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

[Matthew Kirshner]

I made some Caramel Bonbons for a class today at the Lincoln Culinary Institute of Hartford, CT. The class discussion was about working in the food industry. Figure make them something to snack on while I talk, lol...

[Matthew Kirshner]

a second pic

[Goatjunky]

I just started baking. So i have a lot to learn. But i am finding it fascinating. I started with norwegian bread, boller. http://mylittlenorway.com/norwegian-christmas/boller-conventional-recipe/ my first attempt was sooo good. We loved it so much i made it another day but put two pans in the oven at once. Total failure. Im not experienced enough yet to know what went wrong. One of the recipes i referenced did say one pan at a time.

[Baselerd]

That chocolate pound cake looks delicious - here's a recipe I made from the Uchi Cookbook: sake custard, brown butter sorbet, hazelnut crumble, and ginger consomme:

[IAte]

I totally fell in love with this topic!

[curls]

I just started baking. So i have a lot to learn. But i am finding it fascinating. I started with norwegian bread, boller. http://mylittlenorway.com/norwegian-christmas/boller-conventional-recipe/ my first attempt was sooo good. We loved it so much i made it another day but put two pans in the oven at once. Total failure. Im not experienced enough yet to know what went wrong. One of the recipes i referenced did say one pan at a time.

Goatjunky, what went wrong with your bread on the second attempt? Most likely the problem was that you baked two pans at once... but if you can describe what happened when you did that, folks will probably be able to make suggestions so that you can bake two loaves of this bread at once.

[Goatjunky]

Well, the bottom pan came out fine... enough. They were not as light or raised i think as the first attempt. Im sure i did something wrong with the yeast that day. They were lightly browned on the bottom though. The top pan didnot brown, im sure thats due to the two pans. But they were dense and just seemed heavy... i am a total newb at this, totally struggling with just explaining where i think i went wrong. Lol. I did notice that the yeast on the second attempt didnt seem to react the same.

[Kerry Beal]

Doing a whole lot of baking over here in Making Memories in Manitoulin.

Tonight I made some Lemon Bread Pudding - with modernist lemon curd and Columba di Pasqua from the clearance bin in the grocery store.

[Katie Meadow]

Thanks to Anne_T and Kerry Beal among others, I was inspired to bake the summer torte that has been getting a lot of play in several threads lately. Wish I had known what to do with black and red currants a million years ago when I lived in New Mexico and had some nice bushes of both. I went back to the Marion Burros NYT recipe for Purple Plum Torte and used small Santa Rosa plums that are in season here now. My favorite plum. But I never knew how hard they are to pit. Great basic recipe for someone like me who rarely bakes desserts.

[curls]

Well, the bottom pan came out fine... enough. They were not as light or raised i think as the first attempt. Im sure i did something wrong with the yeast that day. They were lightly browned on the bottom though. The top pan didnot brown, im sure thats due to the two pans. But they were dense and just seemed heavy... i am a total newb at this, totally struggling with just explaining where i think i went wrong. Lol. I did notice that the yeast on the second attempt didnt seem to react the same.

It is possible that you should have allowed the dough to rise for a bit longer... most good recipes instruct you to wait until the dough doubles in size vs. giving you a time limit for rising. Ingredient temperature and room temperature can affect dough rising times. Also, fresh yeast can be more difficult to work with than dry yeasts.

Next time you attempt to cook to pans at once, swap the bottom pan with the top pan half way through the cooking cycle.

[Ann_T]

FrogPrincesse, your chocolate pound cake looks so rich and chocolately.

Curls, I like your bundt cake, and the plate it is on.

Kim , I bet those cookies were a big hit with your friends.

Matthew WOW is all I can think of.

Kerry, I sometimes make a lemon sauce to serve with Bread and Butter Pudding, but I've never had it with a lemon curd. Sounds and looks wonderful.

Cream Cheese Danish

[Tri2Cook]

Cream Cheese Danish

Yes, please.

[furzzy]

Ugh, such a crazy weekend. Summer is here.

Here are two of the three wedding cakes from this past weekend. Still waiting to get the last photo.

Gasp - beautiful. What are the crystal-like things on the first one?

[furzzy]

Welcome, CFG25! Thanks for the red velvet cheesecake recipe. Never thought of trying something like that.. I'm going to make the miini's in the little jelly jars like the ones I posted above...and bake them in a water bath.

And I've bookmarked that blog, too. We're not big on desserts in general, so whenever we have guests, I have to go trolling for ideas.

Again, Wlecome!

[kitwilliams]

Kerry, I would love to reach in and grab one (or two) shortbreads. I don't know why, I never think to make shortbread through out the year and not just at Christmas.

~Ann

I'm with you - I typically make shortbread only at Christmas. But Dad wanted it. A couple of weeks ago it was chocolate cake. Doesn't really eat a lot any more now that he's 94 - but still wolfs down desserts and cookies.

Aren't we lucky to have dads who love their sweets? A word of caution: Don't let those dads read this month's "National Geographic"...the article about sugar (cover story) has put my dad on edge and he now is suspicious of me and the sweets I love to feed him!

[Baselerd]

I recently put together this plated dessert - got a huge batch of strawberries and had to make use of them. I used a few recipes from ChefSteps, the almond cream custard was a standout - it was incredibly easy to make and had some of the best texture of any custard I can remember. The sorbet had a fairly high amount of alcohol (from the bitters) which ended up being slightly on the strong side (I would cut back to 2/3 the amount of bitters), but the texture was very soft and scoop-able even after several days in the freezer.

-Strawberry-angostura sorbet (recipe from Chefsteps)

-Almond cream custard (recipe from Chefsteps)

-Greek yogurt foam (250g greek yogurt, 150 g heavy cream, 25 g honey, 25 g sugar all combined and put in ISI whip)

-Candied almonds

-Strawberry fluid gel

-Strawberry paper (dehydrated strawberry coulis)

-Almond shortbread crumble

-Freeze-dried strawberry powder

-Fresh strawberries

Edited July 23, 2013 by Baselerd (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

I recently put together this plated dessert - got a huge batch of strawberries and had to make use of them. I used a few recipes from ChefSteps, the almond cream custard was a standout - it was incredibly easy to make and had some of the best texture of any custard I can remember. The sorbet had a fairly high amount of alcohol (from the bitters) which ended up being slightly on the strong side (I would cut back to 2/3 the amount of bitters), but the texture was very soft and scoop-able even after several days in the freezer.

-Strawberry-angostura sorbet (recipe from Chefsteps)

-Almond cream custard (recipe from Chefsteps)

-Greek yogurt foam (250g greek yogurt, 150 g heavy cream, 25 g honey, 25 g sugar all combined and put in ISI whip)

-Candied almonds

-Strawberry fluid gel

-Strawberry paper (dehydrated strawberry coulis)

-Almond shortbread crumble

-Freeze-dried strawberry powder

-Fresh strawberries

It looks beautiful and I love the idea of this strawberry-Angostura sorbet!

[Baselerd]

Thanks - yeah the strawberry-angostura combination is one I'll keep in the back of my head from now on ... the flavors work real well together.

[tug]

I made a gluten free chocolate cake and raspberry coulis (not pictured)

[Steve Irby]

My wife loves meringues and I had left over egg whites from a tarte aux peches a few days ago. My usual pattern is Pavola and Creme Brulee to use the yolks and whites. Tonight I tried meringues with fresh peaches and a raspberry coulis. The coulis is raspberry, clementine and lemon juice with some sugar. So Cumulus Nimbus Meringue with Raspberry Coulis:

And just having fun with the meringues in different forms:

[Ann_T]

Steve, I love Meringues. Beautifully plated.

Peach Shortcake.

[Dejah]

Never thought I'd like the mix of rhubarb and strawberries together in pie. Last week, I had way too many freshly picked strawberries, so I decided to be brave

Oh My goodness! I couldn't believe how aromatic the strawberries were when I cut into the pie. Their sweetness balanced the tang of the red rhubarb I used, along with some brown sugar and lemon zest.

Today, I made a 13" pie using a roasting platter my potter friend made for me. It will be just the right size for a family birthday party!
In fact, I made 3 strawberry rhubarb pies today, and one cherry pie. Kitchen smells wonderful.

[pquinene]

I made rocky road ice cream yesterday. It was a favorite while growing up on Guam. It also happens to be my husband's fav. I used Dove dark chocolate squares for the ice cream base then added chopped pieces of the same chocolate, chopped marshmallows, and chopped, roasted, unsalted almonds. The chocolate flavor really shines through in the ice cream base.

Rocky Road Ice Cream

Edited July 28, 2013 by pquinene (log)

[pquinene]

I also made crepes earlier this week. These bad boys are super delish and I finally get to use the crepe batter spreader I bought at a fair in Germany during the late 1990s. I ordered my Tibos crepe machine on Amazon. This is a welcome addition to our home!

Crepes with chocolate, bananas, strawberries, and whipped cream

[Baselerd]

Ann_T that peach shortcake looks delicious.

I recently made some Indian coconut rice pudding, tried to fancy it up a little by serving it with some golden raisin puree, candied pistachio crumble, and cardamom ice cream.