gave it the special name, Boy Bait, in honor of its powers with the opposite sex. This past weekend I brought out the recipe and it taste just as good today as my memories of times past. There are several adaptation of this on the internet, but none could possibly be as delicious as this. The secret to its lightness is the whipped egg white that must be gently folded into the batter. Do not over mix the batter!

Once the batter is spread in a 9 x 13-inch pan, I drop as many blueberries as possible on top. The picture below shows how it should look. Once you put the blueberries on top, sprinkle the reserved topping over the batter.

Blueberries on top of batter

Topping sprinkled on top of berries

Finished Coffeecake

Blueberry Boy Bait

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1¹⁄₂cups granulated sugar
²⁄₃cup unsalted butter
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-2 cups blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift together flour, sugar; cut in 2/3 cup butter until particles are small. Reserve 3/4 cup of this mixture for topping.
To remainder, add sea salt, baking powder, vanilla, milk, & egg yolks; blend well.
Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry; fold gently into batter. Spread in a well-greased and lightly floured 9″ X 13″ baking pan.
Arrange drained blueberries over batter. Sprinkle reserved ¾ cup crumb mixture over top.
Bake for 40-50 minutes or until tester come out clean.

Hidden Gem in Hardwick, MA

June 22, 2015/0 Comments/in Baked Goods, Food and Drink, Massachusetts, Recipes, Restaurants/by Ann Pieroway

Population of Hardwick, MA is under 3,000, but it has a bakery and cafe that draws in customers from many miles away, Rose32. The owners began baking breads in the 1970s in San Francisco. After 4 decades of growing a 1 shop bakery into 4 retail stores, a distribution network both retail and wholesale, they sold the big business and moved to the hamlet of Gilbertville, a part of Hardwick.

After a year or so, they decided to become bakers once again and a lot of people are so glad they did. Next they needed to locate an outlet for the bakery so the search began. Finally they determined that the former service station that had served the community and travelers on Rt. 32 for many decades would make a grand bakery. It took nearly 1 1/2 years to renovate the service station into the beautiful bakery and cafe.

This past Saturday a friend and I went to Janine’s Frostee for their lobster roll and as we left, I decided that it would be a good time to try and locate Rose32. It is about a mile from where Rt. 9 and 32 intersect. The cafe has many outside table and inside there are a few large tables along with the bakery. They are open Wednesday through Sunday from early morning through mid-afternoon.

Begin with breakfast either scrambled eggs, an egg sandwich or a hash scramble with diced ham, potatoes and green onions topped with Cabot cheddar. Breakfast is served until 11 a.m., while lunch is served all day. You will need to get their early as the lines are long on weekends.

All breads and bakery items are made on the premises. The breads are made in small batches with only flour, water and salt. They have a bread called the Hardwick Loaf with wheat grown in Hardwick that is milled fresh at the bakery each day. They say it is amazing and the next time I am out that way I will definitely buy a loaf.

They also carry European-style butter or what is known as cultured butter. It is definitely more expensive than store bought butter, but true bakers use it when making pie crust and other layered baked goods such as scones and croissants. European butter is made more slowly which allows for a stronger flavor. The main difference between the butters is the fat content. European butter has a 83-86% fat content while non-cultured butter is about 81%. Butter with more fat has less water thereby creating a lighter pastry. It is not important when making cookies, bars or even brownies, but if you are making scones or kouign anam which have what is called a laminated dough you will want to use a European butter.

To the left is their pecan sweet roll and the kouign anam is to the right. I had never had or heard of the latter so a little research was necessary. Kouign anam ( (pronounced [,kwiɲˈamɑ̃nː]), is a little cake from the town of Douarnenez in Finistère, Brittany, where it originated around 1860. It is light and flaky due to the layers of butter and noted cookbook author David Lebovitz has a delicious recipe with great instructional pictures as to how to make this caramelized treat.

So go to Rose32 in Hardwick and enjoy the many delicious baked goods. It is a little gem in a small town in Central Mass.

Tropical Monkey Bread

Christmas Cookie Recipe