Pete Fred

Here goes with a couple of miso date cookie combos mentioned a couple of posts back. I'm not usually a tinkerer, but decided to wing some substitutions into a couple of existing recipes. These were adapted from a tahini date cookie, using the miso-maple flavours that I quite liked from the Dorie Greenspan cake... And these were a miso-date syrup cookie... They were both fine, but the executives at Big Cookie can rest easy. The miso-maple were soft and chewy (from the oats) but the balance wasn't right - not enough maple. And the miso-date were too cakey for my taste. Moving on from miso, I believe The Evil Genius Cake by Ben Shewry had its TikTok ten minutes of fame last summer, so I'm a bit late to the party... I can see why it had its moment in the sun before everyone moved on to the next thing. The Gen Z-ers love this kinda thing. But at the end of the day it's just a plain cake covered with undercooked blondie batter. That's not to pour scorn on it - it's no different to a chocolate lava cake or other self saucing pudding, I guess. But it tasted mostly just sweet and of white chocolate. The best part was actually the base cake which gets compressed and becomes a little chewy thanks to the weight of the mixture above it. If I made it again - which I doubt - I'd use less blondie mix and cook it longer (or let it firm up more). A couple of videos, and the recipe.

@AAQuesada @Tropicalsenior I'll pick up some dates at some point and take a stab at it. Thanks. Today's lunch was a Shoo Fly Bun (or three) by Helen Goh... Apparently these were popular at a Melbourne bakery called Babka back in the day. A whole orange is puréed into the enriched dough, with milk powder and a tangzhong keeping things extra soft. They didn't taste as orangey as I imagined they would - more of a gentle caress than a slap in the face - but were successful, nevertheless. She recommends eating them slathered with salted butter, which was more than enough encouragement for me...

Gotta use up this miso... Miso Ganache Fudge Cake by Gurdeep Loyal. I came upon this particular cake (and the previous STP) via a post about 'flavour-maxing'. While I liked the punched-up flavours in the STP, for me this didn't wow. The chocolate cake was fine but ultimately no different to any other less max'd one I could've made. The miso ganache was good, though, and if I wanted to add a savoury-salty edge to something I'd keep it in mind. Overall it was a pleasant cake, so I'm reluctant to damn it with faint praise.

Miso isn't something I've baked with before, so after picking up a packet or two there was work to be done. First up, Dorie Greenspan's Miso-Maple Loaf Cake... I didn't much care for the texture of this cake - too dense and close crumbed for me. "Sturdy" should've tipped me off. I've also learned to be suspicious when a recipe says the mixture "might" curdle, as that's usually code for "always curdles, but let's pretend it doesn't matter". But I really liked the flavour; the miso-maple combo was a winner. Next, Miso Rose Chocolate Chip Cookies... These mostly tasted of chocolate. A pleasant miso umami-ness came through in the aftertaste, albeit not particularly strongly. I couldn't detect the rosewater, but that may be down to the brand. I found the cookies a touch too soft. When baked for longer to firm up more, they were too dark and overbaked for my taste. Finally - and this is quite a mouthful - Prune & Chinese Five Spice Sticky Toffee Pudding with Miso Butterscotch Sauce... Great flavours here; the five spice worked really well with the miso toffee sauce. I was less enthusiastic about the sponge, however, which was too soft for my liking. I'll just have to sub those flavours into my regular STP when I fancy a change. Overall, I liked what miso brings to the party. Just need to find the right vehicle for it.

The French love a crêpe on la Chandeleur (Candlemas). I sometimes make a crêpe cake but this year I fancied a bit of a change. I've never made - or eaten, for that matter - Crêpes Suzette so thought I'd have a crack at it... I guess it's a classic for a reason. Absolutely delicious.

I'm not averse to an occasional microwave mug cake so thought I'd try the Sticky Toffee Pudding from NYT Cooking. Nuke your cake... Apply the sauce... Dive in... It was a pleasant little treat that I'd happily make again. And talking of making things again, another lardy cake so I could fiddle with the method...

Yup. Three simple turns with a third of the lard/sugar/fruit each time (no resting).

Lardy cake... Having not made one in a while, it was a nice reminder that it's worth giving butter a day off from time to time.

Clementine tart, inspired by Alex Croquet... Prettier than its apple cousin, but I think I still prefer the OG. The clementines weren't the best or particularly firm, making it difficult to get thin, regular slices, resulting in a fraction too much bite in some of the peel. If I can crack that, and adjust the sweetness better for the fruit, then it's a winner. There's a couple of videos of him making them, if you like watching that kinda thing (in French).

Far Breton... The Agen prunes were soaked in Armagnac, because it would be rude not to.

@AAQuesada If you want some homework, the bon appétit Bake Club podcast recently covered all things pavlova, explaining egg/sugar ratios, the role of acids and cornstarch, etc..

Tuscan rice pudding tarts... They weren't remarkably different from any other rice pudding tart I've made. The filling is a 50:50 mix of rice pudding and pastry cream, which I thought might lighten things, but I can't say it was a revelation. Still, they were pleasant little bites. Recipe here.

The NYT recently reposted these Salted Margarita Bars... Caveat: I'm not a tequila drinker, and I've never had a margarita, so take my comments with, errrrr, a pinch of salt. The flavours weren't particularly to my taste, but if you're a fan then maybe it'll push your buttons. I was mainly interested in the frozen cream angle, and that I did like. Straight from the freezer it was still soft-ish, kinda like ice cream (frozen custard) with a bit of density/chew. It was 3C/37F here today, so maybe not the best conditions to road test a frozen treat, but for a hot, sunny day, it could well hit the mark. YouTube (where somebody's stuck the recipe in the comments).

Moravian Sugar Cake from NYT Cooking... I *think* I've made cake(s) in the past with mashed potato, but seemingly they weren't particularly memorable, as was the case here. I liked the look, but otherwise it didn't land with me. Recipe or YouTube.

@ElsieD I'll have a slice or a munch to satisfy my curiosity, and sometimes I might stash the odd thing in the freezer, but it mostly gets given away if I can find a willing recipient. If there's no one around then, sadly, it often ends up in the bin, which is what happened to 1¾ lemon tarts. I will pay for this in the next life, no doubt.