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

[David Ross]

1 minute ago, Darienne said:

We have two rhubarb patches just to the west of the farm.  I cannot imagine how old they are...how far back they go.  The house is far more than 100 years old.  How long can a rhubarb patch last?

 

I'm not sure how long they can go but it's long.  When I was a teenager I went to work for an older lady who had a small horse farm east of Salem, Oregon where we lived.  It was set on a hill and there was a long white picket fence running on the north side.  The weather isn't overly harsh there and the fence row got sun all day and wasn't protected from rain by trees.  She had some rhubarb plants along the fence row and one of my jobs was to cut it for her every spring.  Huge stalks of bright red rhubarb.  I think it was there before she moved in and she lived there about 10 years and it was still there.  I think one of her secrets was to fertilize it with horse manure which gave it plenty of nutrients to keep going on.

[Shelby]

I love rhubarb.  I have some in the freezer that I've been hoarding.  My mom gave it to me--she picked it fresh from where she lives.  I need to thaw it out and make a cobbler, David, you have me craving it now  

[David Ross]

1 hour ago, Shelby said:

I love rhubarb.  I have some in the freezer that I've been hoarding.  My mom gave it to me--she picked it fresh from where she lives.  I need to thaw it out and make a cobbler, David, you have me craving it now  

This is my recipe for rhubarb chutney.  Although I serve it with lamb and turkey, I can squeeze it into this discussion about daily sweets because it's delicious to go on any sweetbread that you make.  It's also good to serve as a topping for pie. Think of a spiced, thick jam.

 

Rhubarb Chutney-

2 cups chopped rhubarb

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup golden raisins

1 tbsp. currants

1 tbsp. minced fresh ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp. salt

 

Heat a large saucepot over medium-high heat and add the sugar, brown sugar and apple cider vinegar. Stir and cook until the mixture starts to simmer. Add the onions, raisins, currants, ginger and spices. Stir the chutney as it cooks, about 15-20 minutes. The chutney will start to thicken and the rhubarb will cook down. Add water if the chutney is too thick. Season the chutney with salt and let cool.

 

When the chutney is cool, place in a container and cover and refrigerate. The chutney will go two weeks in the fridge or can be frozen.

 

Here is a cropped photo of the rhubarb chutney.  I'll post the full photo, with lamb and asparagus, over in the dinner thread.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Great, now I'm craving rhubarb.

[pastrygirl]

Yesterday’s special order tiramisu for a graduation party. 

 

[lemniscate]

Hand pies made from fresh picked peaches.  Various sizes and various browning due to homemade-ness.  All butter pie crust and topped with sparkling sugar crystals I found way back in the pantry.

Edited June 8, 2019 by lemniscate (log)

[Kim Shook]

6 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

Yesterday’s special order tiramisu for a graduation party. 

 

I don't care for the taste of coffee, but that is absolutely GORGEOUS!!!

[RWood]

Finally, after a few years of trying to get to it, the Death Star cake for my friend Sandie is finally done! 

She didn't need a lot of cake, so I made the bottom with a half sphere of styrofoam, and the top is chocolate Stout cake with ganache and white chocolate buttercream.

[ElsieD]

@RWood  Amazing.

[Kim Shook]

6 hours ago, RWood said:

Finally, after a few years of trying to get to it, the Death Star cake for my friend Sandie is finally done! 

She didn't need a lot of cake, so I made the bottom with a half sphere of styrofoam, and the top is chocolate Stout cake with ganache and white chocolate buttercream.

I believe that I've said before that we need a "WOW" response button.  Just freaking incredible.  I am in awe.

[teonzo]

I bow to the Jedi master!!!

 

 

 

Teo

 

[mariesdoats]

On 6/4/2019 at 9:50 AM, ElsieD said:

 

...toasted sugar.  I was not particularly impressed with it the first time I made it 

I love Stella’s recipes, so also tried making toasted sugar too, with a bit of a ‘meh’ reaction— a lot of oven time for a disappearingly small impact; however, as time has gone on and I’ve had this big batch already prepped, I now give two-thumbs-up for the taste of Stella’s toasted suger in any simple, elegant custard, pudding, or ‘creameux’. The caramelly tones shine in something simple and wholesome, made with just fresh milk and eggs.

Edited June 9, 2019 by mariesdoats (log)

[mariesdoats]

This week, as we approach the end-of-year for the academic year, we had many celebrations and thank-you parties for students and volunteers, where—-for a change— we work to thank them for the year of volunteering. I’ll post some of my contributions.

 

1

Ottolenghi ‘Sweet’ - the pistachio meringue roulade with raspberries for a co-worker’s birthday

 

2

Ottolenghi ‘Sweet’ - lemon raspberry cupcakes; guiness chocolate cake (Irish Car Bomb - style) cupcakes with espresso buttercream w/ Bailey’s Irish Cream. (sorry, gotten eaten too fast by students before I had time for a snapshot of the full tray— only a few leftovers saved at home survived).

 

3

Ottolenghi ‘Sweet’ -  Persian Love Cakes (GF)

 

4

for my own students, I hosted a Saturday @home lunch in my backyard garden with a surprisingly light Shrimp Cojita Enchiladas w/green chili sauce (Bon Appetit, a few years back), followed by David Lebovitz’ Salted Caramel Ice Cream and Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream. Photo of spectacular bloom of Flowering Cereus in our backyard added just for fun. Oh.My.God— only lasts 12 hours (twilight > dawn), but: wow. We’ve never had more than 1-3 blossoms before and are not sure what to make of this. Maybe the deluge of May rains? (it rarely *cough: never* rains in this part of CA this late in the year).

 

Edited June 9, 2019 by mariesdoats (log)

[ElsieD]

25 minutes ago, mariesdoats said:

I love Stella’s recipes, so also tried making toasted sugar too, with a bit of a ‘meh’ reaction— a lot of oven time for a disappearingly small impact; however, as time has gone on and I’ve had this big batch already prepped, I now give two-thumbs-up for the taste of Stella’s toasted suger in any simple, elegant custard, pudding, or ‘creameux’. The caramelly tones shine in something simple and wholesome, made with just fresh milk and eggs.

 

 

I used my first little batch in some butter tart muffins.  The caramel taste of the toasted sugar did not come through at all although that may be an unfair judgement because I didn't think much of the muffins either.  My thinking is the same as yours that it would be good in a custard type of dish.  I'm going to keep it on hand but I'll be making it using the one-cup-at-a-time method.   It's painless that way.

[Kerry Beal]

Here's about a weeks worth of on and off time in the oven. 

 

[ElsieD]

@Kerry Beal  what do you use yours for?

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

@Kerry Beal  what do you use yours for?

Nothing yet

[ElsieD]

20 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Nothing yet

Oh.

[Rajala]

I made this a few days ago. Apricot, tonka, anise and some lavendel.

 

[Kerry Beal]

So here is what I made with the toasted sugar - Roasted-Buckwheat Custards

 

 

Roasted Buckwheat obtained at Korean store yesterday.

 

 

Custards cooked for 40 minutes steam at 190º F in CSO.

 

 

 

 

I think these would be just as nice with 10% cream instead of 35%. 

 

Once of the added bonuses is the 'cooks treat' roasted buckwheat that has soaked in the cream then been strained. It's like a puffed rice cereal - a little of the toasted sugar on it - yum!

[blue_dolphin]

Peanut Butter Paprika Cookies from Sister Pie. Recipe available online here and in several other places.

There's smoked paprika in the dough and a smoked paprika/sugar/salt sprinkle on top. 

Edited to add that these are a bit less than half the size the recipe uses.  They're still about 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter.  

Edited June 12, 2019 by blue_dolphin (log)

[Darienne]

40 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Peanut Butter Paprika Cookies from Sister Pie. Recipe available online here and in several other places.

 

There's smoked paprika in the dough and a smoked paprika/sugar/salt sprinkle on top. 

Edited to add that these are a bit less than half the size the recipe uses.  They're still about 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter.  

 

I might just have to try these.  Smoked paprika with peanut butter is beyond my ken.   I looked them up online to see what else I could find out about the combination and David Lebovitz loved them also.  I up for them for sure.  

 

BD, you don't say how you or the family liked them...

[blue_dolphin]

59 minutes ago, Darienne said:

I might just have to try these.  Smoked paprika with peanut butter is beyond my ken.   I looked them up online to see what else I could find out about the combination and David Lebovitz loved them also.  I up for them for sure.  

 

BD, you don't say how you or the family liked them...

 

I liked them.  The large flakes of Maldon salt I used in the sugar/salt/paprika sprinkle were too much salt for me, on top of what's already in the dough.  I made a half batch of these and only baked half of that so I'll adjust that when I bake the rest. 

Due in part to the way the book lists the ingredients and in part to my own inability to read directions carefully, I put extra smoked paprika in the dough and I'd do that again.  I think 1T would be good for a full batch.

I noticed that David Lebovitz mentions using chipotle as an alternate to smoked paprika and I think that would be fun to play with, too.  

[ElsieD]

3 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

So here is what I made with the toasted sugar - Roasted-Buckwheat Custards

 

 

Roasted Buckwheat obtained at Korean store yesterday.

 

 

Custards cooked for 40 minutes steam at 190º F in CSO.

 

 

 

 

I think these would be just as nice with 10% cream instead of 35%. 

 

Once of the added bonuses is the 'cooks treat' roasted buckwheat that has soaked in the cream then been strained. It's like a puffed rice cereal - a little of the toasted sugar on it - yum!

 

That looks.........interesting.   Do you think using the toasted sugar has any effect on the flavour?  I now have a Mason jar full but gave yet to make anything with it.

[Kerry Beal]

I suspect it does - sprinkled on the cooks treat it was definitely caramelly