BakerAunt

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  • in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of March 11, 2018? #11566
    BakerAunt
    Participant

      Today I baked Nelson's Choice Rye Bread. The recipe is originally from Secrets of a Jewish Baker, but KAF had it on a package and on their website as Peasant-Style Rye Bread. They have since made some changes in the recipe--as the dough usually needed additional flour--by cutting the water. I have wondered if the type of rye flour might have been an issue. I've been baking the recipe for years, usually adding some extra flour. This time, I held back 2 Tbs. of the water. I still needed to add 3 Tbs. of clear flour, but I did not use the 2 Tbs. of vital wheat gluten, as I do not have it, and am not sure that I will ever purchase it again. I used dark rye flour (Bob's Red Mill, while the KAF version called for white rye or pumpernickel. I decided to add 1 Tbs. potato flour to see if it will help the bread stay softer longer. I also cut the salt from 1 1/2 tsp. to 1 tsp.

      As usual, I baked it in an 8-inch round cake pan with 2-inch sides, as I do not trust my shaping, although it did do better this time. I did not let the second rise go past 40 minutes, and I slashed it five minutes before that, as I've had this bread deflate before. The timing worked, and it got excellent oven spring. The finished loaf is four inches tall at its highest point. I look forward to having it with the last of the turkey for sandwiches tomorrow.

      in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of March 11, 2018? #11558
      BakerAunt
      Participant

        Joan--when you said pimento cheese sandwiches, suddenly I was back in the kitchen in Norfolk, Virginia as a child, while my mother made pimento cheese sandwiches....

        The weather today has been rainy, snowy, sleety, and now there are ice pellets. Temperatures are in the 30s this early afternoon, so my husband went ahead and started a fire in the wood stove at lunchtime. Not one to waste a good wood fire, I pulled the turkey bones and those from a chicken out of the freezer, and now I'm making broth to restock the freezer, as I'm down to my last (4-cup) container of it.

        in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of March 11, 2018? #11554
        BakerAunt
        Participant

          Tomorrow is my husband's birthday, and thus I baked KAF's Favorite Fudge Birthday Cake, which has been his favorite since I first baked it for him. I'll assemble it tonight, so that the frosting can set over night. It's a major chocolate rush.

          I used "the grease" for the pans, and I'm impressed. The two layers came out of the pans leaving very little chocolate residue.

          • This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.
          • This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.
          in reply to: Town Meeting Chicken (or Turkey) Pie #11552
          BakerAunt
          Participant

            Note: I made the biscuits with half whole wheat pastry flour and half unbleached AP flour. They are still a light biscuit, so you may want to try them this way.

            I've also used leftover gravy as part of the sauce mixture, adjusting as I go. While we prefer frozen peas and carrots, mixed frozen vegetables work well.

            BakerAunt
            Participant

              I've only made one starter--and I still have it--one of those "soupy" ones. I followed the directions in an article on sourdough in Sunset Magazine over 25 years ago. It did use a bit of yeast to get it going.

              Once we get the house remodeling done (it will need to be started first πŸ™‚ ) I might attempt a rye starter. I'm just not sure how many starters my husband will tolerate, even with two refrigerators.

              in reply to: Pi Day is coming (Wed March 14th) #11539
              BakerAunt
              Participant
                in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of March 11, 2018? #11537
                BakerAunt
                Participant

                  Dinner tonight was my Town Meeting Chicken [Turkey] Pie. We have enough leftover for several more meals. I made the biscuits that go on top with half whole wheat pastry flour and Pillsbury unbleached flour. I like that texture and will do it again.

                  in reply to: Those Missing Cappuccino Chips in Scones #11530
                  BakerAunt
                  Participant

                    Here's the thread from the Baking Circle on making your own chips; I did indeed post it here under threads:

                    Baker Irene suggested using white chocolate and flavoring it. Naturally, you would not get chips, but you would get pieces that you could chop into the desired size.

                    I'll keep this in mind, but I'd really like to buy my own,

                    in reply to: Pi Day is coming (Wed March 14th) #11529
                    BakerAunt
                    Participant

                      I made the pumpkin pie last night, and we went ahead and sliced into it at lunch. It looks like dinner is going to be my Town Meeting Chicken [Turkey] pie, which is actually the filling in my deep pan with whole wheat biscuits on top.

                      in reply to: Those Missing Cappuccino Chips in Scones #11526
                      BakerAunt
                      Participant

                        The taste is very good, The white chocolate chips and additional flavoring do help, but for this recipe to be all that it can be, it needs those cappuccino chips with their burst of flavor.

                        I will explore the threads from chocomouse on making one's own, and also see if I can locate Baker Irene's thread. I have hopes that somewhere out there someone will be able to figure out how to make these without the transfats.

                        When I google cappuccino chips, they keep coming up as carried by KAF, although they have been discontinued. I think that may be the case at other sites as well.

                        in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of March 11, 2018? #11523
                        BakerAunt
                        Participant

                          Joan--my prayers are with your aunt and her family at this difficult time.

                          Today I baked a version of the KAF "Irish Cream Scones" (see thread about missing cappuccino chips).

                          I also baked a pumpkin pie in honor of Pi day tomorrow.

                          in reply to: Those Missing Cappuccino Chips in Scones #11522
                          BakerAunt
                          Participant

                            Here's what I did:

                            1/2 Cup heavy cream
                            1/4 tsp. Irish cream flavor
                            1/4 tsp. coffee extract
                            1 tsp espresso powder
                            1/2 Cup Barry Callebaut white chocolate chunks

                            I sprinkled them with "cappuccino sugar," from Pepper Creek Farms, which I had bought a while back at T.J. Maxx. I think that KAF briefly carried it. I'll report on taste tomorrow.

                            in reply to: Those Missing Cappuccino Chips in Scones #11513
                            BakerAunt
                            Participant

                              Chocomouse: KAF no longer carries the cinnamon chips. They have this product--cinnamon pieces--instead:

                              https://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/cinnamon-sweet-bits

                              Reviews on the new product seem mixed. KAF did not explain why it no longer carries the cinnamon chips, and apparently has no intention of saying why. I have a stock of them in my refrigerator, so I can continue baking with those.

                              I remember Baker Irene, on the Baking Circle, discussing in a thread how to make one's own flavored chips. I'm not sure if I saved it. I certainly meant to do so.

                              in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of March 4, 2018? #11492
                              BakerAunt
                              Participant

                                Tonight I baked the KAF recipe for Fresh Apple-Cinnamon Scones. I've baked it once before, and they were excellent--but only when fresh out of the oven. The apple tended to make them soggy after they had cooled, and even re-heating them did not equal the original flavor. My experiment tonight is to use chopped dried apple from Bob's Red Mill. I used 1/2 cup and rehydrated them with 2 Tbs. water in a dish covered with saran in the microwave. I then let them sit for a couple of hours. I'm hoping that tomorrow morning, when I've "sprung forward," and would not want to be baking, that these will be good at room temperature.

                                Although the recipe claims you can freeze them and then pull them out to bake as needed, I've never had any luck with that technique. Instead, the butter melted all over the place, and I had a mess to clean up. So, either I bake them in the morning--not going to happen with springing forward--or I bake them the night before.

                                My other changes to the recipe is that I used 2 cups KAF flour, then mostly a 3/4 cup of barley flour that I wanted to use up, with whole wheat pastry flour filling it the rest of the way. I reduced the salt from 3/4 to 1/2 tsp.; I also deleted the 1 tsp. of vanilla extract because I want the apple (recipe includes 1/2 cup applesauce as well) and the butter to take center stage. I sprinkled them with the KAF sparkling white sugar but not with cinnamon.

                                As the recipe specifies, I froze them for 30 minutes before putting them into a hot oven. Because the refrigerator is a side-by-side, I cut the parchment paper diagonally, then put each round on a small baking sheet that would fit into that space. I moved them back to the large baking sheet before putting them in the oven.

                                I'll add a note to this post tomorrow about how my experiment works. They do smell lovely.

                                Additional Note: These are delicious and the texture is scone perfect. I will definitely be baking these, with my changes, as one of my regular scone recipes.

                                • This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.
                                • This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.
                                • This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.
                                in reply to: Daylight Savings Time Begins on Sunday #11489
                                BakerAunt
                                Participant

                                  I was so enjoying waking up to the sunrise, and now it's back to darkness. I really wish our part of Indiana were not on Eastern Standard Time.

                                  • This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.
                                Viewing 15 posts - 6,901 through 6,915 (of 8,181 total)