What are you Baking the Week of April 16, 2023?

[Mike Nolan]

It's windy today, so no work on the garden, kinda cold anyway. Maybe I'll bake something.

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[BakerAunt]

On Sunday, I baked a new recipe, Butternut Squash Bundt Cake with Maple Glaze, from the blog Port and Fin. Here is a link to the recipe:

Butternut Squash Bundt Cake with Maple Glaze

I was forced to find a new butternut cake recipe because the one I baked a few years ag and loved had a copious amount of butter and cream cheese. This recipe, which uses oil and sour cream--which I replaced with nonfat Greek yogurt--seems like a good possible replacement. I followed a commentator's suggestion for more robust spices. Whereas the original called for 1 tsp. cinnamon and ¼ tsp. nutmeg, the suggestion added ½ tsp. ginger, ¼ tsp. cloves and ¼ tsp. allspice. In my experience, butternut squash in baked goods usually benefits from more spices. I also used half white whole wheat flour and half King Arthur AP. I added 2 Tbs. Bob's Red Mill milk powder and 2 Tbs. flax meal. As noted, I replaced the sour cream with nonfat Greek yogurt. I might have used a low-fat one, but it is not easy to find where I live. I cut the salt by 50%. The recipe did not specify what size Bundt pan, but my selection of a 10-cup pan was perfect. I checked it at 50 minutes and let it bake another five. I removed it from the pan after 10 minutes.

I will let the cake rest overnight, then add the maple glaze tomorrow. I may look at some of my maple glaze recipes. The recipe's maple glaze uses only powdered sugar and maple syrup, and I think that it will need a bit of milk in order to set properly.

[BakerAunt]

Follow-up: We love the butternut squash cake with my changes, so the recipe is a keeper. I will continue looking for just the right maple glaze, as I would like it with a bit more maple flavor. My husband thought it was fine, but to me, the powdered sugar somewhat obscures it.

For the glaze, I used 1 cup of powdered sugar, which I then sifted, 2 Tbs. maple syrup, 1/8 tsp. maple extract, and after starting with 2 tsp. milk, upped it to 3 tsp. to get the correct glaze consistency. I might just use 1/4 tsp. maple extract next time. The original recipe used just maple syrup, vanilla, and powdered sugar, but I've found that if a glaze contains a little milk, it lasts better.

If anyone has an excellent maple glaze recipe for cakes, let me know. Otherwise, I'll keep experimenting until I find one.

[chocomouse]

Today I made KABC's Chewy Semolina Rye recipe for the first time. The only change I made was to use Rye Bread Improver instead of vital wheat gluten. It looks funny, not a smooth top, and doesn't have a strong rye odor. We'll cut into it tomorrow to find out about the crumb and flavor.

[BakerAunt]

I baked three loaves of my Whole Wheat Oat Bran Buttermilk bread on Wednesday. I added 1/4 cup of special dry milk, since I've discovered that the calcium in the buttermilk available to me here has been reduced.

[chocomouse]

The Chewy Semolina Rye bread is excellent - nice crumb and flavor. My husband likes the size of a slice, as it did not rise as high as most of my breads do.

[BakerAunt]

That recipe looks great, Chocomouse. I will earmark it for use in my long baker, since King Arthur says a double recipe would fit that baking dish.

On Thursday, I baked Big Lake Judy's Best Ever Molasses Cookies, a recipe posted by Mike here at Nebraska Kitchen. The only changes I make are to add 2 Tbs. of Bob's Red Mill milk powder and to cut the salt by half. Given the baking soda in the cookies, I wonder if the salt could be omitted? I used a #30 scoop and got 28 cookies.

With my oven, I need to cut the time down a bit. 14 minutes is too long, and the cookies are slightly too done on the bottom.

[Mike Nolan]

Salt and baking soda, though both have sodium, have very different impacts on both the taste and structure of baked goods, so they're not interchangeable.

[skeptic7]

Does salt have any structural affect on cookies? I know baking soda affects the spread of cookies and the browning of the top, but I thought salt in cookies is only for the flavor. I have left salt out of brownies and cookies without problems, but I didn't do a side by side comparison.

[Mike Nolan]

Although gluten development is not an important part of cookie structure, salt does produce stronger gluten bonds.

Also, salt makes something sweet taste sweeter.

[BakerAunt]

I made my sourdough pan pizza for dinner on Friday.

[RiversideLen]

I'm making my burger/sandwich buns today. They are formed and rising, the oven is waiting for them.

[Mike Nolan]

I need to make peanut butter cookies tonight

[Italiancook]

Mike, I sure wish you'd send some of those peanut butter cookies to me. My husband used our peanut butter outside in some wild scheme to ward off gophers who destroyed the yard. Yes, the peanut butter is buried, but I think it'll attract racoons which are destructive to property. So I didn't have peanut butter until a Sam's run today. I also really like that cookie recipe, but in my small kitchen, making cookies is a stressful production, so I don't make them as often as I'd like.

[Mike Nolan]

I've never heard of using peanut butter to chase away gophers, I wonder if it really works, and why.

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