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

pjm333

By pjm333
in Pastry & Baking

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Deephaven

Deephaven

Posted
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However you are used to doing it.  I usually cut the stick of butter in 1/3's the long way twice and then cube it.  After that I use my fingers.  

 

It almost works better with frozen as they don't squish.  We almost always have frozen berries in the freezer because I buy them when they are on sale and just freeze the excess we don't eat.  Smoothies, muffins, scones, they get used for.

 

By the way substituting cranberries and orange peel makes nice ones as well.  Lots of other combos but those two are my favorite.

 

As for the lemon zest it is in grams because I buy bags of lemons at costco and then zest & juice them all.  Juice gets frozen in 2oz cubes and the zest in a tupper ware and it leaves in the freezer.

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Pete Fred

Pete Fred

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On 9/13/2023 at 12:05 AM, ElsieD said:

 

If you haven't already, try the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake.

 

I made the loaf cake version...

 

ChocolatePeanutButterCake.thumb.png.cb4b8e4bb8df0d86f9f184758482db77.png

 

It was pleasant.

 

In retrospect, it would have been better as a square or round cake so that each mouthful had peanut. Despite most of the peanut butter going into the batter, I couldn't taste it in the actual cake, just cocoa.

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Pete Fred

Pete Fred

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I had a half bottle of kefir to use up, so swapped it for the buttermilk in the Swirled Jam Cake from Snacking Cakes (Yossy Arefi)...

 

SwirledJamCake.thumb.png.6ff280881486b9f9a8b53a727646d3e3.png

 

As you can see, the jam mostly sank to the bottom...

 

JamCakeBottom.thumb.png.36bd6f24571940370e373b2b1c78d470.png

 

But it's my own fault. I had similar issues a few months back with another of her cakes and that was fixed by using Greek yoghurt as the substitute (and adding ground almonds). But, hey, can't throw away €1.07 worth of kefir!

 

Anyway, this used my plum and tonka jam, plus a hint of ground cardamom. Overall, it's a nicely textured cake, and I'd make it again with the necessary adjustments. (Although I agree with @Katie Meadowand @ElsieD about the jam stinginess.)

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Kim Shook

Kim Shook

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After making the angel food cake recently, I had 10 egg yolks leftover, so I made two batches of Alton Brown’s lemon curd:

IMG_4393.jpg.be1eeb837f0ca97ce12c219d917e95f7.jpg

 

IMG_4394.thumb.jpg.2982b6ac89d2ce0b4641221c09345902.jpg

It is delicious and I had enough to give some to some friends who love it.  But I don’t know what that separated white foamy stuff is all about.  Any ideas?

Kim

Kim's Cookbook

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MaryIsobel

MaryIsobel

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4 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

After making the angel food cake recently, I had 10 egg yolks leftover, so I made two batches of Alton Brown’s lemon curd:

IMG_4393.jpg.be1eeb837f0ca97ce12c219d917e95f7.jpg

 

IMG_4394.thumb.jpg.2982b6ac89d2ce0b4641221c09345902.jpg

It is delicious and I had enough to give some to some friends who love it.  But I don’t know what that separated white foamy stuff is all about.  Any ideas?

I'll be interested to hear people's opinions. My recipe that I've used for my last few batches and the one that I will use for one of the fillings for my daughter's wedding cake is Tropical Senior's microwave version. Absolutely foolproof. (And delicious.)

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Kim Shook

Kim Shook

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Just now, MaryIsobel said:

I'll be interested to hear people's opinions. My recipe that I've used for my last few batches and the one that I will use for one of the fillings for my daughter's wedding cake is Tropical Senior's microwave version. Absolutely foolproof. (And delicious.)

I agree 100%.  That recipe is the best.  But I only had yolks this time and that calls for whole eggs.  It's nice to have the AB recipe in my pocket when I have tons of yolks for some reason.  

Kim

Kim's Cookbook

What Fresh Hell is This?

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MaryIsobel

MaryIsobel

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Just now, Kim Shook said:

I agree 100%.  That recipe is the best.  But I only had yolks this time and that calls for whole eggs.  It's nice to have the AB recipe in my pocket when I have tons of yolks for some reason.  

I wonder if the egg whites cause the foam? I have never used a recipe that called for whole eggs in addition to yolks. 

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oli

oli

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My favourite is Pierre Herme's version, I have made it many times and when I make it I always say " I can't believe I made this", to me it is that good.

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Smithy

Smithy

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58 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

After making the angel food cake recently, I had 10 egg yolks leftover, so I made two batches of Alton Brown’s lemon curd:

IMG_4393.jpg.be1eeb837f0ca97ce12c219d917e95f7.jpg

 

IMG_4394.thumb.jpg.2982b6ac89d2ce0b4641221c09345902.jpg

It is delicious and I had enough to give some to some friends who love it.  But I don’t know what that separated white foamy stuff is all about.  Any ideas?

 

I just read AB's recipe. It says that as soon as the curd is put into a clean container you should put plastic wrap directly on the curd. I don't see a reason given, but I wonder whether it's to prevent that foam, caused by -- I dunno, separation of some sort? I'm just guessing. Did you put the plastic wrap atop the curd as the recipe says to do?

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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ElsieD

ElsieD

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I have Alton Brown's 3 Good Eats  books and 2 of his I'm Just Here For The Food.  In those books, he has only one recipe resembling lemon curd and it is for lemon pie filling and is different from the recipe @Smithylinked to.  Sorry I couldn't help.

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FauxPas

FauxPas

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Posted (edited)
20 hours ago, Smithy said:

I just read AB's recipe. It says that as soon as the curd is put into a clean container you should put plastic wrap directly on the curd. I don't see a reason given, but I wonder whether it's to prevent that foam, caused by -- I dunno, separation of some sort?

 

I think the plastic wrap is to prevent a rubbery skin forming on the surface, as sometimes happens with custards. I saw some mention of foaming when using recipes with egg whites as well as yolks but this recipe is yolk only. 

 

It does look like a separation, I wonder if it's something to do with the temperature of the curd before adding the butter?  @Kim Shook, does the foam taste buttery? Or like any individual ingredient? 

 

 

Edited to add: Found this in one of the recipe's comments:

 

beeGirl3July 8, 2012
rated 4 of 5 stars
This recipe isn't spot on. I doubled the recipe because 4 lemons gave me over 2/3 of a cup juice and I had over 10 yolks from an angel food cake. I was afraid to get the bowl real hot because it says to turn the burner to "low" after a "simmer", I heated for over 15 min and had no clue if it was thick enough. I went ahead and put in containers and it began to SEPARATE. It wasn't thick enough!!! i didn't let it get warm enough to thicken. I did some research and decided to try reheating half the batch and went on to do it all and yum :

IF IT'S TOO THIN, REHEAT IT OVER SIMMERING WATER WHISKING LIKE CRAZY UNTIL IT'S LIKE PUDDING. I did this even after I had added the butter and the consistency was way better, like a pudding. Good flavor.

 

Edited by FauxPas (log)
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oli

oli

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4 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

 

I think the plastic wrap is to prevent a rubbery skin forming on the surface, as sometimes happens with custards. I saw some mention of foaming when using recipes with egg whites as well as yolks but this recipe is yolk only. 

 

 

 

 

Exactly, I do this with pastry cream as well. Some people, like me, like the rubbery part.

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Smithy

Smithy

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Family visited today and I made a Basque-style Burnt Cheesecake for the first time. The entire family loves cheesecake, but one member is savagely gluten-intolerant. The 4-Ingredient Basque Cheesecake from Kirbie's Cravings popped up on my newsfeed a few days ago and looked like a perfect thing to try. It has eggs, cream, sugar and cream cheese, and no crust. Her instructions are pretty clear, right down to why you have to line the springform pan with ONE piece of parchment paper (the batter is very runny) and a description of what the edges and interior would be like when it was cooked.

 

I may have overdone the top slightly...

 

20231007_121952.jpg

 

...but nobody else seemed to notice. The very center was runny like a very soft cheese, even after a few hours' cooling outside (it's that time of year again) but the sides were set and firm.

 

20231007_203524.jpg

 

The pronounced caramel flavor reminded me of dulce de leche. There was competition for the leftovers!

 

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
Host, eG Forums - nsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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Kim Shook

Kim Shook

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@Smithy - I didn't put the plastic wrap on, but I think that @FauxPas is right that it is to prevent that rubbery top, which never seems to happen to me anyway. 

 

The foamy layer tasted just the same as the regular curd.  Funny thing - I belong to a British food group on FB and one lady showed off her batch of lemon curd that she's famous for and hers had that same foamy layer.  I've asked her about it.  

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Kim

Kim's Cookbook

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Smithy

Smithy

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22 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

The recipe that I have made and I have really liked is the one that @shain posted. It is easy and delicious.

 

No doubt it's good, but it contains flour. I made this for someone with Celiac disease.

 

23 hours ago, ElsieD said:

@Smithyhow did this compare to a regular Basque cheesecake?  I've saved the recipe you linked to as I love cheesecake so will be trying it.

 

This was my first taste of Basque cheesecake, so I have no basis for comparison. Everyone liked it. I liked it less than other cheesecakes, but that's because I'm not crazy about caramel -- and that's the whole point of the burnt topping! 

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
Host, eG Forums - nsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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Tropicalsenior

Tropicalsenior

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3 minutes ago, Smithy said:

contains flour

The flour is used as the thickening agent so it could easily be replaced by cornstarch.

The second time that I made it, my springform pan had a leak so I baked them in a large cupcake pan. They had the same creamy texture and the great taste but because of the shorter baking time they didn't get the burnt top or that caramel flavor. They were still delicious.

 

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Pete Fred

Pete Fred

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I took my go-to Cherry Coconut Pistachio Cake to a lunch get-together at the weekend. It was a hit. I was hoping there'd be leftovers, but no such luck.

 

Thankfully, I'd recently stockpiled enough cherries to ride out a nuclear winter...

 

Cherries.thumb.png.10a4ce6a8e12006499e246513f83a4c0.png

 

So I elected not to deprive myself...

 

CherryCoconutPistachioCake.thumb.png.7fba1d06480b6affa48cb78cb044019d.png

 

CherryCoconutPistachioCake(Plated).thumb.png.370ecb2dc19f4c26d78c8ee4c550345b.png

 

I give most of my bakes away, but this one earns its place in the freezer.

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oli

oli

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2 hours ago, Pete Fred said:

I took my go-to Cherry Coconut Pistachio Cake to a lunch get-together at the weekend. It was a hit. I was hoping there'd be leftovers, but no such luck.

 

Thankfully, I'd recently stockpiled enough cherries to ride out a nuclear winter...

 

Cherries.thumb.png.10a4ce6a8e12006499e246513f83a4c0.png

 

So I elected not to deprive myself...

 

CherryCoconutPistachioCake.thumb.png.7fba1d06480b6affa48cb78cb044019d.png

 

CherryCoconutPistachioCake(Plated).thumb.png.370ecb2dc19f4c26d78c8ee4c550345b.png

 

I give most of my bakes away, but this one earns its place in the freezer.

Oooh, that looks yummy

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Pete Fred

Pete Fred

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I made a couple of loaves of brioche the other day...

 

Brioche.thumb.png.203fc9f21df709e73163ba38a2a2881b.png

 

One of them got turned into Bostock...

 

Bostocks.thumb.png.c44e29a47a10227bdbea4667e463621b.png

 

It's similar to an almond croissant, a way for bakeries to use up unsold brioche: soak slices with a simple syrup (orange flower water in this instance), spread with almond cream, top with flaked almonds, and bake until golden.

 

It's a combination of crispy, toasty edges, with a soft and cakey topping, and a moist, buttery inside...

 

Bostock.thumb.png.b6e2a74c618e09e44114726f1210a628.png

 

Bostock(Cut).thumb.png.a7a331bbe418826e04c2dccdd5723396.png

 

It's one of my favourite things to make and eat. I don't see it too often in French bakeries. Almond croissants, yes; bostock, no. I suppose I'll just have to carry on making my own.

 

 

 

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