Sometimes I cut limes or lemons in half then microwave about 20 to 30 seconds. Creates more juice without losing the freshness. Might work for mandarins.
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I typically roll lemons and limes on the counter with a heavy hand, and will cut a slit in each cut section of the halved fruit with the tip of a paring knife, even twist it a bit to release more juice when it’s squeezed. An orange, too, if it seems anemically juicy. (I’d use the microwave trick if I had one!)
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Hi Gretchen! Thank you (and other kind people here) so much for keeping me in your thoughts. I’ve been baking a lot still. And making lots of ice cream. Some favorites are these banh mi baguettes which I used to make a sardine banh mi that along with some falafel I made a few days later got the idea in my head to start a small sandwich business featuring international sandwiches. Really I just want an excuse to bake bread all the time, in particular Vietnamese baguettes, Po boy bread, lepinja, and other types of rolls. 
And I really think it could do well since something like a meatball sub is such a crowd pleaser and there’s very little here in the way of options come dinner time.
The baguettes were so tasty and crisp that Mom had a sandwich then ate a baguette with butter for dessert.
Some other favorites include my favorite coconut roll cake cut in half for extra thin layers in these toasted coconut and lime ice cream sandwiches.
These kolache scones
An online friend very generously sent me a care package all the way from Germany, and I used the kirsch and sour cherries in it to make a Black Forest-inspired ice cream cake that I was really pleased with. I tried out a chocolate as opposed to cocoa genoise from RLB for it and the ice cream was kirsch-flavored with stracciatella and the cherries were also soaked in a kirsch syrup for almost two weeks. I loved how adult the flavors were and how refreshing this tasted overall
I made salteñas for the first time and they need a lot of work, but everyone went absolutely crazy for them since it’s so different from empanadas they’re used to here, being all juicy and having such a mix of sweet, savory, and a little spicy. I was really happy that I made my own ultra gelatinous stock rather than powdered gelatin and it set up beautifully (I had the powdered gelatin on standby ).
I made Flo Braker’s always excellent buttermilk cake for a yellow cake ice cream flavor that is one of my favorite ice cream creations so far.
I didn’t take a photo, but I made an Amaretto cheesecake that is definitely one of my favorite desserts of late. I have a weakness for Amaretto, but I don’t always like a lot of flavors that I’m usually fond of when they end up in cheesecake, but this is an excellent combination and one I am tempted to make again though I’m trying to work through a list of other baking projects.
I tried out my cheesy wool roll bread in a star shape and it came out so pretty that it’s definitely my second favorite shape behind the wool roll.
And I’m really pleased that a cocoa Swiss roll I’d been working on for a while to make foolproof, easy, and much more chocolatey than the Asian recipes I usually make is finally at a point that I can call it “done”. It worked great in a cookies and cream-themed roll using Sugarologie’s sweet cream buttercream.
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I also cut citrus into smaller pieces before squeezing. I’ve discovered these different techniques in attempts to spare my arthritic hands and wrists and elbows…
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Fantastic assortment!
I tried making Vietnamese rolls once and wasn’t thrilled with the result.
What recipe do you recommend?
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So glad you are OK! You sure have been busy! All of it looks spectacular but especially that Black Forest-inspired ice cream cake, and the salteñas sound divine. Thanks for checking in.
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450 g bread flour
8 g salt
5 g sugar (1 tsp)
7 g instant yeast
1 egg
250 g water
10-15 g lemon or lime juice (1 tbsp; this is to strengthen the gluten— if you happen to have ascorbic acid you can use a pinch of it instead)
Mix water, egg, salt, sugar, yeast, and lemon juice to dissolve yeast then add in flour and mix until combined. Depending on how you’re mixing, you can proceed in different ways. If mixing by hand as I did, cover dough and chill 20 minutes to start up some gluten development because this type of bread requires extensive gluten development, so it’s a fair amount of slap and fold.
If using a mixer, knead on low speed for maybe 8 minutes then another 2-3 minutes on high speed. You want really strong gluten development. The dough should be climbing the hook. The dough will be very smooth and strong.
Place in an oiled bowl and coat dough with oil then let rise 1 hr or until doubled.
Divide into six roughly 125 g portions and round into balls. Cover and let rest 15 minutes.
Shape into mini baguettes and place on baguette tray. If you don’t have one you can proof on a couche remembering to place seam-side up since you’ll be flipping them when it’s time to bake. Try to alternate placement of the loaves because they rise a lot, so having them next to each other can lead to them sticking together when they go in the oven.
Mist the shaped baguettes with water and proof one hour, covered, until at least doubled in size (they tend to more than double and you can see that they’re very jiggly when proofed. I cover with a large oven bag so it doesn’t touch the bread as it rises. You can also proof in the oven with a bowl of warm water which keeps the dough moist so you don’t have to cover it.
Preheat the oven to 450° F (I have an oven without convection, so you might have to adjust if yours is convection) while the bread is rising. I typically do it 20-30 minutes into the proof to give the oven time to get hot enough. Place a metal tray in the bottom of the oven for pouring hot water to create steam (mine has lava rocks, but can be done without) and have boiling water ready when it’s time to bake the bread. You need about 1 cup. About 10 minutes before the bread is finished rising, mist it with water so it’s easier to score.
Wet your razor a little and score the loaves, then mist with water. Place in oven and quickly pour the boiling water into steam tray. Bake for 8-10 minutes then open oven to release steam. By that point the water has all dried out and there’s no steam being produced, but if that’s not the case you can take out the steam tray.
Flip trays front to back and top to bottom and bake another 7-10 minutes, until browned to your liking.
The most important thing is really strong gluten development. Unlike a classic French baguette where you want to be gentle and preserve large bubbles, a Vietnamese baguette needs to be a strong bouncy dough, so kneading well is important. This is also the case for other variations of classic French bread around the world— bolillos, pan de agua, etc.
This is a great video on them and the recipe is excellent, too:
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Yes, I do that sometimes. I’m not arthritic, but do have a condition that somewhat limits my strength and mobility. I grew up with a vintage Wearever cast aluminum citrus juicer, which doesn’t take too much leverage (or any real hand grip) to use, and I was very happy to find one — that happens to be enamel-coated — from Williams-Sonoma around 15 years ago.
There are plentiful vintage ones for sale online, and I see there is this company producing them now, which look to also be available from various online retailers at a reasonable price. (I certainly never need to produce enough citrus juice for an electric one to make sense.
@Madrid I prefer the citrus squeezer I grew up with — something like this — which requires not much hand pressure (even less if you start segments-up, and then flip the half, instead of the other way around as I was taught).
Now they are available in larger sizes too.
I find the juicer type tools take more finger and wrist effort. I only use the one I have for large oranges (as I don’t feel like springing for the bigger version of the one above just yet).
Any chance you’d share your cocoa Swiss roll recipe?
Yes, we have that juicer. Thanks! It’s good. I enlist my husband now to juice because of my arthritis. He uses the microwave and cuts into small pieces, too, because it’s more efficient for him even without a hand disability. We freeze it in small repurposed spice containers so it’s always available.
I love fresh citrus and use it frequently, so adaptation is crucial.
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Uploading: FC40AB41-DED0-4E9D-923D-C93FE9DBA4DF.jpeg…
Terrible photo I took of the GF and vegan cookies I made for a work event, along with a big batch of the brown butter toffee chocolate chip cookies I also brought along. I was very worried about these GF cookies since I had no idea how they’d turn out, and I didn’t have time to test the recipe ahead of time. The most stringent of the 4 people who tried the GF cookies proclaimed them utterly delicious, and I was therefore able to unload the leftovers on her, to my relief.
I stored some wonder bread in the baggie with them to keep them moist, and it’s a good thing I did because I’m pretty sure they’d have been crumbly messes otherwise. I also added some chopped dates to the recipe for sweetness, and sprinkled turbinado sugar before baking.
I’ll post the almond-butter based recipe later for the curious.
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No. Thanks for the suggestion.
This might be a dumb question, but that didn’t contaminate them?
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Here’s the recipe. I didn’t make the nut butter from scratch; I bought almond butter and added the spices and sugar to it (I used regular brown sugar, not coconut sugar.)
48 g Dutch-processed cocoa
100 g sugar
3 g salt
60 g hot water
60 g neutral oil
12 g vanilla extract
4 yolks
Mix cocoa powder, sugar, and salt. Add hot water. Whisk in oil, vanilla, and yolks.
85 g cake flour
6 g baking powder
Add to coca mixture
5 egg whites
50 g sugar
Whip to stiff peaks (Because the amount of sugar is low in proportion to the whites, it’s fine to just add all the sugar directly to the egg whites and whip to stiff peaks)
Fold into cocoa mixture
Scrape onto a parchment-lined sheet tray.
Bake at 350 for 23-25 minutes until cake springs back when gently pressed.
I find at 20 minutes if I press the surface cracks and a depression is left, and just a couple of minutes later it springs back. For other people I’d recommend setting the timer at 20 minutes just in case since my oven seems to be a bit slower.
Steam by covering as soon as it comes out of the oven.
You can use foil or invert another sheet tray over. Leave on a wire rack until fully cooled.
I make a lot of Asian roll cakes and they roll beautifully, but the chocolate ones made with only cocoa are really lacking in the chocolate flavor and are a little too light in texture. This has a much deeper chocolate flavor and nice dark color thanks to the blooming, and the texture is a bit more dense (as one would want with chocolate cake) than a standard roll. And with the steaming step I’ve now made it multiple times and never had a crack. I also like how easy removing the crust is because I don’t tend to like the crust on chocolate roll cakes.
My other favorite if you want a roll that incorporates chocolate in addition to cocoa is this one:
I found it bitter as written, so I lowered the percentage of the chocolate and added more sugar, but it’s an amazing recipe that rolls like a dream, and for people who love really dark chocolate flavor, they might enjoy it exactly as written. Definitely recommend a sweeter filling than what they call for, though!
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Thabk you!
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The last of the brown butter toffee chocolate chip cookies I made for a work event. These really are spectacular, even four days after baking.
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I made them a second time, with 3 Skor instead of 2; couldn’t tell any difference so will stick to 2 in the future.
A big hit with EVERYONE!
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Rhubarb and oatmeal muffins (with apples and pecans). I took SBA’s blueberry and oatmeal muffin recipe, swapping out the berries for equal parts fresh rhubarb and dried apples. I also subbed whole wheat for a portion of the AP flour. Topped with raw sugar and few more oat flakes, these came out delicious.
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