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

[oli]

9 hours ago, Pete Fred said:

I only need the flimsiest of excuses to road test another sticky toffee pudding recipe...

 

 

 

I had neither Sarson's nor nocturnal nonce leaf so used balsamic instead. And... it was good! Just enough sharpness to brighten it up and offset the sweetness a touch. I liked the cake, too; a bit denser than other sponges, with chunks of date for added texture.

 

So overall it was a winner.

Will this be you're new default recipe?

[Pete Fred]

8 hours ago, oli said:

Will this be you're new default recipe?

 

Hmmmm. Possibly.

 

Several years ago I did a side-by-side with four or five takes on STP, out of which came my 'default'. I think it was basically the Hawksmoor recipe with a couple of tweaks from elsewhere. But I recall thinking there wasn't really much in it, and that if the recipe is from a decent source then you really can't go wrong. Everybody's drinking from the same well.

 

Since then I've made a few 'cheffy' versions from the likes of Tom Kerridge, Ashley Palmer-Watts, and this one from Tommy Banks. They were all good, and they were all... Sticky Toffee Pudding. It pretty much is what it is.

 

I think most of the bang in a STP buck comes from the sauce. I've always liked the addition of some black treacle, and now this splash of acid, but it might not be for everyone.

[MaryIsobel]

I have been tasked/volunteered to contribute to my daughter's Musical Theatre fundraising bake sale- I volunteered. The bake sale is aimed at the high school students, rather than say a church bake sale where there are pans of cinnamon buns and bundt cakes. So, I'm looking at individually packaged treats. I'm going to do a dozen 6" frosted and sprinkled sugar cookies as in searching ideas, apparently kids like huge cookies. I'll either do big brownie squares or chocolate chip cookies using red and greem M&M's. Just wondering if anyone has any better ideas. Since I will be making 24 pieces, I don't want to go too crazy on decorating.

[AAQuesada]

Quince tart tatin based on a David Lebovitz recipe for Thanksgiving  served with a sauterns spiked whipped cream 

[Tropicalsenior]

1 hour ago, MaryIsobel said:

Just wondering if anyone has any better ideas.

How about individually packaged cinnamon rolls. Or slices of banana bread. Or king size muffins.

[ElsieD]

Cake pops?

[BeeZee]

“Birthday Cake” Rice Krispie Treats-kids love sprinkles . Cut up that big pan into squares. Low effort, looks festive.

[blue_dolphin]

I shared this Claire Saffitz video for holiday 7-layer bars over in the Thanksgiving topic:

Since I actually made them:

 

And they were quite good, I figured I’d share the deets here in hopes I might find it again myself 🙃

These are the ingredients as they appear in the video description:

 

And what I did, based on the video:

Mix the Biscoff cookie crumbs (I used TJ’s Speculoos cookies), the melted, cooled butter and the egg yolk, press into a 9 x 13 inch baking pan and use the bottom of a glass or measuring cup to compact and level the layer.

Bake at 350°F for 15 min

While it’s baking, prepare the filling ingredients.

Whisk the sweetened condensed milk with the egg white, a pinch of salt, 2 tsp vanilla & 1/4 tsp cinnamon.

Layer the ingredients on the baked crust in this order:

cranberries (no need to chop)

nuts (I used pecans)

crystalized ginger

oats

sweetened condensed milk

coconut

 

Cover pan with foil. Bake at 350°F for 10 min covered, then remove foil and bake 13 min more, until coconut is golden brown. 
 

My observations: 

My coconut wasn’t anchored in any way, making it hard to get nice squares. I used dried, flaked unsweetened coconut which the recipe calls for (to me, these are skinny shreds, like little matchsticks).  She used what I would call dried, unsweetened coconut chips (very thin, but flat shreds) and said to add the milk mixture BEFORE the coconut because the coconut seals the surface and prevents the milk from seeping in. That may be so, but if using the skinny shreds like I did, I recommend adding the milk last, as is usually done in regular 7-layer bars. 
 

I’m not entirely convinced the egg does anything but the crust did hold together nicely so maybe it helps. 

 

I brought these to Thanksgiving and they were largely ignored in favor of the standard pumpkin & pecan pies but every one who tried them asked to take some home. They’re not terribly sweet and excellent with a cup of coffee.