What are you Baking the Week of May 29, 2022?

[Mike Nolan]

Not sure I'll bake today, supposed to be warm here but possible rain late and cooler into the week.

Spread the word

      

  

  

[BakerAunt]

On Sunday, I baked a "sprinkles cake, using the recipe for "Patriotic Sprinkle Cake," from Bake from Scratch Magazine. I follow the basic recipe but reduce the sugar slightly (from 1 2/3 cups to 1 1/2 cups) and use half the salt, since they use kosher salt, and I use a regular sea salt. The recipe calls for red and blue sprinkles, but I do not have red ones, so I used multi-colored, larger rainbow nonpareils. Some of these do stick to the pan, but the Grease allowed me to get a clean removal. I like the look of the nonpareils on the outside of the cake!

The original recipe includes scooping out the bottom of the cake, filling it with raspberry sorbet, replacing the cake that was removed, and putting it into the freezer. I have no such grand designs. Instead, I will let it rest until tomorrow, then glaze it and sprinkle some smaller nonpareils on the glaze.

[cwcdesign]

I baked! I only have a couple of pieces of Will’s sourdough left so it was time.

I made my adaptation of KAF’s Harvest Grains Bread. I use 100 grams each of AP and sprouted wheat flour and the rest was WWW. The recipe calls for 4 teaspoons yeast, but since I had the gold SAF I thought I would try 3 teaspoons (2 loaves). Whole grain bread improver is optional but I didn’t have any- well, that’s not completely accurate - I may have had a jar in the freezer, but I couldn’t read the writing so I tossed it.

Anyway, I probably could have proofed it longer - I’m always afraid of overproofing - it wasn’t quite at the inch over the lip of the pans when I put them in the oven - they didn’t rise more in the oven, but they also didn’t sink - they’re a little dense but still good.

EDIT: I probably could have used the whole amount of water as well - it's amazing what you can forget when you haven't done something in a while - it makes great toast.

[navlys]

I received a pampered chef trifle bowl a few years ago and I finally got to use it. My neighbor requested a strawberry trifle and I found the perfect recipe on Amanda's blog. I made the angel food cake (a mix) and used some of the frozen strawberries I had as well as fresh and substituted mascarpone cheese for the cream cheese and used real whipped cream instead of Cool Whip. It was a success. I'm glad I didn't donate the trifle bowl.

[BakerAunt]

Navlys--It is always great when one of those just in case kitchen items turns out to be just what you need.

I baked my version of Ellen's buns this Memorial Day, making ten lovely hamburger buns for the burgers my husband is grilling, with support from the son.

[Mike Nolan]

I'm looking at trying a variant of tangzhong bread done in the style of New England hot dog buns, but without the special pan. Might be something I try on Tuesday.

[BakerAunt]

On Wednesday, I baked a loaf of Rustic Sourdough Wholegrain bread. I have started a separate thread on baking with a cloche, so the details are there.

[BakerAunt]

On Thursday evening, I baked the Spiced Rye Cookies from the King Arthur site. No changes were needed, as these are an oil-based cookie, although I use a #40 Zeroll scoop and drop the balls directly into the sparkling sugar to coat them before putting them on the pan. I will let the flavors meld before I start eating them tomorrow. The spices do not work well for my husband’s digestion, so I will bake a different cookie tomorrow for him.

I also mixed the dough for the King Arthur Gourmet Soda Crackers, but I modify this recipe by deleting 2 Tbs. water and increasing the oil (I use avocado oil) to 3 Tbs. I also wait to add the oil until I have the other ingredients mixed. The dough rests up to 18 hours in the refrigerator before baking. After the bake, they remain in the turned-off oven until completely cooled (usually overnight, but at least 8 hours). That means I have to think ahead as to whether I will need the oven again before they cool.

[BakerAunt]

I had planned to bake Lemon Ricotta Cookies on Friday, but after I had weighed out half AP and half white whole wheat flour, I pulled out the opened container of ricotta and saw flourishing green mold. The container went into the trash, and I went to Google to see if I could find a different recipe. My husband has not been eating much peanut butter lately, so I searched to see if I could find a cookie that would use natural peanut butter and no butter. After some frustration, I found a recipe for Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies at a blog, The Simple Veganista:

1 Bowl Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

I did not need them to be vegan, so I replaced the almond milk with 1% milk. I used granulated sugar, instead of coconut or "pure cane sugar." The recipe said that it was fine to reduce the sugar from 1 cup to 3/4 cup, so I did, as I find most peanut butter cookies achingly sweet. I used some of the combined AP and White Whole Wheat flour that I had already mixed. I weighed the peanut butter, calculating the weight of a cup based on what the jar said was the weight in grams of 2 Tbs.

The dough came together easily with my hand mixer. I used a #40 Zeroll scoop to apportion the dough into 24 balls, but I needed to shape them into balls with my hands to smooth the surface, before flattening them with the crisscross pattern. My husband had one after they cooled and was pleased. I will have one for dinner tonight.

[BakerAunt]

I also baked the Gourmet Soda Crackers from the dough I made yesterday. They are now cooling and crisping in the turned-off oven until tomorrow. These crackers bake better on my 1 and 2/3-sized sheet pan. The dough rested in the refrigerator for 17 hours (18 hours is the maximum), and I think that made it easier to roll.

[Mike Nolan]

The USDA database used to give you weights for various amounts of products, like a cup of peanut butter. These days they don't give volumetric measurements at all, just 100 grams.

Their 'serving sizes' aren't always useful, either. While it is probably true that there are 30 grams of flour in a serving of bread, that doesn't help you use the nutritional data when it is in grams. The difference between 3 and 4 grams of protein in a 30 gram serving is pretty large, especially when you consider that anything from 2.50 to 3.49 grams is considered 3 grams.

[navlys]

Those peanut butter cookies look tempting BA!

[BakerAunt]

Navlys--They are very good. While they do not have the melty taste of a peanut butter cookie made with butter, they are an excellent substitute when butter in the diet needs to be reduced or eliminated.

Thanks for the info on nutritional information panels, Mike. While the grams are more useful than the old percentages (and the milk I buy STILL uses percentages), it gives me at least a general idea. For people who need precision because of health impacts, it would be problematic.

[Mike Nolan]

100 grams is an improvement over 30 grams for something like flour. That still means anywhere from 7 to 13 grams of protein in 100 grams of flour, but at least the roundoff error is smaller.

The Washington Post has a strawberry souffle recipe that I'm planning to make for dessert tonight.

And I haven't decided when, but I'm going to make a kouign amann (pronounced like 'queen amann', more or less) soon, maybe for Father's Day.

[BakerAunt]

I have three loaves of my Whole Wheat Oat Bran Bread in the oven. With our weather being cooler, it is good to get ahead on the bread baking.

[Author]

Posts