What are you Baking the week of April 5, 2020?

[BakerAunt]

My Hot Cross Bun recipe makes sixteen, and I bake them in an 11x11 inch pan that I bought from King Arthur years ago. I wish that I could find that size of pan again, since I sometimes do a blueberry Hot Cross bun in the summer, and I've discovered that the acidity in the blueberries takes the finish off the pan (it's not a non-stick). I had a similar occurrence with apples in an apple cake in my USA pan.

I used a simple glaze (the one from my Cinnamon Roll recipe) this time, except that I used Half and Half instead of milk. It worked very well. I ate one tonight, and my husband, who was out eradicating invasive plants in his woods, was hungry and ate two.

[Mike Nolan]

Fat Daddio makes an 11x11 pan, either 2" or 3" deep. Not sure what stores carry them but they're available on Amazon. They're anodized aluminum. (I'm not a big fan of coatings on pans, but anodized aluminum pans aren't as bad as the 'non-stick' ones.)

I've looked for stainless steel 11 x 11 pans, haven't found any yet.

[Italiancook]

Thanks for letting us know about the 11 x 11" pan, Mike. Somewhere I have a recipe I want to try that calls for that size.

[Mike Nolan]

I took the pan of hot cross buns over to our neighbor this morning, she had wondered yesterday if we were making them again this year.

[BakerAunt]

I'm sure that you brightened that family's quarantine, Mike.

I enjoyed a freshly baked and just cooled Hot Cross Bun with glaze last night. I was surprised that this morning, the flavors seem to have come together, and they are yet more delicious.

I may have to try the Fat Dadio pan. I was hoping for the straight sides, as on the USA square pans, which I have in 8x8, 9x9, 10x10. When there were more small cooking stores out there on the internet, it was easier to find the odd-sized pan. Occasionally, KAF has a non-standard size, so it's a buy when you see it there.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.

[Mike Nolan]

There used to be a cake supply store in Nashville near Opryland that had all sorts of pan sizes, but it changed hands (and name) and the new owners seem to be taking it in a somewhat different direction. The last time I was in Nashville it was still closed while they reorganized. (Their new name is Sweet City USA.)

There's one I've been to a number of times in the Pittsburgh area, too. (K&B Candy Supply, but I haven't been there in a few years and their web page doesn't seem to show a lot of what I've seen on their shelves in the past.)

I think the Fat Daddio pans have pretty vertical corners in their cake pans.

[BakerAunt]

I found a site that people might want to check out:

https://www.everythingkitchens.com/

They actually have that 5-well perforated sub roll pan that KAF sold years ago.

[BakerAunt]

Yikes. Don't tell me my edited post has again gone to junk-mail land.

I was going to add that https://www.everythingkitchens.com/

also has the hearth bread pans that KAF no longer sells.

[BakerAunt]

My last two posts have gone to the spam file. Sigh.

[chocomouse]

I bought several Fat Diddio pans last year, and the reason I ordered them was they were odd sizes and had straight, high sides. I don't use them often, but each has a purpose.

[BakerAunt]

On Saturday evening, I experimented with adapting the recipe that came with my lamb cake mold (bought from King Arthur, perhaps eighteen years ago) from butter to oil. I replaced 1/2 cup butter with 1/3 cup canola oil. I also substituted a scant quarter cup of half and half, combined with 1% milk for the 1/2 cup milk in the recipe, and I replaced 25% of the AP flour with barley flour. I used The Grease on the pan. I used a mixing method that I've developed for oil-based cakes and was very careful not to overmix once the wet and dry ingredients were combined. I filled the bottom half of the mold to barely from the top. I had about 3/4 cup batter left over, so I put it into a single 1 cup Bundt mold to bake alongside the cake (20 minutes). I always put the lamb cake mold on a baking sheet, and once it is in the oven, I put an iron pan on the top to hold the top down and encourage the batter to fill the mold. I've not used my Wolf oven for this mold, but I've noticed that Bundt cakes bake better slightly above center (three racks from the bottom), so that is what I did. I baked it for 50 minutes. There was the usual minimal amount of batter that dripped onto the baking sheet, which always happens with this mold.

The top of the mold lifted off cleanly, and I was pleased that the cake had indeed filled the pan. While I let the cake cool for 15 minutes in the bottom of the pan, I used a small knife to cut away any batter that may have stuck around the outside. However, I missed around one ear, so while the cake came cleanly out of the pan, one ear broke off. Sigh. I'll try to use glaze to attach it tomorrow.

I won't be frosting it with that lovely simple buttercream frosting tomorrow. I may try the simple glaze that I used on the Hot Cross buns, or else a reduced butter frosting.

I'm very pleased at how the cake came out, even with the damaged ear. I hope that the taste is good.

[chocomouse]

BakerAunt, when you were younger, didn't you always eat an ear off your chocolate bunny first? Is there a connection?

[skeptic7]

I baked my Hot Cross buns this morning. They came out beautifully. I ate three for breakfast and will probably be eating many more as the day progresses. I am going to start one final tiny batch of diabetic friendly Hot Cross buns, no sugar, no dried fruit, all whole wheat, but heavy on the spices and dried fruit peel. The intended recipient lives across the street, so I can leave it at her doorstep and run away.
I also have a recipe for a ham and raisin pie, more like a quiche than anything else. I plan to bake that today.

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