Hand Made Baking Recipes to Warm the Heart

211 Pages·2014·43.39 MB·English

by  Kamran Siddiqi

HAN D
MA D E
bak ing
Recipes to Warm the Heart
kamran siddiqi
Copyright © 2014 by Kamran Siddiqi.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without
written permission from the publisher.
ISBN 978-1-4521-3045-3 (epub, mobi)
ISBN 978-1-4521-1230-5 (hc)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Siddiqi, Kamran.
Hand made baking : recipes to warm the heart / by Kamran Siddiqi.
pages cm
Includes index.

1. Baking. 2. Baked goods. I. Title.
TX763.S447 2014
641.81’5--dc23
2014005141
Design by Alice Chau
Photography and styling by Kamran Siddiqi
Amco utensils are a registered trademark of Focus Products Group International
LLC; Breville is a registered trademark of Breville U.S.A.; Callebaut chocolate is
a registered trademark of Barry Callebaut Company; Calphalon is a registered
trademark of Calphalon Corp.; Chicago Metallic is a registered trademark of
Chicago Metallic Corporation; Cuisinart is a registered trademark of Conair Cor-
poration; DeLonghi is a registered trademark of DeLonghi S.P.A.; Endangered
Species chocolate is a registered trademark of Endangered Species Choco-
late LLC; GIR spatulas are a registered trademark of Product of GIR; Green
& Black chocolate is a registered trademark of Green & Black Chocolate Ltd.;
Guittard chocolate is a registered trademark of Guittard Chocolate Company;
Häagen-Dazs is a registered trademark of HDIP Inc.; Kerrygold is a registered
trademark of the Irish Dairy Board; KitchenAid is a registered trademark of
Kitchen Aid Inc.; Le Creuset is a registered trademark of Le Creuset S.A.S.; Lindt
chocolate is a registered trademark of Chocolade fabriken Lindt & Sprungli AG;
Matfer Bourgeat spatulas are a registered trademark of Matfer Bourgeat Inc.;
Microplane graters are a registered trademark of Grace Manufacturing Inc.;
Nielson-Massey is a registered trademark of N ielson-Massey Inc.; Nói Síríus
chocolate is a registered trademark of Nói Síríus; Nordic Ware is a r egistered
trademark of Northland Aluminum P roducts Inc.; Nutella is a registered trademark
of Ferrero S.P.A.; Oxo is a registered trademark of Helen of Troy Ltd.; Plugra is
a registered trademark of Dairy Farmers of America, Inc.; El Rey chocolate is a
registered trademark of Chocolates El Rey, Inc.; Scharffen Berger chocolate
is a registered trademark of Artisan Confections Company; Smjör butter is a
registered trademark of MS Iceland Dairies; Valrhona chocolate is a registered
trademark of Valrhona S.A.
Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, California 94107
www.chroniclebooks.com
To the timeless romantic sitting alone in the corner of
a café, the ravenous cookbookworm, the home baker,
the timid cook, and the parent covered in flour and
frosting at midnight. This book is for you.
—KS
contents
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Maple-Pecan Pie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
Kitchen Basics.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Very Best Pumpkin Pie . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Easy Meyer Lemon Tart . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
Mille-Feuilles.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
RISE AND SHINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Arabian Nights Baklava . . . . . . . . . . . . .76
Clarified Butter.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Blueberry Corn Muffins . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Cream Scones.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Forgetaboutit Cinnamon Rolls . . . . . . . . .25 THREE O’CLOCK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Tangy Cream Cheese Frosting . . . . . . .28 Sparkly Sugar Cookies . . . . . . . . . . . . .82
Strawberry Crumble.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Very Best Chocolate Chip Cookies . . . . . .84
Whatchamacallit Apple Crumble . . . . . . . .32 Chocolate Snickerdoodle Cookies.. . . . . . 87
Maxines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 Heartbreak Chocolate Truffle Cookies.. . . . 90
Brown Butter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Take It and Go! Cookies . . . . . . . . . . . .92
Quick Puff Pastry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 Curiously Chewy Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies . .94
Butterfly Cookies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Peanut Butter Pinnacle Cookies . . . . . . . .96
Chocolate Puffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 Samee Cookies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98
Guava and Cheese Puffs . . . . . . . . . . . .44 Molasses Spice Cookies . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Dutch Baby Pancake . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 Nutella Shortbread Sandwich Cookies.. . . 102
Cinnamon-Raisin Granola.. . . . . . . . . . . 48 Jammy Linzer Cookies.. . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Back of a Napkin Strawberry Jam.. . . . 107
AS EASY AS 1-2-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Back of a Napkin Raspberry Jam . . . . . 107
Gingerbread People.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Foolproof Pie Dough . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
Animal Crackers.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Sarah’s Apple Pie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Graham Crackers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114
Blue Teeth Blueberry Pie . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Cranberry and Almond Coconut Macaroons.. 118
Chocolate Pudding Pie . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
Pistachio Polvorónes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Billowy Whipped Cream.. . . . . . . . . . 65
Everyday Brownies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 SPREAD A LITTLE BUTTER ON THAT! . 178
Fudgy Flourless Chocolate Brownies . . . . 126
New York–Style Bagels.. . . . . . . . . . . 180
Nancy Drew Blondies.. . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Easy-Peasy Brioche.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Dominican Water Bread (Pan de Agua) . . . 186
PIECE OF CAKE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Raisin Challah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Insanely Moist Chocolate Cupcakes . . . . . 134 Angelic Biscuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Easy Cocoa Frosting.. . . . . . . . . . . 136 Penn Station Cinnamon-Sugar Pretzels . . . 196
Chocolate Swiss Roll . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Coffee Glaze.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Flourless Chocolate Cake.. . . . . . . . . . 140  
Everyday Chocolate Cake.. . . . . . . . . . 142
Peanutty Peanut Butter Frosting . . . . . 144 RESOURCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Yellow Birthday Cake . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Water Ganache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Classic Chocolate Ganache . . . . . . . 148
Easy Vanilla Buttercream . . . . . . . . . 148
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Caribbean Princess Cake.. . . . . . . . . . 149
White Meringue Frosting . . . . . . . . . 152
Dulce de Leche . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Tres Leches (Three Milks) Cake . . . . . . . 153
Lemon–Poppy Seed Drizzle Cake . . . . . . 156
Carrot Cake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Apple Harvest Loaf Cake . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Banana Bread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Brooklyn Crumb Cake.. . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Ever-So-Classy Pavlova.. . . . . . . . . . . 172
Strawberry New York Cheesecake.. . . . . 174
introduction
Most of us seek congruity, peace, and harmony breads of all kinds, and pastries and cakes made
in our lives, whether we do it through standing by sweet Russian babushkas and Italian nonnas.
shoulder to shoulder in a small kitchen sharing
I am the only baker on either side of my huge
laughs with our loved ones, writing in complete
family; I started baking at the age of five and my
and utter silence, watching reruns of our favorite
love for this form of comfort cooking blossomed
television shows, or opening the curtains on a
from then on. During my formative years, my par-
summer morning to discover a picturesque day
ents drifted apart and later divorced; my mother,
waiting outside the window.
sister, and I picked up from the only place we
Peace, for me, is the feeling of waking up early on knew as home, New York City, and moved to the
a Saturday morning, ready to take on the day with suburbs of New Jersey. The entire act of leaving
full energy. It’s the background sound of people one’s home is a shock; if you’ve experienced
snoring. It’s the feeling of standing barefoot on leaving home before, you know how much of an
the cold gray-and-blue Jackson Pollock–esque anxiety-inducing experience it can be. Getting
linoleum floor of a kitchen, wearing oversize used to the sounds of New Jersey and the mix of
basketb all shorts and a blue pin-striped shirt emotions running through my mind during that
that could easily accommodate two. It’s the feel- time of my life left me sleepless at night, so I’d
ing of a cool autumn breeze capering through find myself baking in the kitchen while listening
the kitchen like a Punjabi bhangra dancer. Peace to Norah Jones. Baking, since then, has always
is the reassuring feeling of my arm wrapped been my method of seeking solace and therapy.
around a large mixing bowl filled with chocolate
Both sides of my family come from very different
cake batter.
cultures. My father hails from Pakistan, while his
Baking is my peace. It’s what I do on nights when family hails from India and other countries. My
I can’t sleep. Music is set to play in the back- mother was born in New York City’s Chinatown
ground, the oven is turned on, and I open to a to a Spanish father and a mother from the Domin-
page in my baking journal and begin the beauti- ican Republic. Because of my very diverse back-
g
ful dance of late-night baking. ground, I’ve been encouraged throughout my life
n
i
k to eat and experience different cuisines—many of
a I am a twenty-two-year-old baker and cook brought
b which are related to my cultures, and some that
e up on good food in New York City, which brims
d aren’t. Because of this, a great number of rela-
a with restaurants and bakeries on nearly every
m tives who introduced me to these many cuisines
street corner. Growing up, visits to bakeries were

d influenced the recipes in this book. Neither side
n a constant; I was raised on good bagels, unbe-
a of my family expected me to be writing about food
h lievably flaky and buttery croissants, artisanal
8
in a book; even I didn’t expect it. Before I entered make space for bowls and spoons. It’s about the
college, I planned to become a forensic anthro- coldness of flour and butter on your fingertips,
pologist. Then, two weeks before freshman ori- the graininess of salt crystals as you pinch them
entation, I decided to pursue writing. Specifically, into a bowl of avalanched flour. Baking is about
I wanted a career that involved writing about my the sweet smells of cinnamon and sugar mingling
biggest passion: food. to bring nostalgic memories of a lax, carefree
childhood of apple pies and snickerdoodles. It’s
This was something I had never before thought
about the taste of sensuous melted dark choc-
about doing, and when I announced my choice, my
olate left in a casually scraped bowl. Baking is,
family thought I’d gone mad. Suddenly I couldn ’t
most important, about sharing love and happi-
see myself being a scientist, isolated in a lab,
ness in the form of treats that reflect your chang-
working to solve the arcane. Instead I saw myself
ing moods throughout the day—at breakfast time,
writing and sharing good food with others, just
at three o’clock, and during midnight walks into
as I did on my blog, The Sophisticated Gourmet,
the kitchen. So roll up your sleeves, blare your
putting myself out there to show everyone that
favorite music, and preheat your oven. It’s time to
rolling up your sleeves and giving any recipe a
get your hands into things—to make something
good try shouldn’t be feared, but embraced. If I
deliciously hand made!
hadn’t been befriended by an amazing community
of food lovers when I started The Sophisticated
Gourmet during the end of my sophomore year of
high school, I’d never have made the decision to
dream big. Many of my ambitions of sharing good
food and teaching others to embrace old and
new tastes are rooted in my blog.
This book is my biggest attempt yet at doing just
that on a larger level. It’s an attempt to convert
fear-filled nonbakers to experts in this ultimate
form of comfort-food cooking. It’s also an attempt
to help you build your confidence in the kitchen,
i
n
with your love for family, friends, and sharing at
t
r
the center of all your work. o
d
u
Baking, to me, is about the clattering of cake ct
i
pans as you slide them around the countertop to on
9
kitchen basics
You don’t need a professional kitchen with
expensive machinery and baking pans, or even a
pantry full of posh exotic ingredients, to make any
of the recipes in this book. You need only a few
basics, which I point out here—and even some of
these, to be honest, you can do without.
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