Sonoma County Bakery Tour

When I first got into baking a few years ago, David and I went on a “bakery-tour” of the North Bay. We spent the afternoon driving to four different bakeries throughout Napa and Sonoma counties. Similar to an afternoon spent wine tasting, but arguably more caloric, we tried two different items at each bakery.

We started our journey in Petaluma, indulging in a fruit and nut scone at Della Fatori on the Boulevard. The café was small, but packed with families enjoying a mid-morning Sunday brunch. The scone was fresh out of the oven and hot, irresistible to the most discerning eye. Though the initial infatuation wore off once I took a bite. Punctuated with nuts and dried fruits, the scone was promising, but far too dry for my liking. David agreed, insisting he’d had better elsewhere.

Our next destination took us on a thirty-minute journey outside town down the winding roads of the Sonoma County coast. The hills were already brown and dried out from the early summer sun, as we made our way to Freestone’s Wildflower Bakery. A small, one room building off the beaten Bohemian Highway, Wildflower Bakery is a baker’s dream. Everything is baked fresh in a wood-burning oven daily and pastries are stacked plentifully on the end of a long wooden table. The other half of the table is used for prep work, and employees work out in the open illustrating the love and care that goes into each batch of dough.

The menu, scrawled in colorful chalk on an old-school chalkboard, changes every hour depending on what is most popular, or which item is sold out. David and I stood in wonder at the stage in front of us before we finally decided on a few items to share. We ordered an apricot-ginger scone covered in powdered sugar, and a sticky bun dubbed Egyptian bread, that was studded with raisins, pecans, and apricots. The scone was moist and sweet, more like a cake than a traditional scone. The combination of ginger and apricots married well with the moist batter. Although it went against my traditionalist taste for the flakey scones of the UK, it was delightful nonetheless. The Egyptian bread on the other hand, took my taste buds for a ride that I welcomed wholeheartedly. The gooey cinnamon pastry was dense and filled with fruit and nuts in every bite. Decadent and rich, I felt like a small child trying to eat as much as I could before my mother yelled for me to stop before I made myself sick. David and I left feeling every bit the “fat and happy”.

By the time we returned home the sun was down, and neither of us could fathom eating dinner. Instead, I felt inspired, wanting to put on my apron and dream up my own creations.

Strawberry Jam

 

I had every intention of making strawberry jam. Unfortunately I decided to start making it at 11 p.m. last night and forgot about it. The strawberry jam burned 13 minutes after this photo was taken. This means I must redeem myself and my jam making skills soon.

Fantasy Bakery

Being alone in the kitchen with a pantry full of ingredients and a working oven provides me with the solitude I need to make it through the day. Like an artist with his own studio space and good supplies, being in the kitchen allows me endless creative freedom. 

During a time of chaos and change I enjoy my role as a baker, even when it’s just for my own personal enjoyment. 

Lately I have been fantasizing about moving to a small town by the ocean and owning my own bakery cafe. After four years of college I don’t want to enter the “real world” and submit myself to a 9-5 job. Instead I want to communicate with people on a personal level, not just via email. I want to feed people and make them a killer latte that fuels their morning interactions.

This fantasy began soon after I started working as a barista and simultaneously became obsessed with baking. The conversations and connections I made with customers made me realize how much I appreciate other people. 

I imagine owning a little bakery cafe where people bring their laptops and enjoy a homemade scone and cup of coffee while they work. My bakery cafe would be the local hang-out for people of all ages. The food would be fresh and made of local ingredients. Maybe we would stay open late on Thursday and Friday nights to host open-mic nights. We would even showcase local artists and line their work along the cafe walls for other customers to purchase.

Maybe someday this fantasy will come true. In fact, I hope it will. I look forward to living in a little town by the beach. I can’t wait to serve all the eccentric and creative individuals who inhabit the town.

Until then, I am forced to find a 9-5 job and wait until the evenings for that moment of solitude in the kitchen.

 

Cornbread scones

A couple of weeks ago I decided to combine my love for cornbread and scones into one single item. My first attempt was alright, but not quite what I had imagined my creation to be. After brainstorming some ideas I finally got around to my second batch of cornbread scones this morning. It was a very simple recipe to make and received two thumbs up from both my boyfriend and my room mate.

Following is the recipe, adapted from a traditional english scone recipe I came across earlier this year in my favorite magazine, Domino.

Sift together 2 c all-purpose flour, 1 c finely ground cornmeal, 2 tbsp sugar and a pinch of salt. Cut in 6 tablespoons cold butter cut into 1-inch pieces. Sift in 4 tsp baking powder. Stir the mixture while adding 1 c milk. Continue to stir until the dough comes together. 

Roll out on a lightly floured surface and shape into disk. Cut disk into 8 wedges and transfer to baking sheet. 

Let dough rest for 10 minutes before baking in pre-heated oven at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes. 

Favorite cookbooks for bakers

Cookbooks are an obsession of mine. I love scouting the aisles of local bookstores in search of a new treasure I can add to my collection. Some books are new with bright, vivid photographs and well-known authors. Others are well worn and filled with traditional recipes that have been passed down through generations.

Following is a list of my five favorite baking books.

Nigella Lawson’s How to be a Domestic Goddess

I coveted this book for months before my boyfriend finally bought it for me as a gift. Nigella has a boisterous personality that comes through in her writing and choice of recipes. The book includes a lot of traditional English recipes including one for Christmas pudding that I’d like to try next holiday season. Reading this book makes me want to put on an apron and spend all day in the kitchen.

Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook

After studying my mom’s copy regularly, I found my own copy at a used bookstore for half off the cover price. Everything about this book is amazing. Each recipe is so precise. The pictures make it harder to determine what I should bake next because everything looks so delicious!

Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking

I appreciate this book’s step-by-step guides and helpful tips. It covers everything from banana bread to tarte tatin.

Home Baking by Jeffrey Alfred and Naomi Duguid

This book was written by a husband and wife team and includes traditional recipes from all parts of the world. The recipes are accompanied with stories from their travels and the photography is breathtaking.

Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans

My sister gave this book to me last Christmas with sticky notes marking all of the recipes she wanted me to make. Filled with creative ideas and mouth-watering treats, it is one of my favorite resources for all things cupcakes.

Panama Cake

Hiding in my family’s kitchen cupboard is a stack of recipes my mom has collected over the years. Some are ripped out of newspapers, others are printed on index cards that have since turned yellow with age. Not long ago, I sifted through the stack of recipes hoping to find something good to bake. 

A few minutes into searching I came across a recipe for Panama Cake. I have vague memories of my grandma baking this only a handful of times. A dense loaf cake flavored with coffee and cinnamon. 

“Where did this recipe come from?” I asked.

My mom told me that this recipe had been passed down from her great-grandmother who owned a boarding house in Ithaca, NY at the turn of the twentieth century. 

I love family history and was anxious to bake something that the women in my family had been making for over a hundred years.

The first time I tried baking this, it wasn’t cooked all the way through. My second attempt was no better. As they say, third time is a charm.

The scent of coffee and cinnamon mingled while the bread baked. Upon removing it from the oven and letting it cool, I sliced into it. Perfectly cooked through, the bread was dense and punctuated by dozens of raisins. 

It tasted even better the next day, when the coffee flavor became more pronounced. Although it didn’t last past the second day, all that remained were a few crumbs on the plate. I imagine the same rang true one hundred years ago. 

Banana blackberry bread

There was a pile of brown bananas congregating on my kitchen counter. Since my boyfriend can’t bear to waste food he asked me to make banana bread. Because there are always brown bananas in our kitchen I make a lot of banana bread. Tired of my usual recipes, I decided to try something different. 

Most banana bread recipes call for a stick of butter or more. I wanted to find something with less butter but full of flavor. Mixing sour cream into recipes keeps breads moist instead of dry while adding rich and creamy flavor. After searching several of my favorite recipe sites, I landed on a sour cream banana bread on allrecipes.com. The bread had been reviewed 1,000 times and boasted 5 stars, so I thought it would be worth trying.

Let me just say, this bread is delightful. David and I ate almost half of the loaf within an hour. Adding blackberries into the mix gave the bread so much flavor. I also substituted a half of a cup of oat flour for all-purpose flour which gave it a really nice crumbly texture. 

The rest of the loaf is sitting suggestively on the countertop, luring me to have one more bite. Instead I maintain what little discipline I have and ignore it… who am I kidding? One more bite won’t hurt…

Tea & Toast

Tea & toast is one of my favorite rituals. 

Especially when paired with some home made strawberry jam.

Iced brown sugar cookies

I was in the mood for a wholesome sugar cookie. Substituting brown sugar for plain white sugar makes the cookies more flavorful. Using half whole-wheat flour and half all-purpose lends a heartier texture. Drizzling a caramel glaze makes the cookies a special treat.

3/4 c light brown sugar

1 stick butter at room temp

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

3/4 c whole-wheat pastry flour

3/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Beat sugar and softened butter together. Beat in egg and vanilla extract.

Combine dry ingredients. Mix into wet ingredients.

Gather dough into a ball and chill for one hour.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into desired shapes. 

Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees or until edges are lightly browned.

To make the glaze: combine 1/4 c brown sugar and 1 tbsp water in a saucepan on the stove. Stir the mixture over low heat until the sugar melts and the mixture turns deep amber. Drizzle over cookies and let harden before serving.

Zucchini pancakes

For the first 18 years of my life Sunday mornings were spent waking up early and attending church with my family. After church we would sit down to breakfast either at home or at our favorite local diner. Most of the time breakfast would include a stack of buttermilk pancakes and hot maple syrup.

Though I don’t usually make it to church on my own, I do enjoy waking up late on Sundays and making pancakes. Sometimes I jazz up a pancake mix with bananas and cinnamon, but most of the times I enjoy making them from scratch. I start with a basic recipe: sifted flour, baking powder and salt; combined with melted butter, eggs and milk. Then I experiment with different flavors. Orange zest and dried cranberries is good, as are the banana sour cream pancakes I came across in Barefoot Contessa’s Family Style cookbook. Spiced pumpkin pancakes are another favorite. Following is a recipe I created using zucchini, lemon zest, cinnamon and nutmeg. I like to make these in the summer time when zucchini is most plentiful.

1 c whole-wheat flour

2 ¼ tsp baking powder

6 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1 egg slightly beaten

1 c milk

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 c grated zucchini

Stir first seven ingredients together. Combine milk, egg and oil then mix into dry ingredients.

Fold in grated zucchini.

Cook on hot buttered griddle for three minutes on each side. Serve with maple syrup and butter.