[cwcdesign]

I made a banana cream pie from a recipe I found on Epicurious. It had a graham cracker crust. The flavors were all great, but it ended up being a banana pudding pie: the filling was so soft.

I also made the Honey Vanilla Pound Cake again, doubling the recipe and baking it in the bundt pan. I made a few changes and wrote about them here

Pound Cake: Loaf Pan or Bundt Pan

It was better than the last time, but is still a work in progress.

[cwcdesign]

I made this cake again yesterday and doubled the recipe. I'll give you the changes based on the recipe itself.
I added an additional tablespoon of honey, and additional teaspoon of vanilla. I actually added seeds from a vanilla bean pod for half of the vanilla. I creamed the honey with the sugar and butter and added the lemon zest and vanilla seeds just before I added the eggs. Then before adding the flour, I added the vanilla extract. I did switch the salt and baking powder quantities: 1/2 tsp salt and 1 teaspoon baking powder. I did bake it at 325º and it took an hour. It did start browning more and I think that was because of the honey. I did cover it with foil near the end.

It tasted much better, but was still a little dry. As I said it did brown quite a bit. I'm very close to what I want. I tasted the batter during the process and realized that I didn't reduce the sugar to compensate for the extra honey - I will definitely do that the next time. I will not add the lemon zest - I think it overpowers the flavors I am trying to get. And it did rise almost twice as high as the first one and didn't collapse. The crumb is nice, but I think I will try baking it at 350º again and it will probably only take 45 minutes which would be fine. I also realized that the directions say to add 1 egg at a time and I'm adding eight, so I think I should add them 2 at a time so I don't over process.

Everyone did like it, though and agreed it was better than the last time.

[cwcdesign]

Reading what you both made inspires me to get some cauliflower this week. While it's still way too hot to think about soup, I love to roast it.

I made my favorite Shepherd's Pie from Simon & Pia Pearce's "A Way of Living." I forgot how much it makes and we've been eating it all week! I also made a delicious squash, sausage and goat cheese pasta dish from Fine Cooking on Friday. All I had to do for leftovers was add some cream - it made a nice sauce.

[cwcdesign]

I got the impression that the producers made the deal without consulting the principals. And, there seems to be enough agitation among the public to attempt to see if there is some way for it to stay at the BEEB" somehow, I don't think that will happen. I don't see how they can make it work without Mary, Mel and Sue - they are such a big piece of the whole thing.

I've been streaming the latest one online. They have given them much bigger challenges and some very talented bakers have already gone home. There doesn't seem to be the drama of past years which is actually a refreshing change.

Anvils, Channel 4 is an independent British Channel which everyone can watch and they have advertising. The BBC is supported by the TV licensing fee which every household with a tv pays per year. I can't remember if there is a scale or a flat fee.

[cwcdesign]

Someone in my broker's office knew this person. I know interior designers who also help with sales. And, check out companies that help elders transition to smaller homes or assisted living. Even attorneys and financial advisors know people who do this. I would check with different sources and see which names come up the most frequently.

[cwcdesign]

I suggested to MaryAnn this morning that she let the Facebook group know that we had just about all the BC recipes here if anyone was looking for recipes and that it was thanks mostly to Rottiedogs, BakerAunt & Swirth. Hopefully, it will drive some traffic over here.

I also asked how many were in the group and she said 32.

[cwcdesign]

Italiancook, when we were selling our house 5 years ago, we hired someone to help us manage our yard sale. After she'd gone through what we were planning to sell, she told us we should call it an estate sale because that indicated we had better stuff (we did). We were selling a lot of furniture as well. So you are correct when you say you expect to find better things at one - it's all in the marketing.

[cwcdesign]

My first thought is the flour. A quart would be 4 cups and if you weigh your flour (I do) that would equal 1 pound 1 ounce according to KAF's weight chart. I might start with that amount and see if it helps. Then you could add in a little more, if necessary

[cwcdesign]

I just checked 3 of KAF's recipes for different types of pretzels and they all used baking soda for the bath

[cwcdesign]

I just read the food renegade article, very interesting. Regarding the type of alcohol you use, a plain, inexpensive vodka works just fine. My son recommended Skyy (40%). Zen uses Everclear (75%), if you can find it, but, surprise; it's a grain alcohol made from corn, You can definitely use bourbon if you like, but as Mike said that's actually a description of the beans.

Cindy said she's even made it with other liqueurs including Kirsh, peach brandy and apricot brandy. Just add a couple of pods to your favorite liqueur and let it sit for a while

[cwcdesign]

My phone is dying - I went to post this morning and my phone froze and then refreshed the website losing the post. It was definitely not an issue with the site.

Two years ago, Mrs Cindy gave me a 3/4 full bottle of homemade vanilla with instructions for keeping it going - similar to homemade buttermilk. All I need is vodka and vanilla beans. The premise is not too let it get down to far and then add maybe ½-1" of vodka and a a scraped vanilla bean. It doesn't matter how many vanilla bean pods you have in there. I think she said she has 20 in hers. Anyway, I let it get down too far and am very slowly building it back up. The fun part is that I'm using the scraped insides when a recipe calls for vanilla.

The bottle it arrived in has a label for Mexican Vainilla (that's the spelling on the label). I'm sure she may have started with the remains of it in there, but I think it's been going so long, there is none left in the mix - I had it down to about an inch when I started rebuilding it and it's a quart bottle.

The ingredients in the Mexican Vainilla are: Vanilla Bean Extract in Purifed Water,Vanillin (Artificial Flavoring), Alcohol, Corn Syrup, Natural Dark Color. I had no idea there could be so many ingredients in "pure" vanilla. I assumed that as long as it was a good brand like Nielsen-Massey or McCormick there was nothing but vanilla and alcohol in it. That will teach me to read ALL labels.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 1 month ago by cwcdesign.

[cwcdesign]

The frosting is definitely not a really sweet one, it has that nice balance with the salted butter, I don't recall it being bitter, but I see how it could skew that way. Clever idea for the chips. I hope everyone enjoys it

[cwcdesign]

Interesting, my chips didn't sink to the bottom. I wonder if they will when I use proper baking powder 🙂 Glad to hear your layers rose. I used the grams as well

[cwcdesign]

Hopefully, third time's the charm. I've already tried to post this twice. But, unlike Baker Aunt I didn't copy what I wrote.

A Belated Happy Anniversary, Mike! I hope you had a wonderful day - your dinner sounds delicious.

I tried a recipe I found online for a Croque Monsieur Casserole, basically a bread pudding with Croque Monsieur flavor. It was quick and easy and I will definitely make it again with a couple of minor tweaks. I also made tzatziki, just because I wanted some.

I made the crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken again, really good and I've almost got the recipe where I want it. This time I thought I could taste the ketchup too much (I used HT store brand with no HFCS), so I will use less of that. I think I can reduce the quantity of sauce some more, too. Will keep you posted.

[cwcdesign]

I did not put nearly as many chocolate chips on the cake as in the photo. I just decorated with them. As for the espresso powder, I live in a very humid area. You can mash it with something heavy or put it in the food processor. The KAF powder doesn't clump nearly as badly as the Espresso powder from the supermarket.

I did put it in the fridge after I frosted it and after the frosting was hard, I wrapped it since we were eating it the next day as well. It was really good the first day, even though it was dense (which I still believe was the baking powder), so I don't think you should have a problem.

I just went back and reread your post. I'm thinking that freezing the layers before I frosted (I didn't) might have helped my cake. It was very easy to frost.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 1 month ago by cwcdesign.

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