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

[RWood]

Birthday cakes for myself and a friend. Abstract buttercream for me (one white, one chocolate raspberry) and a mini sorting hat for my friend. Coconut cake with coconut buttercream. 

[Pete Fred]

Perhaps a little late for Epiphany, but here's this year's Galette des Rois.

 

 

Those vertical indentations are due to a technique I saw where a rack is positioned above the galette to stop the puff rising too much and doming. Not sure I'll bother in future. And next time I'll be little bolder with the scoring so the design is more apparent.

 

The pastry was an inverted puff. Highly recommended if you've never tried it; incomparably delicate and melting, and not as difficult to make as you might imagine (the butter is on the outside when laminating 😲).

 

 

[Anna N]

 

Gluten-free buttertart bars for someone who chooses to be gluten-free and therefore was no challenge as far as contamination is concerned.  This was the first time that I used Bob’s Red Mill Cup 4 Cup flour mixture.

 I think you could use cardboard as the base for buttertart squares and no one would really notice any difference in taste. I did notice some difference in texture. Since gluten development is not wanted in this kind of shortbread crust I think gluten-free flours can probably escape detection except by the most discerning.  

[shain]

Honey cake.

 

[jmacnaughtan]

On 3/25/2019 at 6:53 PM, Pete Fred said:

Those vertical indentations are due to a technique I saw where a rack is positioned above the galette to stop the puff rising too much and doming. Not sure I'll bother in future. And next time I'll be little bolder with the scoring so the design is more apparent.

 

Really well done on the pastry work - it looks excellent.  

 

If you're unhappy with the rack, I'd suggest properly docking the galette all over with a fork - when I used to do them, they'd end up with a tight herringbone-type pattern.  This will help them stay nice and flat and elegant  - especially with inverted, which will puff up massively if you leave it unchecked.

 

I can't tell whether you've done it on yours, but it's always a good idea to brush it with syrup at the end of the bake, then put it back in for a few minutes.  It gives it a really nice shine and makes the pastry a little more interesting to eat.

[Pete Fred]

Thanks for the tips. Much appreciated. I'll do the docking next time and will try your patterning. 👍

 

It did get a light glaze - perhaps too light - but no return to the oven. Will be sure to do that next time. (Although next time will probably be next year, so don't hold your breath for an update. ☺️)

[Pete Fred]

Gateau Basque. It's kind of a cake-tart hybrid, filled with either cherry jam or pastry cream (or sometimes both).

 

 

The recipe is by Bruce Poole via "a good pastry chef" he employed from a three Michelin star restaurant. Perhaps that pastry chef got it from Pierre Herme because the recipes are very similar. The texture of the cake is a little shortbread-y, especially at the edge, and the pastry cream is made with semolina and flavoured with citrus, rum and vanilla. Most enjoyable.

[Pete Fred]

There were some leftovers from the the last couple of bakes so, continuing the French theme, I made pailles (puff pastry "straws")...

 

 

filled them with either raspberry confiture or crème pâtissière...

 

 

and turned the last few pastry scraps into almond and ginger arlettes...

 

 

[shain]

Makos beigli and dios beigli - poppy and walnut rolls.

 

 

[suzilightning]

Just made Julia Turshen's blackberry/raspberry cobbler as both fruits were on sale this week.  Wow....only thing is I didn't have lemons for zest or peel so subbed in toast dope to toss the berries in.  Even Johnnybird liked it!!

[Pete Fred]

My mad Gallic tear continues with a Kouign Amann (Breton Butter Cake).

 

 

I prefer the traditional large type rather than individual kouignettes, which seems to put me at odds with the current fashion, especially on Instagram. For me, the slices taste more buttery and have a better texture.

 

 

[ElsieD]

57 minutes ago, Pete Fred said:

My mad Gallic tear continues with a Kouign Amann (Breton Butter Cake).

 

 

I prefer the traditional large type rather than individual kouignettes, which seems to put me at odds with the current fashion, especially on Instagram. For me, the slices taste more buttery and have a better texture.

 

 

 

I'll eat them in whatever shape I can get them.  They look yummy.

[Matthew.Taylor]

Ok, I decided to do some experimentation today. I took my recipe for Almond shortbread, and replaced the almond meal with toasted Pecans ground to a powder. The bottom is not burnt, I brushed the bottoms with beaten egg, and dipped them in raw turbinado sugar, and baked them like that. I tried to use a cookie stamp on them, but I ended up destroying three trying to get them off.

[patris]

The latest iteration of my office confections is one of the most popular with my colleagues - chocolate clusters with heavily salted David Lebovitz's candied peanuts. These peanuts are daaaaangerous on their own, and in combination with chocolate they are one of the few things that really challenge my Keto resolve. So simple and so, so moreish.

 

 

[Anna N]

13 minutes ago, patris said:

These peanuts are daaaaangerous on their own, and in combination with chocolate they are one of the few things that really challenge my Keto resolve. So simple and so, so moreish.

I can imagine them being completely lethal on their own without the chocolate. I will resist. I will resist.

[patris]

1 minute ago, Anna N said:

I can imagine them being completely lethal on their own without the chocolate. I will resist. I will resist.

 

Resistance is futile!

[Tri2Cook]

6 hours ago, Anna N said:

I will resist. I will resist.

I won't... recipe bookmarked! 

[Kerry Beal]

8 hours ago, Anna N said:

I can imagine them being completely lethal on their own without the chocolate. I will resist. I will resist.

I had some - then I had some more...

[Kim Shook]

Dear God, my all time favorite combination - peanuts and chocolate!  

 

 

ETA - LOL - I went to bookmark the recipe and realized I made these almost 11 years ago!  I loved them and saved the recipe on my webpage.  But I didn't think to coat them in chocolate.    Must try that!

Edited April 8, 2019 by Kim Shook (log)

[David Ross]

Going through more of my eG archives looking for some ideas for pastries to make for Easter.  Well, I came upon our Apple Cook-off and found this recipe and instrk uctions I did for making apple fritters.  I don't eat many donuts these days and this one takes a lot of steps and work, but I'm thinking it would all be worth it for Easter.

 

https://forums.egullet.org /topic/149304-eg-cook-off-67-apples/?do=findComment&comment=1992673

[David Ross]

Going through more of my eG archives looking for some ideas for pastries to make for Easter.  Well, I came upon our Apple Cook-off and found this recipe and instrk uctions I did for making apple fritters.  I don't eat many donuts these days and this one takes a lot of steps and work, but I'm thinking it would all be worth it for Easter.

 

 

[Darienne]

1 hour ago, David Ross said:

Going through more of my eG archives looking for some ideas for pastries to make for Easter.  Well, I came upon our Apple Cook-off and found this recipe and instrk uctions I did for making apple fritters.  I don't eat many donuts these days and this one takes a lot of steps and work, but I'm thinking it would all be worth it for Easter.

 

 

My favorite and there is nowhere where I live to get a decent apple fritter.  These are making my mouth water as I look at the picture.  If you didn't live so far away, I would be pounding on your front door.

[heidih]

Interesting topic because this sweet loving family had no Easter pastry traditions. I think it was accepted that the kids got to "pig out" on their Easter finds and the adults sorted through the remains ala Halloween

 

Edited April 9, 2019 by heidih (log)

[kayb]

Easter, for me, requires strawberries. My personal favorite is to make a basic pound cake, and serve macerated strawberries over that, with a sizeable dab of whipped cream.

 

Folks are starting to advertise pick-your-own strawberries south of me. We should have local berries in two or three weeks. And then I will eat strawberries daily until they're gone.

 

[ElsieD]

Ahhhhhh... strawberries.  As I look out all I see is snow covered ground.  We are a long ways away.  I too eat them daily once they arrive, until the local ones are done.  I don't bother with the imported ones as it seems to me they are grown for size, not flavour.