What are You Baking the Week of November 12, 2017?

[BakerAunt]

This afternoon, I baked my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from the dough I made on Sunday. I decided to "dock" them--sticking them all over with a fork--before brushing them with the grapeseed oil, salting them, and cutting them. It was easier (dough did not pull up when I was pricking it), and they seem to have baked better. It also helped that I discovered that my oven is now 50F hotter than the setting indicates, rather than 25F.

In the evening, I baked a new recipe, Chai Butternut Squash Bundt Cake, from Bake from Scratch 2.4 (Fall 2016), pp. 59-60. Instead of grinding up a tablespoon of loose Chai Tea, I used KAF Chai Spice--5 grams as called for with the loose tea. I substituted in whole wheat pastry flour for 20% of the AP flour. The recipe called for a 10-cup Bundt pan, but my pan was actually a bit small for that much batter, and the cake rose above the sides. It did not test done at an hour, so I baked it another 10 minutes. I cooled it for 15 minutes, rather than the stated 10 minutes, on the rack, before inverting it onto the rack. I suppose the pan was ok after all. The cake definitely filled it.

Here is a link to the recipe: https://www.bakefromscratch.com/chai-butternut-squash-bundt-cake/

I'll report tomorrow on taste and texture.

[RiversideLen]

Today I made some mini spice cakes. This was my first attempt at piping.

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[Mike Nolan]

Much better than my first attempts at piping, which, fortunately, were not documented.

At a guess you were going too slow. You probably need to squeeze harder and go faster.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks for sharing your picture Riverside Len! That gives me encouragement to try some piping.

Tonight I made the KAF Ultra-Thin Crust Pizza.

I was going to add a note about the Chai Butternut Squash Bundt Cake on my previous post, but the edit button appears to be gone from it, so I will add it here: It is an absolutely wonderful cake, and I will be baking it again. It is not overly dense, and that cream cheese layer inside is wonderful to see as well as taste. I did not make the walnut sauce; it does not need it.

The Bundt pan I used is the Vintage Star, a 10 cup pan.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 5 months ago by BakerAunt.

[Joan Simpson]

Those look nice Riverside Len!

[Italiancook]

RiversideLen, your piping looks good to me. I've never piped. I think it's great that you're doing that.

This morning, I baked KAF "Onion Buns." Mine do not look like the ones in the recipe photo. This was my first time making buns, and I've never made cinnamon rolls. I think my mistake was in how I placed the buns on the parchment. The recipe doesn't say this, but I think I was supposed to place the buns cut-side up on the pan. Instead, I placed them seam-side down, which meant the cut sides were facing sideways. I have buns, though. They smell like they'll taste good with ham and Swiss cheese for lunch. We rarely eat deli-filled sandwiches, but I'm going to have to try these again to see if my theory is accurate.

[RiversideLen]

Italiancook, those look real interesting, I may give them a try. If I'm understanding you right, they should be placed cut side up on the parchment. You can see from the pic on KAF the seams are on the side, the same way as if you were making cinnamon buns, if you were to make them.

[Italiancook]

RiversideLen, I'm pretty sure they're supposed to go cut-side up, which would make the seam on the side. You'll notice in the picture that they have a cute, layered finish. By putting the seam side down -- cut ends were the sides, I ended up with buns that were shaped like you'd buy in the store . . . with a solid top, not a cute, layered top. So I'm fairly certain they're supposed to go cut-side up on the parchment. Hope I'm not leading you astray.

Even though the appearance of mine wasn't like the KAF photo, they taste good, and the onion flavor comes through. I used more than 3 tablespoons of dried minced onion to cover the dough.

I should warn you: Some reviewers complained that the buns were too brown or burnt with the stated cooking range. So I cooked mine for 18 minutes and found the tops quite brown. I had used the egg white/water. Mine are pretty with the extra brownness, but any longer in the oven and I would have had burnt product.

For my taste, they're too sweet when used for a ham & Swiss sandwich. Next time, I'm going to reduce the sugar to 1 or 2 tablespoons. But when I tasted one plain, I didn't detect the sugar, just the delicious onion flavor.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 5 months ago by Italiancook.

[BevM]

This afternoon I baked chocolate chip cookies by an old recipe I've had since the 70's. These are for my son who is coming in from North Carolina for Thanksgiving and are one of his favorites.

[BakerAunt]

Saturday evening, I tried an experiment with my springerle pumpkin mold. I had made springerle once years ago, and maybe it was the recipe, or maybe it was my technique, but I did not care for them and have not tried baking them again. I did try the KAF Springerle Shortbread recipe a couple of years ago, but the taste and texture made them a so-so cookie for me.

I decided to try making a brown sugar shortbread. I looked at the KAF recipe, then I googled brown sugar shortbread recipes. I ended up using 1 Cup of salted butter, 1/2 Cup light brown sugar, 2 Tbs. regular sugar, and 2 1/4 cups bleached flour. After making a smooth dough, I rolled it to 1/4 inch, but that was not deep enough, so I added another 1/8 inch. Once the mold is pushed down, the cookie is probably about 1/4-inch thick. I also used a copper pumpkin cut-out cookie cutter that is designed to go around the pumpkin springerle mold, so that the cookie has crisp edges.

I baked these on parchment at 325F for 35 minutes--checking at 25 minutes and 30 minutes. The design came out pretty well on about half of them, as I got better at it as I went along. I would still like a little more clarity on the design. Taste and texture is good (as of next morning.) However, I think that they might need 1/2 tsp. of vanilla next time.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 5 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 5 months ago by BakerAunt.

[oldelady]

Baker Aunt, Could you please describe how you cut up and roast butternut squash or send a link from here that covers it? Thanks in advance and anyone else who wants to chime in please do so.

[BakerAunt]

Hello, Ole Lady. I will do a special entry under cooking about Butternut Squash, so that it will be easy to find.

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