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Baking season
18 Nov 2012 10:28 amTwo weekends ago, we made the cardamom coffee cake from the Moosewood Cookbook. Instead of the nut streusel layer, we used crystallized ginger. It was good; very dense.
I also made cherry-almond granola bars from the recipe in November's Bon Appetit. If I make them again, I will divide the recipe in half, because I STILL have granola bars, and they've gone from chewyish to crunchy. I left out the coconut shreds, which meant I had excess liquid. I will increase the oats next time to compensate. I did use coconut oil, because the recipe says to boil it, and I didn't want to chance that with canola. I found a brand that said it had low flavor (perfect for baking, it said), and I couldn't taste it at all. Win. I think cranberry-crystallized ginger (+ almond) would be a good experiment, too.
Last weekend, we made a spiced bundt cake from the November issue of Bon Appetit. It was good, but we had problems. A) The slivered almonds weren't processed long enough to become finely ground, so there were noticeable almond chunks in the batter. B) For some reason, bundt cakes seem to rise a lot in my oven, so the bottom got a little blackened. I thought about lowering the rack, but it was too close to the bottom of the oven then. C) The caramel sauce. I have a lot of trouble telling when the supersaturated sugar solution has turned a deep amber color, and the recipe didn't give a time. I use natural sugar, which starts out a slight tan color, and my saucepan is black (non-stick coating). So every caramel sauce I've made has been too thin, because I didn't want to burn it. I don't know if I should give up and buy a single stainless steel pot, or what.
Today I'm making chai-spiced sugar cookies. They're easier to store and keep longer than cakes. Also, I can freeze 2/3 of them unbaked, so we can have fresh, hot cookies whenever we want. The butter is softening on the counter at the moment.
I also made cherry-almond granola bars from the recipe in November's Bon Appetit. If I make them again, I will divide the recipe in half, because I STILL have granola bars, and they've gone from chewyish to crunchy. I left out the coconut shreds, which meant I had excess liquid. I will increase the oats next time to compensate. I did use coconut oil, because the recipe says to boil it, and I didn't want to chance that with canola. I found a brand that said it had low flavor (perfect for baking, it said), and I couldn't taste it at all. Win. I think cranberry-crystallized ginger (+ almond) would be a good experiment, too.
Last weekend, we made a spiced bundt cake from the November issue of Bon Appetit. It was good, but we had problems. A) The slivered almonds weren't processed long enough to become finely ground, so there were noticeable almond chunks in the batter. B) For some reason, bundt cakes seem to rise a lot in my oven, so the bottom got a little blackened. I thought about lowering the rack, but it was too close to the bottom of the oven then. C) The caramel sauce. I have a lot of trouble telling when the supersaturated sugar solution has turned a deep amber color, and the recipe didn't give a time. I use natural sugar, which starts out a slight tan color, and my saucepan is black (non-stick coating). So every caramel sauce I've made has been too thin, because I didn't want to burn it. I don't know if I should give up and buy a single stainless steel pot, or what.
Today I'm making chai-spiced sugar cookies. They're easier to store and keep longer than cakes. Also, I can freeze 2/3 of them unbaked, so we can have fresh, hot cookies whenever we want. The butter is softening on the counter at the moment.
