It’s Iron Cupcake time, and I actually made the deadline this month! This month’s theme was to come up with a savory cupcake. All I could think of was bagels. And what is more NY than a bagel that has a dream of becoming a cupcake. NY being the place where impossible dreams can come true. But I didn’t want a plain old bagel. I envisioned an parmesan cheese and olive spiked “cupcake” of delectable doughy goodness…but would it work?

Our May ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:

• A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5021935
• something sweet and dangly from CHERRYCREEKCHARMS at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6686445.
• a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin’ Cakes Cupcakery, http://www.acupcakery.com/
• PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice – sweet!

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com .

Voting will begin no later than Saturday, May 30 at 8 p.m. at NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER, http://www.ironcupcakemilwaukee.com and will be open through Friday, June 5 at 12 noon.

Thanks to my local library, I’ve been examining the book, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. Along with that, I checked out another Peter Reinhart book, Crust and Crumb, to see which one I liked better. After surveying each book, I think I’d get The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. In his own words, the bagel recipe included in the new book is “an improvement on the formula given in Crust and Crumb,” so that’s what ended up being my blueprint for these “cupcakes”.

This was another month of waffling about, not being confident in whether my hair-brained idea would even fly, or boil as the case may be. Can you actually boil a cupcake? Thinking about it, I figured if you can boil a ring of dough, then a cupcake-shaped blob of dough should be fine.

Some of you may be saying, “But why I ♥ NY?” To get at the reason behind that we need to look at the history of the bagel, as well as myself. The bagel, like so many other beloved foodstuffs with a long history, has a debatable background. The only thing that seems to be consistent in all the tales is the country of origin, Poland. One legend tells of another Polish King, Jan III Sobieski, and his successful campaign against the Ottoman Turkish empire in 1683 as the inspiration for the bagel. Apparently Polish bakers modeled this commemorative bread after the King’s stirrup of his saddle in celebration of his victory. This story is relegated to that of legend in Maria Balinska’s The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread. She states that in the 16th and 17th century, known as a “golden age” for the Jews in Poland, the bajgiel became a popular repast for the country. And according to the book The Joys of Yiddish, the first time the word “bagel” appeared in print was in 1610 in the Community Regulations of Kraków. Due to the symbolic protective significance of bagels, they were a common gift presented at various celebrations, from births to deaths, in Europe. The descendants of these European Jews brought the bagel, along with other culinary delights, across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States, specifically the classic port of call, New York, in the centuries that followed. Although Jewish emigration is recorded as early as the 17th century colonial period, it was until the 1970s that the bagel was introduced to the majority of America. It was Harry Lender, who opened the first bagel factory outside of New York City in New Haven, Connecticut, who helped disseminate the bagel, albeit frozen, to the United States. Now you can find fresh made bagels in every grocery store.

Like the bagel, I’m from New York with Polish heritage. I moved away (too) long ago, and have wanted to get back ever since. For me, there’s nothing like New York, as for many bagel lovers, there’s nothing like a New York bagel. Some say it’s the flour they use, or the famous New York water, but I say it’s the energy of the place and the people that infuses every experience there including its food…you can’t beat it. So what better way to pay tribute to the city I love dearly, and I will always call home no matter how far I away I may be, than to call my crazy concoction, inspired the very New York bagel, an I ♥ NY Cupcake. And if a bagel can become a cupcake, then maybe I can get back to New York

I ♥ NY Cupcakes

Notes before you begin:
First off, you really need a scale to do this right. I measured out the “cupcakes” using my scale, and I can give you a ballpark shape to look for (a large handful), but even when measuring out the ingredients in the first place…if you’re making any kind of yeasted dough, you need a scale. Sorry.

I hate to burst everyone’s bubble, but you’re not going to be able to use paper cupcake liners. Unfortunately I didn’t find this out until after I had baked, and taken pictures of the “cupcakes”. They stick. Big time. I’m sorry for including pics with cute bagel “cupcakes” in cupcake liners, but you just can’t do it. Again, DO NOT use paper cupcake liners when you finally throw these in the oven. This won’t be the last time you hear this because I don’t want you to forget. If you’re worried about forgetting, then just lock your cupcake liners away and don’t use them at all. I do want to note, that you will get a more consistent cupcake-shape if, when retarding in the fridge overnight, you place the dough in a cupcake liner in your cupcake pan. BUT, if you think you’ll forget and put them back in those liners after boiling, well, just forget about using the liners. Otherwise you’ll be trying to avoid eating said liner. THEY STICK….don’t forget! Now, you can do the aluminum foil liners, but those don’t stick at all. So much so that when I took those out of the pan, the liner didn’t come with. It just stayed in the pan. If someone figures out a liner that sticks with these, but not like glue let me know.

Everything should go smoothly, especially if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook. For those of you who don’t (like me!) I want you to know that this can be done without a stinking mixer The tricky thing will be knowing when the dough is really ready. Your best friend will be your hands and your eyes. If you are making any additions to the dough, this process will take longer, and a lot longer if your additions hold any moisture of their own. I’d say that the olives added probably another 20 minutes of kneading time and a heck of a lot more flour.

It won’t necessarily take this long for you, but I was a bit leery of adding too much flour. The next time I do this I’ll know to just dump an extra half cup of flour in and go from there. I was just doing light dustings, but it really needed a lot of extra flour to absorb all the moisture in the olives. In the end I think I may have actually added a whole extra cup, but until I have this recipe down I still plan on playing it a little cautiously.

As far as additions go, I added parmesan cheese, kalamata olives, and dried parsley. Originally I had planned to throw in some sun-dried tomatoes, but I didn’t have any at the time so I just mixed those into some cream cheese for a “frosting”. You can add whatever the heck sounds good to you. Or if you’d rather just go for the classic plain bagel, go for it. Whatever you can imagine on a bagel (or even a pizza for that matter) you can probably add to these. Just keep in mind the moisture factor when kneading those additions in and you’ll be fine.

If you choose to fill these with your “frosting” I’d suggest using the cut the center out from the top method. Basically you cut a “plug” of sorts out of the top, scrap some of the center out, fill up the part you scrapped out with “frosting”, trim your “plug” so it fits back into the “cupcake”, then use it to plug up the hole, frost the top and you’re done!

Sponge:
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
4 cups (18 ounces) bread flour
2 1/2 cups (20 ounces) water

Dough:
1/2 teaspoon (.055 ounce) instant yeast
3 3/4 cups (17 ounces) bread flour
2 3/4 teaspoons (.7 ounce) salt
2 teaspoons (.33 ounce) malt powder
OR
1 tablespoon (.5 ounce) malt syrup, honey, or brown sugar *I used dark brown sugar.

Miscellaneous:
1 tablespoon baking soda for the water
Cornmeal for dusting the pan
Additions for the bagels such as olives, onions, sun-dried tomatoes, or garlic

If you are looking to replicate what I’ve done here, I added 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup kalamata olives, and 2 tablespoons of dried parsley. You’ll need a bit more parmesan cheese for sprinkling on top.

To create your own sun-dried tomato cream cheese “frosting”, use 8 ounces of cream cheese and about 4 tablespoons of diced sun-dried tomatoes, or to taste.

The Night Before

Make the sponge by stirring the yeast into the flour in a large mixing bowl. Add the water and stir until all ingredients are blended into a sticky batter, like pancake batter. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise at room temperature for two hours, until the mixture becomes foamy and bubbly.

Once the sponge has risen, remove the plastic wrap and stir in the additional yeast. Add 3 cups (approximately, I did this by eyeballing since being exact at this point is not of importance since you already measured the flour out precisely in your prep….right?) of the flour, the malt powder (or dark brown sugar in my case), and the salt into the bowl. Stir (or mix on low speed with the dough hook) until the ingredients form a ball. Slowly work in the rest of the flour to stiffen the dough.

On a clean surface, knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes (or 6 minutes by stand mixer). *I actually kneaded mine right in the bowl. It worked fine.

If you are making any additions (olives, onions, etc.) now is the time to add them. Again, your hands are your guide in this process (even if you use the stand mixer). You’re looking for a firm but pliable dough, that’s smooth. There shouldn’t be any dry flour – everything should be hydrated. If the dough is too dry, add water, a few drops at a time. If the dough is sticky, then add more flour. The finished dough should feel satiny, not tacky, and pliant.

Line a baking sheet with parchment. Immediately after kneading, split the dough into 4 1/2 ounce pieces for big “cupcakes”, or 2 1/2 – 3 ounce pieces for smaller, regular looking cupcakes. Roll each piece into a ball and set it on the parchment, cover with a damp towel, and let rest for 20 minutes.

After the dough has rested, place the “cupcakes” in either oiled or cupcake liner lined cupcake pans. Cover pans loosely with plastic or use a food-grade plastic bag. Allow dough to rise at room temperature for about 20 minutes. (AGAIN, if you think you’ll forget on baking day and return your boiled “cupcakes” to a liner then DO NOT USE THEM. DO NOT PUT A “CUPCAKE” IN A PAPER LINER IN THE OVEN! THEY STICK! That said, at this point, they will help keep a more cupcake-like shape in the long run. If you decide to use the liners at this stage, make sure you leave one liner-less for the “floater” test described next.)

Now you need to check to see if the “cupcakes” are ready to be retarded. You can check this by doing a “float” test. I did come across, over on the Fresh Loaf, a baker who decided to skip the test, and just retarded them after 20 minutes. Fill a small bowl with cool or room-temperature water. Drop a test “cupcake” in the water. If it floats within 10 seconds of being dropped in, they’re ready. If not then return it to the pan and continue to proof at room temperature, checking every 10 to 20 minutes until a tester floats. Once you have a “floater”, then return the tester to the pan, pat it dry, cover the pan with plastic, and place it in the refrigerator overnight (you can wait up to 2 days from this point before you actually bake them, if you choose).

While the pans do not need to be covered with the plastic tightly, do make sure that they are completely covered. I missed the edge of one and found that the part exposed had dried out overnight. I have to say that this didn’t seem to matter in the finished product since the boiling rehydrated them the next day.

Baking Day

Preheat the oven to 500°F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the tablespoon of baking soda to the pot. This reportedly alkalizes the water, replicating a traditional New York bagel shop flavor. I forgot to do this. Honestly, they still tasted great. I remember to do it with my cinnamon raisin “cupcakes” (did I mention those? Oops!) and frankly didn’t notice a difference. It’s up to you.

Having a slotted spoon nearby, remove the “cupcakes” from the refrigerator. It will be a little tricky, but gently take them out of the pan (obviously remove the liners before boiling if you used them). Don’t worry too much if they seem to become more misshapen. Once you put them back in the pan, they’ll regain a more cupcake-like shape. Drop a few of the “cupcakes” into the boiling water and let them boil for about a minute and a half. Flip them over and boil them on the other side for another minute and a half.

Before removing the “cupcakes” from the pot, sprinkle corn meal on the cupcake pan. Remove them one at a time, set them back into the cupcake pan, and top them right away (I used some extra parmesan cheese to sprinkle on these, but you can use whatever you want or nothing at all), while they are still slightly moist. Repeat this process until all of the “cupcakes” have been boiled and topped. I did let mine drip dry on a paper towel. I just felt weird throwing a very moist “cupcake” into the pan. It worked out fine, but you can probably skip that and just throw them in the UNLINED cupcake pan.

After all the “cupcakes” have been boiled and topped (if you chose to do so) bake for 6 minutes in your preheated oven. Reduce the heat to 450°F degrees, rotate the pan, and bake for another 6 minutes until the “cupcakes” begin to brown. You can bake them longer if you prefer more color in your “cupcakes”.

Remove the pans from the oven and let cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes before serving. These are fabulous right out of the oven!

Can you believe that I actually baked this on Wednesday last week? You’d think that since I baked so early, I’d have this thing written before the weekend, let along before 7pm today. You’d've thought that, but then you’d been wrong, just like the Bride. Nope, I got it in my head that I had to get my savory cupcake baked this weekend, and that’s what it took to get it done…all weekend. And prior to Saturday I was trying to play catch up with my Recipe Round-Ups which I’ve only managed to get last week’s out. Busy, busy, busy.

But who cares. You’re mad about mangos and want to know how they faired in a quick bread. I can tell you they faired well, but got a bit lost in the cinnamon. Apparently it was her ardent love of fruit that brought Kelly of Baking with the Boys to select the Fresh Mango Bread from Dorie’s tome of baked goodness.  

The mango, considered the “apple of the tropics”, is a drupe that you can find in multiple varieties. Containing a plethora of vitamins and minerals, including 17 amino acids, and antioxidant vitamins A, B, C, and E, the mango is marketed as a “superfruit“, a savvy choice for the health conscious. There was some question by TWDers on picking and cutting up the mango. I suggested this post from Coconut & Lime on signs of a good mango. Amy Ruth from Amy Ruth Bakes provided a link to At Home With Vicki Bensinger who outlined a couple of ways to cut a mango. I have to say that Lifescript also offered an informative and comprehensive article about the mango that includes health benefits and cooking and storage methods.

This was a good recipe, but I have to say that the mango got lost in the cinnamon for me. As written, the recipe included ginger, raisins, and lime zest, all of which didn’t sound appealing to me so I omitted them. Maybe if I had included them they would have brought out the flavor of the mango…I don’t know.

This recipe is super easy to make. The only thing that many of the TWDers, myself included, seemed to run into was that we couldn’t get 2 cups of fruit from one mango. Thankfully I bought two mangos when I went to the store. While preparing the batter I kept wondering how in the world were all those ingredients going to fit in that itty bitty pan.

At one point I thought I was going to have a bread explosion in the oven, but thankfully it behaved and stayed in the pan…for the most part.

I have to say that this was a beautiful bread. When you slice it you’ll see the beautiful mango color speckled throughout the bread. This is also the one time you won’t have to worry about hair in your food because if your mangos are a bit overripe, their hair will show up. Despite a lack of mango kick, this was one tasty bread.

I couldn’t resist this picture with my love, Arlo, in the background.

I can honestly say that I have joined the ranks of Harry Houdini, but more on that in a moment. First I want to put out an important warning about bakeables. Sharing bakeables that is. Yes, all you would-be bakers out there must beware this important caveat, if you share the fruits of your labor, they will come calling when not regularly supplied with something from your kitchen. Case in point my Mom drifted through the living room the other morning dropping, “Hmmm, I’m in the mood for something . . . cake, pie, or canelés? What are you going to bake for me?” So there it is, the inescapable fact that if you bake and share, you will do so for the rest of your days and on a consistent basis or jeopardize every relationship in your life. This is the sad truth of when you weep in the kitchen if a cake falls it’s not because of all that work for naught, but because you most likely will be shunned from your family in response.

Here’s where I flex my magical skills.   I ended up baking a babka. Baking babka or any yeasted type dough is magic I tell you! If you don’t believe me, just try it. You will surely exclaim that some supernatural force is at work when you uncover a dough that has doubled in size like magic. Normally I only bake a babka for holidays, Easter really. The thing is that a couple of weeks ago I ended up baking one for my Grandfather who had been diagnosed with back cancer. I wanted to let the guy enjoy some of his favorite baked goods before he couldn’t enjoy them any more and I knew that he always liked babka. Thank God (!!!) I baked it correctly and it came out great! Or at least that’s what I heard from my family because I didn’t get a piece. Not that I mind. I mean, I baked it for him. But, after all that work I kinda wish I had at least tasted a little corner of the thing. And we arrive at another inescapable baking fact . . . if you fill your house with the aroma of something, you sure as heck better get a bite of it otherwise expect to bake a second one for yourself a week later. There you have it, my second babka in less than a month when I normally only bake one (maximum two) a year.

There are lots of different kinds of babka out there. Two years ago (before the baking bug bit me) when we moved to this area we ordered a babka for Easter from a local European bakery. We ended up getting a cake-like object which it turns out is what babka is to some people. For my family, babka is more of a bread than a cake. If you do a search you’ll find a ton of different recipes in all shapes, sizes, and flavors. Holy yeast cakes! I have got to try this one out!

I think I’ve made around a total of four recipes of babka in my lifetime. I can’t remember the first recipe I used, but it certainly wasn’t a winner. The two loaves I rendered had a rock like heft to them, and were about as dense. After this experience I decided to go to the authorities . . . the Kijowskis. My Polish relatives on my Grandmother’s side are a fount of Polish heritage and recipes. Here is the recipe from my Great Aunt Janet and Great Uncle Bob (my comments are in italics):

Babka:
1 1/4 cup scalded milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 packages of yeast
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

In a bowl, combine milk, sugar and butter. In another bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup water. This step of dissolving the yeast in water is known as proofing. I add about a teaspoon of granulated sugar to the yeast/water mixture. You’ll know the yeast is proofed (good and ready) when it gets foamy. If it doesn’t reach this stage after ten minutes, it’s a sign of bad yeast and you’ll need to get two new packages and start the proofing process again.

Proofed Yeast

Add (proofed) yeast mixture to milk mixture and stir in 1/2 the flour, beat well.

In another bowl, beat eggs with salt. Add to flour-milk mixture; mix well. Stir in remaining flour and raisins. Knead mixture for 10 minutes, dough will be soft and sticky. Cover; set in a warm spot and wait until it doubles in bulk, about 1 hour. I do the kneading all by hand because (sob) I don’t have a standing mixer. Those with standing mixers may want to cut down on the kneading time because I’m sure that the mixer has more constant movement than my arm. The consistency you’re looking for is where the dough will turn slightly more elastic than mushy and will pull away from the bowl more easily. Don’t get me wrong, it will still stick to your hands like glue. Trust me, you’ll notice after some time a change in the consistency. I cover the bowl with plastic wrap and then a towel. Most of the time I ended up letting it rise for maybe an extra half hour. Sometimes if the dough didn’t rise fast enough I would preheat my oven for five minutes then shut it off and just place the bowl on top (NOT in) of the oven. The heat radiating from the oven should be enough to spur the yeast to grow. Here are pictures of kneading the dough and the dough ready for the first rise.

Yes, It’s That Sticky

Ready For First Rise

Punch down dough; knead for a few minutes. Punching is really a misnomer. You’re not in a boxing match here. All that you really need to do is gently pull the dough down on itself from the sides of the bowl. I have to admit I don’t do the “knead for a few minutes” part. I probably should try it once, but I’m always just too nervous about the thing. I have to say that it turns out fine regardless.

First Rise – It’s Magic!

Divide dough in half and place in a warm spot again until it doubles in bulk, about 1/2 hour. Key thing to remember here is that this is where you will shape the dough. I actually ended up forgetting this step and had to let the dough rise a third time. It still ended up coming out OK, but I think it was a little dense this time. I’m not sure if this is due to the extra rise or not, but I just want to let you know all is not lost if you end up forgetting to shape the dough like I did. I end up just throwing the whole thing in a big pan for the second (or third if you forgot to shape it after the first) rise. One other thing that I do is after you have your dough shaped and it rises this second time, brush the top of the loaf(s) with a beaten egg. This will create a beautiful sheen to your finished bread. If you like more of a matte look then just pop it in the oven without the brushed egg.

Bake in a preheated 350° F oven for 35 to 40 minutes or when top of bread is browned.