Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2015)

[Darienne]

PanaCan, I think if I read you correctly...and I did...you made 60 cakes to deliver over 2 days and they were all fancy?  I think I have to go and lie down and have a coffee now.   You are amazing.  And a wonderful baker and cake artist. :wub:   Love your chef's jacket.  Very classy and very Canadian.

Edited June 9, 2015 by Darienne (log)

[RWood]

Do you have a stencil for getting the lettering that even?  Or how is that done?  I'd love to be able to replicate the effect on my cakes.

Those were made with Tappits. There is also a brand called Clik Stix I believe. They are plastic strips with each letter in alphabet order. You just roll fondant really thin (I also add a little tylose powder to stiffen the fondant), then cut each letter. You have to whack it against the table edge to get them to pop out.

Here's a link on Amazon that shows various ones:

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=letter+tappits&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=34084888402&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9894582890958647268&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=t&ref=pd_sl_1qogu7yfpb_b

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Those were made with Tappits. There is also a brand called Clik Stix I believe. They are plastic strips with each letter in alphabet order. You just roll fondant really thin (I also add a little tylose powder to stiffen the fondant), then cut each letter. You have to whack it against the table edge to get them to pop out.

Here's a link on Amazon that shows various ones:

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=letter+tappits&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=34084888402&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9894582890958647268&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=t&ref=pd_sl_1qogu7yfpb_b

 

Thanks so much!  Now I know what to ask my local decorating shop for.

[SylviaLovegren]

Congrats PanCan!  And RWood, that Maleficent is magnificent!

[LizD518]

Made this mini coconut cake as a trial run for my friend's upcoming baby shower. Used a recipe from Thomas Keller that was really moist, but still sturdy enough that I wasn't too scared to move the laters around - I've only made a couple layer cakes and that freaks me out. The frosting was a simple meringue. Strawberry jam and meringue filling between the layers. The only thing I'll do differently is to make the meringue right before I frost the cake. I made it while the cake was baking and started to stiffen up a bit too much.

[Kim Shook]

Shelby – I can certainly attest to the deliciousness of your lime cracker pie.  It is certifiably crazy, but incredibly good and refreshing.  A perfect summer dessert.

 

Beth – I am just so impressed with what you’ve been creating.  Well done, ma’am!

[Darienne]

Seeing Kim's post reminded me to thank you Shelby for the cracker pie recipe.  Mine did not solidify correctly I must say and that was a disappoinment.  I have no idea why it didn't work.  DH and the guests loved it.  I found it on the sweet side for me, but then that's simply personal taste.  It was fun to have our guests try to guess what it was made of. 

[Franci]

This in clearly not a summery cake (nor that pretty to look at) but I'm trying to empty my pantry a little before leaving for my vacations. I also had the exact quantity of butternut squash in the freezer and some fresh cranberries (plus I added a couple tablespoons of poppy seeds, which I liked a lot). Using silicon cake molds was not a good idea. The cake is very tender and when warm crumbles easily, better to line the mold with parchment paper and wait to unmold! Next time I'll reduce the sugar to 150g for my taste and love adding the cranberries (in fact I think sour goes here much better than chocolate chips!). Overall it's a very moist, very likeable cake.

 

Ah, just to say it: it's gluten free

 

 

Edited June 20, 2015 by Franci (log)

[Darienne]

There aren't many baking recipes which cannot be improved by a handful of poppy seeds or chopped walnuts or pecans.  (Yes, I know that's an exaggeration, but it is Saturday).

[Shelby]

Seeing Kim's post reminded me to thank you Shelby for the cracker pie recipe.  Mine did not solidify correctly I must say and that was a disappoinment.  I have no idea why it didn't work.  DH and the guests loved it.  I found it on the sweet side for me, but then that's simply personal taste.  It was fun to have our guests try to guess what it was made of. 

Aw, I'm glad you guys tried it

 

I'm not sure why it didn't set up.  Someone smarter than I can maybe help us.

[David Ross]

From our "Cooking with Beer" Cook-Off here, http://forums.egullet.org/topic/151237-eg-cook-off-69-cooking-with-beer/page-1,

 

Hazelnut Brown Nectar Ice Cream, Candied Orange, Crispy Hazelnut Cookie, Dark Chocolate Sauce with Cointreau, Fresh Raspberries-

 

 

[curls]

Baked two pound cakes for Father's Day and served them with a sauce made from fresh peaches and vanilla ice cream.

 

Baked some snickerdoodles this weekend from "The All-American Cookie Book" by Nancy Baggett. They turned out really well.

[Shelby]

Love the tractor!

[curls]

Love the tractor!

Thanks Shelby. It is a Nordic Ware pan I bought a few years ago.

[rajoress]

Beautiful pics everyone! Here's my latest - bon voyage cupcakes for my niece who is going to Israel for the summer. Blue and white striped to represent the Israeli flag and peanut butter for her sweet tooth (she's a candy junkie!). Thanks for looking!

Ruth

[Franci]

this is becoming a staple for my kids birthdays. Sponge cake with white chocolate ganache filling and strawberry and white chocolate glaze

[David Ross]

Cherry Clafouti made with our wonderful crop of fresh Bing cherries from Wenatchee, Washington-

 

 

[Tri2Cook]

Cherry Clafouti made with our wonderful crop of fresh Bing cherries from Wenatchee, Washington-

That looks really good... and cherries have arrived at the local store. I'll have to add it to the "things to make" list. Maybe even straight to the top of the list.

 

[David Ross]

Thanks. I soak the cherries overnight in cherry brandy.  It's a simple shortbread crust of butter, powdered sugar and flour, then a basic custard of eggs, cream, milk and vanilla.  I learned a trick from a pastry chef--put some of the leftover pastry scraps sprinkled around the batter and cherries before baking to thicken the custard--and give a little texture.  It's a really easy and really good pastry for the summer.

[Tri2Cook]

I had some buttermilk left from the bacon potato rolls I made a few days ago and it's been a long time since I had buttermilk pie so...








 

[rajoress]

Cherry and blueberry hand pies for the 4th of July. Wonderful pastry crust recipe from King Arthur Flour. Thanks for looking!

Ruth

 

(sorry for the busy pic - running out of room in the kitchen!)

Edited July 6, 2015 by rajoress (log)

[Toliver]

I don't have any pictures but I made two cookies this past week.

The first was Kim Shook's Dream Cookies which turned out to be almost a half recipe of the Butterball cookies I make every Christmas. "Surprise" to me! They were delicious. In her most recent mention of the recipe, Kim said cinnamon bits would add a nice flavor to the cookie. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the cinnamon bits in my local grocery stores. I did find Kraft's Caramel Bits which are little round balls of caramel that I added to the recipe. Unfortunately it didn't work out too well. The bits were hard on first bite and then became caramel-chewy after. So they had a mixed reception.

The other cookie I made for a July 4th party was the Creamsicle Cookies that Andiesenji had recommended. Only instead of orange rind I used fresh-grated lemon rind. They had a wonderful "summery" flavor and were a hit. My mom said they reminded her of the little lemon pudding cakes you can buy at Costco. I really wanted to try lime rind but those suckers are far too small...I would have been grating for days to get enough rind for a single recipe of the cookie! 

 

[Smithy]

Thanks for the reminder of those recipes, Toliver. I'd forgotten about them, and they really do sound like a good summer treat. I wonder how those creamsicle cookies would go with rhubarb ice cream?

[Toliver]

Thanks for the reminder of those recipes, Toliver. I'd forgotten about them, and they really do sound like a good summer treat. I wonder how those creamsicle cookies would go with rhubarb ice cream?

They'd be great together. 

Originally, I had an issue with the Creamsicle cookies being a little too fragile (crumbling too easily). With Andie's suggestion, via PM, of swapping half of the butter in the recipe for shortening, the cookie was now a lot more sturdy and stood up better to being transported.

My mother has insisted that the orange rind version of the Creamsicle cookie will now join her Christmastime repertoire of homemade goodies, which is a great compliment to the recipe (and to Andie!).

A nice addition to the Dream cookies would be chopped walnuts (which are in the Butterball cookies I make).

[Ann_T]

So many beautiful desserts.

 

Panaderia Canadiense, I'm in awe.  You are amazing.

 

Franci, beautiful cake.  It is tradition to always have a cake with strawberries for my husband's birthday.  Love the white chocolate combined with strawberries.

 

Blueberries are in season so I baked a pie.