Polish Easter Placek.

Placek (plah-sek) in Polish just means cake, but placek around Buffalo (and probably other cities with a high Polish population) refers to a sweet yeast bread topped with sugary crumble, with or without golden raisins served on Easter.  It seems like paczki have found their way around the blog world fairly easily (I assume because everyone has an obsession with doughnuts and things cooked in hot oil), but you hardly see placek, which is a shame!  Placek dough is a unique combination of a fermented yeast sponge (warm milk, yeast, a bit of sugar and flour) combined with a creamed butter, sugar, flour and egg mixture. Even though I've made so many other bread recipes over the years, the smell of yeast still reminds me of placek - every year when my mom would bring out the biggest bowl in the kitchen, I knew it was time to make Easter placek.

Although the representation of yeast breads on this blog isn't much, I love working with yeast a great deal, but the problem with bread is that it makes quite a bit and stales quickly.  Around holidays this seems to be an easier issue to tackle since more people are around to eat things.  I know Easter isn't for a couple of weeks, but I think yeast breads can seem daunting to people so it might be easier to spread the workload over a few days.  This bread can also be wrapped well and frozen, then taken out as necessary for eating and giving away, meaning it can be made ahead of time!

Placek is the kind of bread that begs to be spread with butter - it's not like a moist sour cream coffee cake.  It has a drier crumb, making it an even better partner to coffee or tea.  Traditionally, my mom always added sliced almonds to the crumb topping and golden raisins to the bread dough but I've also seen recipes without them.  Either way, I'm proud to present this placek recipe - a true family tradition I can't imagine an Easter morning without!

Easter Placek
Sponge:
2 cups milk, around 105 degrees to 115 degrees F.
2 packages active dry yeast, or 5 teaspoons
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 cups of flour

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk with the sugar and let stand until foamy, about 10 to 15 minutes.  Stir in the flour, then cover the bowl and let the sponge rise until doubled in size, 30 minutes to an hour.

Dough:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of ground nutmeg
Zest of one orange or lemon
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 to 1 1/2 cups golden raisins

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, then add the eggs in one at a time and beat until fluffy.  Add in the salt, nutmeg, zest and 2 cups of flour, then beat well.  When the sponge has risen, add that to the creamed mixture along with the last 2 cups of flour and the golden raisins, then knead or use the dough hook on a mixer for 5 minutes, until you have a very smooth, elastic, sticky dough.  Using greased hands, place the dough into a large greased or buttered bowl.  Cover the bowl and let the dough rise until doubled in size, an hour to 2 1/2 hours.  You can also refrigerate the dough at this point up to 3 days.  When you're ready to shape the loaves, let the dough come to room temperature first.

Crumble topping:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 to 2 cups sliced almonds

Cut the butter into the sugar and flour until it's fully mixed in and crumbly, then stir in the almonds.

When the dough has risen, use greased or wet hands to remove portions of it and divide it among 4 greased 9x5" loaf pans (or mini loaf and cake pans, as I like to do.  My mom tended to do 1 9x5" and 2 9" cake pans, it doesn't really matter, use what works for you!)  Divide the crumb mixture over the loaves, pressing in lightly (you will almost definitely have some left over, I always do and you can see how much I use.)  Cover the pans, then let the dough rise until doubled or until they're almost risen to the top.  

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. and when the loaves have risen, bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until golden brown on top.  Let them cool on wire racks, then invert them and cool completely before wrapping and freezing or keeping airtight at room temperature.  I won't lie and say there's an easy way to get these out of the pan without all of the crumbs coming off, but that's why the crumb recipe makes so much! 

Enjoy sliced and slathered with butter :)

Irish Oatmeal Bread.

How do we end up with the things we end up with?  I don't remember how I ended up with a container of steel-cut oatmeal, but I've been trying to use it up now for about a year and finally did so with this hearty, substantial, full-of-texture bread.  I was worried the oats would be too crunchy, that there wasn't enough liquid in the dough for them to cook - you can definitely tell there's something in the bread, but they soften just enough to have a lovely, almost nutty, crunch.  If you're a steel-cut oatmeal fan, (or if you like multi-grain bread in general since the oats reminded me of millet or sunflower seeds) I highly recommend making this since the oats don't dissolve into the bread as rolled oats or quick-cooking oatmeal would do.

I've actually had this recipe printed out since March and finally had the chance to make it to go along with a warm and comforting beef stew for dinner last night, but toasted and spread with jam the next morning for breakfast made quite a treat as well :) I halved it since I only had 1 cup of oats left, and in general I don't see the need to make two loaves of bread but I imagine it freezes nicely.

Irish Oatmeal Bread
Adapted from Cooking Light
Just over 1 cup of boiling water
1 cup steel-cut oats
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
Pinch of granulated sugar
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees F.)
About 4 cups of flour (all-purpose, whole wheat, white whole wheat - I used all-purpose but feel free to use whatever you'd like)
1 large egg, beaten with a bit of water

Combine the boiling water, steel-cut oats, salt, butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and set aside for about 25 minutes to a half an hour, until cooled.

In a small bowl stir together the pinch of granulated sugar, yeast and 1/4 cup warm water and let sit for about 5 to 10 minutes, until foamy and then add to the cooled oatmeal mixture.

Add in 2 cups of flour and beat for about 5 minutes, adding another additional cup.  Take the dough out of the mixing bowl and start kneading on a floured surface, adding about a tablespoon at a time to keep the dough from sticking to your hands.  Knead the dough for about 8 minutes, until it's springy and elastic.

Place the dough in a larger greased bowl and cover with plastic.  Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about an hour.  (Or longer if it's freezing in your house, I let mine proof on the counter for almost 2 hours.)

Take the risen dough out of the bowl and press or roll it out into a longer rectangle, about 8" by 14." Roll up the rectangle tightly, making sure not to get too many air bubbles and place the roll in a greased 9x5'' loaf pan.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. while waiting for the bread to rise.  After it's risen and ready to go into the oven, brush the top and sides of the bread with the egg beaten with water to give it a beautiful and shiny finish.

Bake for about 45 minutes, until golden brown on top and hollow-sounding when tapped.  Let cool completely before slicing.

Christmas Tree Coffee Cake.

 I have never known a Christmas morning without this coffee cake.  In one way or another, made by my mother, myself, or a combination of the both of us, it's probably the only Christmas tradition we've stuck by year after year and I love it.  The tradition AND the coffee cake :)  They're sweet yeasted rolls in the shape of a Christmas tree with a delicious nutmeg-spiced cream cheese and pineapple filling, drizzled with a confectioner's sugar glaze and sprinkled with red and green sugar and finally topped with maraschino or candied cherries to look like ornaments.

This recipe makes enough for two tree-shaped coffee cakes, but we usually put the second batch in a 9-inch cake pan and freeze it, then pull it out in warmer months, let it defrost and rise when we want the comforting taste of Christmas.

Christmas Tree Coffee Cake
Adapted from Ladies' Home Journal, December 1982

Dough:
4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 packages (I just used 5 teaspoons, although 1 packet contains 2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 large egg

Filling:
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cans (8 ounces each) crushed pineapple, drained

Topping:
11 glace or maraschino cherries, halved
2 cups confectioner's sugar
3 tablespoons milk
Red and green decorating sugar or sprinkles

To make the dough, combine 2 cups of flour, the sugar, salt, nutmeg, and yeast in a large mixing bowl.

In a small saucepan, combine the milk, water and butter and heat until the mixture registers about 110 to 120 degrees F.  Gradually add the warm milk mixture to the dry ingredients and beat for 2 minutes at medium speed.  Add egg and another cup of flour, and beat for another 2 minutes.  Stir in enough additional flour to make a stiff but still sticky dough, about 1 more cup.  Transfer this dough to a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.

When you're ready to shape the trees, combine the ingredients for the filling except the pineapple in a mixing bowl until everything is very well mixed.  Stir in the pineapple.

Grease 2 large baking sheets or line them with parchment paper.  Divide the dough in half and roll one half out to an 11x10-inch rectangle.  Spread with half of the filling and roll up, starting from the 11-inch side, pinching the seam to seal the roll.  Cut into 1-inch pieces and place each piece cut side down on the baking sheet - a picture of this helps - 1 roll is the tree stump, 1 is the top of the tree, then from the bottom make a row of 4, 3, and then 2.  Don't let the rolls touch each other or they'll be too squished after baking.

You can put this in the refrigerator overnight and then let it rise or just keep it out at room temperature and let rise until doubled, the rolls should be almost touching each other and fluffy.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, then cover the edges with foil to prevent burning and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the center is nice and lightly browned.

For the topping, whisk together the sugar and milk until you have a drizzling consistency.  Drizzle over the coffee cakes and then sprinkle with the sugars.  Dot each roll with half of a cherry and dig in :)

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas Eve and Christmas filled with family and friends!

Honey White Wheat Knot Rolls.

September means beginning of major soup weather.  You can (and I do) make soups all year 'round but when you make soups in September through April, no one makes faces or thinks you're crazy.  To go along with steaming bowls of delicious chicken-vegetable gumbo, I made these lovely rolls.  They made a perfect accompaniment to the soup, but the leftover rolls were amazing toasted, spread with butter and jam for breakfast or just re-warmed for a few seconds in the microwave to make them taste freshly baked again.

I used this recipe but used white whole wheat flour instead of regular whole wheat.  The dough was incredibly sticky even after rising so the cloverleaf shape was a no-go, I just did knots instead (and was reminded of my days in culinary school when we had to do 4 dozen knot rolls every day...) Anyway, if you want to do the cloverleaf shape, after forming the dough into 12 pieces, you cut the 12 pieces into 3 each and roll them into little balls, then place into the muffin cups, let rise and bake.  They are adorable, but the knots are much faster and taste just as good.  Had the dough been less sticky, I might have attempted the cloverleafs!

Honey White Wheat Knot Rolls
Adapted from Cooking Light
2 1/4 teaspoons or one package dry yeast
1 cup warm water (about 100 degrees F.)
2 cups bread flour, divided
1 cup white wheat flour (or whole wheat)
3 tablespoons honey
2 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon water
1 large egg

Combine the yeast and warm water in a large bowl, let stand for a few minutes until foamy.

Add 1 1/2 cups bread flour and the white whole wheat flour along with the honey, melted butter and salt.  Stir until a loose dough forms, then turn out onto a floured surface.  Knead the dough, adding the other 1/2 cup bread flour, until it's springy and elastic, about 8-10 minutes.

Place in a greased bowl and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 45 minutes to an hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces (I weighed the dough first, then divided the total weight by 12.  Each piece was about 2 ounces.)  Roll each piece into a 5-6 inch rope, then make a knot and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet or into greased muffin cups.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Beat the egg and 1 tablespoon water and brush over the risen rolls.  Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.  Serve warm.

Comfort of Baking Bread.

In late August my dad developed a really bad cough and he couldn't sleep at night.  A few days after he started getting better, I developed a bad cough and couldn't sleep at night.  I still have no idea what it was - my ears were plugged up, I couldn't hear, I had no voice, I was dizzy, and the lack of sleep made me no fun to be around.  The first thing I did when I started feeling better was bake bread.  It made me feel normal again to be in the kitchen, kneading dough and creating something delicious for myself and my family to enjoy on the first really cold and dark day of September.  It filled my house with warmth and one of the best scents in the world - baking bread.  There are few scents I want to smell more than bread baking after being sick for two weeks. 

I used this recipe from Taste Of Home.  I made the recipe twice and made one smallish 9x5-inch loaf and the cinnamon swirl heart bread you see pictured here.  It makes a deliciously soft, fluffy and golden bread, I highly recommend this recipe for a great sandwich or toasting bread.

Basic White Sandwich Bread
Adapted from Taste Of Home
2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast (1 package)
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
1/3 cup warm water (about 100 degrees F.)
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup milk (I used skim)
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Combine the yeast, sugar or honey, and water in a large bowl and let stand until foamy and the yeast is dissolved.  Add the flour, salt, milk and butter and stir until a soft dough forms.  On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until it's elastic and springy, 8 to 10 minutes.

Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover.  Let rise in a draft-free and warm spot until doubled in size, about an hour.

Fold in the dough to release the air and place in a greased 9x5-inch loaf pan.  Cover and let rise again until doubled, another 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  When the dough has risen, bake it until very golden brown, about 30 minutes.  Brush with melted butter.

For a cinnamon swirl bread, after the first rising of the dough, roll it out into a small rectangle.  Brush the dough with about a tablespoon of melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and roll up tightly.  Place in a greased loaf pan, let rise until doubled, and bake like normal.

Let the bread cool as long as you can and then slice, spread with butter and honey or jam, or just eat the bread as is, taking comfort in the carbohydrates :)

For those curious in how I got the heart shape, my boyfriend found me a retro Valtrompia heart bread tube on Amazon and it is ADORABLE.  You can use it for yeast bread and thicker cake and quick bread batters.  I love mine!

Gluten Free Baby Shower.

In late August, we threw my sister-in-law Rachel a baby shower on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.  The next two posts will be recipes of the food I made - gluten free pizza dough and chocolate mousse with gluten free cinnamon shortbread.

It seems like a lot of gluten free baked goods come in boxes and bags these days because those who need to avoid wheat find it easier or more convenient, just like the people who buy regular cake and brownie mixes.  I hate to be so snobbish, but I always prefer making things from scratch and I can't stand mixes.  They don't allow you to control anything!  I'd much rather figure out a real recipe and perfect it.  So upon first search for "gluten free pizza crust/dough" you get a lot of links and sites for mixes to buy.  Once you start getting into the recipes, many had reviews such as "gummy, not fluffy at all..." etc, etc.  Then I visited one of the tried-and-true recipe websites, Epicurious.  Lucky for me, I found a gluten free pie dough recipe that had (mostly) rave reviews.  We had all the gluten free flours in the gluten free pantry so I decided to use this one.

It. is. amazing.  I know the comparison for gluten free stuff is always "does it taste like the real thing?!" and this one really does, it might be even better.  The thing anyone baking gluten free yeast breads should remember is that the doughs will always be more sticky and wet than regular bread dough.  It's just the way gluten free bread works, don't add more flour or it WILL be tough and gluey.  I found the best way to work with this dough was to use wet fingers and a greased offset spatula to spread it on the parchment paper.

Anyway, if you're looking for an amazing gluten free pie crust recipe, THIS IS IT.  Top it with anything, I swear you'll love it.  I roasted eggplants, zucchini, yellow squash, red onion, mushrooms and red peppers a few days before the shower and then spread pesto and the veggies over the par-baked dough and topped with mozzarella cheese (I also did a pesto/tomato/mozzarella as well as pesto/chicken/roasted veg/mozzarella).  A note on quantities:  I doubled this recipe and made it twice to get four rectangular-sized pizzas that I cut into 8 generous pieces each (I had to serve about 20 people, every piece of the 32 pieces were gone at the end of the shower...)  If you're just serving a few people, this recipe as-is should be fine.

Gluten Free Pizza Dough
Adapted from Epicurious
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/3 cup chickpea/garbanzo bean flour
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast (or 1 package)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons plus 1 tablespoon olive oil

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flours, xanthan gum and salt.

Heat the milk and 1/4 cup of water in the microwave or in a small saucepan on the stovetop until it reaches 100 degrees F.  Stir in the yeast and sugar.  Add this to the flour mixture along with the egg whites and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Using the paddle attachment, beat until the dough is thick and smooth, about 5 minutes on medium.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. and throw in a baking sheet as well.  The baking sheet needs to be really hot so that when you put the pizza dough on, the bottom will start cooking immediately, therefore it doesn't get soggy or underbaked.

Scrape the dough onto either one large piece of parchment or two smaller pieces (depending on if you want one large pizza or two smaller ones) and form into a rectangle, circles, or any shape you can manage, using wet hands and a greased spatula.  The end formation should be about 1/4 inch thick.  Drizzle the dough with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and cover with plastic wrap and let rise about 20 minutes or until the doughs look puffier and slightly risen.

Transfer the pieces of parchment with the dough on them to the hot baking sheet.  Place into the oven and bake until the bottom is crisp and the dough is set, 5 to 10 minutes depending on the size.  The crust is now parbaked and can be cooled completely and frozen for up to 1 month, tightly wrapped.  Otherwise, use your toppings of choice and put back in the oven until the cheese is melty and golden brown or the toppings are warmed through.

I'm back...

I don't really care how long the gap has been or how many people actually read this blog, but I realized a few weeks ago, I like doing it.  I really like writing about the food I make and eat with my friends and family and I love sharing recipes and photos to go along with them.

So even if no one reads this, I'm going to try and keep it updated anyway.  Because a few nights ago I was going through all the recipes I've posted thus far and realized what a good resource this is.  The recipes I posted two years ago are the recipes I still want to make now, especially after losing 85 lbs.  I think dieting put a real damper on recording recipes here because I only ate desserts every once in a while.  I felt guilty for posting a high-calorie, high fat recipe when I was dieting because that's not what I ate every day.  Now I eat a cookie or baked good (almost) every day, and I bake 3-5 times a week rather than 1.  Granted the cookies are smaller and the cakes might include more whole wheat flour and less butter now, but they still taste delicious and deserve to be shared.

Anyway, this summer was absolutely fantastic. But the end of August and the beginning of September were a bit rough - two baby showers in the span of one week for my sister-in-law, I got pretty sick right after that and couldn't sleep for days let alone eat normal food.  But things are back to normal now.  It's fall, it's not too hot to turn on the oven, and I have plenty of new recipes to share. Or just record for my own future use :)

Starting where I left off, this is part of what I made for brunch back on Mother's Day 2010.  These were absolutely delicious and I highly recommend this recipe to anyone looking for a lightened-up sticky bun.  I have one of Cooking Light's cinnamon roll recipes bookmarked the next time I feel like making a morning sweet roll like this, but if you're into the sticky bun, try these.  I added a bit more salt to the dough (undersalted yeast doughs should be addressed in every baking book... salt is soooo important for the flavor in yeast doughs) and switched out the figs for dates because my mom and I adore dates.  Feel free to use any dried fruit/nut combination you'd like - dried cherries are probably my favorite dried fruit at the moment so I'm imagining those with some pecans, dried blueberries with hazelnuts, dried apricots with sliced almonds, etc. The possibilities are endless :)

Date-Walnut Sticky Buns
Adapted from Cooking Light

Dough:
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) yeast (I use active dry)
2/3 cup warm water (100 degrees)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
7.9 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 3/4 cups)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, for brushing on rolled dough

Sticky topping:
3/4 cup brown sugar, divided
2 tablespoons dark corn syrup
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup finely chopped, pitted dates
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the dough, dissolve the granulated sugar and yeast in the warm water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the melted butter.

Combine 6.75 ounces of the flour (about 1 1/2 cups), salt and nutmeg in a bowl, stirring with a whisk while adding the yeast mixture and forming a sticky dough.  Knead dough either by hand or in a mixer until elastic, about 5 minutes and add the rest of the flour about a tablespoon at a time.  Place the dough in an oil or cooking spray-coated bowl, turning so the entire ball of dough is lightly coated and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.  (I always use my oven for this, it has a bread proofing setting but even if you put it in a turned off oven, it's probably still warmer and more draft-free than a countertop.)

Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, syrup, and milk in a small saucepan and bring this mixture to a boil.  Remove the pan from heat and add in the dates.  Sprinkle the nuts evenly on the bottom of a cooking spray-coated 9x13 inch baking pan.  Spread the date mixture over the nuts as evenly as you possibly can, I used a small offset spatula for this and it helped. It might not seem like there's enough to go around, but I promise there is.

Combine the other 1/4 cup of brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Punch down your dough (I should talk about this term some time... you never want to PUNCH the dough down, more like fold it over itself so most of the air bubbles go out of it) and let it chill out for 5 minutes to rest.  Roll the dough out to a 12x10 inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface and brush with the 2 tablespoons melted butter.  Sprinkle the dough with the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture and roll up tightly starting with the long end.  Cut the dough into about 1-inch slices, creating 12 rolls.  Place the rolls cut-side up in the baking pan and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise until the rolls touch each other and have doubled in size, about 15-20 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees F. for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool the buns on a wire rack for 5 minutes before inverting onto a serving platter and eating, still warm from the oven :)

Comfort in Sundays.

A quick introduction: I wanted a place to record what I bake or cook, the events and things that inspire them, and the photography I take as the end result or process of doing it. So this is it. Hope you enjoy.
Every Sunday I don't work, I like to make my family brunch. I've done this for about 4 or 5 years now and I it's a nice tradition, and I hope to continue it until I move out. I grew up being dragged to Sunday morning mass (raised Catholic. not a Catholic now.) and sometimes the only thing that got me through was looking forward to my dad's omelettes, bacon, waffles, freshly brewed coffee, egg's Benedict. I've long since decided to stop going to church, but I have not stopped enjoying these things.

So to start this blog off the right way, a recipe I made for brunch this week from one of my all-time favourite cookbooks: apple kuchen. I like to think of this as a sweet focaccia almost. I had many apples to use up so I doubled this recipe and I changed the method a bit from what's in the cookbook itself, but it all ends up being about the same result anyway. If you're a fan of yeast breads, give this one a try.

Apple Kuchen
Recipe adapted/changed from Nigella Lawson's "How To Be A Domestic Goddess"

Dough:
2 1/4 to 3 cups bread flour (I used AP, it's fine)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 package rapid-rise yeast
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon (original calls for nutmeg and lemon zest. didn't have any lemons, I like cinnamon better)
1/2 cup lukewarm milk
1/4 cup softened unsalted butter

Topping:
2 apples
1 large egg
1 tablespoon cream
Nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, whatever spice you like with apples
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon demerara or turbinado sugar
2 tablespoons sliced almonds

Icing:
1/2 cup icing sugar (confectioner's)
1 tablespoon hot water

To make the dough, put 2 1/2 cups of flour in a mixing bowl with salt, sugar and yeast. Beat the eggs and add the vanilla, (zest, nutmeg) cinnamon to the lukewarm milk and then add these to the flour mixture. Mix until a soft dough forms, probably adding about 3/4 to 1 cup more of flour, and then add in the butter and knead until it feels smoother and glutenous. Cover with a clean towel or greased plastic wrap and let rise until it's doubled in size, or in the refrigerator overnight.

Punch down the dough and place it in a greased 9x13-inch baking pan. It won't stretch all the way to the edges at first, so let it rest and then try again in a few minutes until it's almost stretched to the whole pan. Then let it rise for about 15 to 20 minutes, until it has occupied all the edges.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Peel, core and chop the apples. Stir together the egg and cream, and brush this over the dough. Then combine the sugars, spice(s) and almonds and toss with the chopped apples and then place these on top of the dough in the pan.

Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 and bake until it's nice and golden brown on top, about another 15 minutes or so. Then combine the icing sugar and water, and drizzle over.

Enjoy with a nice cup of coffee or tea and read the Sunday paper until 1 o' clock in the afternoon.