tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43534364977294036302024-11-01T03:42:30.472-07:00Adventures in baking and photography.Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-55441355325826729802011-01-30T19:14:00.001-08:002011-01-30T19:14:03.945-08:00

I didn’t grow up a Southerner, not can I even say that I can remember eating red velvet cake growing up at all, so I can’t claim to be an expert on them.  However, this recipe from the Joy of Baking produces some excellent red velvet cake.  It’s got a very mild chocolate and vanilla flavor and is certainly bright red. I used a milder flavored cream cheese icing to frost it.  Its

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-81994438029576574402010-08-22T16:22:00.001-07:002010-08-22T16:22:28.105-07:00

Everyone has their perfect bagel, unfortunately these aren’t them.  Don’t get me wrong, they are a great bagel.  They just aren’t perfect.  They do, however, probably come as close to the perfect bagel as you can make a home and outside of New York City. This recipe comes from one of my newly favorite bread books, Artisan Breads at Home by the Culinary Institute of America. 

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-13864433173637728282010-08-15T16:37:00.001-07:002010-08-15T16:37:19.306-07:00

In our now second annual tradition, my wife and I made another Threadcake.  Threadcakes is an awesome online competition where you make a cake based on a shirt by Threadless.  Last year we made a walrus and ice cream truck cake and I wrote about it here. This year’s cake is based on the shirt “Russian Cargo.”  It’s inspired by Tetris.  The Cyrillic text on the side of the

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-81263760347618995752010-08-01T21:00:00.000-07:002010-08-01T21:00:42.173-07:00

Okay, it’s not exactly baking, more of candy making, but they’re tasty.  I made these marshmallows and wanted to share them.  They are very light and fluffy with a good vanilla flavor and hints of honey.  They can be eaten as is, which is my favorite way to eat them.  Or, use them as you normally would in s’mores or rice crispy treats.  They will taste much better than

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-52598853909237897932010-05-08T17:22:00.001-07:002010-05-08T17:22:09.405-07:00

This is the second half of this post.  For the first half please see this post. The previous post was all about the baking and creation of the various pieces of the cake.  This post is about the decorations, decorating and assembly of the zombie wedding cake. On the cake, in addition to the zombies, the bride and groom wanted cherry blossoms to match their wedding invitations. 

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-85381197005681250272010-05-08T16:00:00.001-07:002010-05-08T17:16:15.960-07:00

When some friends got engaged my wife and I jumped at the chance to make their wedding cake. The couple decided they wanted a zombie wedding cake reminiscent of the cake made by Mike’s Amazing Cakes.This and the next post is about the making of that cake. This time I’ll focus on the baking and making of the cake and fillings. The next post will be about the decoration and assembly of the cake.The

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-16924203879296382292010-01-09T12:00:00.000-08:002010-01-09T12:00:01.992-08:00

Another cookie that we make for Christmas is the chocolate covered peanut butter ball.  It is a variation on Ohio’s Buckeye.  This recipe was made by my Mother in my childhood. Here is the recipe: 1 cup Unsalted Butter 2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs 1 cup Shredded Coconut 1 cup Peanut Butter 1 pound Powdered Sugar 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract 12 ounces Semisweet or Dark Chocolate

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-74188322544725619872010-01-03T17:47:00.001-08:002010-01-03T17:47:09.436-08:00

For Christmas every year my wife and I bake cookies for friends and coworkers.  This post, plus the following two will be a few of the cookies we made this year. Chocolate chip cookies are a staple baked good.  We always have the ingredients on hand and we make them frequently throughout the year.  This recipe is a variation on the Tollhouse cookie recipe and yields a somewhat

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-36049287556324514912009-10-31T17:00:00.001-07:002009-10-31T17:00:09.986-07:00

It’s Halloween and I’m helping to throw a Halloween party.  As part of that I’ve made a pumpkin cheesecake (recipe courtesy of Good Housekeeping).  It’s my first attempt at a real cheesecake and not one of those refrigerator varieties.  I think it’s turned out well, though I have yet to cut into it as the party is tonight.  The recipe isn’t overly complicated.  There is a

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-58158709903736469322009-10-24T13:37:00.001-07:002009-10-24T13:38:49.484-07:00

It’s fall now and nothing says fall to me like pumpkin bread.  Pumpkin bread is a type of quick bread.  While it’s called bread, it is really more of cake in the shape of a loaf of bread.  This recipe could also be used to make it in the shape of a normal cake and then iced. This recipe is extremely easy to make and is very forgiving of mistakes.  You could use fresh pumpkin

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-20672738628559912362009-09-05T00:00:00.000-07:002009-09-05T00:00:01.885-07:00

This week I decided to make some Portuguese Sweet Bread.  It is sometimes called Hawaiian bread due to its popularity there.  The recipe for this once again came from Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.  This bread is somewhat rich from the butter and egg.  It is also a little citrusy.  The bread is good on its own, but makes for some outstanding French toast

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-91581747999774263352009-08-29T16:21:00.001-07:002009-08-29T16:21:20.440-07:00

This week I bring you my own recipe for spicy peanut butter cookies.  Peanut butter cookies are some of my favorite kind of cookie.  These were inspired a few years back by finding a spicy peanut butter in a grocery store.  It was “The Heat Is On” peanut butter from Peanut Butter & Co.  They make some other great peanut butter flavors that can also be substituted in this

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-25835685940608122392009-08-08T12:00:00.000-07:002009-08-08T12:00:01.619-07:00

A few weeks ago I learned of the Threadcakes contest from Threadless.  It definitely sounded like something that I should participate in, so my wife and I set about planning.  Having only made one carved and fondant cake prior to this cake (an armadillo grooms cake), we had no doubt that we’d get anywhere near to winning.  The competition basically is to create a cake based upon

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-3627204780193782812009-08-01T12:00:00.000-07:002009-08-01T12:00:01.548-07:00

This week I’ve baked a sour cream coffee cake.  Coffee cake does not actually have any coffee in it, but rather it is a cake that is often served and eaten with coffee.  This recipe comes from a different book from the Culinary Institute of America: The Culinary Institute of America Cookbook: A Collection of Our Favorite Recipes for the Home Chef.  This book, as you can see from

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-49620111985775578272009-07-25T12:00:00.000-07:002009-07-25T12:00:02.081-07:00

In this post, I’ve chosen to make a lemon buttermilk cake. Once again the recipe comes from the Culinary Institute of America’s book Baking and Pastry: Mastering the Art and Craft. Unlike the biscotti, however, it needs to be at least halved so that it can be made in the home. And even at half the amount, it still made a large Bundt cake as well as two loaf pans worth.Here is the mise en place

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-83677490294372544312009-07-18T18:27:00.001-07:002009-07-18T18:27:19.013-07:00

This post is all about the making of chocolate biscotti.  Biscotti are a type of Italian cookie that is baked twice.  They are often eaten with coffee. This particular recipe once again comes from the Culinary Institute of America’s Baking and Pastry: Mastering the Art and Craft.  Normally the recipe’s in this book need to be halved or quartered to make in a home kitchen. 

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-49940530665368521872009-07-05T16:00:00.001-07:002009-07-05T16:00:20.142-07:00

In this post, I’ve made salted caramel filled cupcakes with vanilla butter cream icing.  They are rather involved, but nothing is actually very difficult on its own.  I’ve chosen a vanilla chiffon cake batter for the cupcake since it will hold up well to being filled.  The techniques in these cupcakes also repeat themselves.  Both the cake and icing require making a meringue.&

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-45628792684114724262009-06-21T17:15:00.001-07:002009-06-21T17:19:31.298-07:00

This post I decided to make some Kitchen Sink Cookies.  It is my own recipe based loosely on the chocolate chip cookie recipe from Tollhouse.  It was inspired by the flavor of the month cookie for June from Cougar Mountain Baking Company: Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal.  Here’s the recipe: 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter 1/2 Cup Peanut Butter 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar 3/4 Cup Granulated

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-78480262802330214192009-06-06T10:53:00.001-07:002009-06-06T10:55:53.509-07:00

“Let them eat cake”, the phrase that was so famously said by Marie Antoinette.  Except, she didn’t.  The phrase was mistranslated and should have read “let them eat brioche.”  Of course, contemporary thinking suggests that she didn’t even utter this either. Brioche is a rich buttery and egg laden bread.  The crust of the bread is very flaky, while the crumb of the bread is

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-47910254958569154352009-05-14T21:30:00.001-07:002009-05-14T21:30:14.221-07:00

This time around I decided to make some chocolate cake.  No special recipe here, just used the standard cake recipe out of a Betty Croker cookbook. My mise en place for the cake.  I’ve got two different cocoas here for the cake, not because it’s better that way or I intended to do so, but rather I was running out of the Sharffen Berger cocoa, so has to fall back on the Hershey’s.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-83401157766928387962009-05-14T20:43:00.001-07:002009-05-14T20:45:01.985-07:00

I grew up on sticky buns. My mother would make them for breakfast for special occasions. We would often have them on Christmas morning and other times throughout the year.Sticky buns are essentially the same thing as cinnamon rolls, but rather than coating them with icing, they have a caramel topping.This recipe is again out of the The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering the Art of

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-31437304717868578392009-04-18T15:32:00.001-07:002009-05-14T20:44:00.907-07:00

Having spent some time in Europe growing up, I occasionally crave some good bread. A few weekends ago I decided to bake up a batch of baguettes. I ruffled through my favorite bread book, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread by Peter Reinhart. I can’t say enough good things about this book. It’s accessible enough for most home bakers and yet is a nice bridge

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353436497729403630.post-1029622142730673672009-03-01T15:06:00.001-08:002009-03-01T15:09:54.826-08:00

Fat Tuesday came and went recently.  To celebrate I baked up some King Cake.  I grew accustomed to having King Cake every Fat Tuesday while living in Mississippi and Florida growing up.  There are a few stores in New Orleans where you can order from online and have a King Cake shipped to you.  However, last year I decided to break that tradition and make my own. Here is

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16366512315551090023noreply@blogger.com1