Ja, Kuchen!

Transcript: I treated myself to some cheese and bread. Add wine to the mix, and ya got the three things i could live on and nothing else! So my favorite cheese from a local producer- Humboldt Fog..blue cheese with vegetable ash in the middle. Yummm-o! Goes well with my favorite bread- pain au levian. Today I was excited to see a new line of cheese- Truffle Tremor! Made with truffles, duh. Earthy flavor, but yeah the cheese started underground so of course. Sooo I've got the munchies. Bread, cheese and wine! Rude, I know. But I can't help myself! Tonight ima make condensed milk custard. It's from Brazil and similar to flan, but..bigger! You'll see. Have a good one!

Pull-Apart Kuchen, Monkey Bread

Dough
1/4 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
8 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup whole milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
Topping
3/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans
3/4 cup coarsely chopped 62% semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup granulated sugar
8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
butter and sugar for the pan.

For the dough
Combine water and yeast in a small bowl and stir to dissolve. Let stand for 10 minutes until foamy.
Place yolks in bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. In small saucepan, heat the butter and milk over medium-low until butter has melted. With mixer on low, carefully combine butter into yolks. Let stand until just warm.
With the mixer on low, add the salt, sugar, and yeast, mixing until just combined. Stop and add 2 cups of the flour, then mix on low until just incorporated. There will be lumps. Add the remaining flour and mix for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium and mix until smooth, about 5 minutes. Dough will still be sticky.
Lightly butter a large bowl. Using a dough scraper, transfer dough to bowl and turn to coat with butter. Cover with kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size.
For the topping
Pulse the pecans, chocolate, and sugar in a food processor until sandy consistency (do not make 'butter'). Butter and sugar a 12-cup (10-inch) bundt pan.
Pour melted butter into small bowl. Pull off small pieces of the dough and roll into balls. Roll in butter then the nut & chocolate mixture to coat. Line the bottom of the pan with a layer of balls and continue stacking until dough is finished. Make the top layer fairly even. Cover with kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise in warm spot for 1 hour until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and brush the top of the kuchen with any remaining butter. Bake 45-50 minutes until top is dark brown and a test skewer inserted in bread comes out clean. Let stand 3-5 minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Serve warm!


This bread was great. I totally enjoyed making it and the end result was a dense challah-like bread. Yumm-o!


I got a buncha guppies so they can poo and make my fish tank ready for bigger fish (catfish!). Minikitty loves them little fish ;) In the second vid, she has a fat lip from eating a bee. Poor baby! Third vid is of the guppy fry (baby fish) in the breeding tank/box thing. Kind of hard to see 'em, but minikitty got jealous and wanted to steal the show.