What are you baking? June 2022

Summer comes into full force this month, with its fresh berries and stone fruits, picnics, and other occasions. What’s in your oven?*

Thanks Caitlin! Do you mean June?

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Fixed, the title.

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King Arthur Flour’s Cream Scones - Batch #1

I made a half-batch and followed the recipe closely, straying only to add some (soaked) currants. It took 1 T. extra cream to bring the dough together, which was shaped in a bar and cut into 6 triangles. I spaced and used my bench scraper to cut and not a sharp knife, so I don’t think I got the best edge or rise. The scones took 22 minutes to bake on a double sheet pan lined with silpat and parchment.

The scones came out light and cakey. I liked them, and would make again as written if in need of a quick and easy scone suitable for jam, but for my taste, I felt they were a bit lacking in density.

With a total of 6 ingredients, the simplicity of the recipe appealed to me as the jumping-off point for a series of controlled bakes. The recipe calls for all cream and no butter. I made two more versions of it, including one with whipped cream, and one subbing some of the cream with butter. I found an interesting article from KAF on substituting butter for cream.

King Arthur Flour’s Cream Scones - Batch #2

I made a half-batch and followed the recipe closely, straying only to add some (soaked) currants. This time I whipped the cream before baking – not to peaks, just to thickened with soft waves. It took 2 T. extra cream to bring the dough together. I shaped into a circle and used a sharp knife to cut. The scones took 22 minutes to bake on a double sheet pan lined with silpat and parchment.

I got a higher rise this time, and the crumb was notably denser, while still having the flavor profile of an all-cream scone. Of all of today’s versions, this was my favorite – dense, cool to the tongue, and creamy.

King Arthur Flour’s Cream Scones - **Batch #3**

I made a half-batch and followed the recipe closely, straying only to add some (soaked) currants. I used KAF’s formula to swap out 50% of the cream for 25% unsalted butter and 25% milk. It took 0 T. extra cream to bring the dough together. I shaped into a circle and used a sharp knife to cut. These caught a little at the end, I should have given them only 20 minutes to bake on a double sheet pan lined with silpat and parchment.

I got the highest rise of all the bakes from this version. The crumb was denser and slightly more rustic than when using straight cream. You can definitely taste the butter. This version was DH’s favorite, but only by a hair.

I should mention all scones were tasted/tested fully cooled to room temperature.

I have one more version of this same recipe I want to try, and that is a combination of both the partial butter substitution and the whipped cream. In the meantime, we’ve got a lot of scones to eat through, so I won’t be baking any more scones this week!

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Thank you, brain blip!

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Portokalopita (syrup-soaked orange phyllo cake) from Lemon, Love and Olive Oil. I was intrigued by this recipe, which has a batter of eggs, oil, yogurt and a bit of sugar. A pound of shredded phyllo is then mixed in. After baking a syrup of 2 cups each sugar and water, with orange peel and cardamom (I used this instead of cinnamon) is poured over. All was going well until I realized 30 minutes into a 45 minute bake that I had forgotten the oil. I pulled it out of the oven and poked holes and added some butter on top. After baking, I added the syrup and let it sit for the recommended hour.
The cake is heavy and dense. It is not dry, with all the syrup, and the flavour is great, but the overwhelming impression is stodgy. That was while warm, and I don’t think it will improve, so this is likely to hit the garbage, unfortunately. I may try again another time, and hopefully remember the oil!

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Oh I hate that feeling, when you realize that you have forgotten a key ingredient!!

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EASIEST PEASIEST CHOCOLATE MARSHMALLOW MOUSSE from Snackable Bakes by Jessie Sheehan. I bought this book after the rave reviews by @sallyt and I marked at least half the recipes to try. It’s exactly my kind of book - simple recipes with uncomplicated flavors. This mousse is a great example - super easy to make, but fantastic texture and taste.

The trick is that it uses melted marshmallows in its base for stability. Next time, I’d melt the cream and marshmallows first, then add the chocolate etc after (the recipe calls for you to melt everything at once). I found it stressful worrying about scorching the chocolate while the marshmallows all smoothed out. Otherwise, this recipe was simple and quite impressive.

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Strawberry tart baked this morning, serving with strawberry gelato from the same batch of strawberries. More strawberries tomorrow from the F.M…love this time of year!

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@hirsheys - YAY! So glad that you like it. I’m giving away a cake for our school’s cake walk, and I made the confetti cake - it literally took 5 minutes to make. Sadly I won’t get to taste it! People LOVED the fudge -

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I just got this book from the library! Looking forward to trying it…

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loved the strawberry and cream bars

Dorie Greenspan put the fudge recipe in her newsletter, and I found it amusing that she thought condensed milk fudge was such a revelation, given it’s a classic back-of-the-package recipe. I have a library hold on the book (it’s currently on order).

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Financiers from a Dorie Greenspan recipe. A fav of dh which is why I made them but I wish they were lighter. Pretty dense but lovely flavor. Apricot slivers and blueberries.

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Confetti cake from Snackable Bakes - as mentioned gave this away for our school’s cake walk at the annual fair. My daughter played for six rounds - approximately $30 - and won cake from our local supermarket! She was beside herself with glee.

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Way past a limit for new cookbooks but thanks for the tip. Had to order!

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The financiers look delicious, especially the apricot ones!

The nature of financiers, so nothing you can really do about that except make madeleines instead. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

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I am on a choux kick I guess, with today’s choux creation being Paris-Brest. So delicious!


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Looks marvelous, Shellybean!

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