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oli

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    Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2017 – )

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    31 minutes ago, Pete Fred said:

    Fruit cake is not something I have much of a history with. This one caught my eye, being a little different (egg-free and using condensed milk)...

     

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    I can't decide if it was nice and moist, or simply just wet and stodgy. The cake in the online recipe looks drier and more cakey, so I'm not sure what accounts for the difference. It was certainly fruit-packed (almost a pound and a half!) but I'm not sure you could distinguish the individual elements. For such relatively expensive ingredients, I'm unconvinced the game was worth the candle. But I'll probably happily pick away at it in the coming days.

    I will be in Europe in June and will stop by for any left overs.

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    Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2017 – )

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    On 1/27/2024 at 12:14 PM, Pete Fred said:

    Roly-poly is an old-fashioned nursery pudding ( NYT article on English puddings, paywalled )... roll out a square of suet pastry, spread with jam, roll into a log, steam, slice, eat.

     

    I recently came across a cheffy version by Gary Rhodes... pastry, jam, scatter with fruit, roll, slice, layer in dish, pour over a syrup, bake...

     

    RolyPoly1.thumb.png.7c9739d463e45dd3a1e942bb6f60e79f.png

     

    I used what was to hand: strawberry jam, tinned peaches, pears, and sour cherries. The suet pastry was pleasingly soft and doughy underneath where it had absorbed the syrup, and nice and crispy up top. It was good.

     

    I rounded it off with a generous hand from a jug of Bird's custard, as usual...

     

    RolyPoly2.thumb.png.f87bd68f36b3dda9de40b8a4ae1cc675.png

    Apparently this recipe from Rhodes does not mention the dough unless I missed something; https://www.food.com/recipe/gary-rhodes-sticky-toffee-pudding-135354

    Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2017 – )

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    28 minutes ago, Pete Fred said:

     

    I couldn't find it in English, unfortunately, but the one I use is pretty close to Pierre Hermé's, here or here. If you're fine using online translation, that'll give you a decent steer. Similarly for Thierry Bamas': recipe and watch him make one.

     

    Bruno Albouze is legit: recipe and video.

     

    But if you're more comfortable speaking American (cups! 😡) this one from Masterclass looks all right.

    Thanks, I am curious what didn't you like about the one I posted?

    Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2017 – )

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    18 minutes ago, Pete Fred said:

    Gateau Basque would probably be on my Mount Rushmore of cakes...

     

    Basque1.thumb.png.c2ff3b862f8012762988ac9be1c1de91.png

     

    They usually come with a cherry jam or pastry cream filling. I prefer the latter, taking the opportunity to really load it with cream...

     

    Basque2.thumb.png.d686eb4d6c8f55d63d9b5d7981cdc41e.png

     

    This one is vanilla, orange and lemon, and the cream is made with semolina for a bit more texture. The dough is sort of a cakey, almond shortbread, quite soft but more crunchy at the edge. Love it.

    I want to make it, it's calling my name. Would you recommend this recipe or yours? https://rouxbe.com/recipes/1008-gateau-basque

     

    Olive Oil Lemon Tart

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    I am going to make this tart and would like to know if I use a Meyer Lemon infused extra virgin olive oil will work or do you see it causing a problem eg: too much lemon? I live nearby to a olive oil farm and store where they produce many variations including Vanilla bean, Valencia Orange, Balanced and Delicate oil.
    Would like to hear your thoughts and what you think is the better oil for this tart.  Perhaps the Vanilla oil would be more versatile than the Meyer oil. 

     

     

    Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2017 – )

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    6 minutes ago, Pete Fred said:

    Another steamed figgy pudding...

     

    FiggyPudding.thumb.png.d7d2fcac28bee5e3a69462515bbc88ec.png

     

    I had some fig jam that a friend made last year, so that turned into a nice sticky topping. Overall, I preferred this to the last one; less fuss but equally tasty.

     

    FiggyCustard.thumb.png.eead50e919b98a2e07a91d521a93e9f2.png

     

    For anyone with an account at the Internet Archive, the recipe is in English Puddings: Sweet and Savoury by Mary Norwak.

    Boy, that looks great would like to make it but no access.

    Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2017 – )

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Pete Fred said:

     

    Hmmmm, I think in a proper kitchen I'd probably get a saucepan chucked at my head for too much fussin' and wasting time. However...

     

    I still prefer doing it the old-fashioned way, i.e. rolling out a circle and lifting it into the ring, rather than cutting out strips and discs. I'm quite methodical about gradually easing the pastry down into the corners so that it doesn't stretch or introduce folds. Once there's a nice right-angle, I'll kinda work my way around, pulling the pastry away from the ring and pressing it back from the bottom to the top, trying not to trap any air pockets. The excess pastry is then trimmed away with a knife. Some days are better than others, but that's my routine for getting it as smooth as possible.

     

    After a rest in the fridge, the tart shell gets blind baked. Press together two or three large sheets of clingfilm (plastic wrap) and line the pastry right into the corners. Fill with rice up to the height of the ring; this is important because, as the pastry cooks it will stay tight against the ring and even grow upwards a little. I like to cook it long with the rice (~40 mins in a 170C/340F oven) until quite set. Carefully use the clingfilm to lift out the rice then return to the oven (150C/300F) for the base to take on some colour (still inside the ring). Remove from the oven and leave to cool fully. The rim of the tart shell will be overcooked, but if you place it on a flat surface (your baking sheet might be a bit wonky) you can trim it away with a microplane until it's perfectly level against the top of the ring.

     

    I adjust the blind bake as needed. The custard tart, for example, gets fully blind baked until deep brown and biscuity because the filling is cooked at 90C/190F so the pastry won't take on any more colour. But I held back with the pear tart because the pears were added then cooked at 180C/350F for another 25 minutes and I didn't want the pastry to over-brown (apart from the rim which got microplaned at the end).

     

    I've just read all that back and it sounds faintly ridiculous. Saucepans are no doubt bouncing off laptop screens at this very moment, quite rightly.

     

    I hope it wasn't too opaque, and there was something in there you found useful. 👍

    Here's my version

     

     

     

    image.png

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    Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2017 – )

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Pete Fred said:

    I took my go-to Cherry Coconut Pistachio Cake to a lunch get-together at the weekend. It was a hit. I was hoping there'd be leftovers, but no such luck.

     

    Thankfully, I'd recently stockpiled enough cherries to ride out a nuclear winter...

     

    Cherries.thumb.png.10a4ce6a8e12006499e246513f83a4c0.png

     

    So I elected not to deprive myself...

     

    CherryCoconutPistachioCake.thumb.png.7fba1d06480b6affa48cb78cb044019d.png

     

    CherryCoconutPistachioCake(Plated).thumb.png.370ecb2dc19f4c26d78c8ee4c550345b.png

     

    I give most of my bakes away, but this one earns its place in the freezer.

    Oooh, that looks yummy

    Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2017 – )

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted · Edited by oli (log)

    13 hours ago, Matthew.Taylor said:

    Well, this particular recipe is my own work (and I really don’t think it’s done yet.) but for just better than Robert Redford, we usually use something like this. 
     

    https://www.cooks.com/recipe/f280j2b8/better-than-robert-redford-cake.html

    This is the recipe I have: https://insanelygoodrecipes.com/robert-redford-dessert

    Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2017 – )

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted · Edited by oli (log)

    18 minutes ago, Matthew.Taylor said:

    Ok, I recently spent a week at home while the family was in Florida. I had said I was going to do a baking project, but until the last few days, I had no idea what. Then I recalled an episode from season 5 of the Great British Baking show. The technical challenge was Mary’s Tiramisu cake. Duly inspired, I said out to adapt the idea. I thought then if the various desserts we usually made, and I settled on a dish known as “Better than Robert Redford” (also called better than sex, but…kids in the house, and all). We also called it Better than Jim Taylor (my dad). I present to you, my Better than Robert Redford Cake.  
     

    we have two layers of vanilla buttermilk cake, two layers of chocolate pastry cream, two layers of cream cheese filling, and one layer of shortbread. The frosting is stabilized whip cream, and chocolate shavings.
     

     

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    Is that from Insanelygoodrecipes? Its in my file to be made, just waiting for an opportunity to make it - maybe a pot luck or church event.

    Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2017 – )

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    6 hours ago, Pete Fred said:

     

    Wouldn't you know it, @oli, but we've been here before  ...

     

    oli.thumb.jpeg.b0e2a357fca9b2537837ccc2b44886d3.jpeg

     

    I never did make them again, though. Here's the recipe (I swapped in a brioche-style dough).

     

    I must have been on a Sticky Bun quest around that time because a little further up that page are some not too dissimilar Chelsea Buns.

     

    I also found a picture on my computer of these Stella Parks Double-Caramel Sticky Buns from a few months previous...

     

    ParksBuns.thumb.png.c2ebe95ac394c18c4b3ba1215a3e9157.png

     

    I never wrote up the recipe, so I can't have been too impressed. Maybe it's the proofing and cooking of the buns in the sticky glaze (like the Chang buns) that I don't care for. Baking the buns then drowning them in sticky glaze seems to be more my thing.

     

     

     

     

    Have you tried Americas test kitchen version? I saw an unedited video of the recipe and the two girls were having so much fun at the end that Julia had to hold onto the table as she was laughing so much she couldn't hold herself up. Just because they were having so much fun is enough for anyone to be tempted to make it. Sad that this is a edited version and you can't see all the fun.

     

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    Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2017 – )

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Pete Fred said:

    Joanne Chang's Sticky Sticky Buns (YouTube)...

     

    Sticky1.thumb.png.5d1c392d738e62277041a221899822a7.png

     

    Like me, you may be thinking "ooooooh, they look good"....

     

    Sticky2.thumb.png.f2600ee533c327042a7bd0e767a2bd46.png

     

    ...and "can't wait to dive in"...

     

    Sticky3.thumb.png.7169c307d10a0b81fe13cbc3063856ba.png

     

    Sadly, they didn't live up to the hype.

     

    The brioche dough wasn't as enriched as my usual one, so we were off to a bad start. Then there was so much "goo" that the bottoms (tops) turned more mushy than sticky. And they were achingly sweet and a bit sickly.

     

    But apart from that...

     

    So, not for me this time. More like Sickly Mushy Buns.

    Do have a favourite recipe?

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