Baking

[Deleted]

I know we have a few bakers out there. I used to bake bread,haven't in a while unless banana bread qualifies.
I do like to bake pies,particularly in the cooler months and the occasional batch of cookies especially during holiday time.
I would love to expand my skills in this area particularly in the area of breads(cristina's BRIOCHE).

[lagatta]

sometimes breads (including foccaccia, fougasse - slightly different - and pizza). I don't eat sugar and am not quite selfless enough to make pies and cakes for guests - I can buy very good sweet pastries nearby.

[bjd]

I rather like to make cakes but only do it for guests and occasionally for family. Never make bread, although I used to make a kind of sweet bread with raisins. It's hard to find fresh yeast.

[cristina]

I really love making bread and once I got a stand mixer, found it much easier to do more often.

I'm not much of a dessert eater so cookies and cakes aren't much of a draw for me. Except for pound cake, which I like to toast and eat for breakfast.

I wish I had the patience to make my own pie crust though. Sometimes I really crave a nice tart. I saw a recipe for an almond and pear tart the other day that sounded and looked quite good (and not overly sweet). I know I can buy a pre-made tart shell, but they are never as good as homemade.

I'm making brioche again this week to take to my French class tomorrow night.

[Deleted]

Banana bread is my only baked "bakery" item, and that is rare.

Apart from that, my oven is used to cook roasts, fish, or chicken. I must start doing lasagna again, however. I make excellent lasagna. (The only reference work that I have ever read on how to make lasagna is the side of the Barilla box.)

[Deleted]

See,I hear other people ,my brother included,say they have little patience with pie dough. I think it very simple and hassle free. Odd what different tacts people have on this.

[Deleted]

Pie dough is so much more simple to pick up in the refrigerated section of the supermarket rather than getting flour all over the place.

[bixaorellana]

I think what most people don't like about making pie crust is cutting in the shortening. I've used the recipe in the book that came with my food processor (KitchenAid) with very good results. I see there are many such recipes online.

When I lived in south Texas, women of Mexican descent prided themselves on their homemade flour tortillas. I've made them in a food processor using the Rick Bayless recipe, but really see that as an item that I'd just as soon buy.

[cristina]

I should probably think about trying to make a pie crust again. I haven't done it in over 10 years, before I got the Kitchenaid mixer. Bixa, when you mentioned the cutting in of the butter the lightbulb went on in my head - I make biscuits all the time without any difficulty - really I should be able to make a pie crust. Especially since I really am hungry for this pear tart www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2009/11/pear_and_almond_tart_recipe.html#more

Now, I just need to buy a tart pan. ;D

As for tortillas, we have so many little Mexican restaurants here who make their own fantastic tortillas for sale daily, I don't think I would trouble myself to make my own either.

Sorry, I am having a senior moment and have forgotten how to link properly. I will go and study this a bit more.

[cristina]

Regarding piecrust, I clicked on the link within the above recipe for pear tart just to see how David Lebovitz makes his. It took me to a really neat method that he was taught by a woman who has a cooking school in Paris.

Instead of working with cold ingredients, she put butter, water and oil in a pyrex bowl and then put the bowl in a hot oven until bubbling and just starting to brown. Then she adds the flour.

Anyway, there's the link for anyone interested in an alternative method.

I'm seriously thinking about trying this for Thanksgiving.

Ha ha! I think I made a link!
(Thanks Bixa and Imec for your help!)

[lagatta]

To me that sounds very strange, as from childhood I was taught that the success of pâte brisée (or feuilletée) depended on the coldness of the butter, water and other ingredients.

I will look at that, as I love the pear and almond mixture (two foods I love) and can probably make it with minimal tooth-rotting sugar (I have very soft teef because of childhood milk allergy, trying to save them though I do crave just-slightly-sweet pastries now). Not candy or extremely sweet stuff, but that wonderful rich dessert taste. Not often either. I'd been very strict about the sugar (in pure form) thing and it did me good in many ways, but it mustn't become a religion.

[lola]

That looks really nice, cristina. Might have to give that a shot.

Not in the same class, but a quicker and easier relative in The Minimalist today's NYTimes:

www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/dining/11mini.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=pear%20upside%20down&st=cse

[cristina]

lagatta, I think you and I probably favor the same taste in desserts. It was really the almond paste that turned me on in that tart, but combined with the pears its even more perfect. Interestingly, when I went to the Williams Sonoma website to check out tart pans (surprisingly only $9) there was a similar recipe using blueberries and almond paste. I think I like the combination of pear and almond better, though.

lola, I love pretty much anything Mark Bittman does and I especially love his laissez faire approach. For that recipe though, I might be inclined to cut down the maple syrup a bit, due to the sweetness. However I think brandy or cognac might be a nice addition!

[lagatta]

If using maple syrup, use it in lieu of sugar or honey, and you won't get more sweetness; probably a bit less (if using real maple syrup). There used to be a Middle Eastern confectioner near me who made baklawas with maple syrup in lieu of those and they were delicate and less overbearingly sweet. They had first made these for "hippie" health-foodie places but then Levantine people craved them, in part as gifts for family back home.

No, pear and almond is a better combination than blueberries and almond. I tend to think blueberries should be alone, minimally dressed and sweetened.

[cristina]

I agree whole-heartedly regarding sugar vs the maple syrup. The key is in the getting of "real" maple syrup.

I don't suppose I can justify a trip to Canada for that purpose, can I?

makes note to check out travelzoo for last minute (weekend) fares to Canada

[Deleted]

Cristina,real maple syrup can be bought in the States. Vermont is a big producer of. It is available in regular supermarkets here and most certainly at Whole Food CO. Of course,a trip to Canada would be more fun although, too cold this time of year for me!

[lagatta]

Not today! It is gorgeous and sunny here in Montréal; imagine the weather is similar in nearby Vermont. A real "Indian Summer".

Casimira, what's with the Dutch windmills? Hoping to get Dutch-quality dikes for NOLA?

[Deleted]

Nov 12, 2009 13:06:22 GMT lagatta said:

Not today! It is gorgeous and sunny here in Montréal; imagine the weather is similar in nearby Vermont. A real "Indian Summer".

Casimira, what's with the Dutch windmills? Hoping to get Dutch-quality dikes for NOLA?

Glad to hear that Lagatta. get on out and ride that bicycle while you can.

Yes,the Dutch windmills are part of my" in your own backyard "campaign I petitioned for.
Thanks to co poster Imec for helping me find them.

[spindrift]

I'm very good at baking cakes and making puddings but rarely do either these days.

[cristina]

That's OK SD. You just keeping making delicious casseroles.

[auntieannie]

I am able to bake cakes, tarts, bread, etc... but somehow very rarely do it. I would like to bake some kind of "savoury cake" that I could use as snack for work.

[lagatta]

There is of course the Southern and Southwestern US cornbread, with various savoury ingredients, and also French "cake aux olives" (or other savoury ingredient). The English word "cake" in French refers to something like a fruitcake.

casimira, yes. I was in Amsterdam when Katrina hit, and the Dutch were horrified at the state of the dikes and levees. Not in a superior way: they sent engineers and other help.

[Don Cuevas]

Nov 12, 2009 12:31:16 GMT casimira said:

Cristina,real maple syrup can be bought in the States. Vermont is a big producer of. It is available in regular supermarkets here and most certainly at Whole Food CO. Of course,a trip to Canada would be more fun although, too cold this time of year for me!

You can order maple syrup from Amazon.com. In fact, they have a baking ingredients promotion on right now. (Although their definition of "baking ingredients" doesn't quite compat with mine. For example, they have Jack Daniels or is it Jim Beam BBQ peanuts listed under "baking ingredients".
tinyurl.com/yjq23kd

www.kingarthurflour.com/, a better source of quality baking ingredients, although pricey.

[cristina]

Thanks for all of the maple syrup tips. I'm sure I will find some locally, however it just means another store.

I have ordered from King Arthur before. Generally worth it when its something I can't find nearby.

I didn't start the brioche dough until this morning so I couldn't bake them for my class tonight (it needs a lot of rising time). So I guess that means I will have to make some more next week.

On the other hand, that's more brioche for me to eat tomorrow.

[cristina]

Update:

I made a tart shell today, using the very counter-all-previous-knowledge method from the link in post #9. Very, very easy and it looks fantastic. I haven't tasted it yet, and won't until Thursday after its filled, but it definitely has the right texture and aroma.

So unless I screw up the pear poaching which, while unlikely, stranger things have happened... I think this will be a very nice dessert.

[bixaorellana]

Hmmm. Should you have the the entire mantle of responsibility for judging fall upon your shoulders?
I think not.
Be right there!

[cristina]

Update #2:

I am poaching the pears for the tart and my house smells fantastic. The poaching liquid (water and sugar) is seasoned with a whole scraped vanilla bean, a big handful of whole cloves, several cinnamon sticks and 6 or 7 slices of fresh ginger.

The smell is putting me in a rather festive mood.

[cristina]

Yesterday afternoon, the Romanian woman who does my nails (and with whom I have great fun talking about cooking and baking) and I exchanged breads.

She gave me a loaf of her homemade Cozonac Romanesc, which was the perfect, not too sweet, sweet bread. I didn't take a picture of her loaf, because I served it before thinking. But here is a picture of a very similar version:



The dough is very similar to a panettone dough and is rolled out into a rectangle, then spread with a cocoa meringue, nuts and raisins before being rolled jelly-roll style. Sometimes, two rolls are twisted together and sometimes, lokum, or Turkish Delight, chopped in small pieces is added.

It was a heavenly taste and really special gift.

[bixaorellana]

What a gorgeous, elaborate yet restrained delight that must be! You must have been so flattered and thrilled by her kindness.

[Don Cuevas]

Nov 11, 2009 19:21:55 GMT bixaorellana said:

I think what most people don't like about making pie crust is cutting in the shortening. I've used the recipe in the book that came with my food processor (KitchenAid) with very good results. I see there are many such recipes online.

When I lived in south Texas, women of Mexican descent prided themselves on their homemade flour tortillas. I've made them in a food processor using the Rick Bayless recipe, but really see that as an item that I'd just as soon buy.

I wouldn't make tortillas either, as the flour ones we can buy are good.

I like making yeast breads, buttermilk biscuits, corn bread and other quick breads; less keen for pies. It's adding the water and then rolling out the crust without it cracking on the one hand nor sticking to the table on the other that annoys me. Cookies are easy for the most part. They just use a lot pans and cooling space.

It's been quite a while since I made any fancier pastry such as strudel or Danish; brioche doughs are not really hard if certain principles are followed. I make yeasted cinnamon rolls and sticky buns fairly regularly.

Although I've made bagels and bialys, I really don't want to do them often. However, I'm actually considering making some large, soft bread pretzels tomorrow for a little chile supper at a friend's house. However, our hostess will make corn bread, so the pretzels are superfluous.

Pizza: I rarely get tired of pizza making, although my oven conditions and technique need some improvements.

I have recipes for home baked crackers, but I would never make them.
You can see some of my baking on my Picasa Web Albums. I have slowed down considerably in the last year.
picasaweb.google.com/doncuevas