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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

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A couple of ageing lemons on the countertop whispered Nigella Lawson's lemon polenta/cornmeal cake to me...

 

Polenta1.thumb.png.2ac5d601c705ae86cf4149d7aebe8d0b.png

 

Describing it as damp and a little gritty doesn't sound too flattering but it's really good. Sometimes, like here, I leave out the baking powder for a more compact texture...

 

Polenta2.thumb.png.86b9ce36c0faa522dfa8ad9cd4193d9f.png

 

Warm cake, cold cream, love it!

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Pete Fred

Pete Fred

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Browsing a Michelin-starred restaurant's social media, I was amused to see that for the staff meal one day they had Yorkshire pudding with golden syrup and crème anglaise (I guess an American equivalent might be popovers or Dutch Baby with maple syrup). With today being Pancake Day* in the UK I thought I'd give it a go...

 

YorkiewithGoldenSyrupandCustard.thumb.png.992dde9efcde36dfd797d967ae959f27.png

 

I flavoured the Yorkie with a bit of tonka and grated over some lemon zest. I enjoyed it. Might make another.

 

*Apparently this is a source of amusement to many Americans.

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Pete Fred

Pete Fred

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There's a small chain of tea rooms back in the UK called Bettys (that missing apostrophe bugs me every time), and one of their most popular creations is the Fat Rascal®️. I was curious to try reverse-engineering it from the information on their website, and as far I can make out it's pretty much your standard rock cake recipe: 8oz SR flour; 4oz each butter, sugar, dried fruit; an egg; and a splash of milk. All they seem to have done is add candied peel and a face...

 

FatRascal.thumb.png.744414ea36f86e8133e9b42639259867.png

 

Admittedly, quite a creepy face in my copycat version. I didn't have glacé cherries so subbed in darker sour cherries, so maybe that contributed to the sinister look. And perhaps smaller almonds would've made for a less aggressive grill. Bettys use candied orange peel in theirs; I used candied lemon plus the zest of an orange. Theirs has currants, I could only get hold of raisins and sultanas.

 

It's been about 10 years since I had a Bettys Fat Rascal®️ so I can't say how close this was, but it was very good. They sell around half a million a year, and it's easy to see why.

 

I also made a batch of the Thin and Crispy Oatmeal Cookies that @weinoo posted a few weeks back...

 

CrispyOatmealCookies.thumb.png.1c4a7a20899d8fd5ad5daf2b64cde223.png

 

The top two rows were the thin and crispy...

 

CookieThin.thumb.png.678bbb9c95f2bc20e528fde69a3ae69e.png

 

The bottom row was shaped and cooked a little more like a regular oatmeal cookie...

 

CookieFat.thumb.png.8a1692709c555218d59a13251f7d7475.png

 

Thinner was better. As well as the crispiness, they seemed to taste more oaty. This was also helped by having no added spice (apart from vanilla) which meant the oats shone. Good cookie.

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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

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1 hour ago, Pete Fred said:

There's a small chain of tea rooms back in the UK called Bettys (that missing apostrophe bugs me every time), and one of their most popular creations is the Fat Rascal®️. I was curious to try reverse-engineering it from the information on their website, and as far I can make out it's pretty much your standard rock cake recipe: 8oz SR flour; 4oz each butter, sugar, dried fruit; an egg; and a splash of milk. All they seem to have done is add candied peel and a face...

 

FatRascal.thumb.png.744414ea36f86e8133e9b42639259867.png

 

I've never heard of a rock cake but your Fat Rascal description reminds of pane del pescatore aka fisherman's bread, also called an Italian scone. The recipe I have from the Il Fornaio Baking Book (available online here) includes the ingredients you mention, including raisins, candied lemon and orange peel in addition to fennel seeds and a splash of Marsala. They often have almonds on top, although my recipe doesn't do that.  

I think this was the last time I made them.  Thanks for the reminder to make them again!

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Pete Fred

Pete Fred

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18 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

I've never heard of a rock cake but your Fat Rascal description reminds of pane del pescatore aka fisherman's bread, also called an Italian scone.

 

Yeah, they appear to be pretty much the same. For the dough, the only significant difference, bakers' percentage-wise, is the amount of sugar: the rascal has double the sugar. But the fishermen make up for it with half as much again of the dried fruit.

 

It seems Yorkshire miners and Genoese fishermen know a thing or two about tasty treats!

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Pete Fred

Pete Fred

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Made a couple of batches of Swedish caramel cookies (kolakakor/kolasnittar) with slightly different ratios and methods.

 

These are from Kantine in San Francisco (recipe)...

 

CaramelCookie1.thumb.png.31b32a877072aa773051040d77ea9a2d.png

 

And these from the St John Bakery in London (recipe)...

 

CaramelCookie2.thumb.png.0f0d2278a404d8f058f33abdedcf020c.png

 

I preferred the Kantine ones. Despite appearances, they were the chewier of the two. The St John ones were just too hard.

 

I took some round to the cows and was greeted with a mixture of indifference and curiosity...

 

CaramelCookieCow.thumb.png.42961f4bd42280577dca4c1db0891341.png

 

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Smithy

Smithy

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@Pete Fred the cows may have been incurious, but I'd say they look pretty good!

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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RWood

RWood

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Strawberry cake for a childhood friend of my dad’s. His mom always made him a strawberry cake, and she just passed away at 98 last week.

IMG_4925.thumb.jpeg.d5bd43060a9ddd5443c4437faa540fa7.jpeg

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Pete Fred

Pete Fred

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With a surplus of oranges to use up, most went into a big-ass portokalopita...

 

Portokalopita.thumb.png.48a19ca029dc6e9beeba9d08bea9145a.png

 

And another couple into this citrusy version of Dorie Greenspan's Everything Cake...

 

OrangeCake.thumb.png.53ea453b574c05af69faaf8b9cfe8f1d.png

 

Aware the fruit might sink, I added ground almonds to the batter to bulk it up a bit, and also because I like the texture they bring. It wasn't anything special as an orange cake - the portokalopita is always the clear winner in that particular race - but I liked the cake itself: it had a lovely, buttery crumb. Dorie says she likes it with a simple icing, and that chimed with a cake that a local bakery sells...

 

Calisson.thumb.png.00ec1bf0b96ec722c57c76370b2d5c8b.png

 

The lady in the shop told me it's a kind of almondy madeleine cake, flavoured with rum, lemon and vanilla. It was good, so I think I'll do those flavours next time I make Dorie's cake.

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BeeZee

BeeZee

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@Pete Fred I wanted to take a moment to thank you for posting the types of baked goods that you often do - the deceptively simple looking ones, no piped frosting, no glitter, but full of flavors. The flavors and textures you describe are my very favorite, I always gravitate to these types of cakes.

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"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" - Oscar Wilde

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Pete Fred

Pete Fred

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It's been quite a few years since I made Raspberry and Rose Powder Puffs, so, seeing as they're pretty much store cupboard ingredients, I made a quick batch...

 

Puffs.thumb.png.7478e3b611018e4c125552b6be5b087f.png

 

There's nothing much to them, really. The shells are similar to ladyfinger/savoiardi biscuits and bake-up crispy and brittle. But after sandwiching with cream and jam, and a few hours in the fridge, they transform into soft sponges. The resulting 'powder puffs' are incredibly light and delicate. I overfilled mine a little and accidentally discovered the fantastic new technique of working my way around the perimeter sucking out some of the filling before chomping down on the cookie itself. Classy. My recollection is that they soften even more after an overnight rest, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow's suckfest.

 

I couldn't find the Ottolenghi/Goh version online, but it's very similar this one.

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PetarG

PetarG

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On 2/4/2024 at 6:35 PM, Pete Fred said:

This was my first kouign amann in several years...

 

I was a little bit rusty: the lamination could've been better, and I need to outsmart my current oven for a more even bake. Tasted great, though, especially still warm from the oven when the butter is just teetering on melted, before it firms up a touch.

 

What is that, is that like a Borek (Burek here in the Balkans), but sweet-filled?

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Pete Fred

Pete Fred

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2 minutes ago, PetarG said:

 

What is that?

 

It's a laminated bread (or pastry) from the north of France. Kouign amann (pronounced 'queen a-man' or 'a-mon') translates from the Breton language as butter cake. It's basically croissant dough with (lots) of added sugar. Traditionally they're made as a large cake, but since becoming fashionable in the last ten or fifteen years you're more likely to see them in shops as individual kouignettes. Check out YouTube if you're curious. But, be warned, they are ridiculously tasty: a magical alchemy of bread, butter, and sugar.

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Fernwood

Fernwood

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On 2/18/2024 at 11:58 AM, Pete Fred said:

Made a couple of batches of Swedish caramel cookies (kolakakor/kolasnittar) with slightly different ratios and methods.

 

These are from Kantine in San Francisco (recipe)...

 

I'm hitting a paywall for the SF Chronicle but David Lebovitz has a recipe 'adapted from Nichole Accettola' that calls for 200 g butter, 200 g sugar, 100 g corn syrup, 300 g flour, etc.  Are those the ratios you used?

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Pete Fred

Pete Fred

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I made some more powder puffs. Chocolate and chestnut...

 

ChestnutPuffs.thumb.png.e7430c0137a32dc5b20d10916c2ed1b6.png

 

ChocolateChestnutPuff.thumb.png.a72bdd9e4f543d99b6d4a118d36efb34.png

 

And because I forgot to add cocoa powder to the dries first time, another batch of raspberry and rose...

 

RaspberryRosePuff.thumb.png.a6ec5f65ea18d1bef24cf3a592823f98.png

 

The chestnut ones were decidedly 'meh'. But I'm getting quite a taste for the raspberry rose combo. Imagine an oversized, ultra-soft macaron and you get the idea.

 

Also this week, more Fat Rascals...

 

FatRascals.thumb.png.4f1e97ed3a6da6debbc3b4ee4c2b40ae.png

 

FatRascal.thumb.png.dd2a79064ae8e6f9f72f505aa4e1d56d.png

 

I candied some orange peel for this batch, but I'm embarrassed to say that the main reason for making them was to figure out the best placement of the cherries and almonds so that the face wasn't too wide-eyed and gap-toothed. 🙄

 

Banana Pudding isn't really a thing in the UK. I guess the closest thing is trifle or banoffee pie. And here in France I think I've only ever seen one patisserie with a banana desert (tarte banoffi) when I lived in Lyon. Anyway, this Banana Custard Pudding had been on the to-do list for a while...

 

Banana1Dish.thumb.png.f7bfbdaa16d1ed7a15f5d1859ec2c77b.png

 

Banana1Glass.thumb.png.8f852c3bf834ef10b60f6753d05360f1.png

 

It might look a bit crunchy but the main body was actually very soft where the cream had moistened the biscuits/wafers. Overall, I wasn't especially taken with it: the condensed milk pastry cream was bland, the bananas didn't punch, and it was all too soft and samey.

 

But seeing as it was a pastry chef's 'take' on Banana Pudding I was curious to dig around. After reading Felicity Cloake's article on the matter I made her version...

 

BananaDish2.thumb.png.9b08605b566cc260b7d7a3f70da9d5e8.png

 

BananaGlass2.thumb.png.58fcd52a22cf5f6709e7af085a2e8991.png

 

My only additions were chopped walnuts to the layers, and brûléed bananas for decoration.

 

This was an improvement; the knock-off Nilla wafers held up better and maintained some texture rather than turning to mush, and the pastry cream was spot-on - I even liberated a precious vanilla pod from my stash. (Oh! the luxury.)

 

But I was still left wondering "where's the banana?" If something's called Banana Pudding then call me crazy for wanting a banana slap in the face. Having not grown up with this in my life, maybe I'm missing the point. It also might be a mistake to follow two English cooks' recipes. (I've seen enough horrific international versions of 'English Trifle' to know a lot can be lost in translation.)

 

Next time I'll infuse the pastry cream with banana (à la Stella Parks), ditch the brûléed bananas (the caramel quickly dissolves and stains), sprinkle some crunch on top, and maybe add a little salted caramel here and there for variety.

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Pete Fred

Pete Fred

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46 minutes ago, Fernwood said:

 

I'm hitting a paywall for the SF Chronicle but David Lebovitz has a recipe 'adapted from Nichole Accettola' that calls for 200 g butter, 200 g sugar, 100 g corn syrup, 300 g flour, etc.  Are those the ratios you used?

 

Yeah, looks the same, apart from I used Golden Syrup rather than light corn syrup (which may account for mine looking a touch darker).

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Kim Shook

Kim Shook

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On 2/13/2024 at 11:03 AM, Pete Fred said:

*Apparently this is a source of amusement to many Americans.

Too funny!  I did a small poll (my raised-Catholic husband) and apparently some denominations don't celebrate Shrove Tuesday with pancakes, but American Episcopalians certainly do.  I've never belonged to an Episcopal church that didn't do a pancake supper on Shrove Tuesday.

 

@RWood - that strawberry cake and the macaron are just breathtaking.  I'm truly in awe.  

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Kim

Kim's Cookbook

What Fresh Hell is This?

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BeeZee

BeeZee

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I wound up making guava jam with some white guavas that were suboptimal. It is delicious, I added a little lime juice and 1/8 tsp vanilla paste to the strained fruit (which I had simmered with lime peel). The texture is a little grainy, similar to apple butter.

 

PXL_20240302_210530679_Original.jpeg

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"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" - Oscar Wilde

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curls

curls

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Goodness, it has been four years since I baked this cake! Quick, tasty, easy to put together. I added some mini chocolate chips to the batter and topped it with some leftover chocolate ganache that I whipped with a hand mixer.  The King Arthur Baking chocolate cake pan cake. Yes, I could have spent more time decorating this but didn't feel like it tonight.  😁

 

20240303_190912-KAFchocolatecakepancake.jpg.daa67168274870be57e71d2a08074eee.jpg

 

20240303_195841-sliceKAfchocolatecakepancake.jpg.27bd59c5c3b2642d43fee0452f66c341.jpg

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