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

[rotuts]

@Tropicalsenior 

 

it looks quite delicious to me !

 

reminds me   

 

( here we go ....)

 

when I beginning to truly cook for myself

 

Betty ( of the Crockers , GM ? ) 

 

had boxes of cake mix

 

and  boxes of ' frosting '  

 

with in your reach .

 

I used to make 1/2 box , of Betty's 

 

chocolate offering , eye balling it.

 

and then use the powdered frosting 

 

w flavors ( chocolate mostly I did eyeball the peppermint )

 

Id like to stay , 1/2 box :: 1/2 box 

 

but more frosting is more frosting.

 

the frosting box got :

 

room temp butter , mixed in w a fork 

 

and a drop or two of milk , for creamy-ness 

 

the 1/2 cake did last a few days , frosted 

 

just not too many 

 

***  still alive today ***

 

 

 

 

Edited April 6, 2023 by rotuts (log)

[OlyveOyl]

Pear, blackberry tart with amaretti crumbles. Very flaky crust , part butter, part cream cheese. Served with a dollop of sour cream.

[Tropicalsenior]

1 minute ago, TdeV said:

@Tropicalsenior, that looks delish! What do you think would make it less dry?

It could be the brown sugar that I use. The brown sugar here is coarser and doesn't dissolve as well into the batter. Also, the recipe calls for shortening and I think it might be better with oil or butter. The flavor was delicious.

[Tropicalsenior]

5 minutes ago, rotuts said:

but more frosting is more frosti9ng

True, but this frosting is very sweet and too much was TOO much.

Edited April 6, 2023 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[TdeV]

@Tropicalsenior and @OlyveOyl, what size pans are you using?

(I gotta say your desserts look out of this world!)

[OlyveOyl]

@TdeV
The tart is in an  8” loose bottom mold, thank you!

Edited April 6, 2023 by OlyveOyl (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

1 hour ago, TdeV said:

@Tropicalsenior and @OlyveOyl, what size pans are you using?

(I gotta say your desserts look out of this world!)

The cake pan that I use is 7-in square and 2 in deep. That's another factor that might have made it dry. Being glass, perhaps I should have lowered the oven temperature a bit although I don't feel that it was overbaked, just dry. I really like these pans because they have Snap-on lids and the cake keeps nicely in them.

[Tropicalsenior]

@TdeV when I go shopping this weekend, I'm going to see if I can get a different brand of brown sugar and I will try it with oil. The cake has a wonderful flavor and I think it's worth giving it another try with maybe a couple tweaks.

[Elkyfr]

It is not all going to be bunnies... a giraffe in his sweater, it is cold.

 

 

Giraffe Napoleón in the sun.

Edited April 8, 2023 by Elkyfr (log)

[TdeV]

@OlyveOyl, could you please provide a recipe for that gorgeous pear and blackberry tart?

[OlyveOyl]

@TdeV

I don’t have a recipe per se for the tart but I am happy to tell what I did. If you are interested in a similar crust, Rose Levy Beranbaum has a video using a Cream Cheese Butter crust. ( it’s painfully long but if you haven’t made one previously, you might be interested in taking a look.) The crust is very flaky, not a cookie style crust.

For the fruit, I had 4 small pears, total weight after trimming and slicing was 310g.

The sugar was 20% of the fruit, and the thickener was 5% tapioca flour. I zested in the peel of a Meyer lemon and a little vanilla.

I added a handful or so of blackberries not included in the weight.

This filled up the 8” tart mold, cut out scraps of pastry was placed on top along with some crumbled amaretti cookies.

This was baked 400* convection bake for ten minutes  on a  stone.  Reduce temperature to 375* and bake 10 more minutes rotating the tart as needed in your oven.  The last 7/10 minutes was at 350* , watching carefully to prevent bubbling over.

Let  rest at room temperature to set up prior to slicing. Here’s a pic of the filling as of today.  If your fruit is very juicy you can up the percentage of tapioca thickener to 5.5 %.

 

Edited April 7, 2023 by OlyveOyl (log)

[RWood]

A few Easter cookies. I designed and printed the icing sheets in Procreate. I think $11 for one printed icing sheet is ridiculous. So, I’ll make my own since I have everything. 

[Pete Fred]

A fruitcake from Raymond Blanc...

 

 

This contained raisins, cranberries and sour cherries. The batter was made by the reverse creaming method and produced quite a crumbly texture that reminded me of a Gateau Basque. It was good.

 

For anyone who's seen Raymond's television series and remembers "Adaaaam!", there's a cute story to go with the cake...

 

"Once upon a time there was a Cornish woman who loved to cook. Lilian Gladys Johnson was her name. She baked lots of cakes, and one of her favourites was a fruitcake. She called it her 'cut and come again cake', and it sat on a table, but not for long because her family helped themselves, cutting a slice ... and coming again, for another slice, or a pinch of moist crumbs. Well, with all that baking she was lucky to have a helper, her little grandson Adam. It was there, in the kitchen with his grandmother - and with his mother - that young Adam discovered a real enthusiasm for cooking. He grew up to become a chef. The story is sweeter still because I am proud to call Adam Johnson my protégé. I am also honoured to share that recipe for his grandmother's cut and come again cake."

[BeeZee]

This is all that was leftover from last night’s Passover dinner with the family, apple crisp. The topping was whole wheat matzoh farfel that I pulverized in the mini processor, mixed with chopped walnuts, brown sugar, butter, and a little nutmeg. Thick apple slices sprinkled with cinnamon.

 

 

Edited April 8, 2023 by Smithy
Photo rotated at poster's request (log)

[Elkyfr]

The Boy Who Climbed Into the Moon

 

[Pete Fred]

The Peanut Butter Sandies in Christina Tosi's 'All About Cookies' caught my eye. The 'flour' in the cookie is Rice Krispies blitzed to a powder...

 

 

...but she says you can make it from pretzels, cookies, nuts, or other cereals.

 

So I made some from oats...

 

 

The difference in thickness is just down to me fiddling around with the bake.

 

I've never had a sandie before and these were a nice alternative to the usual soft and chewy peanut butter cookie. I preferred the slightly grittier (sandier!) Rice Krispie version, but they weren't too dissimilar.

[Elkyfr]

It is Easter Monday, enjoy the day!

 

[Elkyfr]

Sweet Kitty

 

[Pete Fred]

I've been on a bit of a fritter frenzy in the last week or two. Once there's a can of oil on the go, might as well make the most of it and cross off a few things in the 'to-do' folder.

 

Choux beignets...

 

 

Leche Frita, cubes of vanilla pastry cream coated in breadcrumbs and tossed in cinnamon sugar...

 

 

Kuih Kodok (Malaysian banana fritters), simply mash together banana, egg, sugar and flour...

 

 

Ricotta fritters (Nigella Lawson), just ricotta, egg, flour, baking powder, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon...

 

 

Schenkele (Alsatian beignets), which was basically a deep-fried cookie...

 

 

I liked all of them but, let's face it, you could deep fry a flip-flop and it'd taste good.

[Elkyfr]

Bobby!

 

[Elkyfr]

Another transparent can, in this case with custard and strawberries, delicious.

 

[Kim Shook]

@Elkyfr – I’m loving all of your chocolate critters and those transparent strawberry thingies! 

 

@rotuts – I remember boxes of frosting.  I used to use the fluffy white before I realized how easy 7 Minute Frosting was to make from scratch.  Apparently, you can still buy the mix, but I don’t remember seeing it lately.

 

@RWood – your cookies are exquisite. There is just no other word. 

 

@Pete Fred – all of those fritters look fantastic.  I’d be diving right in!  

 

Our church has a champagne reception after the Saturday night Easter Vigil.  Jessica did the chocolate dipped goodies again this year.  She handled it very well and with very little help from me.  The table:

 

Strawberries and marshmallows:

 

Matzoh with sprinkles and with nuts:

 

 

Marshmallows and pretzel rods:

 

Easter dessert was Jessica’s idea, but I simplified it.  She came up with this elaborate lemon-blueberry cake with lemon icing recipe.  Scratch cake, filling, and icing.  I did a cake mix fix-up with a white cake mix, Dream Whip, and lemon zest 😁.  I filled it with a jar of @Tropicalsenior's lemon curd that I had in the freezer and topped it with canned icing infused with lemon zest:

It tasted great.  But, as always, my berries sank:

This always happens to me, no matter what maneuvers I take 😡. 

 

One of Jessica’s friends helped us pick up a new chair in her large vehicle (all we have are two little sedans – a Hyundai and a 1998 Mazda).  As a “thank you” we took her to dinner and I baked her this loaf:

I didn’t have much time, so I tried to do a poundcake mix fix-up with mashed bananas and chocolate chips – something I’ve done with banana bread with great success.  But, for some reason, it wasn’t a great success.  The recipe made two loaves and I kept one so I could see if it was good.  It was just a bit solid, which you can see.  Kind of gummy and the banana flavor is lacking.  Ah, well.  That’ll learn me!

[Pete Fred]

I enjoy a stovetop rice pudding from time to time but I think I was a kid the last time I had a baked rice pudding, so this was a bit of a nostalgia trip...

 

 

When I scooped it out I thought it was gonna be a little stodgy and heavy, but it was surprisingly light, with a nice creamy bit towards the bottom. Plus the skin, of course. Must do this type more often.

[Katie Meadow]

8 hours ago, Pete Fred said:

I enjoy a stovetop rice pudding from time to time but I think I was a kid the last time I had a baked rice pudding, so this was a bit of a nostalgia trip...

 

 

When I scooped it out I thought it was gonna be a little stodgy and heavy, but it was surprisingly light, with a nice creamy bit towards the bottom. Plus the skin, of course. Must do this type more often.

That looks yummy. I've never made a baked rice pudding, only stove top.  Do you have a good recipe? There don't appear to be any raisins in yours.That's very good.  If a raisin so much as looks at my rice pudding I reach for my anti-anxiety meds.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

That looks yummy. I've never made a baked rice pudding, only stove top.  Do you have a good recipe? There don't appear to be any raisins in yours.That's very good.  If a raisin so much as looks at my rice pudding I reach for my anti-anxiety meds.

 

Joy of Cooking has a baked rice pudding recipe I've made a few times over the decades.  However baked rice pudding is not my thing.  I much prefer rice pudding prepared over a ban marie.