What are you baking the week of April 1, 2018?

[Mike Nolan]

Happy Easter, everybody. Here's a thread for this week's baking.

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[BakerAunt]

Happy Easter! Also, Happy Passover to those celebrating the seven days of this holiday!

I usually bake THE Lamb Cake, but I cannot locate the container with the mold.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.

[Joan Simpson]

Happy Easter!

[skeptic7]

On Easter, I did my last and best batch of Hot Cross Buns. This is a large recipe from New York Times Heritage cookbook and I normally reserve it for Easter Weekend. This took forever to rise so it was baked in the evening. I also did a Ham and Cheese Pie, being inspired by the Italian Easter Pie, but I put in cabbage and onions to make it more of a balanced meal. This didn't turn out badly but it was a little bland, I wish I had put more strong cheese to give it a richer flavor.
On Saturday I did Hot Cross Scones, which were Scones with Hot cross bun flavoring and fruit. I wanted to bake something for a friend that could be baked quickly.

[aaronatthedoublef]

It's Passover and I had a temple meeting last night so I mad coconut macaroons. The recipe is from p. 300 of the big KAF baking book. They are just meringues with a bunch of coconut thrown in. And they take way less time to bake. I have not made them in quite some time and they needed to be baked more. But most people have only had the ones from a can so their standards are low and everyone thought they were great.

We made matzah pizza which is just what it sounds like. But instead of shredding cheese I slice it thin, put it down first and put the sauce on the cheese to keep the matzah from getting too soggy. Also I've discovered that if making peanut butter and jelly on matzah it's best to put a little peanut butter on each piece of matzah and then put the jelly on the peanut butter so it does not go through the holes. It only took me 50 years to figure out that one!

If anyone is interested in the obscure and convoluted dietary rules of Passover I found an interesting website here that does a good job of explaining.

[Mike Nolan]

When I was at Northwestern, one of the local pizza places (Ricks) was referred to as 'matzoh pizza', the crust was thin and crunchy.

I've never made coconut macaroons, as neither my wife nor my sons care much for coconut, but you're right about the pre-packaged ones, they're mediocre.

[BakerAunt]

Although my husband says that coconut disagrees with his digestive system, he happily ate my orange marmalade bars, knowing they contain some coconut, and he has eaten most of the granola I've made, which also includes coconut. In neither case did it seem to cause him any problems. He seems to do fine where coconut is not the major ingredient.

[BakerAunt]

Today I baked another improvisational loaf of bread. I've been playing around with Antilope's Vienna Bread recipe for some time now, substituting in buttermilk and experimenting with different whole grains. The loaf baked very nicely in my Emile Henry long baker (ideal for 4-5 cup loaf). As it was coming out of the oven, my husband came down the stairs--which lead directly into the kitchen--and the dog walked into the kitchen and sat, waiting. I explained to her that it does have to cool--and put it where she cannot get at it. Obviously, the aroma is good!

I also managed excellent slashing this time after adjusting the razor blade in the lame, and paying attention to make sure that I was using the edge of the blade.

I look forward to cutting into it tomorrow.

[Mike Nolan]

Aaron, there's an amusing article on baseball and Passover on the Wall Street Journal site that made me think of you. Apparently even ballparks that have kosher concession stands generally close them down for Passover because the rules are more strict then.

I got a good chuckle at the suggestion that ballparks should give gefilte fish to the first 10,000 patrons.

Not sure if this link will work for people, because the WSJ keeps most articles behind their paywall, but try baseball and passover

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks Mike. I subscribe to the WSJ so I can read it. It's pretty funny. I've brought my own food to a number of functions so I would know there was something there I could eat. I brought matzah to an Easter brunch years ago and everyone there thought it was cool and ate it. I had nothing to eat since it was all bread-ish. I mostly avoid yeast and flour. And sometime is the last few years chemical leaveners became acceptable but growing up they were forbidden.

The rules for Passover are VERY strict and obscure. Most restaurants I know shut down because it's easier and cheaper. When I lived in Seattle we had a customer coming in who needed kosher for Passover catering. None of the usual kosher places were open so the caterers asked me because I was the one Jewish person they knew. I tracked down a Chabad house that would bring in meals for them but that was it.

So if you are an Eastern European Jew corn is off limits because when you grind up corn the meal sort of resembles regular flour but this rule doesn't apply to you if you're a Mediterranean Jew. Of course never mind that Kosher for Passover flour looks identical to regular, everyday, all-purpose flour.

What makes flour kosher for Passover? It's grown in separate fields and dry-harvested and stored. If the flour gets damp or wet it may pick up some natural yeast and leaven so the rules for harvesting, storage, and transport are VERY strict. And all of this is in addition to the normal, daily rules of kosher.

[BakerAunt]

About ten years ago, my husband had a colleague visiting from Israel, so with the help of a friend, I put together a meal that would follow the Kosher rules. I made salmon and couscous, we used disposable plates and plastic cutlery, raw small carrots, and I bought some biscotti that were marked Kosher. David, who had been at a conference before stopping off on his way home, said that it was the first hot meal he had had in weeks. (The conference did not offer Kosher options.)

I don't know that I could keep up on the rules all the time. Of course, if one is raised with them, it probably becomes second nature.

One more Passover story, this one involving Maxwell House Coffee:

https://www.marketplace.org/2018/03/30/business/wonder-why-maxwell-house-makes-passover-haggadahs-youre-not-alone

[aaronatthedoublef]

I love the Maxwell House Haggadah story. We were just talking about it at temple the other night. It is hilarious and shows you some of what even people who have been raised following the rules can be confused about.

BA, I am sure your husband's colleague appreciated your thoughtfulness and the effort you went to.

We rented an apartment in Jerusalem and the kitchen was kosher. Everything was labeled but only in Hebrew and I am the only one in the family who speaks any. My wife is not Jewish so the rules were also challenging for her. Most things were left to me and we used paper good a lot!

[Joan Simpson]

Today I baked a loaf of buttermilk potato bread.It turned out nice about 4-5 inches high,crumb was good.

For someone who doesn't really know about all the Jewish traditions it's a lot to learn.I'll never forget once when I was very young and didn't know about Ash Wednesday I was shopping at JC Penneys and one of the ladies had ashes on her forehead and I said "Mam you have something on your forehead" "Yes I know ...it's Ash Wednesday" Boy I was embarrassed.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by Joan Simpson.

[BakerAunt]

This Friday evening, I mixed up the batter for the Soft Barley Cookies, a favorite recipe of ours from the KAF Whole Grain Baking cookbook. The batter has to sit in the refrigerator overnight, so I'll bake them tomorrow morning.

[BakerAunt]

I baked a new recipe for Saturday breakfast: Buckwheat and Hazelnut Muffins, from Bernard Clayton's Complete Book of Small Breads, pp. 160-161. I made the recipe as written but reduced the salt from 1 to 1/2 tsp. I think that they could do with less leavening. The recipe called for 2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. baking soda and uses buttermilk. Not only did the muffins rise rather high and tip outwards in a couple of cases (and no, this oven has no convection fan), but they have a slightly bitter aftertaste. Next time, I will reduce the baking powder to 1 tsp. and see if that gives a more mellow flavor. The other alternative would be to reduce the baking powder to 1/4 tsp., but I want the buttermilk flavor.

Added Note from Next Day: The muffins are actually very good at room temperature with a light smear of butter (well, Land o' Lakes butter/canola oil spread). I did not notice the aftertaste this time, but I will still reduce the baking powder by 1/2 tsp. to start.

I also baked the Soft Barley Cookies this morning from the dough I made last night. I used KAF's yellow sparkling sugar on them.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt. Reason: added information
• This reply was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt. Reason: added information

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