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

[Franci]

Franci

Both cookies look delicious but I am particularly interested in the galettes bretonnes. I have googled them but the recipes are all over the place. Can you share the recipe you used? Thanks.

 

 

Hi Anna, I used this recipe. It's pretty good. I should have used the fork to make a pattern on the biscuit, using a knife is not a good idea.

And on another blog I already found the English traslation, it's the same recipe doubled Here

Edited May 13, 2014 by Franci (log)

[Anna N]

Hi Anna, I used this recipe. It's pretty good. I should have used the fork to make a pattern on the biscuit, using a knife is not a good idea.

And on another blog I already found the English traslation, it's the same recipe doubled Here

Thank you. I made them a short while ago. Interestingly they revealed some sort of issue with my oven! In my regular oen they simply would not colour. In my Breville Smart oven they coloured just fine!

Cookies on the right were baked FOREVER in my regular oven, cookies on the left in the Breville for the suggested 12 minutes.

[Franci]

Hopefully you oven can be fixed easily! The cookies baked in the breville have a nice color. Do the taste the same or the longer bake in your regular oven affected the taste as well.

I'm curious to see how your malted loaf is going to come out in the breville.

[Anna N]

Hopefully you oven can be fixed easily! The cookies baked in the breville have a nice color. Do the taste the same or the longer bake in your regular oven affected the taste as well.

I'm curious to see how your malted loaf is going to come out in the breville.

I truly doubt there is much wrong with my oven. I bake bread weekly and except for the last few baking sessions everything has worked out fine. Your cookies I cannot explain.

The loaf on the left in both photos is from the Breville oven and the one on the right from the big oven. The Breville is very slightly darker but otherwise there is no difference. Neither is even 2" high. Driving me to drink! I now have a yeasted version rising in the kitchen.

[Blether]

What strength of flour did you use, Anna N ?

[Anna N]

What strength of flour did you use, Anna N ?

It's Canadian All-Purpose so around 12%.

[Blether]

Ha ha, the flour I use for bread is weaker than that. I think 12% is heavy for a soda raise.

[Anna N]

Ha ha, the flour I use for bread is weaker than that. I think 12% is heavy for a soda raise.

You could be right, however, it is what we Canucks use.

Edited to add

Just checked my math. It's actually 13.33%! From the nutrition label. 4 g of protein per 30 g of flour.

Edited May 15, 2014 by Anna N (log)

[emmalish]

You could be right, however, it is what we Canucks use.

Edited to add

Just checked my math. It's actually 13.33%! From the nutrition label. 4 g of protein per 30 g of flour.

 

Canuck here too. I've never had our flour cause such a drastic problem in a recipe though.

 

For anyone curious about the differences between Canadian-US-UK flours, here's a handy chart that I keep having to google to find (finally remembered to bookmark it this time).

[Anna N]

Well the yeasted version of my malt loaf went directly into the bin without even a photograph. Not only did it barely rise after three hours in my very warm house, it was dry and flavorless.

So this morning I dug out How to Bake by Nick Malgieri hoping for some lessons and some inspiration. Really there is very little teaching in this book. Furthermore it uses volume not weight measurements. Nevertheless I decided to give his simple poundcake a chance. I chose to do the lemon variation.

Now that's more like it. This is almost 4 inches high at its highest point. But of course it is an entirely different beast. It calls for four eggs and if you can't get some loft from four eggs you ought to give up.

Edited because I dictated this and didn't check carefully enough

Edited May 15, 2014 by Anna N (log)

[andiesenji]

In some of my sweet breads  that include fruits, nuts, heavy fruit pastes, etc.,  I add dry whole milk powder and vital wheat gluten to increase the protein and promote a better rise. 

This is especially effective - with a noticeable difference - with "pull-apart" breads that are made with a lot of cinnamon - which inhibits yeast activity. 

 

I know some people dispute this but with 50 years of baking experience, I have seen this many times and it is why layers of dough separate when cinnamon is between them. 

 

I used to buy the whole milk "bakers" stuff from King Arthur flour, but more recently have purchased Nido at the Mexican market and now it is available at Walmart.   The "non-fat" dry milk powders that are usually found in supermarkets, simply do not produce the same results.

[andiesenji]

That looks perfect, Anna.

 

Would it be too much to ask for you to send me your malt loaf recipe so I can play with it?

Edited May 15, 2014 by andiesenji (log)

[Anna N]

That looks perfect, Anna.

 

Would it be too much to ask for you to send me your malt loaf recipe so I can play with it?

Here you go

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1411653/sticky-malt-loaves

Quite delicious but...

[Kim Shook]

Taking a little break from rolling out cooky dough.  The ones I’m making now are the German shortbread – rolled, cut and stamped.  The dough is lovely, so the rolling and cutting is easy, but I don’t have the hang of stamping just yet.  I mess up every 3^rd or 4^th cooky.  Grrrr  .

 

rotuts – there are other ladies making cookies, too.  Thank goodness!

 

Andie – your sweet rolls are hardly mundane. I’d give a lot to have a couple of them for breakfast right now!

 

Franci – I loved the look of the Galettes bretonnes, too!  Thank you for posting the recipe link.

 

Mother’s Day dessert was PB Cookies and AF cake with coconut whipped cream, grapefruit syrup and candied grapefruit:

 

 

I used Michael Ruhlman’s recipe for the AF cake and for the candied peel.  I was really pleased with how it turned out:

[merstar]

I made these for the upteenth time (I use half the amount of salt). They remain my absolute favorite brownies.

The Baked Brownie:

http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2010/10/08/the-baked-brownie/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000280791
 

 

 

Edited May 17, 2014 by merstar (log)

[andiesenji]

Key lime pie.  I was given a basket full of the little Mexican limes (full of seeds) so I made the pie.  Topped with a lot of whipped cream.

 

Instead of using a pie plate, I used my tart plate, which is larger in diameter so the layer of the key lime curd is thinner than usual - it's okay, I like whipped cream too...

 

 

[Ryuuk]

@kim Shook I like this one perfect 

[ninagluck]

pumpkinseed crisps

[Anna N]

I pulled out Dorie Greenspan's "Baking from My Home to Yours" hoping it might help solve some of my baking issues. The recipe for Coffee-Break Muffins caught my eye as I am a sucker for anything coffee flavoured. They came together easily and in no time. And they did not disappoint. If you love coffee-flavoured baked goods you must try these.

The recipe is available on-line if you search.

[Tri2Cook]

I don't have that book but, as you mentioned, it was easy enough to find the recipe via google. Most of the "adapted from" recipes contain chocolate chips (which I'd leave out, I'm not a fan of chocolate chips in muffins and breads), is that what makes them "adapted from" or are they actually part of the recipe? I don't see chocolate chips in your pictures but I wasn't sure if that's because they're not actually part of the recipe or because you didn't want them in yours either... or because I just can't see them.

[Anna N]

I don't have that book but, as you mentioned, it was easy enough to find the recipe via google. Most of the "adapted from" recipes contain chocolate chips (which I'd leave out, I'm not a fan of chocolate chips in muffins and breads), is that what makes them "adapted from" or are they actually part of the recipe? I don't see chocolate chips in your pictures but I wasn't sure if that's because they're not actually part of the recipe or because you didn't want them in yours either... or because I just can't see them.

No chips! Let me find you an on-line recipe that matches the book.

Edited to add link

Here you go

http://bakerstreet.tv/2012/03/muffin-monday-coffee-break-muffins/

Edited May 19, 2014 by Anna N (log)

[Tri2Cook]

Thanks! Gonna give 'em a try.

[merstar]

I pulled out Dorie Greenspan's "Baking from My Home to Yours" hoping it might help solve some of my baking issues. The recipe for Coffee-Break Muffins caught my eye as I am a sucker for anything coffee flavoured. They came together easily and in no time. And they did not disappoint. If you love coffee-flavoured baked goods you must try these.

image.jpg

image.jpg

The recipe is available on-line.

That's interesting they came out so well for you. I tried them years ago, and they were terrible - mushy and tasteless.

Edited May 19, 2014 by merstar (log)

[Kim Shook]

Andie – I love key lime pie and haven’t made one in ages.  I need to rectify that – the perfect summer dessert!

 

Ryuuk – thank you so much!

 

Nina – my daughter (a pumpkin seed fiend) flipped out when she saw your crisps.  Any chance that you would share the recipe?

[andiesenji]

Andie – I love key lime pie and haven’t made one in ages.  I need to rectify that – the perfect summer dessert!

 

Ryuuk – thank you so much!

 

Nina – my daughter (a pumpkin seed fiend) flipped out when she saw your crisps.  Any chance that you would share the recipe?

I don't like the key lime pies that use sweetened condensed milk.

This one makes a lime curd and I use a bit less sugar than the recipes specifies - a little more than 3/4 cup of superfine sugar.

 

And I beat heavy cream using a stabilizer "Whip-It" and spread the whipped cream on after the pie has chilled for a couple of hours.