Any Home Bakers Here?

[N F C]

Hey guys,

Wyodreamer, I wanted to let you know that I made your carrot cake and it came out great! Personally, I find one carrot cake to be pretty much the same as any other (chocolate cake, on the other hand, I could be a connoisseur of

) but my dad LOVES carrot cake. So, I take a bite and think to myself,"Cool, I made a carrot cake. This frosting is really good" My dad took one bite and said to me,"Wow, this is delicious!" So, if it gets his approval that dramatically, you can rest assured that it came out good.

I did end up using those rainbow carrots. I couldn't tell any difference in the cake, but only the orange ones kept their color after being baked for some reason? I also put cinnamon in, and ended up using whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose flour. I would have preferred the all-purpose flour, but we were all out so I used what I had. I think the larger grains in whole wheat flour made the cake come out more dense, but it was good. Like pound carrot cake. Oh, and I used coconut oil instead of canola oil. And added chopped walnuts. In case you can't tell, I don't follow recipes super closely.

Here's a pic to make you guys hungry:

I thought I would share, I made homemade pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting (all homemade) and they are awesome!!

Arghh, why oh why aren't there cookies and cake at my house?!? You guys just gave me a serious yearning for dessert (and of course, our coffee cake is gone). Such teasers you are!

 

[2boys1homestead]

Arghh, why oh why aren't there cookies and cake at my house?!? You guys just gave me a serious yearning for dessert (and of course, our coffee cake is gone). Such teasers you are!

If you weren't in Florida, I would bring you some! I love to share!

 

[N F C]

If you weren't in Florida, I would bring you some! I love to share!

Sweet! Thanks for the thought.

 

[sunflour]

Just found this thread, a lot of reading to catch up…but will.

I hate to "drudgery" cook, my DH does most of it….but love to bake.

And love to use my hen's eggs! Boy, fresh eggs really do make a difference.

 

[N F C]

Just found this thread, a lot of reading to catch up…but will.

I hate to "drudgery" cook, my DH does most of it….but love to bake.

And love to use my hen's eggs! Boy, fresh eggs really do make a difference.

Hi Sunflour,

I just saw you on the last post I read (about the dumped puppies). Glad to have you join us. My DH does a lot of the main cooking part but the baking is all mine...I think that's a great deal!

What kind of stuff do you especially like to bake? Any particular recipes you want to share, just post them so we can drool over them, lol.

Debby

 

[sunflour]

Hi Sunflour,

I just saw you on the last post I read (about the dumped puppies). Glad to have you join us. My DH does a lot of the main cooking part but the baking is all mine...I think that's a great deal!

What kind of stuff do you especially like to bake? Any particular recipes you want to share, just post them so we can drool over them, lol.

Debby

Only things I should not eat..pies, cakes, breads,waffles….whatever is wickedly good.

This summer went on a quest for the best egg custard pie…the one on King Arthurs site is the one I prefer…but cheat and use frozen pie crusts.

With fall in the air, looking to get back into breads…..of course, I cheat, use a bread machine.

 

[N F C]

Hi everyone! Sunflour's post gave me the idea to post my very favorite pie crust recipe. The trick here is to keep the butter as cold as possible, it really helps to make a flaky crust. Hope you all like it as much as I do.

Pastry for 1 double crust pie or 2 single crust pies
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (partially frozen)
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water
1) Whisk together the flour and salt.
2) Dice the butter into small cubes. Work it into the flour until it's well-distributed, but not fully incorporated. Larger, pea-sized pieces of butter will be scattered throughout the mixture.
3) Tossing with a fork or your fingers, drizzle in the ice water. Stop adding water when the dough starts to come together, and grab it in your hands. If it holds together easily, without crumbling, it's ready. If it has dry spots, or pieces break off easily, add a bit more water until it's totally cohesive.
4) Gather the dough into a ball, and divide it in half. Gently pat/shape each half into a rough disk and wrap in plastic wrap. For best texture, chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before rolling. If dough has been refrigerated longer than 30 minutes, allow it to warm at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes, until it rolls easily.

To roll out crusts, I like to slightly dampen the work surface so a large piece of waxed paper sticks to it. Then lightly flour the waxed paper and begin rolling the dough, always rolling from the center out. If you have trouble getting the rolled crust picked up and into the pie pan, you can just pick up one side of the waxed paper and sort of fold half the crust onto your hand/forearm, remove the waxed paper while holding the crust, then flop the crust it into the pan & unfold. Hope that's not too unclear, lol.

 

[wyoDreamer]

That is pretty close to how I make pie crusts. I use the recipe out of the Betty Crocker cookbook, but I do half butter and half shortening. I always use the wax paper method of rolling out the pie crusts. I always flip the pie crust and waxed paper over once in a while as I roll it out, as needed I peel back the waxpaper and remove the wrinkles to get a smoother crust.

 

[sunflour]

Hi everyone! Sunflour's post gave me the idea to post my very favorite pie crust recipe. The trick here is to keep the butter as cold as possible, it really helps to make a flaky crust. Hope you all like it as much as I do.

Pastry for 1 double crust pie or 2 single crust pies
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (partially frozen)
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water
1) Whisk together the flour and salt.
2) Dice the butter into small cubes. Work it into the flour until it's well-distributed, but not fully incorporated. Larger, pea-sized pieces of butter will be scattered throughout the mixture.
3) Tossing with a fork or your fingers, drizzle in the ice water. Stop adding water when the dough starts to come together, and grab it in your hands. If it holds together easily, without crumbling, it's ready. If it has dry spots, or pieces break off easily, add a bit more water until it's totally cohesive.
4) Gather the dough into a ball, and divide it in half. Gently pat/shape each half into a rough disk and wrap in plastic wrap. For best texture, chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before rolling. If dough has been refrigerated longer than 30 minutes, allow it to warm at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes, until it rolls easily.

To roll out crusts, I like to slightly dampen the work surface so a large piece of waxed paper sticks to it. Then lightly flour the waxed paper and begin rolling the dough, always rolling from the center out. If you have trouble getting the rolled crust picked up and into the pie pan, you can just pick up one side of the waxed paper and sort of fold half the crust onto your hand/forearm, remove the waxed paper while holding the crust, then flop the crust it into the pan & unfold. Hope that's not too unclear, lol.

Thanks for post….maybe next pie I'll try the crust …..if I'm not too lazy.

 

[N F C]

Hey you bakers...whatcha' been baking lately?

I've made (and helped eat, lol) peanut butter cookies and challah. Now that the cookies are gone, I'm thinking chocolate cake with coconut buttercream frosting tomorrow...my husband loves something sweet with his afternoon coffee. And of course, I don't mind helping him out!