Modern Baker Challenge – Perfect Elephant Ears and Instant Puff Pastry

Sara made them, Phyl made them, and then my daughter told me that in cooking class they made them, too – elephant ears, or pig’s ears as we say in German. This is another recipe from the Modern Baker Challenge – one we won’t get to for about another year or so, but I was so eager to make them that I just couldn’t wait.

Modern Baker Challenge – Parisian Fruit Tartlets

When I read that Abby had made the Parisian Fruit Tarts from The Modern Baker I immediately knew I had to make them, too, because the picture was mouth-watering! 

The Modern Baker Challenge – Pain de Campagne

Pain de Campagne, the next bread on my Modern Baker Challenge line-up, was a rather time-consuming bread. Of course, not as time-consuming as Reinhart’s or Hamelman’s breads, this is a 1-day bread after all. But compared to other breads in the bread section, it was.

The Modern Baker Challenge – Prosciutto Bread

Prosciutto? What is prosciutto? I didn’t know until I delt with the next recipe for the Modern Baker Challenge. I’m not a big meat lover – I do like to eat some chicken every once in a while, and I really LOVE fish, but other meat and cold cuts – meh. This is probably the reason why I’ve never encountered the term “prosciutto”. Now I know that in English, the term prosciutto is almost always used for a dry-cured ham that is usually sliced thinly and served uncooked (thanks, Wikipedia ).

The Modern Baker Challenge: Breads – Seven Grain and Seed Bread

My 7th bread in the bread section of the Modern Baker Challenge – Seven Grain and Seed Bread. I really liked the BBA Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire, so I was curious to see how Malgieri’s bread would compare to Reinhart’s multigrain bread.

The Modern Baker Challenge: Breads – Pain de Seigle

The next bread on my Modern Baker Challenge line-up was an absolute surprise. Pain de Seigle – aka French rye bread. It’s not that I don’t like rye – I’ve been used to eating good rye bread all my life. But for some reason, I’ve been a bit tired of rye lately. Thus I decided to make a half batch only.

The Modern Baker Challenge: Breads – Pita Bread

Pita bread was the next recipe I tackled for the Modern Baker Challenge. I do have a very good pita bread recipe (which is from the BBA Challenge) that always works and results in delicious pita bread, so I was curious how this recipe would compare to my go-to recipe.

The Modern Baker Challenge: Breads – Instant Sandwich Bread

After being successful with the Elegant Dinner Rolls, I really looked forward to making the next bread on my line-up of the Modern Baker Challenge: Instant Sandwich Bread. For those of you who are curious – this was another good bread!

The Modern Baker Challenge: Breads – Elegant Dinner Rolls

I haven’t been really happy with the results of my 2 official breads (Cornetti & Turkish Flatbread) in the Modern Baker Challenge, so I was hoping that this recipe for elegant dinner rolls would be a success. And yes, it was!

The Modern Baker Challenge: Breads – Turkish Flatbread

Just before our vacation, Phyl asked me if I minded claiming another recipe from the bread section because there were two recipes nobody seemed to care about. So, here’s my second official bread for the Modern Baker Challenge – Turkish Flatbread.

The Modern Baker Challenge: Breads – Cornetti (Olive-Oil Rolls from Bologna)

This is my official bread in the Modern Baker Challenge – Cornetti. What a funny coincidence that I am hosting Bread Baking Day #32 this month, the theme of which is “Italian Breads”. I was a little disappointed with the outcome and thought of making them again, but we are leaving for vacation soon and I don’t know if I have enough time to bake them again before August 1. If so, I’ll update this post with hopefully better results and better pictures.

The Modern Baker Challenge: Quick Breads – Ginger Scones with Almond Topping

I made the ginger scones for the Modern Baker Challenge quite a while ago, but didn’t get to post about them. I have NO idea where my pictures of the ginger scones are – I know I took one or two pictures, but they are nowhere to be found. This is not a tragedy, though, because they were not a big hit here. I did make my own crystallized ginger following a recipe by David Lebovitz. It took FOREVER to dry – like 3 days, or so. The scones weren’t difficult to make, but the result was disappointing. They were dry, the ginger was almost not noticeable, the almond topping fell off…. This is not a recipe I’ll make again.

The Modern Baker Challenge: Quick Breads – Whole Grain Apple Raisin Bread

My next bread in the Modern Baker Challenge was the Whole Grain Apple Raisin Bread. I had very low expectations for this recipe. I don’t even know why because I like whole grain, apples and raisins. I think it was the picture in the book “The Modern Baker” by Nick Malgieri that totally put me off – it just looked awfully dry. But Kayte’s picture and her verdict about the bread convinced me to try the recipe.

The Modern Baker Challenge: Quick Breads – Butterscotch Scones

Butterscotch  Scones. The next recipe on the Modern Baker Challenge line-up was calling my name. I LOVE butterscotch! If I had to name one thing from the U.S. that I miss here (ok, 2 things) it would be butterscotch chips and Strawberry ‘n’ Cream Quaker Oatmeal. I KNOW – both these things are super artificial, but when I spent a year in the U.S. I wasn’t on the “everything has to be made from scratch” trip yet. Oh, there is a third thing: Kraft Mac ‘n’ Cheese White Cheddar. YUM. OK, I’m going to run and hide now before you come and beat me ;o). In my defense I have to say that was ELEVEN years ago. I was a student, didn’t have kids – so I hope you’ll forgive me.

The Modern Baker Challenge: Quick Breads – Chocolate Spice Bread

The next bread on my Modern Baker Challenge line-up – Chocolate Spice Bread. We are baking our way through Nick Malgieri’s “The Modern Baker”, not necessarily in the order that is given in the book. Check my sidebar to see which breads I’ve already made.

The Modern Baker Challenge: Quick Breads – Pecorino Pepper Biscuits

The next bread on my Modern Baker Challenge line-up – Pecorino Pepper Biscuits. We are baking our way through Nick Malgieri’s “The Modern Baker”, not necessarily in the order that is given in the book. Check my sidebar to see which breads I’ve already made.

The Modern Baker Challenge: Quick Breads – Spicy Jalapeño Cornbread

After my BBA cornbread disaster (it was by far the worst bread of all) I was pretty sure I would never ever make cornbread again. But then I read Anne Marie’s post and Phyl’s post about the Spicy Jalapeño Cornbread from “The Modern Baker” by Nick Malgieri, and since this is the Modern Baker Challenge after all, I decided to give it a go. So here I am, writing about the Spicy Jalapeño Cornbread.

The Modern Baker Challenge: Quick Breads – Real Welsh Scones

Next bread on my private line-up for the Modern Baker Challenge invented by Phyl – Real Welsh Scones. We are baking our way through the quick bread section of “The Modern Baker” by Nick Malgieri. Some bake the recipes in the order specified in the book, I don’t. I bake what fits into my schedule and what pleases my and my family’s tastebuds. And sometimes I just check the recipes to see which one I can make with the ingredients I have at hand.

The Modern Baker Challenge: Quick Breads – Fennel Fig & Almond Bread

This is actually the first “bread” in Nick Malgieri’s book “The Modern Baker”, the book that inspired Phyl to come up with the Modern Baker Challenge. We as a group will bake our way through this book, but every recipe has an official blogger, so we don’t have to tackle each and every recipe.

The Modern Baker Challenge: Quick Breads – Cocoa Banana Muffins

Another new challenge I’m participating in – The Modern Baker Challenge. Like the BBA Challenge, we are going to bake our way through an entire book: Nick Malgieri’s The Modern Baker. But unlike the BBA Challenge, fellow bakers can “claim” certain recipes and blog about them, and are then featured on the challenge website. This means, we don’t have to tackle all the recipes, but only the ones we like. But all 150 recipes will be baked by the group. My claim for the first section of the book (quick breads): cocoa banana muffins. I’ll also bake some other breads from this section, but this is my official submission for the challenge.