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

[Smokeydoke]

4 hours ago, heidih said:

I find a few drops of Angostura bitters and/or a bit of dark roast coffee along with the salt you did can make a significant impact.

 

Great idea, I will use espresso in my cake tonight.

[Smokeydoke]

@Captain That looks amazing!

[cakewalk]

Coconut cake with buttered rum syrup. 

[Smokeydoke]

That mold is gorgeous!

[patris]

Hoping I won't get in trouble for a post more about what I'm planning to bake, but I am seeking a bit of advice. Next week Thursday we are having a breakfast at work and before I realized what I was doing I offered to make Danish pastries.

 

For 50 people.

 

To be served at 9 am.

 

It's not the dough that troubles me; I've made it a few times before, each time successfully. I'm perfectly comfortable with laminated doughs and usually, the more complicated the project the happier I am. I'm mostly worried about timing, as I will be busy Monday and Tuesday after work, and am having dinner guests on Wednesday (informal, and planning to order in, but my attention will be divided.) Can any of you with more experience in production baking take a look at my plan and let me know if it looks reasonable?

 

Sunday - make the dough, form the pastries (thinking diamonds, rounds and bearclaws), freeze them unfilled - but wondering if it would be smarter to fill the bearclaws before freezing

Tuesday night - move them from freezer to fridge on sheet pans

Wednesday after work - fill, bake, cool

Wednesday before bed - pack in large cake boxes (half sheet) - debating whether it would be necessary to overwrap in plastic or whether they would keep just in the box

Thursday - take pastries, icings and almond flakes to work, ice/decorate and serve

 

Key questions are:

- do I need to up the yeast in the recipe at all? Planning to use this recipe from joepastry.com unless I can unearth my copy of Bo Friberg's Professional Pastry Chef from my baking and pastry certificate program 20 years ago. I am concerned that a stint in the freezer will retard the yeast even more than it will be stunted in an enriched dough.

- should I proof the shaped pieces before freezing or after?

 

Thank you to anyone with the knowhow and patience to answer - I promise I'll post the results before they get eaten!

Edited March 8, 2018 by patris (log)

[cakewalk]

5 minutes ago, Smokeydoke said:

That mold is gorgeous!

Thanks. Every time I use it I cringe when it's time to get the cake out. A heavy dose of Baker's Joy seems to do the trick, but you can never be complacent with a mold like that.  

[chromedome]

1 hour ago, patris said:

Hoping I won't get in trouble for a post more about what I'm planning to bake, but I am seeking a bit of advice. Next week Thursday we are having a breakfast at work and before I realized what I was doing I offered to make Danish pastries.

 

For 50 people.

 

To be served at 9 am.

 

It's not the dough that troubles me; I've made it a few times before, each time successfully. I'm perfectly comfortable with laminated doughs and usually, the more complicated the project the happier I am. I'm mostly worried about timing, as I will be busy Monday and Tuesday after work, and am having dinner guests on Wednesday (informal, and planning to order in, but my attention will be divided.) Can any of you with more experience in production baking take a look at my plan and let me know if it looks reasonable?

 

Sunday - make the dough, form the pastries (thinking diamonds, rounds and bearclaws), freeze them unfilled - but wondering if it would be smarter to fill the bearclaws before freezing

Tuesday night - move them from freezer to fridge on sheet pans

Wednesday after work - fill, bake, cool

Wednesday before bed - pack in large cake boxes (half sheet) - debating whether it would be necessary to overwrap in plastic or whether they would keep just in the box

Thursday - take pastries, icings and almond flakes to work, ice/decorate and serve

 

Key questions are:

- do I need to up the yeast in the recipe at all? Planning to use this recipe from joepastry.com unless I can unearth my copy of Bo Friberg's Professional Pastry Chef from my baking and pastry certificate program 20 years ago. I am concerned that a stint in the freezer will retard the yeast even more than it will be stunted in an enriched dough.

- should I proof the shaped pieces before freezing or after?

 

Thank you to anyone with the knowhow and patience to answer - I promise I'll post the results before they get eaten!

 

Your work flow looks good to me, though I'll emphasize that I've done similar things on only a few occasions. I would think the 18-20 hour rise in the fridge would probably be adequate even if the yeast is a bit subdued, and that it might even be a bit too long if you upped the yeast (ie, that it might overproof even at refrigerator temperature). On that particular head, I'll absolutely defer to the judgement of anyone with greater/more recent experience. 

FWIW, my similar-vintage Friberg is four feet from where I type this, so I can PM you his recipe if you'd prefer to use it. 

[MelissaH]

On 3/6/2018 at 10:48 AM, Kim Shook said:

Martha is hilarious - so incredibly out of touch.  This recipe came from an old issue of her “Everyday Food” magazine.  Supposedly less complicated and time consuming.  A lot of “workday” meals and some shortcuts.  This recipe calls for 3 separate preparations – cakes from scratch, making a glaze and making candied lemon slices and lemon syrup.  Admittedly, none of these steps are difficult.  But it does get a little fiddly at times.  This is certainly not a difficult cake to make, but calling it "Everyday" is a bit much.  The cakes were very, very tasty – lots of real lemon flavor.  But the texture was a bit tough. 

It's gorgeous. How critical are the lemon slices on top? Would the cake be less good without them? (Looks like a perfect place to use the slices sold at Trader Joe's, to me!)

[patris]

3 hours ago, chromedome said:

Your work flow looks good to me, though I'll emphasize that I've done similar things on only a few occasions. I would think the 18-20 hour rise in the fridge would probably be adequate even if the yeast is a bit subdued, and that it might even be a bit too long if you upped the yeast (ie, that it might overproof even at refrigerator temperature). On that particular head, I'll absolutely defer to the judgement of anyone with greater/more recent experience. 

FWIW, my similar-vintage Friberg is four feet from where I type this, so I can PM you his recipe if you'd prefer to use it. 

 

Thanks so much! I think I might know where my Friberg is but I'll let you know if I can't find it. IIRC his recipe calls for margarine instead of butter, which was the only thing that turned me off about it.

[DianaB]

On 06/03/2018 at 3:48 PM, Kim Shook said:

Made Martha Stewart’s Lemon Pound Cakes with Candied Lemon Slices:

 

Martha is hilarious - so incredibly out of touch.  This recipe came from an old issue of her “Everyday Food” magazine.  Supposedly less complicated and time consuming.  A lot of “workday” meals and some shortcuts.  This recipe calls for 3 separate preparations – cakes from scratch, making a glaze and making candied lemon slices and lemon syrup.  Admittedly, none of these steps are difficult.  But it does get a little fiddly at times.  This is certainly not a difficult cake to make, but calling it "Everyday" is a bit much.  The cakes were very, very tasty – lots of real lemon flavor.  But the texture was a bit tough. 

 

If I follow a recipe and find the outcome dry or dense I generally find that slicing it lengthways (don’t imagine either way would make much difference but length ways would preserve the appearance of something pretty like this lemon cake).  Soak the resulting cut sides with a syrup to your taste, mixed perhaps with a liqueur if that is appropriate to your diet.  Limoncello with simple syrup might have worked well in this instance.  Adds succulence and moisture in my experience when it is too late to change the main mix. Will also revive a cake of this style stored perhaps longer than ideal.

 

The cake looks beautiful and inspires me to make similar...

[Kerry Beal]

 

Anna and I found a Corsican cookbook in Homesense yesterday - I took a pic of this recipe when couldn't read it when I got home. So had to go back and buy the book.

 

 

 

 

No lemon eau de vie in the house - so used my homemade buddha's hand booze.

 

Turned on the broiler to get the top a little darker - then got distracted - so a little browner than expected. But not actually burnt.

 

Think maybe a little smaller pan next time around. 

[Kim Shook]

12 hours ago, MelissaH said:

It's gorgeous. How critical are the lemon slices on top? Would the cake be less good without them? (Looks like a perfect place to use the slices sold at Trader Joe's, to me!)

I think that the cake would be fine without them, but it would not be as good without the lemon syrup and if you are going to make the syrup, you might as well do the lemon slices.

[jmacnaughtan]

4 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

 

Anna and I found a Corsican cookbook in Homesense yesterday - I took a pic of this recipe when couldn't read it when I got home. So had to go back and buy the book.

 

That looks good, and like something I would eat far too much of.  But... what is it?  Is it a flan?  A set custard?  A horrendously failed sponge cake?

[DianaB]

Apples sliced and layered with brown sugar and a very small amount of butter.  Will be covered and baked at 90c to apparently produce apple confit that can once cool be sliced to include in other desserts or with ice cream.

 

We will see....

 

Pleased with my new dish, got 2 in glass with snap on lids that are just the right size for meals for a couple.  Mostly we end up with receptacles too large but these were a great price and made in France where they were bought so not too many transport costs.

[Kerry Beal]

5 hours ago, jmacnaughtan said:

 

That looks good, and like something I would eat far too much of.  But... what is it?  Is it a flan?  A set custard?  A horrendously failed sponge cake?

It's kind of a cheesecake I'd say. A bit wetter and less lofty than I had hoped.

 

Eggs, sugar, ricotta and booze - I guess lofty might be dreaming 

 

Edited March 9, 2018 by Kerry Beal (log)

[DianaB]

On 17/07/2017 at 11:10 PM, Captain said:

I've been thinking about this for a while now and after a busy working week and weekend I really had to make the effort Sunday afternoon.

My ambition was to make a Baked Cheese cake that was light & not to sweet.

"Nice & light & not to sweet" where the comments from the family. 

 

I realise this is going back a bit but I have dreamt of making a cheesecake like this for decades.  Berries optional but the cake itself appears identical to that sold in a deli in the town where I grew up.  Saturday was market day in our town and on rare occasions my father and I would visit the market, just us, a treat because he was often away for work.  On the best of those days we would stop at the deli on the way home and he would buy me a slice of that cheesecake.

 

The nearest I have found in adult life was in a deli known as La Boutique Jaune in Paris.  That is a tiny shop always packed with customers and I have never felt it appropriate to discuss the recipe due to the crowd waiting to be served.

 

Can anyone point me in the direction of a similar recipe?  I did PM @Captain but recognise that we don’t all have time to scan messages. .  All contributions will be very welcomed.

 

[jmacnaughtan]

54 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

It's kind of a cheesecake I'd say. A bit wetter and less lofty than I had hoped.

 

Eggs, sugar, ricotta and booze - I guess lofty might be dreaming 

 

 

 

Hmmm.  Maybe whipping the egg whites separately could help with that.

 

Or the usual: more booze.

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, jmacnaughtan said:

 

Hmmm.  Maybe whipping the egg whites separately could help with that.

 

Or the usual: more booze.

Indeed!

[Trufflenaut]

Having a bit of fun....

 

Caramels soft-panned in toffee, then covered in chocolate:

 

 

I made two different batches to try out two different methods, and totally in a rush so neither are fully set, but so far both are tasty - I’ll give a report on which is better once the shells have time to fully set (assuming the toffee shells will fully crystallize under the chocolate)

 

[Anna N]

Over here  I, like many reviewers, took exception to the marketing failure to mention that Elizabeth Pruett’s book Tartine Everyday contained many recipes that were designed to be gluten-free.  Aside from any other considerations, gluten-free ingredients are often quite expensive. But having purchased the book, thank goodness at a bargain basement price,  I was willing to give some of these gluten-free recipes an opportunity to prove themselves.

 

 There is someone in my family who chooses to limit gluten in her diet. 

 

 And so I attempted the gluten-free brownies from the book. 

 

 

 This is they.  To me they were greasy, had a weird texture and an unpleasant aftertaste and I considered them a failure. 

 

 But since the flour  in most brownie recipes is minimal I also decided to replace the all-purpose flour in a favourite brownie recipe with the sorghum flour and potato starch from Pruitt‘s recipe without making any other changes. 

 

 I was sure I had taken a photograph but apparently not.  To me these brownies were a huge improvement over the ones from the book. 

 

 I sent both sets of brownies over to the someone who is practising gluten freedom (absolutely not someone who is coeliac!). 

 

 To my surprise she liked the ones from the book best. I will soon pick myself up off the floor. 

 

 

 

[kayb]

I have attempted a number of gluten-free breads and sweets, as I have a daughter who has celiac disease. I've never been impressed with any of them. I did find one muffin/quickbread recipe that was not abominable, if you ate them while they were warm. Reheating did not work.

[Anna N]

Just now, kayb said:

I have attempted a number of gluten-free breads and sweets, as I have a daughter who has celiac disease. I've never been impressed with any of them. I did find one muffin/quickbread recipe that was not abominable, if you ate them while they were warm. Reheating did not work.

 Exactly. I have tried quite a number of breads and other stuff and most of them are gross. I think brownies are much easier to convert than most things because the flour is such a minimal percentage of all the ingredients and any aftertaste or off taste is adequately covered by the chocolate. 

[kayb]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

 Exactly. I have tried quite a number of breads and other stuff and most of them are gross. I think brownies are much easier to convert than most things because the flour is such a minimal percentage of all the ingredients and any aftertaste or off taste is adequately covered by the chocolate. 

 

It's not so much an aftertaste, or flavor at all, thing for me as it is a texture thing. I've never found a gluten-free baked good yet that had a texture worth a diddly-damn.

[MelissaH]

Elizabeth Prueitt is gluten-intolerant. Even though that might not be widely known, I'm surprised that those who market her book didn't choose to advertise that this book goes down that path, as there are many who would buy it simply because it's a book with GF recipes.

 

A good friend has celiac disease, and has chosen to keep her house and her daughters free of gluten. Because her celiac wasn't diagnosed until she was in her mid-thirties, she wound up with a laundry list of other food intolerances, including soy, dairy, and eggs. We visited a couple of months ago, and she made a delectable coffee cake from an old family recipe, using a butter substitute that she can eat, flax-based egg substitute, and King Arthur's GF flour. If I hadn't known it was free of all the good stuff, I wouldn't have known anything was different, at least on the day it was baked.

[gulfporter]

Made a batch of Browned Butter Cardamom cookies.  My whole house smells amazing.  Again, it was a special "find" at the Organic Market in town.  Getting to be my go-to place.