"Baking: From My Home to Yours" (Part 3)

[MelissaH]

Made the vanila rum-drenched cake this weekend, and the results were quite delightful. I do have a question about applying the rum syrup. After letting the cakes cool and unmolding them I skewered each loaf and brushed on the syrup over a period of time so the cake could theroretically soak the syrup up slowly, but it seems like only the top half of the cakes really got a "soak"? What am I doing wrong? Should I be flipping the cakes over to apply the syrup to the bottom?

I always do. I make sure I skewer all six sides of the loaves as well.

MelissaH

[djyee100]

I baked the Maple Cornmeal Drop Biscuits yesterday morning, before a friend came by for coffee. Now that's a handy recipe. I managed to throw together and bake the biscuits in about 30 mins, while still half asleep. They were very good, and I ate two of them. My friend took the rest of the batch home for her grandchildren, so those biscuits are out of my house, TG.

[Sartain]

Made the vanila rum-drenched cake this weekend, and the results were quite delightful. I do have a question about applying the rum syrup. After letting the cakes cool and unmolding them I skewered each loaf and brushed on the syrup over a period of time so the cake could theroretically soak the syrup up slowly, but it seems like only the top half of the cakes really got a "soak"? What am I doing wrong? Should I be flipping the cakes over to apply the syrup to the bottom?

I always do. I make sure I skewer all six sides of the loaves as well.

MelissaH

Thanks, Melissa. will do that next time.

[Aloha Steve]

I baked the Maple Cornmeal Drop Biscuits yesterday morning, before a friend came by for coffee. Now that's a handy recipe. I managed to throw together and bake the biscuits in about 30 mins, while still half asleep. They were very good, and I ate two of them. My friend took the rest of the batch home for her grandchildren, so those biscuits are out of my house, TG.

This is definitely on my to do list......soon

[sarahcooks]

I really want that heritage bundt pan, but I see that it's 10 cup and most of the recipes in Baking call for a 12 cup pan. Will I be able to use the 12 cup recipes with this pan? I'm a really novice baker, so I don't want to convert the recipes.

[emmalish]

I really want that heritage bundt pan, but I see that it's 10 cup and most of the recipes in Baking call for a 12 cup pan. Will I be able to use the 12 cup recipes with this pan? I'm a really novice baker, so I don't want to convert the recipes.

If you end up with too much batter (you want to have a couple inches of leeway for the cake to rise), just put the excess into a muffin tin and bake up a few cupcakes too. So far the only recipe that was too much for one of my bundt pans was the banana bundt (which I highly recommend).

[sarahcooks]

Two inches from top of pan, got it. I guess I'll give it a try! Thanks!

[emmalish]

Well... maybe not exactly 2 inches. Maybe an inch? inch and a half?

What does everyone else find?

[Jmahl]

Yesterday we tried our hand at making poppyseed humentachen.

I know its not the season but they sure are good.

[LindaK]

I'm here to report both a success and a failure.

During last night's baking binge, I made my first batch of Sugar Topped Molasses Spice Cookies. I say "first" because I will definitely be making them again. A perfect balance between the molasses and the sugars/spices, which is not always the case with recipes for this cookie. I did make one modification, though, because of my audience: the addition of pepper seemed too sophisticated for the college-age crowd I was cooking for, so I omitted it. But I liked Dorie's idea of an extra kick so I added about 1/3 cup of finely minced candied ginger. Oh my. When I make them for my adult friends, though, to serve with ice cream as the book suggests, I'll add the pepper too.

The failure was a surprise--the Chewy, Chunky Blondies. A surprise because I've made them a few times and they were always perfect. So the fault is definitely mine and not the recipe. My first inkling that something was wrong was when I did the usual skewer test. The top was the right color, the sides were starting to pull away from the pan, but the skewer showed it wasn't done. A few tries later it seemed okay, though a bit overcooked on the sides. When I finally turned it out of the pan, I was shocked that, apart from the edges, the bottom was barely cooked and loose. I salvaged the edges for my own nibbles, but the rest went in the disposal. So here's what I think happened: the recipe calls for the 9x13 pan to be set on a baking sheet. Honestly, I'm not certain if I followed that direction before (yes, I should take notes..) but I'm guessing that if I did, I used one of my thin baking sheets that aren't good for much else. This time, I set it on one of my heavy commercial baking sheets, so the bottom of the 9x13 pan probably didn't get sufficient heat. If anyone has any guidance on this point, please share. I'm going to make them again soon to test my theory--they're too good not to have as part of my repetoire.

[ManhattanLawyer]

I baked the date-walnut loaf yesterday - although I don't like walnuts so it was just a date loaf - so that can be crossed off the list of items that haven't yet been made.

I thought it was really good. Great, tender cake texture. Even my husband, who doesn't normally like dates, said it was delicious. I will post a photo in the next few days.

[nakji]

I made the pumpkin muffins over the weekend to help get me through a particularly difficult week at work - I also had a can of pumpkin puree in the cupboard I'd bought meaning to make a pie but never got around to. Anyway, I made them with a few tweaks, of course; I didn't have any nuts on hand, so I used all sunflower seeds, and I couldn't find sultanas, so I used raisins from Xinjiang, which are a kind of long and green. They're not very plump, but the have excellent flavour. The muffins won raves from my Chinese co-workers, who enjoyed the use of both cinnamon and ginger in a sweet cake, and loved them. Just to show that good food knows no borders.

[emmalish]

I've made the pumpkin muffins several times with different variations. One I've tried is with dried cranberries, pecans & chunks of chocolate in them – really good! I usually sprinkle pumpkin & sunflower seeds on top as well.

[djyee100]

...I made my first batch of Sugar Topped Molasses Spice Cookies. I say "first" because I will definitely be making them again.

I baked the Molasses Spice Cookies for a potluck dinner with friends, and the hostess removed the bowl from her husband's reach because he wouldn't stop eating those cookies. Later he asked me for the recipe, and I sent it to him.

[mig]

i never thought any cookies would trump the ones i grew up with, but the molasses spice cookies drive me absolutely crazy. they are perfect.

[ManhattanLawyer]

Here's the photo of the date-nut loaf cake, that is just a date cake in this case since I don't like nuts! This is my first time posting a photo here (which is shameful, and I will try to be better) so forgive me if it doesn't work properly.

[millich]

I made Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia yesterday so that one can be crossed off the list. Because I read on "Tuesdays with Dorie" that they weren't getting done enough in an 8x8 pan, I baked them in my 10x8 pan and cooked them 10 minutes longer than recommended. If you like your brownies "very dark and very fudgy", these are to die for! Dorie warns that these are very fragile and she's right.

[deensiebat]

After some spectacular baking failures over the weekend, I managed to come up with delicious gluten-free World Peace Cookies (aka Korova Cookies). I used Dorie's amazing recipe as a template, but subbed in a bunch of different gluten-free flours (some of them appropriately sandy), then added egg yolks to bind and hard-boiled egg yolks for fat-without-structural-issues. So nice to be able to share their chocolatey-salty goodness with my gluten-intolerant friend.

[emmalish]

deensiebat (great name), would you mind posting your subs? I have a gluten intolerant friend too and I'd love to be able to make these for her. Thanks!

[deensiebat]

deensiebat (great name), would you mind posting your subs? I have a gluten intolerant friend too and I'd love to be able to make these for her. Thanks!

If you click on the cookie name in my post, it'll take you to the recipe rundown on my blog (in all its rice/sorghum/xantham gum glory). Hopefully your GF friend will enjoy! They're pretty dreamy.

[ManhattanLawyer]

Here is the cardamom crumb coffee cake. I thought the combination of orange zest, cardamom, and coffee was so different and delicious. I also loved how much it rose, which is evident in the photo!

[ManhattanLawyer]

Here are the cream scones. Delicious!!

[ManhattanLawyer]

Here are the allspice crumb muffins. Based on your previous experiences, I increased the amount of allspice. I used 2 tsp in the batter, and 1 tsp in the crumble. What can I say, we love spice!

[ManhattanLawyer]

Last one for now, I promise. This is the creamy orange tart (made with cara cara oranges). This was good, although I thought it was a little too buttery (and I love butter!). My husband, who hates butter, loved it. Go figure! I would make this again but add less butter in the blender, which I plan to do when I make the lemon curd tart in the future!

[ManhattanLawyer]

One more photo of the orange tart to showcase the flaky crust.