What are you baking? Feb 2023

Sunshine and I just got done baking some Chocolate Chip cookies. This was a new recipe. Both Sunshine & I like the previous version better, though.

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No picture from me, but mine looks just like David Lebovitz’s Zucchini Cake with Crunchy Lemon Glaze.
A very nice, flavorful cake made with olive oil and this would be in my top five ‘snackin’ cakes. I had some left over zucchini prepped from the vegetarian burritos last night which measured out perfectly. The only problem, I think, is the EVOO I used was at the end of its lifespan. I didn’t think it was that old. Next time, I’ll sample the oil, first for sure!

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This one has been on my list forever. Thanks for the review.



I had some cheeses that needed using, and I was going to make burek, but calzones were a better match for the particular cheeses I had on hand. So four cheese calzones it was! I had Dominican queso crema, which is like a farmer’s cheese and something I’d rather use than the imported Galbani ricotta that has stabilizers and tastes unpleasantly tangy to me. I’ve always been very picky about ricotta, and I’ve made it a few times here, but I find queso crema to be an excellent alternative to it.
I also had local queso de hoja, which is milky the way fresh mozzarella is. The other two are parmigiano reggiano and aged mozzarella.

I also tried making sourdough hallullas. Hallullas are a Chilean flatbread in the pan sobado category that can be either soft or crisp like a cracker. These are on the puffy side.

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I just made this brown sugar sauce cake/pudding concoction I saw on the Glen & Friends Cooking youtube channel.

I modified his recipe with some apples (I had in the freezer) and some cinnamon. Mine looks a little different than his, but the taste is there. Sunshine and I just enjoyed a small piece (each) YUMMY!!

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Meyer Lemon Cake from the Vanilla Bean Blog.

I chose this recipe because it was written specifically for Meyer lemons, of which we currantly have many. It calls for poppyseeds – a plus.

I followed the cake recipe exactly, and was quite surprised at the outcome. When I turned them out I felt they would be far too tender for my taste, but they firmed up as they cooled and wow! Not overly tart – you can taste the Meyer lemon – with a lovely crumb.

I did not make the crème fraiche icing, but went for a standard powdered-sugar-and-lemon-juice glaze. I’ll make this version again, and won’t change a thing.

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I also made Les Cupcakes from Gateau today. Deets on the COTM thread here.

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GORGEOUS. What a treat.

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Hamburger Buns from p. 60 of Bread Toast Crumbs, using a tiny fraction of the pound of instant yeast I got (and froze) in April 2020 Covid times. I used 1 C whole wheat and 3 C unbleached a.p. white flour.

I’d made this recipe when No-Knead bread was a Chowhound DOTM and discovered 1) book measures are for Diamond Crystal kosher salt, so I need to cut the 2 tsp measure to 1.5 tsp for my Morton’s kosher salt. and 2) portioning the dough into just 8 buns per instructions gives giant ones that overwhelm our usual burger size, so make 12 smaller ones instead.

I’m pleased with the size, texture and flavor of this batch.

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Hey bakers, I just noticed that this month’s COTM Korean American has a Korean Bakery section.

I had two chocolate cake layers in my freezer. One I used for a white chocolate and caramel mousse cake. The second I used today. Mocha cremeux and coffee-mascarpone ganache montée. Honestly this is super rich and just a tiny sliver is enough. A very nice chocolate and coffee dessert!

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Got Stella Parks’ cheesecake in the oven, thans to a reco from @Shellybean . I’ve somehow never made cheesecake before.

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cracked.

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We have a new oven so I’m taking baby steps as this one stays up to temp and doesnt randomly turn off during a cook tome. I made beer bread with old KA self rising flour and new baking powder and a bottle of Stella Artois left from a few summers ago. I melted a stick of margarine and poured it over the batter before baking.
Crunchy on the outside and a nice crumb and flavor.
Next up was a faking recipe with buns from refrigerated tubes of cinnamon buns quartered and dipped in egg, cinnamon and cream bath. Baked in a 9 x12 buttered pan for 35 minutes. I sprinkled chopped nuts directed but would have preferred raisins or dried cranberries.
It made a nice addition to a morning pot luck.

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Sorry it cracked. But then it’s your first one, so at least you got it out of the way.

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Latest sourdough batch. A variation based on the ‘Perfect Loaf’.



Recipe:

•	90% KA bread flour
•	10% whole wheat flour
•	80% water
•	2% salt
•	6% melted butter (unsalted)
•	17% mature liquid levain

Gave the flour and water about an hour autolyse while the levain got up to speed. Mixed in levain and gave it 20 min. Then added salt and melted butter. Stretch and folds for the first 2 hours then bulk til 50% rise.

Bake @ 500F in Dutch oven for 20 min. Lower heat to 450 for 15. Then lid off for only the last 5-10 min (depending on how dark you want your crust)

Adding just that little bit of butter makes the crust crisp and thin and much less thick and chewy. This was the first time tried adding it to my usual procedure.

I’m very pleased with the results.

Thanks to @Shellybean (HO) and @Nemroz (FTC) for mentioning using fat to thin out the crusts.

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Oh the places that loaf will go! Beautiful!

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It has been (thus far) eaten with a few cubes of Beemster XO aged Gouda, some of the ‘Rolling Green’ goat cheese (chives) from the Surfing Goat dairy in Hawaii (yay delicious souvenirs!) and made a damn fine roast beef sandwich with havarti and horseradish.

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Stella Parks’ cheesecake; thanks @Shellybean for the pointer to this recipe. I am pretty sure this is my first cheesecake.

I made this in a 9" springform, lined with foil as the instructions note. A couple of notes:

  1. Taste and texture were exactly what I was looking for. The graham cracker crust is kind of forgettable; I don’t care enough about it to tinker, except I might use Biscoff cookies next time.

  2. Had quite a bit of leftover batter, which was annoying. I had planned to make a second cheesecake anyway, so I saved the leftover batter overnight, then made an additional 1/3 recipe and baked the second cake the following day in a much smaller pan (6" I think.)

  3. Speaking of leftover batter, I wasn’t sure how full to fill the pan, so I probably could’ve gotten a slightly taller cheesecake.

  4. I followed the multi-step timed baking phases closely, but still overbaked it, which is funny because my oven is so not hot. It got brown fast, and also cracked a little. I don’t actually care about the crack, visually, to be honest.

  5. I didn’t have the orange flower water so I left it out.

  6. Damn this was good.

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I am not a cheesecake person but I must compliment your photography and staging. The berry syrup dripping down the slice just so and pooled in front is pretty damned sexy.

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Thank you. I made that berry sauce when berries were in season and it was a great way to put it to use :slight_smile:

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