What are You Baking? March 2024

Thanks so much for mention of the “Hoosier Mama Book of Pie”. I just got the book this week from my library - took an Interlibrary Loan request since all copies previously owned by the library are “missing”. And have now purchased a copy for myself. Great, detailed notes on all sorts of techniques and crust types. Including a most-basic hint – use a 14-inch across pizza pan (or platter) as your pattern to cut out a perfect circle of rolled dough for the crust. And a ton of pie fillings that appeal to me: sweet, savory, turnovers, hand-pies, plus various toppings.

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Hi. I’m going to try to make an artisan-style freeform bread in a loaf pan. The original recipe, which I’ve doubled to fit the largish loaf pan, called for 25 minutes baking at 430°F.

I’m considering to drop the temp down to around 400 or 390, and increase the baking time to more like 35-40 minutes.

Am I way off track?

TIA for any thoughts/corrections/etc.

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So happy you are enjoying the book! In addition, I like the format as well. Hope you post if you get to make one of the pies.
ETA. If you get a chance, the oatmeal pie that I had posted is very good, I think I mentioned that a couple of tablespoons of chopped pecans would be a nice addition. I have been thinking of making it again :grin: !

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Thanks for the reference! For anyone interested, this one currently is free on Amazon to US members of Kindle Unlimited.

Hoosier Mama Book of Pie

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What size is your Loaf Pan?
We use 730 Grams for a 13 x 4 x 4 inches (33 x 10 x 10 cm) Pullman



Thanks. Now that is a very good question (LoL on me). My total dough mass was about 840g.

… I was at thrift earlier this week and found this bumpy Bundt pan for USD 3, in nice condition and good heft to it.

So I got a wild hair. My daughters bake many types of cakes/desserts, but I’m pretty much limited to breads of various sorts, bagels, etc. So I figured I’d give it to one of the girls, but just on a whim try it as a bread mold first.

It worked pretty well using the temp/times I mentioned above, but I decided to demold it half-way through and it collapsed a bit under its own weight. If I try doing this again I’ll either let it get to about 80% of the cooktime before demolding, or just leave it in the pan for the entire baking time. Nice crumb and texture, though, some but not a lot of voids, and a pretty good crust (maybe 1.5-2 mm thick all over).



Edit - oops! I only just now noticed that I grabbed the wrong “… Baking?” thread. Sorry.

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Your post inspired me to request the cookbook from the library, and photocopied recipes to try. I attempted the cinnamon buns today. I’ve now determined that unfortunately the printed book (unlike the Food 52 online version) incorrectly showed the 560 g flour as 1 1/2 Cups, not 4 1/2 cups.

When you’re 3 Cups short on flour, even adding a half cup won’t get you to dough. I scooped the batter into muffin tins with some butter/cinnamon-brown sugar in the bottom and coated the top of each “cupcake” with more of the cinnamon/brown sugar mix. They’re a bit too salty (again… not enough flour…) but as a cinnamon-topped cardamom cupcake they’re not awful.

I wish I hadn’t already returned the cookbook to the library – I’d make this correction in pen to save the next poor baker some stress.

Oh no! I’m so sorry this happened to you!

On reading your post, I immediately checked my copy of the book, which shows yet a third variation: 560 g. / 4 c. I never noticed the discrepancy with the Food52 version, because I always go by weight. I’m glad you were able to rescue them (I’ve made worse things than “not awful”).

I hope you don’t let this discourage you from trying it again someday, because it truly is a marvelous recipe. I’m realizing the dough (and the method) is kind of like an unsweetened, buttery scone with a lot of baking powder added for extra flakiness. The fillings and the topping deliver all the sweetness. No wonder I’m drawn to it.

I just yesterday made another batch of “minis” (75% of original size) with chopped walnuts and golden raisins - so good! I’ve also been researching other fillings, and have a couple of apple versions on my radar, as well as a one using a chocolate filling (with cookie crumbs - same as babka), a chocolate-orange-cardamom version, and yet another with roasted pecans and cinnamon. Quite suitable for riffing, obviously.

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