Baking!

The difference between cake flour and all-purpose is gluten content. Cake flour = less gluten = a more tender/light cake. Perhaps that's what gave you the "floury" taste in the Devil's Food cake (assuming you used all-purpose)? You can supposedly substitute all-purpose (in some ratio) for cake flour, but I've never personally tried it. :dunno:

edit: By all means, use whatever flour your recipe calls for. Cake flour cannot be considered a panacea for every cake recipe that doesn't turn out as expected. :lol:
 
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Key Lime Tartlets ver. 1.0
Made the graham cracker crust myself (first time). I couldn't find any tartlet pans so I used the throwaway cupcake pans.

They're in the fridge now cooling down, so I'll try one tomorrow. I've never baked tartlets before and kept the cooking time the same (350 for 10 min.). If they don't turn out at least my home smells of lime citrus.
 
I'm making macarons, and except for the dodgy shapes, so far so good!!!! WOOT!!!!!!!
 
The only thing I can bake is this:

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It's called Banitsa. Philo dough, LOTS of feta cheese, a little bit of olive oil and...that's pretty much it.
 
looks good, when you say it contains lot of cheese.. ill eat it.
 
Meringues are quite possibly THE easiest thing to make ever. Especially if you have a Magi-Mix or a 'leccy hand mixer.

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In grams. :)

115g of Caster Sugar
115g of Icing Sugar
4 Large Egg Whites (Room temperature)

Pre-heat oven to 100 degrees Celsius

Beat the shit out of the egg whites on medium speed in a large CLEAN grease free bowl until they begin to ribbon and peak.

Gradually add the caster sugar a dessert spoon at a time whilst still mixing on a medium speed.

When all the caster sugar has been added, the mixture should still be quite peaky, but also be smooth and glossy. Carefully sift in gradual amounts of the icing sugar and gently fold.

Line a few baking trays with greaseproof paper or a silicon baking mat. Spoon out the mixture to make smaller individual meringues or just into one big blob thing if you're making a Pavlova.

Chuck it int th'oven staying at 100 degrees Celsius. The idea behind meringues is that you bake them on a low temperature for a very long time. First ones I made they we're in for about an hour an' half. Next ones I made were in for 2 hours an' 20 minutes. It really depends on how chewy you like 'em int middle. I preferred the second lot.

Other than that they can actually stand being int th'oven for a lot longer so long as you keep an eye on 'em. Obviously one huge Pavlova type meringue would take a lot longer so I'd say at least 2 hours for one of them.
 
They are not cooking apples - they are eating apples, but I suppose they can work in a pie.

Fuji applea tend to hold up ok, but Gala, Braeburn, red delicious, etc do not. they disintegrate.
 
There is nothing good about red delicious then. They taste awful, have a mealy texture and don't hold up under heat. ELIMINATE THE RED DELICIOUS.

Braeburn is the variety you want for cooking.
 
when i move now, i'll be gathering recipes to test out as i get a kitchen to play in, i've always liked baking, mostly i've made chocolate cakes though, my favorite is a cake called Kvikklunsj (directly translated to quick lunch) cake here in Norway.

Kvikklunsj (Quicklunch) Cake.
(for large pan/roasting pan)

4 eggs.
Sugar 5dl (16.9oz)
melted butter 275 grams
milk 2dl (6.7oz)
flour 7.5dl (25.3oz)
baking powder, 4 teaspoons
then something not common outside europe i think, vanillasugar, 4 teaspoons (vanilla extract and sugar)
cacao 4 tablespoons


whip the eggs and sugar to a thick creamy substance (i forgot this once, was one dense cake XD)
melted butter, slightly cooled is then stirred in, once that's in, stir the milk into the mix, and lastly, you mix in all the dries, starting with the flour.

put baking paper, or something else none stick, in the form/pan, then pour the batter into it, and make sure it's evenly distributed through the form/pan.


Icing!

cold coffee 3 table spoons.
butter (not melted) 150 grams
cacao 1 and a half tablespoon.
vanillasugar 1 and a half teaspoon.
powdered sugar/icing sugar, 300-400 grams.

just mix it all together to a cream of sorts, and smear ontop of the cake! then add sprinkles! we often add coconut shreds ontop.

DSC00672.JPG
 
Meringues are quite possibly THE easiest thing to make ever. Especially if you have a Magi-Mix or a 'leccy hand mixer.

2012-02-15225816.jpg


In grams. :)

115g of Caster Sugar
115g of Icing Sugar
4 Large Egg Whites (Room temperature)

Pre-heat oven to 100 degrees Celsius

Beat the shit out of the egg whites on medium speed in a large CLEAN grease free bowl until they begin to ribbon and peak.

Gradually add the caster sugar a dessert spoon at a time whilst still mixing on a medium speed.

When all the caster sugar has been added, the mixture should still be quite peaky, but also be smooth and glossy. Carefully sift in gradual amounts of the icing sugar and gently fold.

Line a few baking trays with greaseproof paper or a silicon baking mat. Spoon out the mixture to make smaller individual meringues or just into one big blob thing if you're making a Pavlova.

Chuck it int th'oven staying at 100 degrees Celsius. The idea behind meringues is that you bake them on a low temperature for a very long time. First ones I made they we're in for about an hour an' half. Next ones I made were in for 2 hours an' 20 minutes. It really depends on how chewy you like 'em int middle. I preferred the second lot.

Other than that they can actually stand being int th'oven for a lot longer so long as you keep an eye on 'em. Obviously one huge Pavlova type meringue would take a lot longer so I'd say at least 2 hours for one of them.


We've started putting Maltesers on top of those. Just stick 'em in the middle before putting them in the oven. :)
 
I'm making macarons, and except for the dodgy shapes, so far so good!!!! WOOT!!!!!!!

:D

I made macarons for Valentine's day (I could have sworn I posted in here...). Except for the dodgy shapes, mine worked out well too. They were salted caramel macarons :)
 
I can now call my key lime pie my "Award-Winning Key Lime Pie!" :)

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One full-sized pie for the judges and about 120 mini tartlets for everyone else. I'm taking a vacation from baking for a while.
 
Done baking for the first time in years today. Supposed to be chocolate chip muffins with a bit of vanilla icing on top. The muffins came out fairly well and good. The icing didn't come out as well as I had hoped and was a bit thick so it didn't really come out. However it's all about learning and as long as it doesn't burn the house down. It's all good.
Here's the muffins after baking.
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And one of the muffins after trying to put the icing on.
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what's going on people, nobody baking cookies for christmas?
anyhoo, this is what i've been able to come up with this year. should make some people happy :)
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hate to quote myself and double post at the same time, but...
what's going on people, nobody baking cookies for christmas?

come on people, someone must be doing something, show me your cookies! :D i'm bored with my selection and would love to try something different this year maybe. so far i've only done shortbread, which is sort of boring, but a very solid choice because nobody hates it. tried adding a little almond to about a third of my batch, works rather well.
 
It's my birthday tomorrow, and it's customary here to bring pastry to work for your colleagues, so I decided to bake a few things. My apple tart, which can be found earlier in this thread (EDIT: here it is), and I made a regional specialty.

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A vlaai, filled with custard, and crumbs on top. It's a sweet yeast dough base made with plain flour, eggs, butter, milk and sugar, the custard is freshly made with milk, vanilla, eggs and flour for thickening. Haven't tasted it yet, but it smells delish, will report back after eating it tomorrow at work.
 
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