Your Daily Sweets: What are you making and baking? (2012–2014)

[Chris Hennes]

This is a continuation of the original Your Daily Sweets topic (first started in 2005), which was so popular it grew too large for our servers to load! Carry on...

[Mjx]

@Tri2Cook

Back in 2008 you described a delicious-sounding aerated chocolate you made. I realize you're not likely to remember what you did four years back, but on the off-chance that you've made aerated chocolate (using a cream whipper) since, would you mind elaborating a bit on the process? You mention using two kinds of chocolate, but did you add any cream/other fat? At what temperature did you hold the whipper?

Aerated chocolate is something I want to attempt with the whipper I recently got my hands on, but I have images of the chocolate quickly turning into a solid mass and having to be melted/scraped out in a lengthy and frustrating process.

Thanks!

M.

[Baselerd]

I believe that the correct technique for aerated chocolate is 1 lb chocolate + 6 Tbsp neutral oil (grapeseed). Melt it all in a pot, then let liquid cool to about 85 F. Next, pressurize in an ISI whip with 2-3 canisters of N2O.

Dispense it into a vacuum container (example) and pull a vacuum, placing it in the freezer until set. If you don't have the vacuum container, you can still try but the result will be a lot denser - although still less dense than the chocolate alone.

This is the best technique I have tried, uses a lot of inspiration from the Eleven Madison Park cookbook.

[Mjx]

What happens if no oil is used, if the canister is kept warm (not questioning the use of oil, but curious about this)? Also, couldn't CO₂ be used instead of N₂O?

[Baselerd]

Not sure about what happens if no oil is used, and I've never tried using CO2 before. My guess would be that the result would be less aeration with CO2 since N2O has a higher solubility in fat-based liquids.

[Tri2Cook]

I've never tried it with CO2. I've tried it with and without the oil and with substituting cocoa butter for the oil. I think the best result texturally is with the oil. I sometimes add additional flavor by using roasted peanut oil or other oils (I used a chili oil once to get aerated hot chocolate which was tasty). It works pretty well without a vacuum. As mentioned above, the result is denser and less bubbly but it's still obviously aerated and lighter than a chunk of chocolate. The trick to getting the best result without a vacuum is to get it chilled fast. Have your container in a tray of ice or an ice bath and get it in the fridge as soon as you're done spraying. The less time it has to collapse, the better the result. I usually use a single chocolate, I blended the two in the case you mentioned because the smoked 70% I was using was a bit heavier on the smoke than I wanted. I was trying to mellow it a bit and add a touch more sweetness as well so I added milk chocolate until I got what I wanted. I've never bothered tempering the chocolate and I've never bothered being precise about canister temps. I toss it in a hot water bath (I just use straight hot water from the tap) for a bit before filling then I dispense it quickly because sometimes the N2O causes some of the chocolate to harden and plug the dispenser if you mess around too long.

[merstar]

I made this again with some tweaks:

Streusel Topped Triple Berry Coffee Cake

http://www.food.com/...ffee-cake-47953

[pquinene]

I made caramel popcorn. If you are familiar with Cracker Jacks, this is the homemade version.

Caramel Popcorn

[Kerry Beal]

Anna N does her sweets baking vicariously - she sends me the recipe - gets me interested - I bake it and report back.

So today we have Bacon Fat Gingersnaps. A great way to use up leftover bacon fat.

[Chocolot]

Anna N is a smart lady. She doesn't have to do the work, or consume the calories:-)

[Mjx]

I've never tried it with CO2. I've tried it with and without the oil and with substituting cocoa butter for the oil. I think the best result texturally is with the oil. I sometimes add additional flavor by using roasted peanut oil or other oils (I used a chili oil once to get aerated hot chocolate which was tasty). It works pretty well without a vacuum. As mentioned above, the result is denser and less bubbly but it's still obviously aerated and lighter than a chunk of chocolate. The trick to getting the best result without a vacuum is to get it chilled fast. Have your container in a tray of ice or an ice bath and get it in the fridge as soon as you're done spraying. The less time it has to collapse, the better the result. I usually use a single chocolate, I blended the two in the case you mentioned because the smoked 70% I was using was a bit heavier on the smoke than I wanted. I was trying to mellow it a bit and add a touch more sweetness as well so I added milk chocolate until I got what I wanted. I've never bothered tempering the chocolate and I've never bothered being precise about canister temps. I toss it in a hot water bath (I just use straight hot water from the tap) for a bit before filling then I dispense it quickly because sometimes the N2O causes some of the chocolate to harden and plug the dispenser if you mess around too long.

Thank you, I'm looking forward to trying this! By the way, is there a particular base recipe you use?

[Emily_R]

For those of your looking for a slightly different take on caramel corn, I can't recommend this recipe highly enough --

http://www.nourishingmeals.com/2010/12/maple-caramel-corn.html

I used Grade B maple syrup and the coconut oil option rather than butter, and it was absolutely outstanding. Just a hint of coconut, perfect maple-ness, not too sweet, and dead easy to make. I probably added a little more popcorn than it called for - I actually cut the recipe by a third, but used closer to half of the popcorn called for. Very very good!

[Kim Shook]

Kerry – bacon fat gingersnaps sound really, really good!

Not mine, but a beautiful and delicious ‘Booze Pie’ that Jessica made for Thanksgiving dinner at my MIL’s:

A whipped cream and egg white pie with vanilla vodka and Crème de Cacao.

I did Very Hungry Caterpillar cupcakes for a baby shower:

Six feet of PB cookies for Christmas:

They are sitting bagged on the table waiting to be put in the freezer and they smell SO good!!

[Tri2Cook]

Anna N does her sweets baking vicariously - she sends me the recipe - gets me interested - I bake it and report back.

So today we have Bacon Fat Gingersnaps. A great way to use up leftover bacon fat.

What was the verdict on those? I've been looking for something as a changeup to the ginger cookies I usually do.

[Kerry Beal]

Not bad at all - but I think I would have like a peanut butter cookie using the bacon fat in place of the butter even more.

[teagal]

Oh man, I threw away so much bacon fat this morning!! What a good idea for the pb cookies. Guess I know what I'll be cooking for next Sunday's breakfast...more bacon!

[Tri2Cook]

Not bad at all - but I think I would have like a peanut butter cookie using the bacon fat in place of the butter even more.

Might have to give that a shot too.

[Creola]

I have a large supply of Meyer lemons given to me so today I made a white cake,lemon curd filling and almond french buttercream. That took care of 2 lemons,a case to go. Edited December 10, 2012 by Creola (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Over on the "bet you can't eat just one" thread - someone mentioned Malt Loaf. This was something I wasn't aware of - and of course it got me curious. So tonight I baked a couple of loaves using the Delia recipe online.

After baking drizzled with a little more malt extract and spritzed with a bit of water. I'll let them sit for a day before tasting.

[Creola]

Not even a taste from the corner ? Under that paper we would'nt see the hole. You are stronger woman than I.Look forward to the review, I was wondering about the loaf also.

[Kerry Beal]

So here is the reveal - malt loaf -

Not dark, dense but not really sticky. I could make the colour a lot darker with caramel - which I notice is contained in the Soreen product.

I actually went out and purchased a malt loaf from the British shop so I could compare. I see what is meant by it sticking in the back of your throat.

I think I like Delia's recipe better! But they really are two different things.

I ran around this morning and got some malted barley, and some dried malt extract - I'll play a little and see if I can come up with something like the purchased product - or maybe just play with the Delia loaf to make it even more malty and delicious.

[Creola]

Was it a sour/ tart beer like malt like a sourdough or sweet malt ball tasting?

[Kerry Beal]

Was it a sour/ tart beer like malt like a sourdough or sweet malt ball tasting?

The Soreen stuff is more bitter/beer like - the Delia more sweet.

[pjm333]

apple aux bretons

[Nathalie]

I'm a novice when it comes to chocolate, but I found this about making aerated chocolate: http://chocolateapprentice.com/2011/03/aerated-chocolate/ it might not be of any help but it's worth a shot.

Kerry: It's a great idea to use bacon fat! I find that the types of fat people use when baking are always the same: vegetable oils, margarine (sort of oils as well I suppose) and butter. It'd be fun if people would experiment a bit more...

I made a couple of portion sized banana crumbles today: http://seventypesofbiscuits.com/2012/12/15/escape-from-winter-coconut-banana-crumble/

Oh, and I'm new here!