[skeptic7]

I did a second batch of Hot Cross buns. Much like the previous one but with a little dried lemon peel to add more flavor. Turned out very well with a decided buttery flavor underlying the fruit and spices. I'm using orange juice and powder sugar to form the frosting for the cross.
Does anyone read the KAF emails? this time they are suggesting chocolate in layers of puff pastry for an Easter desert. More like a slab pie than anything else but they are describing it as a flat croissant. I thought it looked rather crude and ugly, and should at least have been cut into triangles instead of squares.

[skeptic7]

BakerAunt;
The Biscotti sound great! I like the traditional anise flavoring. I had a friend who told me after she ate the biscotti that she didn't like anise. I was surprised as she could have refused to eat the cookies without giving offense. That was also not the first time I had made and she had eaten those cookies, if I had known of her tastes I would have given them to someone else.
I can see why your husband has not forgotten the lost cake. Did you have to call a neighbor to pick it up?

[skeptic7]

I did Hot Cross buns yesterday. This is a smallish recipe from Babe's Country Cookbook. It made 20 buns in a 9x12 pan. I'm still at my father's house and this is the most convenient size. The pan fits nicely in an X-large Ziploc style Freezer bag, and the dough rises nicely in the KitchenAid Mixer bowl. I used the dried orange slices from Trader Joe to give it some citrus flavor and some raisins that happened to be in the refrigerator. I missed my homemade lemon and orange peel but this is a vast improvement over not baking any Hot Cross buns. I bought dried lemon peel at the grocery store so the next version will at least have a bit of lemon flavor.
It seems odd not baking at least a half sheet pan size batch at a time.

[skeptic7]

Aaronatthedoublef;
My small bread tends to come out in the shape it wants, not the shape I hope for. The softer doughs will tend to be flatter and more sandwich shape. I used to bake a lot of English muffins and if I let them over proof, they would slump down and be flatter and the sides of the English Muffin rings would keep them from turning completely into pancakes.
Could you let the tight balls proof for a while and then press them flat? When I was making steamed bao lately, I would form them into balls and then roll flat. Then I would reroll them and they would handle much easier. My recipe made eight and I found by the time I finished rolling the last bun, the first one would be ready to be handled some more.

[skeptic7]

Aaronatthedoubleff;
What is the difference between buns and rolls? I have never cooked with toasted sugar. Is it less sweet?

BakerAunt;
How big is Rustic Sourdough Mixed Grains Bread? When I was experimenting I found I could stuff a 7 cup recipe in a cloche, but if I limited myself to a recipe with 4 cups of flour I didn't have to worry about it hitting the top. I could also put a boule of that size in a cake pan in the cloche and didn't worry about sticking to the bottom pan or having too hard a bottom crust.

[skeptic7]

I've cooked in cast iron Dutch ovens, and in a clay cloche; but I've never preheated them. I preheat the oven and then put the cold cloche or the cold cast iron in the oven. My oval cast iron Dutch oven will hold a loaf pan so I can make sandwich shape breads.
The cast iron things recommended by American Test Kitchen look too heavy for me.

[skeptic7]

Good luck with this diet. I hope it works well for you and your wife.

[skeptic7]

I did steamed bao again. Well mantao as these didn't have a filling. I'm pleased with how these are turning out and I wanted them to eat with the remainder of the Chinese Roast Pork. I'm pleased with this recipe but wonder if I should try experiments to see how it turns out with less oil or a different flour.

Also I was looking at an article about a cast iron covered bread cloche. It said these are particularly good for lean ie low fat breads. Has any one seen any articles on high fat breads or milk breads baked in a cloche or Dutch Oven? Serious eats thinks that a Dutch oven would be more cost effective.
https://www.seriouseats.com/le-creuset-bread-oven-review-5272499

[skeptic7]

Baker Aunt;
Happy Birthday! I did the char sui bao again and gave it about three hour rise in the refrigerator. and half an hour at room temperature. It came out better shaped but thats possibly beacuse my father put the whole batch in the steamer at once, and the buns were forced to rise up and not out. Half of it had the roast pork stuffing, and half of it was plain bread. I had thought to steam this in two halves but it worked out better this way for the shape.

[skeptic7]

BakerAunt;
I did a short rise, about an hour, at room temperature. I guess I could try a longer rise in the refrigerator some time and see what happens.

[skeptic7]

I don't know if it counts as baking but I made steamed roast pork buns, char sui bao, on Sunday. It turned out just okay. Sauce was too salty and the bread part didn't rise as much as I hoped. I made the rest of the bao into plain bread, mantou, which turned out better. Lighter and fluffier but I could let it rise longer without worrying about the meat stuffing spoiling.

[skeptic7]

I did chocolate cherry buns again. I changed the recipe by adding 1/4 cup potato flakes and dissolving the yeast in about 3 tablespoons of water. I mixed it in a stand mixer.

[skeptic7]

This looks delicious. The recipe calls for shortening not butter or lard; would that date the recipe to around WW II? Also its not as horribly sweet as some modern recipes.

[skeptic7]

Thats beautiful.

[skeptic7]

I did another Ricotta Cranberry Sauce pizza. It came out beautifully. This used up the rest of the ricotta and most of the remaining cranberry sauce. I added a tablespoon or two of sugar to the dough to add a little sweetness, and some potato flakes to help it stay moist. I also had to add just a little more water. The bread pased was light and fluffy and stood up to the weight of the toppings very well.

The brownies I made last week improved in flavor and texture after storage. I am sort of surprised that it only took two people a week to finish off the brownies. I had about a days worth in small pieces in a container at room temperature, while the bulk was kept refrigerated.

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