What are You Baking the Week of September 26, 2021?

[BakerAunt]

On Wednesday, I baked the Banana Cake recipe from a website titled “Cooking Made Healthy: Quick and Easy Recipes,” but I made it as banana bread in a Nordic Ware decorative 4-loaf pan (8 cups batter). It is the same recipe that I baked on Sept. 5. I replace the three cups of whole wheat flour with two cups of whole wheat pastry flour and 1 cup KAF AP. I halved the salt, from ½ to ¼ tsp., given that it has ¾ tsp. baking soda, in addition to baking powder. I reduced the vanilla from 1 Tbs. to 2 tsp. I usually add buttermilk in place of water, but this time I used 1% milk. I also added 2 Tbs. Bob’s Red Mill milk powder. I plan to freeze three of these.

[chocomouse]

I have a thread from the obc by Baker Irene called "A Flavor I Wish We Had in a Chip". The recipe I use is from that post, and I believe that post is saved to recipes here. I think the homemade chips work OK, although they seem to kind of disappear into the batter (of scones or muffins) as they bake, they do not remain hard and chewy like a regular chip does. However, my husband prefers the store-bought chips, so he paid an exorbitant price online somewhere and got me 6-8 bags or so of "real" chips! Also, Baker Irene's post got my imagination working - lots of interesting flavors are possibilities!!

[Italiancook]

Thanks, chocomouse, for the thread info. I'm too tired now to search for it but will do so tomorrow.

I baked KABC Onion Buns for the freezer. I have a ham shank in the fridge waiting for a cool, rainy day. I made the onion buns so we can have leftover ham sandwiches. This is the second time I've made these. I think I need to investigate rolling pins. The only one I have is a newlywed gift. It's okay for pie crusts, but lousy for rolling a 17" x 12" rectangle. A while back, I purchased a marble rolling pin for its weight. Unfortunately, it was too heavy for me! I gave it to a male neighbor who bakes.

[BakerAunt]

Italian Cook--My favorite rolling pin is a wood cylinder that is 20 1/4 inches long and 1 1/8 inches in diameter. No handles. I bought it years ago with a square wood board that could be adjusted to different heights for rolling out dough evenly. As it turns out the square wood board (I think it was called a dobard) was not that useful--too small to roll out very much dough at one time and fussy to adjust. However, I LOVED the long rolling pin. I have a lovely, heavy maple one but rarely use it or any of my other collection. I use the longy cylindrical one with thin wood strips to roll out cracker dough evenly.

I seem to recall that Mike has a similar, non-tapered pin.

I keep my rolling pin collection in a wood wine bottle rack (bought at a thrift store!) on the kitchen counter.

[BakerAunt]

Here is the thread with Baker Irene's directions. I moved it here from the Baking Circle before it closed:

Baker Irene on Making Your Own Flavored Chips Thread

I miss Baker Irene and wish that she had joined us here.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, BakerAunt, for the flavored chips link.

I also appreciate your information on the rolling pin, BakerAunt. It remined me that Lehman's has a non-tapered rolling pin, among others. lehmans.com I just purchased their "Classic Baker's Pin". It's longer at 19-3/8", but it's made in the USA, and I've never had a Lehman's product disappoint me.

[Mike Nolan]

I have a tapered wood rolling pin, I seldom use it because I can't figure out how the tapering is supposed to make it easier to roll out pastry. Are you supposed to rock it from side to side?

We also have one of the old traditional maple ones with handles, it is 11 inches long and 2 1/2 inches in diameter. My younger son liked using it for rolling out pizzas, but with my arthritis my hands don't fit around the handles very well any more.

I have two straight wooden rolling pins, one is 20 inches long and 2 inches in diameter, the other is 19 inches long and 1 1/2 inches in diameter. I also have a silicone coated one that is 20 x 2, and I use a 3/8" dowel for making creases in a celebration Challah so that the upper layer nestles into the groove, and also for making fendu (split bread.)

I find more delicate pastries work better with the larger diameter rolling pin.

Irish baker Jimmy Griffin has a translucent plastic one he uses in the videos he uploads to Youtube: Jimmy Griffin Videos, it appears to be longer than 20 inches but I haven't found anywhere to order it yet, so I don't know the specifics or cost.

[BakerAunt]

I baked my version of that wholegrain pumpkin snacking cake for dessert on Friday and into the weekend.

For dinner, I baked my sourdough half-sheet pan pizza. The crust came out particularly light, maybe because I gave both rises two hours. I topped it with homemade pizza sauce from our garden, Canadian bacon, mozzarella, mushrooms, red bell pepper and green onion tops from our garden, and Parmesan. Yum.

[Mike Nolan]

I made 2 loaves of semolina bread today.

[BakerAunt]

On Saturday, I baked three loaves of my version of Grandma A’s Ranch Hand Bread. One will stay out to be sliced into tomorrow, and two will go into the freezer for later.

[Italiancook]

I baked a Sara Moulton dessert biscuit recipe. On the show I saw, she called it "Shortbread." On the Internet, it's called "Cream Biscuits," because the fat is heavy cream. My husband had purchased a pint of frozen, sliced strawberries, so lunch was Strawberry Shortcake.

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