Why do they call it monkey bread anyways?

Seriously, where did the name monkey bread come from? Because to me, these are sticky buns.



I'm no baker, so when I say this is one of the easiest things to bake, you know I mean it.

The bread is a buttermilk biscuit, which means you could buy them. It doesn't get much easier than that. But if you have a food processor, you could start from scratch and it will come together in 5 minutes. I used this recipe, which I found on Food Network a while back. All I do is put the dry ingredients in the processor with the shortening (butter works well too) and pulse 3 or 4 times until you get the butter incorporated. I add the buttermilk while the machine is running. It's done when the dough comes together. I never bother to roll out the dough. I just pinch off a small ball and shape it with wet fingers into a rough disc about 1/2 inch thick. For the monkey bread, make the discs about 1/4 inch thick. If you're going to use a standard sized bundt pan (7 to 9 inches), you'll need to double or even triple the biscuit recipe. I did not double the recipe and was able to squeeze out 5 mini bundt pans. After you shape the discs, set the dough in the fridge to keep it cold while you make the sauce for the monkey bread.

The recipe for the monkey (or gorilla) bread is here. It's also from FN. I did both. Sonny liked the monkey because he's not crazy about nuts (I used pecans). I liked the cream cheese in the gorilla version. Both are good. The only thing I would do differently is put a layer of the sauce at the bottom of the pan. Since I didn't do that this time, I made more sauce to drizzle on top, but it's not the same because it doesn't soak into the bread. Another thing: don't pile the dough all the way to the top of your pan because the sauce will drip and muck up the bottom of your stove. The recipe says to bake for 30 minutes, but I suspect you may have to do it longer if using a standard bundt pan. For my mini bundts, I baked for 30 minutes and that was just right.

What's Your Christmas Dessert?

I made out like a bandit this Christmas! But I feel kind of bad because I only got Hubby a book. We agreed we weren’t going to do anything big, so I didn’t. He got me a gift certificate to my favorite clothing store, this awesome stainless steel roasting pan and Morimoto’s AWESOME new book (click the thumbnail in the sidebar to check it out). From my mom I got McCormick & Schimick’s Seafood Restaurant Cookbook, slippers, gloves and a scarf. My Danish in-laws got me an ice cream machine!!! Brother-in-law- wrote me a cookbook. Just joking. He sent me the cookbook he wrote and published showcasing seasonal Danish ingredients. It’s a modern take on classic Northern European ingredients. The presentations look delicious. Between the cookbooks and ice cream making, I expect I’m going to be busy in the kitchen in 2008.

Sonny made out too!

After a leisurely morning of opening presents and watching the snow fall, we had a leisurely brunch with Girlfriend M and family. Did I ever mention she’s an amazing baker? She is the one who taught me to make the world’s most awesome chocolate cake (I promise to post the recipe one day). Today she made monkey bread, which is kind of like one big sticky bun sans nuts but oozing with caramel and cinnamon. She baked it in a ceramic mold. When she flipped and un-molded it, I almost passed out. It looked and smelled that delicious. She says it can be made in a regular bundt pan, so I will definitely have to try.

I have no idea why they call this monkey bread. If anyone knows, please chime in. Don't it look yummy?

My contribution to the dessert table was a Thai tea crème brulee. If you like green tea ice cream and crème brulee, you will definitely like this dessert. I like it so much, I've made it twice in less than a week! It’s quite easy to make and you can use any other tea that you would add milk and sugar to. I’ve used green chai tea and I imagine it would be great with chamomile tea or Earl Grey.

I used tea bags, but you could use loose tea as well. But be careful because loose Thai tea can be very fine. A regular tea infuser won't hold it. You'll need to use fillable teabags or filter the cream through a clean kitchen towel. I think even cheesecloth will be too porous.

Thai Tea Crème Brulee

• 1 egg
• 5 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 4 to 5 Thai tea bags
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 vanilla bean

Preheat the oven to 300°.

Using a small knife, split the vanilla bean. Scrape out the inside and put it in a saucepan along with the pod, heavy cream and tea bags. Bring to just boiling. Turn off the heat. Cover and allow the tea to steep for about 5 minutes.

In the meantime, whisk the egg, yolks and sugar together in a large mixing bowl.

After the tea has steeped, remove the bags (squeeze out all the liquid from the bags) and vanilla pod. If necessary strain the cream mixture into a large bowl to remove any remnants of the pod.

Using a large wooden spoon (or the like), stir the egg mixture quickly while slowly (!!) adding the hot cream. Pour the mixture into individual ramekins (it’s enough for 8 ½-cup ramekins) or a shallow 1½ quart ovenproof dish (which is what I did this time). Bake in a water bath until the center is set, about 35 minutes for ramekins and 55 minutes for the large dish. When done, allow the custard to come to room temperature before covering with plastic wrap and chilling in the fridge. For the large dish, it will take at least 4 hours.

To serve, caramelize some granulated or turbinado sugar on top with a kitchen torch or under the broiler. If you do it under the broiler, I recommend freezing the custard for about 30 minutes beforehand to keep it from getting too warm in the oven.

The crust should be warm and crackly while the custard stays chilled.