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

[jedovaty]

4 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

So, does anyone have ideas about why @jedovaty's cookies are greasy despite changing the amounts of butter and/or flour?  I’m at a loss.

 

To be clear, it's only with the JT recipe I have this issue.  I'm going to try to make them one more time, and if they don't work out, I'll post up as a separate topic so I don't end up derailing this one

 

Also.. maybe the baking soda thing is the reason why you don't like CCCs very much?!  I would guess doubling the baking soda could lead to a slightly off taste.

[Darienne]

59 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

SO, I just figured out that for awhile now (not sure exactly how long, but a fairly long time) what I've been using as and thought was baking powder is actually baking soda.  All my life baking soda has come in a box and baking powder in a canister.  This is a canister of baking soda.  🤪

 

What this means is the Jacques Torres cookies that I made so carefully and agonized about were made with NO baking powder and twice the amount of baking soda the recipe calls for.  And now I don't know what to think.  Why is my life like this?

 

We can but laugh.  Otherwise we'd all be in tears constantly at the chaos of our lives.

[Kim Shook]

3 minutes ago, jedovaty said:

 

To be clear, it's only with the JT recipe I have this issue.  I'm going to try to make them one more time, and if they don't work out, I'll post up as a separate topic so I don't end up derailing this one

 

Also.. maybe the baking soda thing is the reason why you don't like CCCs very much?!  I would guess doubling the baking soda could lead to a slightly off taste.

I'm sure it could, but I doubt I've ever done it before (I've always used Rumford baking powder in the past and it ONLY comes in a canister) and I actually liked these (the ones with double soda) better than any other chocolate chip cookies I've had before.  LOL

[teonzo]

4 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

So, does anyone have ideas about why @jedovaty's cookies are greasy despite changing the amounts of butter and/or flour?  I’m at a loss.

 

If one of you can write the recipe (ingredient list and passages) then we could try.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, teonzo said:

 

If one of you can write the recipe (ingredient list and passages) then we could try.

 

 

 

Teo

 

There are recipes all over out there.

 

 

Edited October 22, 2019 by Anna N
Bad link. Can’t seem to get it right (log)

[Kim Shook]

6 hours ago, teonzo said:

 

If one of you can write the recipe (ingredient list and passages) then we could try.  

 

 

 

Teo

 

Here's a link to my write up of the recipe.  It is true to the original, just reworded.  Thanks, @teonzo!  I know @jedovaty would appreciate the help.

[teonzo]

These could be some possible causes:
- oven temperature was low, meaning some butter melts out of the cookie before the egg proteins have time to set;
- the butter emulsion broke when adding the eggs, to avoid this the eggs must be at the same temperature of the butter mixture (about 68-70 F, usually you just need to pick the butter and eggs from the fridge a couple hours before making the recipe, so they have time to come to room temperature) and added in small amounts (in a small stream is the better choice), you want something that looks smooth like a mayonnaise and not grainy at all;
- dough did not rest enough time in the fridge (during this time the flours bond with butter).

 

A word about cutting chocolate. If you start from bars then you can soften them in the microwave before cutting. You put a bar on a piece of parchment paper, put in the microwave and give 30 seconds bursts at low power (200-300 W). After a bit the chocolate will start to soften (becoming a bit soft, before melting). When it's soft you pick it out of the microwave, lay it on a cutting board and cut the pieces of the dimensions you want. This way you get exact cuts without getting small pieces / powder. After that you let the chocolate harden again and you can use the chocolate pieces.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, teonzo said:

This way you get exact cuts without getting small pieces / powder. After that you let the chocolate harden again and you can use the chocolate pieces.

 

That is interesting. I will bear that in mind although at the moment I’m fortunate enough to usually get discs rather than bars. 

[shain]

The yearly honey cake.

 

 

[kayb]

That looks lovely. Just looked up the recipe. Wondering how it would adapt to muffins for Sunday morning (being the designated muffin-maker for Sunday school class...).

[shain]

1 hour ago, kayb said:

That looks lovely. Just looked up the recipe. Wondering how it would adapt to muffins for Sunday morning (being the designated muffin-maker for Sunday school class...).

 

Thanks. I forgot that I ever posted the recipe. I see no reason for it not to work. Just be careful not to overbake, it will be ready faster.

[Franci]

My kids are in this phase of tart with pastry cream and fresh fruit. They really like it. But I got bored with it, so I will experiment a few options in the next couple weeks. 

 

This is the lazy version for when I don’t want to make a pasta frolla. Crumble with pastry cream 

 

 

Edited October 25, 2019 by Franci (log)

[teonzo]

2 hours ago, Franci said:

This is the lazy version for when I don’t want to make a pasta frolla.

 

You can make a big batch of frolla (6x, 8x or more), divide it in single portions (flat discs, about 1 cm width), wrap them in cling wrap, freeze them (raw dough).

If you have a vacuum machine, you can prepare a big batch of pastry cream base: you mix yolks, sugar, starches, milk, vanilla (or whatever ingredients are called by the recipe you use), divide them in single portion in sous vide bags, seal the bags, freeze them.

When you want to prepare the crostata you just need to pick a portion of raw frolla and one of pastry cream base from the freezer, let them defrost, then roll the frolla and cook it, cook the pastry cream, assemble the crostata.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[Franci]

thank you @teonzo I usually keep some frolla in the freezer but I ran out...this crumble cake was decent but no comparison  with some good frolla. Do you have a favorite torta della nonna recipe?  I made my usual pastry cream for the above but didn’t convinced me totally being recooked. You are of the school of less yolks (or whole eggs) when baking pastry cream? 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Forgive me, I seldom read this thread.  However inspired by @Anna N and @Margaret Pilgrim…

 

 

 

Aebleskiver, Magnus Nilsson recipe from The Nordic Baking Book (p305).

 

[Anna N]

2 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Aebleskiver, Magnus Nilsson recipe from The Nordic Baking Book (p305).

They do look amazing. How were they in terms of taste? I have never tried them but I have heard from various sources  that they are not exactly exciting. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

They do look amazing. How were they in terms of taste? I have never tried them but I have heard from various sources  that they are not exactly exciting. 

 

I tested one before bed, with a bit of sugar.  (The rest of the batch is heading in with me to work.)  The Nilsson recipe has no added flavoring -- although lemon zest is optional -- only flour, milk, butter, eggs, sugar, salt, and yeast.  There is a lot of nice Maillard taste.  Remember that the whole purpose of aebleskiver is to help wash down mulled wine.

 

[Anna N]

11 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Remember that the whole purpose of aebleskiver is to help wash down mulled wine.

I had not heard that and I’m certainly not disputing it but I do believe that the name of these confections came from the apple slices that were originally a part of them. It’s interesting that there is yeast in these. I’m suspecting I will always prefer a takoyaki over these!

[teonzo]

10 hours ago, Franci said:

Do you have a favorite torta della nonna recipe?  I made my usual pastry cream for the above but didn’t convinced me totally being recooked. You are of the school of less yolks (or whole eggs) when baking pastry cream?

 

I don't have a good trusted recipe for torta della nonna, sorry. I've never been a fan of baked pastry cream, so I never tried making it at home. I never made it in a professional setting neither, since the bosses where I cooked considered it "too simple".

From my experience, you get the best results for baked pastry creams when you use a "fluid gel" recipe. Usually pastry cream is a standard gel: you cook it on the stove till gelification and you are done. When after this you bake it, you end up ruining its silky texture (this is why I never liked it). The "fluid gel" version is made using about double weight of starches, so after the stove passage you get something thick like a brick; you let it cool to fridge temperature, then run it in a food processor, similar to what you do with the fluid gels in modernist cuisine (where they gel something with agar, get a brittle gel, then run it in a food processor until they get a silky fluid gel). With this method you get a silky pastry cream that can stand baking without getting ruined in a noticeable way. Don't overmix, or you end up liquifying the pastry cream. If you try this method then use 50% corn starch and 50% rice starch, avoid wheat flour as hell.

 

I don't have my database on this laptop, so I can't copy a recipe. By memory it should be something like this (can't swear):

80 g   egg yolks
80 g   sugar
25 g   corn starch
25 g   rice starch
0.5 u  vanilla bean
500 g  milk

So medium / high amount of yolks.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

They do look amazing. How were they in terms of taste? I have never tried them but I have heard from various sources  that they are not exactly exciting. 

 

They often have a "filling" of some kind of red jam, just a teaspoon added before they are flipped.    A dusting of powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar.    Or just popped open and smeared with butter and, if you wish, jam.     If you like cake donuts you can add nutmeg to the batter; I don't.   

 

I have always found them "buttery" rather than boring,   

[Franci]

Thank you @teonzo, I admit it was it was my first time baking a tart with pastry cream but I am intrigued trying your suggestion. No, I correct myself, I made small polacche aversane with the amarene and they were spectacular, I don’t recall the taste of cooked cream butt maybe amarene make everything taste better 😁

[Matthew.Taylor]

Here’s what I made Friday. Deep dish oatmeal fudge bars.

 Tomorrow I’m making some baguettes!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

11 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

 

They often have a "filling" of some kind of red jam, just a teaspoon added before they are flipped.    A dusting of powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar.    Or just popped open and smeared with butter and, if you wish, jam.     If you like cake donuts you can add nutmeg to the batter; I don't.   

 

I have always found them "buttery" rather than boring,   

 

My tasting panel pronounced the predominant flavor to be buttery.  I was asked what kind of butter* I had used.  A friend kindly took some aebleskiver home to share with her son.

 

 

*Finlandia

http://finlandiacheese.com/deli-cheeses-and-butter/butter/

 

[Kim Shook]

I had hostess duty at coffee after church yesterday. I brought grapes, peanut brittle, and a couple of variations of a Food Network recipe for banana bread.  One with chocolate chips:

 

And the other with spiced pecans:

This is a very simple recipe, but it makes a great banana bread, with or without any additions.  The cake is tender and moist, but not wet and not heavy. 

[CatIsHungry]

I have been baking a lot - I have made several loaves of French bread - several loaves of cheesy / sundried tomato / basil bread and a few loaves of spicy cheese bread — some of this stays home - most of it is given away ... 

 

I have also been baking cakes - cookies - bar cookies - Truffles - fudge - marshmallows etc - I am testing my Christmas giveaway recipes with a still more testing to do this week and next. I am trying to make things that will “travel well” and package well 🤷🏻‍♀️

 

Oof - I am tired 😴