What are you Baking the Week of December 19, 2021?

[Mike Nolan]

Less than a week to Christmas, got your holiday baking started yet?

Spread the word

      

  

  

[chocomouse]

Today I made mini-garlic knots for the Christmas dinner bread basket. I also mixed the dough for Cranberry Coconut refrigerator slice and bake cookies for the cookie tray.

[BakerAunt]

On Sunday, I baked Pfeffernusse. I used the last 1/2 cup of citron from a supply I bought about six years ago. The citron was hard, but I revived it by putting it in a small bowl with a little water, covering with saran, and microwaving for a minute. I then let it stand. Of the cookies I associate with Christmas (the others are sugar cookies and shortbread) pfeffernusse are the least unhealthy, with just a stick of butter for the 37. They are also the cookie I most associate with Christmas and my childhood because a relative used to mail them to us. (I asked who it was when I got older and was looking for a recipe, but my mother did not recall other than it was someone on my father's side.) As usual, I ordered the King Arthur non-melting sugar, but it did not work as well this year; the sugar was not adhering to the warm cookies, and I was pressing it on with my hands. I wonder if KABC changed the formulation.

If I am to make these cookies next year, I do not know where I would find candied citron. King Arthur used to sell lovely European, small-diced citron, but they stopped carrying it years ago. When I first baked these cookies I used the citron from the grocery, but what King Arthur sold was far superior to it. Now, I do not even see it at the grocery in the fall.

[Italiancook]

I don't know anything about citron, BakerAunt, since I don't use it. But Frank & Sal Italian Market on Staten Island has citron. It's listed as candied. Below is the link. I buy cannoli shells and parm-reggiano and romano cheese from them. Delivery was great until the pandemic. Now, shipping takes an extra day. So I order on Monday instead of the end of the week. If you have questions about the citron, you can call them. I've always found that to be helpful.
https://frankandsal.com/search?type=product&q=citron*

[Mike Nolan]

There was a thread in the BBGA forum a year ago on where to find candied citron.

It's probably too late for this year, but next fall check with Sheridan's Fruit Co in Portland, OR, though I don't see citron in a search of their website today.

You might have to buy a KG or more of it. (One supplier had 30 pound boxes of it at about $180 plus shipping a year ago.)

If you can find whole citron fruit (try Whole Foods), cutting up the peel and candying it yourself might be another option.

Nuts.com has candied citron at a reasonable price, around $9 per pound plus shipping, but I don't know who makes it for them or how it compares to other sources.

[BakerAunt]

What a great store, Italian Cook. I went ahead and ordered the candied citron so that I have it for next year. Although it was more expensive, the free shipping makes up for that.

Also, thanks, Mike! I will make a note of the Sheridan Fruit Co. for investigation.

I am not near a Whole Foods. I'm not sure that I have ever seen citrons in any store. Years ago, one of my friends had a house with a citron tree, but I never explored candying it.

[BakerAunt]

I baked a new recipe, Honey Oatmeal Rolls that KABC recently developed. I made some adjustments: 3 Tbs. avocado oil rather than 4 Tbs. butter, 1 cup plus 2 Tbs. white whole wheat flour in place of that much bread flour, buttermilk in place of 1 cup water, and 1/3 cup water rather than milk. I also cut the yeast from 2 1/2 tsp. to 2 1/4 tsp and the salt from 1 1/2 tsp. to just 1 tsp. and added 2 Tbs. special dried milk. I shaped these as 16 rolls in a 9x9 pan. (Of course, the batteries in the scale had to be replaced mid-dough division, which meant struggling with the plastic around the lithium batteries meant to keep children--and perhaps adults--from opening them.) We had the rolls with dinner tonight and agreed this recipe is a keeper. I like the white whole wheat here because it allows the oat flavor to emerge; regular whole wheat would obscure it.

[Joan Simpson]

I baked two Lemon Supreme pound cakes today for a friend that's having two Christmas dinners.

I baked my corn bread for the dressing and made 4 pie crusts,trying to get it all done.

[Mike Nolan]

I'm getting started on making a cherry pie today.

[BakerAunt]

I'm experimenting with a Pumpernickel Rye Bread with pickle juice from the German pickles that I use in my potato salad. I have a recipe from KAF for Sandwich Rye Bread. I looked at the KABC website, and that recipe has been replaced by one with the same title. The new recipe is scaled for an 8x4 or 5x9 pan, as KABC no longer carries the hearth pan the original recipe employs. It also uses pickle juice and in addition to caraway seed uses dill seed and mustard seed. I have used the two recipes to make my own. We shall see what happens. I had some concern about the pickle juice's saltiness and the yeast. I used my bread machine for the kneading. I proofed the yeast for 10 minutes, then put it into the bread machine, put the flour mixture on top, then added the pickle juice once the machine started mixing. I then added olive oil. The dough looks good. I will see how well it is rising after an hour.

[Mike Nolan]

I don't have one of the KA/Chicago Metallic rye hearth pans, but this looks pretty close:
hearth pan.

The dimensions are 2 1/2 x 6 1/2 x 12. Unfortunately, you have to buy six at time from Webstaurant.

I wonder how well a business that sells pans (even used ones) that nobody makes any more would do?

I've got two large lidded glass pans that I broke the lid to one of, they're French glass. I'd dearly love to get a replacement lid.

[chocomouse]

BakerAunt, that was one of the first rye recipes I ever tried, and I still use it as my base rye recipe! I usually add dried onion, sometimes add deli rye sour/flavor. I often sub dark dry, pumpernickel, or first clear flour. If I run out/short on pickle juice, it's OK, I use what I have or sub Greek or regular yogurt, although I do think the pickle juice yields the best rise and flavor. I do reduce the salt, and use 2 teaspoons of yeast. I never worried about the clash of pickle juice and yeast, never had a problem. Somewhere I have stashed directions for scaling it up for two 9 x 5 loaves.

[BakerAunt]

My Pumpernickel Rye Bread looks very nice. It is 4 1/2 inches tall, which is what I like in a wider sandwich bread. I am looking forward to slicing it for ham sandwiches tomorrow on Christmas Eve.

I have felt we are cookie deprived. When does a gal of Swedish and German descent only have a single kind of cookie in the house at Christmas? Sacrilege! I looked at the biscotti recipe that Joan posted, then went online to find a printable version. However, I stumbled across another one at MyRecipes that did not use oil and decided to bake it.

https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/cranberry-pistachio-biscotti

I made only a few changes: I used half white whole wheat flour, added 2 Tbs. Bob's Red Mill milk powder, added 1/4 tsp. orange oil, and did not use salt, since the pistachios I had were salted. I mixed the dough with a dough whisk, added the cranberries (I microwaved these with 2 Tbs. water to rehydrate) and chopped pistachios, then switched at the end to a bowl scraper to bring the dough together. I divided it in half and put each half on a baking sheet lined with parchment. I used a piece of saran around my hands to shape the sticky dough into two logs. I did not use the egg wash, but I did sprinkle the tops of the logs with a sanding sugar that is a mix of red, green, and white. The logs are now cooling before I slice them for the second bake.

Added note: The biscotti are tasty. I would cut back the orange oil to 1/8 tsp. next time. Of course, I had a warm one. Perhaps the orange will be less intense after they cool

[Mike Nolan]

I can't say I care for the idea of matcha tea flavored cookies, but the artisanship in this video (and several others) is amazing to watch:

ice box cookies

[BakerAunt]

Thanks for posting the link, Mike. I am not sure that I would have the patience to make these cookies. Of course, the butter content gives me an excuse not to do so. I've also never had matcha so do not know if I would like them. I chuckled at one poster who commented that when she makes these cookies, she will have her guests watch the video before serving the cookies so that her effort will be appreciated!

Thanks for looking up the hearth pan. I figure at some point they will be available again. I'd prefer shiny ones to the dark finish ones that I have, although they did ok with this bread.

I wonder if someone could start a cooking store co-op. REI got its start many years ago when a guy was searching for a decent ice axe. He found one in Europe, and then all his friends wanted one as well. A co-op was born. Of course, that would be hard to get going these days.

[Author]

Posts