Baking ~ Foodies Wanted

[JustJo]

Originally Posted by Novelafemme

Hello Fellow Bakers

I watched a bunch of youtube videos yesterday on how to bake bread and now I think I know what I was doing wrong.

#1. The water I put the yeast into was waaaay too hot and was killing the yeast. I learned that the perfect yeast brewing temp. is 115 degrees. I went out and bought a cooking thermometer so I can check it out first.

#2. Only use about a tablespoon of sweetener or else it will also overwhelm the yeast.

#3. After adding flour to the yeasty water, mix just until the clumps are gone, cover and let it double in size.

I also think I was kneeding it way too hard. This guy said to be care you don't tear the dough and put just a little bit of pressure on it.

Oh hell, here's the video

http://youtu.be/-Rjd1NZfG4Y

Yay! This looks like great advice.

Always have to remember that yeast is a living thing...and needs to be handled like a baby...warm water, something to eat and gentle handling.

I do the first kneading instead of mixing, and I add a little more sweetener...but those are pretty minor differences.

You're right....if the water is too hot, the yeast is killed and then you have flatbread.

[JustJo]

Originally Posted by MidnightBlueEyes

Just Jo - Can I please have your banana cake recipe? I have made banana bread for the household so much the past 3 weeks I am ready for something new!!

Ok... so I want to bake all day... what the hell??? lol..

Happy to share!
This one isn't health food, but we like it...and it's a great way to use over-ripe bananas. When they are getting too spotty on the counter I toss them (in the peels) into the freezer, where they turn hard and black. When I want to bake a cake, I pull them out and let them thaw a bit on the counter.

Rooster's Favorite Banana Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together:

• 2-1/2 cups flour (the white whole wheat works here too)
• 1-2/3 cups sugar (did I mention this wasn't healthy stuff?)
• 1-1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1-1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt

Once the dry ingredients are well blended, you'll add:

• 2/3 cup soft shortening (I like butter flavored Crisco....bad, I know)
• 2/3 cup buttermilk (or squeeze a little lemon juice or put a spoonful of vinegar in the fresh milk and let it sit for a minute)
• 3 chopped or mashed over-ripe bananas (without the peels of course *giggle*)
• 2 large eggs

I put this into a bundt pan (cuz we like our cake by the bump, not the slice), but you can use a 9 x 13 rectangle or 2 regular cake pans if you prefer. Whatever you use, either grease and flour your pans, or spray Pam like crazy. Banana cake can grab on.

The bundt pan takes 50 - 55 mins., layers might be done in a half hour...rectangle maybe 40 - 45 minutes.

This is one you'll have to test with a cake tester or broom straw to make sure it comes out clean. The moisture content of bananas (and the size) vary widely....so times aren't exact.

I don't frost it...we like it just the way it comes out of the oven....but I've always thought a caramel frosting would be yummy.

Enjoy!

[SnackTime]

Originally Posted by JustJo

Happy to share!
This one isn't health food, but we like it...and it's a great way to use over-ripe bananas. When they are getting too spotty on the counter I toss them (in the peels) into the freezer, where they turn hard and black. When I want to bake a cake, I pull them out and let them thaw a bit on the counter.

Rooster's Favorite Banana Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together:

• 2-1/2 cups flour (the white whole wheat works here too)
• 1-2/3 cups sugar (did I mention this wasn't healthy stuff?)
• 1-1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1-1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt

Once the dry ingredients are well blended, you'll add:

• 2/3 cup soft shortening (I like butter flavored Crisco....bad, I know)
• 2/3 cup buttermilk (or squeeze a little lemon juice or put a spoonful of vinegar in the fresh milk and let it sit for a minute)
• 3 chopped or mashed over-ripe bananas (without the peels of course *giggle*)
• 2 large eggs

I put this into a bundt pan (cuz we like our cake by the bump, not the slice), but you can use a 9 x 13 rectangle or 2 regular cake pans if you prefer. Whatever you use, either grease and flour your pans, or spray Pam like crazy. Banana cake can grab on.

The bundt pan takes 50 - 55 mins., layers might be done in a half hour...rectangle maybe 40 - 45 minutes.

This is one you'll have to test with a cake tester or broom straw to make sure it comes out clean. The moisture content of bananas (and the size) vary widely....so times aren't exact.

I don't frost it...we like it just the way it comes out of the oven....but I've always thought a caramel frosting would be yummy.

Enjoy!

Let me tell you...DELICIOUS!

It does not last long...especially when you have a growing boy eat the last 5 bumps of itLOL

[Leigh]

I just have to say that I *love* all of these posts, the sharing of good food and simply having fun while enjoying yummy recipes and good times

[TimilDeeps]

Hey, if y'all need a taste tester, do NOT hesitate to contact me. k? k.

[WingsOnFire]

Ok...so I went to the store... and forgot to buy butternut squash.. Damon may have said "YAY!!!!"

I bought plenty of nanners to try out the nummy banana cake recipe... will have to taste test the first few loaves before I share with others in the house...

[WingsOnFire]

Originally Posted by TimilDeeps

Hey, if y'all need a taste tester, do NOT hesitate to contact me. k? k.

You likes banana cake??? I will share with you.. I will share with everyone here... just has to figure out how to squeeze it through the PM box..

[SugarFemme]

Anyone have any sugar free recipes for those of us with Diabetes? Oh and PLEASE NO SPLENDA in it. Thank you ahead of time.

[WolfyOne]

I was looking at Jo's recipe for banana cake and it made me go look through all my old recipes that have been handed down to me. I was looking for the banana cake recipe I had and finally found it. It's a little different than Jo's recipe and I thought I'd also toss this one out there, too.

I'll make it quick and simple because it's how I got it, lol

Banana Cake

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup shortening or margarine (honestly I use butter, my bad)
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda


Cream together sugar, shortening and eggs
Mix the rest of the ingredients in and put in a 9x13 pan
Bake 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees

Oven temps vary so check it if you don't know your own oven


Here's a quick frosting you can use after the cake cools

3 or 4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter softened ( yes, I use butter)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons milk

In large bowl, beat together sugar, butter, vanilla and milk until smooth. If necessary, add milk until frosting is spreading consistency, stir to blend.

[little_ms_sunshyne]

Where have you been all my life!!! I have a crazy SWEET TOOTH!!! My newest addiciton:

http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/vie...ey_butter_cake
Gooey Butter Cake
Cake:
1 18 1/4-ounce package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted
Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 16-ounce box powdered sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter and beat together.
Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well. Spread over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey.


PAULA DEEN I HEART YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[WingsOnFire]

Originally Posted by OneOfAKind

Anyone have any sugar free recipes for those of us with Diabetes? Oh and PLEASE NO SPLENDA in it. Thank you ahead of time.

hmmmm I now live with a diabetic.. so maybe I can see what I can come up with.. I have several AWESOME cooks!!

[WingsOnFire]

Originally Posted by LaneyDoll

My forte is sweets-ie "crack brownies" (which got their name for their "crack-like" addictiveness) my banana-split brownies (yummy) and my black forest cake.

But, I wondered if anyone has a "tried & true" recipe for German chocolate cake.

Since DamonK LOVES brownies.. maybe I can have your crack brownie, nanner split brownies and black forest cake recipes??

[Leigh]

My parents and I are all type 2 diabetics so yes if anyone has any recipes for diabetics I know we'd all appreciate it (even the non diabetics)

[Lady_Di]

Excellent thread, yes!

As for the diabetics in the house, this will be a great topic to explore. I am not diabetic, but it runs in the family. And one of my ex's whom I just talked to yesterday is a diabetic that could really use my wisdom I have gleaned over the years.

I am of the opinion that we are what we ear in many senses. And from my scientific study of the subject and observation of the many patients I have had in dire straights in the ICU's I have worked on, the artificial sweetners are the very bane of a diabetics life. They literally alter many neural pathways, and your taste buds are simply not designed for that level of sweetness. Many are like 900% more sweet than sugar.

I think you can bake and cook using ingredients as close to the way G.d made them. Natural sweetners your body is designed to handle.

I think exploring what works for you is always a good idea. I know many today enjoy using agave. Some love honey.

And for those that do the artificial sweetner dance, stevia seems to work great. I have a very sensitive palette and it simply tastes bad to me. And I trust my taste buds, always. They know the truth.

Keep it real, imnsho.


Did you ever explore the history of who invented the artificial sweetners, how they came into being? They did not start off as sweetners, but as chemical warfare during WWII. Little know fact. Imo, they are killers still, slowly but surely. Diabetes keeps my profession in business, I have always said. Well that and testosterone can be linked to pretty much almost every admission into a hospital if you really want to think about it.

But I am off topic a bit, sorry for my circuitous logic here. I think baking for diabetics will be a great topic to explore!!! Personally I like to use fruit as a sweetner and then advocate for a less is more approach in the consuming of it to keep those blood sugar numbers within normal limits.


Yikes, gots to run, pool is calling my name!


Will catch up with y'all laters. Have a happy, nutritionally delicious and satisfying day.


d'who is getting moving to partake of that morning sunrise

[SugarFemme]

I wish I had a bread machine so I could start making my own low carb and high protein bread. It is like $6.00 a loaf. Thats crazy. And living in the desert, it is wayyyy too hot to use the oven in the warmer months. Does anyone have any good recipes for bread that are low carb, high protein??

[Lady_Di]

Originally Posted by OneOfAKind

I wish I had a bread machine so I could start making my own low carb and high protein bread. It is like $6.00 a loaf. Thats crazy. And living in the desert, it is wayyyy too hot to use the oven in the warmer months. Does anyone have any good recipes for bread that are low carb, high protein??

As I sit here waiting for the pool to open and enjoying the sun that is about to come over the horizon, I wanted to let you know that being from the desert does not preclude baking. I am a native New Mexican and learned to bake from scratch. In the heat of the day, I did not turn on the oven. But many a time my butch would wake to the scent of bread baking. I would start the dough before I went to bed. Animals would always need a tending to, so I had many a chance to check on its rising, give it the touch it needed.

I was cooking and baking on and in a wood stove that was over 100 years old and I loved it. Stoking a fire, getting the temperatures just right, it was an art I learned over the years on my mountain there. I did not cook much in the heat of the day, nor bake.

And many of my Native New Mexicans do their bread baking outdoors. And I even experimented as I always liked to do, trying to bake in a bbq, a smoker, and even a boy scout homemade solar oven experiment that went quite well. I love scientific method. And yes, many times I failed, but when it came out right, it was amazing and such fun for me. My butch at the time LOVED it. Was great at helping me collect the wood, split it and stack it for me. A win win situation. Twice, or thrice warm wood. First gathering the wood, cutting it, then the actual burning of it. Love it.

but yet again I digress...

Hope you get the bread making machine and enjoy it, but for me they simply don't do it for me. I gave the darned machine a good try, my ex enjoyed some of what it produced. But there were some glorious failures too, which taught me a lot along the way. And I did not like the bloody noise, too~! I don't see how the yeasties could like it, they are pretty sensitive creatures, imo.

I am a tactile baker, chef. I have to touch it, see it, smell it... get to know it personally. Either way, enjoy it, however you want to try it. Much of cooking is an art as much as it is a science, imnsho.


oh, another sort of bread we made a lot on the Steppe, the High Desert plateaus.... flat breads, ie homemade tortillas. YummmmO!

Invest in some good cast iron and try some of those easy peasy, delicious carbs. Now I want a breakfast burrito in a homemade flour tortilla, with hatch green chile. Oh well... not today, but it is a lovely thought/memory.

~so much of memory is of the flavours of which we partook~

Sun is up!!!

Glorious

[WingsOnFire]

bumping the thread.. I will have to wait another week to bake anything since it is Passover for some of my household members. We have had some very interesting yet yummy alternatives.

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their weekend.

hmmmm... I may have to make the banana bread and sneak it to work!!

[WingsOnFire]

Originally Posted by OneOfAKind

I wish I had a bread machine so I could start making my own low carb and high protein bread. It is like $6.00 a loaf. Thats crazy. And living in the desert, it is wayyyy too hot to use the oven in the warmer months. Does anyone have any good recipes for bread that are low carb, high protein??

This would probably be the type of bread my household would enjoy I think.. We are more health conscious now. It will be nice to have a house full of people when I get home from work instead of being by myself.

[Sassy]

I love to bake. Though the past few months I haven't had much time to indulge in the kitchen. The last recipe I tested was a play off of a caramel macchiatto from Starbucks. Chocolate cake with coffee glaze and caramel frosting. The test run got rave reviews from my coworkers. If I get time to bake in the next few weeks it's top of my list to make again and aim for perfection

The chocolate cake wasn't "chocolaty" enough so the next go 'round will be devils food with dutch processed cocoa. The coffee glaze was smashingly yummy, not changing a thing there. And the caramel frosting was entirely too sickly sweet -- made with melted Brachs caramel candies. This time I'm going to ignore my lazy streak and make a real caramel sauce for the buttercream frosting.

[WingsOnFire]

Originally Posted by Sassy

I love to bake. Though the past few months I haven't had much time to indulge in the kitchen. The last recipe I tested was a play off of a caramel macchiatto from Starbucks. Chocolate cake with coffee glaze and caramel frosting. The test run got rave reviews from my coworkers. If I get time to bake in the next few weeks it's top of my list to make again and aim for perfection

The chocolate cake wasn't "chocolaty" enough so the next go 'round will be devils food with dutch processed cocoa. The coffee glaze was smashingly yummy, not changing a thing there. And the caramel frosting was entirely too sickly sweet -- made with melted Brachs caramel candies. This time I'm going to ignore my lazy streak and make a real caramel sauce for the buttercream frosting.

I would love to hear how it goes!! I downloaded an ebook on delicious coffees like starbucks.. I cant wait to play with them.