Good Morning all, spent the weekend baking and I just have to whine a bit.....

B

barbara-in-va

Well-known member
Almost everything I made turned out poorly, with the exception of the biscotti in the post above.

I started out the weekend being inspired by Marilyn in FL and Lisa in LA to make curd. I bought big bags of beautiful looking lemons and limes at Costco. I cooked the lemon one too long and it is very thick but quite tasty. The lime one I cooked to a better consistence but decided to put in a drop of green coloring and turned the batch neon green. And, that was the start of my weekend.

Next I exploded a stick of butter my microwave, had to scrub every inch of the interior as it was covered with grease.

This was followed by the Grammercy Tavern Gingerbread. I have the cookbook which indicated that I could bake this in a 9x5 pan so I did. I thought the pan looked very full but went ahead anyway--the recipe said to use a 9x5.... Needless to say it erupted inside the oven and spewed out the front and down into the storage drawer below. I had to run the auto oven cleaner and now my house stinks.

I bought more molasses and tried the gingerbread again. This time in the described 6C bundt pan. I dutifully painted all the crevices with melted butter and sprinkled all with flour. The cake would not budge, it was partnered for life with the pan. I finally got it out, in big chunks. We'll be eating gingerbread for a while!

Next I made some chocolate peanut cookies from Food and Wine. The cookies are delicious except that I used Hersheys peanut butter chips in them. They taste "chemical" and "artificial" to me. They ruin the cookie! Fortunately, DH likes them and I brought a stack of them for co-workers. Are there peanut butter chips out there that taste better?

My final project was the biscotti, which thank goodness, turned out well because my confidence is at an all time low!

Hope you all had a better weekend!

 
Ah Barb, we've all had weekends like this when

the gods of the kitchen are just not smiling on your endeavors. Chalk it up to a bit of odd bad luck and stow away the experience gained (like no more green food color in the lime curd! LOL) to avoid later mishaps. Sorry to hear about your troubles. It's so frustrating when you set a weekend aside like you did to do something fun and creative when it doesn't go right. Next time will be better.

 
I owe Pat No CA my success rate. She sent me a Polder probe thermometer

and you would be surprised at how "Not Bubbly Hot" 170 degrees really is!

I just realized while writing this that Lisa's GRS recipe doesn't give that statistic. Around 160 degrees the curd noticeably goes from a thin to a thicker density. If you leave it past 170, it will start bubbling.

Fine Cooking lists the degree and I had just made that recipe the week before (lots of friendly folks with lemon trees here....I take all I can get) so I automatically used the probe, dangling it into the pan by the wire from the metal vent overhead.

 
Barb, I also made your Strawberry/Kiwi jam...taste delicious...doesn't look as pretty as yours

Our strawberries were beautifully red on the outside and hard white on the inside. Plus the kiwis were a little hard, so the jam has white chunks in it.

Also I blew off the skimming step, because lemon curd foam dissolves back into the curd and I thought this would too.

It didn't.

Now the jam has streaks of unskimmed "whatever it is", but still taste delicious.

Thanks!

 
Doesn't it just go that way sometimes? No matter though. You've had your turn now, paid

your dues and it won't happen again for a few years.

Had a chuckle about your gingerbread house though. (sorry)

 
Barbara, I can sympathize. But in a way, it's best for everything to go wrong at once...

that way it only ruins the one weekend for you.

I'll check out your biscotti--I've been trying to get the hang of it lately.

 
here's what you need...


SMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCH

 
And then you need one of those spring form pans with the bundt insert to make the gingerbread.

I love mine and with the springform part, it always comes out of the pan with a nice top. Not quite as deep as a rgular bundt pan, but makes unmolding alot less tricky.

 
Thanks all! I do hope Murphy is finished with me for a while...

sure seems like he hung out at my house this weekend.

I will get a new thermometer on my next trip to the mall, thanks Marilyn, I think that will make a hugh difference. And Ang, I will look for one of those spring form pans you are talking about. Like many of you all, I keep trying a recipe until I get it right so I NEED to work on that gingerbread some more! Rick, you got the medicine just right--perfect dose too!!

What a great gang you all are--THANK YOU SO MUCH for your support!

 
If it's any consolation, lots of cooks had trouble with the gingerbread sticking. I think some had

better luck getting it out of a regular bundt pan with only cooling 5 minutes. I just love my German springform with the bundt insert. It makes a beautiful apple cake by laying wedges of apples, skin side down, down in the "top" depressions and then pouring the batter on top. Does this make sense? Anyway, a good investment, I think.

 
Marilyn, I am so excited that you tried the jam recipe! I love the little black kiwi seeds

floating around in the jam. I just know that your jam is as lovely as it is tasty!

PS My X-MIL, an old fashioned country cook from Kentucky, treated the "skimmings" as a special cook's treat.

 
I hope you love it. It makes a nice pound cake. The decorative top makes a nice guide for

cutting even slices.

 
Look at the price of this thing. I bought one in London many, many years ago, a Kaiser, & paid

$65 for it. And it isn't leakproof.

They weren't available on this side of the ocean then. Yikes, life is becoming so much less expensive.

 
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