What are You Baking the Week of July 30, 2017?

[BakerAunt]

Tonight I am baking hot cross buns with blueberries that we picked on Friday.

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[Italiancook]

Sunday afternoon I baked a banana cake with peanut butter frosting. I used KAF recipe for banana cupcakes, but followed their directions for turning it into an 8" cake. It is good, but I prefer this recipe as cupcakes.

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook: Do you prefer it as cupcakes because of the texture?

[Italiancook]

As cupcakes, this recipe makes a good-sized cupcake. As cake, the layers are thin. The cake has the peanut butter filling between the layers and on top. I didn't frost the sides. With the cake, there's so much of the frosting that it's difficult to taste the banana flavor. The cupcakes have a much better banana taste, because they don't have as much frosting. The banana taste is good, so I prefer this recipe as cupcakes.

[Joan Simpson]

Baked some chocolate chip cookie bars today was good and stayed soft,called for 2 cups of chocolate chips and I used one and half cups and that was a little too much for me,baked in 9x13 pan.I found some seven grain cereal to use for some bread will be doing that soon.Not a lot of baking here cause it's so dang hot.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks, Italian Cook for the additional analysis. I've often thought that some recipes work better as cupcakes than as cakes, and that some cake recipes would not make the best cupcakes.

[Mike Nolan]

I made hoagie rolls today in preparation for tomorrow's meals. I forgot to put the butter in the dough, it was still in the microwave. I hadn't use the sandwich roll pan in a while and probably didn't oil it enough, the rolls stuck badly to the perforations in the pan, but I was able to get them off without too much damage.

[BevM]

Yesterday, even though it was too hot to bake, I made the Clonmel Double Crusty Bread with substitutions suggested by BakerAunt (omitted the vinegar and used half water/half buttermilk). I used my bread machine for mixing and kneading but only made half the recipe since I am cooking for one. I made a freeform loaf since it didn't appear to fit in either the 9x5 or 8x4 loaf pan. It was one of the best loaves of bread I have made in a long time. The crumb is so nice and the egg wash made a gorgeous golden brown crust. I will be using it for sandwiches and toast.

[BakerAunt]

I'm glad that the buttermilk version came out well for you Bev. I'm planning on baking this bread again soon.

Tonight I fed my sourdough starter that I brought from Texas two weeks ago in its own little ice chest. I meant to do a feeding sooner, but it has been hectic. It perked right up. I used the discard to make dough for a single recipe of my Sourdough Cheese Crackers. I usually make a double recipe, but I worried that it might stress the starter by using too much of it at once. I did unpack my stand mixer and use it. I will bake the crackers on Friday. I think that that the dough benefits from a couple days rest in the refrigerator.

[BakerAunt]

On Thursday morning, I tried a new recipe, "Snowdrop Brownies," a recipe by Stephanie Coon of Juneau, Alaska from the "Too Busy to Cook?" feature in Bon Appetit (March 1993), p. 126. It called for 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa. I used up some double-dutch and filled the rest of the measuring cup with Ghirardelli baking cocoa. I also added 1 tsp. espresso powder and walnuts. I baked it at the temperature given and used an 8-inch glass pan, as specified. At the end of the 25 minutes, the sides were done, but the center was clearly under baked, so I baked it another 5 minutes, and then the center looked done. However, it still sank a bit, and the sides looked a bit overdone. I'm thinking it might have baked more evenly in a 9-inch square pan. In looking closely at the picture, I now see that the center does appear to be slightly sunken. I missed it because they show some of the cut brownies on a platter--perhaps to hide the sinking. (Darn those food stylists.) We had them for dinner, and they are delicious and of a smooth consistency. I find them a bit less sweet than many brownies, and I like that. The white chocolate chips do get lost; I see them but do not really taste them.

[BevM]

Again, it was too hot to bake but since my granddaughter was coming over to help me with some things, I baked one of her favorites --- a recipe from King Arthur, Blueberry Buckle Coffeecake. It was good as usual and she took part of it home with her. I also shared some of the Clonmel bread that I baked the day before.
BakerAunt, the Snowdrop Brownies sound delicious. My family loves brownies of any kind!

[Mike Nolan]

I made chocolate souffle today, using a Mary Berry recipe. It isn't a screamingly CHOCOLATE dessert, next time I think I'd also make some kind of sauce, like an Anglaise sauce.

[skeptic7]

I did an apple pie in my favorite cast iron pan. This is a tried and true recipe for me, it doesn't look pretty but is always well received. I also did a zuchinni cornbread, that started with an all corn Southern cornbread, but substitued grated zuchinni for the buttermilk. This was made for a vegan friend who was going to be at the same party. I was surprised at how willing other people were to eat it. I thought that Fran who combines raw food veganism with a desire to avoid gluten would be the only person to like it. I think that the whole gluten free fad is silly, especially for people who not only aren't allergic but genuinely like bagels.
I also did a whole wheat rosemary focaccio which was boring but useful. Its been too hot to do much baking in general, but last weekend was fairly pleasant.

[Mike Nolan]

Today I made donut muffins/holes and a batch of Pao de Queijo (gluten-free Brazilian Cheese Rolls)

The donut muffins/holes are mostly road food for my son and his family, they leave for home Saturday morning.

[BakerAunt]

I baked my Oat-Cinnamon Scones Friday evening for breakfast over the next few days. I only remembered the cinnamon chips after the dough was together, so I mixed them in as best I could. As an experiment, I used 2/3 pastry flour and 1/3 whole wheat pastry flour.

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