Sometimes Simple, Sometimes Grand, Always Declicious
I must admit, I hadn’t planned on putting up the recipe for Caramel coffee banana bread until next week, but the excitement on my facebook page was so great that it caused me to rethink the upcoming lineup. One glance and you can see why it moved up. Just check out those divets of caramel in that end slice up there.
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Who among us loves a good ol’ fashioned cinnamon bun? How about chocolate? Or maybe even chocolate covered cherries? If that was you that just shoved your significant other out of the way (in a very loving manner of course) to get a better look at this confection, then this is your lucky day. Meet the chocolate cherry cinnamon bun. Not for the faint of heart, this bakery frontrunner combines all the classics into one swirled delight.
I’ve wanted to try my hands at cinnamon rolls for sometime now, but if you know me at all, then you know I wasn’t about to do it up without a twist. When Oregon Fruit decided to share a few containers of their wonderful canned harvest with me, I garnered the inspiration I needed. I would add fruit; cherries to be exact. The whole experiment still felt a bit “been there done that” to me though, so I did what I always do when I need to kick it up a notch. I added chocolate. You can thank me after you take your first bite. Trust me on this one.
Time to make the doughnuts. Or should I say the cinnamon buns.
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Is it just me, or has Family Friendly Fridays turned into a weekly display of rich and decadent “gotta have it now” desserts? Just thinking back off hand, I can recall a caramel apple cake that threatened to not only put apples back on the map, but permanently launch them to the top of the charts. And then there was the pretzel toffee crusted chocolate cake. Mamma Mia, bring out the milk cuz a second slice of that beauty was inevitable. And let’s not forget the chocolate churros. And I know I wasn’t the only convert to those. My friend Mari over at Mari’s cakes reported back to me that she made them a whopping six times! Seriously sweet.
Not that I’m complaining. I never meet a sweet I don’t like and am quite talented when it comes to engineering an excuse to bake up a meal-ending confection. Especially if it’s a treat like this one.
Now I know that scones are typically a breakfast food, but honestly, who made that rule up anyway. Certainly not me. And with the creation of this recipe, you can bring on the dessert. And hey, if you want to have it for breakfast. I’m all for that too.
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Would you believe me if I told you that I had never partook in a slice of Irish Soda Bread until I cooked up this recipe? I tell ya, this is what I love about food blogging. It forces you to get out of your rut, off your behind, and into your kitchen. It causes you to read Food and Wine, watch The Food Network and browse through your Citipass coupon book for recipe ideas while waiting for your child to finish up a class (Oh yes, guilty as charged. I can tell you with complete confidence that at least a handful of recipes I’ve shared on this blog have been inspired by my child’s annual school fundraiser). And you thought it was all about the coupons.
But back to the topic at hand. Irish soda bread. Why I haven’t cooked up a loaf of this bread sooner is beyond me. It’s quick to make; think no waiting for the yeast to rise. It”s easy enough for even an amateur bread maker to put together; it’s about as simple as mixing together the ingredients, forming it into a ball, and baking it. And the final result is a moist, flavorful bread that tastes like you spent the entire afternoon pouring your heart and soul into it. What’s not to love?
Traditional Irish soda bread consists of four main ingredients; Flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. That’s all there is to it. Most recipes these days fancy it up a bit with fruit, sugar, and the like. This version is no different. I added a little honey for sweetness and some caraway seeds just because. Do we really have to save this recipe for St. Patrick’s day? Because I could easily see this bread becoming a staple in our house.
Let’s get baking.
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The time comes when all birds must leave the nest and fly on their own. When I graduated college and started looking for a job, I decided that the farther I could soar from my hometown the better. Sound familiar? Be it a need for actual physical distance or merely emotional distance, I’m willing to bet that at one point in our lives we could all relate to that new found feeling of independence pulling us as far away as possible from where it all began. As for myself, I wanted nothing more than to show all those around me that I had what it took to make it on my own.
That ever growing need for independence eventually landed me in Phoenix, AZ. It was far from my childhood stomping grounds, completely different in every possible way from Wisconsin, and I had a cushion in the fact that my grandparents were living there in case I ever needed a familiar hand.
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It’s been awhile since I’ve popped up a beautiful ol’ loaf of bread on the blog. Things have been busy and good bread takes time, love, and patience. Lots of it. But I was overdue to share some Panera love again and I figured, why not focus on the bread this go round? Because anyone who’s ever been to Panera knows that one of the best parts about the tasting experience is their fresh baked bread. Am I right? Panera passed me a few links to read regarding their bread making process and in perusing the site I was surprised to learn that all their loaves are made on location each night and every loaf uses unbleached flour. You had me at fresh and unbleached. I can only imagine the passion those bakers must have for the bread they create.
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