What would you bake...?

[nyfirepatrolchef]

Hhmmm most likely a scone

you tellum hon! Scones, blue cornbread, why not both?

One of these days Ill actually get off my ass and do baklava!~

NYPC:  Baklava is amazingly easy and fun to make.  Seriously.  And most recipes will feed your entire firehouse with stuff to take home.

Oh I know...had a recipe thats safe for my diet for eons...Im just too much of a *net* addict lately to get off the keys and into the kitchen...pathetic isnt it?

[pnapoli]

i'm with jaymes -- cinnamon rolls. and i'm on the lookout for new recipes--i like mine, but am interested in trying others, if anyone's got one they want to share. thanks!

[cherrypi]

On a cold, miserable winter afternoon, I would crank up some campy music, fix myself a fortifying drink (I've been experimenting with cocktails using Kesar mango puree), and attempt to bake something out of the Desserts by Pierre Herme book.

[Suvir Saran]

Brownies, but only the brownies from the Baking with Julia cookbook 

You are bad... very very very bad... You have made me a baby again... I crave these and friends of mine that have been lavished with these brownies now demand them... I make a batch at least each week.. I have tried them with every chocolate I can lay my hand on.... I have enjoyed using Valrhona the best.... But also enjoyed Scharffen Berger. Michel Cluizel and the El Ray did not move my taste buds positively when used in this recipe.

I have also made batches where I have mixed chocolate brands. Is that an OK thing to do?

And Lesley, thanks for bringing this recipe (Best Ever Brownies) into my life. They are simply delicious. And as you had first mentioned the saltiness of them, I now understand exactly what you meant. Having eaten these and gotten addicted to them, I find even those brownies that I once enjoyed, lacking in overall depth of flavor. And I think the salt in these has a great role to play.

Thanks Lesley!

[Suvir Saran]

Bread pudding. Or crumble. Or maybe a steamed sticky toffee pudding. Something stodgy to bolster you against the damp.

I would love a recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding...

Could I beg you for it?

Also what cookbook do you know of that has a great recipe for it?

I could eat this all winter long.

[Suvir Saran]

On a cold, miserable winter afternoon, I would crank up some campy music, fix myself a fortifying drink (I've been experimenting with cocktails using Kesar mango puree), and attempt to bake something out of the Desserts by Pierre Herme book.

Have you tried the Ratna Mango Puree?

If you can find it, give it a try, it is the puree of Alfonso Mangoes. The most revered mango from India.

Let me know what you think.

What cocktails have you made thus far?

What desserts have you tried from the Pierre Herme book? I have never baked anything from it.

[Marlene]

Cinnamom rolls, definately. Homemade bread, either garlic or cinnamon raisin. Actually, since quitting smoking yesterday, I appear to be on a non stop baking binge. Fortunately, I don't eat sweet stuff, however, hubby and son have their work cut out eating all of it! Hopefully I'll be over the worst of it before they rip out my kitchen next month and I can't bake at all!

[cherrypi]

On a cold, miserable winter afternoon, I would crank up some campy music, fix myself a fortifying drink (I've been experimenting with cocktails using Kesar mango puree), and attempt to bake something out of the Desserts by Pierre Herme book.

Have you tried the Ratna Mango Puree?

If you can find it, give it a try, it is the puree of Alfonso Mangoes. The most revered mango from India.

Let me know what you think.

What cocktails have you made thus far?

What desserts have you tried from the Pierre Herme book? I have never baked anything from it.

Thanks for the tip about the Ratna mango puree! Will definitely check it out soon. I've been concocting mango drinks for the past week because I have a large amount of Kesar mango puree left over after making a mango mousse. So far I've made several mango martini-type drinks (the one with lychee liqueur was pretty good), as well as some unfortunate combinations (there was one involving Sanpellegrino Limonata soda and Grand Marnier - yuck).

So far I've had success with the simpler Pierre Herme recipes such as the lemon tart (which has a beautiful and tasty transparent glaze) and lemon loaf cake. I've yet to tackle the more poncey creations such as the Tarte Tropezienne or the Carioca - I'd have to take a day off work for that!

[ruthcooks]

Suvir, I haven't found a recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding that I really like yet. The next one I want to try is a recipe in Nigella Bites. It's made like a pudding cake with the sauce on the bottom. I think it's called Easy Sticky Toffee Dessert.

Can't say I'm enthralled with the book, though. Only 72 recipes in about 240 pages, it's loaded with filler.

Also, do a search on the food network for Sticky Toffee Pudding, Jamie Oliver probably has one. Gale Gand has one called Sticky Toffee Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce in American Brasserie, and I have a couple more on file.

PM me if you want any of these recipes.

[maggiethecat]

Suvir, I haven't found a recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding that I really like yet.

Have you tried Delia Smith's? I haven't, but my mother swears by it.

[hjshorter]

Brownies, but only the brownies from the Baking with Julia cookbook 

What's her recipe? Are they cakey or fudgey? My absolute favorite brownie recipe is from Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin called "Katherine Hepburn's brownies." They're fudgey and perfect for a wet winter day.

[snowangel]

Wild Rice Pudding. Made it today. It was not a cold and wet day; it was an almost sub-zero and snowy day:

2 cups half & half

4 eggs

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp gound Cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1-1/2 cups well-cooked wild rice

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 325 deg F. In a small saucepan, scald half & half; set aside. Beat eggs and sugar until frothy. Stir in cinnamon, salt, vanilla, wild rice, raisins and almonds. Gradually stir in half & half. Divide mixture evenly between six 6-ounce custard cups. Place in large metal baking pan; fill with hot water to within 1-inch of top of custard cups. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Remove custard cups from pan. Serve warm or cold with whipped cream.

[nerissa]

Yesterday I made scones with coriander, orange zest, and currants. From Sally Schneider's "A New Way to Cook"--supposed to be lower in fat/cal than the average scone. But, who's counting?

I'd like to olive bread-cannot stop eating the loaves we get at the bakery down the street.

[Mottmott]

I've tried Herme's chocolate pound cake with ginger and apricots from his chocolate book. It was very good, though not a hit with the kiddies. Be careful not to overbake it. I did slightly, so it wasn't as gooey as it's supposed to be. That may because of the different proportions of the US 9x5 bread pan instead of the French.

[torakris]

Yesterday I made scones with coriander, orange zest, and currants.  From Sally Schneider's "A New Way to Cook"--supposed to be lower in fat/cal than the average scone.  But, who's counting? 

How were the scones?

I just got the book and so far have only made a chicken dish and was wondering what to try next.

Yesterday was the coldest day Yokohama has seen this winter (the high was only 4C) and it was pouring rain all day. Being from Cleveland I can stand the cold (heck in Cleveland 4C is warm!) but I hate cold rain!

I really wanted to bake something , so I made a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, and although I was disappointed with the recipe my family loved it.

[snowangel]

I really wanted to bake something , so I made a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, and although I was disappointed with the recipe my family loved it.

PM me if you want my (actually, my great-grandmother's) chocolate cake and frosting recipes.

[NeroW]

Savory French toast. 1 egg, 1/2 c. milk, big pinch of salt, bread (I like challah) and butter. Add some minced chives to the milk and egg. Make it like regular sweet French toast. I like to eat it with creme fraiche.

[nerissa]

How were the scones?

I just got the book and so far have only made a chicken dish and was wondering what to try next.

[col klink]

Tonight it's somewhat cold (as opposed to summer, it's in the 50's in Seattle) and luckily the spirit of pie within awoke because a close friend of mine held "Pie Wednesday" in which we meet to celebrate pie in all it's glory. Since I was busy finishing up writing about kielbasa and mailing it out today, I didn't have time to work on a crust (next week) and instead went with a rhubarb and blueberry crumble.

The fruit part came out great, not too sweet and not too tart from the rhubarb, a wonderful combination. The crumble left much to the imagination. The original recipe called for a stick of butter, 3/4 cups of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of coarsely ground pecans and a tablespoon of flour. How can only a tablespoon of flour make a crumble?? Anyway, I ended up adding over a cup of flour but it was still mostly molten brown sugar as the result of the "crumble" top. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't close to what I was looking for.

I was painfully reminded tonight that I don't make desserts enough when as I was putting the assembled piece in the oven I realized that I hadn't added any flour to the crumble! Egads. Luckily I was able to somewhat remedy the situation, though not to the disired effect. I love experiments!

[torakris]

How were the scones?

I just got the book and so far have only made a chicken dish and was wondering what to try next.

The scones weren't bad. I think I need to learn baking techniqes. I really love "A new way to cook"-- I have made tons of things from it. What chicken dish did you make? Tonight, I made the chickpea and winter squash stew with saffron.

I made Chicken with Sherry Vinegar Sauce on pg 338.

It was really good and very easy.

Make sure you serve it with something like mashed potatoes or even a nice bread so none of that sauce goes to waste.

[torakris]

My friend and I went on a baking spree the other day and made a chocolate and espresso cake from Donna Hay's Flavours. The chocolate cake whish is served warm is topped with a syrup made from espresso and sugar.

It was really good but the cake could have used a little more sugar.

We also made these incredible raspberry almond bars from Fine Cooking's Holiday Baking issue.

[polly]

Savory French toast.  1 egg, 1/2 c. milk, big pinch of salt, bread (I like challah) and butter.  Add some minced chives to the milk and egg.  Make it like regular sweet French toast.  I like to eat it with creme fraiche.

Yum! i'm thinking some bacon and maple syrup with that as well.

I think I may have to bake a cake after reading all these yummy posts...

[kitwilliams]

We are finally getting the rain we need here in southern California so today the kitchen will be smelling of "Morris Cake" on page 39 in Nick Malgieri's Perfect Cakes. A simple, sour cream pound cake dating from the 19th century, flavored with my favorite spice, nutmeg.

I was just given this book as a gift and while it looks wonderful and I've heard great things about it, it drives me CRAZY that he measures ingredients ONLY in cups and does not include weights! Anyone else feel the same?

And what are YOU baking on this day when it is raining from the Canadian border to the Mexican, from the Pacific to the Rockies (my apologies to the rest of the country -- I didn't see the rest of the weather report!)

[kitwilliams]

The Morris Cake is wonderful! Only thing I did differently was double the amount of nutmeg.

I'm sitting down with another slice and a cuppa.

[jackal10]

Sticky toffee pudding:

Criteria: Steamed, not baked. No suet, nuts etc. Very sticky..

Ginger optional.

Adapted froma number of sources, including the Pudding Club cookery book, the AGA book , John Tovey (perhaps the orginator):

Ingredients:

Best Butter (unsalted) 6oz/175gm

Sugar (whie or soft brown) 6oz/175gm

Cream- 4 Tbs

Lemon Juice - 1 lemon, squeezed

Eggs - 2

Self raising flour (or plain soft flour +2 tsp baking powder)

salt 1 tsp

Method:

Make some toffee. Put 2oz of the butter, and 2oz of the sugar 2 Tbs Cream and juice of half the lemon in a pan. Heat and stir until the sugar dissolves and starts to caramalise. Pour into a 2pt basin and swirl around. Alternatively divide between about 8 dariole moulds.

(Add stem ginger, rhubarb, seville marmalade or other heresies if you must)

Beat remaining butter and sugar (OK, put it in the food processer and whizz until light and creamy)

Beat in eggs, lemon juice flour, salt. (1tsp ground ginger or other spices if you must)

Pour into pudding pasin or moulds.

Cover with silicon paper and tie down, allowing room for expansion..

Steam for 1 1/2 hours, but the time is not fussy.

Turn out. Serve with cream, etc

Loosen clothes...