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

pjm333

By pjm333
in Pastry & Baking

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Pete Fred

Pete Fred

Posted
Posted

I took Claudia Roden's Orange and Almond Cake round to a neighbour's...

 

OrangeAlmondCake.thumb.png.5e85edcb25515e2e9ecaf289c8b63f7d.png

 

For anyone who's never come across it before, you boil whole oranges for a couple of hours, blitz to a purée, then mix with eggs, sugar, baking powder and ground almonds. Such a great cake. Light, moist and orangey. Gluten-free, too.

 

Buckwheat is pretty popular here in France. I've never really succumbed to it's charms, but every now and then I give in and have another go. Hence this buckwheat cake...

 

BuckwheatCake.thumb.png.088c656e4beec0c4a88ea3411c09f11a.png

 

It was OK. One way to make a dent in the bag of flour, I suppose. The addition of some stewed apple and rhubarb, or sour cherries certainly livened things up...

 

BuckwheatCake(Plated).thumb.png.607d7cca3080b0f91145f5f92c3ff848.png

 

One buckwheat dessert that did win me over, though, is a take on rice pudding where the rice is swapped for roasted buckwheat seeds (kasha). I made Sarrasin au Lait last year and was pleasantly surprised...

 

BuckwheatPudding.png.311ecaa19f898ddcbe9977b278c9e34f.png

 

Not the world's most exciting image, admittedly, but it was good. The buckwheat seeds maintain a little more bite than a traditional rice pudding. Must set a reminder to make this again.

 

I also made some Welsh cakes...

 

WelshCake.thumb.png.b87b93984f229acf27f2042c8d49b2ac.png

 

For anyone not familiar, they are griddle cakes, and often called bakestones in their native Wales. (King Arthur helpfully describe them as "a cross between a pancake and a baking powder biscuit, with elements of cookies and muffins thrown in for good measure". Seems about right.)

 

Another gâteau Breton, this time without a filling...

 

GateauBreton.thumb.png.a046dbe25474290a349522eb267813d6.png

 

A raid on the cherry tree yielded a tubful just before they were past their best...

 

Cherries.png.91d9be35234f8690c7f761931eb31101.png

 

So I took the opportunity to dial-in the bake for the Cherry Coconut Almond Cake that I had problems with the other week...

 

CherryAlmondCoconutCake.thumb.png.5660062a7983d5de726d70498806859c.png

 

Yay! No sinking fruit.

 

And one last cherry clafoutis...

 

Clafoutis.thumb.png.3d4349954184ab71b70ac10d66233b8a.png

 

This time I drizzed the macerating juices over the top, so it didn't pool on the bottom. Weirdly, I preferred it the other way. There must be some magical alchemy from boozy cherry juice bubbling away on the bottom of the dish.

  • Like 6
  • Thanks 2
  • Delicious 4
heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Pete Fred said:

I took Claudia Roden's Orange and Almond Cake round to a neighbour's...

 

OrangeAlmondCake.thumb.png.5e85edcb25515e2e9ecaf289c8b63f7d.png

 

For anyone who's never come across it before, you boil whole oranges for a couple of hours, blitz to a purée, then mix with eggs, sugar, baking powder and ground almonds. Such a great cake. Light, moist and orangey. Gluten-free, too.

 

Buckwheat is pretty popular here in France. I've never really succumbed to it's charms, but every now and then I give in and have another go. Hence this buckwheat cake...

 

BuckwheatCake.thumb.png.088c656e4beec0c4a88ea3411c09f11a.png

 

It was OK. One way to make a dent in the bag of flour, I suppose. The addition of some stewed apple and rhubarb, or sour cherries certainly livened things up...

 

BuckwheatCake(Plated).thumb.png.607d7cca3080b0f91145f5f92c3ff848.png

 

One buckwheat dessert that did win me over, though, is a take on rice pudding where the rice is swapped for roasted buckwheat seeds (kasha). I made Sarrasin au Lait last year and was pleasantly surprised...

 

BuckwheatPudding.png.311ecaa19f898ddcbe9977b278c9e34f.png

 

Not the world's most exciting image, admittedly, but it was good. The buckwheat seeds maintain a little more bite than a traditional rice pudding. Must set a reminder to make this again.

 

I also made some Welsh cakes...

 

WelshCake.thumb.png.b87b93984f229acf27f2042c8d49b2ac.png

 

For anyone not familiar, they are griddle cakes, and often called bakestones in their native Wales. (King Arthur helpfully describe them as "a cross between a pancake and a baking powder biscuit, with elements of cookies and muffins thrown in for good measure". Seems about right.)

 

Another gâteau Breton, this time without a filling...

 

GateauBreton.thumb.png.a046dbe25474290a349522eb267813d6.png

 

A raid on the cherry tree yielded a tubful just before they were past their best...

 

Cherries.png.91d9be35234f8690c7f761931eb31101.png

 

So I took the opportunity to dial-in the bake for the Cherry Coconut Almond Cake that I had problems with the other week...

 

CherryAlmondCoconutCake.thumb.png.5660062a7983d5de726d70498806859c.png

 

Yay! No sinking fruit.

 

And one last cherry clafoutis...

 

Clafoutis.thumb.png.3d4349954184ab71b70ac10d66233b8a.png

 

This time I drizzed the macerating juices over the top, so it didn't pool on the bottom. Weirdly, I preferred it the other way. There must be some magical alchemy from boozy cherry juice bubbling away on the bottom of the dish.

All appeal to me. Question on the orange cake - did you remove the seeds or?

Pete Fred

Pete Fred

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, heidih said:

did you remove the seeds?


Yes. Let the oranges cool to handle then remove. The purée can be made ahead and stored. A similar weight of clementines (400g) is quite nice, but oranges punch more. 👍

  • Like 2
Pete Fred

Pete Fred

Posted
Posted

Double Lemon Pudding by Margot Henderson...

 

DoubleLemonPudding.thumb.png.47d29172b257c5ecc4b4b52086aeb7d3.png

 

I guess it's otherwise known as a self-saucing pudding or a Lemon Surprise/Magic Pudding. It was quite pleasant and very light. I was a little too cautious with my first attempt and cooked too long. She says it will "leave three layers of texture, moving from a gooey bottom to a spongey top". This one had not enough goo and too much sponge (although I'd say it's more soufflé than sponge).

 

The shape of the dish didn't do me any favours either, resulting in the ends being even less saucy than the middle...

 

DoubleLemonPudding(Plated).png.2558512c5b000d7ff5d78dac696579fe.png

 

Next time I'll make a few minor tweaks: use a round dish, bake it with a more pronounced jiggle underneath, and not bother with her pointless suggestion of the cream accompaniment.

  • Like 3
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lemniscate

lemniscate

Posted
Posted

I am still on a mission to decrease my pantry hoard.  Amazon Fresh had Duncan Hines cake mixes for $1.00 months ago and I succumbed to buying a couple even though it's a product I never use.

I also just finished up a bag of cinnamon coated almonds and there was a lot of the cinnamon coating off the almonds at the bottom of the bag, like cinnamon nuggets.

I made a coffee cake style with the cake mix and stirred in the cinnamon nuggets.  I also used some very ripe kefir that needed to be used or tossed.  Made a nice tang to the cake.   It's very good for a weekend morning.

Kind of proud of myself on this one.

IMG_1632.jpg

  • Like 10
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Pete Fred

Pete Fred

Posted
Posted

I made the lemon pudding again, this time paying a bit more attention to the depth of the bain-marie and the cooking time...

 

DoubleLemonPudding.thumb.png.03bcd81a78e54437005813a717727d91.png

 

I left this one to chill overnight in the fridge. The sauce was like a lemon curd, and the cake less souffle and more spongey.

 

Henderson says to serve warm or chilled. I'd say chilled is the way to go. The cake texture is better and the lemon sauce is mouth-puckeringly intense when cold.

  • Like 4
Kerry Beal

Kerry Beal

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, lemniscate said:

Ah crap!  Just when I was getting into icebox cakes, Nabisco’s Famous Chocolate Wafers have been discontinued from Mondelez International’s product line to make way for a “new innovation,”

 

 

Say it isn't so!

the Chocolate Doctor
www.thechocolatedoctor.ca

www.eztemper.com

 

Confectionary Course • Confectionary Course Q&A
eGullet foodblog 2006 • eGullet Foodblog 2012

Darienne

Darienne

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, lemniscate said:

Ah crap!  Just when I was getting into icebox cakes, Nabisco’s Famous Chocolate Wafers have been discontinued from Mondelez International’s product line to make way for a “new innovation,”

 

 

Our two sons always wanted that Whipped Cream/chocolate wafer cake for their birthdays. 

 

"Inconceivable! "

  • Like 2

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

Pete Fred

Pete Fred

Posted
Posted

Made some choux buns...

 

ChouxBuns.png.acc34873cae082746333b7573dd5873c.png

 

Filled 'em with a tonka pastry cream...

 

TonkaChoux.thumb.png.43147e8e5296a7ee18838b5f98a3719e.png

 

And with the leftover choux paste I finally got round to opening the pearl sugar that's been languishing at the back of the cupboard for the last 18 months...

 

Chouquettes.thumb.png.7be5c168c0adcd051e37d2ab8beb538d.png

 

 

  • Like 9
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RWood

RWood

Posted
Posted

Happy 4th macarons. Vanilla bean buttercream and a pack of free 4th sprinkles that came with an order.

IMG_4249.jpeg

IMG_4250.jpeg

  • Like 8
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kayb

kayb

Posted
Posted
On 7/1/2023 at 1:06 PM, Pete Fred said:

Made some choux buns...

 

ChouxBuns.png.acc34873cae082746333b7573dd5873c.png

 

Filled 'em with a tonka pastry cream...

 

TonkaChoux.thumb.png.43147e8e5296a7ee18838b5f98a3719e.png

 

And with the leftover choux paste I finally got round to opening the pearl sugar that's been languishing at the back of the cupboard for the last 18 months...

 

Chouquettes.thumb.png.7be5c168c0adcd051e37d2ab8beb538d.png

 

 

Just kill me now.

On 7/2/2023 at 3:26 PM, RWood said:

Happy 4th macarons. Vanilla bean buttercream and a pack of free 4th sprinkles that came with an order.

IMG_4249.jpeg

IMG_4250.jpeg

Ditto.

 

I made a strawberry icebox pie for our family dinner on July 1. Standard lemon icebox pie filling, sans lemon, but with a cup of quartered strawberries, cooked with 1/3 or so cup if sugar, mashed up, and mixed with the condensed milk-egg filling. Baled in a crumb crust for 20 minutes at 325.

 

Cooled slightly. Topped with halved strawberries and a glaze of simple syrup, cornstarch and strawberry jello (standard Shoneys strawberry pie glaze). Further chilled.

 

Note. This looked like hell. The condensed milk and strawberry layer bakes up sort of taupe. I will use some red food coloring next time around. Tasted really good, though.

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Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

RWood

RWood

Posted
Posted

More macs. Baby pink with vanilla buttercream.
And an inside shot of a full shell (so satisfying ☺️),

 

IMG_4254.jpeg

IMG_4251.jpeg

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Pete Fred

Pete Fred

Posted
Posted

Chocolate eclairs...

 

Eclairs.thumb.png.798998b50a2891e51d06a6587540bd92.png

 

ChocolateEclair.thumb.png.21e2b039126a21c9c9649f94929a11de.png

 

I'm not sure that choosing a 32C/90F day to make pâte à choux by hand was the wisest move on my part, though. 🥵

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Pete Fred

Pete Fred

Posted
Posted

Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake (National Trust Version) from Ottolenghi "Sweet"...

 

LemonandPoppySeedCake.thumb.png.be06b234121bc9f8df64afc0e6eb071e.png

 

It sank a fraction, so that irked me somewhat. But looking at others' attempts online it seems to be a common occurrence. In fact the official photo that accompanies the recipe is sneakily framed in an attempt to disguise the sinkage. But they can't fool me. Fix the recipe! 😠  It was a pleasant cake nevertheless.

 

A selection of macarons (salted butter caramel, lemon, chocolate, coffee)...

 

Macarons.thumb.png.759b7e5a67fa25659a8ca1e6cfed2018.png

 

...was payback for a neighbour who's been giving me a lot of shit recently...

 

MerdedeCheval.thumb.png.8d6ff26f8f58c53e04e886be68ac83d0.png

 

He seemed happy with the swap. 👍

 

And one of the plum trees growing wild nearby is heaving with fruit...

 

PlumTree.thumb.png.3d264878a99b03798ee23683984d5373.png

 

I picked nearly 6 kg (13 lbs)...

 

Plums.thumb.png.e0fcc0105e6f4b11407c01688e17ed97.png

 

But don't hold your breath for any plummy delights. They were a bit 'meh', so I won't be bothering to make anything with them. However, there is a lady I know who makes lots of jam, so maybe she can turn them into sweet gold.

 

There's still ten times as much again left on there so I'll check back to see if I was just a week or two early, but I think they're just not particularly great plums. C'est la vie!

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heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted

Plums - never know. I've been blessed with great ones. Gave a good amount to a neghbor (India born and raised). Her kids told me"mom ate them ALL - we never got any!".  But I had a greengage tree - meh... I was traumatized as a kid visiting Yugoslavia (yes Cold War) and got a mouthful of worms!. Took a while to try another plum. Interesting when the night critters raid the trees and you walk to find nothing but pits scattered everywhere. Netting the trees isna pain i the arse and thebirds just cling to the netting and peck at the cheeks. 

  • Like 1
Pete Fred

Pete Fred

Posted
Posted
23 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

But I'm wondering - weren't you rooting on the Tour today?


I didn’t realise it was passing nearby. I’ve just checked and it was about a 20 min drive from me (or an hour’s bike!). 
 

I’ve been keeping half an eye on the results, hoping that Cav might break the record for stage wins, so it’s a shame he seems to have crashed and broken his collar bone just up the road. Could’ve offered some cake and sympathy. 🙄

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