"Baking: From My Home to Yours" (Part 2)

[annanstee]

Thank you! I changed my plan to 350, after a comparison to some other recipes.

I ended up baking them at 325, since the pans were dark and heavy gauge and manufacturers recommended testing at 25 degrees lower than the advertised temperature. That worked fine, though there was no coloration on the cookie base.

The cookies themselves were a huge hit. I am often not a fan of candy cookies, but I loved these.

Next up, lemon cream tart- though my husband may insist on the chocolate tart with caramel and peanuts first. I am glad I read the tip concerning using a metal bowl for the lemon cream. Can't wait.

[RuthWells]

I am making the whopper cookies (my son's pick) and realize that there is no temp in the recipe!

I am going to try them at 375.

Dorie, if you are around, what is the correct temp?

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When I did the whoppers at 375 the Whoppers melted -- go with 350!

[annanstee]

I am making the whopper cookies (my son's pick) and realize that there is no temp in the recipe!

I am going to try them at 375.

Dorie, if you are around, what is the correct temp?

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When I did the whoppers at 375 the Whoppers melted -- go with 350!

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I did the second batch at 350 with excellent results.

[prasantrin]

I am dying to make the chocolated malted whopper drops. I know the recipe calls for "malted milk powder" or "Ovaltine", but I have Horlick's. Horlick's is malted milk powder, as far as I know, but Ovaltine has cocoa powder in it, too. Should I add a bit more cocoa to the recipe (which calls for 1/4 cup) when I make it? I want them to look dark-ish, and people have commented that they don't always turn out as dark as they do in the book (and I suspect that's because they're using regular malted milk powder, and not Ovaltine).

[FoodMan]

..and here is what I did with the other half of the brioche dough from last week. Raisin Brioche Snails! I baked them for breakfast today and they are indeed addictivly fabulous. I used golden raisins instead of brown ones because -and this is a rarity- I had the golden raisins on hand but was out of the others. Normally I never have golden raisins...enough blabbing about stupid raisins. These 'buns' with the soft custardy filling and the sweet run-raisins are a fantastic treat and if you have some brioche dough on hand or in the freezer, you have to give them a try. I chose not to use the optional glaze because these were sweet, moist and rich enough on their own. My 4 year old still opted to slather strawberry jam all over his though .

[prasantrin]

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I was hoping you'd make these! They're one of my favourite bakery items, and the bakery I frequent uses rum raisins (or maybe puts rum in the custard cream, or both!).

And a little strawberry jam never hurt anything!

[prasantrin]

I'm just baking off the last of my chocolate malted whopper cookie dough. These things rock! Horlick's was definitely the way to go! Mine are rather flat, so they have a really nice chew to them. My cookies are also dark, unlike some lighter-coloured versions I've seen on the web, and I think it's either because of the cocoa I used (Penzey's natural), or because some of my chopped chocolate was more like shaved chocolate (so it melted into the cookie).

I love these, but next time, I'm either going to use nuts instead of chopped chocolate, or do half/half nuts/chocolate. I'd like a bit more crunch to them, and I think nuts make everything better!

[Chufi]

I'm adding this picture just to show how versatile and adaptable Dorie's recipies are. For my birthday party, I baked a variety of goodies, among them 2 from Dorie's book: the tribute to Katherine Hepburn brownies and the raspberry/white chocolate blondies. There were a couple of platters of cookies to feed about 24 guests.

I made the brownies in muffin tins and to one batch I added salted peanuts, to the other, hazelnuts and chopped white chocolate. I made the blondies without the meringue topping because I needed to freeze them - I´ve made them before with the meringue, but I think I actually prefer them without. I sprinkled them with some coarsely ground almonds.

Everything froze really well, I just took them all from the freezer on the morning of my birthday, stress-free entertaining!! (also on the plate are coconut macaroons and my mom´s Dutch ginger pastries)

Edited April 28, 2008 by Chufi (log)

[laniloa]

I'm just baking off the last of my chocolate malted whopper cookie dough.  These things rock!  Horlick's was definitely the way to go!  Mine are rather flat, so they have a really nice chew to them.  t time, I'm either going to use nuts instead of chopped chocolate, or do half/half nuts/chocolate.  I'd like a bit more crunch to them, and I think nuts make everything better!

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I made these last night and they were also pretty flat. When they came out of the oven they were really sticky. I had to put them in the freezer to get them off the parchment. I switched to a silpat and the rest released fine. I was a little worried someone would lose a filling but overnight they softened and had a great chewiness. I agree that something crunchy would work in these cookies because malt balls are crunchy but I think I might try rice crispies to better mimic the expected texture. I'm also going to increase the amount of malt powder or try another brand - I used Carnation and the malt was too subtle.

I wasn't sure how these would go over at work but they disappeared before staff meeting was over.

[Simonne]

I made the Perfection Pound Cake

I like this butter cake very much as it not very oily, the texture is crumb and nice

Edited May 5, 2008 by Simonne (log)

[Pat W]

I made the Perfection Pound Cake

I like this butter cake very much as it not very oily, the texture is crumb and nice

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Oh that looks so good! If you lived a little closer, I'd be on your doorstep hoping for a piece.

pat

[Simonne]

Thanks Pat,

I think all her recipes are good. I have yet try the muffin yet (soon)

[Dianabanana]

Dorie, if you're out there, I'm having an issue with the sour cream in the Nutty Chocolatey Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake. The first time I made it, I used Nancy's organic sour cream, which is a very thick sour cream with nothing but cream in it. The cake was fantastically delicious but too dense and dry. The second time I made it I used Tillamook sour cream, which is much thinner and has the usual array of other ingredients added to it (guar gum, etc.). This time the texture was perfect, but the taste was not as delicious, plus it collapsed a little in the center as it cooled (same cooking time as the other one, all other ingredients the same).

I would like to get the taste of the first cake with the texture of the second one. Do you think it would work to thin the Nancy's with milk? What kind of sour cream do you use? Do you think the stabilizers and whatnot in the mainstream sour cream benefit the texture of the cake?

Thanks in advance for your help. I absolutely adore this book.

[iii_bake]

Scones Question ...SOS

I made cream scones, they are perfect except that they have a bit stick to the teeth taste.

I tried to avoid dry scones, those that make you thirsty. So once they are brown and the top firmed but not crack-y.i took them out.

Any scone expert who can tell me if 'a bit' stick to the teeth thing normal?

If not, how to fix it? should i bake a bit longer?

They taste n look gorgeous though.

Thank you

Edited May 27, 2008 by iii_bake (log)

[alanamoana]

Scones Question ...SOS

I made cream scones, they are perfect except that they have a bit stick to the teeth taste.

I tried to avoid dry scones, those that make you thirsty. So once they are brown and the top firmed but not crack-y.i took them out.

Any scone expert who can tell me if 'a bit' stick to the teeth thing normal?

If not, how to fix it? should i bake a bit longer?

They taste n look gorgeous though.

Thank you

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a scone should be tender and crumbly, but neither wet nor dry inside.

sounds to me like your oven temp might have been too high: outside browned before the inside could finish cooking. try lowering the temp. i usually bake my scones without letting them get too much color because if i take them out too brown, they dry out as they cool down.

[emmalish]

I made the banana bundt cake again this weekend. Last time I made it, it overflowed in my oven and started a bit of a fire (it was my first oven fire!). This time I was a bit smarter and made a half dozen cupcakes with the extra batter. That was the perfect balance. It's such a banana-ey cake, and light and fluffy. I added pecans & chocolate callets to the recipe. Worked great.

I've got some more bananas I need to use up, so I think I'll make another, but I'm thinking of adding coconut as well. I think it would be a great combo.

[emmalish]

I've got another of the banana bundt cakes in the oven right now. I went a little crazy with the recipe this time, adding not only pecans and chocolate chips, but also coconut and frozen cranberries. The extra ingredients boosted the volume enough to make the cake and an additional dozen cupcakes. I just had one of the cupcakes, and the combination works beautifully.

And as I was putting the ingredients together, I realized I couldn't remember measuring out the 2nd cup of sugar when I made this recipe last weekend. I'm pretty sure I only used 1c. And it was still a great cake. I took it to work with me and everyone loved it. Which makes me wonder, yet again, why people have such trouble baking, when I can screw up like that and still have a great result.

[RuthWells]

A trip to our local pick-your-own farm and a bumper crop of fresh blueberries inspired me to pull out Dorie's Blueberry Sour Cream ice cream recipe. It is phenomenal -- I used the alternate lime for juice and zest (instead of lemon) and subbed half and half for the heavy cream, as my cream had gone wonky in the fridge.

The result is a tangy, zippy, deeply purple ice cream that actually stayed smooth in the freezer over several days. I have a deep dislike for the little fat clumps that result in ice creams made with egg yolks and heavy cream, so I am very inspired by the formulation of this recipe and am scheming variations. Banana sour cream, maybe?

[sugar plum]

In effort to tag along with this:

http://tuesdayswithdorie.wordpress.com/

I made Dorie's Apple Cheddar scones. My scone-baking technique needs some work but they were delicious nonetheless. More of a savoury than sweet breakfast treat.

I used a 2 inch square biscuit cutter and that was too small. I should have made them at least 2.5 inches. My attempt at this recipe made 16 scones instead of the dozen it should have.

[LizD518]

Just wanted to mention that I picked this up at my local Borders for $7.99 this weekend. I had given it to a friend for Christmas when it forst came out, but didn't biy myself a copy. I don't know if this was a local discount or national ( I am in Wilmington, DE), but it might be worth stopping in to your local Borders to see if you can score a copy - great for gifts!

[sugar plum]

A little out of season but nonetheless, I baked up a batch of the applesauce spice bars tonight. I can understand why eGulleters have raved about the glaze. It smells divine...buttery, sugary and caramely (sp?). My home is filled with the scent of autumn, in July!

My glaze ended up being fairly thin so I popped the whole thing in the fridge to firm up before slicing. I didn't have Patrick's smooth edges but I tried my best by cleaning off the blade of my knife after every slice.

Prior to glazing:

Ready to eat:

[Spring]

Well, thanks to this thread and all the lovely photos I couldnt withstand temptation any longer and have just ordered the book!!!

[Pat W]

Well, thanks to this thread and all the lovely photos I couldnt withstand temptation any longer and have just ordered the book!!!

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You won't regret it! Don't forget to come back and tell us what you baked.

Regrettably I haven't done much (ok, ok, any ) baking this summer. Moving our bookstore pretty much took over our lives here, but the recent posts have inspired me to sit down and thumb through the book again. It's a wonderful book and I'm starting to feel the tiniest stirrings of desire to bake again.

pat

[annarborfoodie]

I'm going to see Dorie

Paging through my local newspaper, I noticed an article about the Old Lyme (CT) Midsummer Festival, where Dorie will be signing books and doing demos this Saturday.

In case anyone else in the Northeast is interested in attending, here is the information:

http://www.oldlymeartalliance.org/midsummer/events.php

[emmalish]

I'm going to see Dorie

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Jealous!! Say hi for us all!