[Italiancook]

BakerAunt, I'm glad you've been able to try so many new recipes this year. My new year's resolution was to try one new recipe a week, but I broke it early on. For health reasons, I need to avoid baking powder, but most of the new recipes I wanted to try have baking powder. I found a recipe online for making a faux baking powder, but never tried it, and no longer know where the recipe is located. Occasionally, I make something with baking powder, but try to stick to yeast-only recipes, which leaves out a lot of the goodies. I don't like the texture of yeast sweets.

[Italiancook]

I'm baking a Damson Plum Crostata today.

[Italiancook]

Mike, the creativity in your eclipse cookies is fantastic! They look delicious, too. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

[Italiancook]

Thanks for this recipe, BakerAunt. First, I'm going to try KAF Vermont Cheese Crackers. I just need cheese powder. This recipe uses KAF Italian-style flour. I have a lot of that, and I need to use it all soon. Their blog, as I recall, says the Italian-style flour is good for crackers. It makes it easier to roll the dough thin. Have you ever used Italian-style for any of your crackers?

• This reply was modified 7 years, 4 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

I used my new blade to make blue cheese dressing. It didn't clank and clamor, as I had worried. It did the job, but of course, all it was doing was chopping half a clove of garlic while mixing blue cheese, mayo & sour cream. For me, the real test is the first time I need to chop hard veggies.

[Italiancook]

If you have time & haven't eaten/given away all your eclipse cookies, please post a picture. I'm curious.

[Italiancook]

I baked 2 loaves of "Cuban Bread" from "The Complete Tightwad Gazette." I like this recipe, because it only takes 90 minutes from start to finish. I didn't like the appearance of one of the finished loaves (boules ? they're round). It had a side blowout. Online sources say this can be caused by uneven oven temp, or something else I've forgotten. I think mine were from poor slashing. I was in a hurry when I slashed. When the finished loaves came out of the oven, I could tell by both of them that I my hurry had led to poor slashes.

I also reduced the salt from 1 tablespoon to a guesstimated 2 teaspoons. Definitely, I used less salt. One online article makes me think that could have helped cause the problem. So I won't reduce the salt again.

The blowout loaf is for bruschetta for tomorrow's lunch & French Toast on Tuesday, so I hope it tastes okay and looks somewhat normal inside. I'm going to freeze the one that looks okay.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 4 months ago by Italiancook.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 4 months ago by Italiancook.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 4 months ago by Italiancook.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 4 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

I made blue cheese dressing for chef's salad. My husband's plants have an abundance of tomatoes, so we'll be using the dressing all week for salads.

[Italiancook]

Yesterday, I baked Almond Fruit Bars from Martha Stewart's website. After they were in the oven, I wondered what I was thinking. I couldn't understand why I'd make a recipe that has 2 types of sugar and store-bought jam that has 2 types of corn syrup -- so much sweet. I ended up throwing them in the trash after baked and cooled . . . but not before having 3 servings. They're delicious!

• This reply was modified 7 years, 4 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

Mike, I checked out the Austrian Malt Bread recipe. I've always thought I don't like malt, after trying an ice cream malt. Does the taste of the malt come through in this bread, or is it the secret ingredient that flavors without anyone knowing what it is?

[Italiancook]

Rascals, have you read the ingredient list for store-bought bread? You could be tasting a lot of things. I recently read the list for bread I bought. I wanted to see if it had yeast and baking powder. I was shocked by the long ingredient list. Right then and there, I made the decision to eat only homemade bread. The next day, I made 2 loaves of bread, cut them in half, and froze 3 halves. This morning, I took one half out of the freezer and my husband will make BLT's with it tonight.

But I understand how your daughter feels. When I was a child, I wouldn't eat the homemade bread my dad made. I wouldn't eat store-bought bread either. I heard many a lecture about the starving children in China who'd love to have a slice of bread. But between the two types of bread, I preferred store-bought.

[Italiancook]

Rascals, I always thought that, too. But I recently read KAF's blog & found an article about how to make homemade crackers. It was still there a couple of seconds ago. I'm thinking I might try the cheese cracker recipe they have. Just to say I've made crackers once.

[Italiancook]

I have always bought cream by brand name, without reading the box. Now, I'm going to analyze the words on the carton. I've enjoyed this discussion.

[Italiancook]

The recipe calls for 1-1/2 tablespoons yeast, BakerAunt.

My first reaction, when I saw the loaves rising so fast, was to think there was too much yeast for the reduction in sugar. I put that idea away when I thought about the heat from the under cabinet lights.

I thought about the yeast when I saw the slight splitting at the ends of the loaves. I think, but may be wrong, that too much yeast would cause that. But, I think over-proofing would do that, too. Maybe I didn't test the proofed dough soon enough, but at the time, I was thinking, "There's no way these can be fully proofed in half the time."

I'm going to make these again, but reduce the sugar to 2 tablespoons. I'll reduce the yeast too, because I think you're right. One recipe reviewer said that with 1/4 cup sugar, it'd produce "fluffy" bread, which turned out right. Another reviewer said 2 tablespoons sugar nets a "classic farmhouse white bread." That's more what I'm looking for -- that would describe the white bread my dad made when I was a kid.

[Italiancook]

Yes, BakerAunt, the bread did firm up as it cooled. I've cut each loaf in half for the freezer. Inside, it looks and tastes fully cooked. I had one slice with boysenberry fruit spread. If I make it again, I'll use less salt. In the meantime, I'll search around for Wonky's recipe. Thanks!

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