[skeptic7]

I did whole wheat Hot Cross buns with fruit, this is one of my favorite recipes developed from combining a lot of different recipes and every trick suggested for whole wheat baking. This particular version has dates, apricots, cranberries, candied orange and candied lemon which is perfectly safe for dogs due to the lack of raisins. I'll also have to give some to a friend who is allergic to raisins poor soul. I didn't try any tricks with the cross this time. I like this the way it is.

[skeptic7]

I tried one more oil/water/flour cross and made the proportions more like the butter/milk/flour cross and it seems to work very well

2 tbsp oil
6 tbsp water
1/4 tsp lemon extract
1/2 cup sifted white flour.

Heat the oil and water together. mix in lemon extract and flour. Beat the dough very well in order to develop the gluten. Add more water or more flour in order to get a pipeable mixture. Pipe the dough as a cross onto the ready to bake hot cross buns. The dough is strong to a fault. It bakes up paler than the hot cross buns, and sort of merges into the crust but still has a distinct cross shape. It has a good texture a little soft but not hard and tasteless. The crosses travel well and do not break off the buns This is perfection for pastry crosses.

[skeptic7]

Friday the 23rd I baked more hot cross buns. These were from "From a Baker's Kitchen" by Gail Sher, very nice recipe but could use a little more butter. I tested a new version of a pastry cross and it worked! This recipe had 2 tbsp oil, 6 Tbs water and 1/2 cup flour and a little lemon extract. Heat the oil and water together, add 1/4 tsp lemon extract. Stir in the flour and beat well -- the idea is to develop the gluten a little so it will stick together. I tested this on 12 of the hot cross buns and it was perfect. The cross merged with the crust so it didn't break off when touched, it wasn't hard and tough, it was noticeably lighter than the crus so it stood out. It doesn't contain milk or butter which might scorch. It piped nicely out of a plastic bag and was relatively cohesive and stuck to itself.
I ate quite a few and gave the rest away

[skeptic7]

I once wrecked a batch of dough by dissolving the yeast in cold water instead of warm.

[skeptic7]

Sorry you had problems with your buttermilk. Do you use muffin papers when you make your muffins? Also do you freeze excess muffins?

[skeptic7]

I did whole wheat pizza with white whole wheat flour, and three types of cheese for toppings. I came out surprisingly well.

[skeptic7]

The buttermilk culture has already grown in the milk and makes it less hospitable for other bacteria. I think I've used buttermilk nearly two months after buying it, and a month after its sell by date. I think it would be more like a cheese which can age without spoiling. So if you keep it refrigerated I'd use it into the first part of April.

[skeptic7]

The quiche recipe looks good.

[skeptic7]

I baked the Hot Cross Buns found in King Arthur Flour Whole Grains Baking. This is half whole wheat flour and half white flour and has baking powder as well as yeast. I found the recipe as written very dry and had to add 1/2 cup more water -- which made it a little too wet so I added some more white flour before everything was a reasonable consistency. It was soft and tasty and a little dense.
It feels like cheating to be using baking powder as well as yeast.
I am using vanilla frosting crosses. I'm at the bottom of the vanilla bottle and the frosting is slightly beige since the vanilla is adding more color than normal.
I made 30 small buns instead of the 24 medium sizes called for in the recipe. They were very pretty despite being small.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by skeptic7.

[skeptic7]

Everyone;
I wasn't able to do a test on yesterday's hot cross buns as I was out of butter. I'll have to test more later but I was happy to stick to frosting crosses in order to indulge my sweet tooth.

[skeptic7]

I tried doing a pot roast with an Italian theme. I sauted onions, carrots, and celery and garlic and put it in the crock pot. I added a large can of salt-free Italian tomatoes and chopped the tomatoes up with a plastic dough scraper. I then browned a 3 lb boneless chuck roast on both sides and placed that in the crock pot. I cooked it overnight for about 8 hours. It started out on high and then then went to low.
I was hoping for a smooth spaghetti sauce and a hunk of meat. I've gotten a rather chunky sauce with tomatoes, and carrots still fairly visible. The pot roast is slicing up nicely cold but has chunks of fat that need to be removed, and visible fat marbling. I thought the fat would cook out but it hasn't.

[skeptic7]

I've microwaved spaghetti squash. I was disappointed in the short strands of flesh, it didn't feel very spaghetti like. I haven't eaten it in sometime, I'll have to try it again soon.

[skeptic7]

Last Monday the 12th, I did a double batch of Hot Cross buns from the Betty Crocker cookbook . This is the recipe with mashed potatoes in it. I tried out two recipes for pastry crosses on top of the hot cross buns which I will write about seperately. Personally I have a sweet tooth and like a frosting cross.
I wanted to bake a pie for Pi day but didn't have enough time or energy. I really like the pictures of other pies.
I did have a pizza pie -- it had a pizza dough crust, but the filling was cabbage and onions and ricotta cheese and eggs, with some cheddar cheese added for extra flavor, on Thursday. This is basically the Italian spinach pie recipe but with 4 cups of thinly sliced Savoy cabbage instead of a pound of frozen spinach. I like it and it makes a wonderful lunch.

[skeptic7]

I had lost power due to the great windstorm on Friday and Saturday, so when Sunday came around and with it power and refrigeration, I decided to use up as much milk as possible. I chose a Hot Cross Bun recipe that used a lot of fresh milk and started in on it. These were baked Monday with two types of pastry cross and some plain as controls. I also made candied lemon peel -- its so good having electricity. I'll write more about the Hot Cross Bun crosses. The baked on cross is a cute idea, and travels much better than the frosting version -- if only it would be pretty and tasty and have a nice texture.

[skeptic7]

Thank you. This was a great article and its the right time to remember Mrs. Cindy. I'm using up the last of the candied lemon peel made from her lemons

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