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

[RobertM]

The family recently did a ”family cookbook” and this Banana Loaf was one of the recipes ….very easy to make and rather tasty

[TdeV]

@RobertM, that loaf looks scrumptious! Recipe, perhaps?

 

@Ann_T and @Kerry Beal, yum, yum!

[RobertM]

TdeV….how’s this?

 

[heidih]

27 minutes ago, RobertM said:

TdeV….how’s this?

 

 

Goodness I don'l knowr hat I have ever seen Crisco in this type of recipe. interesting amd apparently from your review (and historically) it works.  A sort of lard sub. We  used Fluffo all the time for pastry like semi puff plastry dough - just not in a quick bread where i am more familiar with oil  https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/fluffo-all-vegetable-shortening-454g/6000188765241

Edited February 16, 2023 by heidih (log)

[kayb]

Well….it’s that time. There were four of these before Child A took one to work today.

 

 

Can I just tell you, Dollar Tree chargers, at a buck a throw, are the best cake plates on the market. One of these is going to a co-worker of Child A whose wife’s bday is Monday, and who always wants a king cake for her b’day. last year they got one from WalMart and it was awful. I said, “Oh, that just will not do,” and promised her one for this year.
 

Another is going to another co-worker of Child A, whose wife is our vet, and who had a baby yesterday. The third went to work with her for the office to share (she got out with it before I put the baby in!). The last one is for us to nosh on at home.

 

My recipe makes two cakes. I got in from an early meeting about 10, started the first batch of dough to mix and rise. When I got those filled, shaped and on the second rise, I thought, oh, hell, the kitchen’s already a disaster, might as well make the other two. So I did (though I didn’t frost them until this morning). 

They aren’t the most perfect in the King cake universe, but they’re pretty dang good. Basic sweet light brioche recipe. Still a sugar bomb with the filling and icing.

 

 

[Smithy]

@kayb, those are lovely. Brioche dough, eh? Maybe I should try making a King Cake. But then I'd have to figure out who would get them. Goot a link to your recipe?

[RWood]

Had a chocolate chip cookie craving. Used some Valrhona mini chips I had, walnuts and Heilala vanilla bean paste. Excellent ☺️.

[OlyveOyl]

Hello everyone, new member here and happy to be able to join you in baking, cooking and equipment.

These small cakes, cupcakes,  are adapted from a Rachel Roddy recipe called Marmalade Cake. My cakes use lemon jam and olive oil rather than butter and also include chocolate shavings and a little chocolate topping. They are tender and fine crumbed and stay moist for several days if they last that long!

[heidih]

9 minutes ago, OlyveOyl said:

Hello everyone, new member here and happy to be able to join you in baking, cooking and equipment.

These small cakes, cupcakes,  are adapted from a Rachel Roddy recipe called Marmalade Cake. My cakes use lemon jam and olive oil rather than butter and also include chocolate shavings and a little chocolate topping. They are tender and fine crumbed and stay moist for several days if they last that long!

Do you use a commercial product for the jam or make your own. I've seen lime but rarley lemon. They sound lovely - welcome.

[OlyveOyl]

Thank you heidih, the jam is homemade from Meyer lemons.  The recipe is adapted from Food in Jars website.  I pressure cook a pound of whole lemons in water for 7/10 minutes. Let cool, remove to Vita Mix, add one cup of the cooking water and one cup sugar.  Purée and then process as you would for jam.

Edited February 17, 2023 by OlyveOyl
Further explanation (log)

[kayb]

5 hours ago, Smithy said:

@kayb, those are lovely. Brioche dough, eh? Maybe I should try making a King Cake. But then I'd have to figure out who would get them. Goot a link to your recipe?

I’ve made them so long my recipe is kind of ingrained. One recipe makes two cakes.

 

dough: 

 

about 6 cups AP flour

1 cup milk

1 stick butter

1 tsp salt 

1/2 cup sugar 

3 eggs, beaten

2 tsp vanilla flavoring

 2/3 cup warm water

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp yeasr

 

mix yeast with water and 2 tbsp sugar. Set aside.

 

in bowl of stand mixer, combine flour, sugar, salt. 
 

heat in microwave for 90 seconds butter and milk. Let cool a bit.

 

beat together eggs and vanilla.

 

add wet ingredients to dry and mix. Add flour in small increments as needed to make a soft sough. Knead 10 minutes or so.

 

put in oiled bowl to rise.

 

FILLING

 

12 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar.

 

let cream cheese soften, then beat with sugar until light.

 

after dough has risen, divide into tow equal parts. Take one part, knead and shape into rectangle. Roll out into 12 x 20 or so shape.

 

Brushh with melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture. Spoon half of cream cheese mixture along one long side.

 

roll up into cylinder. Stretch out to about 24 inches. Form into circle, using milk or half and half to moisten ends and fuse together.

 

Bake 30 minutes @ 350.  Cool on rack. When cool, stick a baby in from the bottom.

 

glaze with 2 cups powdered sugar whisked with 3-4 tbsp of half and half. Pour over cooled cake. Decorate with colored sugar.

Edited February 18, 2023 by kayb (log)

[heidih]

46 minutes ago, OlyveOyl said:

Thank you heidih, the jam is homemade from Meyer lemons.  The recipe is adapted from Food in Jars website.  I pressure cook a pound of whole lemons in water for 7/10 minutes. Let cool, remove to Vita Mix, add one cup of the cooking water and one cup sugar.  Purée and then process as you would for jam.

Lost my steady Meyer lemon source but sounds appealing.

[shain]

Quick knafeh with goat milk gibneh cheese.

 

[curls]

All of you have posted great version of this cake and I could not resist. Baked the jam swirled cake from "Snacking Cakes" by Yossy Arefi. I used some of my homemade peach jam for this recipe.

 

[TdeV]

Does it taste as good as it looks, @curls?

[curls]

35 minutes ago, TdeV said:

Does it taste as good as it looks, @curls?

It was rather tasty and very easy to make. I think it needed a bit more jam. My coworkers loved it.

Edited February 20, 2023 by curls (log)

[ElsieD]

49 minutes ago, curls said:

It was rather tasty and very easy to make. I think it needed a bit more jam. My coworkers loved it.

 

I thought the same thing the first time i made it.  The second time, I didn't measure, I just added jam until it looked right.  Much better.

[Pete Fred]

Seeing as it's Shrove Tuesday I thought I'd have custard pancakes...

 

 

I made some crepes, added a dollop of vanilla pastry cream, folded like a spring roll, then pan-fried in butter and sugar for five minutes, turning a few times until caramelized.

 

I usually make a quick butterscotch pan-sauce with a little more butter, sugar and rum. Not today though.

[Pete Fred]

Another day, another pancake. This time in the form of a Dutch Baby...

 

 

I filled it with a bag of red berries that was lurking at the back of the freezer, together with a good glug of creme anglaise.

 

I must make this more often. Such a great mix of temperatures and textures: hot, crispy, soft, chewy, cold, creamy, fruity. So good.

 

[Smithy]

1 hour ago, Pete Fred said:

Another day, another pancake. This time in the form of a Dutch Baby...

 

 

I filled it with a bag of red berries that was lurking at the back of the freezer, together with a good glug of creme anglaise.

 

I must make this more often. Such a great mix of temperatures and textures: hot, crispy, soft, chewy, cold, creamy, fruity. So good.

 

 

This is the first time I've ever thought of a Dutch Baby as an appealing pastry. Nicely done!

[Katie Meadow]

Baking my way through Yossy Arefi's snacking cakes, despite the tiny pale fonts. I've done the sesame seed  / tahini cake twice and  I am addicted.. It makes fantastic breakfast toast. The donut cake was excellent; my husband was in heaven. Two days ago we made the Mostly Apple cake, also very good, especially if served with a dollop of creme fraiche. and I liked that the apples don't disappear. The addition of some whiskey was nice; I used apple brandy, but the small amount wasn't detectable. Next time I might use sambuca, and more than a tablespoon. The most surprising ingredient was espresso powder, which I wouldn't ordinarily associate with apple cake. But what harm can it do? At one point I did think I could taste it, but maybe a little more of it would be distinctive. No clue, really, but I'm trusting her at this point.

 

Next up maybe her carrot cake, which she clearly states up front does not have raisins in it. Thank you! So many things to appreciate in Snacking Cakes:  the fact that you can put together the whole thing in the time it takes for the oven to heat up, the fact that you can use an 8 x 8 pan for almost every cake, and the fact that my oven seems to synch just right with her suggested temps. 

[Pete Fred]

Dorie Greenspan's Have-It-Your-Way Almond Cake...

 

 

Quite an unassuming and plain looking cake, but very quick to come together with a delightfully light texture. I flavoured this with freshly grated tonka and it really complemented the almonds. So much so that I've already polished off four of the nine squares from the 8-inch cake. 😏 (Hopefully no-one from the FDA is reading this and coming to arrest me.)

[rotuts]

@Pete Fred 

 

interesting

 

is the tonka dried , say like nutmeg , and  you grate it into a dish ?

 

how much do you use to notice its flavor ?

[Pete Fred]

Yup. Just like nutmeg. But it is very strong, so just a very light grating with a microplane is enough. For example, the custard tart a few posts back had basically a whole nutmeg grated onto it. For this cake, maybe it was a dozen strokes on the microplane.

Edited February 25, 2023 by Pete Fred
more info (log)

[ElsieD]

2 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

Baking my way through Yossy Arefi's snacking cakes, despite the tiny pale fonts. I've done the sesame seed  / tahini cake twice and  I am addicted.. It makes fantastic breakfast toast. The donut cake was excellent; my husband was in heaven. Two days ago we made the Mostly Apple cake, also very good, especially if served with a dollop of creme fraiche. and I liked that the apples don't disappear. The addition of some whiskey was nice; I used apple brandy, but the small amount wasn't detectable. Next time I might use sambuca, and more than a tablespoon. The most surprising ingredient was espresso powder, which I wouldn't ordinarily associate with apple cake. But what harm can it do? At one point I did think I could taste it, but maybe a little more of it would be distinctive. No clue, really, but I'm trusting her at this point.

 

Next up maybe her carrot cake, which she clearly states up front does not have raisins in it. Thank you! So many things to appreciate in Snacking Cakes:  the fact that you can put together the whole thing in the time it takes for the oven to heat up, the fact that you can use an 8 x 8 pan for almost every cake, and the fact that my oven seems to synch just right with her suggested temps. 

 

It's a great book, isn't it?  To your comments above, I would also add that the recipes easily scale down.  I do this and bake them in 6" round or 6" square tins.  If you like ginger, try the Sparkling Gingerbread.  We love it.