thanks, i have a Lloyds perforated deep dish pizza pan on 3/4 inch a4 steel preheated for 45 mins. works well in our nyc oven but the original owner of our fl condo chose a model that just doesn’t get hot enough and heats unevenly top to bottom. ny style pizza is completely impossible but pan pizza is typically in the range of edible to good.
i have used the method you describe when using a cast iron skillet and it works well, thinking it wouldn’t be great for a perforated pan.
best,
It feels pretty automatic when you’re doing it. As long as you’re dealing with reasonable temperatures it should go fairly fast.
I really like her chapters on baking. Ease Cakes has some really nice recipes, marked off quite a few recipes in a chapter bars, cookies and candied things, lovely chapter on pies,tarts, cobb lers and crisps. There are chapters on frozen dessserts and stovetop desserts which i might try but besides making chocolate mousse and creme brule I’m not really into puddings but maybe by watching her you tube channel i will get inspired. On the weekend i used her technique, not recipe to make a very flaky pie crust. Its a great book but my first choice is Dessert Person.
Thank you for such a thoughtful review! I heard a great interview with her on the Nerdette podcast
Thanks found it
I posted about her icebox tiramisu cake in the thread about non-baked desserts.
I also really like the look of her cornmeal cake with strawberries and cream.
I decided to modify a “Hot Milk Cake” recipe I saw on “Glen and Friends cooking” (youtube). I wasn’t 100% satisfied with the original recipe.
When I got up this morning 1/4 of the cake was gone. It appears my own little “hungry onion” did some midnight snacking. I can only assume she enjoyed it; I’ll ask her when she gets up. I tasted it and I still think I need to tweak the recipe a bit more. I’d like to see more rise. I might substitute baking soda for baking powder and add an acid (lemon juice or white vinegar)?? Any suggestions?? This cake just appears a bit flat.
Hot milk cake is a sponge cake and even though it typically contains baking powder, you need to ensure you whip the eggs fully and fold the dry ingredients in properly for a good rise.
I recommend cake flour, but all purpose works, too.
The Glen and Friends measurements are all over the place. Two cups of flour is 9 oz/255 g and that’s a lot for 4 eggs if you want to see a nice fluffy sponge cake.
I also have a version that I’ve used for cupcakes that is more buttery rich. It has a flour amount more similar to the Glen and Friends version since it’s not meant to be as light as a sponge for a layer cake.
I think using recipes from You Tube can be very unreliable. Try looking at respected baking books mentioned here often: The Cake Bible, Flour, etc.
I love YouTube and it’s my primary source for recipes these days, but just like cookbooks and blogs there are some sources that are better than others.
The hot milk sponge cupcakes I mentioned were inspired by this recipe:
And there are tons of pastry chefs and bakers on YouTube. Just today Eric Kayser released his recipe for his awesome cheesy bread. Having eaten my fair share of those rolls when I worked in Brooklyn, I’m excited to make them myself:
J’adore is a pastry cook for I think Jean Georges and everything I’ve ever made from her has been really good:
And I have so many other subs! There’s lots of great content on YouTube.
Yes… I’ve asked Santa Claus to bring me the book “Snacking Cakes” for Christmas.
Thank you for the recipe and tips…
Yes, this is a “Work in Progress” cake, I’ll keep playing with it until I get something (we) like. Although, my girlfriend isn’t all that fussy about sweets, just about anything satisfies her “sweet tooth”.
King Arthur’s Thanksgiving Muffins with pumpkin and 50% white whole wheat.
I had 90 g. of leftover pumpkin puree from my pumpkin-donut bake, and made a half-recipe which yielded 6 muffins. I was short 20 g. of the called-for amount of pumpkin, so I made up the difference with apple juice, in which I soaked the cranberries for a few minutes. I used chopped pecans instead of cinnamon bits, and topped the muffins with sunflower seeds and raw sugar.
I should note this batter requires a 30-minute rest before filling the tins, and KAF suggests turning them out right away after baking to prevent them from steaming and becoming tough.
KAF describes the texture as “spongy”, and suggests subbing a little pastry flour here (lower protein content) if one is seeking a more muffiny texture. I found the texture perfectly muffiny as written, and happily would make them again just as I made them today.
Did it taste okay? It looks delicious!
Yes… I confirmed with my girlfriend that she did in fact enjoy it late last night. I just tried a small piece and it is good, I just wish it was a bit “fluffier”… Again, it is just kind of flat(ish).
That isn’t going to stop my girlfriend from enjoying it, though.
In case another recipe reference is helpful, the Cooks Illustrated Boston cream pie uses a hot milk sponge cake that has a nice, light texture. None of the non-paywalled versions I see give weights, but the flour weight is 7.5 ounces, and the sugar weight is 10.5 ounces (I cut the sugar amount by 29% or so to suit my own taste). I usually bake it in 8” rather than 9” pans, which helps with th height.
Whoops, that should be 20%, not 29.
Bouchons three ways…the first is from Thomas Keller’s “Bouchon” book and as expected chocolate decadence with 12 oz. of butter for 12 bouchons and 6 oz. chopped chocolate. Pg. 186
The second is Abby Dodge’s “Two Bite Brownies”, a very simple bouchon relying on a hazelnut cocoa spread. Just five ingredients , a quick mix and bake. These have chocolate bits/ chopped chocolate in the center.
The third is from “Gateau” pg. 125. These were to have the chocolate mixed in but I just topped them with the chocolate pieces. Delicious.
How do you like “Gateau”. So debating whether i need it.
I like it very much! Mostly uncomplicated recipes with multiple variations on a theme! I gave one to a granddaughter who promptly made the Normand Apple clafloutis and it turned out beautifully. What I don’t care for is the mix of volume and weights in the recipe write up. Upthread I posted the Lemon Verbena yogurt cake which we liked very much, fine crumbed and tender. I also just made the plain yogurt version to which I added raspberries…very nice! Nothing too earth shattering in the book , just a nice compilation of mostly old favorites. One of the recipes is David Lebovitz’s chocolate yogurt muffins which I will probably get to making in the near future. I think Smitten might have it on her website. The book is available in paperback as well as hardback…and I wish the print was a little larger!
