For the cake I used my Strawberry Cake recipe. I also use Strawberry Filling, and my favorite Buttercream frosting.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
My First Wedding Cake
My sister in law recently got married and she asked me to make her wedding cake. I am all about good tasting food, but making things look pretty and elegant isn't necessarily my strong suit. I first told her no about 5 times, then finally told her I would. It was actually a really good learning experience. This was my fist time using fondant in anything. Of course I had to make my own fondant. Store bought fondant just doesn't taste good. I couldn't have anything I made somehow not taste good. The fact that it would taste good was the only thing I was confident about, so I had to make sure that it really did taste good. All in all it turned out pretty good. I was pleased with it, and she said it was exactly how she wanted it! It of course wasn't perfect, and I have no plans of quitting my day job to do wedding cakes full time, but I think I was pleased with the cake.
For the cake I used my Strawberry Cake recipe. I also use Strawberry Filling, and my favorite Buttercream frosting.
For the cake I used my Strawberry Cake recipe. I also use Strawberry Filling, and my favorite Buttercream frosting.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Delicious Dinner Rolls
These might be my new favorite rolls. I have now made them several times and absolutely love them. Maybe its all the delicious butter that goes into them. Whatever it is these are tasty! This makes a huge batch of rolls so I will often half it.
Delicious Dinner Rolls
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of milk
3/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 egg
1 Tablespoon salt
2 Tablespoons yeast
2 cups of warm water
about 9-10 cups of all purpose flour
at least 1 cup of butter
To start out: Scald 1 1/2 cups of milk, 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup of butter, in a microwave safe bowl, for about 2 minutes. Cutting the butter into pieces helps it melt faster. There will probably be some little cubes of butter still floating in the hot mixture, they will melt.
We are going to add yeast to this hot mixture, but it will be too hot to just dump the yeast straight in (it would kill it!). To cool it down stir in 1-2 cups of flour, then add 1 egg and 1 Tablespoon of salt, and leave it to cool for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, in a measuring cup dissolve 2 Tablespoons of yeast in 2 cups of warm water and 1 Tablespoon of sugar. Let it sit for a couple of minutes until it is bubbly.
**Keep track of how much flour you are adding!!!
Make sure your milk mixture is just warm, not boiling and add the yeast mixture!Using a fork or wooden spoon, gradually stir in 9-10 cups of flour (counting the flour you have already added to cool it earlier). I would recommend only adding 2 cups at time and stirring in between. These rolls turn out so much better when they are mixed by hand.
At the end the dough will be dense and sticky, and may be hard to stir, you can use your hands to incorporate the rest of the flour if needed. Be sure not to add too much flour. Then smooth the dough out and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave it in a warm place and let it raise.
When your dough is close to raising completely, butter 2 cookie sheets and set them aside.
Let the dough raise until it has doubled in size.
Cover your working space with flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Dump your dough out and divide it into 4 balls. Eyeball the sizes, then lift them up and feel the weight of each ball. Try to make them even, but they don’t have to be perfect.
Using one ball of dough at a time: roll the dough into a circle on a floured counter. Once it is rolled out spread the top with butter from edge to edge. You will use about 2 Tablespoons per circle of dough.
Cut the dough into quarters using a pizza cutter.
Then cut each quarter into 3 pieces. You should end up with 12 triangles from each circle of dough.
Roll the dough starting with the wide end of the triangle.
Tuck the tail of the triangle under the roll and place it on the buttered cookie sheet. You will make 3 rows, with 8 rolls per row. This will give you 24 rolls per pan. Two balls of dough will fill 1 pan. You will get a total of 48 rolls!
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the pans of rolls in a warm place (on top of the oven if possible) to let them rise. Once they are touching and full in size, cook (one pan at a time) in the oven ’till they are golden brown. About 10 – 15 minutes, It may take longer depending on how hot your oven cooks. Keep a close eye on your first pan to get the right time for the second.
While they are still hot and fresh out of the oven run a stick of butter over the tops of the rolls for a delicious buttery glaze.
Recipe Source: How Does She?
Delicious Dinner Rolls
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of milk
3/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 egg
1 Tablespoon salt
2 Tablespoons yeast
2 cups of warm water
about 9-10 cups of all purpose flour
at least 1 cup of butter
To start out: Scald 1 1/2 cups of milk, 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup of butter, in a microwave safe bowl, for about 2 minutes. Cutting the butter into pieces helps it melt faster. There will probably be some little cubes of butter still floating in the hot mixture, they will melt.
We are going to add yeast to this hot mixture, but it will be too hot to just dump the yeast straight in (it would kill it!). To cool it down stir in 1-2 cups of flour, then add 1 egg and 1 Tablespoon of salt, and leave it to cool for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, in a measuring cup dissolve 2 Tablespoons of yeast in 2 cups of warm water and 1 Tablespoon of sugar. Let it sit for a couple of minutes until it is bubbly.
**Keep track of how much flour you are adding!!!
Make sure your milk mixture is just warm, not boiling and add the yeast mixture!Using a fork or wooden spoon, gradually stir in 9-10 cups of flour (counting the flour you have already added to cool it earlier). I would recommend only adding 2 cups at time and stirring in between. These rolls turn out so much better when they are mixed by hand.
At the end the dough will be dense and sticky, and may be hard to stir, you can use your hands to incorporate the rest of the flour if needed. Be sure not to add too much flour. Then smooth the dough out and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave it in a warm place and let it raise.
When your dough is close to raising completely, butter 2 cookie sheets and set them aside.
Let the dough raise until it has doubled in size.
Cover your working space with flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Dump your dough out and divide it into 4 balls. Eyeball the sizes, then lift them up and feel the weight of each ball. Try to make them even, but they don’t have to be perfect.
Using one ball of dough at a time: roll the dough into a circle on a floured counter. Once it is rolled out spread the top with butter from edge to edge. You will use about 2 Tablespoons per circle of dough.
Cut the dough into quarters using a pizza cutter.
Then cut each quarter into 3 pieces. You should end up with 12 triangles from each circle of dough.
Roll the dough starting with the wide end of the triangle.
Tuck the tail of the triangle under the roll and place it on the buttered cookie sheet. You will make 3 rows, with 8 rolls per row. This will give you 24 rolls per pan. Two balls of dough will fill 1 pan. You will get a total of 48 rolls!
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the pans of rolls in a warm place (on top of the oven if possible) to let them rise. Once they are touching and full in size, cook (one pan at a time) in the oven ’till they are golden brown. About 10 – 15 minutes, It may take longer depending on how hot your oven cooks. Keep a close eye on your first pan to get the right time for the second.
While they are still hot and fresh out of the oven run a stick of butter over the tops of the rolls for a delicious buttery glaze.
Recipe Source: How Does She?
Saturday, April 28, 2012
The Best Buttercream Frosting
I love a good frosting. I have been making a lot of cakes lately and this is by far my favorite frosting. Classic American Buttercream
frosting. This recipe uses powdered sugar,
butter, vanilla and milk. This is a great recipe for decorating and
piping on cupcakes and cake. The secret to this frosting's awesomeness
is the almond extract. I love it! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Serves: 2.5 cups
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or 1/2 pound), softened (but not melted!) Ideal texture should be like ice cream.
3-4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar, SIFTED
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
up to 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
Instructions
Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the sugar doesn’t blow everywhere) until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk 1 tablespoons at a time.
Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Serves: 2.5 cups
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or 1/2 pound), softened (but not melted!) Ideal texture should be like ice cream.
3-4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar, SIFTED
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
up to 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
Instructions
Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the sugar doesn’t blow everywhere) until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk 1 tablespoons at a time.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Orange"ies"
I really don't know what to call these bad boys except delicious. Really they are like brownies but instead of chocolate they are orange flavored. They are dense and delicious with a little bit of orange heaven drizzled on top. I would call them Orange Brownies, but they aren't brown at all so I think this could a little misleading. So I'm sticking with the Orange"ies". It might sound funny but that is what I'm going with!
I made these for my sister-in-law's bridal shower. The shower was so cute and so fun. The picture is one straight from the shower taken with my good little phone. There were several recipes that I promised I would post so stay tuned for more yummy desserts in the near future.
*The original recipe is for Lemonies. I am sure these are just as delicious, I just happened to have oranges on hand so feel free to make whatever you have on hand.
Orange"ies" or Orange Brownies
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons Orange zest
2 tablespoons Orange juice
Orange Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon Orange juice
2 teaspoons Orange zest
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8-by-8-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
Zest and juice one orange; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the flour, sugar, salt, and softened butter until combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, orange zest, and orange juice until combined. Pour into the flour mixture and beat at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
Pour into baking dish and bake for 25 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden around the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before glazing.
When brownies are cooled completely, make the glaze by whisking together all three ingredients. Spread over the brownies with a rubber spatula, cut into bars, and serve!
Recipe Source: Bakergirl
I made these for my sister-in-law's bridal shower. The shower was so cute and so fun. The picture is one straight from the shower taken with my good little phone. There were several recipes that I promised I would post so stay tuned for more yummy desserts in the near future.
Orange"ies" or Orange Brownies
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons Orange zest
2 tablespoons Orange juice
Orange Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon Orange juice
2 teaspoons Orange zest
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8-by-8-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
Zest and juice one orange; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the flour, sugar, salt, and softened butter until combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, orange zest, and orange juice until combined. Pour into the flour mixture and beat at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
Pour into baking dish and bake for 25 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden around the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before glazing.
When brownies are cooled completely, make the glaze by whisking together all three ingredients. Spread over the brownies with a rubber spatula, cut into bars, and serve!
Recipe Source: Bakergirl
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Rainbow Cake
My sister in law asked me to make this cake a while back. When she sent me the picture of it I thought it just might be the cutest cake ever! The recipe I found for it sounded good. I set out to make the cake, was loving every minute of it. I should have known better when the recipe used something other than a buttercream frosting. I put all 6 layers on the cake, started frosting the outside of the cake and then disaster struck. My beautiful fun cake slowly started sliding. The more I tried to stop it the more it slid. You know on Sleeping Beauty (I think thats the one) when the 3 fairies are are making her birthday cake and it starts falling over and they put a broomstick to hold it up? Well thats what I wanted to do, but couldn't. It was very tragic! Ever since this horrible cake experience I have been even more determined to make this cake. I have learned from my mistakes and have made a beautifully fun rainbow cake!
Here are some tips for making this cake a success for you the first time.
First: Gel food colors are awesome! You need much less food color to get the beautiful bright colors that are so awesome in this cake.
Second: Make sure you cake is cooked thoroughly, and cooled thoroughly before trying to do anything with it. If your cake is too soft it will fall apart. If it is warm at all the frosting wont be strong enough to hold everything in place. This takes me to my next type...
Third: Make sure you are using a sturdy frosting. You need your frosting to be just soft enough to spread it on the cake without ripping the cake apart, but still thick and sturdy enough that your layers are going to slide off.
Fourth: Know that you can use whatever colors you want. I thought the rainbow colors were very fun, but I have also seen it done in different shades of pink. If you want different colors then do different colors!
Fifth: If you do make this cake, and it turns out perfectly for you (which I know it will ) then you are bound to be the favorite cake maker your friends and family have ever known. Good work.
Rainbow Cake
Ingredients
Vegetable shortening
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/3 cups sugar
3 egg at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk, room temperature
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple gel food coloring
Your favorite Butter cream Frosting (you will want at least double what you normally use)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush six 9-inch-round cake pans (or as many 9-inch cake pans as you have, reusing them as necessary) with shortening. Line bottom of each cake pan with parchment paper; brush again and set aside. If using pans that are prone to stick you might want to flour them as well.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar. Slowly add eggs and mix until well combined. Add vanilla and mix until fully incorporated. Add flour mixture and milk in two alternating additions, beginning with the flour and ending with the milk. Mix until well combined.
Divide batter evenly between six medium bowls. Add enough of each color of food coloring to each bowl, whisking, until desired shade is reached. Transfer each color to an individual cake pan. Transfer to oven and bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean, about 15 minutes (working in batches if necessary).
Remove cakes from oven and transfer to a wire rack; let cool for 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto a wire rack; re-invert and let cool completely.
Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes to make level. Place four strips of parchment paper around perimeter of a serving plate or lazy Susan. Place the purple layer on the cake plate. Spread a scant 1 cup buttercream frosting over the first layer with a small offset spatula so it extends just beyond edges.
Repeat process with blue, green, yellow, and orange layers.
Place the remaining red layer on top, bottom-side up. Gently sweep away any loose crumbs with a pastry brush. Using an offset spatula, cover the top and sides with frosting. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Recipe Source: Martha Steward
In case any of you wanted to see pictures of my first cake (the disastrous one) here you go.
Rainbow Cake looking beautiful and fun
And now for the Rainbow cake in its final disastrous state :(
Here are some tips for making this cake a success for you the first time.
First: Gel food colors are awesome! You need much less food color to get the beautiful bright colors that are so awesome in this cake.
Second: Make sure you cake is cooked thoroughly, and cooled thoroughly before trying to do anything with it. If your cake is too soft it will fall apart. If it is warm at all the frosting wont be strong enough to hold everything in place. This takes me to my next type...
Third: Make sure you are using a sturdy frosting. You need your frosting to be just soft enough to spread it on the cake without ripping the cake apart, but still thick and sturdy enough that your layers are going to slide off.
Fourth: Know that you can use whatever colors you want. I thought the rainbow colors were very fun, but I have also seen it done in different shades of pink. If you want different colors then do different colors!
Fifth: If you do make this cake, and it turns out perfectly for you (which I know it will ) then you are bound to be the favorite cake maker your friends and family have ever known. Good work.
Rainbow Cake
Ingredients
Vegetable shortening
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/3 cups sugar
3 egg at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk, room temperature
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple gel food coloring
Your favorite Butter cream Frosting (you will want at least double what you normally use)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush six 9-inch-round cake pans (or as many 9-inch cake pans as you have, reusing them as necessary) with shortening. Line bottom of each cake pan with parchment paper; brush again and set aside. If using pans that are prone to stick you might want to flour them as well.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar. Slowly add eggs and mix until well combined. Add vanilla and mix until fully incorporated. Add flour mixture and milk in two alternating additions, beginning with the flour and ending with the milk. Mix until well combined.
Divide batter evenly between six medium bowls. Add enough of each color of food coloring to each bowl, whisking, until desired shade is reached. Transfer each color to an individual cake pan. Transfer to oven and bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean, about 15 minutes (working in batches if necessary).
Remove cakes from oven and transfer to a wire rack; let cool for 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto a wire rack; re-invert and let cool completely.
Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes to make level. Place four strips of parchment paper around perimeter of a serving plate or lazy Susan. Place the purple layer on the cake plate. Spread a scant 1 cup buttercream frosting over the first layer with a small offset spatula so it extends just beyond edges.
Repeat process with blue, green, yellow, and orange layers.
Place the remaining red layer on top, bottom-side up. Gently sweep away any loose crumbs with a pastry brush. Using an offset spatula, cover the top and sides with frosting. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Recipe Source: Martha Steward
In case any of you wanted to see pictures of my first cake (the disastrous one) here you go.
Rainbow Cake looking beautiful and fun
And now for the Rainbow cake in its final disastrous state :(
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Simple Shredded Chicken
I was having lunch with a good friend of mine the other day and she let me in on a little trick. I thought this trick to be ingenious therefore I decided I must share it with all of you! This trick is all about making your life easier when it comes to chicken.
For a while now I have been cooking chicken in my crock pot in large batches, then shredding it, then putting it in freezer bags and freezing it in 1-2 lb increments. That way whenever a recipe calls for chicken I can just pull some out and either let it thaw on the counter, in the fridge, in the microwave, or on the stove. It all depends on how much of a hurry I am in. I have loved doing this. It saves me a ton of time when I am in a hurry to get dinner on the table.
Now for the new trick. Every time I make a big batch of chicken the part I don't enjoy (the rest is super easy) is actually shredding the chicken. I have been shredding it just with two forks one piece at a time. Well my friend told me that all you have to do is take the cooked chicken, place it in your kitchen aid mixer bowl with the flat blade attached and turn it on. The kitchen aid mixer will do all the grunt work for you. She fed me some of her chicken, and it was shredded perfectly. I obviously had to try this little tactic out. Well I'm happy to report that I tried it, and it works! My life has just been made easier.
Simple Shredded Chicken
6-8 chicken breasts
2-3 cups chicken stock or broth
Place chicken breasts in your crock pot. Pour chicken stock or chicken broth over the chicken. It doesn't have to cover the chicken completely. Cover with lid. Turn the crock pot on low. Allow to cook for 6-8 hrs or until chicken is done. My crock pot cooks hot and even on low it cooks in about 4 hours. Once chicken is cooked remove chicken (save the leftover broth for later) from crock pot and place in kitchen aid mixer bowl with flat blade or paddle attached. Turn your mixer on low speed and watch the magic happen. Once your chicken is shredded to your liking add back in a small about of the broth that the chicken was cooked in. I have found that this helps the chicken not be dry when reheating. If you are using the chicken immediately then this step isn't necessary.
I have used my shredded chicken an all of these recipes:
For a while now I have been cooking chicken in my crock pot in large batches, then shredding it, then putting it in freezer bags and freezing it in 1-2 lb increments. That way whenever a recipe calls for chicken I can just pull some out and either let it thaw on the counter, in the fridge, in the microwave, or on the stove. It all depends on how much of a hurry I am in. I have loved doing this. It saves me a ton of time when I am in a hurry to get dinner on the table.
Now for the new trick. Every time I make a big batch of chicken the part I don't enjoy (the rest is super easy) is actually shredding the chicken. I have been shredding it just with two forks one piece at a time. Well my friend told me that all you have to do is take the cooked chicken, place it in your kitchen aid mixer bowl with the flat blade attached and turn it on. The kitchen aid mixer will do all the grunt work for you. She fed me some of her chicken, and it was shredded perfectly. I obviously had to try this little tactic out. Well I'm happy to report that I tried it, and it works! My life has just been made easier.
Simple Shredded Chicken
6-8 chicken breasts
2-3 cups chicken stock or broth
Place chicken breasts in your crock pot. Pour chicken stock or chicken broth over the chicken. It doesn't have to cover the chicken completely. Cover with lid. Turn the crock pot on low. Allow to cook for 6-8 hrs or until chicken is done. My crock pot cooks hot and even on low it cooks in about 4 hours. Once chicken is cooked remove chicken (save the leftover broth for later) from crock pot and place in kitchen aid mixer bowl with flat blade or paddle attached. Turn your mixer on low speed and watch the magic happen. Once your chicken is shredded to your liking add back in a small about of the broth that the chicken was cooked in. I have found that this helps the chicken not be dry when reheating. If you are using the chicken immediately then this step isn't necessary.
I have used my shredded chicken an all of these recipes:
These are just a few of my favorites, but really the possibilities are endless! Happy chicken making!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Pesto Braid Bread
I kind of love bread. This is no secret. I also love pesto. How can you go wrong with basil, garlic, Parmesan, and pine nuts. I love all of these things. The original recipe for this bread has a sweet filling which typically I'm all about, but today I was in a slightly more savory mood. I decided to use a pesto filling (because I love pesto) and I'm very glad I did. Its a very pretty bread with hidden goodness inside.
Pesto Braid Bread
Ingredients
Dough:
2 cups bread flour
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 envelope active dry yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut up
1 cup water
3 large eggs, slightly beaten
Filling:
2/3 cup packed, coarsely chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons pine nuts or sunflower kernels
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, peeled
Pesto Braid Bread
Ingredients
Dough:
2 cups bread flour
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 envelope active dry yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut up
1 cup water
3 large eggs, slightly beaten
Filling:
2/3 cup packed, coarsely chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons pine nuts or sunflower kernels
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, peeled
Directions
1. Dough: In large bowl, mix 1 cup bread flour, 1 cup all-purpose flour, yeast, sugar and salt.
2. In saucepan, melt butter in water. Let cool to
120 degrees F to 130 degrees F on instant-read thermometer. Add to
flour; beat with spoon until combined. Stir in eggs. Stir in remaining
bread flour, then all-purpose flour, 1 cup at a time.
3. Knead dough on floured surface until smooth, 5
to 10 minutes, adding flour if needed. Place in greased bowl; turn to
coat. Cover with towel. Let rise in warm place until doubled, 1 hour.
4. Filling: Combine basil, garlic, Parmesan
cheese, olive oil, and nuts in the bowl of a food processor or blender.
Blend to a smooth paste. Add parsley if desired.
5. Punch down dough; let rest 5 minutes.
6. Divide dough in half. Cover one half. Divide
remaining half into thirds. Roll out a third into 15 x 5-inch rectangle.
Spread with 3 tablespoons filling. Roll up from long side. Repeat with
remaining 2 pieces.
7. Lightly coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.
Braid 3 ropes. Tuck ends under. Place on baking sheet. Cover loosely
with plastic.
8. Repeat with other half of dough for second loaf. Cover; let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
9. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Uncover loaves. Brush with a small amount of leftover pesto if desired.
10. Bake in 375 degrees F oven for 30 minutes or
until loaves sound hollow when tapped. Transfer to rack; cool.
Recipe Source: Adapted from Recipe.com and Allrecipes
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