What Did You Bake the Week of August 7, 2016?

[BakerAunt]

It's time for a new month of baking.

On Sunday morning, I baked my adaptation of a whole wheat blueberry muffin from the KAF site. I cut the sugar in half. I then use a half recipe of the crumb topping that came with the Texas-sized muffin pan I bought a couple of years ago, and used that pan for these.

On Wednesday, I baked a blueberry pie with the last of our fresh-picked blueberries. I've posted about it in a thread. I also tried a new recipe, "Buckwheat-Barley Bread," from The Baking Sheet (Winter 2000), p. 18. I've posted about it in a separate thread.

On Friday, I baked the KAF chocolate chip zucchini bread. I forgot the vanilla, but I do not know that it makes any difference. It is still delicious--and the recipe uses 2 cups of zucchini! I did follow the ATK advice to wrap the grated zucchini in either a towel or a thick paper towel to absorb some of the moisture. (I used a thick paper towel for each cup.) I also baked a loaf of Buttermilk Grape Nuts Bread (recipe on this site).

No baking on Saturday, but I did buy more organic peaches from the honey people at the farmer's market....

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• This topic was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by BakerAunt.

[luvpyrpom]

On Sunday I wanted to make a little extra freezer space so made sweet potato pie and worked on finding the right combination of ingredients in pie crust that we would like as a family. Made a double crust recipe and made 2 blind baked crusts, one to save for a later pie fresh fruit pie. Wanted to try bake the crust scraps with cinnamon sugar on top. Last time I had tried this, I had burned them all. So this time I baked them in a toaster oven so I can keep any eye on them as I cooked on the stovetop. They came out pretty good. On Friday, made cider mini muffins double batch for work and I wanted to try something new. Phyllo apple turnovers - I've never worked with phyllo and I wanted to try to see if they would work well if I used margarine instead of butter. As this was an experiment, I used the canned apple pie filling instead of my homemade version. The turnovers came out huge and the layers came out crunchy and pretty good. I think next time I will sprinkle some cinnamon-sugar in between the layers too. Of course, now I want to try to make baklava, now, too.

[cwcdesign]

I baked this chocolate chip cake for my son's 28th birthday
http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014217-mocha-chocolate-chip-cake
I told him I would not be able to make his favorite Boston Creme Pie this year since 1) I didn't have enough time, and 2) I think some of the issues I've been having with it is that I've been trying to make it in very hot weather. I promised to make one when the weather cools down. I asked him what he'd like instead and he said a chocolate chip cake. The only ones I'd ever seen were bundt/pound cakes and I wanted a layer cake. Glad I found this one.

It is delicious, not too sweet, a little bit of a salty taste. The mocha frosting is too die for. Only problem was that the cake was a little dense and I think I know what caused it. I was going to post to see if the recipe was OK and figured that someone would ask me if my baking powder was still good. Well, it expired in February! Definitely going to make this again with fresh baking powder!

On Saturday, I made a batch of vegan Cinnamon Toast Cake for a neighborhood party. It disappeared. And, the baking powder started working right away in the batter - it went right to the top of the pan.

[BakerAunt]

That cake looks wonderful. I need to print that recipe.

As for the baking powder, if it worked for the Cinnamon Toast Cake, it's probably ok.

We need Cass to weigh in on whether the recipe is in balance.

[cwcdesign]

Oh, no BakerAunt. I used my brand new container of baking powder for the cinnamon toast cake. There was a huge difference between the batters in how they reacted when all mixed together. My new can is good until fall 2017.

[BakerAunt]

Ok, I misunderstood.

Now I just need an occasion to bake this cake--and enough people to help me eat it. Did you use the Turbinado sugar? Is it really necessary?

[cwcdesign]

I did use the turbinado sugar. It may have added to the complexity of the flavor - somewhere between brown sugar and white sugar of a chocolate chip cookie. I can get Amish salted butter at Harris Teeter ($5.97 for 2 pounds and it's made in Wisconsin). I think it is comparable in flavor to the European butters, but much less expensive. I think white sugar might make it too sweet. I would do it as written first and then make any changes you wanted to make after.

I'll be interested to see if you like it.

[Mike Nolan]

The turbinado would have contributed to the flavor and to the color, which is why the cake is a pretty good match with the mocha frosting even though there's no coffee in the cake itself.

[BakerAunt]

I googled turbinado sugar. Am I correct that it is the same as "sugar in the raw"? Any brand suggestions?

[Mike Nolan]

Yes, turbinado sugar is often referred to as 'sugar in the raw' (which may be a trademark), though that's somewhat inaccurate as it is partially refined sugar. I always get a chuckle out of those who insist that they will only use 'raw' sugar, referring to turbinado.

[cwcdesign]

I had bought "Sugar in the Raw" a while back for the Vegan Cinnamon Toast Cake, not realizing it was turbinado. So when I made this cake, I bought a different brand - I think it was called Wholesome. When I went to make the most recent batch of CTC, I pulled out the Sugar in the Raw and THEN saw that it was turbinado. The difference between the 2 was that the Wholesome turbinado was lighter in color and the crystals were a little smaller, but not as small as refined sugar. I combined the 2 brands for the CTC. Knowing that now, I would probably shop for the best deal.

[rottiedogs]

I made two loaves of banana bread for the freezer. I froze them in halves so there wouldn't be so much temptation.

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