vanilla extract smells wonderful but tastes horrific on its own. but mixed with sugar and flour and cream it tastes just like it smells. we need the support of others to reach our full potential
#palm oil seems to be in all commercially produced breads. This leaves me with 3 choices, make my own bread, give up bread or compromise with sustainable palm oil bread. For now, I have bought some sustainable Palm oil bread, I need to work out if making my daily bread can possibly fit into my daily routine. I’m finding the only way to really do this is shopping more and eating fresh ingredients. I was looking at ice cream for the family because it’s a sunny day and that was full of Palm oil too!! When did this happen? I’m sure it’s possible to make all these things without Palm oil, I’m not sure I can face making my own ice cream too though, I think it has to be iced lollies all round this summer…
This is like one of those fake cooking/baking videos where they clearly swapped the item out at a certain step to make it look like the terrible recipe worked… except the guy baking them is just as in the dark about how and when the switcheroo happened as the audience is.
Yes banana cream pie seems to be both the pie I make the most and the pie I’m asked to make the most. I made this pie for my niece Avery who had heart surgery last Thursday. This pie was quite the journey, proving that as many times as you bake something, for me at least, it never turns out exactly the same.
This was my first attempt at my pie crust. I was feeling cocky because I realized that I had my crust recipe memorized when I jotted it down in a baking journal my sister had bought me for Christmas. I’ve been using the same recipe for, my guess would be, at least seven years. My last pie crust was under baked and too thick. I also realized that the cooking times were for blind baking a pie crust, useful for a pie you are putting back in the oven — but this pie is not baked again. You put the banana and pudding in the shell and that’s it. So to solve the two issues with my last crust, I rolled the dough thinner. The dough didn’t reach the lip of my pie pan, the deeper of the two I own. I didn’t think much of it and added 10 minutes to my baking time, baking it to a golden brown. The dough slouched down the side of my pie, forming a sad pile.
I made another batch and increased the size, since I’d been wanting to experiment with that anyway. I’m wary of doubling baking recipes, as that’s not recommended due to the magical complexities of chemistry. But I remembered that was more the case when baking powder and soda are involved. This crust is only butter, flour and a bit of salt. So I increased my recipe by about 20% and it covered the deeper pan better. Still the dough slouched. I don’t know if I rolled it too thin or baked it too long. I will have to keep experimenting.
So I ended up making two pies: one for Avery, the prettier one, and the slouchy pie for us. It tasted great, with dough that showed the flakes. The dough was a bit tough though so I think I’m going to try a different technique in my next batch. Baking is fun because it’s a lifelong learning process! Fun? Yes, I’m embracing the struggle.
My sister asked me to bring a pie for Christmas. I was so tired from baking that I went for something easy: an egg nog and chocolate swirl pie. The crust consists of chopped nuts and grated chocolate, similar to a graham cracker crust. This was much easier than a normal pie crust, which must sit in the fridge for at least a couple hours, and I was short on time. The recipe did call for unflavored gelatin, which I couldn’t find for some reason. However my friend Jessica had a package on hand. You cook the eggnog with sugar, add the gelatin, divide it in half — adding chocolate to one half and whipped cream to the other — and then combine, swirling into a pretty pattern. Everybody liked the pie but the gelatin gave it a weird texture that meant it kept its shape when you cut into it — but it reminded me too much of jello. It wasn’t bad, but i won’t be rushing to make it again. The search for perennial Christmas recipes continues.
I’ve always been interested in making a gingerbread house from scratch. With all the time at home I decided this was the year, especially when I kept seeing gingerbread house recipes popping up in the paper or in my email. It was a sign! I used this recipe. All in all it took me four days, with all the resting that needed to happen between steps, although it could’ve been reduced to two if I started in the morning. Day 1: Make dough. Day 2: Cut out shapes and bake. Day 3. Construct house and give it time to set. Day 4: Decorate. All those steps didn’t individually take that long. It also was a lot more satisfying than the cheap kits. Penny had a great time decorating. Still, I won’t be doing this every year.
Treats for a work baking exchange. I’ve never had go-to Christmas treats, and I don’t feel very confident with cookies. I find both these facts odd since I love to bake, but hopefully I can start to develop a repertoire for the holidays. At first I wasn’t that happy with the Christmas swirl cookies, because they weren’t perfect. Their flavor wasn’t distinct. But I think I’d try making these again. The peppermint bark was easy - just a lot of melting chocolate in the microwave. I think this is going on a list for the future.
Chris asked for banana cream pie for his birthday. I should have rolled the crust thinner and baked it longer. But I avoided problems I’ve had in the past with this pie - namely, in the past I’ve cooked the cream too much and there have been clumpy, dark spots. This pie turned out how I wanted - even if the picture doesn’t show it off well.
Enjoyed a Hanukkah dinner with our pod, and I made a kugel, using this recipe from the New York Times. I burnt my carmelized sugar, which gave it a bitter taste. Still my Jewish friend said it tasted right. Salt and pepper gave it a savory flavor on top of the burnt sugar taste. I’ll try another recipe next time.
