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

[CaliPoutine]

I didn't see anything powdered at the store. I saw three products: two types of pearl tapioca, and then the Minute Tapioca, which was small granules but definitely not a powdered starch.

Dammit, right now I'm really regretting having used the stuff. I don't even like tapioca pudding and can't imagine what I'll do with the rest of the box.

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I use Minute Tapioca all the time when I make cherry pies with a crumb topping. I've never used it for pies with a pie crust topping. It always disolves and I wonder if thats because I leave it in the oven for over an hour. How long did your pie bake? I wonder if there was enough liquid as well?

[GTO]

I did some modification , as i dun have coffee/ espresso powder. So i use Kahlua 

This brownies is really yummy! 

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Not a substitution I think anyone is going to complain about!

[Malawry]

The pie was in the oven for about an hour total. I don't know about liquid levels, and I mentioned the pie cutouts partly because I wondered if I dried out my filling too much by having big cookie-cutter cutouts instead of small vents.

I checked on the pie again last night before bed, and some of the granules had softened a little more. I picked off the pieces of apple that were right on top of the cutouts and discarded them, and the bits underneath looked a lot better--you could still see bits of tapioca, but they were translucent and soft, not white and crunchy. The pie filling does look a bit dry--jellied-like. We'll still give it a shot later today when it's dessert time.

I also read the package of Minute Tapioca, and the pie recipe on the box (pick-a-fruit type recipe) says to let the pie filling sit for 15 minutes before putting it into the bottom shell, adding the top crust and baking. Dorie's recipe only says 5 minutes, and it's optional. I think it sat for about 3-4 minutes before I baked it. If I ever try this again, I'll definitely let the filling sit for longer.

[emmalish]

I made the black and white banana loaf and took it to a friend's place earlier this week. I didn't find out until afterwards, but she only tried it to be polite, because she generally doesn't like baking that has alcohol in it (odd, because she loves to drink alcohol) and she isn't crazy about banana bread to begin with. But she loved it so much she's offering to pay me to bake more for her!

[RuthWells]

The Cranberry Lime Galette -- one of my favorites -- was a big hit at Thanksgiving dinner. And, since I was baking during daytime for once, I got a few decent pictures!

[Dorie Greenspan]

Malawry - how did the pie turn out in the end? I'm still perplexed about the tapioca.

Emmalish - getting paid to bake banana loaves by someone who doesn't even like bananas? A great story.

Ruth - you should bake during the day more often - the galette looks so gorgeous!

[Malawry]

I reached through the leaf-shaped cutouts and picked off the bits of apple that had the most tapioca on them. In the rest of the filling, the tapioca had dissolved enough to still be visible, but it was translucent and not at all gritty. I thought the filling was too "jellied" in texture against my teeth when I bit down on it. But it wasn't bad, it was the granules that were really icky and I'd eliminated those. Everybody seemed to love the pie, I didn't mention anything about it and nobody mentioned anything about it to me. If I make it again I don't think I'll use the tapioca, though.

[RuthWells]

Ruth - you should bake during the day more often  - the galette looks so gorgeous!

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From your lips, Dorie!

[kiliki]

You can add the Alsatian Apple Tart to the master list of what's been made. I did like it, but it didn't get the raves (I made it for thanksgiving) that some of the other desserts in the book have gotten from family.

[merstar]

The Cranberry Lime Galette -- one of my favorites -- was a big hit at Thanksgiving dinner.  And, since I was baking during daytime for once, I got a few decent pictures!

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Hi Ruth, looks great!

[prasantrin]

Update: Korova cookies with chocolate-covered candied orange or lemon rinds instead of chocolate are awesome!

I might try candy canes next. I love peppermint and chocolate together. Or maybe chopped up homemade peanut brittle.

[scarlett]

The Cranberry Lime Galette -- one of my favorites -- was a big hit at Thanksgiving dinner.  And, since I was baking during daytime for once, I got a few decent pictures!

Beautiful! I've been meaning to try that galette ever since I bought the book. Must try it this week.

[scarlett]

I think you might like the savory rugelach recipe I did for the AARP website.

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Dorie...what a great idea! I have a jalapeno apricot jam that will be perfect for those savory rugelach. Thanks for the link!

[iii_bake]

So here it is...

Just want to share with you guys.

This is Dorie's autograph...the gift i got from Dorie when Baking was one year old!

This really made my day (then) and (makes) my every day ( now).

Lovely, isn't it?

Lovely, isn't she?

iii

[Pat W]

Lovely, isn't it?

Lovely, isn't she?

iii

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Yes, and Yes!

Do I feel serious pangs of envy, you lucky baker, you? YES!

pat w.

[emmalish]

Lovely, isn't it?

Lovely, isn't she?

iii

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Yes, and Yes!

Do I feel serious pangs of envy, you lucky baker, you? YES!

pat w.

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Ditto. Congratulations iii_bake! And thank you Dorie, for being so wonderful!

[Dorie Greenspan]

How do you work the icons? Is the pink one the one for blushing? Thank you.

[Live It Up]

I forgot to take my camera, so I have to wait for someone to send me pictures, but I made 3 desserts from Baking for thanksgiving. The big winners were definitely the thanksgiving twofer pie and the caramel peanut topped brownie cake. I also made the cranberry upside down cake, which I thought was pretty good, but most people didn't try it--I guess we had some non cranberry fans in the house. The other dessert I made was a tarte tatin, but not from Dorie's recipe, which came out weirdly not sweet. Overall, though, tons of raves for the desserts thanks to this book! If I ever get the pictures I will post them.

[milgwimper]

Dorie I made your all in one holiday bundt cake and it was wonderful! It was nice and moist and the spices were wonderful since I grated fresh spices. It was one of the best dessert for Thanksgiving. A lot of compliments, and one of the couples took 1/2 of the bundt home with them. I ended up using three small apples, as it was all I had, and I also made the maple icing which was DH's favourite. he loved it so much that he drizzled extra maple syrup to the bundt cake. I have pictures of the bundt cake but I lost the cord to transfer it from the camera to the computer. Well anyways Dh wanted to add, "It is my favourite!" Thanks!

[Dorie Greenspan]

I am delighted to have had a little hand in making your Thanksgiving delicious. Thanks for letting me know.

[Simonne]

I bake Adult Thumb Print last weekend, mine the hole doesn't get deep enough. I wonder how to do that ? Make the hole deeper ..how?

[Dorie Greenspan]

Simonne, the hole doesn't have to be very big, just big enough to hold some jam. Make sure you start off with a nice ball of dough, then use your pinkie or the end of a slender wooden spoon to form the indentation. You don't want to go all the way through the dough, but you do want to go as far down as you can without piercing the bottom.

[RuthWells]

I bake Adult Thumb Print last weekend, mine the hole doesn't get deep enough. I wonder how to do that ? Make the hole deeper ..how?

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What I find is that the pre-baking depressions I make get shallower during baking due to the puffing up of the cookie. So what I do is as soon as the cookies come out of the oven, I reinforce the depression with a clean finger. That way I get a nice, deep divot for the filling without fussing too much.

[Simonne]

Thanks Dorie & RuthWells,

This is how my thub print look like. The Marmalade is sitting on top instead of sitting in the hole.

RuthWells : You mean after you remove cookies from oven, you press the hole ?? Hmm, i should try that way.. so that the hole is deep enough

[prasantrin]

Thanks Dorie & RuthWells,

This is how my thub print look like. The Marmalade is sitting on top  instead of sitting in the hole.

RuthWells : You mean after you remove cookies from oven, you press the hole ?? Hmm, i should try that way.. so that the hole is deep enough

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I'm not RuthWells, but when I made them, I used the end of a wooden spoon handle to make the impression before baking (I made it quite deep, but not so deep for it to go all the way through the cookie), then after baking I used the same thing to re-imprint the cookies--but I pushed a little more lightly so I wouldn't break the cookies.

You can see mine at the top right, and bottom left and right corners.

As you can tell, mine were deep enough to hold the jam, but I did crack my cookies when making the initial imprints. My dough was quite dry--possibly because of the time of year (it's hard to get butter soft in Feb./Mar. in Japan, because it's quite chilly even inside homes).