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baking for 200


cjs

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I am currently working in an institutional setting and I need to bake simple things for 200 teenagers. I'm thinking sheet cake type recipes..........carrot cake, spice, chocolate, banana bread. I have gone online to look, but am having no luck. I'm not much of a baker and I am leary about increasing recipes.

any help would be appreciated.

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I would suggest brownies made on sheet pans. Then you can ice them and cut them up aftewards.

thanks.............thats actually the one recipe I have, although they do come out a bit too dry.

I need a source for recipes. a book or a web site site...........?????

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Try reducing your baking time to decrease the dryness. Brownies are just setting up when they should be taken out of the oven. Are you baking in small batches or do you have access to large sheet pans? You could do sheet pan cheesecake, but that's not too economical of a recipe. What about doing a huge batch of cookies? Chocolate chip, oatmeal etc would be recipes that you could multiply without any worries.

Don't waste your time or time will waste you - Muse

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You don't at all need a book or web site for increasing your recipes. You can double most any basic cake recipe and bake it in a sheet pan. Exceptions to this would be cakes made with separated eggs, if you're not a baker, I would stay away from those until you get some more experience.

Gingerbread is popular with kids, also if you make a white sheet cake, take out a little of the batter and mix some cocoa into it and swirl it in to make a marble cake - kids love that. Oatmeal or zucchini cake dusted with a little confectioners' sugar would be easy and the kids wouldn't be bouncing off the walls from a lot of sugar-filled frosting all afternoon.

You can sprinkle a little brown sugar on top of some of the cakes before baking to reduce the need for frosting.

You can also decrease the flour in recipes like chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies, and add an egg or two, and bake them as bars. Be sure not to overbake them, or they will be crunchy and crumbly. Kids love these things. Here's a recipe for chocolate chip bars from the book "Chewy Cookies" (it's my book, so I'm not violating copyright) that you can double, triple, or quadruple if you have a 20-quart mixer. You can also replace half of the flour with whole wheat or a combination of whole wheat with a little oatmeal:

Butterscotch Bars

1-3/4 cups brown sugar, firmly packed

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, preferably unbleached

2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

2 ounces real semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat a conventional oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with foil and brush it with softened butter.

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, mix the brown sugar and baking soda for about 20 seconds, until evenly combined. Add the butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat for about 2 minutes, until the mixture is light in color and smooth. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula and add the flour, walnuts, and chips. Beat on low speed for 20 seconds, until the mixture is evenly blended. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to be sure the dough is evenly mixed.

Spread into the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, reversing the baking pan halfway through the baking time. The top will be lightly browned. Remove the pan from the oven and set it on a wire rack to cool.

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And if you make chocolate chip or oatmeal cookie bars, you can replace half of the white flour with whole wheat and they'll never know the difference.

Good luck! I love that you are thinking about baking these things from scratch and not using chemical-filled mixes for the kids.

Best,

Eileen

edited by eileen to add the recipe. and to add the recipe name.

Edited by etalanian (log)

Eileen Talanian

HowThe Cookie Crumbles.com

HomemadeGourmetMarshmallows.com

As for butter versus margarine, I trust cows more than chemists. ~Joan Gussow

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try to find a copy of a pastry and baking book like wayne Gisslen's "Professional Baking" The recipes are geared towards being scaled to suit. Also, look for recipies that are written as percentages by weight of flour.....or in the case of some cakes, butter. These make it easier to scale your recipies correctly for the number of people you are cooking for. As for things 200 teenagers will like (at least I like): Cupcakes are always nice, as is banana bread...same thing goes for muffins.

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Here's a recipe for chocolate chip bars from the book "Chewy Cookies" (it's my book, so I'm not violating copyright) that you can double, triple, or quadruple if you have a 20-quart mixer.

Since you mentioned this book I just have to say, I love this book. A friend let me borrow it about 1 1/2 years ago when he knew I was really into baking and said he'd made some great cookies from it. I was searching for the perfect chewy chocolate chip cookie. Suggestions and recipes in your book led me to it. I also love the macaroons. The bit of flour adds the slight chewiness that I love in a macaroon. (Of course, I like the American style.) The book is and older copy, paper back, dog-eared and stained. I've now seen the Big Cookies book and have been eyeing that and it's on my list for my next trip to the bookstore.

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Kids love pizza. So try a dessert pizza. It starts out with a very large sugar cookie. This could be made from scratch or from prepackaged dough baked in a 1/2 or full sheet pan. The cookie is then frosted with a mixture of 2 parts cream cheese to one part of kool whip (for example 2 pounds of cream cheese to one part of kool whip). Then arrange a variety of fresh fruits in a pattern across the top. Seasonal fruits could be used. Canned could be used in a pinch especially if color is needed. Be creative with the design. You can also glaze the fruit for a very eye catching look. I have used this very easy dessert for large groups on several occasions and it always seems to disappear quickly. Enjoy, Fred

Fred Rowe

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So I learned 2 things today. Don't over fill the baking sheets (which are 17"x24") and don't try to ice the cakes while they are still warm..................doh! icing everywhere..........*sigh* live and learn. A baker I am NOT.

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One of my favorite sites eventhough im a professional is www.allrecipies.com. You can increase/decrease the recipe to the size you want (aka if you have more people or are using a different size baking dish). This site also lets users rate the recipies and all the recipes were posted by home bakers/cooks.

I would also suggest you pick up a professional baking book such as The Baking and Pastry book by the CIA. Its not full of recipies like a cookbook would be, but youll find lots of basic recipes that are made for large scale baking. The only downfall is that they are professional recipies (but they are written in home baker language) and you have to use a scale to weigh out the ingriendients.

Good luck. If there teens anything you make will be a hit.

How about a basic icecream cake that you make on a sheet?

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Here's two possible ideas for you.

Plop a scoop of cake batter into a flat bottom ice cream cone --ice them (hands work great for this) and before the icing sets up dunk them in some sprinkles of some kind. Cute cute special not too difficult.

Oh yeah, the other one is, if you are getting bolder and more advanced in your baking skills and doing individual sugar cookies, you take some of the batter, thin it with water or milk to piping consistency and pipe any mesage you want on the cookies before baking. Smiley face, A+, a heart or whatever you might want to pipe. Or if you purchase cookie dough you can do this also.

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Made carrot cake today.

It turned out awesome!!! and I increased a recipe I found on-line by way alot and it still worked out. Lucky me.

I'm dealing with recipes where the flour measurment alone is aprox. 12lbs.

Think I'm over my baking fear. Thanks for all the suggestions people................:)

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