Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2017 – )

[FrogPrincesse]

1 hour ago, jmacnaughtan said:

Crack because of the appearance, or because they're just so moreish?

Both of course! 

 

[shain]

16 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

Surprising that there is no soft cheese involved,

 

In my mind I devide kugels into 3 popular categories: 

Apples and cinnamon, no cheese 

Cheese, no apples. 

Jerusalem kugel, baked a long time, with caramel and neither apples nor cheese. 

 

[MelissaH]

1 hour ago, shain said:

 

In my mind I devide kugels into 3 popular categories: 

Apples and cinnamon, no cheese 

Cheese, no apples. 

Jerusalem kugel, baked a long time, with caramel and neither apples nor cheese. 

 

I've never eaten a kugel with cheese. My mom's recipe is similar to Shain's, but without the nuts, and using cornflake crumbs for crunch. We also separate the eggs, and fold in the beaten whites at the end. The inclusion of raisins (not soaked in wine) or other dried fruit is a hot topic of discussion in our family; we generally include chopped dried apricots because none of us hates them.

[shain]

22 minutes ago, MelissaH said:

I've never eaten a kugel with cheese. My mom's recipe is similar to Shain's, but without the nuts, and using cornflake crumbs for crunch. We also separate the eggs, and fold in the beaten whites at the end. The inclusion of raisins (not soaked in wine) or other dried fruit is a hot topic of discussion in our family; we generally include chopped dried apricots because none of us hates them.

 

I'm always surprised that raisins are so controversial.

I also never had cheese kugel growing up - only a version similar to what I made this week. They did make pasta or noodles with "white cheese" and brown sugar quite often.

[Katie Meadow]

Let me clarify: by cheese I simply meant cottage cheese, ricotta, sour cream or other creamy dairy products that are very typical of both savory and sweet kugels, or at least they were common at temple events, potlucks, etc. My mother never made one in her life, so it isn't like I grew up eating kugel, but they seemed to make frequent appearance at various times. Mainly because they are kind of a default casserole for many people when they can't think of something else, and they lend themselves to being eaten at room temp. Apples with crispy noodles, that i can get behind. 

[Smithy]

11 hours ago, shain said:

 

I'm always surprised that raisins are so controversial.

...

 

You might enjoy this early eGullet discussion of people's attitudes toward raisins. It all began with this post: The Eternal Raisin Debate: Innocuous Dr. Jekyll or insidious Mr. Hyde?

[Franci]

It was such a long long time and it takes so little effort that I found no excuses today and made apple strudel. I love walnut in the strudel but my son doesn’t (too bad). I almost put any sugar in it. Definitely a light dessert 

 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2017 by Franci (log)

[ElsieD]

That's quite a feat, to my eyes.  It looks amazing.

[ChocoMom]

This, not such a feat....zucchini bread #1 and #2.  Had two large zucchini in the garden. Gave one away, and made use of the other. =) 

#1 is of the plain variety, which hubby appreciates.  #2 is of the fun variety with milk chocolate chunks, chocolate chips and nuts....which my daughters and I appreciate.   

 

[Smithy]

3 hours ago, ElsieD said:

That's quite a feat, to my eyes.  It looks amazing.

 

That dough's windowpane translucence!  

[rotuts]

Ive never understood how one can make dough so thin.

 

congratulations

 

@Franci

Edited October 3, 2017 by rotuts (log)

[Katie Meadow]

15 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

You might enjoy this early eGullet discussion of people's attitudes toward raisins. It all began with this post: The Eternal Raisin Debate: Innocuous Dr. Jekyll or insidious Mr. Hyde?

I had forgotten about this! JAZ is a genius. This is definitely the best raisin rant ever, covering every possible way that raisins ruin otherwise perfectly good food. I'm so glad she mentions Raisinets. Never has there been a more heinous candy. The quality of that milk chocolate coating is so bad that it is hard to even realize just how awful the raisin is. I say its a mitten crab gonad and I say the hell with it.

[Franci]

Guys, it’s the dough that is very easy to stretch. Maybe next time, I’ll ask my son to take a video

 

[Kasia]

Chocolate cake with plums - RecipeGullet

 

 

[chromedome]

On 02/10/2017 at 1:44 PM, shain said:

 

I'm always surprised that raisins are so controversial.

I didn't remember the raisin rant and resulting thread, though I was here a lot in those days. I used to be surprised when people told me they hated raisins, but now I'm merely resigned. More for the rest of us, is all I can say (I cook 'em into my oatmeal, which is my near-invariable breakfast). Also, I'm the polar opposite of several posters on that thread...I'm sorry, but chocolate chip cookies are in no way comparable to a perfectly executed oatmeal-raisin cookie, the greatest exemplar of the home baker's art. Cake? Pie? Pudding? I value them all, but if there's an oatmeal raisin cookie on the table it's the first thing I'll try. 

 

I also (just to emphasize the point) love raisin pie and raisin squares. In fact, I sometimes make a recipe that came from author Lucy Maud Montgomery's personal notebook, called "Mock Cherry Pie." It's made by cooking equal quantities of raisins and cranberries in sugar syrup, then thickening the syrup and adding a dash of almond extract. It's pretty good, if not easily mistaken for real cherries.

One of my texts in culinary school was Bo Friberg's The Professional Pastry Chef. In his discussion of brownies, he mentions that in an earlier edition -- as a European-trained baker without North American cultural context -- he'd suggested raisins as a perfect add-in for brownies. As he ruefully expressed it, "I haven't been in that much trouble since I used someone's fabric scissors to cut paper..." 

[RWood]

On 10/3/2017 at 7:15 AM, Katie Meadow said:

I had forgotten about this! JAZ is a genius. This is definitely the best raisin rant ever, covering every possible way that raisins ruin otherwise perfectly good food. I'm so glad she mentions Raisinets. Never has there been a more heinous candy. The quality of that milk chocolate coating is so bad that it is hard to even realize just how awful the raisin is. I say its a mitten crab gonad and I say the hell with it.

I get griped at all the time about how much I despise raisins. I'm so glad I'm not alone 

[Kim Shook]

Dessert for my FIL’s BD celebration on Sunday:

Michael Ruhlman’s Angel Food cake.  And since it takes 10 egg whites to make the cake, I made 2 batches of lemon curd:

[andiesenji]

On 9/1/2017 at 1:18 PM, oli said:

Interesting, my mom never bought blancmange as far as I know when we lived in BC.  I would like to know of a name of a product that I can substitute, if it is not the same as vanilla pudding.

 

 

I posted a few months back about a fairly new product for thickening anything with or without heat.  I showed a peach pie baked and a strawberry pie unbaked.

I have used this product for puddings, cake filling with cream and toasted almonds, piped into pastry horns, flavored with fruit powders and for savory applications, mixed with heavy cream flavored with herbs and horseradish to "ice" a pork roast.

I thickened brewed tea (lapsang souchong) with it to make a sauce for grilled pork chops. 

[andiesenji]

14 hours ago, chromedome said:

I didn't remember the raisin rant and resulting thread, though I was here a lot in those days. I used to be surprised when people told me they hated raisins, but now I'm merely resigned. More for the rest of us, is all I can say (I cook 'em into my oatmeal, which is my near-invariable breakfast). Also, I'm the polar opposite of several posters on that thread...I'm sorry, but chocolate chip cookies are in no way comparable to a perfectly executed oatmeal-raisin cookie, the greatest exemplar of the home baker's art. Cake? Pie? Pudding? I value them all, but if there's an oatmeal raisin cookie on the table it's the first thing I'll try. 

 

I also (just to emphasize the point) love raisin pie and raisin squares. In fact, I sometimes make a recipe that came from author Lucy Maud Montgomery's personal notebook, called "Mock Cherry Pie." It's made by cooking equal quantities of raisins and cranberries in sugar syrup, then thickening the syrup and adding a dash of almond extract. It's pretty good, if not easily mistaken for real cherries.

One of my texts in culinary school was Bo Friberg's The Professional Pastry Chef. In his discussion of brownies, he mentions that in an earlier edition -- as a European-trained baker without North American cultural context -- he'd suggested raisins as a perfect add-in for brownies. As he ruefully expressed it, "I haven't been in that much trouble since I used someone's fabric scissors to cut paper..." 

I remember reading the rant when I first joined eG in early '04 and it occurred to me that I should duck below the line of sight because I am a raisin "appreciator"  and I had been drying my own raisins for decades.  At the time I think I had about six or seven seedless varieties drying in the Excalibur because at my office, we had a patient who worked for a grape grower near Delano and every time she came in for an appointment, she would bring a couple of crates of table grapes - samples of all the types they grew. 

After sharing them out with the others in the office, I hauled home the rest and dried them. 

The others were always fine about this as they knew that after a couple of weeks, baked goods containing raisins would appear.

 

I like raisins in baked goods.  Yes, oatmeal cookies without raisins are "meh" as far as I am concerned.  Cinnamon raisin rolls - and RAISIN BREAD, which my grandpa's cook baked in the winter time when I was a child and fruit was not available as it is now. (WWII was still going on)

Ditto raisin pie. Although her's was a raisin - nut pie, often made with hickory nuts and there was a hint of vinegar which gave it a bit of tang.  

And raisin-coconut candy. Raisins put through a food mill with dried coconut, formed into "ropes" then cut into segments and tossed in powdered sugar. 

[Kim Shook]

Like Andie, I come in on the side of raisins.  In fact, I like most dried fruits and have to watch myself with them as I can, without thinking, end up eating what amounts to a bushel of fruit and suffer the results!

[Kasia]

The cake with unexpected ingredient - pumpkin tart - RecipeGullet

 

 

Edited October 7, 2017 by Kasia (log)

[Anna N]

15 minutes ago, Kasia said:

The cake with unexpected ingredient - pumpkin tart - RecipeGullet

 

 

 

 Perhaps you would like to join the ongoing conversation rather than start a whole new one Click.  I would like to think we are something more than a showcase for your recipes and that you are interested in becoming part of our community. 

[kayb]

Re: Raisins.

 

I don't loathe them. Given the choice, I'll avoid them.

 

I can only quote Dorothy Parker: "This was not plain terrible. This was fancy terrible. This was terrible with raisins in it."

[Katie Meadow]

@shain

I made the noodle apple kugel yesterday: excellent! I used dried cherries. Loved the effect of a cake when baked in a springform and cut into wedges to serve. And, surprisingly, it holds together enough so that after carefully separating the cake from the springform bottom with a spatula I was able to slide the cake onto a plate. Question for you: My kugel didn't crisp up on the top as much as yours, and even with an extra 10 minutes in the oven it wasn't as brown. Any suggestions? 

 

Oh, one thing noted in your recipe: the ingredients list does not include sugar, but sugar appears in the instructions. I didn't use it and was totally happy without. Also my husband did the shopping and came back with some fabulous Italian broad egg noodles; definitely a treat and I think made this a class upgrade from the kugels of my college potlucks. Loved that it had so much apple. Sadly I have to avoid a lot of rich dairy, so this kugel is deeply gratifying.

[shain]

@Katie Meadow I'm very happy to hear that you enjoyed it!

And I'm also terribly sorry for forgetting the sugar, this recipe uses dark brown sugar, which is a key part of it's flavor.

I use about 40g of sugar, so it's quite sweet (but not cake sweet). I once had a recipe for a "noodle apple casserole" (in Hebrew the word is 'pashtida', casserole is the closest term I could think of) - It was baked in a rectangular aluminum pan, with very little sugar and no raisins or cinnamon, it had a savory-sweet quality that I assume was in your sugar-free kugel also had. 

All this to say that if you make it again (which I hope you do), consider adding the brown sugar, or maybe just a little molasses if you wish to keep it less sweet.

 

Good noodles are very important for this recipe in order to hold during the entire baking time, and sadly many egg noodles are really bad and turn to mush as soon as they are cooked.  

 

As for crisping the top, after removing the foil, I spread about a teaspoon or two of butter, and bake for 20 minutes. It might be that our ovens are out of sync, you can try a higher temp. Thinking about it, I assume the sugar might also contribute to browning (so maybe sprinkle some, if you opt to keep it sugar free). 

 

Edited October 7, 2017 by shain (log)