[BakerAunt]

I had the German chocolate leftover from another recipe, so I wanted to use it up. Other than the bittersweet chocolate, I had only unsweetened in the refrigerator. I still have some high quality bittersweet chocolate chips, but I wasn't going to "waste" them in a cookie recipe. They were awesome in the Bischofsbrot that I baked in January where they nicely set off the maraschino cherries and the dark and golden raisins and walnuts.

I bought some Callebaut to make a wondrous KAF chocolate tart. Those days are over. Sigh.

I'll probably be baking my husband's favorite chocolate cake when his birthday rolls around next month, so I need to check my store of Ghirardelli and Guittard dark chocolate chips. I also need to see exactly what chocolate ingredients I have in the apartment refrigerator. I moved it all out there when I started the low-saturated fat diet. I have some confidence now that I can keep a balance, but I still don't want to keep it in the house refrigerator.

[BakerAunt]

Both of the bars I'm using have cocoa butter, but as Mike notes, there is no mention of how much.

German chocolate ingredients: sweet chocolate (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, soy lecithin--emulsifier

Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate (60% cacao): unsweetened chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, milk fat, soy lecithin--an emulsifier, vanilla

I just took the first tray out of the oven, and they look good. I'll post more details later this evening after we have one for dessert.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

KAF recipes often use a small amount of sourdough starter for the overnight levain. (See Jeffrey Hamelmann's rye bread recipe on the KAF site.) I find it a bit iffy, having tried baking the rye bread on two occasions, as there seemed to be a small window between when the levain was ready and moving on to the next step. I need to try that recipe again.

[BakerAunt]

Hmm--Good question, Aaron. One advantage might be being able to get the chocolate out of the bowl in which it was melted.

[BakerAunt]

Also moving to correct thread, as I followed Aaron's comment.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I missed it by 10g too high. I'm still new to using grams in baking, but it helps that my scale will toggle back and forth between oz. and grams, so I'm learning. If I have a choice between oz. and grams, I will use the grams.

[BakerAunt]

Joan, it's great that your husband is not only eating well again but able to tackle chores again.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks, Mike. I'm not using "great" chocolate. I have 2 oz. Bakers German Chocolate, which I plan to melt with 4 oz. Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate. I want to use up some of the chocolate that has been sitting in the refrigerator.

After I make the dough, I plan to go ahead and scoop out the cookies, then refrigerate each tray for about 30 minutes before baking. The resting time worked well with the oil-based biscotti that I baked a couple of weeks ago.

[BakerAunt]

One summer before we lived here permanently, we had a pump problem that took the plumber the better part of a day. We had two of my husband's graduate students here doing research. I desperately wanted to order pizza, but there was only one very expensive restaurant. I ended up making something, although I don't recall what.

We have one pizza place--Bourbon Street, which is a chain in Indiana. I've not had their pizza. I have had pizza from Papa's, a local Italian restaurant (the expensive one). I've had it once, and it was good, although the occasion--watching fireworks with friends--may have colored that memory. We like my pizza, so it does not matter that we have no place from which we want to order it.

Thanks for the feedback on white whole wheat flour, Aaron. I'll try replacing the KAF AP in my crust next time I make it. The semolina and durum wheat will stay, as will the rye and sourdough.

[BakerAunt]

Sigh. I was so disappointed previously when Mike informed us that semolina is not a wholegrain. I've tried more whole wheat in my pizza crust but did not like the result. Adding some dark rye has worked. I may try some of the white whole wheat in place of the KAF flour. I do add some dark rye.

[BakerAunt]

I will often make six large rather than twelve small muffins, particularly if I'm planning to freeze them (less to wrap). I also prefer greasing large muffin pans to small ones. My large ones are nowhere near the size of bakery muffins.

However, I have a lot of muffin/cupcake papers, mostly for standard muffins, and wanted to begin using the supply, and my husband is more likely to snack on a small muffin than a large one. That said, bakeries sell giant muffins that resemble cupcakes and are often loaded with butter and sugar. Those are the ones that I see at the farmers market.

[BakerAunt]

We had a job candidate once who told us that she had loved shrimp, but that having lived in a shrimping area, and having consumed so much of it, she apparently had eaten her lifetime allocation because she developed a serious reaction to it and could no longer eat it.

Another friend had that happen with tomatoes.

[BakerAunt]

Mike--I made a correction in my post, before Skeptic's reply, and my post disappeared again. Can you restore it, or do I need to try to re-post?

[BakerAunt]

I can't access the article, but from what is there before the "stop," the bread seems loaded with saturated fat.

It reminds me of some vegan recipes where the workaround is unhealthier than just eating the animal product. There are healthy vegan recipes, but attempts to make it like non-vegan usually fall flat.

[BakerAunt]

Some people do have a genetic sensitivity to bitterness in whole wheat. I think it was Wingboy (?--S. Wirth would know), from the former KAF Baking Circle who had this issue with whole wheat, as well as a lot of beers. I suspect that it is an issue for my husband's cousins, as I've found that they avoid wholegrain bread that I bring in favor of white breads from a bakery. A semolina bread went over very well with them. I've also been able to use half white whole wheat flour in cinnamon rolls without their noticing.

So, if you want to get whole wheat into your children, the white whole wheat flour is a good place to start. I also use some in cookies where I don't want the whole wheat flavor to dominate. It's too bad that Bob's Red Mill ceased offering their "ivory wheat" flour, which was white whole wheat, as it was my favorite. I now have to buy from King Arthur online, which is pricier. White whole wheat flour, medium rye, pumpernickel, espresso powder, and cheese powder are primarily the reason that I renewed my Bakers Rewards membership with King Arthur, even though they carry less these days than interests me, and their prices are higher.

[Author]

Posts