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monavano

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woke up too early this morning, discovered my peaches needed to be used stat, checked the pantry, ended up using a Jiffy cornbread mix and doctored it with some extra sugar, and made a small peach dump cake with a sweet cornbread top.  Smells great.  I'll find out tonight if it was more of a waste of peaches than just tossing them out :D

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On 10/1/2020 at 7:05 AM, weezy said:

woke up too early this morning, discovered my peaches needed to be used stat, checked the pantry, ended up using a Jiffy cornbread mix and doctored it with some extra sugar, and made a small peach dump cake with a sweet cornbread top.  Smells great.  I'll find out tonight if it was more of a waste of peaches than just tossing them out :D

Wasted peaches, sorry to say.  Not much flavor, texture was gritty and just unpleasant.  The muffin mix never absorbed the peach juices or steam while baking covered or the butter dotted on top.  Obviously that needed to be mixed up and treated more as a clafoutis than a dump cake.

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I was on a cookie streak- chocolate chip oatmeal, ginger apricot, apple butter...

I got over my hand pie streak, although it is sounding pretty good, I might go back on that bender, but they kept oozing. 

I also just bought a stick of pepperoni to make pepperoni rolls, which is good because I have a lot of whole wheat flour I need to use. 

Our previous law firm had what would be a very unexpected amount of sugar left in their kitchen, so now I have several pounds of sugar, and the possibilities are endless. 

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I made this cake with some tweaks, and I really liked it, will definitely keep it in the rotation:  https://thecafesucrefarine.com/ridiculously-easy-magic-apple-cake/

First, as a cook's note, I would reserve a couple of tablespoons of sugar and the salt and add that to the chopped apples before mixing into the batter so they are well macerated.  I mixed & waited & mixed as directed in the recipe and my apples didn't give up enough juice through that process to make a batter, it was more of a dough, and the cake was a bit tough as a result of the gluten development from the extra handling.

I didn't make the frosting, so I cannnot comment on that.  I did a quick streusel instead, as I wanted something less sweet and more coffee cake style and easier to freeze one layer.

I also added some raisins and chopped nuts and a bit of cardamom  because that's how I roll.  

 

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I am trying to find ways to use really good eggnog that don't involve drinking it all. So I'm baking these cookies right now. They look pretty good in the oven. Fingers crossed.

Update: These came out great. Recommended. This is a keeper of a recipe, especially because I'm probably going to continue making my one jug of eggnog per season purchase and have this dilemma again^_^.

 

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That's a great idea. I don't have room in the freezer for the canister, though. If I could find enough space, I might be able to freeze the eggnog in something smaller. It wouldn't have the benefit of the specially designed insulated freezer but could be worth a try.

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I took the day off yesterday and spent it baking but was disappointed with the results overall.  My various butter cookies all spread much more than usual.  I think there has been a lowering of butterfat in the butter, as well as my eggs were probably too large.  All that extra moisture made for screwed up cooking times and ugly cookies that all ran into one another.  The flavor tasted a bit washed out as well.  Made a note for future baking to separate the eggs and only use half the whites (and add macaroons -- not macarons --to the repetoire), as well as buying European butter for the higher fat content.

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10 hours ago, weezy said:

My various butter cookies all spread much more than usual. 

I have been having that issue. It appears to be because I was using "super parchment," aka very thin silicone mats, rather than parchment paper. Changing to paper fixed it.

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16 hours ago, saf said:

I have been having that issue. It appears to be because I was using "super parchment," aka very thin silicone mats, rather than parchment paper. Changing to paper fixed it.

I was using the same parchment paper that I always have.  I'll just have to tinker with the recipe.

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I was at the Giant this morning checking out butters, and Land O Lakes now makes an extra creamy butter in black packaging, salted and unsalted, that is a higher fat butter, higher than Plugra at half the price.  I bought a couple of pounds and will try it out.  On sale this week @ $3.50/lb.

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34 minutes ago, weezy said:

I was at the Giant this morning checking out butters, and Land O Lakes now makes an extra creamy butter in black packaging, salted and unsalted, that is a higher fat butter, higher than Plugra at half the price.  I bought a couple of pounds and will try it out.  On sale this week @ $3.50/lb.

I have been baking with this for at least a year and have been very happy with the results, especially in butter cookies and shortbread. It goes on sale from time to time at Harris Teeter.

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I’m making holiday treats to give to our neighbors and will be making spritz cookies, chocolate chip cookies, caramilized peanuts (per the David Lebovitz recipe), and cinnamon marshmallows. I’m thinking about dipping some of the marshmallows in dark chocolate.

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2 hours ago, curls said:

I’m making holiday treats to give to our neighbors and will be making spritz cookies, chocolate chip cookies, caramilized peanuts (per the David Lebovitz recipe), and cinnamon marshmallows. I’m thinking about dipping some of the marshmallows in dark chocolate.

David Lebovitz recently  had a recipe for chocolate marshmallows that looked interesting.

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Hello bakers!

I have a baking mystery. Let me explain:

I have a recipe for something called kuchen. I have never eaten kuchen made from this recipe. Why? Because half the recipe is missing! I am trying to figure out what the rest might be, or find a similar recipe that I could experiment with. 

I will gladly accept any ideas!

I think the recipe was written down as someone, probably either my mother or aunt, followed my great-grandmother around the kitchen. She wasn’t really a recipe cook (neither was their other grandmother, so they did the same thing to her), but mom and auntie are, so this is how they got their grandmothers’ recipes. I’m very grateful, otherwise I wouldn’t have any of my Christmas cookie recipes. It's odd though - I recognize both mom's and auntie's writing, and this doesn't look like either of them wrote it. It does have g-gramma's full name on it though. So I am pretty sure it was her recipe. Maybe my great aunt wrote it down. Who knows.

Anyhow, my aunt was sorting out stuff and sent me a copy of this recipe. It’s handwritten, and I have typed it up exactly as written. I’ve asked her for the second page, but she cannot find it, and doesn’t remember what happens after the last step on this page. (she doesn’t really cook a lot) I showed the recipe to my mother, and she doesn’t recognize it at all. She remembers her grandmother’s kuchen as being flat with fruit on top. Great-Grandma died in 1960, and this was probably written down a number of years before that. She was born in Germany, brought to the US very young, spent many years in Buffalo, then a number of years living with her daughter (my great aunt)  in China and in Oregon. This recipe is probably from either her mother (so, German), or from the Buffalo years. (So, still German, really.)

Kuchen 

2 teas yeast, heaping full
1 cup water ½ cup, more or less, sugar
2 eggs
1 cup water or milk
2 heaping tablespoons shortning
scant teaspoon salt
vanilla, almond, lemon rind, your choice
flour

1)   Soften yeast in a little lukewarm water with teaspoon sugar in a cup
2)   Mix shortning, sugar, add eggs, one at a time. Beat well. Add salt + flavoring.
3)   The above has been mixed in a large bowl, add 2 cups of flour, 1 cup water or scalded and cooled milk and the ¼ cup yeast mixture, rinse the cup with a bit of water + add. Stir well, add more flour until a ball of dough is pliable.
4)   Cover. Let rise until double. With fork or knife lift and press down, let rise again until it has risen a few inches (about 1 hour) then cut dough in half, roll out to ½ inch and spread with mixture of sugar, butter, cinnamon. Little flour over the slightly sheet of dough. Also, you may spread beaten egg on the dough.
5)   Roll and close ends. Lift in pan, let rise.

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9 hours ago, saf said:

Hello bakers!

I have a baking mystery. Let me explain:

I have a recipe for something called kuchen. I have never eaten kuchen made from this recipe. Why? Because half the recipe is missing! I am trying to figure out what the rest might be, or find a similar recipe that I could experiment with. 

I will gladly accept any ideas!

I think the recipe was written down as someone, probably either my mother or aunt, followed my great-grandmother around the kitchen. She wasn’t really a recipe cook (neither was their other grandmother, so they did the same thing to her), but mom and auntie are, so this is how they got their grandmothers’ recipes. I’m very grateful, otherwise I wouldn’t have any of my Christmas cookie recipes. It's odd though - I recognize both mom's and auntie's writing, and this doesn't look like either of them wrote it. It does have g-gramma's full name on it though. So I am pretty sure it was her recipe. Maybe my great aunt wrote it down. Who knows.

Anyhow, my aunt was sorting out stuff and sent me a copy of this recipe. It’s handwritten, and I have typed it up exactly as written. I’ve asked her for the second page, but she cannot find it, and doesn’t remember what happens after the last step on this page. (she doesn’t really cook a lot) I showed the recipe to my mother, and she doesn’t recognize it at all. She remembers her grandmother’s kuchen as being flat with fruit on top. Great-Grandma died in 1960, and this was probably written down a number of years before that. She was born in Germany, brought to the US very young, spent many years in Buffalo, then a number of years living with her daughter (my great aunt)  in China and in Oregon. This recipe is probably from either her mother (so, German), or from the Buffalo years. (So, still German, really.)

Kuchen 

2 teas yeast, heaping full
1 cup water ½ cup, more or less, sugar
2 eggs
1 cup water or milk
2 heaping tablespoons shortning
scant teaspoon salt
vanilla, almond, lemon rind, your choice
flour

1)   Soften yeast in a little lukewarm water with teaspoon sugar in a cup
2)   Mix shortning, sugar, add eggs, one at a time. Beat well. Add salt + flavoring.
3)   The above has been mixed in a large bowl, add 2 cups of flour, 1 cup water or scalded and cooled milk and the ¼ cup yeast mixture, rinse the cup with a bit of water + add. Stir well, add more flour until a ball of dough is pliable.
4)   Cover. Let rise until double. With fork or knife lift and press down, let rise again until it has risen a few inches (about 1 hour) then cut dough in half, roll out to ½ inch and spread with mixture of sugar, butter, cinnamon. Little flour over the slightly sheet of dough. Also, you may spread beaten egg on the dough.
5)   Roll and close ends. Lift in pan, let rise.

Does this look reasonably close?  Most of the recipes I found used baking powder, so I tried adding yeast to the search.

 

https://redstaryeast.com/recipes/apple-kuchen/

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You may know this already but kuchen means cake. This recipe sounds a bit like making a strudel or cinnamon rolls (without cutting the coil into individual rolls).

I guess the next step, 6, is to bake until done. I would go with a preheated 350 F oven and started checking on it after 20 minutes. May be close to done or may need up to an hour in the oven. 

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14 hours ago, zgast said:

Does this look reasonably close?  Most of the recipes I found used baking powder, so I tried adding yeast to the search.

 

https://redstaryeast.com/recipes/apple-kuchen/

That's probably fancier than g-gramma's was, but I wonder if that is the technique. After rolling it, maybe put in a larger pan and put fruit on it. Also, clearly her dough was sweeter and less buttery.  May be worth an experiment. THANK YOU!

12 hours ago, curls said:

You may know this already but kuchen means cake. This recipe sounds a bit like making a strudel or cinnamon rolls (without cutting the coil into individual rolls).

I guess the next step, 6, is to bake until done. I would go with a preheated 350 F oven and started checking on it after 20 minutes. May be close to done or may need up to an hour in the oven. 

That was my thought - cinnamon bread. But sweet. And that's not kuchen!

I wonder if it is missing a fruit step. I also wonder what size pan it should have.

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I would make the recipe and see how large it is and put it on an appropriately sized pan. Since the recipe is using two cups of flour, it looks like a regular home sized recipe — the kuchen should bake on a half sheet pan (probably with room to spare).

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8 hours ago, curls said:

I would make the recipe and see how large it is and put it on an appropriately sized pan. Since the recipe is using two cups of flour, it looks like a regular home sized recipe — the kuchen should bake on a half sheet pan (probably with room to spare).

Thanks!

I admit, I am still baffled by the instructions to roll it. Also, the cut the dough in half part.

Guess the next step is to make it.

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I suspect the cut the dough in half step is to give you two manageable dough balls to roll out to a thickness of 1/2 inch. It would be more difficult to roll out all the dough at once to that thickness and you would need a very large counter. My visual on this is that you are making two cinnamon sugar strudel logs (or coils). Sounds like it will be delicious for an afternoon snack with some coffee or tea.

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6 hours ago, dracisk said:

I appreciate that they use a whole can of pumpkin so I don't need to find something else to do with the remainder of a can.

That kind of thing is a real nuisance. One thing I've discovered works well with that extra several ounces of pumpkin puree is to add it to mac and cheese, with a bit more nutmeg or whatever warm spices you like.

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4 hours ago, Pat said:

That kind of thing is a real nuisance. One thing I've discovered works well with that extra several ounces of pumpkin puree is to add it to mac and cheese, with a bit more nutmeg or whatever warm spices you like.

I was thinking of you as I wrote that because you seem to be VERY good as using up leftover ingredients (judging from the dinner thread)!

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I made 2 batches of dough yesterday and baked them in the Dutch oven today.  I made this olive bread for the first time and it's delicious. You definitely have to like olives though. 

The other was a loaf of spicy cheddar cheese bread.  Not particularly spicy but very tasty.  This was my second time making this one and I decided to skip the egg wash this time.  This isn't really a sandwich slicing bread but it's very nice to just nom on.  I can see it toasted with eggs and bacon for breakfast though. 😋

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Family is in town this weekend so did some baking. 2 new bread recipes: 5 seed loaf and cinnamon raisin bread for my sister in law.  Then I made 2 batches of gluten free cookies: triple chocolate peppermint cookies and habanero sugar cookies.  I really liked how the chocolate cookies turned out and the sugar cookies have been a staple for many years now.  I used the Cup4Cup Multipurpose Flour this time, instead of Bob's Red Mill.  The Cup4Cup had absolutely no grittiness to it at all, which is great. However, I can't buy it in my local grocery stores and it is more expensive.  So I'll use it for special occasions when I want no one to be able to tell something is gluten free.  I just got a bag of King Arthur's Gluten Free Bread Flour but it arrived too late to make another loaf of bread so I'll give it a try at Christmas time.

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Made 2 more batches of gluten-free cookies for the family Christmas celebration this weekend. The first is a savory one I've really liked for several years now: Sun-Dried Tomato and Pepperoni Crescent Bites.  The other is a new one my husband wanted to try this year: spicy hot oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  We substituted in white chocolate chips for the semi-sweet but no other changes.  I was very pleased that we had no leftovers to bring home. :)

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