Friday, March 23, 2012
The rest of the ship...
Ok folks here are he pics I took yesterday while finishing the ship. It was a lot of fun to build and very detailed. Not really a toy though, I can see the masts breaking pretty easily. This is a shown piece. DD and I had fun and plan on building the Queen Anne's Revenge next.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Black Pearl - 2
So, this is half way done. This model has 804 pieces! Working with DD6, we have about 1.5 hours into it. Book 1 of 2 is done at this point. We are going to hopefully finish it tonight. 
Monday, March 12, 2012
Sweet Cream Cheese Stuffed Pretzels!
This is my take on the Magic Kingdom Sweet Cream Cheese Stuffed Pretzel that you can get at The Lunching Pad in Tomorrowland. Sorry it took me so long everyone, it's been a little busy around here and I had to make these a few times before I felt it was close enough to the real thing to post up. It's a fairly easy recipe to make as long as you have some basic baking skills.
Before we get started there are a few things that you don't have to have but will definitely make your life a lot easier and make the recipe turn out better.
First is some sort of Stand Mixer. I have a KitchenAid Pro 600, but any mixer will do as long as it has a Dough Hook attachment and enough torque to knead dough. You don't have to have a mixer but I really wouldn't want to have to hand knead this dough!
The second thing that is Really handy to have if you bake a lot (like I do) is a digital kitchen scale. Any type will do. I picked mine up at Walmart for like $20 a couple of years ago. The reason for this is a lot of recipes these days are using weight and not volume as a measurement as it is more precise - especially with flour which can vary greatly depending on the milling process and the humidity level.
The third item which really helps (and is almost essential to stuff the pretzels) is a Marinade Injection Syringe or a Piping Bag with a long thin tip. I have both and even though it is more difficult to fill, I find the Syringe does a better job of filling the pretzels with the Cream Cheese. Here is the one I got at Walmart for under $5.
That's pretty much it for any "special" hardware. Now, on to the good part - the recipes!!
First, we have the soft pretzel recipe itself. I can't take credit for this. I got this recipe from one of my culinary idols - Alton Brown from the Food Networks Good Eats. I love this show and watch it all the time. This recipe is word for word what he has on Food Networks website. I've been using it for a few years and its always a big hit (even more so now)!
Pretzel Ingredients
1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt (optional)
Sweet Cream Cheese Filling Ingredients
2 8oz packages Cream Cheese (at room temperature)
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Directions
Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 5 minutes. Don't under-mix! I did this once and the dough wasn't elastic enough to roll out properly. Give it a good 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
While the Pretzel Dough is resting, it's time to make the Cream Cheese Filling. In a medium bowl whisk together the cream cheese and sugar until they are well incorporated. Then beat in the egg yolk and vanilla whisking until the mixer is smooth and uniform in color.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.
Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.
In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 18-inch rope and cut into 3 equal pieces of about 6-inches each. Place each piece onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.
Place the pretzels into the boiling water, about 5 at a time, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula (or a large slotted spoon - just something that will let the water drain off). Return them to the half sheet pan.
Once all the pretzels have been boiled, it's time to stuff. Fill your syringe (or Piping Bag) with the cream cheese mixture. If using a syringe I find it easiest to load this by putting the cream cheese into a ziptop bag and then cutting the corner off the bag and piping the mixture into the syringe. If you are using a piping bag to fill the pretzels then just fill that as you normally would and use your longest, thinnest tip - something that you would use to fill eclairs with. After your delivery device of choice is ready to go, just push the syringe or piping bag tip into one end of the pretzel as far as it will go and squeeze in the cream cheese as you slowly withdraw the tip. If using the syringe I put about 10cc's of the cream cheese into each pretzel. You may have to fill the pretzels from both sides to get cream cheese all the way through it. You should have about 1/4 of the cream cheese mixture left over which is great for dipping the pretzels into after they are cooked!!
After all the pretzels are stuffed, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture. At this point your could sprinkle them with the pretzel salt but I don't. I'm not a huge fan of adding salt and while it does add a little to the taste, to me it can be a little overpowering on the salt - total judgment call on your part (BTW - Kosher Salt will work just fine).
Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.
That's it. These are really yummy and disappear REALLY fast - especially at parties. Not too difficult to make, just need a little time and patience. If you have any questions with them please don't hesitate to email me at banishwrx@gmail.com. I hope you all enjoy them as much as my family, friends and I have!!
Before we get started there are a few things that you don't have to have but will definitely make your life a lot easier and make the recipe turn out better.
First is some sort of Stand Mixer. I have a KitchenAid Pro 600, but any mixer will do as long as it has a Dough Hook attachment and enough torque to knead dough. You don't have to have a mixer but I really wouldn't want to have to hand knead this dough!
The second thing that is Really handy to have if you bake a lot (like I do) is a digital kitchen scale. Any type will do. I picked mine up at Walmart for like $20 a couple of years ago. The reason for this is a lot of recipes these days are using weight and not volume as a measurement as it is more precise - especially with flour which can vary greatly depending on the milling process and the humidity level.
The third item which really helps (and is almost essential to stuff the pretzels) is a Marinade Injection Syringe or a Piping Bag with a long thin tip. I have both and even though it is more difficult to fill, I find the Syringe does a better job of filling the pretzels with the Cream Cheese. Here is the one I got at Walmart for under $5.
That's pretty much it for any "special" hardware. Now, on to the good part - the recipes!!
First, we have the soft pretzel recipe itself. I can't take credit for this. I got this recipe from one of my culinary idols - Alton Brown from the Food Networks Good Eats. I love this show and watch it all the time. This recipe is word for word what he has on Food Networks website. I've been using it for a few years and its always a big hit (even more so now)!
Pretzel Ingredients
1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt (optional)
Sweet Cream Cheese Filling Ingredients
2 8oz packages Cream Cheese (at room temperature)
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Directions
Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 5 minutes. Don't under-mix! I did this once and the dough wasn't elastic enough to roll out properly. Give it a good 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
While the Pretzel Dough is resting, it's time to make the Cream Cheese Filling. In a medium bowl whisk together the cream cheese and sugar until they are well incorporated. Then beat in the egg yolk and vanilla whisking until the mixer is smooth and uniform in color.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.
Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.
In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 18-inch rope and cut into 3 equal pieces of about 6-inches each. Place each piece onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.
Place the pretzels into the boiling water, about 5 at a time, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula (or a large slotted spoon - just something that will let the water drain off). Return them to the half sheet pan.
Once all the pretzels have been boiled, it's time to stuff. Fill your syringe (or Piping Bag) with the cream cheese mixture. If using a syringe I find it easiest to load this by putting the cream cheese into a ziptop bag and then cutting the corner off the bag and piping the mixture into the syringe. If you are using a piping bag to fill the pretzels then just fill that as you normally would and use your longest, thinnest tip - something that you would use to fill eclairs with. After your delivery device of choice is ready to go, just push the syringe or piping bag tip into one end of the pretzel as far as it will go and squeeze in the cream cheese as you slowly withdraw the tip. If using the syringe I put about 10cc's of the cream cheese into each pretzel. You may have to fill the pretzels from both sides to get cream cheese all the way through it. You should have about 1/4 of the cream cheese mixture left over which is great for dipping the pretzels into after they are cooked!!
After all the pretzels are stuffed, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture. At this point your could sprinkle them with the pretzel salt but I don't. I'm not a huge fan of adding salt and while it does add a little to the taste, to me it can be a little overpowering on the salt - total judgment call on your part (BTW - Kosher Salt will work just fine).
Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.
That's it. These are really yummy and disappear REALLY fast - especially at parties. Not too difficult to make, just need a little time and patience. If you have any questions with them please don't hesitate to email me at banishwrx@gmail.com. I hope you all enjoy them as much as my family, friends and I have!!
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