Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2015 – 2016)

[Shelby]

Host's note: this delicious topic is continued from Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2015)

 

 

Made three pans of cinnamon rolls yesterday.  One pan goes to work for my friend's birthday.  The other two went into the freezer.

 

I made a little too much frosting....so they are very frosting-y lol.

 

[rotuts]

no such thing as too much frosting.

[Ann_T]

I agree with Rotuts.   I appreciate a generous topping of frosting.  Wish I had one now with my coffee.

[jmacnaughtan]

I had a few things lying around to use up, so I put together a quick little orange and butternut squash tart.

 

Orange squash tart

 

 

Sweet pastry

Hazelnut, walnut and Armagnac butter

Almond dacquoise

Powerful orange curd

Butternut squash crémeux

Kumquat

[teonzo]

Powerful orange curd

 

 

Love this description!

 

 

 

Teo

[Kim Shook]

Shelby – I get the Sugar Babies at $ Tree.  If you can’t get to one, please don’t bother ordering from Amazon.  Just PM me your address and I’ll mail you a couple of boxes.  There are a few tricks to making these cookies because of the properties of the candies, so let me know if you actually are going to make them and I’ll pass on my hints!  Three pans of cinnamon rolls  .  Wow – I wouldn’t have been able to control myself long enough to take the picture, much less freezing two!

 

More bake sale baking – Bleu cheese shortbread with fig preserves – baked bottoms and tops:

 

Filled cookies:

 

Tahini & Almond cookies:

Darienne – do you remember these cookies?  They are from David Lebovitz’s blog.  You made them at some point and I was fascinated with the idea of them.  I made mine with those ‘smokehouse’ almonds.  The original recipe calls for just using the almonds ground, but I added chopped almonds and this time I added one whole almond on top.  They are truly unusual and delicious cookies.  I think Jessica ate a half dozen before I could get them in the bag for the freezer!

[rajoress]

Kim Shook - those cookies all look amazing!

[ChocoMom]

Ann T.: THANK YOU for posting the Apple cake!  I found the recipe online and could not resist making it.  The lemon zest makes it incredible!  That recipe is a keeper! =)

 

Kim: Those cookies and cupcake look amazing!  Makes me want to spend more time baking, and less time on chocolate. WOW!

 

Shelby: Why, oh why do I end up drooling all over my computer whenever you post pics????!!!    You're a fabulous baker!  And, truly, there is no such thing as "too much frosting"!!!!  

[Tri2Cook]

Tahini & Almond cookies

I must have somehow missed that when they were posted before... but I intend to try them now. Blue cheese shortbread with fig preserves sounds pretty amazing as well.

[Kim Shook]

Tri2Cook - they are really fantastic.  I knew I wanted to try them as soon as I heard about them. I am a tahini fan and I love sesame in sweet stuff.

 

Bake sale baking – Meringue “Cupcakes”:

 

I was NOT happy with how the meringue dripped down the sides and made the outside of the cups all ookey:

I checked and this didn’t happen last year. 

 

Peanut Butter Crispy Bars:

(Last year’s picture)These are from “Baked” – a Rice cereal layer made with sugar, butter and corn syrup, a milk chocolate and PB layer and a dark chocolate, butter and corn syrup layer.  They are heavenly.

[Darienne]

From Kim:

Darienne – do you remember these cookies?  They are from David Lebovitz’s blog.  You made them at some point and I was fascinated with the idea of them.  I made mine with those ‘smokehouse’ almonds.  The original recipe calls for just using the almonds ground, but I added chopped almonds and this time I added one whole almond on top.  They are truly unusual and delicious cookies.  I think Jessica ate a half dozen before I could get them in the bag for the freezer!

 

Sorry Kim.  I have no memory of making them.  But then I have become a bear of very little memory.  They do look good though...maybe I should make them. 

[excv_]

Kim Shook-

Would you mind sharing a link to the recipe for those almond cookies? They look so great, I'm going nuts over them. The bleu cheese shortbread with fig preserve also seems like such a beautiful combination, by the way; I really should try something like that too sometime later. Great work!

[Anna N]

Kim you are one busy lady.  Can't wait to see the photos.

 

\\

 

Baked David Rocco's Apple Yogurt Cake yesterday.  

 

 

Very easy, simple cake to make.  Definitely making this one again.

Finally the ingredients, the time and the energy converged!

[Kim Shook]

Darienne – does this ring any bells? https://forums.egullet.org/topic/60659-your-daily-sweets-2005-2012/?p=1884593

You mentioned somewhere that you used cardamom when you made them.  I didn’t use the cardamom, but added smoked almonds.

 

excv – I’m always happy to share: http://www.recipecircus.com/recipes/Kimberlyn/COOKIES/Tahini_and_Almond_Cookies.html  and if you ever decide to try the others, here’s the link for those:  http://www.recipecircus.com/recipes/Kimberlyn/APPETIZERS/Bleu_Cheese_Shortbread_w_Fig_Preserves.html

 

Last day of bake sale cooking before the Holiday Market tomorrow - Gingerbread Cake w/ Cranberry Filling and Orange Cream Cheese Icing:

Selling as a whole cake.

 

Mr. Kim made two apple cakes this year and maimed himself in the process.  He cut his finger peeling apples so badly that it bled for an hour before I finally forced him to go to Patient First.  It was really a slice off the end of this finger and too wide to stitch, so they just packed it  .  I finished up for him, but he’d done most of the prep by that time.  I forgot to take a picture, so from last year:

Just incredibly good.  Moist and really rich.  One of the ladies from church remembered it from last year and told me yesterday that she wanted to buy a whole cake!  I cut the other cake to sell in slices.   up to sell like that.  Last year folks treated it like breakfast and it went early!  I’ll try to remember to take a picture of a slice tomorrow.

[Darienne]

Well, Kim, it's my photo and my name and my avatar graphic so it must be me.  Yes, I do remember now.

And that apple cake looks incredible and who needs apple recipes more than I do?  Sorry about Mr. Kim's finger. 

[Patrick S]

I spent the weekend experimenting, the end result of which was a caramel overload tart. The shell is Herme's pate sucree, filled with a dark caramel stabilized with a single sheet of gold bloom gelatin. On top is a white chocolate vanilla cremeaux, frozen in demisphere fleximold and covered with a caramel mirror glaze. I also got the camera and Speedlite out and tried to get some decent pictures (I've been lazy recently and mostly just using my phone). The glaze turned out great - look closely, and you can see a perfect reflection of the photographer and his kitchen.

 

I hope everyone has had a great weekend!

 

 

[excv_]

Caramel brownies with milk chocolate chips, topped with coffee ganache. I was initially planning to quickly whip up a batch(without frosting) to snack on, but somehow got distracted halfway through and went on full decorating mode; Classic.

[kayb]

I believe I have gained 30 pounds in the last 15 minutes, reading this thread. Kim and Shelby, your goodies look amazing, but I have to say Patrick S's caramel overload tart kicked my taste buds into high gear. I do love caramel anything,and this looked just astounding.

 

I don't bake/cook a lot of sweets, except at the holidays, chiefly because if they're here, I eat them. But my daughter had been bugging me for a coconut cake -- possibly the best dessert I make -- so I gave in.

 

 

It's presently in the fridge, waiting its requisite three days so it can be good and moist before it's served. 

 

You can use your favorite white/yellow cake recipe -- I use one from Cook's Illustrated. I bake in three layers, and use about 1/4 cup of coconut milk spread over the top of each layer. Filling between the layers is a mixture of 1 1/2 cups sour cream, 1 cup sugar, and 1 1/2 bags frozen unsweetened coconut. Use about half the filling between the layers and atop the top one; be generous. Whip about half a cup of heavy whipping cream and fold into the remaining filling; use that to frost the sides and top. Use the remaining half-bag of coconut to sprinkle on top and pat onto the sides.

 

I will confess to sometimes using Cool Whip instead of whipped cream; it just seems more stable to me. I'm always afraid my whipped cream is going to liquefy.

 

Then, as I'd put myself in the mood for something sweet, and I had a bag of apples in the house, I made a Dutch apple pie, from a recipe Cyalexa had shared with me. Quite excellent, particularly with a couple of slices of sharp cheddar alongside.

 

 

[Darienne]

Thanks, Kim Shook, for the Apple Cake recipe.  Wonderful.  Delicious.  DH loved it.  Took two pieces.  It's not even cold yet and he was into it.  Small changes: used double walnut instead of pecan and shredded coconut.

(The thingy in the center is, of course, the chimney stack from an Angel Food cake pan.  Still too warm to completely decant.)

[excv_]

Earl grey and lemon shortbread cookies, dipped in white chocolate and filled with earl grey ganache.

They're tasty on their own or with only the chocolate(which is how I usually make them), but I had a lot of time on hand and decided to get a bit fancy.

 

in production-

[i didn't realize I spilled a drop of cocoa butter on one until after I assembled everything...]

[RichardJones]

Just a classic brioche Nanterre. This is Hermé's dough: all butter, no milk.

[Franci]

Hope everybody is well.  I've been too busy to post lately.

 

Yesterday I tried to carve some time to make breakfast for the children. I've done this twisted brioche many times (with candied orange and currants) and normally is delicious but first time cooking it in my new oven I got the cooking time/temperature off and it was under cooked.  Luckily there is still a tray of sablees and frollini

 

 

Edited November 22, 2015 by Franci (log)

[RWood]

I've been asked by a friend to make him a Thor's hammer cake for his birthday for a while now. I finally made myself make the time this year. He's big in the cosplay world, and Thor is the character he's known for. He was thrilled. I'm just glad I was able to pull it off .

The hammer and base are chocolate cake with raspberry ganache, and the handle is Rice Krispie treats.

[Darienne]

Dear RWood...that's amazing.  Kudos to you.

[Kim Shook]

Patrick – that caramel tart is truly gorgeous.  The kind of dessert I would order first, just to make sure that I could finish it.

 

excv – lovely brownies! 

 

Kay – love the look of your cake.  Coconut cake is possibly my favorite dessert in the world.

 

Darienne – I’m so glad that your cake worked out so well for you.  Mr. Kim was thrilled that you liked it so much.  He says that he likes the idea of walnuts and will try them next time. 

 

The bake sale was a great success.  We sold out of most everything and sold everything that didn’t sell on Saturday the following day after church.  The coolest thing was that the lady who bought the gingerbread cake last year came in the door first thing and asked if I’d made the cake again.  When she found out I had, she plunked down $30 and said that she’d waited all year for that cake and so had her entire family.  I gave her one of my cards and told her that I’d make her one any time!