"Baking: From My Home to Yours" (Part 1)

[SweetSide]

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I want to try the translucent maple tuiles, they look so delicate and delicious. But I have a general question (no laughing) -- how do they bake with that lacey, honeycomb pattern? I was surprised to read your recipe and see that, well, they just sort of get like that on their own steam (so to speak), I imagined some sort of complicated, time consuming process.  Is there a simple explanation? 

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Non-technical terms -- they melt, spread out, bubble around, and make their own lace. The bubbles make the thin sections. Watch them do their thing when you make them!

[cakewalk]

Thanks, SweetSide, that does make sense. And I will watch them as they bake! (Reminds me of something I haven't thought of since I was a kid -- the commercials on TV for Pillsbury cookies and dinner rolls, on TV they would show a speeded up version of these things baking and rising in the oven, and I always loved to watch that happen; so now I'll watch it in slow motion in my own kitchen.)

[Marlene]

I've reviewed this thread and I don't think this has been asked yet. I just got Dorie's book today. Now, many of you know that I'm extremely biscuit challenged, but I'm being encouraged to try Dorie's recipe in the book. Dorie says that the biscuits can be made ahead and frozen, then baked. I have two questions:

1. Does freezing them before baking change the texture in any way?

2. If I make them ahead the same day, can I just refridgerate them instead of freezing before baking that night?

[prasantrin]

I've reviewed this thread and I don't think this has been asked yet.  I just got Dorie's book today.   

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This won't answer your question, but...

you got the book? In Canada? Did you get it from Amazon or Costco? I'm going home for Christmas, and I'm planning on bringing this book back with me!

[Marlene]

I've reviewed this thread and I don't think this has been asked yet.  I just got Dorie's book today.   

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This won't answer your question, but...

you got the book? In Canada? Did you get it from Amazon or Costco? I'm going home for Christmas, and I'm planning on bringing this book back with me!

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I got it at Chapters actually. I ordered it online and it was here in a couple of days, even though the website said it wasn't available yet.

[FoodMan]

Speaking of biscuits, I made the Sour Cream Pecan Biscuits for breakfast a couple of days ago. You'll notice we are not big milk and cereal people in my household, so breakfast breads are a favorite of ours. Dorie thankfully seems to share that passion and has quiet a selection of lovely breakfast treats.

These biscuits to say it bluntly are phenomenal! They are absolutly amazing with a fluffy interior, a slightly crusty exterior and the best pecan flavor throughout. I had the last of them last night, that's about 2 days after baking. After a quick trip in the toaster it was still delicious on its own.

Peach and pecans are a match made in heaven so it was natural to serve these with good butter and some homemade peach preserves.

random thought about biscuits: I always make my biscuits using all butter and sometimes lard. Dorie also likes butter in the biscuits as well. Shortening, IMHO, makes for a nice fluffy biscuit, but it's flavor to me is just bordering on nasty/bland/dead and I can taste it in my mouth long after the biscuit is consumed. I've pretty much phased out using shortning in any form of cooking, I only use it currently to sometimes season my cast iron skillets.

[SweetSide]

Made the World Peace Cookies yesterday... No pictures as they are gone already. We may not have world peace, but we have household peace. Great cookie!

[Patrick S]

I made the rum-soaked vanilla cakes, minus the rum soak. These cakes are fantastic -- exactly would pound cake should be like.

[Jean Blanchard]

Patrick, I can't tell you how excited I get every time I see that you've posted again! Your pictures make me drool. Why didn't you do the rum soak?

Jean

[Dorie Greenspan]

As always, Ellie and Patrick your pictures are terrific! Patrick, is that natural light on the vanilla cake or do you light the food? It's so appealing.

Marlene, you shouldn't lose the biscuits' basic texture if you freeze them. However, I don't think you should refrigerate the biscuits and then bake them. I say this without ever having tried it, but it seems to me that the baking powder would lose some of its ooomph if it cooled down slowly in the fridge. If you decide to refrigerate then bake the biscuits, I hope you'll let us know how it works.

[FoodMan]

As always, Ellie and Patrick your pictures are terrific! Patrick, is that natural light on the vanilla cake or do you light the food?  It's so appealing.

Marlene, you shouldn't lose the biscuits' basic texture if you freeze them.  However, I don't think you should refrigerate the biscuits and then bake them.  I say this without ever having tried it, but it seems to me that the baking powder would lose some of its ooomph if it cooled down slowly in the fridge.  If you decide to refrigerate then bake the biscuits, I hope you'll let us know how it works.

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Actually most of the time I prepare and cut the biscuits and put them on the baking sheet the night before I want them for breakfast and put the whole thing in the fridge. I never noticed any difference in texture, they come out just fine. I do that mainly because I do not want to mess with a whole lot of stuff early in the morning right before heading to work. All I want to do is pop them in the oven!

[Marlene]

As always, Ellie and Patrick your pictures are terrific! Patrick, is that natural light on the vanilla cake or do you light the food?  It's so appealing.

Marlene, you shouldn't lose the biscuits' basic texture if you freeze them.  However, I don't think you should refrigerate the biscuits and then bake them.  I say this without ever having tried it, but it seems to me that the baking powder would lose some of its ooomph if it cooled down slowly in the fridge.  If you decide to refrigerate then bake the biscuits, I hope you'll let us know how it works.

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Thanks Dorie! I ended up making them today so I did stick them in the freezer for tomorrow. Elie, I'll try sticking them in the fridge next weekend for our Thanksgiving and see if I can tell the difference.

[Lori in PA]

I made another round of the Brown Sugar-Pecan Shortbread, a batch of Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread, and another of Chunky Oatmeal and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chipsters. Some of the shortbread accompanied us on a day in Washington, DC and was just what was needed -- packable and the perfect pick-me-up mid-morning with a cup of coffee while we watched the zoo elephants getting their pedicures and as a nibbly sweet after lunch. We raced home to find a bunch of teens waiting on our porch, ready to begin a weekly Bible study. The Peanut Butter/Oatmeal/Chip cookies were also ready and waiting. As many of you know, teens will devour just about anything, so that isn't necessarily an indicator of a great cookie, but I pronounce them very good.

Again, I had issues with cookie beauty with the shortbreads, but I'm pleased to say my drop cookies were the "thickest" I've ever made -- cooling those baking sheets between batches may be the ticket. Thanks, Dorie.

[Patrick S]

Patrick,  I can't tell you how excited I get every time I see that you've posted again!  Your pictures make me drool.  Why didn't you do the rum soak? 

Jean

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Thanks, Jean! I skipped the rum syrup as a concession to the Little One, who loves pound cake but is not fond of rum.

[Patrick S]

As always, Ellie and Patrick your pictures are terrific! Patrick, is that natural light on the vanilla cake or do you light the food?  It's so appealing.

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The photo of the cake in the pan was taken using a simple tungsten light. The photo of the sliced cake was taken using a hotshoe-mounted flash -- the flash head was pointed about 90 degrees to the right and bounced off of a reflector.

[SondraG]

I was thrilled to find this book at Costco, snapped it up, and have made the Peanut Butter cookies so far. No pics, sorry, but they are the quintessential peanut butter cookie. Beautiful instructions.

The double apple cake is next on my list. Hope to do this weekend.

I SO love this thread.

[Patrick S]

I mad the oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip cookies the other day, and they turned out great. If you can't decide between oatmeal, peanut butter, or chocolate chip cookie, these are a perfect compromise.

Flickr images:

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[KMPickard]

My copy arrived just in time for me to nab the very last of the fresh corn for the corniest corn muffins.

I could tell, as I mixed the batter, that things were coming together well. The muffins baked up with a nice firm crumb but were surprisingly light, almost delicate. I had expected them to be on the heavy side considering the corn kernals, but not so. And the aroma was wonderful - it brought the last of summer into the kitchen on a dark rainy day.

One was not enough. We each ate two, dripping with butter.

The diet can wait.

Kathy

PS: My husband said "make sure that you thank Dorie". So, thank you, Dorie.

[Marlene]

So I made the basic biscuit recipe from Dorie's book. I used buttermilk and added the baking soda as directed. I didn't have any parchment, so I used my silipat and I froze them.

After baking:

They were good. They were damn good. They're the best biscuits I've ever made. But I don't think they rose to the fluffy biscuit height that I've seen others achieve. I worked the butter in with my fingers, and I had all the requisite chunks and pebbles. I think I did everything right. So I'm thinking maybe I patted the dough out too thin to begin with?

[Pat W]

So I made the basic biscuit recipe from Dorie's book. 

They were good.  They were damn good.  They're the best biscuits I've ever made. 

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Oh dear, I find myself seduced once again by an eGullet thread. I just placed my order on Amazon. Those biscuits may not be as high as you had hoped, but between your photos and your description, there is no doubt that I'll be dreaming about them tonight... along with the world Peace cookies and anything Patrick has ever photographed.

I can't wait to jump in.

pat w.

[tamiam]

This Saturday it was Cornmeal Maple Biscuits (hope I got the name right). Another winner from this book. I had them made by the time the oven heated up.

[rjwong]

While many, including myself, are vicariously & literally enjoying Dorie's baking recipes in the other discussion thread, I do have a general question related to the publication of the book for Dorie:

Dorie, are there any plans to have book signings and/or baking demonstrations featuring your new book, "Baking: from my home to yours"?

Personally, I wouldn't mind if someone, like a food magazine, would host a book signing/baking demo event in, say, the Los Angeles area, for example ... hint, hint ...

[Anna N]

I rarely bake. I don't even want to bake but you are all making me lust after this darn book. Stop it!

[Patricia Austin]

I've been following this thread with happiness and received my copy of Dorie's new book on Friday. I made the chocolate chip cookies. (I don't have the book in front of me but I believe it said "my best chocolate chip cookies". Sorry, no photo options). Like many bakers, I too have tried a bazillion CCC recipes and these are my new favorite: exactly as described with crispy, buttery edges and softer centers, very yummy and a nice slight wrinkle/dimple factor after cooling from the oven. Thanks Dorie!

Patricia

[Dorie Greenspan]

In answer to rjwong's question about booksignings, I'm going to be in a bunch of cities doing various signings and events (including Los Angeles on November 19 and 20 -- I think). As soon as I've got my schedule straightened out, I'll post it because I would LOVE to meet my fellow egulleters.