New Stand Mixer - Now What?

[Vancouver Lori]

Whenever I see someone on food network making something with a stand mixer, I say to DH "Sorry, I can't make that because I don't have a big mixer". Of course, I haven't had one, because I don't need the temptation of breads, cookies and cakes laying around.

Needless to say, I am now the proud owner of a new Viking Professional 5 Quart, 800 Watt Stand Mixer. So, what do I do with these 800 Watts? What do you use your stand mixer for? Please give me some ideas/recipes.

TIA

[jessicacoy]

WOW! That mixer is amazing!! I'm jealous:rolleyes:
I recently got myself a Kitchenaid Pro and am in love with it! I have used it for everything from mashed potatoes, scones, breads, flourless chocolate cake, etc. I haven't been disappointed.

Have fun mixing!
Jessica

[hAndyman]

I hope you don't regret making all those breads, cakes and cookies now that you have that big baby to feed your innermost desires, Lori!
Here are the only 2 recipes (both posted before I'm pretty sure) I have that absolutely require a stand mixer.

Focaccia

from The ACE Bakery Cookbook by Linda Haynes, Photo by Christopher Freeland Cookbook Heaven at Recipelink.com
This is a slightly simpler version of the focaccia we make at ACE. The use of a biga (Italian starter) will give your bread a deeper, richer flavor. I have given you two variations on the recipe—one will make focaccia over an inch (2.5 cm) high with a light interior; the other (what the Tuscans call scacciata) , is a lower, denser focaccia. Extra oil and salt in the final dough and one less rise is the only difference in the method. With the exception of the 12-hour refrigeration of the biga, the focaccia will be out of the oven in less than 5 hours after you mix the final dough. You will have three 20-minute “work” periods interspersed with fermentation and proofing time. Since the scacciata has no final proof, it will be ready in about 4 hours. While all the other breads in this book can be made without a standing mixer, I have not had any luck making this recipe by hand. Feel free to experiment with other toppings—a few lightly sautéed but not browned cooking onions, olives, thyme, or black pepper
Makes 2 loaves
∙ BIGA (STARTER)
∙ 1/4 tsp. (1.2 mL) traditional dry yeast
∙ 1 Tbsp. (15 mL) water at 75 to 95 degrees F (24 to 35C)
∙ 7 oz. (200 g) unbleached hard white flour
∙ 1/3 cup plus 1-1/2 Tbsp. (100 mL) water at 75 degrees F (24C)
∙ FINAL DOUGH - FOCACCIA:
∙ 13.2 oz. (375 g) unbleached hard white flour
∙ 1 1/4 cups (300 mL) water at 75 degrees F (24C)
∙ 1 Tbsp. (15 mL) olive oil
∙ 1-1/2 tsp. (7.5 mL) traditional dry yeast
∙ 3 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. (50 mL) water at 75 degrees F (24C)
∙ 1 recipe Biga
∙ 2 tsp. (10 mL) kosher salt
∙ olive oil for the baking pans, your hands, and the top of the dough

FOR THE BIGA: In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water. Within a few minutes, the yeast should have taken on a creamy-looking consistency. If it has not, the yeast should not be used. Combine the flour, water, and the yeast mixture in a standing mixer bowl and mix with the dough hook for 4 minutes on slow (#2 speed) to blend. Scrape down the bowl with a plastic spatula as needed. Increase to fast (#4 speed) and mix for an additional 4 minutes.
Place the mixture, which will be stiff in a lightly oiled bowl large enough to let it double in size. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to ferment in a warm, draft-free area for 12 to 14 hours. The biga will have expanded by about 50% and have a few small holes in it. If need be, the biga can be held or retarded in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Bring to room temperature (72 to 75 degress F or 22 to 24C) before continuing with your bread making.
Put the flour, 1 1/4 cups (300 mL) water, and olive oil in a standing mixer and mix with a dough hook on slow (#2 speed) for 4 minutes. Drape a kitchen towel or plastic wrap over the bowl and allow the mixture to rest for 15 to 20 minutes. This process is called autolyse. It allows the gluten to develop and the dough to absorb water better.
Dissolve the yeast in 3 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. (50 mL) water. Add the biga, salt, and yeast to the mixture in the bowl and mix for 2 minutes on slow (#2 speed) followed by 6 minutes on fast (#4 speed). Your final dough should look shiny and be able to stretch about 6 inches (15 cm) without ripping.
FOR FOCACCIA: Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl large enough to let the dough expand. Cover lightly with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap, place in a draft-proof area, and allow to ferment for 2 hours or until the dough has more than doubled. Generously oil 2 pans roughly 8-1/2x 6-1/2x 2-inches (21.2x16.2x5-cm) or 1 roughly 10x8x2-inches (25x20x5-cm) in size. Non-stick or enamelware works well too, but must still be oiled. Oil your hands, then turn the dough onto a surface and either cut the dough in half and place into the 2 pans or keep in one piece for the larger pan. Spread out the dough to an even thickness. Cover the pans with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 15 minutes. Sprinkle more oil over the dough and dimple it with the tips of your fingers. Loosely cover the pans with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and allow to proof (rise) at room temperature for 1 to 3 hours or until the dough is almost double in size.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220C) or 375 degrees F (190C) for a convection oven.
TOPPINGS FOR FOCACCIA AND SCACCIATA: 3 Tbsp. (45 mL) grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and 1/2 tsp. (2.5 mL) coarse sea salt OR 1 tsp. (5 mL) coarse sea salt and 1 heaping tsp. (5 mL), or to taste, fresh rosemary removed from the stalk and coarsely chopped, or 1/2 heaping tsp. (2.5 mL), or to taste, dried rosemary soaked in olive oil for 1 hour and patted dry. Brush the focaccia and/or the scacciata with more oil if the top looks dry. Sprinkle the dough with either the rosemary and salt or the Parmigiano and salt. Place the pans on a rack a third from the bottom of the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove the bread from the pans and tap the bottom crust with your fingertips. The bread should sound hollow. If it does not, bake for another 5 minutes. Immediately remove the bread from the pans and put them on a rack to cool.
Andy’s notes: I weighed the both the flour and the water - water weighs 1 g / ml so 100 ml = 100 g. I divided the dough in two as best I could using well-oiled hands (note: no punching down of the dough) and put the dough on 2 large baking sheets lined with Teflon liners smeared with oil and spread the dough to roughly an inch thick in something like an oval shape. The loaves were each maybe about 13"x9" in size. I poked the loaves with a finger all over and let rise then sprinkled some chopped rosemary over one loaf and also stuck in many rosemary tips (with 3 to 5 leaves on each), and stuck many garlic slivers in the other loaf as well as covering it with fresh shredded Parmesan and a few grindings of black pepper. Both loaves also got coarse sea salt. They baked, one at a time at 425̊, in about 25 minutes.
I’ve also made the recipe into 4 loaves - each is about 10"x 6" or 7" after baking (and each pair took about 22 minutes to bake at 425̊ F).
********

Arnhem Cookies

from Pot on the Fire: Further Exploits of a Renegade Cook by John Thorne, Matt Lewis Thorne)
Although Arnhems are in most ways a pleasure to make (and will inspire in the experienced cookie maker all sorts of ideas), mixing the dough requires a powerful, stand-mounted electric mixer: don't even think of using a hand-held one. I suspect that a sturdy food processor could manage this dough (using the plastic blade), but we don't have one on hand to test that hypothesis. However, the trusty old K5A took it in its stride. Please read through the recipe carefully before attempting to make these cookies; some forethought is required.
makes 1 pound of cookies (i.e., a lot)

1 1/2 cups (7.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (4.5 ounces) whole milk (see footnote #1)
1/8 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 of a standard .6-ounce cube of fresh yeast or 1 scant teaspoon of dry yeast
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 8 cubes
about 1 cup crushed rock sugar or sugar crystals (see footnote #2)
A heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with a dough paddle or a food processor fitted with a plastic blade.

The cookie dough should be prepared several hours ahead of the time you plan to make the cookies.
Combine the flour, milk, lemon juice, yeast (crumbling it into the mixture, if fresh), and salt into the bowl of the mixer or processor. Turn the machine onto high. As soon as the contents of the bowl are well mixed, add the first cube of butter. Beat this into the mixture for 1 minute, then add the next cube, beating this into the mixture for 1 minute. Continue in the same way until all the butter has been amalgamated. The dough will be soft and elastic to the touch. Use a spatula or dough scraper to form it into a ball. Place it on a plate, cover it with a bowl, and set it in the refrigerator until cool, or about two hours. If you wish, you may leave it overnight.
When ready to make the cookies, preheat the oven to 275̊F and line two standard cookie sheets with parchment paper.(see footnote #3)
Sprinkle the work surface on which you plan to roll out the dough with a coating of sugar crystals. Uncover the dough and, with a sharp kitchen knife, divide it in half. Form each half into a round ball.
Coat the first ball of dough thickly with sugar crystals and transfer it to the sugared working surface. There, use a rolling pin to gently roll it out as thinly as possible, pausing frequently to sprinkle it and the counter with more sugar crystals. Also, while this is still possible, periodically turn the dough over so that more sugar crystals can be sprinkled on the bottom surface. The thinner and more evenly the dough is rolled, the better (and more authentic) the cookies; it should be almost as thin as homemade egg noodle dough.
If you wish, use a cookie cutter to cut the dough into ovals, the traditional shape. Otherwise, use a pizza cutter or sharp utility knife to cut them into rectangles, roughly 1 by 2 inches. Set the formed cookies into one of the parchment-lined cookie pans and place this into the preheated oven. The cookies should be baked until their tops are caramel-colored and their bottoms a crisp brown. Dahl's time is 30 to 45 minutes; we used insulated cookie pans, and our baking time was closer to an hour. While these bake, roll out and form the second batch of cookies in the same way. Remove the baked cookies from the oven and-taking care with the hot pan-slide the parchment paper and cookies onto a wire cooling rack. Remove them from the paper as soon as they are cool enough to handle (see footnote #4). They keep well for at least for a week in an airtight container-but are best eaten within the first two or three days.
Footnotes:
1 - The exact amount will depend on your flour. If your mixer struggles with the dough, dribble in more milk.
2 - Dahl writes that his own Arnhems were not quite as good as the real thing. This may be because his recipe substitutes crushed sugar cubes for the Dutch kandij suiker, amber crystals better known in this country as coffee sugar crystals. We used Billington's Amber Crystal Sugar, which is the ideal size-like fine gravel. But any amber coffee crystals will work well-larger ones should be crushed down to size with a rolling pin.
3 - Don't substitute the new Teflon baking mats for parchment paper; these don't work nearly as well.
4 - If your cookies have puffed up and have a chewy rather than crisp texture, they weren't rolled thin enough. They'll be good, but you won't think them contenders for the world's best cookies.

Andy’s notes: I used a turbinado style sugar called “Sugar In The Raw”. They took about 40 minutes to bake each of the 2 pans. They didn’t spread at all, but rose somewhat.