What are you Baking the Week of December 27, 2020?

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook--I substitute 1/2 cup of oil for the butter. Be sure to mix all the wet ingredients at the start, along with the sugar. In a smaller bowl, combine the flour and other dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and gently stir. I start with a cake whisk which resembles a flat paddle but has crisscrossing metal rows to make large squares. I finish gently with a spatula before putting into the pan.
If you don't have a cake whisk (most people do not, and I have not seen any for sale in ages), be gentle with a spatula.

[aaronatthedoublef]

New Year's eve I made more bread. I am working on a boule. I think I need to knead/stretch/fold it some more before it holds it's shape. I baked it in a skillet instead of a Dutch oven but it was too soft for me to score the top before baking.

I made more pizza dough Thursday as well so we'll have pizza for Sunday dinner.

Then at 2:00 after everything was cleaned up and put away Kate and Violet told me Violet and I were making dessert for New Year's Eve dinner. First Violet wanted Buche de Noel but we didn't have time and I've never made that. I said we would make it next Christmas. So she decided she wanted cookies and cream cupcakes from her new Duff Goldman Kid's baking book (it is really well done). Of course we had no Oreos and I said I wasn't going to get any as I had to go to the hardware store but then, of course, on the way back from the store I picked some up. Violet was SO excited she was literally dancing around the kitchen. I wanted to knock these out fast but still give Violet tasks so I had her taking my melted butter our of the microwave and then crushing the cookies by hand instead of using the food processor. Saved some cleanup, gave her a job (which she enjoyed), and then she could handle the crushed cookies without sticking her hand in the food processor.

I also had Violet put the cupcakes in the oven by herself. She was a little nervous but I was right there. I need to get some kids baking mitts for her.

The cupcakes have a crushed cookie bottom, chocolate cupcake, and then American buttercream (when did this become "American" buttercream?) with more crushed cookies on top. The interesting thing about Duff's buttercream is that tells you to start on low and then mix it on medium for a couple minutes. It beats a lot of air into it and makes it very light and very white. It also increases the volume so it goes farther. I will definitely use this again.

Violet finished the cupcakes by piping the buttercream onto them then sprinkling the remaining cookie crumbs on top. Have to admit they were pretty tasty and she was thrilled.

We had leftover frosting, cookie crumbs, and batter so I made a six inch cake layer out of the crumbs and batter and then put the frosting and cake in the freezer for my emergency cake.

[Joan Simpson]

Skeptic the chocolate batons sounds like a lot of work and kudos to you for figuring out a way to make them!Glad they turned out!

Aaron it makes me so happy to hear of the way you are teaching Violet about baking,this is memories you'll both have for ever!And teaching baking skills!

[Mike Nolan]

They're a lot less work if you have a mold for them, but I'm not sure what else I might be able to use that mold for. Maybe making shortbread sticks? If you covered them with caramel and chocolate, they'd be similar to a Twix.

[Mike Nolan]

I've got my empanada dough made and will be rolling them out, filling them with an apple-caramel mix and baking them this evening.

[BakerAunt]

That baking book sounds very good, Aaron. I'm thinking it might be a nice gift for my ten-year old twin nieces, whose mother is an occasional baker.

That's great that you and Violet whipped up a fabulous New Year's Eve dessert on such short notice.

[Mike Nolan]

I think calling it American Buttercream is kind of a cooking insult, in French cooking a lot of things are called 'English' in the same way.

[Mike Nolan]

I made half of the empanadas today, I'll do the others tomorrow. I had to defrost a big container of apple pie filling and I won't use even half of it, so I'll be making something else with the rest of it, possibly an apple pie with a streusel top, since I've only got one crust in the freezer, although I think my wife would prefer an Irish Apple Cake.

[cwcdesign]

Mike sorry to take so long to answer and also to wish everyone a Happy New Year - I am hunting and pecking with my right hand as I managed to break my wrist on NYD while Will and I were out for a walk - 3 hours in the ER - not too bad - its a radial fracture which is the most common type - good news is the bone is fine, but I crushed the radius and might have to have a plate surgically put in. needless to say my dominate left hand is in a splint over my elbow - 6 weeks! hopfully I will be able to spend some time at work - will know more when I see to doctor this week. as the swelling is going down the pain is starting.

Dessert Person is a beautiful book - in the beginning she has a chart from beginner to expert recipes and at the same time how long they take - one of her expert recipes is kouign amann and the photography is beautiful. she has a whole savory section. the title comes from the fact that many people will say "I am not a dessert person"

[Joan Simpson]

Cwcdesign so sorry to hear of you broken wrist hoping you heal up quickly and not have problems,dang it!

[cwcdesign]

thanks Joan! I'm hoping the same thing!

[Mike Nolan]

Sorry to hear about your injury, but thanks for the update on the book.

[aaronatthedoublef]

CWC - sorry to hear about your arm and hand. Hope you mend quickly!

Duff's book is great. He spends time not just on baking but a couple of pages on unicorns and lots of other things to make it fun for kids. Duff is a big kid himself (or at least that is his public persona) and it makes it fun. Violet has read through several times. It's also going to give Violet a leg up when she begins to learn fractions in school because she has already started to learn them for baking. We're starting on metric weights (Duff has all weights in grams) so that will likely be helpful some point in the future too.

As for American buttercream most of my older baking books call it easy or quick or even faux buttercream as opposed to "buttercream: which is the traditional cooked, frosting. Now I see French, Italian meringue, American... It's interesting to see how things change. I have three French baking books I've had for over 15 years (the newest is from our honeymoon so that means I picked it up 19 years ago in December). These are from people like Jacques Torres and Pierre Hermes and what are now called "macarons" were called "macaroons". I've seen food history books but has anyone seen a food etymology?

[BakerAunt]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery, CWCdesign.

Thanks for the additional information on the book, Aaron. I think my nieces might enjoy it.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, BakerAunt, for the Eggnog Cake oil-based information. I'm going to copy and paste it to your recipe.

cwcdesign, I wish you a speedy and full recovery without range of motion problems.

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