What are You Baking the Week of April 14, 2019?

[BakerAunt]

I expect that there will be some interesting baking this week due to the approach of Easter and Passover. I'm not baking today, although with rain all day and possible snow predicted for this evening, I expect that I will start baking again tomorrow. I know I'll bake Hot Cross Buns later in the week.

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[Mike Nolan]

I will also make several batches of Hot Cross Buns for Friday. (It's a family tradition to deliver them to friends and neighbors.)

[BakerAunt]

On Wednesday afternoon, I baked a double recipe of my Lower-Fat, Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from the dough I made last week.

[skeptic7]

I wish I was baking. I'm spending my spare time sealing holes in my attic prior to filling it with insulation. This was all suppose to be done on the first week in April. I had the insulation removed and called the Electrician in to install a new bathroom fan and secure the junction boxes. However we quarrelled about how to vent the fan so I had to look for someone else to do that, and I decided I didnt trust the insulation people to seal all the holes in the attic prior to putting in new insulation so I am doing that myself.
I have made a couple of pizzas but that isn't the same as Easter baking. I make those to eat not to give away and not as part of a long tradition. I did make a cheese bread that I will mention in a seperate thread.

[Mike Nolan]

Tomorrow I will be making the first of what will likely be 2 or 3 batches of Hot Cross Buns, for Good Friday. I'll be sending some in to my wife's office, one batch for us, and the rest for neighbors and friends.

[RiversideLen]

Tonight I baked a batch of sandwich buns.

[chocomouse]

I made two loaves of a whole wheat and grains bread. And a special treat for my husband: chocolate crinkle cookies with peanut butter chips.

[skeptic7]

Chocomouse;
Are you still going to Maryland Sheep and Wool? What is the name of your booth? Unless something drastic happens I will be there and would like to meet.

[chocomouse]

YES! Skeptic, and I'd love to meet you! It is Ellenshalfpintfarm (Ellen is my sister). We are in a new space this year, across the aisle from our spot for the last umpteen years - we'll be in A12 (or maybe it's A11, I forget) in the Main Exhibition Hall -- if you come in the main door, it's about 1/3 of the way up the lefthand side, along the wall. Do you have any idea when you might be there - day, morning, afternoon? We'll be setting up two weeks from today! I love this show!

[BakerAunt]

I had a leftover zucchini, so I used half of it to try a new recipe on Thursday: KAF’s Zucchini Chocolate Chip Pecan Bars. The batter is made in the food processor, and chunks of zucchini are processed with an egg and oil to make a smooth concoction before adding the rest of the ingredients. I used KAF’s option of white whole wheat flour. I added 2 Tbs. Flax meal and 2 Tbs. Bob’s Red Mill powdered milk. I cut the salt form ¾ to ½ tsp. and did not sprinkle any on top. I used 6 oz. rather than 5 oz. zucchini. My major change was to cut the chocolate chips from 2 cups to about ¾ cup (120g), in order to reduce the saturated fat from that source. I used Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips (3.5 g saturated fat per 15 grams of weight.) As dark chocolate can be overwhelming, cutting it down worked for taste as well as cutting saturated fat. We each had a slice for dessert tonight, and the recipe is a keeper—especially when zucchini season comes around.

[skeptic7]

Chocomouse;
I hope to be at Sheep and Wool on Saturday. I'll stop by and see you in the morning. I will be broke this year due to attic insulation, car repairs and dental bills but I will look forward to meeting friends and eating lamb sandwiches.

[Mike Nolan]

I just finished shaping a 2nd batch of Hot Cross Buns (4 pans of 8 rolls each.)

[BakerAunt]

On Friday, I baked a batch of Hot Cross Buns using my own recipe, but I used white whole wheat flour this time and increased the whole grains. They came out well, but I think that I will increase the cinnamon from 1 to 1 ½ tsp. next time. I do a full frosting of the tops rather than make crosses, but some day, I may do a frosting cross on top of the frosting.

On Friday I also baked, for the first time, Stella Parks’ recipe for 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread. I was unable to find a listing on my Cuisinart Food Processor for how many cups it holds, and the recipe calls for a 14-cup processor. I have the DLC-7 Super Pro. In looking through the manual (yes, I still have it 30 years after I received it), I read that the processor can handle 8 cup bread recipes with regular flour or 5 cup recipes with whole wheat flour. As this recipe uses 3 ½ cups whole wheat, I decided that I could knead the dough in one batch, and that is what I did. I reduced the salt slightly to 10 grams. I do not have instant yeast, so after I put the dough into the food processor, I put in the brown sugar, then put the salt on one side. I proofed my yeast with the water and a bit of the reserved brown sugar, then poured that on the other side. Next time, I might drizzle it in through the feed tube. After I did the 75 second processing, I poured the oil in through the feed tube while processing. It was a somewhat sticky dough, and I did not enjoy getting the processor blade cleaned off, but the dough did come out of the bowl relatively easily. I did two pre-shapes of the loaf; next time, I’ll just do one. The loaf baked well, with only a slight bit of sinking along the center after it came out. I’ll report on taste tomorrow.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.

[Mike Nolan]

I've got marbled rye bread planned for tomorrow (so we can have it with Easter ham), but I want to make another loaf of this bread soon, it makes great toast for peanut butter. Next time I think I'll cut it into 2 parts and freeze half, though, it goes bad fairly quickly.

I find having more than 2 kinds of fresh bread on hand tends to lead to at least one of them going bad, the two of just don't eat that much bread these days. So I tend to cut loaves in half and freeze most of a batch.

[BakerAunt]

That 100% whole wheat bread is superb. I expect to be baking it again as one of our regular breads. I will keep an eye on it to see if any mold develops before we finish it. There are certain breads I avoid in the summer because they seem to mold faster when it is warm.

We also have to stick with just one kind of bread at a time. We often grab sandwiches for lunch, but I never know if the loaf will last 5 days or a week. I am looking forward to having enough freezer space so that I can bake more than one loaf and freeze one.

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