Thursday, June 10, 2010

K is for Kuchen


Crust and a topping (or a filling).   Simple, delicious, and the basis for so much good stuff to eat...pizza, cinnamon toast, sandwiches, tarts, pies, bruschetta, tacos, focaccia.  Sweet, savory, in-between; hot, cold, in-between; breakfast, lunch, dinner, in-between...crust and a topping may well be the ultimate food combination.  Largely portable, absolutely satisfying, and infinitely variable.  Just consider the crust alone...thin, thick, yeasty, flaky, shortbready, crisp, soft.  And toppings...sheesh, what can't you put on a piece of dough and call it good...devotees of The Amazing Race may recall a recent episode where contestants were challenged to sell ice cream sandwiches (aka crust/topping) to pedestrians in Shanghai...plain white bread with a slab of ice cream: a true ice cream sandwich...And They Were Loving It...I'll try it, sure, but I'll admit, for me, that one does push the crusty envelope a wee bit.
But let's partake in a little analysis/deconstructionism here...it is a well established fact that I am a bread junkie (bread and anything makes a meal).  What is bread...ground and fermented wheat, essentially.  So let's now assume that really what I am is a wheat junkie.  Test:  pizza dough = wheat, pie dough = wheat, focaccia = wheat, tortillas = wheat or corn.  Hmmm, corn.  Ok, so corn has certainly thrown a kernel in the theory...but let's now introduce the concept of texture.  In addition to being a bread junkie, I have an oral fixation am a chewer...as in:  soup alone does not a meal make...soup and crackers, ahh, now we're talking.  So, it appears that wheat and/or chewy/crunchy are required for me to be happy with my food. 
But I still believe that, for me, my heart and stomach need wheat.  F'rinstance...once upon a time, as family legend has it...out of town relatives were visiting.  "Let's pack a picnic lunch, we'll take a little hike in the State Park, and then make sandwiches afterwards."  "Mmmm, yummy, potato salad, chips, cold cuts, cheeses...oops, forgot the bread."  And tasty and filling as the culinary creativity turned out to be, the lettuce-substitutes-for-bread sandwich that resulted was simply not a sandwich.  My crunch needs were met (chips, carrots, lettuce), but the wheat addiction remained unsatisfied.

Lately, I've had the chance/need to think about life, living, and the daily grind.  And what I've come up with is probably not new.  It's a sure thing that some thinker somewhere in time has said this better than I can, but, for me, it boils down to a moment.  That's all I can account for on the happiness/satisfaction/big picture stage.  A moment.  Perhaps the length of time it takes to take a breath.  Sure, string enough moments together and you've got memories and relationships and stories to tell, but I still come back to the moment.  What happens during your moments is up to you...but the moment is my crust, I can top it however I want.  The choices are endless.

Apple Kuchen
Yield:  1/2 sheet pan
Sponge:
AP Flour...........................3 cups
Dry Active Yeast.................3 1/2 tsp
Water.............................1 cup

Dough:
Sponge...........................All of above
Flour..............................3 cups
Sugar..............................1/3 cup
Butter, softened.................7 Tbl
Milk Powder......................1/3 cup
Salt................................2 1/2 tsp
Eggs...............................1 large
Extract (Lemon/Vanilla)........2 tsp
Water.............................4 1/2 oz

Topping:
Butter, softened................8 oz
Almond Paste....................3 oz

Sliced Almonds..................4 oz
Sugar..............................4 oz

FOR THE SPONGE:
1.  In a medium bowl, combine the water and yeast.  Let sit until yeast is rehydrated, 10 minutes or so.  Stir in the flour until smooth.  Cover with plastic and ferment until puffy, approximately 30 minutes.

FOR THE DOUGH:
1.  Combine all the ingredients in bowl of standing mixer.  With paddle, mix for 2 minutes on low speed, or until a shaggy dough is formed.  Adjust hydration as needed.  Change to dough hook, increase speed to medium and knead for 4 minutes, until soft/smooth dough is formed. 
2.  Form dough into a ball, put back into bowl, cover with plastic, and let rise until doubled (15-30 minutes). 
3.  Lightly butter a 1/2 sheet pan.  On lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 11.5 x 16 inches.  Place the dough in the prepared pan, cover with plastic and let rest for 15-30 minutes (until not quite doubled in height). 
4.  With your fingertips, make indentations in the surface of the dough at regular intervals. 

FOR THE TOPPING:
1.  In the bowl of a mixer, beat the almond paste it is the texture of sand and there are no large lumps are left.  Gradually add the butter and beat until smooth. 

TO ASSEMBLE/BAKE:
1.  Pipe the butter mixture into each of the indentations in the dough.
2.  Sprinkle the top of the kuchen with the sliced almonds, followed by the sugar.  Cover with plastic and let rise 30-40 minutes.
3.  Preheat oven to 420 degrees. 
4.  Bake kuchen for approx. 20 minutes, until golden on top.


No comments: