"Baking With Julia" by Julia Child (2004)

[SethG]

Mmmm ... those ka'kat look good, SethG and brngckn. Maybe I'll try them with some ground fennel seed instead of the mahleb, what do you think?

I think that would taste great. Or you could top with poppy seeds instead of sesame, or any number of things.

[mdt]

Those ka'kat look good. Since I did not find any mahleb I ended up making some cibatta, from the Italian Baker for Easter dinner. Turned out very well and was rather easy to make.

[iguana]

I've been enjoying this thread very much, but I'm a little behind the program! Here is my mixed starter bread, shaped into epis. Many thanks to whomever referenced the King Arthur Flour directions for shaping these-- it's much easier than it seemed.

[sooozi]

Hello. I'm attending a B&P Program at CIA. I highly recommend that you buy, or check out from your local library, The Professional Pastry Chef and The Bread Builders. Both books are "must haves" books to learn about starters, yeasts, flours, breads, etc. Good luck and happy baking.

[Dahomechef]

Iguana, your epis are lovely. I'm glad the instructions helped you, and I say this as someone who has tried these twice and not done as well as you have.

[SethG]

Thanks for the advice, Soozi, and welcome to eGullet.

And epis too are always welcome. I need to make some more of those.

I've heard no proposals for this weekend. What about Rhubarb Upside-Down Cakes (page 244)? Rhubarb season is upon us, and these can be baked as mini-cakes, in muffin tins or as a big cake in a cast iron skillet (which is what I would do). We haven't done many of the cakes. Any interest?

Edited April 14, 2004 by SethG (log)

[iguana]

Dahomechef, thank you for the kind words on my epis! I will get more practice, as I am making them for a dinner party in a couple of weeks. That shape really maximizes the crust.

Seth, I am interested in the rhubarb cakes, as my rhubarb is coming up like crazy. I meant to make strawberry-rhubarb pie this weekend, but the iggies and I just ate the strawberries instead.

[mdt]

I'm in! The rhubarb upside down cakes sound great! Of course I still need to make the ka'kat that I did not have time for last weekend.

[Dahomechef]

The rhubarb in the markets looks great. Let's do it!

[Rhea_S]

I haven't had time to participate the last couple of weeks and definitely out this weekend but have fun the rest of you talented people. I love rhubarb.

[brngckn]

I love rhubarb, but I will be freezing my tuckus off in Fargo this weekend. Can't wait to see some pics.

[kitwilliams]

Woo hoo! I'm in this week as I finally have a free Saturday and am in town. And I adore rhubarb (the forced rhubarb in the UK a couple of weeks ago was amazing. I haven't seen anything like it in So Cal).

I love the rusticity of the cast iron skillet cake so will do that version.

Can't wait! Perhaps I won't.

[arbuclo]

Hmmm, I might catch up on some of the other stuff I missed instead of doing the rhubarb cake. Not sure I can find much rhubarb here (Australia) at the moment, but I'll see. I've been so looking forward to being able to bake again this weekend since I haven't been around for a few weeks!

[Ling]

I've been making pies all week--I haven't had time to do the ka'kats yet! I will do them next week, plus the rhubarb cake. I've never cooked rhubard either!

[SethG]

I'll go you one better, Ling. I'm not sure I've ever even tasted rhubarb, much less cooked with it. I know it resembles stalks of swiss chard without leaves. That's all I know.

If I like the cake, a strawberry/rhubarb pie will surely be in order soon.

And pardon me, arbuclo, for my provincialism! I should have said rhubarb is in season where I live, in the United States! It's hard to cook seasonally when your group spans the globe, isn't it?

[arbuclo]

SethG, you didn't hurt my feelings! I did look at the recipe last night an noticed they gave a load of suggested other fruit ideas. I may try the recipe after all.

Last night I made the pizza dough. I think if I make the recipe again I'd make 4 pizzas out of the dough so that I get a nice thin crust. Tasted wonderful, though.

I was going to do some mixed starter bread this weekend but don't have time. I've put the walnut sized piece of dough from the pizza recipe in the freezer. Hopefully that'll work for my mixed starter. If it does I think I'll have a few of those in the freezer for future use in mixed starter. Anyone have any thoughts on whether that's a good idea or not?

[foodie3]

frozen pieces of dough work very well for me, i have several in the freezer at all times. since my house is quite cold, i double the times for rising, start late in the evenining and make it as a 3 day bread.

[arbuclo]

foodie3, thanks! I'm gonna do what you do because it would sure be handy to have the first dough easily at hand!

[SethG]

Funny, I defrosted pizza dough on Thursday-- this was from the time a few weeks ago when we made the mixed starter bread as a group. And I took a half ounce piece off and tried to make some more mixed starter bread. And it totally failed. By the second stage of the process, it just didn't rise and it had an off odor. I think I might have overheated it, but I don't think I got it hot enough to kill the yeast. Is there a limit to how long the yeast will be effective in the freezer? I know people keep sourdough starters frozen for several months and are able to revive them....

So here's my upside-down rhubarb cake. Is this one for the ugly desserts thread? It looks borderline disgusting in the photo, but in real life it wasn't quite so ugly:

Did I do this wrong? Is it supposed to look this way? Actually, when you cut out a piece it looks just fine. I used my 12 inch cast-iron skillet, and I think it would have been better in a smaller pan. The layer of cake would have been thicker. Maybe I didn't combine the ingredients gently enough to ensure the proper rise.

The butter cake tastes great, and the rhubarb/sugar layer is tasty as well. When I was cutting up the rhubarb, I was skeptical. The vegetable seemed like the illicit stepchild of a bunch of celery and some radishes. But once it was cooked in the cake, the flavor was quite tame and familiar. This is really just a slightly more refined version of your mother's pineapple upside-down cake.

[mdt]

I made the small versions of the cakes and they looked just like your Seth. We now know why they did not have a picture of this specific cake in the book!

They tasted good and I served them topped with whipped cream to which I added a bit of marscapone. Yum!

[iguana]

I made the baby-cake version in muffin tins. Like you all said, it came out a bit messy-- more suited to a family dessert than a fancy dinner party. That said, the contrast between the tart rhubarb and the buttery cake with crispy edges made for a delicious dessert, especially with a generous glob of whipped cream.

"Typical best" cakes:

[eatmorepesto]

I needed to take a dessert to a get together this weekend, so I made the Hungarian Shortbread from Baking with Julia. It has a layer of rhubarb jam between two layers of shortbread dough that have been grated into the pan. It was easy, but I was a little disappointed. The flavor was good, but the consistency wasn't good. It was gooey, and I expected it to be more firm. I baked it at least 10 minutes longer than the recipe called for, and it was nicely browned, but I think the problem was the recipe for the rhubarb jam called for water. I think it was too wet. If I were to make this again, I would make the rhubarb jam firmer. Today, a day and a half later, the leftovers were better than they were yesterday. The recipe called for a pound of butter, I hate to think of how many calories I've consumed. I took pictures, but ImageGullet won't let me post.

[Rushina]

I would very much like to share in this experiance. I used to bake a lot before i got married, I was almost as good at making cakes as my mom but have lost the knack for it.

I have this ambition to make bread whick is a disaster every time round, my husband says i should give up but I dont want to.

I should be able to get the current book here as well as the ingrediants and I do have a very small oven now that is hotter on one side than the other but I think it ought to be fun...

Is it too late to come on board???

Rushina

[Rhea_S]

Never too late. We're all just having fun and sharing our experiences, so people are free to jump in and jump off at any time. Welcome Rushina and pretty soon you'll be making terrific bread. Ask SethG, it's only been a few weeks and he's done very well.

[Ling]

Here are my ka'kats. I liked the crispy bottoms the best.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid1...3f/f8f0c2a8.jpg

I will make the rhubarb cakes sometime this week too.

Edited April 20, 2004 by Ling (log)