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

[weinoo]

2 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

w, is the extra browning on top due to the CSO top heating element?     I ask because this happens essentially with anything I bake for any length of time, and wondered if it was unavoidable.

 

I'm pretty sure this was. Also probably not the evenest smoothing out of the top;  it was the nuts that took the brunt of the small burn.  I guess one could always top with a little foil if you see it getting super brown.

[Kim Shook]

On 7/2/2021 at 2:31 PM, Cahoot said:

I've seen the Jacques Torres recipe come up frequently in discussions about the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. Do you find they live up to the hype? 

I have to confess that chocolate chips cookies are not my favorites.  Weird, I know.  That said, they were very good and it's all about the chocolate, I think.  Using really good dark/bittersweet chocolate chunks is very important.  My husband and daughter LOVE them.  

[RWood]

8 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

I have to confess that chocolate chips cookies are not my favorites.  Weird, I know.  That said, they were very good and it's all about the chocolate, I think.  Using really good dark/bittersweet chocolate chunks is very important.  My husband and daughter LOVE them.  

 

It is a good CC cookie. And it is all about the chocolate. I made them once with Valrhona's Satilia feves and they were awesome. Big chocolate puddles ☺️. But I like that kind of stuff. I got griped at by my mother who is not a dark chocolate fan though 🤷‍♀️.

[MaryIsobel]

Blueberries are early and plentiful this year. Blueberry pie from my Mom's recipe. Shell is filled with uncooked blueberries and then topped with blueberries cooked with a small amount of sugar and cornstarch, water, finished with lemon juice and butter. One for dinner and two minis, one for the elderly neighbour and one to take to my Dad tomorrow. Presentation is a bit sloppy but I used more fresh blueberries than called for and had a bit of overflow. Nothing that whipped cream or ice cream won't cover up!

Edited July 11, 2021 by MaryIsobel (log)

[blue_dolphin]

Grapefruit White Chocolate Cake from Yossy Arefi's book, Snacking Cakes, a cute little book where all the cakes are designed to be baked in 8 or 9-inch square pans with modifications provided for loaf pans or to scale up for Bundt or 9 x 13 inch pans.  I baked this in three 5" baby loaf pans which is not one of the provided options but rather handy giving me one to snack on and 2 to give away.  You can see that I likely pulled them out a bit too soon but it was certainly edible.

Since I was using pink grapefruit, I thought it might be fun to use some of the pinkish Ruby chocolate from Callebaut instead of white chocolate.  Most of the pieces kind of sank to the bottom and don't look particularly pink after baking. I don't think they added much flavor either so I wouldn't bother with that again but I do like the cake. Not too sweet and the grapefruit flavor comes through nicely. I usually skip glazes but I like this one a lot.

[MaryIsobel]

I love the idea of grapefruit - a kind of novel idea for cake. I too, often make loaf cakes in the mini pans. They are great for giving and thaw really quickly for unexpected guests.

[Darienne]

I'm on a no dairy, no gluten, no sesame regime for 8 weeks.  So I am starting from scratch in the baking department.  I just happened upon this recipe a few weeks ago on a Jamie Geller Jewlish video featuring this 'magic' Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookie Sticks recipe by Melanie Strauss, made with, alas, tahini.  Here's the actual recipe.

 

I made them twice with tahini...before the verdict was in...and since then with both sunflower butter and almond butter.  (Ed likes them all, of course.)  They're amazing to make...so simple and yet so yummy.  

Edited July 11, 2021 by Darienne (log)

[Kim Shook]

@MaryIsobel – that is a gorgeous pie!  I am a big fan of juicy, gooey blueberry pies and that looks just about perfect.

 

@blue_dolphin – lovely little grapefruit loaves.  I’m not a fan of eating grapefruit or drinking the juice, but I love most grapefruit desserts.  I have a recipe for a slow-cooker grapefruit cheesecake that is really good believe it or not and I love that.

 

@Darienne – I’m sorry that you are having to do such a restricted diet right now and I hope it doesn’t last beyond the 8 weeks, but thank you so much for posting those cooky sticks.  I have a niece that has to have GF and I’m thrilled to have a recommended recipe from someone I trust - anyone who gave me that toffee recipe has my complete trust. BTW – speaking of which, we found a little box of it in the freezer forgotten since Xmas.  Other than being slightly softer than fresh, it was still delicious.

 

We had our first houseguests for 4^th of July weekend.  For dessert on the 4^th, I did the frozen fruit and cornmeal cobbler that @blue_dolphin made.  I used some purchased frozen blueberries and peaches that I got from the produce stand and froze:

I messed up with the cobbler topping and didn’t realize it until it took forever to get done in the oven. The recipe calls for a 13x9-inch pan.  I used a smaller, deeper pan.  I should have NOT used all of the topping – it was much too thick on top of the fruit.  We also thought that the cobbler topping needed more sugar.  But it was good and easy to make.  I got everything ready before dinner and added the liquid to the topping after dinner and put it in the oven.  By the time we were ready to eat, it was done and still beautifully warm:

 

 

[Kim Shook]

Had friends over last night for a birthday celebration – early for her, late for me. 

 

For dessert, I decided to do a NC Lemon Pie that I’d seen on Cook’s Country.  It is apparently a traditional pie served at restaurants at NC beaches.  I’m thinking that they mean the farther south beaches because I don’t ever remember seeing it on a menu on the OBX.  It has a crust made from saltines rather than a sweet cooky, which was good.  Not sure it was better than graham cracker.  Baked and refrigerated:

That is just a little section that came off with the plastic wrap.  I completely failed on the topping.  The recipe called for whipped cream, but I hated wasting the egg whites that resulted from using 4 yolks in the filling.  I’m not a fan of meringue, so I made 7-Minute Frosting.  Which just broke down and oozed all over the place:

Next time I will go with whipped cream.  The pie was very good:

No idea why it looks so yellow in this shot.   It was taken by Mr. Kim with his Android rather than by me with my Iphone.  Would there be that much difference?  The crust seems a little too thick to me. 

 

[oli]

On 7/11/2021 at 1:08 PM, MaryIsobel said:

Blueberries are early and plentiful this year. Blueberry pie from my Mom's recipe. Shell is filled with uncooked blueberries and then topped with blueberries cooked with a small amount of sugar and cornstarch, water, finished with lemon juice and butter. One for dinner and two minis, one for the elderly neighbour and one to take to my Dad tomorrow. Presentation is a bit sloppy but I used more fresh blueberries than called for and had a bit of overflow. Nothing that whipped cream or ice cream won't cover up!

Sure looks great, but I don't know why but it looks like cherry.

[rotuts]

@Kim Shook 

 

id love to have a slice of that pie right now 

 

it looks delicious , as does the crust.

[TdeV]

Am learning a lot more about baked desserts. I have a copy of Maida Heatter's Pies & Tarts. Many of her recipes call for a cup (or more) of sifted all-purpose flour. Do you have a suggestion for what that should weigh?

 

Also, I have some very ripe peaches, some just barely ripe plums, and some blueberries. Thinking of making something with a topping. Should I cook the plums a bit first?

[MokaPot]

24 minutes ago, TdeV said:

Am learning a lot more about baked desserts. I have a copy of Maida Heatter's Pies & Tarts. Many of her recipes call for a cup (or more) of sifted all-purpose flour. Do you have a suggestion for what that should weigh?

 

Also, I have some very ripe peaches, some just barely ripe plums, and some blueberries. Thinking of making something with a topping. Should I cook the plums a bit first?

 

According to the King Arthur website, "A cup of all-purpose flour weighs 4 1/4 ounces or 120 grams."

 

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart

 

Not sure about the plums.

 

[TdeV]

Thanks, @MokaPot, I was actually wondering whether people had experience cooking Maida Heatter's recipes. I did (thought I did) find once that King Arthur and James Beard didn't measure the same weight in flour.

[heidih]

4 minutes ago, TdeV said:

Thanks, @MokaPot, I was actually wondering whether people had experience cooking Maida Heatter's recipes. I did (thought I did) find once that King Arthur and James Beard didn't measure the same weight in flour.

Maybe I am not nerdy enough but for something with stone fruit which exudes juices I would not sweat the weight differential, and would not pre-do the plums.

[ElsieD]

America's Test Kitchen uses 5 ounces (142.5 gms.) per cup.

[MokaPot]

Wow, didn't realize the results (flour weight) were all over the map like that.

 

Here is the list of different results from an LA Times article.

          King Arthur Flour: 120 grams

          Bake From Scratch: 125 grams

          Washington Post: 126 grams

          The New York Times: 128 grams

          Bon Appétit: 130 grams

          AllRecipes.com: 136 grams

          The L.A. Times; Cook’s Illustrated: 142 grams

 

https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2021-02-05/what-does-a-cup-of-flour-weigh-its-surprisingly-complicated

 

[oli]

14 minutes ago, MokaPot said:

Wow, didn't realize the results (flour weight) were all over the map like that.

 

Here is the list of different results from an LA Times article.

          King Arthur Flour: 120 grams

          Bake From Scratch: 125 grams

          Washington Post: 126 grams

          The New York Times: 128 grams

          Bon Appétit: 130 grams

          AllRecipes.com: 136 grams

          The L.A. Times; Cook’s Illustrated: 142 grams

 

https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2021-02-05/what-does-a-cup-of-flour-weigh-its-surprisingly-complicated

 

Yes I agree, no standard weight. Luckily I haven't run into much problems with the variances.

[Kerry Beal]

2 hours ago, TdeV said:

Am learning a lot more about baked desserts. I have a copy of Maida Heatter's Pies & Tarts. Many of her recipes call for a cup (or more) of sifted all-purpose flour. Do you have a suggestion for what that should weigh?

 

Also, I have some very ripe peaches, some just barely ripe plums, and some blueberries. Thinking of making something with a topping. Should I cook the plums a bit first?

I use 140 grams for 1 cup of flour - and that’s what I’ve used for her recipes specifically 

[TdeV]

2 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

I use 140 grams for 1 cup of flour - and that’s what I’ve used for her recipes specifically 

 

Thank you very much!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, TdeV said:

Thanks, @MokaPot, I was actually wondering whether people had experience cooking Maida Heatter's recipes. I did (thought I did) find once that King Arthur and James Beard didn't measure the same weight in flour.

 

No biometrics are available for King Arthur.  However James Beard was well known for his girth.  Thus James probably measured more sacks than Arthur.

 

When I need weight information I go to https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart or to Rose Levy Beranbaum's books.

 

[shain]

Basque cheese cake.

 

 

[Kim Shook]

On 7/23/2021 at 12:50 PM, shain said:

Basque cheese cake.

 

 

Gorgeous texture inside that cheesecake.

[Katie Meadow]

@shaindo you have a recipe for that cheesecake? Looks great.

[blue_dolphin]

From the sublime to the .... well, quick and easy🙃

I made the Espresso Chocolate Chip Cake from Yossy Arefi's Snacking Cakes and baked it in 3 little loaf pans.  

Used the 72% cacao dark chocolate chips from Trader Joe's which are excellent. $2.49 for the 10oz bag.