ITT we talk about baking
 

I love baking. It's one of my favorite hobbies. I didn't see a thread around about baking so I thought I would start one. We can share recipes, funny failure stories, tips and tricks, etc.

I'm really good at cookies and cupcakes and I can make pretty much anything else. I'm terrible with pies, I've never had success with them. I have a weird fascination with heirloom/family/vintage recipes. I will spend hours trying to hunt down a particular recipe at libraries and on the internet.

So... what about you?

I don't bake as much as I used to, but when I was undergrad, I used to test out different pastries that ended up being very good.

I enjoy cooking in general, though. Gives me something to do when insomnia sets in lol

I'm (patting myself on the back) a good cook, and my pastries are great. I used to make croissants from scratch. (who has the time or patience any more?) Seriously, one hundred percent from scratch. And they would bring you to your knees. But I can't bake bread to save my life and that is a travesty. I can make brioche, which many people find difficult, but you'd think that would make a standard loaf of white bread a piece of cake. I ALWAYS end up with a brick. The other thing I don't do well is pancakes. Friggin PANCAKES. I wonder what the commonality is.

I really like to bake. Cheesecakes and Boston Cream Pies are specialties of mine. I can barely cook meat, but baking is always great. It's a little bit of a stress relief for me as well. Something about following the instructions perfectly means that it comes out right is somewhat soothing.

Victoriana, what is your struggle with pies?

I love to bake. My mom has some of the best German Torte and Kuchen recipes, but they were all in German- so I had her translate the ingredients and then bought metric measuring stuff so I can use her recipes. mmm

And as for pretty cakes-- I love it when the cake turns out pretty- but I would rather it taste good! (I've tried some pretty aweful tasting "pretty" cakes)

I'm great with crusts, but when it comes to the filling, it's always a disaster. From a simple strawberries and jello pie to chocolate silk... I just can't seem to get it right! Any advice?

Bars and Bread...
 

I hate making drop cookies so I usually make some kind of bar cookie.

I swap things in and out of recipes.

Stawberry Cheesecake Brownies
Blackberry Cheesecake Brownies
Lemon Brownies
Lime Brownies
Oatmeal Toffee Bars
Bailey's Brownies
Dulce DeLeche Brownies
Amareto Brownies.
Lemon Cheesecake Brownies

I want to make a White Chocolate Brownie then make a White Chocolate Cheesecake Brownie

Lots of times I will add fresh berries into the Lemon or Lime Brownies. Same for the White Chocolate Bread.

I also make muffins
Cranberry Orange
Bacon Cheddar Jalapeno
Lemon Cranberry

If I were to guess, I'd say you are not letting any of your fillings get thick enough. Pectin is your friend, and for something like chocolate pies, you want it thicker than pudding. If it's a cooked recipe, turn the temp down and don't be in a hurry. Also, and I hate to say it, but you don't want to use skim milk to save calories. You might try evaporated skim milk if you don't want to go full fat. Oh, and if the recipe says cook it, chill for 3 hours, put in pan, seriously, you have to chill it for 3 hours, and there are no shortcuts. I don't understand the chemistry, but it makes a huge difference in both taste and texture.

Victoria. Pies - fruit, sugar, tapioca. Sometimes a few dabs of butter or a little lemon juice or another spice. I make kick ass pies. Homemade shortening crusts too. I also make kickass cookies and bread and cakes and brownies. All from scratch.

I can't cook for shit though. There is a difference between cooking and baking. I'm a pro at the latter, and suck at the former.

I love to cook, and I love to bake - WHEN I have the time and someone to feed! I really miss my clients, because I was always taking them goodies, saying, "Save me from myself!"

My DH's niece makes THE best pie crust I've ever had. Seriously, why she isn't in the culinary arts is beyond me. My mama made good pie crust, but Rachel's is divine! I do know that using ice water is very important, and only putting a tiny amount in at a time is key. I also know that I will usually get frustrated and buy the nasty, pre-made type! There's a pie crust that's actually a very skinny brownie that I'd like to try.

My DH thinks I make the best chocolate chip cookies he's ever had. I don't, but then again, I don't like them very much. I like oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips OR raisins, but not both. I love experimenting with various trifles, getting the right flavors to blend, not compete, and I love to use VERY old cookbooks, to see what something tasted like a hundred+ years ago. My favorite is The Robert E. Lee Family Cooking and Housekeeping Book. Every recipe has been tried, and brought up to date, but you get to see what it originally looked like.

I make horrible pancakes, too!

ETA: One of the secrets of bread makings is having strong arm muscles! My grandmother sold bread from her home for about 50 years, and one of the few things she ever taught me was how to knead bread!

I love to bake.
Cupcakes, cakes and cookies mostly. My cupcakes are sold in a local restaurant and I truly adore making them. Made brownie cupcakes with chocolate chip cookie dough frosting today.

I make cheesecakes and pies as well, and some bread.

I suck at pancakes! They always turn out horrible.

Isn't that funny that a group of people who consider themselves good cooks can't conquer what most people would consider an easy dish? Maybe we're too picky? Maybe we overwork them? I don't know, but mine, no matter how thick I start the dough (it seems) always end up flat, much like my bread! I can make a rockin crepe.

And Tulip86, I'm not a cupcake person, but I would love to hear what chocolate chip cookie dough frosting is! Will you still share info if I tell you it will probably end up spread on saltines? I love frosting (and yes, the store bought vanilla in a plastic jar) on saltines.

Sure!
The recipe:

2 sticks of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

chocolate chips

Mix butter and brown sugar first, than add the rest, mix well. Add chocolate chips last.

If someone has a great pancake recipe, it sounds like many of us could benefit from having it posted. I like to make mine with whole wheat flour and blueberries, but they always turn out thicker than I'd like. I keep using the same recipe, but I really need a better one.

lol, I make awesome pancakes. However, they're straight out of the Bisquick box, and I use the ultimate deluxe melt in your mouth recipe from the side. I have yet to find a from scratch recipe that tastes as good.

I wish they sold all the amazing mixes for cakes/pancakes/bread you can buy in any store in the U.S. here but they don't. I bake every single thing from scratch. Some core ingredients (like baking soda and save for very few stores, shortening) are not for sale either, which means editing recipes and trial and error.

You either aren't letting your bread rise long enough (it should double in size) or you are killing your yeast so it isn't rising. When you mix the yeast in water, (usual first step), make sure the water is exactly body temperature. You do this by testing the water against the inside of your wrist. It should feel like NO temperature.. not hot, not cold, just the same exact temperature. This is the same way you test baby formula. Inside of the wrist.

I don't know how you screw up pancakes.

I love to bake :) My fruit pie recipes all call for flour, not pectin. I'll be making strawberry rhubarb pies on Sunday.. a Mother's Day tradition in my family.

I can't really cook very well, but I can bake like a queen, haha. I think it's because baking is a little bit more 'science-y' and is more exact than cooking...I haven't mastered the whole rare-medium-well done concept yet.

I get all of my cookie recipes from the straight-out-of-the-70s "Cooky Book" by Betty Crocker. My mom wasn't much of a baker so when I discovered my talent, it became mine. Best cookies ever.

Pancakes? Honestly, the bisquick recipe. Add in whatever you want into the batter (blueberries, choco chips, etc) and it's the best thing I can find. I also use bisquick for scones...

I haven't started really baking much yet, but I've done 5-Chocolate Brownies (the original recipe-giver called them The Brownies That Will Cure Anything), chocolate-chip cookies, and peanut butter blossoms (pb cookies with Hershey kisses on top for those who don't know). I hope to help more with baking this Christmas (we don't bake a lot in the summer, because it's too warm).

Advice varies depending on what goes wrong. DubaiSis gives excellent advice if that is your problem.

WHAT? You don't have baking soda? How is that possible? That's crazy-mind blowing to me. We use it for SOOOO many things, not just baking.

^^ I just saw that. Can I mail you some?

They undoubtedly have baking soda, although they may call it something else. Go to the drug store and ask for bicarbonate of soda. And I'm not a fan of shortening under any circumstances. Lard will give you better results. And believe it or not, lard has more "good fats" than a lot of oils you are probably buying now because of their benefits. Sugar cookies made from lard will blow any crisco variety out of the water any day.

I know! I used to use it on a weekly basis back in the US but now I always have to find ways to get around it. We have baking powder here, so with a little experimentation most recipes turn out okay. But for all the other things.. nothing compares. Something else to stock up on when I'm in the US again. (that and cajun spice mix, good barbecue sauce, chipotle, Jello and twizzlers)
Thank god they introduced Oreos here two years ago.

They have bicarbonate of soda in stomach tablets but they have some extra ingredients in them (believe me, I checked). Otherwise it's not readily available, only in the crazy expensive expat stores in Amsterdam.

Lard? Ooh, I have to try that! You just get your lard at the butcher?

Just what I was thinking. I will send you some! Twizzlers too. ;)

You can ask the butcher, but in American grocery stores it's usually on the shelf in the Mexican foods section. I'm surprised at your limited offerings. It sounds like Dubai 5 or 6 years ago. By the time I left, there wasn't much I couldn't find at my regular grocery store, along with a variety of vegetables and fish you'd NEVER see in an American grocery store.
The things I couldn't get that I had to stock up on- Lawry's Seasoning Salt, Magic Erasers, Gaviscon Extra Strength, Melatonin, Progesterone cream.

If I had to guess. the pan is either too hot or not hot enough. There's a sweet spot in there where the temperature is just right.

Also, try separating your eggs. Mix the yolks with the other ingredients, then beat the whites and fold them in. It makes the pancakes wonderfully light. (Thanks "Worst Cook in America.")

As for pie filing, I know that Lynn Rossetto Kasper had some advice about that on "The Splendid Table" recently. I'll see if I can find that podcast.

Tulip86, you have GC baking friends who'd be happy to send you care packages! What do you need from the southwest? :D

I am an awesome baker. It's fascinating because I don't particularly enjoying cooking, although I love to watch the Food Network channel. Mostly because of the personalities (especially Paula Deen and Sandra Lee, but everyone else makes me laugh, and I love the Pioneer Woman).

True confession: my guilty pleasure is cookie cookbooks, and any cookbook that has to do with baking. I love the King Arthur Flour website.

The worst part of living in the desert? Not a lot of baking in the summer. Don't want to heat up the house.

Thanks for the offer, that's incredibly sweet!

Shipping is very steep though, even for the smallest of packages. Fortunately I won't have to go without them very long because it looks like I'm coming back for a few weeks in the fall!

Okay, this is sort of off track, but daughter and I went in a local bakery today and were eyeing the cupcakes. I was particularly interested in one of the day's cupcake specials: Frat Boy. What, I had to ask, is in a Frat Boy cupcake?

The cake was a chocolate and Guinness cake with a salted caramel filing. The icing was a beer buttercream topped with a salted pretzel. "It really tasted like a beer cupcake," she said.

Totally cracked me up.

/back to our own baking.

^^^ outrageous, clever, thanks for the laugh MC!

Yes about beating the egg whites....just did that this morning. Light, fluffy, spongy, springy, airy, tasty pancakes!

Add me to the "loves to bake" pile. Never really had luck with pies, so focused on cookies/brownies/muffins and such. Real belgian waffles? Yeah, I love every step.

For those of you who have problems with pancakes, are your ingredients fresh? Mixing dry into wet ingredients? Don't overmix, because I've found it kills them every time!!!!! If you want a virtually foolproof mix, pick up a bag of pancake mix the next time you're at a Cracker Barrel. Add a splash of vanilla and a dash of maple sugar (no not syrup, maple sugar) and they're great.

I'm still trying to replicate an amazing banana pancake recipe from some restaurant near the Oprah studios in Chicago that a sorority sister took me during a weekend visit. (Chicago GCers, do you know what I might be talking about, as I can't remember the name of the place, but there was such a line on a snowy Sunday morning before a Bears game?)

You guys are gonna be the death of me! I am going to have to go out and buy cake now(no mixer, no mixing bowls, ... it's coming!) and my husband is on Atkins again, so I'm going to be eating cake by myself. However, I'm prepared to live with that. White cake, white frosting, maybe some vanilla ice cream. The ads for the birthday cake Blizzard clearly are not helping either.

I am just about the worst baker in the world, but even I can't mess up these delicous little morsels:

Petits Pains au Chocolat

So easy, yet so impressive!

Pinned it!

I see breakfast for my daughter's birthday. Thanks!

I ate these for breakfast almost every day in France. Unless there was Nutella and croissants.

I made these for my daughter's birthday as well; she LOVED them! We ALL loved them, actually!