What are you Baking the week of November 10, 2019?

[Mike Nolan]

I may try making those pumpkin shaped rolls today, I'm feeling creative. The recipe has some similarities to one for Parker House rolls, I'm wondering if a Parker House dough would work too. I've never tried shaping that dough in any shape except the Parker House fold.

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[Joan Simpson]

I made banana bread today and added a half cup of dark cocoa and before when I did this it had the taste of a brownie so we'll see when it cools,it smells very good.

[Joan Simpson]

The chocolate banana bread was very moist and I got my chocolate fix,happy here.

[Mike Nolan]

I made the pumpkin-shaped rolls today, it's a recipe that needs practicing, I'll probably make it at least once more before Thanksgiving. I'm going to freeze some from this batch to see if they can be made ahead of time and frozen

Be sure to make your strings long enough, several of mine were a little too short. That made them hard to tie loosely, so they got on too tight, which made them hard to cut and pull off. I wish I had some thinner string to see if it made things easier.

The recipe has you soak the strings in vegetable oil. I used corn oil, which I think is a bit too strong, I can smell it on the bread. Canola would probably be more neutral, but I think I'll try soaking them in some clarified butter next time, that way if it adds any flavor it will be that of butter.

The bread recipe itself is a bit disappointing, it is on the bland side. I don't think the bread dough recipe is critical, the technique should work with nearly any soft dinner roll recipe. I plan to try a more flavorful recipe next time, maybe a Parker House recipe, or one with some whole wheat or rye flour to give it more flavor.

I'm not sure there's an easy way to make them orange in color. Maybe some annato (which I don't have.) I could add some cheddar cheese powder, I suppose.

I made the stems way too big, next time I'll make them about half as big, and maybe a bit longer. Too bad there's no easy way to 'glue' them into the roll. If they were a lot longer I could try poking them in rather than trying to dig out a hole with a knife.

My wife thinks each roll is a bit large, they were 2 ounces each. I may try making smaller ones next time. I'd estimate these at around 30 carbs each.

They were cute enough that I'll try the technique again, as these would be fun to include in the Thanksgiving breads.

[RiversideLen]

If I try it, and I may, I'm going to just use the technique with my recipe. I was thinking about using either olive oil or grape seed. I'm not sure I'll do the stem.

[Mike Nolan]

If you're using a dough that has a fat or oil in the recipe, I think I'd recommend using it for the strings, too. That's why I plan to try it with butter.

[BakerAunt]

Would plain (no flavor) dental floss work instead of string?

I'm thinking of trying Ellen's rolls in my Nordic Ware pumpkin muffin pan. Each well is 1/2 cup, so it's a 6-cup pan. It seems to me that to get the pattern, the dough might have to be on the wetter side, or perhaps put a greased cookie sheet on top during the earlier part of the rising. The pan would have to be greased by hand with Crisco. I might try it this week, especially if we get the snow being forecast.

• This reply was modified 5 years ago by BakerAunt.

[Mike Nolan]

Dental floss might be too thin, and it would probably have to be the unwaxed kind to absorb any of the oil. I've seen some lighter weight kitchen string in stores, but most of what I use string for is for heavy-duty work, like trussing a chicken or turkey.

Some of the twines out there aren't marked as food-safe, and the colored ones might color the bread.

Back when we were living in Evanston in the 70's, the bakery on Main Street had a machine that would tie strings around their boxes. It was a lighter weight string than any of the baker's or butcher's twine I can find online.

[BakerAunt]

Once I went to a conference in Boston, and a friend and I went to an Italian bakery for cannoli and some cookies to take home for Easter. At the counter, they had spools of colored string hanging down, and the counterperson expertly wrapped and tied each package in record time with two colors of string.

• This reply was modified 5 years ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I’m practicing for Thanksgiving, so I baked my adaptation of Ellen's buns in my Nordic Ware “pumpkin muffin” pan. [Note: it is difficult to get Crisco into the crevices. I wonder if oiling the pain would work? However, the rolls popped right out, so perhaps don't mess with success]. I divided the dough into 12 balls (71g each) and pressed each one into a well, with as smooth of a seam side down as I could get. I put the pan in a plastic cupcake/13x9 pan holder with a snap-down lid before moving it into the area with the wood stove to rise for about 45 minutes, before baking for 15 minutes at the oven rack position I use for bread. The rolls came out very nicely, with good detail. They are slightly elongated pumpkins (probably I could use a little less dough, but I wanted to use the entire amount up), but my husband and I agree that these will be cute to do for Thanksgiving dinner.

[chocomouse]

I made a maple-apple upside down cake in my 14" cast iron skillet, using bourbon barrel aged maple syrup. It is delicious and made the whole house smell great. I also made gruyere-olive rolls, preparing them as you would cinnamon buns. They went into the freezer to have with soups for the next month or so.

[Mike Nolan]

I'd use the pan grease (equal parts by weight of flour, oil and crisco) and a small pastry brush to make sure you get the pan fully greased.

Alternatively, use oil and paper towels.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made chocolate chip cookies on Sunday. It was a last minute request from my daughter so I did not have time to let the butter soften. I did soften some in the microwave but the cookies did not spread in the oven. Kind of interesting.

Not sure if I'll go into the restaurant to bake this week. My wife is going out of town so going in at 3 am won't work.

[RiversideLen]

I made my usual bun recipe today but I made, or attempted, 4 different shapes.
First, I made traditional buns with KAF's Everything Bagel topping.
Then I made basket weave buns. Two successful shapes.
Attempted Kaiser rolls using the stamp. Instead of turning them upside down to rise, I let them remain rightside up. That caused the sections to rise up and form spikes. There's a reason for turning them upside down to rise and now I know why.
Finally I attempted the pumpkin shape. Maybe with practice but I am not happy with how those turned out. The string cut into the rolls plus I didn't get the spacing right. I probably won't try those again.

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[BakerAunt]

Great Experimentation, Len. I will definitely do the turn over when I try the Kaiser stamp.

I like those braided rolls.

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