[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks for the tips on prepping cinnamon rolls, Mike. I wish I'd talked to you before I made them.

Cream cheese frosting is a no-go in my house as 40% of the people do not like it. I was thinking either caramel or a light confectioner's sugar/lemon glaze.

Next time!

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made more bread this week. It's become very sour, some of which might be the starter (although it doesn't taste that sour) and some of which may be the length of time it is resting. I may need to shorten it all up.

I also tried making cinnamon rolls. Not sure how to ice the tops. And my shaping/forming/cutting needs some work but, as I said, it's a first attempt.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks!

Fascinating. I have carried frozen pizzas on planes (large Giordano's stuffed) but never a cake. A pastry chef friend was married to a man who built custom containers for shipping art around the world for art installations so whenever she a cake needed to travel he whipped up a custom container.

Frozen might work better if you have the time. It makes everything more solid and the refrigerator dries out cake and frosting. But she cut this REALLY close arriving a couple hours before the dinner where the cake was needed so thawing the cake might have been an issue.

The "drawbridge" and window are great ideas. Also, if you heat up duct tape with a hair dryer then let it cool, it is NEVER coming off until you cut it. I taught a networking class to a bunch of NASA engineers and they would use this technique to tape things to the outside of rockets and the stuff stayed on according to them.

The traditional English/Aussie wedding cake (according to my Aussie and English friends) used to be an English fruitcake. They go more American style these days. But the booze and the candied fruit kept very well without refrigeration. And the whole things was sealed in marzipan held in place by marmalade. It tastes better than it sounds (when made right). And they would cut up the cake, seal up some of the pieces, and then send them to invited guests who could not attend. That sounded like a nice tradition.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I 've recently stopped using parchment to make a crisper bottom.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks BA. Ash is pretty tough. I had an ash floor in my kitchen in Seattle and I miss it. Any floor can be wrecked and if you have slippers on and step on corn meal you won't feel it and you'll grind it into the floor. We have pine now (it's a long story).

Of course I know what Cream of Wheat is. I even know the radio jingle from the 30s thanks to my dad!

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks everyone!

I may go back to wood. We're looking at an outdoor pizza oven and if we have outdoor parties wood peels are great for presentation. I may buy one to try it.

I've never tried semolina for dusting but maybe I will. It's more expensive here (I know we're close Choco) so the few times I've used it I haven't used it for dusting. Also, for some reason, my family does not like it when I have used it. They have liked it other places.

I've never tried the grill. The people I know who use their grills here use gas grills so it won't have your flavor, Rottie, and they grill the bread then build the pizza. I have experimented with par-baking crusts to shorten times and to get a crisper crust. But things don't really meld together. I make five or six pizzas at a time (sometimes more) so I would need multiple stones to do this. Here in Connecticut coal-fired pizza is typical so I wonder how it compares to charcoal. The grill's big advantage is how hot it can get but I've just learned how to adjust the heat on my ovens past the factory settings so while it would only go to 450 before I now have it at 550. With our last ovens I had one at 800.

I started with cornmeal many years ago before I used parchment. It's good but it is very messy (or I am very messy or both ;-)). We have soft, wood floors and cornmeal actually gouges them. In high heat I've had the cornmeal catch on fire.

I've been thinking about rice flour too, Mike. The last two bakers I've worked with both use it for dusting. They say 1) it sticks less than bread flour because it lacks gluten and 2) it is less likely to catch fire than wheat flour. I don't know if either of these are true but two bakers running successful bakeries swear by it. I read an article that says I can make my own using a blender and rice so that would be nice as well.

Again, thanks for all your replies.

[aaronatthedoublef]

The farmers' market we went to in Thousand Oaks was HUGE. It took up large part of the mall parking lot. We bought flats of the most beautiful strawberries for $5. And the avacados were wonderful and $0.50 (but that may have been because Kate had a crush on the farmer).

[aaronatthedoublef]

When we lived in So Cal we quickly learned to shop the farmers' market for produce. Everything in the grocery stores was shipped to Texas, packed there and sent back to California. If it did not ripen off the plant it would never be ripe and if it did it was usually bruised.

Plus the farmers said they saved the best for the markets where they saw us face-to-face.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks Mike. Thanks BA.

Mike, I used a lasagna pan to make the sugar. We have several and they are all non-reactive. I just needed a bigger one or to use less sugar. I'm thinking I may make a large quantity of it to use in other things.

[aaronatthedoublef]

What are the blueberry sweet rolls like? We had a great aunt who used to bring us sweet rolls years ago. Here they have Danish which are similar but different.

Oh and we have 90s and rain this week. Lovely!

I made scones for my college boy who has not had them in a lonnnnng time. I'll make more bread this week. Violet had a birthday party featuring s'mores. I made a coconut cake into a sheet cake. I thought it would bake faster than in 9 inch rounds but it still took about 35 minutes. It was Stella Park's from Serious Eats and had coconut flour, coconut oil, and coconut milk but no actual, real coconut. Now what is a coconut cake without coconut? So I dumped in four ounces. It could have used eight. And the flavor doesn't really come out until the next day but it was a really good cake. I used my smallest round biscuit cutter and made little rounds to have in the s'mores bar.

I tried browning some sugar but I need a bigger pan or to do a smaller batch. Some of it was toasted and had a great caramel smell and taste. Definitely worth doing again.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks Len. I saw them on Amazon too. I am just trying to ween myself off buying things from them. I'm not a big fan these days.

I've been making KAF potato rolls for buns and my family likes those. I've been hand-shaping them as well. You cannot get the two tone effect of a hamburger bun without a pan (or I haven't figured that out). I have never tried hotdog buns, freehand or otherwise. Looking at them they might be similar to mini baguettes and baguettes are surprisingly hard to shape.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks for the link Mike. I'll watch and maybe buy the book as well. I learn better from books and following steps.

My family likes white cakes and I would MUCH rather make a yellow cake. I haven't tried a mix (maybe I should) but taking out the yolks makes the recipe more challenging. I have had more than one white cake where I overbeat the whites and dried them and the cake out. But the crumb is very pretty and delicate. I do more hand mixing with white cakes.

Those cake pans are really cool. Where do you all buy your bakeware?

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks for the link Mike. I'll watch and maybe buy the book as well. I learn better from books and following steps.

My family likes white cakes and I would MUCH rather make a yellow cake. I haven't tried a mix (maybe I should) but taking out the yolks makes the recipe more challenging. I have had more than one white cake where I overbeat the whites and dried them and the cake out. But the crumb is very pretty and delicate. I do more hand mixing with white cakes.

Those cake pans are really cool. Where do you all buy your bakeware?

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks for the encouragement to try lamination Mike. And it's less daunting now that butter is less than $7/lb.

The lava bread is not salty. It is sweet. Even Violet found it very sweet.

But the yeasted breads they served in restaurants and cafes was very salty to my taste. I have no recipes for those.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Mike - Your kouign amann looks great. I've always been terrified of laminated yeast doughs.

I was told by a Frenchman some years back it was to use up leftover croissant dough. Don't know if it's true but even if that's where it came from kouign amann has morphed into its own thing. How many dishes started out as poor food and ways to stretch or not waste things only to now become high end dishes.

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