[BakerAunt]

Skeptic--I preheat the oven to 425F with the stone inside. For my large one, I preheat for an hour. For the small one, which is not as thick, I only preheated for 30 minutes. For a somewhat crispier crust, I could probably slide it off the parchment after the first 10 minutes or so, but I've not tried that.

I didn't realize that you are using parchment with your cloche, so my idea about the farina probably would not help, as I have not found it needed with parchment.

Clay bakers can be frustrating. I've not yet figured out the bread bowl I got from KAF--and apparently, I was not the only one, as there were some discussions about it on the Baking Circle as well as in the reviews of it. Your cloche, I take it, is intended to trap steam inside as the bread bakes, which is what my Emile Henry long baker does. Possibly, you would want to remove the cloche at some point before the bread is done, so that it can brown properly on top, and perhaps also on the sides.

[BakerAunt]

In the battle to combat lunch boredom, I decided to experiment with pizza for lunch on Thursday. I made the KAF Ultra-Thin Crust Pizza dough, but I reduced the salt to ¾ tsp. and the yeast to ¾ tsp. I divided it in half, and I have half in a covered bowl in the refrigerator, which I hope to use in a couple of days, at which time, I’ll report on how well the crust comes out after that long rest. I let the other half rise for two hours. I then put some canned artichokes on it, along with some halved black olives, sliced mushrooms, and green onion. I put chunks of mozzarella all over the pizza and grated Parmesan cheese over it. I baked it on my round Superstone baking stone, which is the one I always used before I got the large Emile Henry stone. It came out very well. The mozzarella that I used was on sale, as it was nearing its end date. It was sliced, for an appetizer platter. I cut it into chunks.

[BakerAunt]

Skeptic--Did you sprinkle anything on the bottom of the cloche? I've found that with my clay bakers it helps to grease them, then liberally dust with farina (cream of wheat). I tried semolina, but it tends to burn. It seems to me that it not only prevents some sticking but also overbrowning on the bottom.

I've not used a cloche. I have a bread bowl (no cover) and the Emile Henry long covered baker. I really like how the covered baker performs.

From the cloches that I've seen, I think that you are correct that 7 cups of flour was too much. I think that 5 cups would likely be the limit.

[BakerAunt]

Lunch on Wednesday was an improvised frittata. I used one egg, some leftover mixed rice, chopped onion, the last of the grated mozzarella, some torn spinach leaves, and ¼ tsp. of Penzey’s “Forward,” a salt-free seasoning. I poured it into a small, heated frying pan in which I had melted some canola-butter spread, and pressed it down flat. When the time came to flip it over, I didn’t quite achieve the perfect round, so it was bent on one side. However, it still tasted delicious!

[BakerAunt]

Tonight I'm making my salmon and couscous recipe but using Penzey's mural seasoning instead of dill. I'm only doing one piece of salmon; my husband will have the rest of the leftover hamburger stroganoff and rice.

[BakerAunt]

Our local squirrel demolished our bird feeder--very disappointing since we enjoyed seeing the different birds.

A friend who lives in London reports that they have lots of foxes in the city. She keeps her cat in at night, after it had a nasty encounter with one.

[BakerAunt]

We frequently had foxes in our neighborhood when we lived in Lubbock. Occasionally, we see them here as well. I've never seen one curled up sleeping, however!

[BakerAunt]

On Monday evening, I fed my sourdough starter and made the dough for a double recipe of my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers. I refrigerated it and will bake the crackers in a couple of days.

[BakerAunt]

In case anyone wants to read about Claire Ptak's cake as trendsetter, or wants to know what was served at the reception following the wedding, check out this article:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelinemaynard/2018/05/20/the-cake-flavor-youll-be-seeing-everywhere-and-more-from-the-royal-wedding-menu/#7ac047db6d1d

[BakerAunt]

Monday night dinner was roasted, cut-up potatoes and roasted panko-parmesan coated boneless chicken breasts, with peas as a side dish.

[BakerAunt]

It's an overcast, cool Monday morning. I'm baking "3-C Cookies," a recipe that appeared in The Baking Sheet, 9.6 ((Autumn 1998), p. 26 and has been a favorite ever since. One additional note: the recipe was from Catherine S. Vodrey, who submitted them for the "Open Hearth" section of The Baking Sheet, where readers shared their favorite recipes. The recipe uses an egg and an egg yolk, and I had a yolk left after baking the Glazed Cheesecake Rolls last week. The three Cs are supposed to be cashews, coconut and chips (white chocolate). However, I found that cashews are wasted in these cookies, as the flavor gets lost amid the other ingredients. I used the suggested option of pecans, and I like that flavor. I always toast the coconut and the pecans. I used the #30 Zeroll scooper (2 Tbs.).

I cut the salt from 1 1/4 to just 3/4 tsp., as there is sodium in the baking soda and the coconut.

Although my husband says he cannot eat coconut, I've noticed lately that he is eating recipes that I bake with coconut, so I suspect that I will have plenty of help eating these cookies!

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

[BakerAunt]

There is a more detailed shot of one of the cakes on the Violet website:

https://www.instagram.com/violetcakeslondon/?utm_source=ig_embed

[BakerAunt]

I found a video of one of the cakes being frosted and the baker discussing it (if you can hear it over the music that's been added).

https://www.foodandwine.com/news/royal-wedding-cake-recipe?xid=NL_DISH051918&utm_source=foodandwine.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-dish&utm_content=2018051920PM&eminfo=%7b%22EMAIL%22%3a%22Ebt4mF9KGSAyq6yldRzVww%3d%3d%22%2c%22BRAND%22%3a%22WI%22%2c%22CONTENT%22%3a%22Newsletter%22%2c%22UID%22%3a%22WI_DSH_6DF4D82E-1A80-4617-ADC8-29E4CD9A7378%22%2c%22SUBID%22%3a%2274099137%22%2c%22JOBID%22%3a%22746797%22%2c%22NEWSLETTER%22%3a%22THE_DISH%22%2c%22ZIP%22%3a%2279413%22%2c%22COUNTRY%22%3a%22USA%22%7d

The pictures we've been looking at do not do justice to the scale of the cake.

[BakerAunt]

Mike: Try this one: https://www.delish.com/food-news/a20758915/compare-royal-wedding-cake-meghan-kate-diana/

It is not an easy cake to photograph. I also think that those holders detract from the cake--at least at the angle of the example you posted.

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

[BakerAunt]

Navlys--I'm glad the sheet pan dinner worked well for you.

For dinner tonight, I made my adaptation of my Mom's hamburger stroganoff, which we had over mixed rice, with a salad on the side.

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