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

[memesuze]

I made the marbled cheesecake a couple of days ago. This was unbelievably good! I'd never made a baked cheesecake before because I was afraid of them    But this recipe was so easy to follow and the result just perfect!

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I made this the other night for a Sopranos Swansong dinner, in honor of Tony's two families - as Chufi says, unbelieveably good - and my first CC, as well.

[Jean Blanchard]

Made the carrot cake for my husband's birthday. Moist and doesn't have pineapple in it (not his favorite flavor). I think it just replaced the one I usually make him. I've GOT to figure out how to post pictures! I've now made all of the layer cakes and I couldn't tell you which one is best. They're all great.

[loladrian]

wow. I have just discovered this thread and I am new to the pastry forum in general, but this is fabulous. I have been using this indispensable book since it came out, and I am even more inspired by all of you! Just a note, and hopefully I am not redundant as I didn't not sift through all 30 (!!) pages of the thread, but her good-for-almost-anything pie crust is one of the best I have ever tasted, and her instructions make it pretty fool-proof. The shortcakes, to die for, and of course, the world peace cookies are constantly being requested. I did just try the custardy and crunch peach tart, but used cherries instead of peaches and pistachios instead of almonds, and it was pretty decadent! Her basic biscuits are in the oven right now... thanks all for the inspiration.

[Chufi]

made the apple spice bars yesterday. We had them today with (storebought) walnut icecream which was a fabulous combination!! To keep the walnut theme I used walnuts instead of pecans..

next time I might make a bit more of the glaze.. maybe even double the amount, because it was good enough to eat with a spoon!

Edited June 17, 2007 by Chufi (log)

[jumanggy]

That looks awesome, Klary! It's pretty obvious but I'll say it anyway: I love when people show their baking here! (sorry, it's been awhile... about 24 hours.) I think that's one of the best photos you've taken.

[Abra]

Finally I got this book. I haven't been eating sweets for a while, and so have just read the book cover to cover and fallen in love with it without ever having baked from it. So yesterday I took the plunge with the Espresso Chocolate Brownies. And I made them wrong. Amazing to contemplate, but my only excuse is that I've been away from baking for a few weeks. Here they are

So this is what happens when instead of 1 T flour you add 1/4 cup. I knew it within about 30 seconds of making the error, but by then it was too late and I thought I'd bake them up anyway to see what happened. Naturally, the cheesecake part was more cake than cheese, but they did have a nice soft bar cookie texture as a result. I wouldn't repeat this goof, and I could tell that the original would have been much better, but still, they were actually quite good. We both did think it needed more chocolate. I used Valrhona Amer, but would have like a more pronounced chocolate to contrast with the espresso cheese flavors.

Dorie, forgive me. I promise to follow instructions next time!

[emmalish]

I made the Caramel Crunch Bars today. So simple and so delicious. Only the knowledge that there's an entire cup of butter in the recipe is stopping me from eating any more tonight (I've already had four pieces – eep!).

[ALTAF]

i made the brownie buttons yesterday with out the glaze......so delicious. This is the second recipe i tried from the book and i can't wait to make more

[Habeas Brulee]

Dorie's Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops.

I made these last week, and everyone who tasted them exclaimed "Wow, these really do taste like Whoppers!"

Edited June 19, 2007 by Habeas Brulee (log)

[Bella S.F.]

Made the Strawberry, Rhubarb, Ginger Crisp tonight. WOW!!! Served it with some Haagen-Dazs Light Vanilla Ice Cream. You'd never know that it was light ice cream. Even gave us the excuse that we could have extra crisp because we were saving so many calories on the ice cream.

[Nina C.]

My sweetie's birthday was sponsored by Baking: From My Home to Yours, with a dash of rebelliousness. Since he's a sports fan, I made the Nutty, Chocolatey Sour Cream Bundt Cake in Williams Sonoma's stadium pan. But I made the swirl with cranberries, hazelnuts, bittersweet chocolate chips and a tablespoon of brown sugar, in addition to the prescribed white sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. (The original also calls for mini chocolate chips, raisins, and walnuts). The cake itself is a lovely light orange cake that worked perfectly with my flavors. My only regret was the pan. While my sweetie loved the shape, I wish the cake had been a little thicker so that the outside could be crunchy while the inside stayed moist, and so that there could be more swirl action.

Then I felt the need to bake some more, so I also made the chocolate-chocolate cupcakes. I really shouldn't have, because I didn't have the time or the buttermilk. So I substituted plain yogurt for the buttermilk, and you'll see that I didn't whisk in the powdered sugar perfectly into the glaze. Other people seemed to like them very much but I vastly preferred the cake.

Dorie, both of us thank you for such great recipes!

[Abra]

Here's my take on the French Yogurt Cake. I happened to have just the right amount of beautiful organic sour cream left over, so I subbed that for the yogurt. I used orange rind instead of lemon, and my husband loved it so much plain that I left it unglazed. he had it for breakfast this morning, one piece with marmalade, and one with Belgian chocolate spread. He pronounced it heavenly.

[Patrick S]

This weekend I finally made the brioche sticky buns, leaving out the pecans to appease the little one. They are awesome. And despite their buttery, sugary richness, none of us could eat just one.

Larger images on Flickr:

#1

#2

[Kim D]

At my husband's suggestion, I made the Cranberry Upside-Downer with sour cherries instead of cranberries. The only other change was to replace some of the vanilla with almond extract. Awesome.

- Kim

[Patrick S]

Having used half of my brioche batch to make the sticky buns, I made a loaf with the other half. I had a slice this morning, toasted, with some strawberry ham.

Larger image on Flickr:

#1

Edited June 24, 2007 by Patrick S (log)

[alanamoana]

Having used half of my brioche batch to make the sticky buns, I made a loaf with the other half. I had a slice this morning, toasted, with some strawberry ham.

couldn't resist patrick!

oh, and the sticky buns you posted just look incredible.

[Patrick S]

Having used half of my brioche batch to make the sticky buns, I made a loaf with the other half. I had a slice this morning, toasted, with some strawberry ham.

couldn't resist patrick!

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I'll let you in on a little secret -- strawberry ham is the next big fad in molecular gastronomy. It will be appearing on the menu at Alinea next month

[Lindacakes]

I did a very smart thing yesterday: I made the World Peace cookies, doubled the recipe and left three nice little logs in the freezer for when the mood strikes.

That is one highly addictive cookie.

I have one problem: mine baked quite flat (not that this was a problem, the sugar carmelized and made for a crunchy little cookie texture that I liked very much).

I used butter, I know butter is flatter than other fats.

Is that normal for a Korova/World Peace? Did I overbeat the batter? I have a 6 quart KitchenAid that I'm getting used to -- it's a bit big and I end up overbeating because half of the batter is stuck to the paddle . . .

Also: Is there a secret to chopping large slabs of chocolate? I used Valrhona, as suggested, and lots of the chocolate came as chocolate shards instead of chunks. I used a knife and just cut hunks off, and then cut the hunks smaller . . .

[Dorie Greenspan]

Patrick -- how great to see you and your pictures again!

Abra -- I want to be wherever your picture was taken.

Nina -- my husband and I got such a giggle out of your stadium cake. It just might have to add that pan to my collection for some of our sports-nutty friends.

And Habeas Brulee -- I'm glad you made the Whopper cookies and knew that the oven temperature should be 350.

About your flat cookies, Lindacakes -- it's the one hazard with World Peace Cookies. What you're describing sounds to me like what happens when I don't pay attention and bake the cookies in a 350 degrees F oven. The cookies are very sensitive to heat and need to be in a 325 oven. That said, I once had these cookies at a French chef's house and his were flat and crunchy. I asked him why and he just shrugged. My guess is oven temperature.

[Abra]

Dorie, those pictures were taken at my home on Bainbridge island, but in September we're moving to France for a year, so ca se pourrait!

[Toliver]

About your flat cookies, Lindacakes -- it's the one hazard with World Peace Cookies.  What you're describing sounds to me like what happens when I don't pay attention and bake the cookies in a 350 degrees F oven.  The cookies are very sensitive to heat and need to be in a 325 oven.  That said, I once had these cookies at a French chef's house and his were flat and crunchy.  I asked him why and he just shrugged.  My guess is oven temperature.

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I had thin, flat cookies, too. I believe my thin cookies were more the result of misjudging the proper thickness to cut the slices. I was cutting them too thin. I think the thick slices help keep the cookies from being too thin after baking.

[Lindacakes]

Thank you, Dorie, you're absolutely right.

I do have the book, but I used a printout from the Splendid Table Web site to actually bake from. I just checked it and it for sure says 350 degrees. You might want to have them fix it.

[LittleIsland]

I was inspired by Patrick's photographs, and my brioche dough is now resting in the refrigerator. But I don't think it'll turn out the way it was intended. It didn't seem to really come together, it stayed kind of shaggy, curdled looking and way too wet, even after the specified beating time. I added few tablespoons of flour, one tablespoon at a time, hoping it would come together into a smooth silky dough... but no such luck.

Anyway after the rising and slapping down it is still sticky and in fact quite oily. Is it supposed to be this way? Should I go ahead and bake it up tomorrow or is it beyond redemption and should I not waste time and face certain disaster?

[Pontormo]

I am planning to mail a care package of baked goods this weekend, an excuse to try out a few of the recipes in this delightful book. The tin should arrive at its destination in 2-3 days during a relative lull in this week's spell of high temperatures and humidity.

If anyone has particularly strong recommendations, I'd love to hear them.

[Patrick S]

I was inspired by Patrick's photographs, and my brioche dough is now resting in the refrigerator.  But I don't think it'll turn out the way it was intended.  It didn't seem to really come together, it stayed kind of shaggy, curdled looking and way too wet, even after the specified beating time.  I added few tablespoons of flour, one tablespoon at a time, hoping it would come together into a smooth silky dough... but no such luck.

Anyway after the rising and slapping down it is still sticky and in fact quite oily.  Is it supposed to be this way?  Should I go ahead and bake it up tomorrow or is it beyond redemption and should I not waste time and face certain disaster?

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The dough shouldn't look shaggy, and I don't know what went wrong there, but its normal for brioche dough to be a little sticky and look and feel more wet than a dough with much less fat, so thats not necessarily a bad sign. Once you refrigerate the dough, it will get firmer and be easier to handle and shape. If I were you, I'd just proceed with your recipe. It may not turn out picture perfect, but unless something's gone really, really wrong, you're still likely to end up with something delicious.