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

[oli]

On 6/30/2017 at 1:02 PM, rarerollingobject said:

 

For the alcohol, or the cakes? You realize I don't eat the cakes by myself, right?  

For the cake.  I thought, since your cutting, you must partake. To be so talented, you practice quite a bit and have to do tasting of everything you do.

Edited July 2, 2017 by oli (log)

[jmacnaughtan]

19 hours ago, shain said:

Kaisermann. Fluffy, soft and hot with plenty of vanilla. Plum sauce.

Just curious- how many portions are on this plate?  If it's just one, I'm impressed.

[Tri2Cook]

1 hour ago, ChocoMom said:

@Thanks for the Crepes   Thank you!   The disaster portion of the project is covered in icing ... but prior to the magical application of buttercream, two of the layers broke, leading to a slow landslide type movement after assembly.  Driving from the house down to the pavilion - 3 miles -  really did it in. With every little bump we drove over, the whole thing began leaning forwards, and the caterer rescued it by tilting the cake stand backwards so it wouldn't collapse.   I was relieved it stayed put until dessert time.

It happens. I had a wedding cake to do when I was still catering where the bride wanted a tall, multi-tiered cake with buttercream only, no fondant, in August. She wanted it all white, white buttercream with white pearl beading. No piping, flowers or other décor... so there was nothing to hide disasters with. I fought hard to convince her to allow fondant that could then be removed at serving time if desired. Nope. As anybody who's done wedding cakes (or wedding anything) knows, convincing the bride she doesn't want what she thinks she wants is third in difficulty only behind arguing with the mother-of-the-bride and the best-friend-of-the-bride. It survived much better than I predicted it would but it was still not a cake I was proud to display. It also helped finalize my long-considered decision to implement a firm No Wedding Cakes policy.

[Tri2Cook]

1 hour ago, oli said:

For the cake.  I thought, since your cutting, you must partake. To be so talented, you practice quite a bit and have to do tasting of everything you do.

 

You took the long way around to make that compliment but I think, based on her post, that is the colleague she mentioned cutting the cake.

Edited July 2, 2017 by Tri2Cook (log)

[shain]

2 hours ago, jmacnaughtan said:

Just curious- how many portions are on this plate?  If it's just one, I'm impressed.

 

Actually it is one portion, but the picture is misleading, the plate is not larger than 20cm. I made 4 servings, each one contained a single egg and 30g of flour. (not that I couldn't have eaten more ) 

[rarerollingobject]

12 hours ago, oli said:

For the cake.  I thought, since your cutting, you must partake. To be so talented, you practice quite a bit and have to do tasting of everything you do.

 

 

Aha. No, that's not me - that's my colleague, the birthday girl. Imagine someone who looks the exact diametrical opposite - very, very short black spiky hair, skin pale as paper, masses of eyeliner, rotund in the all the wrong places - THAT'S me.

 

Anyway, today's effort: because it's Monday and I bloody LOVE Mondays (not kidding, not sarcastic) - ginger and pear cupcakes. But not just any old ginger and pear cupcakes! These have a base of Fever Tree ginger beer (the gingeriest I've ever found) reduced to an intense syrup, chopped candied stem ginger, crystallised ginger, dried powdered ginger and grated fresh ginger.

 

And roasted pear that I then pureed in pear nectar, a dash of Poire William eau de vie, and freeze-dried pear and mascarpone buttercream topped with candied pear wafers.

 

I'm very into improving my baking to make ingredients/flavours (the ginger, the pear) taste the most OF themselves that I possibly can without being overwhelming, and layering them in texture and intensity so you hopefully go, "Wow, I have never tasted anything more pear-y. Even the last pear I ate was not as pear-y as this."

 

(See also: that time I spent 2 days pureeing and reducing a whole watermelon, injecting fresh slices of another watermelon with the resulting watermelon reduction, and vacuum packing the lot overnight to produce a watermelon slice that SLAMMED YOU IN YOUR MOTHERFLIPPING FACE with watermelon.)

 

Edited July 3, 2017 by rarerollingobject (log)

[kayb]

I would have liked to have tried that watermelon.

 

[jmacnaughtan]

5 hours ago, rarerollingobject said:

 

I'm very into improving my baking to make ingredients/flavours (the ginger, the pear) taste the most OF themselves that I possibly can without being overwhelming, and layering them in texture and intensity so you hopefully go, "Wow, I have never tasted anything more pear-y. Even the last pear I ate was not as pear-y as this."

 

(See also: that time I spent 2 days pureeing and reducing a whole watermelon, injecting fresh slices of another watermelon with the resulting watermelon reduction, and vacuum packing the lot overnight to produce a watermelon slice that SLAMMED YOU IN YOUR MOTHERFLIPPING FACE with watermelon.)

 

 

Interesting.  I used to do that a lot, until I realised that what I really wanted wasn't actually a dessert that tasted (for example) like a really intense pear, lemon or piece of chocolate (because I can get that by eating a properly ripened pear or a piece of good chocolate, and lemon on its own is not great), but rather one that tasted like a really good pear, lemon or chocolate dessert.  

 

I get more pleasure out of harmonising these flavour elements with sugar, fat, starch, etc. now than going to great lengths to amplify them.

[rarerollingobject]

2 hours ago, jmacnaughtan said:

 

Interesting.  I used to do that a lot, until I realised that what I really wanted wasn't actually a dessert that tasted (for example) like a really intense pear, lemon or piece of chocolate (because I can get that by eating a properly ripened pear or a piece of good chocolate, and lemon on its own is not great), but rather one that tasted like a really good pear, lemon or chocolate dessert.  

 

I get more pleasure out of harmonising these flavour elements with sugar, fat, starch, etc. now than going to great lengths to amplify them.

 

It might be because I (medically) have no sense of smell; I'm always looking for more intensity of flavour, perhaps to compensate. Lemon things never taste

lemony enough to me; if a recipe says 1 tablespoon of ginger, I want 9 tablespoons, etc.

 

Your instinct is probably the hallmark of a more nuanced cook; I just want more. MORE. 

Edited July 3, 2017 by rarerollingobject (log)

[jmacnaughtan]

28 minutes ago, rarerollingobject said:

 

It might be because I (medically) have no sense of smell; I'm always looking for more intensity of flavour, perhaps to compensate. Lemon things never taste

lemony enough to me; if a recipe says 1 tablespoon of ginger, I want 9 tablespoons, etc.

 

Your instinct is probably the hallmark of a more nuanced cook; I just want more. MORE. 

 

 

Ah, I understand.  I used to be the same, looking for extremely big flavours.  

 

I think it's partly food TV that's put me off - TV chefs and critics always wanting to be punched in the face with flavours.

 

I think I just don't enjoy being punched in the face any more...

[Jim D.]

8 hours ago, rarerollingobject said:

I'm very into improving my baking to make ingredients/flavours (the ginger, the pear) taste the most OF themselves that I possibly can without being overwhelming....

 

You express this much better (and more vividly) than I do, but that is more or less my goal in devising fruit fillings for chocolates, a substance, of course, that presents serious challenges since it overwhelms any flavors that are inclined to timidity. With some, like peach and blueberry, I have reluctantly given up the fight. With pear, however, I did not and found that making my own purée by simply reducing ripe pears and straining, then mixing in puréed dried pears made all the difference. I make pâte de fruit with it and add a layer of complementary almond filling flavored with poire Williams and a little more pear purée (idea courtesy of  @Kerry Beal). I use the dried fruit addition in apricot and cherry pâte de fruit as well. Kate Weiser is a chocolatier who achieves remarkable flavors in her fruit fillings.

 

Thanks for your inspiration.

[patris]

Every 4th of July a friend hosts an all-day, all-night pool party/food and drink fest, with a bonfire before the fireworks display. It's a pot luck sort of thing and we all try to outdo our previous year's effort. This year I put together a little s'mores bar for the bonfire, which I hope has a little something for everyone:

 

 

 

Marshmallows in ultra vanilla (lots of vanilla bean paste added to the sugar syrup), white peach, raspberry, and brown sugar espresso; graham crackers (Smitten Kitchen's recipe), some sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and some not; and three kinds of chocolate bars, made with the help of the EZTemper: milk, dark, and caramelized white. Enough to feed an army and then some.

[Shelby]

17 minutes ago, patris said:

Every 4th of July a friend hosts an all-day, all-night pool party/food and drink fest, with a bonfire before the fireworks display. It's a pot luck sort of thing and we all try to outdo our previous year's effort. This year I put together a little s'mores bar for the bonfire, which I hope has a little something for everyone:

 

 

 

Marshmallows in ultra vanilla (lots of vanilla bean paste added to the sugar syrup), white peach, raspberry, and brown sugar espresso; graham crackers (Smitten Kitchen's recipe), some sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and some not; and three kinds of chocolate bars, made with the help of the EZTemper: milk, dark, and caramelized white. Enough to feed an army and then some.

OMG this is AWESOME!!!!

[Anna N]

Wow @patris.   You do like to pull out all the stops.  Hope you have a great time at the party. 

[blue_dolphin]

Faced with those marvelous ingredients, I would have to try EVERY combination of s'mores!

[patris]

Quality control is my number one priority, which Is why I can say with some confidence that white peach and caramelized white chocolate is an excellent combination.

[Anna N]

2 minutes ago, patris said:

Quality control is my number one priority, which Is why I can say with some confidence that white peach and caramelized white chocolate is an excellent combination.

QC is SO important. 

[patris]

Just now, Anna N said:

QC is SO important. 

 

I would never serve other people way too much of anything I wouldn't eat way too much of myself!

[jmacnaughtan]

9 minutes ago, patris said:

 

I would never serve other people way too much of anything I wouldn't eat way too much of myself!

 

That sounds like a tattoo if ever I heard one.  

 

Or an epitaph.

[Kasia]

Strawberry cake with blancmange - last weekend kitchen activity - recipe here on eGullet

 

Edited July 4, 2017 by Kasia (log)

[ElainaA]

This is very simple compared to the postings here ! Today I picked cherries- both sweet and tart - for jam. And as usual I picked much more than I needed. (If you have never picked cherries, i recommend it. It is one of the loveliest experiences, especially with the tart cherries. On a sunny day (as today was) the sun comes through the tree leaves and the small, red , translucent balls just glow. It is so beautiful. That is probably why I always end up with three times as much as I intended.)

So a sour cherry cake.

[shain]

Kugel with sour cream and ricotta. The dry pasta was toasted before cooking for more nutty flavor. Chopped toasted almonds and ground apricot kernels. Amaretto, brown sugar, vanilla. Topped with nectarines and peaches, more almonds, nutmeg and some brown sugar for extra crisp.

[Kasia]

Cheesecake muffins

 

Today, after an especially brave meeting with a nurse, as a reward I prepared some cheesecake muffins for my son. I used silicon pastry cases. The muffins look beautiful and the fresh strawberries and peppermint leaves make them even more special, so every gourmand will be delighted with them. I will tell you in secret that it is difficult to eat only one cheesecake:)

 

 

 

 

[shain]

Coconut rose water rice balls. Sushi rice cooked with coconut milk, flavored  with rose water and cardamon. Topped with chopped toasted pistachios.

[curls]

New recipe from a friend of mine. She calls it a blueberry flan -- it is a cross between a pie and a tart. I wonder if at some point this recipe used fewer blueberries and called for being baked in a flan pan. It most definitely is not what I think of as a flan but it is very tasty.