What are you Baking the week of April 12, 2020?

[Mike Nolan]

Any baking plans for Easter?

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[skeptic7]

I bake a ham and raisin ricotta pie. It doesn't quite know whether its a desert or a main dish. It has raisins, walnuts and ham and I added the zest and juice of a blood orange in place of the Grand Marnier sauce. Its quite nice but wierd. It said to cook for 30 minutes but I baked it for nearly an hour until done.

[Italiancook]

I baked KAF Lemon Streusel Coffeecake. It uses lemon zest, lemon powder, and lemon oil. I didn't have the oil, so I used orange oil, and it still tasted of lemon. Next time I make this, I'm going to reduce the streusel by half. As recipe is written, it's too much crunch for me. Hubby likes it as is. KAF offers the suggestion to use 1/2 oil and 1/2 butter in the cake instead of all butter. I went with the oil substitution and will do that again.

[chocomouse]

Italiancook, that is one of my most favorite recipes ever! I love the lemon juice powder - it's better than any combo of zest or oil. And I have cut the streusel by half also. If you add a cup and a half of fresh or frozen blueberries, it's even better!

[BakerAunt]

I didn't bake today, but I frosted the Lamb cake with 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (sifted), 1 1/2 Tbs. melted butter, 1 tsp. vanilla, and 2 Tbs. Half and Half. It was a bit thick, but it worked in a way that made a "rustic" looking lamb cake--and I successfully used it to re-attach the broken ear.

[Italiancook]

chocomouse, do you thaw the blueberries for the Lemon Streusel Coffeecake, or add them frozen? For sure I'll try that. Thanks!

[chocomouse]

I use the blueberries frozen. Just toss them with a tablespoon or two of flour right before stirring them into the batter. This morning I had a big decision to make: blueberry lemon bread or zucchini brownies - I finally decided on the brownies.

[BakerAunt]

On Monday, I made a quarantine shortage version of Maple Granola. I substituted 2 cups of Bob’s Red Mill 5-grain rolled cereal for that much rolled oats, as I am trying to ration my old-fashioned BRM oats. I also only had 1/3 cup wheat germ, and the local store has been out of it for several weeks. The recipe calls for 1 cup, so I used ground flax meal for the remainder.

On Monday I also mixed up dough for my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers. I’ll bake those in about five days.

[skeptic7]

On Sunday I made a very last batch of Hot Cross Buns, these were all whole wheat with spices and dried lemon and orange peel. Its not much like a Hot Cross Bun, but these were done for friends who were diabetic and needed to cut out sugar. They probably are counting carbohydrates and limiting them severely, but they could eat a quarter a bun at a time. Everyone should celebrate Easter, even diabetics.

Baker Aunt; I love the idea of your crackers, and now that I shouldn't run to the store to just buy them, I love them even more. Is it very hard to roll them out?

[BakerAunt]

Skeptic--switching from butter to oil not only reduced the saturated fat but it makes the crackers MUCH easier to roll out. I let it warm up for about 15 minutes, and I set the next piece on the counter to warm up while I roll out the first piece.

I've played with the recipe. In addition to the oil substitution, I add 1/3 cup flax meal and 4 Tbs. milk powder. I can post the revised recipe if that would be helpful.

I have some wooden pie wands, one set is 1/16th inch that I use to roll out the crackers. The dough usually covers most of a parchment half sheet (what KAF sells), with about 3/4-1 inch around the sides.

[chocomouse]

Today I made rye sandwich bread for leftover-ham sandwiches. I also made muffins with chopped dried mangos, mandarins, pineapple, apricots and coconut. I used 1/4 cup of coconut flour in places of 1/4 cup of AP flour, and an third egg and a little more milk. They are still a little dry, but very good. I'd like to use up this bag of coconut flour, so if anyone has recipe suggestions, thank you.

[RiversideLen]

I made my sandwich buns today. Made half of them with the basket weave and half with the bagel topping.

[BakerAunt]

On Tuesday, I baked Spiced Pumpkin Bread, which is a whole wheat, rye, pumpkin yeast bread that is on Stanley Ginsberg’s blog at The Rye Baker (Nov. 1, 2016). I had this pumpkin frozen just for this bread, which I baked for the fourth time.

I always proof the yeast with a tiny bit of sugar. (I love to see it foam.) I then mixed in the pumpkin with the paddle attachment. I added the combined dry ingredients and mixed, then let them rest for ten minutes. I added the oil, then mixed with the paddle. I switched to the dough hook. It was still difficult to knead in my 7-quart mixer, but at least it came together faster. I also decided to knead on my Cuisinart mixer’s second speed, and I did have to keep stopping the mixer and re-adjusting the dough. Near the end of 8 minutes, I added an additional tablespoon of whole wheat flour, and then another. I added one more tablespoon and kneaded for an additional 2 minutes. (Pumpkin can vary in terms of water content,)

My husband had started the wood stove, so I put the mixer bowl (covered with saran) in the front room for its 75-minute rise. When it was time to de-gas, I followed his direction to use the dough hook and knead at lowest speed, but I cut that to 1 minute. My shaping was better this time—more of an oval, although one end turned out a little low. After 20 minutes, I slashed it and put it into the oven for 55 minutes. It’s a lovely looking loaf, and I am looking forward to cutting into it tomorrow for lunch.

[Mike Nolan]

I find pre-shaping then letting the dough rest for around 5 minutes before final shaping improves the way the shapes come out and gives me more consistency between loaves.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made KAF coconut macaroons but I used too much coconut (recipe called for 12 ounces I would back it down to 10) and too much sugar. I also baked the first batch with the convection on so they browned too quickly. If I make them again I will reduce the coconut, sugar, and temp and turn off the convection.

Last night I made matzah caramel crunch.

Passover is over so I'll make pizza dough tonight for this weekend. I'll make Stella Park's whole wheat bread this weekend. My yeast (SAF Red instant) never foams anymore it may be because out kitchen is cold - usually around 65 or 66. Now the days are a little warmer at 67. My family liked it when I made bread the last time because I "cranked" the heat to 68 to shorten the rise time.

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