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  • Gearing up (baking thread)

    I've got this huge pile of stuff for baking this holiday season. All told, I expect to go through around 60 pounds of sugar, 25 pounds of flour, 12 pounds of butter, about 15 pounds of assorted chocolate, 2-3 pounds of raisins, several large canisters of oatmeal, 10 dozen eggs and most of one 1 pound canister of gelatin. Plus assorted other bits, like a pound of pecan pieces and the bag of caramels that are both going to be used in fudge.

    I'm going to start making my chocolate chip cookie dough this week, and freezing it. Then, if I've still got any room in the freezer I'll make the oatmeal raisin dough and freeze that. Doesn't actually save me any work to make it ahead and freeze, but it spreads it out at least, so I don't have to do as much all in one big week long lump.

    I also made pretty colored sugars for the jelly candies. Each color is getting 2-3 days spread out in a baking sheet to get it as dry as possible, so hopefully my candies won't melt when I coat them.
    You're only delaying the inevitable, you run at your own expense. The repo man gets paid to chase you. ~Argabarga

  • #2
    That's a good idea. I think I'll do that for my own holiday baking.
    I'm trying to see things from your point of view, but I can't get my head that far up my keister!

    Who is John Galt?
    -Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

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    • #3
      I salute your industriousness!
      When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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      • #4
        So what time shall I be over for the taste testing?
        The report button - not just for decoration

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        • #5
          Only baking I tend to do is mincemeat tarts (preferably with a dollop of butterscotch icing but getting butterscotch extract is damn near impossible around here).

          I've been keeping an eye in the grocery stores for the EBSmith Mincemeat to go out for sale (instead of the no name brand mince meats) and so far there hasn't been a sign of it. Hopefully it'll come out in the coming weeks.

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          • #6
            Heh, I was just looking at recipes for making butterscotch. Seems pretty straightforward, if you have the time and inclination. It's very slightly burnt caramel. That's all.
            You're only delaying the inevitable, you run at your own expense. The repo man gets paid to chase you. ~Argabarga

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            • #7
              O.o And I thought I did a lot of Christmas baking!

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              • #8
                Test batch number 3 of my planned gummy/jelly candies is in the fridge chilling. I made them orange flavor, and the whole house smells of orange extract. If they turn out well, I'll divvy them up and sugar coat some of them, and do some in a sour sugar mix, and chocolate coat some and just air dry some.

                The first batch (made to the original recipe) turned out more jelly-like than gummy. The only real fault with that batch was that I used far too much flavoring. Second batch, my idea of augmenting gelatin with pectin didn't work out. It half-melted when I took it out of the fridge, and was a big, sticky, goopy mess. I'm hoping the changes I made to the preparation with the third batch will give me a chewier candy. So far it looks and smells good. And bits that I've peeled off the pot have been tasty.

                Update: OMG... we have a winner!! It's not quite the same texture as commercially produced gummy candies, but it's not far from it. Very acceptably springy and chewy.
                Last edited by Kittish; 11-13-2015, 11:01 AM.
                You're only delaying the inevitable, you run at your own expense. The repo man gets paid to chase you. ~Argabarga

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                • #9
                  Kittish, since you bake so much, I'd like some advice (if you don't mind, and have the time to give it).

                  I rarely eat cane sugar in any form these days, and I don't eat wheat products because I've discovered I do better that way. I found some fantastic gluten-free flour that is very good for baking, so that's fine. What I want is a good recipe for - or, at least, good ideas on how to make - a pecan pie sweetened only with maple syrup. Pecan pie bars (again, sweetened with maple syrup) would also be fantastic. Agave syrup is also fine.

                  What do you think?

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                  • #10
                    I haven't done any sort of sugar substitution in baking but I have some thoughts. Keep in mind this is NOT experience speaking except in the broadest terms.

                    Maple syrup is (I think) a bit too thin to just straight up substitute for dark corn syrup or karo in a pecan pie. If you can find a way to thicken it up so it sets up in the pie it should work fantastically and taste awesome. Corn starch mixed with your filling might work to thicken it. Or xanthan gum- though I'd recommend experimenting some with that, it can give things a kind of odd mouth-feel if you use much. I've never worked with agave syrup at all so I don't know anything about its texture or sweetness or baking characteristics, but if it's anything like corn syrup then you might be able to use it just the same way.
                    You're only delaying the inevitable, you run at your own expense. The repo man gets paid to chase you. ~Argabarga

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                    • #11
                      Googling maple pecan bars will get you a whole bunch of recipes, so I won't fuss with those. Most pecan bar type things have a shortbread type crust, and those tend to behave nicely in gluten free recipes because the characteristics of gluten that the GF recipes have a hard time with (fluffiness and chewiness mostly) are not the thing you go for with shortbreadish crusts anyway.

                      My GF lemon bars have the following crust: 2cups GF AP flour (it comes preblended with all the different starches. Bobs Red Mill makes one and so does this kind that comes in a blue and white box) 2 sticks butter, softened, 1 cup powdered sugar. Blend with your fingers until crumbly and press into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 20ish minutes until juuuuust starting to brown around the edges, then fill with your filling and bake until set.

                      I've also had good luck using a GF sugar cookie mix and just leaving out the egg and milk so that it produces crumblies instead of dough.


                      Now, for the filling. I don't personally know of any all maple based fillings for bars or how to thicken it, but I CAN give you a little molecular encouragement:

                      Table sugar, be it from cane or beets, is one of the purest things that we consume, being over 99% sucrose. Sucrose is a glucose and a fructose molecule stuck together. Maple syrup is also mostly sucrose (with a little bit of glucose and fructose floating around, too.) Honey is mostly a combination of Fructose and glucose with a little bit of a few other sugars, including sucrose.

                      Calorie wise, honey has the most, then sugar, then maple syrup, but that has to do with how the sugars are suspended in liquids. All sugars have 4 calories per gram. Nutritionally, there are a few trace micronutrients in honey or maple syrup, but at normal serving sizes, that's negligible. Now, you will find a million things that will tell you that you should cut table sugar and eat maple syrup instead because sugar is EVIL and maple syrup is NATURAL. It's all a bunch of hoo ha. Maple syrup is more strongly flavored, though, so if you find that you use LESS because of the taste, then that can be a good way to reduce your sugar intake.

                      Basically, if you want to find a bar that's all maple because you like maple, rock on with your bad self. If you are trying to be healthier, don't beat yourself up trying to find a substitute for regular sugar. Just eat a little bar, or find some kind recipe that involves using LESS sugary stuff.

                      For example: http://www.food.com/recipe/perfectly...-pecans-323254
                      I just did a quick google to find this recipe, and you could easily pile the nuts into clusters to bake them and have a crunchy nut snack with mapley goodness with very little added sugar.
                      My webcomic is called Sidekick Girl. Val's job is kinda like retail, except instead of corporate's dumb policies, it's the Hero Agency, and the SC's are trying to take over the world.

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                      • #12
                        Kittish, a niche supplier of jerkys, jams etc has recently lauched Chili Gummies to his product line. Evil but I hear they are going down quite well with some of the adventurous crowd...
                        I am so SO glad I was not present for this. There would have been an unpleasant duct tape incident. - Joi

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                        • #13
                          I don't bake much anymore, but I'll probably make a batch of ginger thins with real sugar and eat them sparingly. They aren't so sweet that I can't have a couple of them. The problem is stopping at 2!
                          "Is it hot in here to you? It's very warm, isn't it?"--Nero, probably

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                          • #14
                            Found my mincemeat this weekend, so I picked up 4 bottles of it. Won't do any baking till probably the start of December; but the ED Smith mincemeat tends to disappear fast in my region, so I'm glad I got it now.

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                            • #15
                              That's where you differ from typical customers - you know that mincemeat sells out fast, so you get it when it's available rather than looking for it when you're ready to start baking.

                              I'm sure the store clerks will hear tales of ruined Christmases from people who go looking for mincemeat less than a week prior to the big day, and there's none to be had.
                              Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

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