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

[Shelby]

Kim, you did awesome!  No way could I have gotten all of that done.  I'm exhausted just looking at it.  I'm going for a nap.

[ElsieD]

53 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

The recipe is here.  It is for the 1 lb. loaf.  The source has scaled up amounts for 1 1/2 and 2 lb. loaves.  Not sure if would be ok to post a picture of that page here, so I've sent it to you in a PM.  

 

Thanks for that.  I remember buying something like it in a grocery store, I think it was called tutti frutti bread or some such thing.  I haven't seen it in ages and I used to really like it so I've copied the recipe into my recipe files.

[Darienne]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

 

Thanks for that.  I remember buying something like it in a grocery store, I think it was called tutti frutti bread or some such thing.  I haven't seen it in ages and I used to really like it so I've copied the recipe into my recipe files.

I have Kim's recipe on the go as we speak.

[kayb]

Lovely work, Kim. Were I in Richmond on Christmas Eve, I'd be attempting to cadge an invitation.

[Kim Shook]

9 minutes ago, kayb said:

Lovely work, Kim. Were I in Richmond on Christmas Eve, I'd be attempting to cadge an invitation.

You have a standing invitation.  All eG'ers do!

[demiglace]

12 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

My Christmas goodies were made over the month of December – mostly from the middle of the month.  I was very, very late this year – worse than I have ever been.  Most years I have almost everything in the freezer by the beginning of the month.  The Christmas Eve goodie buffet:

 

Sugar cookies.  Including Jessica’s shot reindeer and Mr. Kim’s zombie gingerbread man and snowman:

 

I have a weird family. 

 

 

PB cookies, ginger cookies (store bought), and chocolate chunk shortbread cookies (a big thank you to @jedovaty for sending me the recipe for these – they were a huge hit):

 

Mincemeat tarts (store bought) and Lemon chess tarts:

 

Chocolate fudge:

 

Reeses cup fudge:

 

Iced almonds, peanut brittle, sponge candy, and pretzel turtles:

 

Happy Accident Candy:

This is all of the leftover crumbs and shards from making the sponge candy mixed up with some melted chocolate. 

 

The toffee this year was my greatest success ever.  @Darienne gave me her recipe a few years ago and it is delicious, but I had a large learning curve getting the chocolate to stick – I finally figured it out, but haven’t managed @Darienne's feat of a chocolate coating on both sides.  Thank you from me and from every single person who tasted this, @Darienne!  Unbroken (the moment before disaster or success):

 

Success – hardly ANY chocolate loss:

Look how nice and thick it turned out:

 

Toffee (again), happy accident candy and GF cookies:

That sweet tray that the candy is on is no more☹️.  Mr. Kim was washing it and it just fell apart in his hands and cut him fairly badly.  He waited a couple of days before going to the doctor and they said they would have probably stitched it had he come in immediately. 

 

Not on the goodie bar, but gifts that I made for a few folks – Holiday bread with candied fruit and walnuts:

All of the loaves were that dark on the bottom and sides – and that was the lightest setting.  I’ve put a new bread machine on my wishlist.  I love using the bread machine and I think mine is almost 30 years old – time it retired.  But the insides were lovely and made good toast:

 

I also made classic Ranch spiced oyster crackers:

Everyone laughs when they see this stuff and remembers it from the 1980’s, but then they grab handfuls and scarf them down!

 

It all looks so good Kim. Congrats on pulling it off!

[shain]

Pistachio custard. Mulberry and yogurt sauce, flavored with rose water. I wanted too include pomegranate seeds, but forgot.

 

[Matthew.Taylor]

First time I’ve made this!

Buche de Noel!

 

[Kim Shook]

Bravo, @Matthew.Taylor!  That is just lovely.  Can't believe it's a first effort.  Impressive!

[Kim Shook]

Apple & Cranberry Galette for a birthday on Mr. Kim's staff:

 

It was very well received!  

 

I do have a question.  The apples aren't brushed with anything - the crumble topping is just scattered on.  I'd prefer the apples to be not quite so starkly white.  Would a glaze of apple jelly color them a little?  

Edited January 16, 2020 by Kim Shook (log)

[oli]

11 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

Apple & Cranberry Galette for a birthday on Mr. Kim's staff:

 

It was very well received!  

 

I do have a question.  The apples aren't brushed with anything - the crumble topping is just scattered on.  I'd prefer the apples to be not quite so starkly white.  Would a glaze of apple jelly color them a little?  

 

 

Or apricot jam, my favourite for brushing on baked goodies.

[shain]

Persimmon and orange crumble. 

 

 

[shain]

Basbousa, with semolina, coconut, pistachios and walnuts. Flavored with orange zest, orange blossom water, cardamom, clove.

 

 

[Smithy]

7 hours ago, shain said:

Basbousa, with semolina, coconut, pistachios and walnuts. Flavored with orange zest, orange blossom water, cardamom, clove.

 

 

 

I never liked shredded coconut before I tried basbousa in Egypt. It was a revelation to me that shredded coconut could be moist and tasty, and not overpower all the other flavors. Your basbousa looks delicious!

[Darienne]

4 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

I never liked shredded coconut before I tried basbousa in Egypt. It was a revelation to me that shredded coconut could be moist and tasty, and not overpower all the other flavors. Your basbousa looks delicious!

Interesting thought, Smithy.  I don't like shredded coconut much either and I've certainly never had basbousa nor been to Egypt.    Perhaps I should try one or the other.  

[heidih]

4 minutes ago, Darienne said:

Interesting thought, Smithy.  I don't like shredded coconut much either and I've certainly never had basbousa nor been to Egypt.    Perhaps I should try one or the other.  

 

In my experience the shredded coconut in the baking aisle in the Us is thin, chewy strands and too sweet. I prefer using the one that is shredded and unsweetened.

[Smithy]

@Darienne, I recommend both.

 

@heidih, I think you nailed my biggest objection. I have had coconut flakes that weren't objectionable, and I think it was because they were unsweetened. Still can't stand the shredded stuff from most grocery stores, nor candy bars nor cookies containing them. Anyone eating a Mounds bar or a macaroon is safe from me!

[shain]

I'm also sometimes adverse to shredded coconut, though I do like them in basbousa and macaroons. In cakes and other dishes that call for it, I often give the shreds a pass through the blender.

I never saw the sweetened kind, so I can't compare.

[Kim Shook]

I adore coconut in all it's forms.  It is genetic, I think - my dad (81 years old in a week) still tells the story of getting a spanking after being found (tattled on by his twin, actually) standing over a giant bowl of freshly grated coconut with both hands and his mouth full of the lovely stuff!  I like the sweetened for eating by itself or for coconut cake.  I really do not like the sweetened on shrimp.  But, honestly, there's not much I find wrong with coconut in any form.  

[blue_dolphin]

These are Chocolate-Espresso Revel Bars from Shauna Sever's Midwest Made

 

Chocolate Revel Bars are apparently something of a classic Better Homes & Gardens recipe though I had never heard of them.  Basically 2/3 of an oatmeal cookie-type dough is pressed into a 9 x 13" pan, topped with a chocolate layer of melted semi-sweet chips + sweetened condensed milk (which must be cloyingly sweet) followed by the rest of the dough to partly cover the chocolate.  This version adds some chocolate chips to the bottom dough, uses a bittersweet chocolate ganache for the chocolate layer and adds espresso powder to both the dough and ganache.  I had no chocolate chips so I chopped up a bar of the Valrhona 85% cacao dark bitter chocolate that I also used for the ganache.  

I gotta get these out of the house and soon!

[Anna N]

9 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

These are Chocolate-Espresso Revel Bars from Shauna Sever's Midwest Made

How difficult was it to cut these into reasonably neat portions? Looks like it would meet my meeting snack requirements quite nicely. 

[blue_dolphin]

9 minutes ago, Anna N said:

How difficult was it to cut these into reasonably neat portions? Looks like it would meet my meeting snack requirements quite nicely. 

 

I put them in the fridge for an hour or two before slicing as the recipe suggested.  They were firm enough to need a sharp knife but not gooey or messy to slice.  I trimmed off the very outer edges because I thought they looked dry but they are actually just pleasantly chewy. 

If I'd measured and marked, I could have done a better job but here they are in their box, ready to go to the library:

[Desiderio]

Pain au chocolat for the weekend. Fun experimenting with a new recipe from Savour. I need to work on it, I always have limited time and space. I am ready to retire so I have time to play!

In general I like to make Italian style croissants (cornetti) because I find croissants not flavorful enough. 

Sadly I haven't had the chance to try them yet because my gallbladder is acting up, so this is on the no no list 😑

Edited January 29, 2020 by Desiderio (log)

[kayb]

Those are gorgeous.

 

[rotuts]

@Desiderio 

 

is that chocolate on the top ?

 

if so , was there any inside ?

 

and what keep the chocolate from melting and sliding off ?

 

best looking PaC Ive ever seen

 

and Im a bit of a connoisseur  of the PaC

 

if i say so myself.