I made saffron bread with a sourdough base today.

It was a beautiful dough- silky and easily managed- just right for shaping- the sun face came out just right- I love the almonds in his eyes.

The turtle- well,  I forgot to put in currants for his eyes, so he is blind- but cute.

And small- he fits right into the palm of my hand- a perfect size for my grandson.

And following Joanna’s example @ Zeb Bakes , I stenciled a loaf, just to look pretty.

And it does look pretty-

and the texture is light and the crust chewy and the flavor is just plain yummy!

I started this bread last night-

here as best as I can remember is the recipe, if you are interested.

1 cup of sourdough starter

2 cups plain flour

2 pinches of instant yeast

1 cup hot water

This is for the sponge or poulish as Joanna calls it.  Stir well with wooden spoon and cover with plastic wrap.  Place in draft free area and allow to raise overnight.

The next morning add:

3 cups flour

2 scant tsp sea salt

1 cup milk, scalded

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter

1 large egg

1/4 cup sugar

2 pinches of saffron

Method:

While milk is still hot, melt butter in it, add two pinches of saffron and stir well, set aside, beat egg and add to milk when cooled.

Add dry ingredients to 1 cup of flour and mix into sponge alternatively with liquid.  Mix well, adding additional flour until dough is quite stiff ( you may need more flour than listed).  Dump out of bowl and start to knead.

Knead dough for at least 8-10 minutes.   If is is too stiff at first, allow to rest on the cupboard, covered, for at least 20 minutes to relax and then try again.

When dough feels smooth and pliable, place into greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let raise until doubled- this could take up to 3 hours depending on the warmth, humidity,age of starter and many other factors.

When risen, dump from bowl and divide dough for your shaping purposes.

I used a little less than half to form the sun.

about 6 1/2 ounces for the turtle,

And the last half for the loaf.

I used a stencil and olive oil spray to design the stenciled loaf.

I used a precut stencil and lightly sprayed top loaf of the bread with olive oil.

Sprinkle flour into stencil cut outs and remove carefully.

Allow to raise again, about  1 1/2  hours

Bake at 350F for at 30 minutes, until golden brown.

I think it turned out quite well.

Talk about death by chocolate…or decadent chocolate recipes….

here is one that I put together for a picnic dessert.  There was nothing left by the end of the day!

This was actually a result of forgotten brownies.  I had baked quite a few desserts in one day last week- and I set aside the pan of brownies and totally forgot about them until I needed a quick dessert for the 4th of July. 

So- start off with slightly stale brownies!

Use your favorite brownie recipe- or mix-

I used one my friend Mary Jo gave me years ago-

2 cups sugar

1 cup flour

4 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

4 squares unsweetened chocolate

1 cup margarine or butter, melted

Grease and flour 9×13 pan.  melt unsweetened chocolate and margarine in saucepan, watch carefully so that is doesn’t burn.  Cool slightly.

Beat eggs and sugar together until thick and light colored and sugar is dissolved.

Add chocolate mixture to egg mixture- beat until fully incorporated.

Mix in flour , salt and vanilla.

Bake  at 350 degree F until tester comes out clean ( about 35 minutes).

Cut while warm- remove from pan when cooled.

3 or 4 days later…

Cut circle for bottom of glass/trifle bowl.

(I have a nut chopper that worked perfectly.)

Then cut the rest into pieces to fit around the sides of the bowl and press into place with fingers. 

Using pastry baster apply Baileys to brownie surfaces.  It will soak in rather quickly- I used about 1/2 cup.

Set aside and make chocolate pudding.

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups whole milk
6 ounces 62% semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used good quality semisweet chocolate chips; use 70% bittersweet if you want more of a dark chocolate kick)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine the cornstarch, sugar and salt in the top of a double boiler. Slowly whisk in the milk, scraping the bottom and sides with a heatproof spatula to incorporate the dry ingredients. Place over gently simmering water and stir occasionally, scraping the bottom and sides. Use a whisk as necessary should lumps begin to form. After 15 to 20 minutes, when the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of the spoon, add the chocolate. Continue stirring for about 2 to 4 minutes, or until the pudding is smooth and thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla, and the coffee essence.

Place plastic wrap on top of the pudding and smooth it gently against the surface before refrigerating. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days (ahem, good luck with that).

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This is the recipe I use- it is good and chocolatey but not too rich!

At the end I stirred in 2 generous TBS. of Coffee and Chicory essence- you could just use strong cold black coffee.

Pour the pudding over the brownie layer and allow to set up for 1 hour in the refrigerator. 

When slightly set, cover this layer with thin chocolate cookie /wafers (the kind you use to make ice cream sandwiches)

And set aside whilst you make up the next creamy layer.

Using handheld mixer, whip 3/4  cup of mascarpone cheese with 1/4 cup of whipping cream, 2 TBS sugar and 1/4 cup coffee essence.

Spread on top of cookie layer and sprinkle with chopped nuts – I used finely chopped macadamia nuts, but almond or pecan would be equally good.  Use what you prefer.

Whip up the rest of the pint of whipping cream that you opened to get the 1/4 cup for the last mixture.  Add 3 TBS of white sugar and whip until firm.

Spread on top of nut layer, place one last cookie in the middle of the bowl on top and refrigerate.  After several hours, the wafers on the side will be quite soft and you can carefully bend them down over the top of the cream topping, the edges will almost meet the center cookie and look quite well put together.

Refrigerate until serving time.  I added a dollop of whipped cream to each serving plate and shook a little chocolate/sugar powder over the top for garnish.

This made 1 medium and 1 small bowls of trifle.