I haven't any ideas on how to cut chocolate so that it does not break up, Aaron, so I'll wait and see what others say.
I baked the King Arthur Favorite Fudge Birthday Cake on Thursday for my husband's birthday on Friday. I used olive oil for 2/3 of the oil (other third was canola), and instead of King Arthur flour and cornstarch, I used Gold Medal AP flour for both. The result is a lovely, tender cake.
My husband and I discussed the glaze. While the KABC version is wonderful, it is also quite heavy on saturated fat, and there are only two of us to eat the cake. I gave him the option of a half-recipe (6-inch) cake or the glaze I used on the Valentine's cake. He chose the latter, so I increased it by a third, so that I would have enough for the center and top of the cake (no split layers). I also used buttermilk rather than regular milk. It went very well with this cake, so I will do it again. Indeed, I think that the original frosting to some extent overwhelms the cake, so that it does not get as much appreciation.
The ingredients were 2 cups of powdered sugar, which I then sifted into the bowl. 5 Tbs. + 1 tsp. double dark cocoa powder (also measured then sifted), 4 Tbs. buttermilk, and 2 tsp. of vanilla. I beat well with a hand mixer.
My only concern is that the new frosting tastes a bit strongly of the powdered sugar to me (my husband does not notice it), so I need to figure out how to neutralize that and get more of the chocolate flavor to the fore. Any ideas?
I'm not sure of all the chemistry behind the darkening of maple syrup, but I believe it is related to the development of microbes in the sap over time.
The taste of pure maple syrup varies depends on environmental factors (terroir). It depends on the soil, genetics of the trees, the weather (throughout the year and during the sugaring season), when the sap is collected during the season, and how it is processed. So the flavor will vary from producer to producer and from year to year, or even day to day in the same sugarhouse. Generally, the first few gatherings of the season will make the lightest syrup. As the season progresses, the syrup becomes darker and stronger. The appearance of leaf buds on the trees signals the end of the season, as the flavor of the syrup becomes stronger and eventually very bitter.
The issue of climate change and sugaring is not just the warming temperatures, but the need for alternating warming and freezing that makes the sap run in the trees. It can get so warm out that the sap stops running during the day. Or, sometimes, if it doesn't freeze up again in the night, the sap will run all night.
I prefer year-month-day because then the dates expressed as numbers (without the dashes) are in chronological order. That's why most computer databases store them that way, though they may have the option to display them in dd-mm-yyyy order or Mon dd, yyyy order.
Mike, that pot pie looks real nice. I've never made one.
I didn't do anything special for Pi Day this year. It's interesting, if we expressed dates like most of the rest of the world, (day/month/year) there would be no Pi Day.
I've been buying 5 pound bags of BRM white pastry flour (not the whole wheat one) at Natural Grocers, and have been satisfied with it.
It was a little dry in the center, but I had made extra gravy and just put some on top.
Village Inn used to have a decent chicken pot pie, but they 'simplified' their menu during the pandemic and that was one of the things they dropped, along with my wife's favorite waffle combination. So, we've stopped going there.
Some notes on the recipe, mainly for me to remember for next time. 🙂
I used a 9.25 inch deep dish glass pie pan.
I used 20 ounces of frozen boneless chicken breasts, diced and sauteed in butter
3 large potatoes (I actually used 4 but I think 3 would be better), diced
2 ribs of celery, diced
a handful of baby carrots, diced
about 8 ounces of frozen peas
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 cups of chicken stock (for the gravy)
1 recipe of hot water pastry (Susan Purdy's recipe, the version in the recipes section is scaled up by 50%), chilled for at least a half hour
Boil the potatoes to desired softness, save the water to add to the gravy.
Sautee the chicken in some butter (season with salt and pepper), then remove chicken and use the liquid to sautee the onions, celery and carrots until soft.
Make a roux with 3 tablespoons of butter and an equal amount of flour, then add the chicken stock and some of the potato water. Season with salt and pepper.
35 minutes in the oven at 425.
One of my best friends is in the area and will visit us tomorrow, stay overnight, then continue her trip. She cannot have dairy, so on Tuesday, I baked Honey Oatmeal Rolls, a recipe that I adapted from the King Arthur site. I used oat milk in place of the milk, and I substituted 3 Tbs. avocado oil for the butter (as I always do these days). I cut the salt to 1 tsp., the yeast down to 2 tsp., and replaced 2 cups of the AP flour with whole wheat and used bread flour for the rest. My husband and I will sample them with the stew tonight.
Thanks BA. I saw that coupon. It came the same day as my big order from Vitacost. 🙁
Of course I am running low on pastry flour...
I made chicken salad from the rotisserie chicken I picked up on Sunday. I was able to use up my dried cranberries and almost all the walnuts I had. I'm trying to use up bits and pieces and finding items that are too old to keep, so that as we move back in we won't have as much.
Of course, the project is taking longer and as of next Monday we will be nomads, spending 2 nights at friends' and then driving up to Massachusetts. I will be back on the 28th (Will will be staying up North for April) and then staying at the Inn for a night or 2 and then my friends' again for a couple of days. I should be able to sleep there by the 1st, but I won't have my kitchen. My contractor is going to put ram board on the floor in my office so the items we currently have with us can at least be in the house. Hence, the clean out - I now have all my baking supplies in one plastic box - I took all the grains out of the freezer to let them come to room temp last night.
I made chicken salad from the rotisserie chicken I picked up on Sunday. I was able to use up my dried cranberries and almost all the walnuts I had. I'm trying to use up bits and pieces and finding items that are too old to keep, so that as we move back in we won't have as much.
Of course, the project is taking longer and as of next Monday we will be nomads, spending 2 nights at friends' and then driving up to Massachusetts. I will be back on the 28th (Will will be staying up North for April) and then staying at the Inn for a night or 2 and then my friends' again for a couple of days. I should be able to sleep there by the 1st, but I won't have my kitchen. My contractor is going to put ram board on the floor in my office so the items we currently have with us can at least be in the house. Hence, the clean out - I now have all my baking supplies in one plastic box - I took all the grains out of the freezer to let them come to room temp last night.
Today is Pi day (3/14). Any pies going in the oven? I might do some kind of hot water crust meat pie (probably chicken), I haven't done one of those in a while.
Thanks BA. My parents bought some challahs (the actual plural is "challot") but most of them were made by my mom sometimes with a little help from me.
To your point about inspiring others, we're starting with a dozen to see if we can make the logistics work. But if this is successful and the delivery folks can handle it I think I can make 24 on my own provided I can find an oven to handle that. If I can inspire some people and this grows then I can rope some people to come in at 4:00 am to shape. Or if I can just convince people to make their own and make an extra loaf to give away, this will have been a success.
I want to try your oatcakes but I need to find Scottish oats. All I can find here is steel cut and rolled. I may try to order some or I could probably grind some steel cut in the blender.
Matt used spelt a lot in the bakery. For a while it was really inexpensive. He was always switching around trying to keep good flavor and margins without raising his prices.
Mike - You are right. I need an NFP. The I can buy wholesale and there are a number of places to do that around here. Back when my restaraunt friends bought bread flour for $15 for 50 lbs. they would give me bags. But now it is just too expensive.
For breakfast on Sunday, I baked Butternut Squash Crumb Muffins, a recipe from Ken Haedrich's The Harvest Baker (34-35), using a cup of the butternut squash puree I made last week. I tweaked the recipe by replacing the AP flour with white whole wheat flour and adding 2 Tbs. milk powder and 2 Tbs. flaxmeal. I cut the salt by a third and reduced the brown sugar from ¾ to 1/3 cup. I replaced the milk with buttermilk, so I reduced the 1 Tbs. of baking powder to 2 tsp., and added ¼ tsp. baking soda. I made my own crumb topping, using 5 Tbs. flour and 3 Tbs. brown sugar, ½ tsp. cinnamon, and 2 Tbs. avocado oil. I baked these as 6 large muffins, so they needed 25 minutes.
It slowed breakfast by baking on the first morning of the return to that accursed Daylight Savings Time, with which we will be stuck for nearly eight months, as we woke up at our usual time, but it was already an hour later by DST. However, I had assembled the dry ingredients the previous evening, so the preparation went faster. I was happy to have a warm, mostly nutritious muffin on a cold, snowy and rainy, March morning. My husband happily had one with his afternoon tea. He commented that their odor seemed strange, but when he bit into it, the taste is wonderful.
There's a lot of variance in food prices around the country, some of it is due to regional supplier availability, but Californians have to deal with an increasing number of regulations on food, some of which are affecting national trends.
Eggs were $1.92 a dozen at Aldi the other day, and they had a good supply of them.
It doesn't appear flour prices are going to go down much any time soon, though. Costco has 25 pound bags of Ardent Mills bleached flour for $10.99, but I think 12 pound bags of KAF AP went up a little, though they're still under $10.
I didn't look at the sugar prices at Aldi, but I did see someone loading what looked like several dozen bags of sugar into her car, along with numerous bottles of oil.
Have you checked the restaurant suppliers to see if you can place a will-call order? You may need a tax permit or NFP determination letter from the IRS.
The semolina/durum flour I have is from Azure Standard. I've made 3 batches of bread with it so far, and the last one came out pretty good, but I can still taste some bitterness from the bran. (Maybe that's like your situation with honey, I can taste it because I know it's there.)
I haven't tried their other flours yet, but I think they're mostly whole-grain flours. Their prices on rye berries and tapioca flour were both quite good. Their freight charges are much lower due to their delivery method (you pick them up at a nearby drop site, most likely a shopping center parking lot), it's about 4.5% for freight to here, and I got 40 pounds of stuff for under $5 shipping. I think to the east coast it is more like 8.5%, but that may still beat most shippers.
First, thanks for all your wise counsel and for being my sounding board as I embark down this path. I cannot tell you how much it means to me.
I made challah. Six loaves and no rolls this time. I'm getting the process down and my braiding is getting better but it is still not where I want it.
I tried raw honey from Costco to replace the local honey I use normally. It's not as good but my testers didn't notice the difference. I do but I suspect that is because I know it is different. The local stuff is four or five times as expensive and food costs start to add up. I'll need between 8-10 lbs of flour a week. Even if I buy BRM bread flour from Vitacost which has the best price around here, that's still $12 just for flour. I'll use 10-11 eggs and we all know about that. I need to setup a 501c3 and that will help me contain some of those costs.
My distribution is shaping up too. I have people who will pick up the bread at our temple and deliver it.
If you're wondering why I'm doing this with challah (aside from the obvious) is that we have some very generous bakeries here who donate day old bread. And with many of their loaves the flavor actually peaks probably 12 to 24 hours after it comes out of the oven. So day-old may actually be a better product.
But challah on Saturday is too late. So if I can get this to people before sun down Friday they can have challah for the Sabbath.
