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

[rarerollingobject]

Cake Momo*! (Momo is one of my three dogs, a Samoyed.)

 

Momo is vanilla cake, soaked in passionfruit and yuzu syrup, filled with passionfruit curd and freeze-dried passionfruit-coated hazelnut praline.

 

(*if Momo were actually more West Highland Terrier than Samoyed, yeah yeah.)

 

[blue_dolphin]

Not sure which is cuter.....cake Momo or furry Momo....both adorable!

 

Espresso Shortbread from the Moosewood Restaurant Table cookbook.

 

[andiesenji]

On 6/10/2018 at 11:31 PM, shain said:

Sounds good, I imagine it like a crisp muffin-cookie hybrid, sounds right? 

Not a cookie. just a flatter muffin with more crust.

 

I have both the Chicago Metallic muffin top pans (2)  and the Norpro (1).

 

The only reason I have both is because I misplaced the 2 CM pans and was planning to make some muffin tops in a few days.  Amazon for some reason, could not ship a CM pan in 2 day so I ordered the Norpro.  Of course, the day the latter was going to be delivered, I found the CM pans, sandwiched between two sheet pans in the rack where I store sheet pans and similar.

They are configured just a bit different. The CM "cups" have sides that slope more, the Norpro are more straight up and down.

They do have other uses. I use them for hamburger buns,  and I use BOTH to bake English muffins in the oven.  One with the cups filled with the dough, the other inverted (greased) and the two clamped together with jumbo binder clips. They come out thicker than commercial muffins but split and toasted they are perfect.

I use the King Arthur flour recipe.

Edited June 12, 2018 by andiesenji (log)

[Shelby]

My mom is here for a few days so I made one of her favorite pies--coconut cream.  

 

 

 

[kayb]

If I come visit, will you make me one? I love coconut cream pie.

 

[Shelby]

4 minutes ago, kayb said:

If I come visit, will you make me one? I love coconut cream pie.

 

Of course   This was my first time ever making one.  I was nervous, but it turned out pretty good.  I was going to attempt meringue but it was too humid so I nixed that idea.

[kayb]

Well, it looks gorgeous. I don't like meringue. The whipped cream topping is perfect.

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I made some gingerbread yesterday. It was really good with spray whipped cream warm from the CSO. I've found that you really have to watch baked goods in the CSO because they get done quicker than in the regular big oven. I've made this gingerbread for forty years in half a dozen different ovens, but the CSO cooked it up in 10 or 15 minutes less.

 

Most of it went into the freezer for later. My recipe uses boiling water instead of milk. I also reduced the molasses a little and the sugar by almost half. He he, I also subbed veg oil for shortening because I don't eat trans fat and haven't had shortening in the house for decades. Would have used butter but I'm running low on that too. Still came out delicious.

 

I made this because I had a craving, but also because it's one of the few quick baked goods I know that can be made without milk. I do have dry skim milk in the pantry, but you know what? It's expensive and it just doesn't taste good to me even in baked goods with extra butter added. I tried the dry milk with biscuits the other day, and they were pretty disappointing.

 

My kind neighbors brought me a gallon of milk yesterday, but I'd still like to know if anyone knows other quick leavened baked goods that can be made with water instead of milk and are still good?

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

....I'd still like to know if anyone knows other quick leavened baked goods that can be made with water instead of milk and are still good?

 

This may not be what you mean by "quick leavened baked goods" but most of the recipes I've seen for fruit or vegetable  quick breads (apple, banana, carrot, zucchini, pumpkin, etc.) are made without milk and get most of their hydration from the fruits or veg, some adding water. 

 

Other quick bread recipes I make, like Irish Soda Bread, use buttermilk.  Since I read the comment below from Stella Park's Why Buttermilk Substitutes Are a Bum Deal article on Serious Eats, I've been using rather ancient buttermilk in baking with no ill effects.

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I'll offer up a bit of Kentucky-fried insight from my dad: Buttermilk doesn't spoil, it gets better. There's nothing wrong with using buttermilk well past the sell-by date; its acidic nature and complement of beneficial bacteria make buttermilk much less perishable than fresh milk. And if it gets a bit tangier over time, that's a win for most recipes.

 

If ancient buttermilk isn't your thing, there's also this suggestion from the same article which could set you up for some time if you can manage to get your hands on a container.

Quote

City slickers unconvinced by country wisdom should bear in mind that buttermilk freezes extremely well, with no loss in quality when it comes to baked goods. So use what you need, then freeze the rest in heavy-duty zip-top bags to protect against freezer burn—you can even divvy it up according to the amount of buttermilk needed for your favorite recipe(s).

 

[ElsieD]

11 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

This may not be what you mean by "quick leavened baked goods" but most of the recipes I've seen for fruit or vegetable  quick breads (apple, banana, carrot, zucchini, pumpkin, etc.) are made without milk and get most of their hydration from the fruits or veg, some adding water. 

 

Other quick bread recipes I make, like Irish Soda Bread, use buttermilk.  Since I read the comment below from Stella Park's Why Buttermilk Substitutes Are a Bum Deal article on Serious Eats, I've been using rather ancient buttermilk in baking with no ill effects.

 

If ancient buttermilk isn't your thing, there's also this suggestion from the same article which could set you up for some time if you can manage to get your hands on a container.

 

 

I freeze buttermilk all the time in 1/2 cup portions.  Works just fine.

[kayb]

7 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

I freeze buttermilk all the time in 1/2 cup portions.  Works just fine.

 

Thanks for that! I never use a whole quart of buttermilk. I'll be freezing from now on.

 

I used yogurt the other day to make blueberry muffins. I had yogurt I needed to use, and I figured it'd up the protein content of the muffins. I used a cup; my muffin recipe calls for 3/4 cup milk. Worked perfectly.

 

I also like using beer in savory quick breads. 

 

If the powdered skim milk leaves you cold, get full-fat dry milk the next time. Taste still isn't like fresh milk, but it's closer.

 

[suzilightning]

No real cooking here...I found a recipe in a magazine for a bar with nut butter, maple syrup, dried blueberries, pistachios and toasted oats.  I did chop the pistachios for John as he is dealing with some dental issues.  They are in the fridge for an hour or so then I will cut them up and individually package them for when we take off for vacation tomorrow.

[andiesenji]

On 6/13/2018 at 9:11 AM, blue_dolphin said:

Other quick bread recipes I make, like Irish Soda Bread, use buttermilk.  Since I read the comment below from Stella Park's Why Buttermilk Substitutes Are a Bum Deal article on Serious Eats, I've been using rather ancient buttermilk in baking with no ill effects.

 

If ancient buttermilk isn't your thing, there's also this suggestion from the same article which could set you up for some time if you can manage to get your hands on a container.

 

I make my own buttermilk. I do keep it in a GLASS half-gallon milk bottle.  When it gets down to the 1/4 or less mark, I will leave it and an unopened quart of whole milk (or half and half sometimes, for a richer "cultured" result)  out on the counter for about 12 hours or so.

Mix the two together and leave it out for an additional 8 to 12 hours.  Refrigerate and use as needed.  

You can do this with commercial buttermilk but you do have to keep it in a glass container with a cap that seals tightly.  

Since both Trader Joes and Whole Foods sells milk in half-gallon glass jugs, it is not difficult to obtain these.  

[trisme11]

I'm always get distracted and forget to post .  I've decided to make something every week this June. So far.. a petit gâteau , some macaron and a bundt cake I didn't get a chance to photograph

 

This is my Pineapple Upside down cake. I've never actually had it but decided to create something using the same flavors.

--Pineapple gelée,Vanilla mousse,Cherry compote,Brown sugar caramel,Cream cheese pound cake.

 

I also made macarons. Filled with a mango and passion fruit confit

[shain]

Simple yogurt cheesecake, served with granola.

The classic style of cheesecake in Israel is usually made with a lean fromage blanc style cheese (rather than the cream cheese based cakes which are more common in the US). It is light and airy, but not as creamy and rich as the cream cheese based cakes.

[Kerry Beal]

 

 

 

Strawberry rhubarb crisp baked in the CSO in my favorite little enameled pan

[patris]

I am finding every excuse lately to be in the kitchen making sweets, but sadly forgetting to photograph and post anything. This weekend I managed to get my entire act together:

 

Not the best photo, but pretzel rods wrapped in thin strips of @Kerry Beal‘s recipe from the eG Confectionery Institute and then dipped in dark, milk, and caramelized white chocolate. The ones with sprinkles are wearing a layer of Greweling’s peanut butter meltaway under the chocolate. I have to say that Kerry’s caramel recipe is utter perfection - holds its shape pretty well, is decadently stretchy, and sticks only for a moment in the teeth before dissolving completely. Plus it tastes fantastic.

 

And of course I couldn’t let the excess meltaway go to waste! Dipped in half dark/half milk. I realized that despite my cool tools - handmade dipping bowl, bespoke dipping fork and EZTemper - my hand dipping skills are abominable.

 

 

 

Last effort for the weekend was almond joy cookies from this recipe - a favorite recipe and far and away the best macaroons I have ever made. Some of these will go with me to the pottery studio on Tuesday as a pre-birthday treat for my pottery mentor and friend, and the rest will go to our monthly staff lunch along with some butterscotch blondies which I will get around to making as soon as I can find a good recipe.

 

 

Edited June 17, 2018 by patris (log)

[ChocoMom]

Dessert for Father's day ended up being a lemon curd/ pastry creme and fresh blueberry Mille-feuille, and passionfruit-blueberry sorbet on the side.  I took the pic prior to adding the sorbet, but I promise...I did put some on the plate before serving! 

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, patris said:

Last effort for the weekend was almond joy cookies from this recipe - a favorite recipe and far and away the best macaroons I have ever made. 

All your efforts look amazing but these ones really caught my eye. Bet they’d go over with the SIL’s Meeting peeps. 

[patris]

Just now, Anna N said:

All your efforts look amazing but these ones really caught my eye. Bet they’d go over with the SIL’s Meeting peeps. 

 

They are totally scrumptious. I gild the lily by sautéing the almonds in butter until the butter starts to brown, then salting them generously. They get devoured no matter where I take them.

[pjm333]

Fathers Day Cake & Lemon Meringue !

[Raamo]

It's chocolate - no it's bread.

 

It's the french lean loaf from MBread with ~10% of the flour replaced with cocoa powder.

 

In Japan we found a bakery that had savory chocolate bread, it was REALLY good, I want to figure out how to make it, this was my first attempt.

 

 

[andiesenji]

Beautiful loaf, Raamo.

After I saw this yesterday, I consulted with my friend, Ben-the-Baker, who spent a couple of years in Japan, studying their baking techniques in the early 2000s.

I asked about the savory chocolate bread.  He said that part of the flour, about 1/4 is the same roasted or toasted barley they use for mugicha, the roasted barley tea.  He said there are lots of sites online that explain how to roast the barley and it should be roasted and ground shortly before using it in baked goods because it doesn't hold that rather elusive bitter/sweet flavor for long.

He also said that besides cocoa, dark, they use espresso powder.

A small amount of rice vinegar is added to the liquid to "encourage" the yeast in heavy doughs. 

This was off the top of his head - he doesn't know exactly where his notebooks are but these are the essentials.

 

 

[pjm333]

Red Velvet !

[ElsieD]

25 minutes ago, pjm333 said:

Red Velvet !

 

I love seeing your pictures, you do such beautiful work.