We were excited to have Chris and Sara join us for Easter this weekend. I wasn’t sure if they were coming so it was an awesome surprised to get a “we’re here” text from Sara Saturday night. Jason and Daniel went to PAX East (a gaming convention) on Saturday while Chris and Sara did a power walk on the Freedom trail and finished in a record 90 minutes. They came back and spent the afternoon with me.
I adapted my sweet potato roll recipe to include sourdough and had a lightbulb moment when I realized it’s much easier to roll the dough out all at once and cut it into strips with a pizza wheel before forming the knots. It went much faster that way.
Sweet potato rolls
1 cup “fed” sourdough starter
1 tablespoon honey
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
3/4 cup skim milk, 100 to 110 degrees F.
3/4 cup sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
3 tablespoons melted butter, divided
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
5 cups bread flour, divided
cooking spray
Combine the sourdough starter, honey, yeast, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and sweet potatoes in a large bowl. Mix until thoroughly combined, breaking up any lumps of potato. Beat in egg yolks. Add 3 cups of the flour and mix with a spoon until smooth. Now add salt and enough remaining flour to make a smooth dough. Kneat 8-10 minutes and transfer to a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat. Cover tightly and let rise until doubled, about an hour.
Preheat over to 400F (convection if you have it).
Roll out dough on a floured board to about 3/8-inch thick into a rectangle approximately 12 x 20. Using a pizza wheel, cut dough into about twenty-four 12-inch strips. Spray two baking sheets with cooking oil. Form strips into knots and place on cooking sheets. Cover loosely with towels and allow to rise about 30 minutes or until double.
Brush with melted butter and bake at 400F
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. fifteen minutes or until lightly browned, turning the pan halfway through cooking.
Dessert this year was a red velvet cake, one of Daniel’s favorites and a bit hit with all. It’ll be prettier if you do a crumb coat but since I was doing frosting late in the evening I skipped that.
Red Velvet Cake
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 oz. red food coloring (two bottles)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:
1 lb cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk food coloring and cocoa powder together, until smooth, in a prep bowl.
In the bowl of your mixer, beat together butter and sugar, until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then add vanilla and cocoa/food coloring. Add flour and buttermilk, alternating each, beginning and ending with flour. Mix vinegar and baking soda in a little cup and then gently fold this into the cake batter. Split batter into two cake pans that have been greased with the butter papers. Bake 30 minutes at 350F or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan 10 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the frosting:
Whip together butter and cream cheese then add 1 teaspoon vanilla and gradually add the confectioner’s sugar until a spreadable consistency is achieved. Place your first layer on your cake stand and spread the top with a dollop of frosting leaving it thicker at the edges. Invert your second layer onto this. Now transfer a little of the frosting to a small bowl and spread a thin coat over the cake. Don’t worry about crumbs at this point. Place the cake in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or until the crumb coat is firm (chill the rest of the frosting if your kitchen is too warm). Now frost the cake with the rest of your frosting. Chill several hours or overnight before serving.
