Babà Napoletano al Rum Bundtlettes #BundtBakers

These babà Napoletano al rum bundtlettes are a traditional Italian dessert baked in an unconventional pan that does them proud. The hole in the middle gives extra surface area for absorbing the rum syrup and that is a very good thing!

This month my Bundt Bakers group is recreating Italian sweets as Bundts. I could only think of two off the top of my head, panna cotta and tiramisu so clearly some research into Italian dessert recipes was going to be necessary. In my typical fashion, I used Google Translate to figure out what “dessert” and “recipe” are in Italian, then I use those terms to search.

Sure, I could probably find some authentic recipes in English but what fun is that? I know I’m weird but I find it amusing to search in other languages, even ones I don’t speak. It adds another layer of challenge.

Babà Napoletano al Rum Bundtlettes

This recipe is adapted from one on Misya.info, a food diary written by a Neapolitan who learned to cook from her mother and grandmother. She assures her readers that babà is a typical sweet of the Neapolitan tradition, perhaps it is even the typical Neapolitan dessert par excellence. I was charmed by her write-up, published on the very day she was getting married.

Ingredients
For the dough:
1 teaspoon dry active yeast
2 tablespoons warm milk
2 tablespoons sugar plus extra for pan
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 1/4 cups or 406g flour
1/2 cup or 113g butter, at room temperature, plus extra for pan

For the rum syrup:
1 1/4 cup or 250g sugar
1/2 cup or 120ml water
1/2 cup or 120ml dark rum, divided
Zest 1 small orange (peel off just the orange part, not the white pith)

Method
In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the yeast with the sugar and warm milk. Leave to prove for a few minutes. The yeast should start bubbling.

If the yeast is active, add in the eggs, butter and salt and half of the flour.

Beat for about 10 minutes on medium speed, scraping the bowl down with a spatula occasionally.

Now add in the rest of the flour and beat until the dough is stretchy and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave the dough to rise in a warm place for about an hour.

Turn the dough out onto a clean buttered surface and knead the dough again. Divide it into 12 pieces. Tuck them into neat balls.

Butter and sugar your bundtlette pan.

Arrange the dough evenly inside the prepared pan, by making a hole in each ball and lowering it into the bundlette holes.

Cover lightly with greased cling film and leave it a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.

When rising time is almost up, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Bake your babàs for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden and well risen.

Meanwhile, put the sugar, water and orange peel in a small pot with half of the rum and bring the mixture to a rolling boil for a few minutes. Remove from the heat then add in the rest of the rum and stir.

Discard the orange peel.

When the babàs are baked, remove the pan from the oven. Remove each babà from the pan and spoon in about three teaspoons of syrup into each hole. Carefully place the babà back in the hole so it can absorb the syrup.

Prick the tops of the warm babàs and brush the syrup on slowly so it has time to soak in.

Keep brushing the syrup on the top and occasionally adding a bit more to the pan holes until all the syrup has been absorbed.

Turn the babàs out onto a serving platter. (I must confess that I had to trim just the tiniest bit off the bottom so they'd stand up straight.) The Italian recipe doesn’t mention this but you can serve the babàs with extra rum or even vanilla ice cream and rum. They make a wonderful dessert!

Enjoy!

Check out the rest of the wonderful Italian sweets recreated as Bundts below. Many thanks to our host Patricia of Patyco Candybar for this fun theme.

• Babà Napoletano al Rum Bundtlettes from Food Lust People Love
• Frosted Tiramisu Bundt Cake from Making Miracles
• Tiramisu Cake from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Torta al Limoncello With Homemade Limoncello from Sneha's Recipe
• Torta Caprese al Limoncino from Patyco Candybar
• Spumoni Bundt Cake from Palatable Pastime

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers can be found on our home page.

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Baba Kartoflana - Polish Potato Pie

This baba kartoflana or Polish potato pie is a super rich comfort dish baked with grated potatoes, eggs and bacon. It makes a great main course or side dish.



I have to be honest, I didn’t know much about Poland or Polish cuisine but when Polish recipes was chosen as our theme for this month’s Baking Bloggers, I started my research close to home. I knew from the many festivals (pre-Corona, of course) that there is a vibrant Polish community in Houston and the broader state. 

Indeed, here in Texas, there are many towns that boast Polish ancestry but the oldest Polish settlement in the whole United States is a place called Panna Maria (Virgin Mary in Polish) which is not far from San Antonio, about a three-hour drive from my home.

The first Polish settlers arrived in December of 1854 and impressively, the original oak tree under which they celebrated the very first mass is still standing! In September of 1856 the very first permanent Polish Catholic Church in the United States - Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church - was consecrated there.

In another first, Panna Maria was also the location of the first private Catholic school in the United States. It’s a community that is still going strong. In fact, they are currently building a heritage center to safeguard their history for future generations. I’m looking forward to being able to visit there when we are able to take road trips again. 

Meanwhile, I will console myself with making baba kartoflana aka Polish potato pie, a comfort dish if there ever were one. Or perhaps I'll try one of the other recipes my Baking Blogger friends are sharing. Make sure to scroll down below my recipe to see the links.

Baba Kartoflana - Polish Potato Pie

This recipe is adapted from one on Cook in Polish. The author suggests you can reduce the calories in this dish by omitting the bacon – but don’t do it! Bacon makes everything better. 

Ingredients
2.2 lbs or 1 kg floury potatoes (baking potatoes, like Russets)
2 yellow onions (about 12 oz or 340g)
12 oz or 340g bacon
2 large eggs
1/4 cup or 61g whole milk Greek-style yogurt
1 teaspoon dried marjoram leaves, plus extra for garnish, if desired
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (or 1/2 teaspoon powdered nutmeg)
Freshly ground black pepper

Method
Peel and dice the onions. In a large pan, fry half of the bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and drain on a paper towel. Once it has cooled, chop or crumble the bacon.

Remove all but about 2 tablespoons of bacon fat (reserving the balance for greasing your baking pan) and then add the onions to the bacon fat and cook until lightly golden. Put the onions on a plate to cool.

In a large bowl, beat your eggs and yogurt together, along with the marjoram, salt, nutmeg and a few generous grinds of black pepper.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Use the leftover bacon fat to grease an 8x8 in or 23x23cm baking pan (or a 9 1/2 in or 24cm iron skillet.) Sprinkle in half of the bacon crumbles.

Peel then grate the potatoes on a fine grater. (I used my food processor for this step!) Squeeze out as much liquid as possible.

Immediately add the potatoes to the egg mixture, stirring to completely combine. This will help ensure the potatoes don’t turn brown.

Add in the cooked onions and the other half of the bacon crumbles and stir well.

Spoon the potato mixture into your prepared baking vessel.

Cover the top with the remaining uncooked bacon slices.

Bake the baba kartoflana in your preheated oven for 55-60 minutes or until the top is golden and the bacon is browned and crispy.

Sprinkle on a little extra marjoram for garnish, if desired. Leave to cool for about 10 minutes, then cut in slices to serve. The baba kartoflana is very rich, truly comfort food, but it's not stodgy at all. Lift the slices out carefully or they crumble a bit. I suggest serving them with a lightly dressed green salad.

Enjoy!

Check out all the wonderful Poland-inspired dishes my Baking Blogger friends are sharing today! Many thanks to our host and leader, Sue of Palatable Pastime!

• Baba Kartoflana - Polish Potato Pie from Food Lust People Love
• Babki Śmietankowe (Cream Tarts) from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Kapusta Casserole – Polish Cabbage, Potato, and Bacon Bake from Making Miracles
• Karpatka (Polish Carpathian Cream Cake) from Tara's Multicultural Table
• Kolaczki - Jam-Filled Polish Cookies from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Kotlety Ziemniaczane from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Mom Klik's Breaded Pork Chops from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Oven Braised Pork with Sour Cream (Karkówka w śmietanie) from Palatable Pastime
• Piernik - Polish Gingerbread Cake from Caroline's Cooking
• Polish Stuffed Cabbage Rolls from Cookaholic Wife
• Veg Pierogi Casserole from Sneha's Recipe

Baking Bloggers is a friendly group of food bloggers who vote on a shared theme and then post recipes to fit that theme one the second Monday of each month. If you are a food blogger interested in joining in, inquire at our Baking Bloggers Facebook group. We'd be honored if you would join us in our baking adventures.

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Cauliflower Sourdough Crumpets #BreadBakers

These cauliflower sourdough crumpets are cooked in butter, which gives them wonderful golden outsides, perfectly complementing the tender insides made of sourdough starter and tiny cauliflower bits.



I’m always looking for easy recipes that use up sourdough starter discard so when I found this one on the King Arthur Flour website, I couldn’t wait to try it. Like every recipe I’ve made from the KAF website, it did not disappoint. But that got me thinking. What else could I add to the original to add flavor and nutrition without affecting the look of the crumpets?

And so these cauliflower sourdough crumpets were born. I made them one afternoon when my husband and I had somehow skipped lunch and it took the two of us mere minutes to demolish all five crumpets, with and without cheese. The flavor of the cauliflower is subtle but definitely there. In short, we loved them. I have a feeling they will be on regular rotation whenever I have sourdough starter to discard. 

Cauliflower Sourdough Crumpets

Many supermarkets carry ready-made cauliflower “rice” in the refrigerator section of their produce departments but it’s easy enough to make at home. Grate the cauliflower florets or pulse them in a food processor until they resemble small pieces, similar in size to short grain rice. This recipe is easily doubled but, as written below, it makes 5 crumpets.

Ingredients for five crumpets

1/2 cup or 70g cauliflower “rice”

1 cup or 227g sourdough starter (unfed/discard)

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

3/8 teaspoon baking soda*

Butter for greasing English muffin rings and pan

*If your discard starter is particularly sour, you might want to increase the baking soda to 1/2 teaspoon.

Method

Steam your cauliflower “rice” for about three minutes and then press it to get rid of as much liquid as possible.

Put it in a large mixing bowl and set it aside to cool.

Add the sourdough starter to your cooled cauliflower, along with the sugar, salt and baking soda. Stir well to combine. The batter will start to bubble up almost immediately. 

Heat your nonstick griddle or large frying pan over medium-low heat. 

Lightly grease five English muffin rings (1" high and 4" across) and place as many as will fit flat on your pan. I cooked mine in two batches, three and two. Melt a pat of butter in each then use a pastry brush to cover the pan inside the rings with the butter. 

Divide the batter evenly among the buttered rings. I used a 1/4 cup measuring scoop to fill each ring up about halfway. 

Cook for about 5 minutes, until the tops are set and full of small holes. Run a knife around the edge of the rings and carefully lift them off. Use a spatula to turn the crumpets over and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until they are golden on the other side as well. 

Remove from the pan and keep warm while you repeat the process to cook the rest of the crumpets.

Serve the crumpets warm, spread with butter. They are also excellent with some grated cheddar on top, which really goes great with the cauliflower. 

Enjoy!

This month my Bread Bakers group is sharing breads made with vegetables. Many thanks to Renu of Cook with Renu for hosting! 

• Butternut Squash Sourdough Bread by Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Carrot Sandwich Bread by Ambrosia
• Cauliflower Sourdough Crumpets by Food Lust people Love
• Cranberry-Pecan Pumpkin Bread by What Smells So Good?
• Garden Harvest Vegetable Bread Loaf by Making Miracles
• Potato Rosemary Focaccia by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Purple Pain de Mie by A Messy Kitchen
• Spinach Spiced Sourdough Discard Bread by Cook with Renu
• Tomato Garlic Biscuits by Palatable Pastime
• Vegetable Focaccia by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Zucchini Bread by Sneha's Recipe

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Mustard Honey Buttered Carrots #FoodieExtravaganza

Mustard Honey Buttered Carrots are slightly sweet with a lovely sharpness and, of course, shiny with just the right amount rich butter. They make a beautiful side dish, served hot or at room temperature. 

I love putting carrots in things – like soups or stews or even cakes and muffins – but rarely make them a star in their own right. I think of them more as an ingredient in mirepoix than something to fill a whole bowl with.

Maybe it’s because my younger daughter is not such a fan of cooked carrots. On the odd day that I did prepare carrots as a side dish when she was little, I served her portion raw and she was happy to munch them that way. 

All that changed when I started buying baby carrots. They are always sweet, always tender and they also look beautiful. What more can one ask of a side dish? 

Mustard Honey Buttered Carrots

If you aren’t lucky enough to be able to find baby carrots in your local market, by all means use whatever sweet carrots you can buy. Cut them into sticks or coins but make sure not to overcook them.

Ingredients

1 lb or 450g baby carrots

1 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to season, if needed

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon whole grain mustard

Chopped parsley for garnish, optional

Method

Scrub the baby carrots and trim the green stems, leaving a few inches on for color. Put them in a pot and cover them with water. Add the teaspoon of salt.

Bring the water to the boil and cook the carrots for 5-7 mins or until just tender. Drain, and discard any stems that have detached themselves. 

While the carrots are cooking, warm the butter, honey and mustard and whisk them together. (I used the microwave, a few short zaps will do it, but you can also use a small pot on the stove.) 

Drain the carrots and transfer them to a bowl. Immediately pour the mustard honey butter over them and toss gently to coat.

Sprinkle with a little salt, if desired but I find that the saltiness of the whole-grained mustard is sufficient for our taste. 

Transfer the carrots to a serving plate and make sure to pour any dressing left behind in the bowl over the top. 

Sprinkle with some chopped parsley for garnish, if using. Serve the carrots immediately hot, or at room temperature. 

Enjoy! 

This month's Foodie Extravaganza theme is honey to celebrate National Honey Month which is September. Many thanks to our host, Rebekah of Making Miracles. Check out all the honey recipes we are sharing:

• Honey Chicken Wings In Potato Baskets by Sneha's Recipe
• Honey Roasted Figs by Palatable Pastime
• Honey Soy Baked Chicken Thighs by Making Miracles
• Hot Honey Chicken Wings by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Mustard Honey Buttered Carrots by Food Lust People Love
• Sticky Soy Spare Ribs by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board.

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Dark Chocolate Coffee Muffins #MuffinMonday

Whether you need a pick me up for breakfast or a mid-morning snack, these dark chocolate coffee muffins would be perfect for either. Pour yourself a cup of coffee or a cold glass of milk and take a big bite of real coffee flavor complemented by the dark chocolate hiding near the bottom of each muffin. Oh, yeah!

I can hardly believe that it’s already the end of August. It doesn’t feel like it at all temperature-wise, but I know that soon (Please!) the weather will begin to turn colder and we’ll be able to switch off the air conditioner and open the doors again. I miss fresh air that's not more than 80 percent humidity.

It seems a whiney thing to complain about, not being able to open up my house, especially with all that is going on in the world right now. So I won’t. I will say that coffee muffins with dark chocolate almost make up for it.

What are you looking forward to in Autumn?

Dark Chocolate Coffee Muffins

Despite my best attempts, the chocolate morsels tend to sink to the bottom of these muffins. But I decided to see the positive and think of them as the dessert at the end of your snack muffins. This recipe was adapted from one on Serious Eats and makes 15 muffins.

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 100g granulated sugar
1/4 cup or 50g dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil
1 cup or 240ml milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons instant espresso granules
1 cup or 170g dark chocolate morsels (I use Nestlé Tollhouse)

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a 15-cup muffin pan by lightly greasing it or lining it with paper muffin cups. I used a 12-cup muffin pan and three silicone muffin cups set in a small baking pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. It’s warm in Houston right now so my chocolate morsels were a bit sticky. If yours are the same, tip them into the flour mixture and use your hands to separate them and coat them with flour.

In another mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, milk, vanilla, and espresso granules until the espresso granules have dissolved completely. It turns a lovely café au lait color.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl and fold until just combined.

Divide the batter between your muffin cups and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Leave to cool for a few minutes then remove the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

It’s Muffin Monday and we have lots of great muffins to share! Check out the links below. 

• Banana Nut Muffinss from Making Miracles
• Cherry Almond Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Chocolate Chip Sweet Potato Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Cinnamon Sweet Potato Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Dark Chocolate Coffee Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Lemon Lavender Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Small Batch Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Spiced 'Tree Pumpkin' (Persimmon) Muffins from Culinary Adventures with Camilla

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

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