Montreal-Style Bagels (Sesame Seed Bagels)

Ingredients
1 tsp. granulated sugar
1 cup warm water
1 pkg. active dry yeast (1 tbsp.)
2 eggs
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tsp. salt

Poaching Liquid
16 cups water
2 tbsp. granulated sugar

Glaze
1/2 cup sesame or poppy seeds
1 egg, beaten

~In a large bowl, dissolve 1 tsp. sugar in warm water. Sprinkle in the yeast; let stand for 10 minutes or until frothy. Whisk in eggs and oil. Beat in 2 cups of the flour, 2 tbsp. sugar and salt until smooth. With a wooden spoon, gradually stir in enough of the remaining flour to make soft but not sticky dough.

~ Turn out dough onto lightly floured work surface; knead for 8-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl, turn to grease all over. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk (size), 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

~Punch down dough; turn out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead several times. Divide into 12 pieces; roll each into 12-inch rope, covering ropes with tea towel as you work.

~For each rope, bring ends of dough together, overlapping by about 1 inch and stretching overlap around other end to meet underneath; pinch firmly to seal. Place on lightly floured baking sheet; cover and let rise in a warm draft-free place for 15 minutes.

~ Poaching Liquid: In wide saucepan, bring water to boil; add sugar. Reduce heat to medium. Slip bagels into water, 3 or 4 at a time; cook for one minute. Turn with slotted spatula; cook for one minute. Using spatula, transfer bagels to greased baking sheets.

~ Glaze: Place sesame seeds on a plate. Brush egg over bagels. One at a time, dip egg side into seeds; return to baking sheets. Bake in center of 400'F(200'C) oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and bagels sound hollow when tapped on bottom. Remove form pan; let cool on racks. Makes 12 bagels

~Enjoy :)~

Chocolate Danish Braid

First you will have to make 1 lb (500 g) Danish Pastry Dough, the recipe is as follows and it makes 2 lb so you can make 2 danish's or use the remaining 1 lb of dough for another recipe :)...

Ingredients: 

2 packages (5 tsp.) active dry yeast

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup warm water (105-115' F or 40-46' C, i personally used warm/hot tap water)

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cardamom (optional)

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 large whole egg, plus 2 large egg yolks

1 cup whole milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra as needed.

~ In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and a pinch of the sugar in the warm water. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

~ In a large bowl, using a wire whisk, whisk together the remaining sugar, the salt, cardamom (if using), melted butter, and eggs. Whisk in the milk, vanilla, and the yeast mixture. Using a wooden spoon, gradually stir in flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix just until the dough clings together in a rough mass. If the dough is still very soft, add up to 1/4 cup additional flour. ( Personal experience, my dough was way to liquidy since the first time i tried it i used boiling water, stupid me lol, anyways i had to add way more flour then 1/4 cup and it still worked out well so for those of you who think this sounds really hard it'll still work out!)

~ Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Place on a half-sheet pan, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until chilled, about 45 minutes.

This concludes the Danish Pastry Dough recipe, we can now move onto the Chocolate Danish Braid :)

Ingredients

1 lb Danish Pastry Dough

For the filling

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

2 tbsp. cocoa

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 large egg white

1 large egg beaten with 1 tbsp. water

Sliced almonds and/or coarse sugar or vanilla glaze

~ Prepare the Danish Pastry Dough and refrigerate to chill as directed (as you have already done ^^) Line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper, or butter lightly

~ To make the filling, in a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, butter, cocoa, and cinnamon and mix with a pastry blender or your fingers until fine crumbs form. Stir in the egg white until blended.

~ On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry into a rectangle about 14 inches long, 9 inches wide, and 1/4 inch thick. Spread the filling down the center third of the rectangle. Using a sharp knife, cut diagonal strips 1 1/4 inches wide down the outside of the pastry on both sides of the filling, cutting almost through to the filling. Cut off the first and last strip on both sides so that a flap is formed at the top and the bottom.

~ Fold the flaps over onto the filling. Starting at the top, fold the strips over the filling alternatively from each side at an angle. When you get to the end, tuck the overhang of the last few strips underneath the braid to form a seal. Using a wide metal spatula, carefully transfer the pastry to the prepares pan. Place in a warm, draft-free spot, cover loosely with a kitchen towel, and let the braid rise until double in size, 30-40 minutes.

~ Position a rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 425'F (220'C)

~ Lightly brush the braid with the egg mixture. Sprinkle the sliced almonds and/or coarse sugar, or leave plain if using the vanilla glaze

~ Bake the pastry for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375'F and continue baking until golden brown and puffed, 15-20 minutes longer. Check the braid during baking, and if it turns brown early, cover with aluminum foil during the last minutes of baking. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer the braid to the rack and let cool completely. If using, drizzle the braid with the Vanilla Glaze just before slicing

ENJOY =D (man, glad all that typing is done with @.@ haha~)

Toblerone Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 cup instand dissolving fruit/berry sugar
3 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup rice flour
2 cups toblerone, coarsely chopped (375g)
2 tbsp. icing sugar, sifted

(Preheat oven to 325', Makes 60 cookies)
~ Beat butter until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in fruit/berry sugar until smooth

~ Mix together all purpose flour and rice flours. Stir into butter mixture; knead until well blended.

~ Reserve 60 larger pieces of toblerone. Stir in smaller pieces into dough. Arrange mounded teaspoonfuls onto parchment paper. Press 1 reserved chunk into each. Press to flatten slightly.

~ Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool. Dust with icing sugar

and ENJOY :)

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground coves

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup solid packed, canned pumpkin puree

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

2 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups confectioners powdered/icing sugar, sifted

Garnish

1 cup pecans or walnuts or english toffee bits

~Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Place rack in the middle of the oven. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or spray each cup with a non-stick vegetable spray

~ In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground spices, and salt.

~ In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and pumpkin puree, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

~Fill the muffin cups evenly with the batter using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. Place in the oven and bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center of on of the cupcakes comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool

Cream Cheese Frosting

~In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the butter and beat until incorporated and smooth. Add the vanilla extract and confectioners sugar and beat until fluffy (2-3 minutes). Pipe or spread the frosting on the cupcakes. Sprinkle with toasted and chopped nuts or the english toffee bits.

To Toast Nuts

~Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Place the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until brown and fragrant. Cool completely and then chop coarsely

ENJOY~ :)

Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

2 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 cup confectioners powdered/icing sugar

For chocolate coating

9 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

9 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 tbsp. shortening

~ Line 36 miniature muffin cups with paper liners

~ Place the peanut butter, unsalted butter, and salt in a microwavable bowl, and heat in the microwave for about one minutes or just until soft, but not melted (check and stir the ingredients every 20 seconds). Stir in the confectioners sugar

~ Melt the chocolate and shortening in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water

~ Drop a tsp. of the melted chocolate into each of the paper lined miniature muffin cups. Top with a scant tsp. of peanut butter mixture. Then top another tsp. of melted chocolate. Refrigerate until set. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

~Makes about 36 peanut butter cups. Preparation time 30 minutes

Enjoy :)