Gearing up (baking thread)

[Jetfire]

I'm sure they have lots of stories.

Mom and I are pretty pragmatic in general; if we can't find something/if it's sold out, we kick ourselves for not getting it earlier (and/or get the no-name brands which are often still available if needed).

I generally try not to ask if things are in the back, but sometimes if I see them out of something, and someone is stocking that area, I'll ask if they have some handy. Often times they're out completely, but this weekend someone did go to the back to get the thing for me (over my objections. )

[Kittish]

I'm seriously one of the 'plan ahead' sorts. I mean, I had well over half of my shopping for my Christmas baking done before November even started! And would have done it even sooner except that I don't have room to store this much baking stuff for more than about a month. I am seriously glad for my chest freezer right now. 20+ pounds of butter wouldn't have fit into my fridge's freezer.

[MoonCat]

Re: maple syrup, try to find the extra dark kind to cook/bake with. It's more strongly flavored. Medium amber and light amber are much more delicately flavored.

You can also add a small amount of maple extract if you can't find the extra dark variety of maple syrup.

I've used the extra dark to sweeten tea.

[Kittish]

Just a brief extra- on a whim I made chocolate cherry mini tarts to take for Thanksgiving dinner.

Started with a soft chocolate cookie dough for the base, made with about half the normal amount of sugar and extra unsweetened cocoa so it'd be nearly bittersweet. This got put in heaping spoonfuls into silicone tart molds and smooshed down so there was a nice deep dip in the center.

Made the filling with sweet cherries I froze this summer (halved and pitted). Used about 3 cups of frozen cherries, just under half a cup of sugar and about a teaspoon of pectin. Took a potato masher to it just when it came to a simmer so some of the cherries got squished but not all of them. Cooked it at a simmer til the liquid was reduced by about half and cooled. Put about a teaspoon of the filling into each mold and baked at 350 F for 14 minutes.

Cool completely on wire racks before removing the silicone molds. I tried taking one out while they were still warm and it went all to bits on me. Tasty, tasty bits, though.

[Kittish]

And holiday baking has officially begun. Today I baked 18 dozen chocolate chip cookies, 5 dozen oatmeal raisin and made two batches of turtle fudge.

[Kittish]

Today's baking- 13 dozen snickerdoodle cookies and two batches of dark chocolate fudge. Would have been more, but I didn't figure in doing grocery shopping as well. But, hey, shopping is done!

[Ironclad Alibi]

I'm starting to gain weight just reading this.

[Food Lady]

I've done nothing. I'm gone 11 hours a day. I do have time on Sunday if I'm not in too much pain.
I was thinking of making my ginger thins a bit lower in carbohydrate by using a combo of almond and wheat flour and still using the molasses, but subbing sweetener for the brown sugar. I have a feeling the texture would be too crumbly, though. But I think just getting rid of some of the sugar would help.

[Kittish]

Today's baking- 27 dozen spritz butter cookies with sparkly sugar. Blech, sugar EVERYWHERE!

Food Lady- you can use whole wheat in place of some of the all purpose flour also, if you increase the moisture content just a little (add a bit more butter, or some olive oil, or maybe some applesauce) and let the dough rest for 20-30 minutes to give the flour time to hydrate. I don't know about baking with any sort of artificial sweetener, though.

[Aria]

Well, it's not holiday baking per se, but I made a clafoutis recently. And I realized after I made it that by halving the recipe, I'd have something that could be eaten for breakfast. XD I totally might do that, too.

[Kittish]

Here's a fun recipe to try! I've made this several times, tweaking it as I go to try to get as close to store bought gummy texture as I could (and I'm really, really damn close!).

Fruit Gummy Bites

7 tablespoons gelatin
1 ¾ cups cold water or juice

5 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 ½ cups water or juice

Flavored oils or extracts
Food coloring
Citric Acid (optional)

Prepare 2 8x8 or quarter sheet baking pans by lining with plastic wrap and lightly coating with cooking spray.

In one saucepan combine sugar, corn syrup and 1 ½ cups water or juice. Heat to 240 degrees F (soft ball stage), remove from heat. Allow to cool to about 218 degrees. If you don't have a candy thermometer, drop a little of the sugar mix into a cup of cold water- should turn into a soft, pliable ball right away. Warning- 240 degrees is a hard, rolling boil and sugar is sticky, sticky stuff. Don't get any on you or anyone else, please!

In another pan, sprinkle gelatin over cold water or juice and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Add sugar mix and bring just to a boil. Remove from heat, add citric acid, flavoring and color. Skim off foam, pour into prepared pans, cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the candy and chill 3-5 hours. Turn set candy out onto either a well oiled or sugar coated surface.

Cut into bite size pieces and roll in granulated sugar or leave uncoated (if you want to dip some in chocolate). Allow to dry for about a day, store in a cool, dry place.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I was thinking of making my ginger thins ...

I've been wanting to make some more ginger bread or ginger thins using my special ingredient, a 60 year old bottle of blackstrap sugar cane molasses (made by my Great-Uncle Joe). But whenever an occasion arises to do so, people would rather have my cheese puffs. I guess if I want them, I'll have to eat them all by myself.

[Kittish]

I guess if I want them, I'll have to eat them all by myself.

Oh, the horror!

[Food Lady]

I've been wanting to make some more ginger bread or ginger thins using my special ingredient, a 60 year old bottle of blackstrap sugar cane molasses (made by my Great-Uncle Joe). But whenever an occasion arises to do so, people would rather have my cheese puffs. I guess if I want them, I'll have to eat them all by myself.

Mine are not overly sweet and can be very crispy. I put pepper in them and a LOT of ginger. The recipe calls for a cup of flour, I think, and a whole tablespoon of ground ginger.

[Akasa]

I made Root Beer pudding cookies over the weekend, and I'm currently making crockpot candy.
I'm between batches... I need more counter space so I can get it all out of the crockpot at once instead of waiting for the ones I took out to cool and set.