Pumpkin Pie 12.25.12

Homemade crust, but I should have used a sweeter crust.  This crust was too salty for the pie.  Also, I over hydrated the pie dough.  I used about 2 oz ice water, instead of 1.5 oz.

The pie filling was pretty tasty, although not perfectly seasoned.  I'm still looking for the perfect spice blend.

I'm glad I could see butter chunks in the crust.  I'm happy with the appearance, except that I folded over the edge of the crust and it would have been nice if I had a ridge of dough so I didn't have a seam on the underside of the edge.

The filling had nice smooth and tender texture.  Flavor was good, but on the bland side. Pie looks nice and homemade.  If I used a sturdier pie pan, I wouldn't have spilled the wet filling over the side of the crust and it would have appeared even nicer.

Crust was pretty and puffed up.

Filling baked up nicely without sinking in the middle at all.  Maybe due to the flour?

Molasses Cookies 12.12.12

I made molasses cookies again, this time a medium sized batch (20 cookies). I still need to work on baking time and hydration.  Not as wet as last time, but still baked very thin.  These cookies were dryer, but I overbaked them and they dried out immediately.  I could also try using a touch less cinnamon.

Black & White VIII 12.5.12

I tried experimenting with the flours and the hydration more.

sorghum-based
2 oz sorghum
2 oz potato
2 oz tapioca
2 oz sweet rice

amaranth-based
3.5 oz amaranth
2.5 oz potato
2 oz tapioca

common ingredients
1/4 t baking pwdr
1/4 t salt
4 oz butter
5.125 oz sugar
1 oz corn syrup
1.75 oz eggs
1/4 t vanilla
1/4 t lemon
2 T milk (1T in each mixture)


the sorghum cookie was not gritty!  However, the inside was very creamy.  I think I may shape the dough as a puck (instead of a cookie ball) as it goes into the oven.  Also, maybe getting rid of the corn syrup will help it be not as creamy (and then I can add more milk back in).

sorghum

amaranth

Dark Chocolate Pudding 12.23.12

I tried dark chocolate pudding with less sugar (3T), but I didn't think it tasted as good as the original recipe.  I think I may have over cooked/burnt it a little since I taste a bitter/gritty taste to the pudding. This could also be due to using less sugar.


Dark Chocolate Pudding

2 T cornstarch
1 3/8 c milk (skim works)

6 T dark coca
1/4 c sugar
2 egg yolk
1/8 c milk
smidgen salt
1/2 t vanilla
2 T butter

Butterscotch pudding 12.5.12

I found a recipe in Baking Illustrated for Butterscotch Pudding Pie.  I'm making the filling as a pudding desserts (without the pie shell).  Unfortunately, I added twice the amount of cornstarch necessary.  So we'll see how it comes out.

0.5 oz cornstarch (I used 1 oz by accident!)
1/8 t salt
2.5 oz evaporated milk (1/4 cup)
2.5 ea egg yolks (I used 2)
3 T butter
3.5 oz light brown sugar (approx 1/2 c)
1 c whole milk (I used skim)
3/4 t vanilla

Make the butterscotch by cooking the sugar and butter to 220. Then add the milk and boil the mixture until the sugar dissolves.  Then add the evap milk and cornstarch and cook until thick.

Butterscotch pudding 12.4.12

I've already forgotten what got me thinking about butterscotch pudding. The difference between butterscotch and toffee is that they are cooked to different temperatures.  Both are butter and brown sugar, but butterscotch is cooked to 220 (soft crack) and toffee is cooked to 300 (hard crack).

Butterscotch Pudding
2 egg yolk
2 oz light brown sugar
1/2 oz molasses
2 T cornstarch
1 1/2 c milk (skim works)
1/8 t salt
1/2 t vanilla
2 T butter

This didn't come out with the exact flavor i wanted.  The texture and thickness were awesome, but I added too much vanilla.  Maybe try 1/4 t next time.  Also, the butterscotch taste was strange.  Maybe next time try using all dark brown sugar and hopefully the color will turn out okay.

I could basically taste the molasses (apart from the brown sugar) and the molasses tasted raw.

Modern Pastry 11.29.12

Modern Pastry, 257 Hanover St, Boston MAs

Italian cookies are one of Modern Pastry's specialties.  But I didn't think they were as good as Lakotas.  And I did try the florentines, they were not as carmely and chewy as Lakotas.  I also didn't like the white chocolate version.

Black & White 11.28.12

B&W VII.1
12 oz sorghum
2 oz sweet rice
2 oz potato
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
8 oz butter
6.25 oz sugar
6 oz corn syrup
2 ea eggs
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t lemon
2 T milk



B&W VII.2
12 oz sorghum
2 oz sweet rice
2 oz potato
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
8 oz butter
9.25 oz sugar
3 oz corn syrup
2 ea eggs
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t lemon
2 T milk

With the reduced hydration, both of these cookies held their shape.  Ironically, I'd prefer a wider cookie, but it seems like I can play with the hydration to work on that.  And the cookies were certainly less sweet.

Next time I will try the second recipe but with a little more milk.  Also, the grittyness of the flour is still there. I may swap out sweet rice flour and use tapioca starch or amaranth flour.

Spritz cookies 11.28.12

12 oz butter
6 3/4 oz granulated sugar
1 egg
2 T milk
1 t vanilla
16 5/8 oz flour
1 t baking powder

way too much flour! The dough felt like bread dough.  Maybe try half the amount next time and add as necessary. It was hard for the cookie press to push these cookies out. I didn't even try using a pastry bag.

Molasses cookie 11.27.12

2086.8g    Molasses, blackstrap
4066.8g    Sugar
2804.2g    butter, med soft
491.7g      eggs
139.1g      water
6278.2g    flour
156.9g     bak soda
56.9g      salt
60.6g      cinn
19.7g      cloves
60.6g      ginger
28.6g      nutmeg
8.9g        allspice

I divided this recipe by 34 to make about 8 cookies.

This recipe came out awesome.  Next time I want to shape the cookies as disks instead of balls.  I used fresh ginger (since I had it on hand and ended up using four times the weight called for in the recipe.  I overbaked the cookies.  They bottoms were slightly crispy and I'd like to have the cookie soft the whole way through.

Ginger puffins 11.27.12

12 oz AP flour
3/4 t bak soda
1/2 t cinn
1/8 t cloves
4 oz butter
3.5 oz sugar
1 ea egg
1/2 c molasses (6.5 oz?)
1 t vanilla
1/4 c grated ginger.

I added too much egg to this recipe and too much ginger juice, so the hydration was too high.    I need to weigh the egg next time.  I added more flour to compensate.  Luckily the cookie tasted very good and had nice texture, but was very difficult to roll out because the dough was so sticky and soft.

Oatmeal cookies 11.27.12

1 c peanut butter
4 oz butter
10.5 oz brown sugar
3.5 oz sugar
1 1/2 t bak pwdr
1/2 t soda
3 ea eggs
2 t vanilla
12 oz quick oats
3/4 c chopped nuts
1 1/2 c holiday m&ms

I overbaked these cookies.  The peanut butter taste was very strong.  I'd be tempted to name them peanut butter oatmeal cookies.  They were not as chewy as I'd like.  Next time I'd like to try my oatmeal chocolate chip recipe and add peanut butter and oats.

Lakota Bakery 11.26.12

Lakota Bakery, 1375 Mass Ave, Arlington MA

This place specializes in cookies, and they are delicious.  The only bad thing about my experience was that I paid for 6 cookies, but only got 5.  I should have made sure to keep count myself.

It was the weekend after thanksgiving and I got some turkey cookies!  They were on sale and they are chocolate dipped shortbread which are my favorite.  Shortbread lasts for days so I was really happy I got some overflow cookies.  Lakota's shortbread was delicious and buttery with great texture.

The other five cookies I got: florentine, pistachio shortbread, mint sandwich cookie, lemon macaroon, and apricot linzer cookie.

The florentine was the highlight of the five.  It was amazing.  I asked the chef what the ingredients were.  They included shaved (?) almonds, cherries (I don't remember what kind), a little flour.  I never made florentines in school, but there is a recipe in my baking book.  It doesn't include any kind of cherry flavoring, but the wikipedia article on florentines says they are traditionally made with candied cherries.  Hm.

I haven't been touring Boston looking for florentines (i've really only tried two others), but Lakota's are awesomely delicious.

The pistachio shortbread was good, but I don't think I've ever had a pistachio before, so I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be tasting.

The mint sandwhich cookie was good, but rather sweet.  The filling was very green, and I wish it was a little more naturally colored to reflect the natural ingredients in the cookie.

The lemon macaroon was a suprise because it had a lot of frosting, which I thought was going to be cookie. The frosting was really sweet and I couldn't taste the cookie much.

The apricot linzer was pretty good.  I loved that the thickness of the apricot filling was exactly the thickness of the cookie underneath.  It was good, but I think I prefer the classic sandwich style with powdered sugar.

Pumpkin cheesecake 11.22.12

I love this pumpkin cheesecake.  Inspired by Quebrada pumpkin cheesecake, this is Jacques Pepin's cheesecake recipe with pumpkin puree added.

Here's the JP cheesecake
2 T butter
1/2 c graham cracker crumb
32 oz cream cheese
7 oz sugar
1 T grated lemon rind
2 T lemon juice
1 t vanilla
4 ea eggs

my pumpkin cheesecake
1/2 c graham cracker crumb
2 T butter
8 oz cream cheese
1.75 oz sugar
1/4 t vanilla
1 ea egg
8 oz pumpkin puree (could possibly use less, but I was just finishing the can)

mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth, add eggs and flavoring slowly until smooth, add pumpkin

baked at 350 in a water bath 1 hour, then turn off oven and let sit another hour.  cool and unmold.

I still need to work on unmolding and how I will present.  This cake is turned out upside down, although that's okay because it looks like a pie now.

Unknown agent 11.14.12

Powdery, white or splotchy and moldy looking on my silicone molds.

Birthday cupcakes! 11.14.12

Chocolate cake filled with chocolate mousse, raspberry whipped cream and candy corn

Yellow cake filled with raspberry whipped cream, raspberry whipped cream and candy corn

Black & White Cookies 11.8.12

Here I tried two more gluten-free flour blends for gluten free cookies.  One has less chia flour than my last try.  The second uses white rice flour instead of chia.

B&W II
13 oz sorghum flour
2 oz potato starch
1 oz chia

B&W III
12 oz sorghum flour
2 oz potato starch
2 oz white rice flour

the remaining ingredients are common
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
8 oz butter
12.25 oz sugar
2 eggs
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t lemon
1 c milk

with chia

with white rice flour

Dark Chocolate Pudding 11.15.12

The straining works wonders here.  I think it's a good idea to try less sugar.  I'm not sure sugar does that much for the texture, but maybe a little less sweet would bring out more of the chocolate flavour.

Dark Chocolate Pudding
2 egg yolk
1/4 c sugar
2 T cornstarch
1 1/2 c milk (skim works)
6 T dark coca
smidgen salt
1/2 t vanilla
2 T butter

--DarkChocPudding

Black & White Cookies 11.13.12

Since the white rice flour did not hydrate enough in the cookie, I tried using sweet rice flour which has a much finer grain.  Hopefully it will hydrate quickly in the batter.  I also refrigerated the batter overnight.


Next time I could try blending the rice flour with the milk first.


I think the cookie was still gritty.

12 oz sorghum
2 oz sweet rice flour or white rice flour
2 oz potato
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
8 oz butter
12.25 oz sugar
2 oz eggs
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t lemon
1 c milk

With white rice flour

With sweet rice flour

The cookies spread a lot.  I think the hydration can be reduced and the sugar as well.


I also tried to freeze the batter, but not much of a difference.  Maybe a little less spread, but it was still unacceptable

Black & White Cookies 11.2.12

So I tried two recipes, the original Black & White cookie recipe in Baking Illustrated, and the same recipe with a gluten free flour mix which was mostly chia flour.

Black & White Cookies
16 oz cake flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
8 oz butter
12.2.5 oz sugar
2 eggs
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t lemon (more than the original recipe)
1 cup milk

For the gluten-free version I substituted
9.5 oz sorghum
4.5 oz chia
2 oz potato starch

The original cookie was very good, but as I've been eating less gluten, the texture seemed almost rubbery to me.  I recall eating these cookies before, especially when I found the recipe.  And I didn't detect any glutinous texture then.

The gluten-free cookie was pretty disgusting.  It just had too much chia.  And it's funny, the cookie batter was so thick and they baked up looking like scones.

Dark Chocolate Pudding 11.6.12

This pudding a little thicker is much nicer.  I also strain the milk mixture and cook directly until thick.

Dark Chocolate Pudding
2 egg yolk
1/4 c sugar
2 T cornstarch
1 1/2 c milk (skim works)
6 T dark coca
smidgen salt
1/2 t vanilla
2 T butter

Dissolve cornstarch in the milk, then add to the other ingredients slowly (except for vanilla and butter).  Strain into a pot and cook over low heat until thick.  Add vanilla and butter and chill before serving.

Dark Chocolate Pudding 11.4.12

1 1/2 egg yolk
1/4 c sugar
1 1/2 T cornstarch
1 1/2 c milk (I used 2%)
6 T dark coca
smidgen salt
1/2 t vanilla
1 T butter

I really like the dark cocoa and I think this pudding came out smoother than last time.  I combined all the dry ingredients with the egg yolk and 1/8 c milk, or until it came together into a nice paste.  Then added another 1/8 c so the mixture is nice and liquid.  I heated up the milk and then combined the chocolate mixture into the hot milk, stirring until thick and boiling.  

I think the pudding could be a little richer.  Maybe increase to 2 egg yolk and a little more sugar?  Also, use 2 T butter with cocoa.  For the method I also want to reserve 1/4 c cold milk (heating the rest) and blend the cornstarch into it, then blend milk in batches into the other dry ingredients and egg yolk.  Then strain the mixture into the hot milk and cook as above.

Pumpkin Pie 10.31.12

I'm still looking for the perfect pumpkin pie recipe.  I'd like to use pumpkin puree and evaporated milk.   I found a king arthur recipe using corn syrup and a small amount of flour.  I made a graham cracker crust to go along with this pie filling.

Simple Graham Crust
2 c graham crackers
1/2 c melted butter
1/3 c sugar

Blend all three ingredients and press into bottom of pan.

Pumpkin Filling
2 T AP flour (14 g?)
1 1/4 t cinnamon (or less if desired)
1/8 t coves
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t ginger
1/2 t salt
5 5/8 oz brown sugar
12 oz pumpkin
1 3/8 oz corn syrup
12 oz evaporated milk
2 eggs

I baked the crust first at 325 for about 20 minutes (although this might have been too long, it smelled like burnt butter).  Then let the pan cool, and baked the filling in the pan at 325 for 55 minutes. It was just done, and that's with baking it in a very warm pan.  I wonder if the thick crust underneath contributed to the baking time.  Also, there were bubbles coming up through the filling, I think it could have been simmering butter.  There was a lot of butter int the crust, and with the pan I chose, the crust was very thick.

This tasted pretty good.  At least the pie part was spiced nicely.  I'd like to take out the flour.  Next time I'll try without flour (or at least with a gluten free flour).  Perhaps the texture of the pie filling could be a little less glutenous.  Also, for the rectangular pan , it would be wise to make one third of the crust recipe and half of the pumpkin filling.

I had a small pan and certainly used too much crust.  The crust is almost half the depth of the pie!  But the pie was pretty yummy, except glutenous (rubbery).

Minty fudge 10.31.12

This attempt was adapted from Never-Fail-Fudge.  Minty leaves were infused with half the evaporated milk and added after the sugar was cooked.  I used 25 g (slightly damp) mint leaves.

Minty fudge
25 g mint leaves
17.5 oz sugar
3/4 t salt
2 oz butter
5 oz evap milk
7.5 oz fluff
3/4 t vanilla
12 oz semi sweet chocolate
1/2 c chopped walnuts

I infused the mint in half the evaporated milk.  I combined sugar, salt, butter, remaining milk, and fluff in a saucepan and heated slowly until the butter melted (I should have melted the butter first to aid in making a smooth mixture.) There was sugar in the bottom of the pan that turned into caramel rather fast, so my mixture never boiled, but it became a very lumpy mixture with little caramel bits floating around, so I had to stop cooking.  I decided to continue, although obviously I'm just wasting ingredients at this point.  I added the chocoalte, vanilla, and minty milk.  I piped the fudge into molds, although it's difficult because it set super fast.  I tasted one of the candies and it was awful.  It tasted like the sugar never evaporated. It was so gritty. Over cooked, or undercooked?

I also could not taste any minty.

The milk did not taste very minty, so I should check back to this point for taste.

I wanted to use the heart mold, but here's a picture of more of that white, powdery residue on the molds after sitting in storage for a bit.

Even after freezing the fudge, the candy was still soft and didn't come out of the molds well.  Also, the fudge was super sweet and gritty.  I'm not sure if it was undissolved sugar or over cooked sugar. fail.

Minty Chocolate Brownies 10.25.12

Minty Chocolate Brownies

2 oz unsweet chocolate
3 oz butter
13 g minty ( a good amount - infused in the butter)
0.5 oz water (since we lose some during the infusion)
3 oz eggs
6 oz sugar
0.25/8 oz salt (or and eighth of  1 1/2 t) - scant 1/4 t?
3/8 t vanilla
1.23 oz sorghum
0.615 oz chia
0.154 oz potato starch

I baked these for at least 50 mins at 325.  I garnished them with a small mint leaf attached using some melted chocolate.

Chocolate Roulade 10.20.12

Jacques Pepin's chocolate roulade from Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home

Chocolate cake
1 c heavy cream
8 oz bittersweet chocolate
7 egg whites
2 T sugar

Whipped Cream
1 c heavy cream
1 1/2 T sugar
1 T cognac
1/2 t vanilla

I thought the whipped cream had a too strong cognac flavor. I actually used a brandy, and it's possible I put in twice the amount.  Anyway, it was too strong, although less noticeable combined with the cake. It was pretty delicious, although it looks smooshed when I sliced it. Perhaps trying some gelatin in the cream would make it retain it's layers better.

Pumpkin Cheesecake 10.18.12

I tried the pumpkin cheesecake recipe from Baking Illustrated.  It was not as scrumptious as Quebrada Baking Co's pumpkin cheesecake.

Crust
5 oz graham crackers
3 T sugar
1/2 t ginger
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t cloves
3 oz butter, melted

Filling
10 1/3 oz Sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t allspice
1/4 t cloves
1/2 t salt
15 oz pumpkin puree
24 oz cream cheese
1 T vanilla
1 T lemon juice
8.75 oz eggs
1 c heavy cream

These were underbaked a bit.

Looks good, but wasn't my favorite. It seemed overly complicated with too many ingredients.

GF Chocolate Brownies II 10.14.12

I tried to go for a more fudgy brownie here, so I omitted half of the egg whites in the recipe.  I didn't want to throw off the hydration, so I added some milk.  I also used more chia flour than sorghum flour this time.


Chocolate Brownies
16 oz unsweetened chocolate
24 oz butter
8.8 oz egg yolks
9.6 oz egg whites
48 oz sugar
4 oz (1/2 c) milk
0.25 oz (1 1/2 t) salt
1 oz vanilla
9.846 oz chia flour
4.923 oz sorghum flour
1.231 oz potato starch
16 oz chopped nuts (optional)

I cut the baked brownies after I chilled them, so that they were easier to cut.  They look much nicer this time.

The brownies were much denser and did not taste as good.  I'm hoping it's just the egg, so I'll put everything back to normal next time.

GF Chocolate Brownies I 10.10.12

Ready to tackle chocolate brownies, I'm pretty relieved to have such good results on the first try.  With cookies, there is a large proportion of flour in the dough, so replacing the wheat flour and losing all that gluten really takes a toll on the cookies.  However, brownies have a much smaller proportion of flour in the mix.  The first batch tasted excellent, only slightly crumbly.

Chocolate Brownies
16 oz unsweetened chocolate
24 oz butter
24 oz eggs
48 oz sugar
0.25 oz (1 1/2 t) salt
1 oz vanilla
9.846 oz sorghum flour
4.923 oz chia flour
1.231 oz potato starch
16 oz chopped nuts (optional)

Delicious, just hard to cut out of the pan without them breaking everywhere.

I love that crispy top you get on brownies.