Any Home Bakers Here?

[Kikiriki]

Okay, I am subscribing to this thread so I can keep reading your recipes!

Welcome, the more…the merrier!  Do you bake?

I have only tried a few things, but it seems to be a natural talent when compared to my inability to follow a recipe and make something edible! I had success with making the Easter Babka for the family....it was better than anyone else's and I could not have been more surprised. I had previously quit baking when my first carrot cake came out like a door stop, although it had a good flavor, now I make Italian bread, Turkish bread treat, pretzels, Babka, and dinner rolls. Tried a couple of pies which tasted good but were not beautiful! Pumpkin and lemon meringue.

 

[N F C]

Sorry to interrupt the conversation, but...Oooh! I've never seen this thread before. Hi, other bakers! I just put a batch of dog biscuits in the oven (new flavor- sardine- the dogs look pretty excited by the smell. Usually, I make peanut butter or cheese).
I do bake people food, too: cakes, cookies, pies, bread, cinnamon rolls. So far, I've only made my Mom's super easy italian bread recipe (no kneading), but I'd love to learn to make brioche or challah.
Looking forward to more photos and new recipes!

Okay, I am subscribing to this thread so I can keep reading your recipes!

Hi happy-bird and Kikiriki! Always good to have another baker or two around. Feel free to share your favorite recipes, it's always fun to try new things.

happy-bird, I think I shared my challah recipe a ways back. I'll try to find it, it's one of our favorites. If I can't find it, I'll re-post. I haven't tried a brioche yet. DH & I don't have a dog but we made dog biscuits for a farmer's market last summer, the free samples were very popular and they brought more people to our table of produce so that helped.

Off to look for that challah recipe (it makes fantastic French toast)...

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

Sorry to interrupt the conversation, but...Oooh! I've never seen this thread before. Hi, other bakers! I just put a batch of dog biscuits in the oven (new flavor- sardine- the dogs look pretty excited by the smell. Usually, I make peanut butter or cheese).
I do bake people food, too: cakes, cookies, pies, bread, cinnamon rolls. So far, I've only made my Mom's super easy italian bread recipe (no kneading), but I'd love to learn to make brioche or challah.
Looking forward to more photos and new recipes!

Okay, I am subscribing to this thread so I can keep reading your recipes!

Welcome, both of you!

That sounds like a pretty cool cake! Did you do it in a bundt pan?

And the best part was that it tasted good! No, I did it in a regular 13"x9" pan. I'm thinking of doing my own blue camo marble cake here soon.

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

I have only tried a few things, but it seems to be a natural talent when compared to my inability to follow a recipe and make something edible! I had success with making the Easter Babka for the family....it was better than anyone else's and I could not have been more surprised. I had previously quit baking when my first carrot cake came out like a door stop, although it had a good flavor,

now I make Italian bread, Turkish bread treat, pretzels, Babka, and dinner rolls. Tried a couple of pies which tasted good but were not beautiful! Pumpkin and lemon meringue.

Your breads sound delicious! I've never made bread before. Is it hard? Oh, I love our home-made pumpkin pies! So much better than anything you can buy at the store. That's the way it is with most home baking. I once made some cupcakes where the most processed ingredient in them was sugar, and they hardened up within a day! There were no preservatives there! Meanwhile, some store-bought cupcakes can stay soft for months.

 

[N F C]

Your breads sound delicious! I've never made bread before. Is it hard? Oh, I love our home-made pumpkin pies! So much better than anything you can buy at the store. That's the way it is with most home baking. I once made some cupcakes where the most processed ingredient in them was sugar, and they hardened up within a day! There were no preservatives there! Meanwhile, some store-bought cupcakes can stay soft for months.

There are a lot of pretty simple bread recipes out there any more so give one a try. Nothing beats the flavor and smell of homemade bread!

You just have to wonder about food that stays "fresh" forever. My bread has a short shelf-life but then we use up the stale by making croutons, bread crumbs for coating or just give it to the chickens. Those girls LOVE stale bread for a treat (gotta be careful not to overdo it though, it's not the healthiest for them).

Off to get another cup of coffee. It's been pouring rain all night and I'm having a hard time waking up. Have a great morning, see you all later!

 

[wyoDreamer]

If you want to try making your own bread try these rolls. They are super, duper easy and will get you hooked on homemade.

Quick Pan Rolls

5 c flour
1/3 c sugar
2 pkg Rapid Rise yeast (4 1/2 tsp. of Dry Active yeast)
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c milk
3/4 c water
1/4 c butter
1 egg
1 tbsp flour


In large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, undissolved yeast and salt. Heat milk, water, and butter until very warm (120° to 130°); stir into dry ingredients. Stir in egg and enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes. Cover; let rest on floured surface 10 minutes.
Divide dough in half. Roll each half to fit 2 greased 8- or 9-inch square pans. Place dough in pans. With sharp knife, cut dough into 16 rolls; cover. Place large shallow pan on counter; half fill with boiling water. Set wire rack over pan; place baking pans on rack. Cover with towel. Let rise 20 minutes, at this point turn on oven to 400 degrees to pre-heat.
Dust tops with 1 tablespoon of flour. Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes or until done. Remove from pans; let cool on wire racks.

 

[speckledhen]

To me, Stacey's bread she calls Gump Bread, after her BYC name "gumpsgirl", is the easiest from scratch bread in the world to make.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/120918/homemade-gump-bread-best-ive-found-new-pics-added-on-pg-5

It's in the first BYC cookbook, but this thread has the recipe in the first post and pictures.

Combine together and let rise for 5 minutes:

2 cups warm (almost hot) water
4 tsp. yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar

Then, add these to the yeast mixture:
1/4 cup oil
5 cups bread flour
2 tsp. salt

Knead until smooth and elastic. (A KitchenAid mixer w/ the dough hook is what I use. If you have a mixer with a dough hook, it makes this process MUCH easier!)
Cover and let rise for 20-25 minutes. Beat dough down and make into loaves (this recipe makes 2 loaves). Here's the trick to get your bread to come out right. You need to roll out the bread into a rectangle, then roll up into a loaf, like you would when making cinnamon rolls. Lightly slice top of bread to get diagonal cut look when baked. Let loaves rise (Can put on separate cookie sheets) for 20-25 minutes. Bake on 350* for 20-25 minutes, until top of loaves are golden brown. Let bread cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

Ooh, I'll have to try those recipes!

Yeah, I often wonder about the store bought goods. I don't know what's in them, but something makes them last for weeks or even months.

 

[jennapoole]

Hey there! I've had a cake business run from home for 8 years. called The Cake Studio. Check it out on FB. I love baking and cooking. I specialize in fondant decoration and old fashioned cakes.

 

[sunflour]

Welcome jennapoole, glad you joined the thread. Hard to believe you would still love baking after making it your job….