BakerAunt

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  • in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of December 3, 2017? #10093
    BakerAunt
    Participant

      It began snowing this morning, the first real snowfall of the season. My husband estimates that we have had 3-4 inches of the big wet snow. He should know, as he is shoveling it. I am inside, where I have tried a new recipe, Gingerbread Biscotti:

      I tasted the crumbs from when I cut them after the first bake, and the taste is delicious. I didn't use the optional nuts or chocolate chips, and I did not use the egg white glaze, although I sprinkled the logs with cinnamon sugar before baking.

      in reply to: Eggnog Cake #10089
      BakerAunt
      Participant

        Cwcdesign--I rarely glaze Bundt cakes, as they are moist, but if you want to glaze it, go ahead--maybe a rum glaze?

        • This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.
        in reply to: Why Do You Love Cooking & Baking #10088
        BakerAunt
        Participant

          Luvpyrpom--It's good to see you posting again!

          in reply to: Polenta Asiago Bread #10086
          BakerAunt
          Participant

            Hmm--I still have a bit of the asiago cheese left. I also have canapé bread tubes. Maybe an experiment with the Austrian Malt Bread is in order.

            in reply to: Polenta Asiago Bread #10080
            BakerAunt
            Participant

              On Thursday, I again tried baking the Polenta Asiago Bread, from Sift (Fall 2015), p.69. This time, instead of course-ground corn meal, I had polenta (corn grits) from Bob's Red Mill. The polenta definitely cooks to a different consistency from the course ground corn meal, and I now believe it is essential to this recipe. I initially held back half the water, but it seemed dry enough that I went ahead and put it all in. Kid Pizza had suggested to me that I also hold back the oil initially as it can interfere with gluten development. I waited until 13 minutes into the 30-minute cycle to add it, and I put it mostly around the sides. During one of the bread machine's pauses, I turned the dough over to make sure that it would get incorporated. At the end of the kneading cycle, the dough seemed a tad sticky, so I hand kneaded in another tablespoon of bread flour before letting it rise. The rise took longer, as the house is cooler than usual today, but the dough rose well. I easily divided it into three pieces, which I formed into long rolls, and I let it rest covered for 10 minutes (usually a good idea with bread flour). I then braided it and placed it in a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan to rise for 45 minutes. The pan looked a little large for the dough. Due to the coolness of the house, I gave it an additional 15 minutes as a warmer location. It did not rise as high as the rim of my baking pan. I baked it for 35 minutes to a temperature of 198F. It did not have much additional oven spring. I think that the polenta is heavier the course grain corn meal, and that held back the rise; on the positive side, it did not collapse. Taste Note: The texture has less of the larger holes. I still prefer it toasted.

              So, coarse-grind cornmeal will produce a wet, hard to handle dough, so if using it (as Sift specifies), hold back some of the water. If using polenta, which the original recipe specifies, the dough can be shaped more easily, but it will not rise as much--and also not collapse. If I were ever to bake this bread again, I would likely try it in an 8x4 inch loaf pan.

              in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of December 3, 2017? #10072
              BakerAunt
              Participant

                Late this morning I baked Eggnog Scones, using the recipe on the KAF website, except that I substitute in 3/4 cup of whole wheat pastry flour. I'm using a different kind of eggnog, so I tried deleting the eggnog flavoring, but although these are good, the recipe does actually have a more assertive eggnog taste with it.

                Note: At room temperature, the eggnog taste comes through nicely, so the scones do not need the eggnog flavoring. These scones are at their best at room temperature--no need to get up early to bake and serve warm!

                • This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.
                in reply to: Reindeer Cookies #10071
                BakerAunt
                Participant

                  I can already tell that it takes longer than I will likely be willing to devote to it, but I can dream.

                  in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of December 3, 2017? #10063
                  BakerAunt
                  Participant

                    On Thursday, I again tried baking the Polenta Asiago Bread, from Sift (Fall 2015), p.69. This time, instead of course-ground corn meal, I had polenta (corn grits) from Bob's Red Mill. I'll write a further analysis tomorrow in the thread I started about the recipe.

                    in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of December 3, 2017? #10061
                    BakerAunt
                    Participant

                      Here on the lake, we had the season's first snowfall this morning. It was rather light, but it stayed on the ground and sidewalk for a time as it is in the 20s today. It was a perfect day to make Ground Turkey and Black Bean Chili, my adaptation of a recipe from Bon Appetit (April 1993) in the "Cooking for Health," column by Richard Sax and Marie Simmons. It has long been a favorite, and finding a bag of 6 red bell peppers in a bag for 99 cents at the grocery store put it on the list to make this week. My version is milder than the original, as I reduce the chili powder from 4 to 1 tsp. and delete 2 tsp. of cumin. I do add a dash of cayenne. I also use additional broth and add 3/4 cups brown rice. I started it on the kitchen stove, but once all was combined, I put it on the wood stove to simmer for an hour.

                      in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of December 3, 2017? #10060
                      BakerAunt
                      Participant

                        Wednesday afternoon, I baked Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers, using the dough I made up last week.

                        in reply to: Changing Dish Size ? #10059
                        BakerAunt
                        Participant

                          Italian Cook:

                          The area of the 13x9 inch pan is 117 square inches.
                          The area of one 9x9 inch pan is 81, so two would be 162 square inches.

                          I do not think that you will get the depth of coffee cake you want with those pans.

                          If you have two 8x8 inch pans, then 64 + 64 = 128, which is closer to what the 13x9 pan would be.

                          • This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.
                          in reply to: Swiss Chard and Other Greens #10053
                          BakerAunt
                          Participant

                            Thanks, Joan. Your reply gave me lots of great information!

                            in reply to: Swiss Chard and Other Greens #10050
                            BakerAunt
                            Participant

                              Hi, Mike. I actually was not expecting to find any of those fresh greens in the local grocery--and I was not going to do an hour's round trip to the next town, where I might have found them. I was hoping for frozen mustard greens, but I was glad that the collard greens were there.

                              I'm not that familiar with these greens, so I was hoping that someone who is would let me know if my speculation about their taste is accurate. I have used mustard greens in soups, and I once used Swiss chard in place of kale in a soup. I am wondering if the frozen collard greens are less assertive than the fresh, as they seemed a little bland to me, but my sense is that the Swiss chard would have had a slightly more assertive flavor.

                              I'm bemused that Cook's included a recipe in an Autumn collection that features an ingredient that is not seasonal in the northeast where their kitchen is located. It would help if recipe writers would include alternatives for some of their specialty ingredients.

                              in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of December 3, 2017? #10049
                              BakerAunt
                              Participant

                                Hi, Cwcdesign:

                                I re-worked the recipe and posted it here, along with some suggestions about pan sizes:

                                You are correct that the KAF recipe used cream and the eggnog flavoring KAF sells. (Surprise, surprise.) I replaced those with a cup of eggnog. I've added, in an additional post, my recent changes. The cake also freezes well when double-wrapped in saran. Enjoy!

                                • This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.
                                in reply to: Eggnog Cake #10048
                                BakerAunt
                                Participant

                                  Recently I baked this cake again. I used Gold Medal AP flour. I used full-fat eggnog, and I beat in each egg individually. It gave the cake a softer texture, so I recommend these changes.

                                Viewing 15 posts - 6,571 through 6,585 (of 7,602 total)