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

[weinoo]

37 minutes ago, rotuts said:

it will take longer for the oven to ' heat up to temp'

 

and longer to cool down.  based on th thermal mass

 

the cookie sheet in contact w the thermal mass

 

would heat up faster via conduction ( contact heat transfer )

 

than air conduction , as the steel has a greater thermal mass than air

 

how you adjust baking times for cookies 

 

Yes.  I always preheat the oven for 45 minutes to an hour - I even do when there is no steel/brick/aluminum in there, because I think it takes almost that long for the temp to become nice and stable.

 

These cookies are given a baking time of 13 - 16 minutes in the recipe. (You know the old saying mentioned before - in school, the chefs always say cook something until it's done - every oven is different).  I checked often, and they probably cooked like 1 - 1.5 minutes faster than when baked in the past; in the past meaning just baked on the racks. However, I also use a pretty thick cookie sheet (with no sides), as opposed to a thin, flimsy one, or a sheet pan. 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

6 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

Crispy oatmeal cookies...an old CI recipe (2008-ish).

Can you make these soft and chewy by adjusting baking time?    They look fabulous!

[jimb0]

I leave my steel in the oven almost all the time and preheat for 75 minutes or so. It’s the only way my oven is even approximately stable. Otherwise it can swing up to 150°F off. 

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Can you make these soft and chewy by adjusting baking time?    They look fabulous!

I think there are a few things one can do to make the cookies into a chewier cookie. One might be shortening the baking time; another would be not letting them cool on the sheet.

 

But really, the article/recipe points out the many ways the author worked on to get a crispy cookie vs. a chewy one.  Seek out Cooks Illustrated, January/February 2008!

 

And here's what the cookie blogger has to sway about them!

 

http://www.thecookieblogger.com/cooks-illustrated-thin-crispy-oatmeal-cookies/

[heidih]

Yup I found that one and I am all for crispy. Th reviews emphasize buttery. Is it wipe lips buttery or great butter flavor?. In butter negative so would have to halve recipe.

[jimb0]

my go-to for making cookies softer and chewier: add 30g of instant milk powder to the recipe and then when they're mostly cooked and puffed, take out the sheet and whomp it on the counter to deflate the cookies, then put them back in the oven to finish baking.

[Toliver]

1 hour ago, jimb0 said:

my go-to for making cookies softer and chewier: add 30g of instant milk powder to the recipe and then when they're mostly cooked and puffed, take out the sheet and whomp it on the counter to deflate the cookies, then put them back in the oven to finish baking.

Or do an Alton Brown trick and make all of the sugar brown sugar. Makes for a softer cookie.

[jimb0]

4 hours ago, Toliver said:

Or do an Alton Brown trick and make all of the sugar brown sugar. Makes for a softer cookie.

i guess. but that's best, i think, if you want the intensity of flavour, i wouldn't do it for texture alone.

 

 

[jimb0]

sugar-free coconut bites. these are addictive. three seem to have disappeared when still warm. 

 

 

[ElsieD]

I watched America's Test Kitchen a little while ago when they made a Torta Caprese.  It looked good so I decided to make one.  John thought it was really good mainly because it reminded him of brownies which he loves.  I thought it was just okay, but then I am not a big fan of brownies.  It was helped immeasurably by the addition of caramel sauce.

[heidih]

3 hours ago, jimb0 said:

sugar-free coconut bites. these are addictive. three seem to have disappeared when still warm. 

 

 

As a coconut fiend I have to ask what roughly are they made of? By no sugar you mean unsweetened dried and no other sweet element? 

[jimb0]

11 minutes ago, heidih said:

As a coconut fiend I have to ask what roughly are they made of? By no sugar you mean unsweetened dried and no other sweet element? 

 

i try to use the term sugar-free when i use a non-nutritive sweetener vs unsweetened or just not mentioning it when it isn’t relevant. 

 

these are just egg whites, coconut (and yeah: dried, unsweetened, shredded), and sweetener. you could totally use sugar if you wanted. 

 

specifically, you can make these by following a general ratio of 1:2:2 for egg whites : coconut : sweetener. 

 

for mine i did 75g egg whites, 150g coconut, 50g erythritol, 100g polydextrose, and around 20 drops of liquid sucralose. i also added around a teaspoon / one glug of vanilla. 

 

i like how versatile they are; it works with just about any flavouring, chocolate dip, rolled in nuts, whatever. and not so absurdly sweet like, say, a mounds bar. 

[heidih]

34 minutes ago, jimb0 said:

specifically, you can make these by following a general ratio of 1:2:2 for egg whites : coconut : sweetener. 

 

for mine i did 75g egg whites, 150g coconut, 50g erythritol, 100g polydextrose, and around 20 drops of liquid sucralose. i also added around a teaspoon / one glug of vanilla. 

 

i like how versatile they are; it works with just about any flavouring, chocolate dip, rolled in nuts, whatever. and not so absurdly sweet like, say, a mounds bar. 

 Thanks! As to Mounds I think that is why it only worked with dark "chocolate" + roasted almond to temper sugar content. . You made me smile with the gram measures and then the glug of vanilla - I mean that sincerely.  Will give it a try when I get decent coconut. 

[shain]

Pasta in a (moderately) sweet bechamel flavored with poppy seeds, malt syrup vanilla, a touch of cocoa. I love this dish for breakfast or a hearty dessert.

And if you never had sweet pasta, give one a try (I guess it's for a kugel what mac and cheese is for baked pasta). You can try plain vanilla bechamel with fresh or dried fruit, lemon with poppy seeds, etc.

 

 

 

[heidih]

9 minutes ago, shain said:

Pasta in a (moderately) sweet bechamel flavored with poppy seeds, malt syrup vanilla, a touch of cocoa. I love this dish for breakfast or a hearty dessert.

And if you never had sweet pasta, give one a try (I guess it's for a kugel what mac and cheese is for baked pasta). You can try plain vanilla bechamel with fresh or dried fruit, lemon with poppy seeds, etc.

 

What a great way to play. I do not care for porridge like dishes but variants of this or breakfast or dessert i would try.

[Darienne]

48 minutes ago, shain said:

Pasta in a (moderately) sweet bechamel flavored with poppy seeds, malt syrup vanilla, a touch of cocoa. I love this dish for breakfast or a hearty dessert.

And if you never had sweet pasta, give one a try (I guess it's for a kugel what mac and cheese is for baked pasta). You can try plain vanilla bechamel with fresh or dried fruit, lemon with poppy seeds, etc.

My first response is turning up my lip...but then...I think of what an accomplished cook you are Shai, and how I love and am impressed with almost everything you do...and so I stop and think...OK lady, give it a try.  And so I will.  Thank you. 

[shain]

@heidih @Darienne Thank you both

The Polish (Poles?) have a thing for sweet pasta, and so my mother used to make them for the sweet-toothed and picky child  I was.

The most common were egg noodles or pasta with white cheese or sour cream, topped with dark brown sugar and cinnamon. I still make it sometimes. Pasta with farmer's cheese and strawberry was another.

And obviously all kinds of baked kugel - with apples and cinnamon, or with cheese. Sometimes the caramel laden Jerusalem kugel that has pepper and ginger, and is baked all night.

One Polish dish I've yet to try is zupa truskawkowa - strawberry soup, often served with pasta. Maybe this year, strawberries are showing up.

Edited January 15, 2021 by shain (log)

[BeeZee]

I've used cous cous to make something similar to sweet rice pudding (I'm sure you could use pastina, orzo, etc.), white flour pasta has such a neutral flavor, why not? Of course, I do enjoy sweet noodle kugel, so it isn't much of a stretch.

[shain]

48 minutes ago, BeeZee said:

I've used cous cous to make something similar to sweet rice pudding (I'm sure you could use pastina, orzo, etc.)

 

I assume you mean Israeli couscous, but this reminds me of a dish called mesfouf made of "real" couscous with butter, dried fruits and nuts. Really good.

[Darienne]

3 hours ago, shain said:

@heidih @Darienne Thank you both

The Polish (Poles?) have a thing for sweet pasta, and so my mother used to make them for the sweet-toothed and picky child  I was.

The most common were egg noodles or pasta with white cheese or sour cream, topped with dark brown sugar and cinnamon. I still make it sometimes. Pasta with farmer's cheese and strawberry was another.

And obviously all kinds of baked kugel - with apples and cinnamon, or with cheese. Sometimes the caramel laden Jerusalem kugel that has pepper and ginger, and is baked all night.

One Polish dish I've yet to try is zupa truskawkowa - strawberry soup, often served with pasta. Maybe this year, strawberries are showing up.

Now I recall going way way back, my aunt Rowie made a kugel with raisins and apples and I didn't like it.  I've only liked savory kugels...but I'll try it.  It has been a while...

[jimb0]

so my so has been keeping a closer eye on food intake lately but it’s still a birthday week. so...sugar-free pear upside-down cake with no fat outside of a couple of eggs. not seen is a bowl of whipped cream cheese with a little sweetener added to go along with. 

 

 

[Objective Foodie]

On 1/15/2021 at 6:17 PM, shain said:

@heidih @Darienne Thank you both

The Polish (Poles?) have a thing for sweet pasta, and so my mother used to make them for the sweet-toothed and picky child  I was.

The most common were egg noodles or pasta with white cheese or sour cream, topped with dark brown sugar and cinnamon. I still make it sometimes. Pasta with farmer's cheese and strawberry was another.

And obviously all kinds of baked kugel - with apples and cinnamon, or with cheese. Sometimes the caramel laden Jerusalem kugel that has pepper and ginger, and is baked all night.

One Polish dish I've yet to try is zupa truskawkowa - strawberry soup, often served with pasta. Maybe this year, strawberries are showing up.

 

Yes, that's right. I recall my grandma preparing a pasta with cottage cheese and brown butter very often when I was a kid. There is also another very popular sweet pasta dish which consists of small, flat, square pasta coated in poppy seed paste with honey, cinnamon and almonds ('Łazanki z makiem'). However this dish is more common in the region of Silesia (south of Poland), especially during Christmas.

[shain]

Rice pepper roll filled with ice cream, caramelized peanuts, cilantro, chili oil (on one sample).

Inspired but the Taiwanese street food dish of thin crepe filled ice cream, caramelizes peanut powder and cilantro; and also by the trend of ice cream with chili oil.

 

 

Quite good, rice pepper filled with ice cream is interesting, the stretchy texture, and the crunch of the peanuts is nice. The combination of ice cream with peanuts,  and cilantro i already know that we like (you need really gentle cilantro).

The chili oil I would have skip. It's not bad - the toasted chili, toasted sesame and spices could all work, but it is too savory (from douchi and MSG, I believe). I think that I would have liked toasted-chili ice cream, maybe with other flavors such as the sesame, cinnamon, anise, and even the peppercorn. Which makes me wonder how ice cream topped/flavored with Mexican mole would be like.

[heidih]

I did wonder about the pull of the rice paper.  Napkins handy I imagine. My impression on mole - there are so many different ones - is that it is really a homogenized mellowed out sauce even though it can be hot spicy. I see the chili crisp as more of an enjoyable contrast. Do let us know if you try it. 

[MokaPot]

@shain, that actually looks pretty darn good. I was at a sushi bar and the sushi chef made us sushi (nori & rice) with some ice cream in it. IIRC, it was gunkan style (like how uni is usually served). It was surprisingly good.