What are you Baking the week of December 20, 2020?

[Mike Nolan]

I probably need to make some bread, I just took the last of the semolina bread out of the freezer yesterday.

Spread the word

      

  

  

[cwcdesign]

I made a Maple Apple Upside down cake from the Food and Wine link I posted in the maple syrup thread. It's a recipe from Joanne Chang.

It called for 3 Granny Smith apples, but I cut 4 as I figured mine were smaller than hers probably were - it was a good call. I didn't have a 10" round pan, so I used a 10" springform - I put a piece of parchment under it which was a good call as it did leak a little while I was making the cake. I put it on a sheet pan with parchment to bake (another good call). One of the directions said to add the dry and wet ingredients in 3 batches which I found a little confusing. But in the end, I added half the flour mixture, the whole buttermilk/egg mixture and then the last half of flour - I made the right call. It came out beautifully, but we haven't tasted it yet. I used up my Trader Joe's syrup so now we can start enjoying Chocomouse's syrup - I gave one of the containers to a friend for his birthday - all for him - his wife doesn't like liquidy soft food. I also gave him the canning directions just in case he wanted to put it in pints.

[BakerAunt]

I find it amazing, CWCdesign, how many recipes leave out all those vital details. (And they wonder why some people give up on cooking and baking after having a failure because they did not have that background knowledge, and the recipe did not give it.) Thank you for adding your notes.

[Italiancook]

BakerAunt, you mentioned that you had lost your cracker-baking ruler. I mention what my husband did for my ruler, in case yours has a hole on the end -- when you find it. He bought a hook with a white background. He remembers it as being a 3M brand. It adheres to the wall, but it's advertised to be removed without damaging the wall. He can't remember whether he bought it at Walmart or a box store that has grocery and many different departments. He doesn't remember which department he bought it from. Neither of us remember the hook's name. Most of this isn't much help, but I wanted to let you know there is a product from keeping track of a ruler. If it has a hole on the end for hooking.

[Italiancook]

BakerAunt, my husband thinks he remembers that's the hook is advertised as a picture hook. He may be wrong -- we've had it for quite some time.

[cwcdesign]

They're called Command hooks and it's important to get the 3M ones - others might not perform the same - you still need to be careful when removing them

[Mike Nolan]

I made semolina bread today, they smell great!

[BakerAunt]

The problem, Italian Cook, is that I took the ruler out of the kitchen. After baking, I have been assiduous in replacing it in the side of the drawer in the kitchen where it lives. However, I wanted to see the length of a Dutch cross stitch pattern that is given in centimeters, so I took the ruler into the living room where my stitching items are and ascertained how large the design would be and what kind of material I would use. What I did with the meter ruler after measuring the pattern remains unclear because I was focused on the stitching project. Clearly, I did not bring it back to the kitchen. I will need to do a thorough search, and if I find my beloved ruler NEVER take it out of the kitchen again.

[skeptic7]

BakerAunt;
I hope you find your ruler. With me things only reappear after I search and search and buy a replacement.

I baked full fat chocolate almond biscotti, with a little -- one tablespoon -- of molasses to give it a brown sugar flavor. The flavor is okay but not as rich as the previous batch which had Espresso powder. I will package and freeze these soon. I find if I put the biscotti in the freezer and take out one cookie at a time, a batch can last for three or four days. If I leave them on the kitchen counter where I can find them whenever I get bored, they normally last less then two days. Could someone send me some will power for Xmas? I don't have much.

[kimbob]

Lol, skeptic7. Christmas is not a time for will power. Just eat them up and make more!!

[BakerAunt]

On Monday, I continued refining my maple cookie recipe (no butter). I used the same proportions as last Halloween, but I added a tablespoon of granulated sugar. I refrigerated the stamped cookies for an hour before baking. I am pleased with the taste and texture, so I am ready to put this one in my low-fat baking book.

I also baked No Butter Cranberry Scones. The original recipe is from Biscuits and Scones, by Elizabeth Alston. I used half Irish Wholemeal flour from KABC and half King Arthur flour. I reduce the baking powder by 1 tsp. (4 tsp. always seemed too much) and cut the salt in half. I combined the dry ingredients, then in a measuring cup whisked together the oil, buttermilk, and egg. I bake the scones in my scone pan. To make them festive, I sprinkled the tops with red and green large crystal sugars.

Skeptic--You could assign a certain amount of exercise to each treat you consume....

[Joan Simpson]

Today I baked BakerAunts Scottish Shortbread cookies.I didn't have bleached flour but they turned out good.I think I might have made them a little thick as they aren't as crisp as I thought they would be even baking an extra 10 minutes but they taste fine.Might even get more crisp as they set up.

[BakerAunt]

Joan--They definitely get better over the next couple of days! Enjoy!

[Italiancook]

You are right, cwdesign, they're called Command by 3M. Your post jogged my memory.

You've probably looked there for your ruler, BakerAunt, but my thought is that it slid down into the crack of the chair between the cushion and arm.

[Mike Nolan]

Sometimes lost items never surface, I lost the silicone mat I was using to roll out pastries earlier this year, I finally gave up and bought a new one that has both concentric circles and rectangles so I can use it for pies and things like cinnamon rolls.

I made a batch of bagels today. I'm currently looking at recipes for a sweet potato pie that I hope to make on Christmas eve.

[Author]

Posts