What are you Baking the Week of May 9, 2021?

[Mike Nolan]

Happy Mother's Day.

I started the day out with a couple of the fan-tan cinnamon/maple rolls from the freezer, that may be all the baking I do today.

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[Janiebakes]

My MIL lives in senior housing nearby and is unhappy with the food. For Mother's day I made her an apple pie. I used butter instead of shortening in the crust and baked a free form galette. So much easier than using a pie pan. I baked the filling last night so it could cool before putting it in the crust. Learned that from jej on the old baking circle. Since the filling is already cooked, you can concentrate on a perfectly golden crust. Because it cooled overnight, it did not melt the butter in the pastry. Some large crystal sugar all over the top is pretty. DH will be taking it to her shortly.

[chocomouse]

Today I made Raspberry Cream Cheese Rolls. They are like cinnamon buns but with a cream cheese and raspberry filling. They smell wonderful!

[Mike Nolan]

Complaining about the food is commonplace at senior centers, and often for good reason. The first one my wife's mother was in only served fruit in a sugar syrup for breakfast, despite having a population where over half were diabetic.

Meals were much better on official visiting days, like Mother's Day.

[cwcdesign]

Oh janiebakes, my mother would complain about the food at her senior living community ALL THE TIME. Sometimes it was warranted, sometimes not. I chalk it up to her dementia which primarily consisted of her short term memory being shot. That - and that I took her car away.

Anyway, cherry pie was her favorite so last year I made mini cherry pies in the KAF burger bun pan - one for her birthday and 5 for her freezer. I had a caregiver friend who dropped them off along with her presents, since I wasn’t allowed in.

That is wonderful of you to make her a pie.

[BakerAunt]

I baked my Lime Pecan Biscotti on Sunday, incorporating the changes I made last time, which uses 2/3 white whole wheat flour and more lime juice.

I also baked my Rye and Barley Crispbread (recipe here at Nebraska Kitchen). This time I topped them with sunflower and pumpkin seeds, since sesame seed seems to be an issue for my husband.

[Janiebakes]

There are only two things I cook that my mother in law likes, the apple pie and apparently I can roast a turkey. She is a tough cookie when it comes to menu (never eats leftovers!) but she also does not like to cook either. I have that pie recipe down pat and not having to roll the crust to fit a pan makes it so easy to please her. Cherry and blueberry pie are liked too but apple is the favorite. Those raspberry cream cheese rolls sound so good. May have to try her out on those. My dad battles cancer for 8 years and was diabetic as well. The food at the hospital was so unhealthy. The cafeteria closed between lunch and dinner leaving you at the mercy of the vending machines if there for outpatient. Often bought food with us but sometimes ended up there without warning. Does make you wonder. It looked like the doctors and nurses were not eating any better than most people.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Hi. It's been a while! Been making lots of scones recently - made them for friends who looked after our house, for my wife's birthday, and then mother's day. Trying to figure our how to scale them beyond four dozen at one time. I've always made these completely by hand. The big change I made was I started grating the butter. I thought this would be more work then cutting it in but it really is easier. I grate it then toss it with a fork. I wonder if a food processor would work but if it would be any easier.

I made an Ina Garten coconut cake for my wife's birthday. The coconut made it really rich and I probably could cut back the butter. Also, it called for cream cheese frosting which my wife does not like so I just make an American butter cream and dumped in some coconut. Next time I'll toast the coconut in the frosting.

Been making BA's cracker because my kids won't eat store-bought crackers any more.

I need to get back on the bread track this week.

[chocomouse]

I use my food processor to grate butter into the flour for scones. Just don't mix it in the processor, do it by hand; I think that would overwork the dough and make it tough. However, I have also tried KABC's method of squeezing small chunks of butter between your fingers to make different sized flat pieces, and I've like the layering of dough with larger pieces of butter left between them. I've only done it a couple of times, but I do think it make lighter scones. I will say the food processor is faster and easier!

[skeptic7]

I did the KAF Spiced Rye cookies, which turned out just like a ginger snap despite the exotic ingredients of black pepper and rye flour. This was surprisingly easy to make. I used a rounded table tablespoon to make the balls this would be around 1 1/2 tablespoons measured, and rolled them in sugar and baked. Does know why the recipe mixed the sugar in with the oil instead of with the dry ingredients?
These were so good. I might make another batch today.

I haven't made scones for a while. I think I only made batches of 16 scones at a time. If I wanted more I did multiple batches.

[BakerAunt]

My guess is that just as you would cream butter with sugar, so you "cream" the oil with the sugar. I have also noted that in a lot of oil cake recipes.

Black pepper is also an ingredient in the German Pfeffernusse cookies. I have a gingerbread cookie that uses a dash of cayenne.

I need to bake those rye ginger cookies again. They are delicious.

[Mike Nolan]

There's been an interesting discussion in the BBGA forum lately about Challah and cold fermentation, I think the next time I try making Challah I'm going to scale and pre-shape the dough then let it refrigerate overnight before I roll out the strands and do the braiding. Jeffrey Hamelman says that makes for well-rested dough that is easier to roll out.

There were even some photos of very nice looking loaves that were braided then left in the refrigerator overnight before baking. Surprisingly, the braids remained intact and distinct.

[BakerAunt]

On Tuesday, I made dough for another batch of my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers (Baker Aunt’s Crackers). I’ll bake them in five or six days. I am trying to keep up with my husband's consumption of them.

Aaron--Consider trying the Rye and Barley Crispbread. It makes 32 large squares which might slow the consumption a bit, as do the whole grains and the seeds on top.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by BakerAunt.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Sugar often goes in with the fat instead of the dry ingredients. As BA say, cream it with the oil (or the butter).

BA thanks for the tip but I am not sure there is anything I can do to slow my boys down. Sam took out a block of cream cheese and all the crackers I made and just sat there spreading the cream cheese on the crackers and finished most of both of them. I started adding Everything Bagel topping to them and that has not helped! I am back to rolling by hand instead of with the pasta roller. I think it's easier.

I put together bread dough I just haven't had time to shape, rise and bake (mostly the rises).

I'll make more crackers tomorrow.

[chocomouse]

I just took chocolate chip oatmeal cookies out of the oven. Ooey gooey, warm and chewy!

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