What are You Baking the Week of February 7, 2021?

[BakerAunt]

For breakfast on Sunday, I adapted “Butternut Squash Crumb Muffins” from Ken Haedrich’s The Harvest Baker, (pp. 34-35). I replaced AP flour with an equal amount of white whole wheat, cut the brown sugar from ¾ to ½ cup and the salt from ¾ to ½ tsp. I used buttermilk instead of milk, so I reduced the tablespoon of baking powder to 2 tsp. and added ¼ tsp. baking soda. (Note: they had terrific, rounded domes.) I added 2 Tbs. flax meal and 1 Tbs. Bob’s Red Mill milk powder. I used 5 Tbs. oil (rather than 1/3 cup) because I wanted to measure it with the buttermilk in a single cup, so I could whisk it together. I decided not to add pecans. I made a quarter of Haedrich’s topping recipe (which is designed to make a lot so that some can be kept on hand) and used ½ Tbs. butter and ½ Tbs. grapeseed oil in place of 1 Tbs. butter. It still made almost too much, and a bit spilled off onto the pan. I deleted 1 tsp. vanilla extract. I baked for 20 minutes on the second rack up. I used muffin cups but forgot to spray them first, so the warm muffins had some sticking. These are delicious and a nice change from pumpkin muffins.

It was -9 F when we got up shortly after 7 this morning. Some hardy ice fishermen were already out. We had an additional inch of snow last night.

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[cwcdesign]

Your muffins sound yummy,BA. I hope you stay toasty warm in your house.

Will made sourdough pancakes on the baking steel on the grill. it was a little cooler this morning so they took a little longer. Since we have an original (flat) steel, the grill was a good idea since our stove top can get too messy. It's also an old glass flat cooktop and has hot spots, so the cooking is more even on the grill - we may even try it there for the English muffins and then I wouldn't have to buy their mini griddle with the channel for collecting oil.

[Mike Nolan]

We got another inch or so of snow overnight as well.

I'm making some semolina bread today, a good portion of which is going to be used to make croutons.

[Italiancook]

I baked my grandmother's chocolate cake. It took more time than the mug cake, but I have many more servings. It really wasn't a lot more effort, but I did run into a problem opening a 10 pound bag of sugar. It poured out in clumps that I had to take the time to break up. I'll freeze most of the cake after it's frosted.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by Italiancook.

[Mike Nolan]

I've made a mug cake a few times, they always seemed like a kludge compared to a real cake, which is not that hard to make. Something like a crazy cake (AKA 'cake in the pan') is a vast improvement over a mug cake.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made pizza last night. Sam and Violet teamed up to prep the dough. It had a very different feel because I let it sit out on the counter overnight to help it ferment faster. I usually make it Thursday and this week I made it Friday. Violet and Sam cut, weighed, and wrapped the dough. It was pretty cut and Sam and I had a fun conversation on Adam Smith and the division o labor.

I baked of my bread too. I usually start that Friday making a sponge then put it all together Saturday morning and let it rise 24 hours. The I bake on Sunday.

I've been trying to make flat sandwich buns and some of this came from increasing hydration but they were still more round and roll like than I wanted. This time I sprinkled some flour on top, covered them with parchment, and the put a sheet pan at a slight angle so it rested on the edge of the other sheet pan and kept the buns more bun-like.

And we shoveled... and shoveled... and shoveled. We had about 5-6 inches of snow and my snow blower is down.

I've also started using a new mixer - my hand!

[Joan Simpson]

God Bless you Aaron and all the rest that are shoveling snow.One time when our son lived in New Jersey we were there visiting when they had some snow,my husband went out and shoveled the walk several times and the driveway.It was all very light.When we got home our son called and said they had gotten 12 inches of snow and by the way Daddy you ain't shoveled shit lol.Us southern people just don't know about all the snow.

Your buns and bread sounds good Aaron and I do some mixing by hand too.

Mike I like homemade croutons too that's another thing my husband doesn't want on his salad.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by Joan Simpson.

[Mike Nolan]

Restaurant croutons almost always have garlic in them, and so do some of the ones at the grocery store.

But the home made ones are great, they're hard but not rock hard, they give a satisfying crunch when you eat them.

Croutons are a must in potato-leek soup, IMHO. My wife likes hers with a little melted butter on them, I usually just throw some butter in the soup.

[aaronatthedoublef]

More snow yesterday and more crackers. But I was transferring my starter to a clean jar and the dirty jar fell and broke. 🙁 I lost a few hundred grams of starter. I split the remaining jar between two clean jars and am building it back up so I do not have to start from scratch.

A co-worker sent me an almond bread recipe to ask why it was dry. It is a quick bread and seemed odd that the only leavening was baking soda and vinegar and the only liquid was eggs. Any advice would be appreciated. Here is the recipe:

2 1/4 cups blanched almond flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine texture sea salt
5 eggs
1/2 tbsp honey
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

[BakerAunt]

Aaron--the recipe reminds me of a biscotti recipe, in which case, it's supposed to be dry. Is it by chance what one of my friends baked and called Mandelbrot?

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks BA. Biscotti are twice baked and that accounts for some of their dryness. Not sure about Mandelbrot. My mom never made them and I was never much of a fan so I've never tried them.

This was definitely supposed to be bread. I've found a few recipes for almond bread like it online.

I've also found some that use baking powder and a quarter cup of almond milk.

What surprised me a was the lack of liquid (even though there are five eggs) and the lack of leavening. The vinegar and baking soda will have finished their reaction before the pan hits the oven.

[Mike Nolan]

There are lots of vinegar and baking soda recipes that come out quite light, it does have some oven lift left after mixing.

In the case of your friend's recipe, the eggs and flax meal will provide leavening as well.

Many cookie recipes use only the moisture in the eggs, so I'm not convinced the recipe is messed up.

The recipe does remind me of a mandelbrot, which is a close cousin to biscotti, some recipes even call for it to be baked a second time after slicing. It may be that the dryness is how it is supposed to come out.

What are the shaping and baking instructions? That might give some additional clues. Mandelbrot is usually shaped into a long log that flattens out and baked a long time.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks Mike.

I suggested they shave a little time off the baking to see. I've only done banana, pumpkin, or zucchini quick breads and those are never dry.

I'll ask about the shaping instructions.

[BakerAunt]

Condolences on the dropped starter, Aaron. That would be my nightmare.

You might also ask where your co-worker where the recipe comes from. I assume the person was looking for a gluten-free dessert. I have a hazy memory of an email with a recipe for such a cake that I dismissed due to the number of eggs and the fact that I do not need to be gluten free.

I have heard some gentle murmuring from my husband about lack of dinner desserts. Before you feel too sorry for him, there were some oat bars, some mini-York Peppermint patties (including heart-shaped ones), frozen vanilla yogurt, and my butternut squash muffins, so he does have some variety, but clearly he wanted a more substantial dessert, and the oat cookies and muffins are now gone. Thus, on Wednesday, I baked my Lime Barley Bundt cake, using two of the limes that came from my tree. I drizzled it with some lime glaze and sprinkled some red, pink, and white sprinkles on it for an early Valentine’s appearance, as I have all of this decorating sugar and sprinkles that I have not used very much since having to give up baking sugar cookies.

[chocomouse]

This morning I made lemon blueberry muffins - but forgot to put in the blueberries!

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