very tempting.
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Just gorgeous!
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In my dreams I can make bread like this.
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@hirsheys - that looks fantastic! What a perfect Passover dessert. Did you add the amaretto/dark rum? Curious how that tasted - I have a strong aversion to hard alcohol in desserts.
Thanks, @sallyt! I used Amaretto, and I’ve just now realized that I shouldn’t have included it to be actually Kosher for Passover. Oh well. Honestly, there’s a kind of lovely irony in my making that mistake because our grandmother secretly used to use normal flour in her Passover desserts until we found out and made her stop (“matzo meal makes them taste bad!”) Obviously my family is pretty secular. I guess if I were to make the cake again in the future for Passover I’d probably just leave the Amaretto out and add an equivalent amount of water.
All of that said, I didn’t notice the taste of the Amaretto at all, which is good given that I made it for my cousins and their toddler. (Though the three-year-old has never disliked a single dessert I have made her and probably wouldn’t have minded an alcohol flavor as long as there was chocolate.) The cake is so strongly chocolate-y that the almond flavor is not very pronounced. An EYB reviewer replaced the alcohol with coffee, which is another option, but I’m just not sure you need to boost the chocolate flavor - it’s already so rich.
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To me, this was similar to a Reine de Saba, which has some almond flour but isn’t really almondy at all, just a rich chocolate cake. I used blanched almond flour, so the texture didn’t detract.
Question: Would it make sense to have a topic for reporting on recipes from past (pre-HO) BCOTMs, similar to the one for regular COTMs?
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Yes, I’m sure the texture would have been perfect if I’d had actual almond flour - mine had gone off. (And to be fair, my cousins didn’t mind it at all - I’m just hypercritical of my own creations!)
I wondered if I should post this to the previous COTMs thread - I’d certainly be up for a previous BCOTMs one if others are too? I don’t bake often, but when I do, the last few BCOTMs are ones I’ve been turning to most frequently.
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Meeting up with a lot of friends this week-end, so lots of baking! For a PB loving friend: https://bakeorbreak.com/2019/02/peanut-butter-lovers-cookies/. Used PB chips, reese pieces, and chopped PB cups
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I am not particularly accomplished. But you would be surprised at how good a loaf a no knead recipe can turn out. Once you’ve gotten comfortable with a basic one, you can start to add in flavors that you like. This one is based on a loaf at a San Diego bakery that we fell in love with years ago.
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“One bowl cake worthy of its own celebration “ adapted from Melissa Clark’s Pantry Series, 4/22/20, NYT. This was one of her narrative style recipes.
A fine textured yellow cake, suitable for cupcakes, layer cakes or a 9”x13”.
I made 1/3 of the recipe for a small birthday cake, standard ratio ganache, and chocolate flakes to decorate…and there were candles!
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So lovely
Thank you, and the birthday girl was very happy!
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Looks great. You made a very elegant looking cake from basic ingredients. Your bundt pan really makes a difference.
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You are absolutely correct! The cake as shown in the NYT was a whipped cream, fresh strawberries layer cake, which I’m sure would be delicious at strawberry season. The Bundt pan made the cake look festive without a lot of effort.
@hirsheys thanks for reporting - you’re talking to someone who just ate a regular cookie so we’re pretty secular here too… That is SO FUNNY about your grandmother - and yes, matzah meal really is the pits. My sister and I used to try to make our nana’s sponge cake and it fell flat - until we realized that we had to invert it…
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Today’s small-batch scone bake was sour-cherry and almond with vanilla glaze.
I started with King Arthur’s master scone recipe, making a few modifications. I subbed 20% of the AP with white whole wheat, upped the sugar from 1/3 c. to ½ c (to offset the tartness of the cherries), used only the egg yolks (no whites), and subbed heavy cream for the milk. I used a full cup each of chopped almonds and chopped dried Montmorency cherries, and 1 t. each of vanilla and almond extracts.
Using a #10 cookies scoop, I got 11 scones – 4 for today, and 7 for the freezer. Next time I try this version I’ll short the portions a bit to get an even dozen.
The addition of whole wheat meant using the greater amount of liquid called for. The flavor profile of sour-cherries and almonds was a winner. I found this to be a solid, middle-of-the-road, American-style scone recipe. I would use it as a jumping-off point again, as it leaves lots of room for variation.
3 glazed for DH, and 1 plain for me.
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Gorge! I have that pan and don’t usually use it for chocolate, but now i want to!
