What are you Baking the Week of March 21, 2021?

[Mike Nolan]

All this talk about fan tan or butterflake-type rolls has me hungry for some. I don't have any buttermilk but maybe some tangzhong style dough would be good.

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[Joan Simpson]

I made strawberry shortcake tonight,the cake was OK,I'd rather had a pound cake but this was quick.The strawberries didn't have a great taste and was very firm so I sliced them up,added some strawberry jam,a little sugar and cooked them some then thickened them and they were a lot better.The recipe I used was from Sallysbakingaddiction.

[BakerAunt]

I hope it will be a good strawberry season locally this year. They have spoiled me, and I now ignore those in the store.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made my bread this morning. I upped the load size from 900g to 1k and I think I over-proofed them. But that's okay. They're a little ugly but that never seems to slow down my eaters.

I also made BA's crackers this morning.

[BakerAunt]

I made dough for my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers on Monday. It will rest in the refrigerator and be rolled and baked next week.

I also baked cornbread muffins in my two Nordic Ware heart pans to go with the soup I made for dinner.

[chocomouse]

I baked two loaves of the Maple Buttermilk Bread. I used the Breville oven proof option for the first rise, and it was still slow to rise; after an hour, it barely reached the top rim of the bread pans. However, during baking it rose another 2 inches. I had put the rack on the lowest setting, but the top of the loaves are almost burned, certainly a lot darker than I like them. After 35 minutes, the internal bread temperature was 210*, so I'll reduce the temperature a little next time. I know they will taste great!

[BakerAunt]

On Tuesday, I baked Lime-Pecan Biscotti, an oil-based recipe that I have been developing from a butter-based one that appeared years ago in Bon Appetit for Lemon-Walnut Biscotti. I continued tweaking it, this time by making it 2/3 white whole wheat, slightly reducing the sugar, and cutting the salt. I also increased the lime juice to offset the wholegrain. The limes I used did not have good skin for zesting. The biscotti are good, and my husband enjoys them, but they would be better with the zest.

[chocomouse]

I made chocolate chip cookie bars. I spread half the dough in a 9 x 12 pan, then poured on a bag (11 oz) of caramels melted with 4 tablespoons of heavy cream (yes, I removed the plastic wrap from every one of those caramels!!) over the dough and spread the remaining dough on top. I needed to use up the caramels to get them out of the kitchen. Next time, I'll just make a thick caramel sauce. These are really good! Chewy gooey.

[BakerAunt]

I had seven remaining Winesap apples that needed to be used, so Wednesday morning, I was checked out “apple cake” at Smitten Kitchen and found “Mom’s Apple Cake.”

mom’s apple cake

Although it calls for six apples, I decided that seven small Winesaps would work. I do not peel my apples, and that usually works well in cakes, so I did not peel these. I tweaked the recipe slightly by substituting 1/3 barley flour, by weight, for that much AP flour. I used King Arthur as the AP flour, since the gluten would take a hit from the barley substitution. I also added 2 Tbs. Bob’s Red Mill Powder to the flour mixture. Deb Perelman says her family never uses the walnuts (her Mom cut this recipe out of a woman’s magazine a long time ago), but I like walnuts with apples and knew it would give the cake some texture. I have a dark, heavy one-piece tube pan, so I reduced the temperature to 325F. I baked it on the second rack up in my oven—the usual position for breads and large Bundt cake pans—and baked for 90 minutes. As the recipe states, I let it cool completely in the pan before running a spatula around the edges and inverting it onto a plate. (It came out cleanly. The trick is not to let any of the apple coated sugar-cinnamon pieces touch the sides of the pan when assembling the cake for baking.) We each had a slice for dessert tonight, and it is excellent. I'll definitely bake it again next apple season.

[skeptic7]

I did Hot Cross Buns on Sunday and Monday from the Fleischman Yeast recipe. This uses candied pineapple instead of candied citrus peels which is an interesting difference. I did a double batch which made 28 buns, a half sheet pan full. I didn't have any lemon zest so I added lemon juice instead. I also changed the spices as Fleischmann recipe used only nutmeg which I thought was boring. Very good recipe with a light texture. I used 2 cups white whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour to make it more substantial. I also had made sponge with the whole wheat flour and all the liquides just because.
The recipe on the web has changed since I downloaded it. The basics are still there but it doesn't call for candied pineapple any more
I'm in the middle of making another batch of hot cross buns, this will have all my favorite techniques and a mixture of dried fruit but no raisins or currants so its Dog safe. My favorite Canines need to celebrate Easter too. I've given regular Hot Cross Buns out with warnings that they weren't Dog Friendly but I try to make some dog safe Hot Cross Buns every year.

[Mike Nolan]

FWIW, here's what the AKC says about dog-safe fruits and vegetables:

dog safe foods

[Joan Simpson]

I baked a loaf of cinnamon swirl raisin bread from Betty Crocker site today,it's OK but I'd rather use the one from Jennycancook or the KAF one.I cut it in half today and shared with my sister-in-law.

[skeptic7]

I finished the doggy safe hot cross buns. It made 28 buns, good rise, nice texture tasty. I am very pleased with these. This one had everything to make it keep longer -- potato flour, tangzou paste, and it started with a poolish to add flavor and save on yeast. The next regular batch will be buttermilk based. If you can't tell I am making up for lost time with a splurge of Easter baking. I might be overly ambitious.
I'll have to start the whole wheat versions soon -- I like the fruity ones and I have a very plain version almost not worthy of the name for a diabetic friend.

[BakerAunt]

I am baking just for us, so I won't make my Hot Cross Buns until later next week. (I promised my husband waffles for Palm Sunday.) It sounds as if you are having a great time being back in the kitchen, Skeptic.

On Friday morning, I baked another batch of Maple Granola.

In the afternoon, I baked my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from dough I made earlier this week. My husband, with only a little help from me, went through the last batch in a week and a half. It is not possible to work ahead of the Snack-o-saurus, or even keep up, since he finished the crackers a couple of days ago.

[BakerAunt]

I baked another adaptation of Ellen’s Buns on Saturday so that we could have sandwiches with some of the leftover roast chicken. I realized that it has been over a year since I pulled out this recipe, probably because it is my go-to recipe for when we travel, which we have not done in this continuing time of pandemic. My changes involve working toward at least half whole wheat flour (1 ½ cups), incorporating flax meal, replacing the butter with olive oil, and replacing ¾ cup of the water with buttermilk. I increased the buttermilk by 2 Tbs. (to 7 oz.) to account for the increased whole wheat flour. I replaced the 2 Tbs. sugar with 1 Tbs. honey, and of course I reduced the salt by 25%. I used just 2 tsp. yeast. The taste is excellent, and they have the soft bun texture we prefer.

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