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Dessert, the Sweet Spot


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#541 StephanieL

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Posted 09 October 2010 - 04:02 PM

N is making me this cake for my birthday. I've been holding on to this recipe ever since it was published. She made the cake part last night (frosting tonight), and from the little bit I tried that was stuck to the pans, it's not too sweet with a light almond taste. I'm sure it will go well with the sweet, rich buttercream.

Well, the frosting texture is ....interesting. You make essentially a fluffy marshmallow, minus the gelatin, and then beat an ungodly amount of butter into it (plus sherry, cinnamon, and grated lemon zest). The marshmallow part quickly gets very sticky. I don't think I've ever made a frosting quite like this one.
"Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." --John Steinbeck


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#542 splinky

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Posted 09 October 2010 - 04:12 PM


N is making me this cake for my birthday. I've been holding on to this recipe ever since it was published. She made the cake part last night (frosting tonight), and from the little bit I tried that was stuck to the pans, it's not too sweet with a light almond taste. I'm sure it will go well with the sweet, rich buttercream.

Well, the frosting texture is ....interesting. You make essentially a fluffy marshmallow, minus the gelatin, and then beat an ungodly amount of butter into it (plus sherry, cinnamon, and grated lemon zest). The marshmallow part quickly gets very sticky. I don't think I've ever made a frosting quite like this one.

it's a variation on the classic seven minute frosting

“One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my little nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. 'Oh, no!', I said, 'Disneyland burned down.' He cried and cried, but I think that deep down he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late.”
~Jack Handey

*proud descendant of cheese eating surrender monkeys*

 


#543 prasantrin

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Posted 09 October 2010 - 11:28 PM


N is making me this cake for my birthday. I've been holding on to this recipe ever since it was published. She made the cake part last night (frosting tonight), and from the little bit I tried that was stuck to the pans, it's not too sweet with a light almond taste. I'm sure it will go well with the sweet, rich buttercream.

Well, the frosting texture is ....interesting.


Just the other day, the folks in my pottery class and I were discussing how referring to something as "interesting" usually means you think it sucks. :lol:

#544 StephanieL

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Posted 10 October 2010 - 11:16 PM



N is making me this cake for my birthday. I've been holding on to this recipe ever since it was published. She made the cake part last night (frosting tonight), and from the little bit I tried that was stuck to the pans, it's not too sweet with a light almond taste. I'm sure it will go well with the sweet, rich buttercream.

Well, the frosting texture is ....interesting.


Just the other day, the folks in my pottery class and I were discussing how referring to something as "interesting" usually means you think it sucks. :lol:

I hear you. ;) In this case, it meant "hmm...not sure what to make of this." But it came out fine, and the cake is really good.
"Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." --John Steinbeck


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#545 splinky

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Posted 21 October 2010 - 02:16 AM

starry starry night cookies from the "you learn something new every day" thread


these turned out to be really great cookies and surprisingly easy to make if you've got freezer space

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“One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my little nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. 'Oh, no!', I said, 'Disneyland burned down.' He cried and cried, but I think that deep down he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late.”
~Jack Handey

*proud descendant of cheese eating surrender monkeys*

 


#546 prasantrin

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Posted 21 October 2010 - 02:19 AM

Awww crap! I still don't have any freezer space!

They do look very good. I can just taste the chocolate almond goodness. Hope you try Helga's cake, too. Gluten free and delicious!

#547 Stone

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Posted 21 October 2010 - 01:51 PM

Recently made a viennese walnut torte, almond raspberry frangiopane, and a peanut butter cake. Still have icing problems. And I tend to over whip the egg whites which I think made my cake a little dry. My first tart crust was a success, however.

#548 splinky

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Posted 27 October 2010 - 01:30 AM

Awww crap! I still don't have any freezer space!

They do look very good. I can just taste the chocolate almond goodness. Hope you try Helga's cake, too. Gluten free and delicious!

baked the other half of the cookie dough. it gets even better after a week in the freezer. i'll be keeping a bag of these frozen balls of goodness on hand at all times.

“One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my little nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. 'Oh, no!', I said, 'Disneyland burned down.' He cried and cried, but I think that deep down he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late.”
~Jack Handey

*proud descendant of cheese eating surrender monkeys*

 


#549 Evelyn

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Posted 27 October 2010 - 01:39 AM

Made the infamous Crack Pie. I'd never tasted it before making it. Must thank Daisy for giving me the heads up that most of the Milk Bar desserts are pretty sweet. So, I subtracted a bit of the sugar called for in the recipe. The finished product got raves.

#550 prasantrin

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Posted 02 November 2010 - 01:10 PM

Zingerman's Magic Brownies recipe (no, not that kind of magic!) with homemade cajeta swirled through the batter before baking.

Mmmmmmmmm. . . kind of sweet, but accompanied by a glass of milk, it's the perfect breakfast!

#551 splinky

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Posted 17 November 2010 - 04:25 AM

just scooped and rolled 80 starry starry night cookies. they are all ready and waiting for me in the freezer, so the countdown to cookies is never more than 12 minutes.

“One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my little nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. 'Oh, no!', I said, 'Disneyland burned down.' He cried and cried, but I think that deep down he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late.”
~Jack Handey

*proud descendant of cheese eating surrender monkeys*

 


#552 StephanieL

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Posted 25 November 2010 - 12:04 AM

We used the egg whites that were left over from making the ice cream to make meringues. Half the batch is almond and the other half is chocolate almond. They just came out of the oven and smell wonderful.
"Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." --John Steinbeck


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#553 prasantrin

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Posted 09 December 2010 - 08:02 PM

Am finally getting around to making starry starry nights. I'm in the process of portioning out the cookies and they're very sticky (possibly because I accidentally added 10g too much sugar and 10g too much honey. Oops.

The recipe author says one batch makes about 80 cookies and I wanted to see how big a cookie would be if I made them her way. It's about 6 grams per cookie for a batch of 80, and that makes for an awfully tiny cookie.

Next time I'll make make them whatever size I want.

#554 splinky

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Posted 09 December 2010 - 08:12 PM

Am finally getting around to making starry starry nights. I'm in the process of portioning out the cookies and they're very sticky (possibly because I accidentally added 10g too much sugar and 10g too much honey. Oops.

The recipe author says one batch makes about 80 cookies and I wanted to see how big a cookie would be if I made them her way. It's about 6 grams per cookie for a batch of 80, and that makes for an awfully tiny cookie.

Next time I'll make make them whatever size I want.

the first time i just made them in a size that looked right to me and they were moist and chewy and a respectable size. the second time i made them with the same sized small scoop that she used in the video (1.5 teaspoons)and they were very small and a bit dry. very easy to overcook them at such a small size. if you use a scoop you might have better luck using whatever size is the next up from that one

“One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my little nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. 'Oh, no!', I said, 'Disneyland burned down.' He cried and cried, but I think that deep down he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late.”
~Jack Handey

*proud descendant of cheese eating surrender monkeys*

 


#555 prasantrin

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Posted 09 December 2010 - 08:42 PM


Am finally getting around to making starry starry nights. I'm in the process of portioning out the cookies and they're very sticky (possibly because I accidentally added 10g too much sugar and 10g too much honey. Oops.

The recipe author says one batch makes about 80 cookies and I wanted to see how big a cookie would be if I made them her way. It's about 6 grams per cookie for a batch of 80, and that makes for an awfully tiny cookie.

Next time I'll make make them whatever size I want.

the first time i just made them in a size that looked right to me and they were moist and chewy and a respectable size. the second time i made them with the same sized small scoop that she used in the video (1.5 teaspoons)and they were very small and a bit dry. very easy to overcook them at such a small size. if you use a scoop you might have better luck using whatever size is the next up from that one


Either the extra sugar and honey were not a good thing, or baking in my toaster oven was not too smart. They spread out like crazy! But they're awfully tasty.

I'm going to leave them in the freezer longer (these ones were in there for only three hours), and bake a bunch in the real oven next time.

I'm thinking I may not have beaten the eggs, honey, and sugar long enough. I beat them for more than 10 minutes using a super crappy hand mixer. I thought they were a bit under "ribbon stage", but I was too tired to keep mixing. Oh well.

Still, I could eat the dough raw. I really like these.