fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe
By: Q Manning
Tags: Music, Cookies, Chocolate Chip, Recipe, Baking

Cookies are awesome. During this past Christmas, I spent an inordinate amount of time trying out various different cookie recipes I found online. Something was off in my life, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. To compensate, I sought comfort and cookies were the answer. Christmas2018 will always be known as #Cookiemas to me.

Some of the chocolate chip cookie recipes were too caky. Some weren’t flavorful enough. Some wound up being far too hard.

Then, I found this recipe from ELIZABETHBH and my search was done for an amazing, standard chocolate chip cookie that fits my own tastes.

Cooking is an art, that encourages experimentation. Baking is a science, and to get exact results, things have to be followed precisely.

My love for improvisation makes baking tougher for me, and that’s why I love the challenge.

Your tastes may align to a different type of cookie. That’s great! Make that! In fact, share it with me and maybe I’ll agree. Until thin, unless I need a specific texture or flavor profile, this is my go-to chocolate chip cookie.

“Come over here (cook) next to me…”

Singing while you work

Music is a big deal for me. Most of time time, I’m singing, dancing, or at least using it as the background soundtrack for my life.

Theories abound that food that is made with love and happiness just tastes better than food that’s made while someone is sad or angry. Could be a bunch of hooie, but if not, there’s nothing wrong with jamming out while you’re mixing cookie dough, right?

Tonight, I started with Foster the People’s Sit Next To Me, which has been a frequent favorite. Then, I just let Spotify’s algorithm take me for a ride that made it all just a little more fun. Can you dig it?

Ingredients (for a half-batch)

Watching my weight means watching what I eat. That means moderation rather than restriction. If I want chocolate chip cookies, imma make them. But, I’ll typically make a half-batch, because otherwise, that’s just too many damn cookies.

Want a whole batch? Um, just double the numbers, yo.

Also, because baking is a science, I tend to use grams instead of things like cups. Just makes me feel more scientific.

60g all-purpose flour

all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt

salt 85g unsalted butter, melted

unsalted butter, melted 99g brown sugar

brown sugar 50g white sugar

white sugar 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

vanilla extract Half of 1 egg + 1 egg yolk

1 egg + 1 egg yolk 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

semisweet chocolate chips 32g Crushed walnuts

Step 0: Set your Oven to 325

Step 1: Mix the Dry
The Women-Run, Mission-Driven Vanilla Brand That Wants to Level up Your Baking
Tags: Employment, Projects We Love, Baking, Kickstarter, Food

Unlike most farm work, which tends to involve grueling physical labor, the work of growing and harvesting vanilla is particularly well suited to women, Boggiss says. “Vanilla is quite a magical process. It flowers once a year, and those flowers have to be hand-pollinated within four hours of them opening, and then a green bean grows for the next nine months. To hand-pollinate the flowers you need quite delicate hands — you can do it with a little toothpick — so women are great at that.

“Then, during those nine months when the vanilla beans are growing, it’s [about] keeping an eye on them, looping them, feeding them mulch and weeding, that sort of thing. It’s very non-physical. The harvest period is gradual, like the flowering period; it goes over about six weeks. Then there’s the drying and curing process, which goes over about three months: wrapping the beans up at night, putting them away, just like babies, and taking them out in the morning, putting them in the sun, turning them so they don’t get sunburned. You even massage the beans when they get to a certain step in the drying process.” All of which the women can do in a communal space, on a nine-to-three schedule, Boggiss says.

Gathering feedback from their customers, Heilala invites other flavors into the mix

Now, for the first time, Heilala’s vanilla products will cede a little space in the mixing bowl to other beloved baking flavors like coffee, berries, peppermint, and pumpkin spice.

“We get a lot of feedback from our vanilla community. They’re often telling us what they like about products, what they don’t like, and it’s given us an opportunity to take that feedback and develop new products,” Grant says.
Pear Tart
By: Eat Grim
Tags: Recipe, Cake, Baking

Pear Tart

Recipe by Anders Vestergaard. Simple — 1h 15 min — dessert — makes 8 pieces

We absolutely love pear season. Pears are tangy, crunchy, sweet and perfect for cooking, both in sweet and savoury dishes. Because of the stone cells in the pear, they have a great texture, which remains even when cooked. That’s what makes pears perfect for tarts.

This tart is a little time consuming if you want to decorate it like in the picture, but you can make it however you want. Half the pears, cut them in chunks or thin slices, or whatever shape you so desire :) You can even boil them with a little bit of water and make a pear jam to put on the tart crust. The options are endless.

Let’s get to it? You’ll need

For the shortcrust pastry:

White flour 300 grams

Salted butter 150 grams

Sugar 50 grams

Egg 1

Cold water 1 tablespoon

For the filling:

Pears 4–5 medium

Butter 50 grams

Sugar 80 grams

Creme fraiche 200 grams

For the cream:

Mascarpone 200 grams

Buttermilk 1 dl

Vanilla sugar 1 tablespoon

Zest of one lemon

And here’s how to make the tart:

Mix together all the ingredients for the pastry dough, using a hand mixer. Make sure the water and butter is cold to not melt the dough too much (shortcrust pastries should always be mixed on high speed, as to not develop too much gluten and to remain flaky in your mouth). When the dough is finished, cover the bowl and put in the fridge for at least 30 min. Wash pears, cut them in half and then thinly slice them. Save all the small bits, chop them into small cubes and put in another bowl. Cover them with kitchen foil and put them in the fridge. Butter a medium sized tart pan and spread out the dough. Take a fork and prick holes in the dough to prevent it from puffing up in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes on 180 degrees Celsius. Cool the tart completely and spread out the creme fraiche in an even layer. Now add the pear scraps on the dough and start decorating the cake with your pear slices. Drizzle the cake with sugar and cut the butter into cubes. Spread the butter on the cake and bake for around 30 minutes on 180 degrees Celsius. While the cake is baking, mix the ingredients together for the mascarpone creme. The cake is done when the dough is golden brown and the pears are nice and caramelised. Serve either warm or cold with the mascarpone-vanilla cream on the side.

Enjoy :)
Meet the team — Natalie Larkin. This week’s meet the team instalment we…
By: Ben Cooper
Tags: Culture, Startup, Startup Culture, Illustration, Baking

This week’s meet the team instalment we break away from the engineering team and speak with our amazing illustrator Natalie on topics such as the creation of the Paid pig and creating 2 foot tall wedding cakes.

Celebrating International Women’s Day with the team in Rise.

Tell us a bit about what you do at Paid

My main role is working on the brand identity and illustrations for the Paid website and marketing material. When I joined the team, as a fairly new startup we had very little more than the early concept for a logo and a single page website. As we develop our brand assets the style is constantly evolving and it’s my job to ensure we have visual consistency across all mediums, including the website, web app, social media pages and also our print collateral.

What does your day-to-day look like?

I really could be working on anything creative, from a Paid-Pig illustration for our website, to a 7 foot tall roller banner which needs printing for an event in 24 hours!

We’re currently a part of the Barclays Techstars London 2019 programme, and have been working a lot from the Rise office in Shoreditch. Last week we visited the co-working space WeWork at Market Square to interview freelancers and small businesses to gain feedback on our platform.

We used homemade chocolate & raspberry brownies in exchange for their time, which involved me doing some very late night baking, and a 24 hour print deadline (which I haven’t had since being at uni!).

It was great getting out and speaking to people in real life, as opposed to sitting at a screen and gathering feedback via an online user feedback website. This part of London has a great vibe and has been really inspiring for my work.

Branding used for Paid’s user feedback session at WeWork

What were you doing before you worked at Paid?

I set up my first company at the age of 22 which specialised in WordPress websites. After 6 years I exited and spent the summer renovating my first buy-to-let property whilst working as a freelance designer.

If you weren’t at Paid, what would you be doing?

I’m passionate about getting more women into tech, and keeping them there. Studies have shown that up to 40% of women who have a career in tech actually leave tech. I’d love to work on helping to solve this problem.

Tell us something unexpected about yourself.

I used to make weddings cakes in my spare time. I’m a self taught baker from watching hundreds of youtube videos and my favourite TV programme, The Great British Bake Off.

The biggest wedding cake order to date was for a 2 foot tall 4 tier cake, containing a whopping 50 eggs!
Tezzigator Legacy Update
By: Tezzigator, Bo Byrd
Tags: Baking

On April 22, we announced the launch of a new HSM-based delegation service with a 10% fee (Baking Address: tz3adcvQaKXTCg12zbninqo3q8ptKKtDFTLv). This fee on the new tz3 system will stay at 10%, and we are only changing fee for the old baking system (with the tz1 address). Community response to this new offering, as well as the grant from the Tezos Foundation to support Cloud HSM baking, has been strong and we are honored to be part of this passionate group of bakers, developers, and delegates.

That announcement also indicated that the original baker (now called Tezzigator Legacy) would be shutting down in the future. As of the writing of this update, the Tezzigator Legacy baker has baked 5700 blocks or about 1.29% of the entire Tezos blockchain to date. Meanwhile, the new baker has just begun, baking 17 blocks (and an early steal on its third block!).

Father Time and Baby New Year, 1897

While we are currently managing both bakers, we will be unable to support both indefinitely due to the cost involved. We’ve been actively alerting all delegates on the Legacy system to change delegations since that time with updates across all social media channels, as well as our website and associated dashboard. Many of you have made the change, and we are so glad you are continuing to bake with us! The Legacy system will charge a 25% fee beginning at cycle 116. There are currently no plans to change the fee on the new tz3 system which will maintain a 10% fee.

At this time, the Legacy system is still supporting over 4.4M XTZ delegated. We need all delegators on the Legacy baker to update to the new system in order to provide you with the best service and distribute the maximum possible rewards.

Contracts for the data centers supporting the Legacy baker will be expiring eventually, and we will not be renewing them. We will continue to support the Legacy baker independently, but there may be an increase in missed bakes and endorsements, resulting in fewer rewards. Therefore, we encourage all delegates to update to the new system ASAP to ensure the best rewards possible for you!
Beatrice Ann Wants YOU To Volunteer For St. James’ Winter Bake Sale
By: Emily Kapp
Tags: Military, Satire, Humor, Baking, Comedy

Good afternoon,

This is SJOC (St. James Orthodox Church) Volunteer Coordinator Beatrice Ann Nesbitt. I am contacting you to enlist your service in making your famous blueberry scones and/or New York-style cheesecake for the upcoming St. James Orthodox Church Winter Bake Sale, which commences on the 25th day of January, 2020, a Saturday.

The Winter Bake Sale is looking for good women such as yourself to volunteer for the good of our church, our community, and all the women devoting their time to whipping up yummy treats so that St. J’s can pay for a new love seat in the ladies’ powder room. However, your sacrifice is not left unreciprocated: The Winter Bake Sale Volunteer Group is a first-class organization that offers to domestic women of good habits an excellent opportunity. Sisterhood, patriotism, and free bites of the baked goods left over are just a few of these perks you’ll receive when you enlist your time.

We need you out there on the front line. The new love seat in the powder room and all the love seats that will come after depend on it.

There’s no one we’d rather see sporting our apron uniforms in the kitchen, plating the goods for presentation on the day of the sale. To be on the front line, selling baked goods among your fellow sisters and winning the fight to raise enough money so we can lounge in style after popping a blood thinner post-communion in the little girls’ room is a bond you’ll share for life. This is for your church’s sake today, and for the sake of your health tomorrow.

I urge you: volunteer now before you’re drafted. And believe me, I’m not afraid to show up at your house — I got your address from the church directory. A reminder, too: only St. James Orthodox Church female members of good character will be accepted. Call my number attached and get full details on how you can best serve your church during the Winter Bake Sale.

Sincerely,

SJOC Volunteer Coordinator Beatrice Ann Nesbitt
House of Hares Gluten Free/Dairy Free Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
By: Rileigh Hare
Tags: Muffins, Gluten Free, Baking, Dairy Free, Food

Hello! This is my first Medium post. Baking and cooking have always been one of my favorite things, but I’ve been really getting into experimenting with new recipes and making them more allergy friendly (but you can hardly tell) during this quarantine time.

One of my absolute favorites right now is a gluten free/dairy free lemon poppyseed muffin! I’ve spent some time tweaking my recipe to get it just right, so hopefully you enjoy it just as much as I do!

I won’t be like some of those recipe blogs that explains the recipe in length — we all know we hit that “jump to recipe button” anyway ;).

Let me know what you think and if you make any of your own personal changes to the recipe!

See ya!

Rileigh

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of lemon zest

1/2 cup granulated sugar

4 tablespoons of lemon juice (about 2 lemons

2 teaspoons lemon extract

2 large eggs

4 tablespoons unsalted vegan butter (I prefer Earth Balance)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup almond milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups gluten free flour (I prefer Bobs Red Mill, King Arthur, or Namaste)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

(**NOTE: you can sprinkle sugar on the top before baking if desired. Or you can wait until they have cooled and top with a lemon glaze. They’re also pretty tasty just plain!)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 and lightly coat your muffin pan with non-stick spray. In a food processor, combine the lemon zest and granulated sugar. You should end up with a yellow and fragrant sugar. Add the lemon juice, lemon extract, eggs, melted butter, and oil in the processor and combine. Add the milk and vanilla and combine once more. In a separate bowl, combine your gluten free flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and poppyseeds. Create a well in your dry mixture and pour in your wet mixture. Stir until just combined. Distribute batter evenly among 12 muffins. Bake at 425 for 5 minutes. Lower oven heat to 350 and bake for an additional 10–15 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. OPTIONAL: once cool, combine lemon juice, almond milk, butter, and powdered sugar to create a glaze for the muffins.

Enjoy!
Whole-wheat Banana Walnut Bread 🍞
By: Healthy Recipes
Tags: Eggless Cake, Baking, Banana Bread Recipe

Whole-wheat Banana Walnut Bread 🍞

Totally Vegetarian (easily can be converted to Vegan – see notes) Yummilicious & Simple Whole-Wheat Banana Walnut Bread

Ingredients

Whole wheat self raising flour – 1 1/4 cup

Powdered sugar – 3/4 cup

Walnuts – 1/3 cup crushed

Milk (Regular/ Almond milk) – 1/3 cup

Banana (ripe) – 1.5

Almond butter – 2 tsp (Secret ingredient 😍)

Water – 1/3 cup

Oil / clarified butter – 3 tsp

Plain Yogurt – 2 tsp

Procedure

Blend Banana, milk, almond butter well

Powder sugar if you are using sugar crystals

In a large bowl pour the self rising whole wheat flour

Sift the flour if you are using baking powder separately and not using the self raising flour

Mix all dry ingredients together

Fold in the fruit/ almond butter mixture into flour

Add oil / clarified butter and yogurt

Give it a nice mix and add in the crushed walnuts

Preheat your oven to 180 deg C for 7–10 mins

In a greased baking tray add a layer of baking sheet, few drops of oil on it and spread nicely

Fold in the mixture into the baking tray

Place the tray in the oven and bake for 25–30 mins until the Bread is fully baked

Enjoy your delicious banana walnut bread with a hot mug of coffee/ tea or just relish its Goodness!!!

Notes
Parks & Rec. cooks up spring break activities
By: Kelly Flynn
Tags: Baking, Kids, Children, Cooking

Parks & Rec. cooks up spring break activities

By: Amy Filippone, Dept. of Parks & Recreation

The Moorestown Parks and Recreation Department and MooreKids will be hosting “Everybody Wins Basketball Clinic” on Sunday, March 31 at the Church Street Recreation Center from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Individuals with special needs and their siblings or friends will practice basketball fundamentals like passing, dribbling, shooting and defending. Kate McCarthy Devone and MooreKids Teen Leadership volunteers will make sure everyone has fun and enjoys the game. This is a free event, but we ask that you register prior to the event at www.moorestownrec.com under spring 2019. Please bring a water bottle, wear comfortable clothes and sneakers. Contact Mary Stefano at mstefano@moorestown.nj.us for any questions or for help registering.

If your kids are looking for something fun to do over spring break, the Parks and Recreation Department is offering three culinary classes. They are all three-hour classes where students will learn to prepare meals from scratch as well as covering basic kitchen skills. Chef Katie Sklarow has been cooking and teaching professionally for more than seven years. She worked her way up through local restaurants and graduated with her bachelors of science in culinary management from the Art Institute of Philadelphia. She loves working with local and sustainable ingredients and sharing her passion with others. Pantry items for these and all Parks and Recreation’s culinary classes have been generously donated by Wegmans.

For children in grades two through five, an “Intro To Culinary Workshop” will be held on Thursday, April 25 from noon to 3 p.m. This is a great way to get kids comfortable in the kitchen. They will learn and practice knife skills and the importance of seasonings. They will also have a mini-introduction to baking. On the menu are baked chicken fingers and cheddar biscuits, all from scratch.

For grades three through eight, “Culinary Comfort Foods” will be held on Monday, April 22 from noon to 3 p.m. Chef Katie will teach how to make the crowd-pleasing comfort foods of macaroni and cheese with perfectly seasoned oven-fried chicken. Learn the trick to making perfect mac ‘n cheese.

Also for grades three through eight, “Pasta Workshop” will be held on Wednesday, April 24 from noon to 3 p.m. Chef Katie will lead this group of “junior foodies” as they explore new and exciting pasta dishes. Children will learn how to make manicotti and other pasta from scratch. The filling and sauce for the manicotti will be from scratch as well.

All classes will be held in the Community Kitchen located at the Church Street Recreation Center on the third floor. Appropriate attire is required including closed-toe shoes and long pants. Aprons will be provided, and we ask that hair be pulled back.

Register soon at www.moorestownrec.com under spring 2019.
August 20, 21, 22: camping meals
By: Leah Romm
Tags: Camping, Redwoods, Baking, Humboldt, Cooking

Three days at the campsite meant making meals in a very different setting than I am used to in my home kitchen. My partner and I came well-prepared, though. We had chicken thighs, ground beef, eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, sandwich materials, and much more. It may have been a little more food than two people need for a weekend trip, but who cares?

On Friday evening, we made an amazing combination of seared vegetables and chicken. I prepped all of the vegetables while my partner got the fire started. We cooked in our 12-inch cast iron over an open flame, and it was honestly really cool. We boiled the potatoes, discarded the water, threw them back in the pan with some reserved chicken fat (shout-out to my partner for thinking ahead and bringing that gem of an ingredient!) and olive oil, added onions, garlic, zucchini, and some tomatoes. Separately, we used a cast iron griddle to sear some corn, shishito peppers, and green onions. And once the vegetables were looking near-ready, we cooked the chicken. Out of curiosity, we decided to experiment: 2 thighs in the pan, 2 directly on the grates over the fire. We added thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper to the mix, and finished cooking everything.
The Secret to a Soft and Spongy Cake
By: Navya Mohan
Tags: Cake, Food, Pastry, Baking, Home Baker

Here is a simple tip that will definitely improve your baking skill. I didn’t know this when I was a beginner.

One day, in the middle of preparing the cake batter, I noticed that I was out of all-purpose flour. I already had everything including the wet ingredients ready, so there is no going back. And a trip to the store is also ruled out.

So it got me thinking of an alternative. I had some wheat flour, cornflour, and oatmeal in my pantry. I wanted something that is neutral in taste.

Out of the three choices, cornflour seems to fit my need. Even though it has a hint of sweetness, it should go well with the cake.

I used cornflour to make up for the missing all-purpose flour part. Then I continued my experiment with everything as usual.

When it came out of the oven, I noticed that cake didn’t rise as I expected. With a bit of disappointment, I tried a slice and it really surprised me. The texture has improved by a lot.

The cake was softer and spongy in texture. And it tasted the same.

I later found out that using cornflour along with the normal quantity of all-purpose flour helped the cake rise and gave it a better texture.

From this point onwards, cornflour became an essential ingredient in all my cakes.

To sum it up.

While mixing the dry ingredients, add cornflour to get a better texture. Use about 4 tablespoons per cup of all-purpose flour.

1 cup = 250mL

Do try this out!!!

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Cookies and Cakes Galore!
By: Raphael Gray
Tags: Food, Milwaukee, Baking

For those of you who can’t deny your sweet tooth, look no further. C. Adams Bakery is here and ready to take baking to the next level. Established in 2005, C. Adams Bakery is a company focussed on customer service by providing baked goods from scratch to a variety of people.

Christen, a cashier and ‘fun of house’ at the bakery believes this fast pace, teamwork driven environment is what builds the foundation of their success. She goes on to say that their team does a great job with communication between the Front of House(Sales Representative) and Back of House(Bakers) workers. So even during the busiest of times, the workers enjoy their job and uphold their customer service values.

This staple for tourists, offers an array of specialty cookies, cakes, cupcakes and macarons. C. Adams Bakery caters to their customers by offering a selection of vegan and gluten free baked goods. With specialties like their Puppy-Chow cupcake and Fun House sugar cookie, the bakery will continue to expand as they offer catering and delivery services to the greater Milwaukee area. Their specialty goods will pull you in, the size of their cookies and customer service will keep you coming back.
Gap Year Day 39
By: Alissa Frame
Tags: Gap Year, Baking, Farming, Food, Cooking

Today was exciting because I was put on veg team, which I’ve never been on before. It seemed kind of quiet at the farm because Jess and Nikki were both on their work trip to NYC and Taylor, the veg crop owner, was also out. So Bridget was leading the veg team and she had me packing Badger Flame beets with Tim. We did it under a little tent outside the grow room/pack room/cooler facility which was enjoyable because we were in the shade but also warm enough. I liked packing beets, and both Bridget and Tim are nice to work with. We also made really good time so that was exciting.

After lunch, it started to thunderstorm and rain (a pretty crazy storm!!) so we couldn’t finish packing the beets outside. It was kind of a mess trying to figure out what to do, but we ended up moving things inside the pack room. The only thing is it is super chilly in there and everyone was dressed for outdoor weather. So some people went back to the barn and got warm stuff for us. By the time I was all geared up with my warm clothing, Mark came in and said he could take two people back to the barn to help the high tunnels team. So I went and helped them pack tomatoes. People started getting sent home early because there was nothing much to do if we couldn’t be outside (due to the thunder) but I was hoping to stay to keep my hours. I did some cleaning and Peter, Taylor, Sarah, and I got some pictures together since it was Sarah’s last day and my last day seeing Taylor since tomorrow will be her last day (and I don’t work Friday).

Here’s our high tunnels team!

I had Mom pick me up even though I biked to work because I brought home some beets that had been sitting in the fridge for awhile (no one was taking them so I figured I would) along with kale, red swiss chard, and eggs. The kale and red swiss chard were from one of the partner farms, Mason Farms.

Mom and I made some homemade sauce from the RPC of tomatoes I brought home yesterday. We added some red wine, kale, and swiss chard too! Dad and Tyler came down for dinner and I ate some leftover quinoa salad and a greens salad with avocado dressing Mom made. Apparently I was in a cooking mood, because I also made an oat, almond butter, coconut, chocolate dessert thing that turned out really yummy! I just need to figure out a way to make it a little moister next time.
Baking — The power of my immersion ❤️
By: Meghavi Vakil
Tags: Mind, Baking Tips, Psychology, Baking, Love

You might be wondering what does the title mean. And what this article will further contain. Let me tell you, even I don’t have any idea upon this. Just writing it as my heart further says...

Baking has the power to declutter, organize mind and make things more simplified for me

You might me thinking how will it work? Let me tell you baking can work in a miraculous way! It’s just a similar thing as journaling.

It starts with immersion. Yes you have to completely immerse in things you love. And I probably get immersed in baking!

Baking is a big part of my life. It’s my way to reach to my soul, connect with it and it makes me do my other chores and work in a completely different way!

I say in a different way is just a phrase. It is a source of enlightenment and contentment for me. I find them in every process I do ✨

When the coin gets flipped

Things get harder and tedious day by day as we experience them and find them the same and repetitive everyday. Every process takes time and energy. This doesn’t go well without immersion from your side into that process.

The trick is to find immersion in the process you love and there you cross the hardest hurdle. You will begin to find immersion and connection in everything you have to/need to do (even the things you don’t like)

Immersion is nothing but connecting with the things to get completely lost in them ✨
How To bake Your Favorite Christmas Treats
By: Handmade X-Mas
Tags: Christmas, Holidays, Baking, Bakery, Sweet

Caramel Apple Pie

Recipe:

CRUST

3 c- all purpose flour, plus more for surface

(2 sticks) butter, cut into ½” pieces

2 tbsp- granulated sugar

1/2 tbsp- kosher salt

1 tbsp- apple cider vinegar

6 tbsp- ice water (incase, needed)

FILLING

3 1/2 lb. Assorted apples (Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Gala) peeled and sliced finely (somewhere about nine apples)

1/4 c- packed dark brown sugar

2 tbsp- freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp- cornstarch

1 tsp- cinnamon

1/2 tsp- pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp- kosher salt

1/2 c- caramel, plus more for serving

1- egg beat with

Coarse sugar

Method:

Step 1– Before beginning, set the flour as well as the butter into the freezer for about 25–30 mins.

Step 2– Firstly whisk the sugar, salt, and flour in a bowl. Later on, add butter by cutting it apart into the mixture until fine and small. Secondly add Vinger as well as ice water in small 1 tbsps at a time, as the dough comes together and is damp that’s the cue to stop.

Step 3– So, drop the dough and roll around a floured surface, moreover form into two equal-sized balls, and then use a roller to roll it until the dough is completely flat.

Step 4– Wrap with a plastic wrapper and place it in the refrigerator until the dough is colder, time: 2hrs-overnight.

Step 5– Accordingly, Place a baking sheet on the rack and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Step 6– Set apples, brown sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, as well as lemon juice in a skillet over medium heat. Continue cooking until the liquid gets thickened and apples get much tenderer, which may take between 10 to 17 mins.

Step 7– Flour the surface and roll one ball of dough into a circular disc. Attach the crust into a plate furthermore, moderately press it onto it. Trim the edges that hang around the plate and later tuck it under itself. Set the apples on the crust and then drizzle caramel over the apples.

Step 8– Roll out the second disc of dough into a circle. Moreover, cut into lines, and place a few over the apples. Double over the other stripes a few times and continue to do so with the remaining crust. Trim the lines and press onto the crimped crust and let it freeze for 15 mins until crust is chilly.

Step 9– Paint the crust with egg wash and powder with coarse sugar. Prepare the pie plate to the preheated baking sheet and bake until the crust gives off a golden color and the filling is fizzling this may take somewhere between 40–50 mins. Lastly, If you notice the crust is darkening fast then wrap it with a foil wrapper.
Magical Peanut Butter Cookies
By: Paige Allen
Tags: Recipe, Peanut Butter, Cookies, Baking

Are you ready to have your socks knocked off? Ready? I made the most delicious peanut butter cookies with oats, chocolate chips, and cinnamon! THEY ARE FANTASTIC and they couldn’t be easier to whip up.I mean look at that picture, is that not the most perfect looking cookie? I think so! It is genius to put chocolate into anything peanut butter but then to go and add in just a touch of oats and a healthy sprinkle of cinnamon…well then you have got your self the most magical peanut butter cookie there is. They are by far my favorite peanut butter cookie! Actually, they could be my new favorite cookie! The list of ingredients is short, easy to whip together, and these cookies only take 8 minutes to bake. So if you are in a time crunch to make something super yummy, I demand you make these cookies. Yup, I said it. I got bossy, but seriously, you need to make these cookies…please? With a cherry on top?

I made these cookies on a Thursday for the hubby to bring in to work and then I made them again, even better, on Saturday just so I could stuff my face with there peanut buttery goodness. That is probably how I got the nick name Miss Piggy, graciously given to me by my mother for the amount of sweets I could stuff in my face as a kid. I am not one to toot my own horn, but these cookies are so good!!! Okay enough rambling, go make these cookies!

P.S.- If you really want to enjoy these cookies, drink them with chocolate milk! I have never done that before, having cookies with chocolate milk instead of regular milk. It is quite delicious!

Magical Peanut Butter Cookies

Adapted from Nestle Test Kitchen recipe

Makes about 20 cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups white flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

½ cup of rolled oats

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

½ tablespoon of ground cinnamon

1/2 cup natural chunky peanut butter

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup of chocolate chips, either semi sweet or milk chocolate

Directions:
Baking Gingerbread Cookies from Scratch!!!
By: Aarav Pant
Tags: Gingerbread, Christmas, Baking

By Aarav, 12

I really wanted to bake a holiday treat for Christmas. I always wanted to make gingerbread cookies, because when I first tried them at Starbucks, I really wanted more.

If you read my blog posts, you would know I am a kid who loves to cook and bake. My mom helps me with my cooking. She looked up a recipe for gingerbread cookie. https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/gingerbread-cookies/

We first put together the ingredient list, we had most items. In the end, we only had to buy frosting, cookie cutters, and some molasses. We ordered cookie cutters from Amazon.

I was so excited to unwrap the cookie cutters when the Amazon package arrived. I opened the plastic wrapping while my eyes were vibrating. We were all set! I was excited to make cookies and share them with friends and cousins.

On Christmas Eve, we started baking our gingerbread cookies. I had 16 cookie cutters. I was fascinated. There was a gingerbread man, Santa with his white beard, stars, reindeer, stockings, mittens, moose, a scarf, snowman, and much more. I washed the cookie cutters, and put them aside. I brought out mixing bowls , the measuring cups and the ingredients — molasses, flour, vanilla extract, baking soda, ginger powder, sugar, eggs, fresh nutmeg, fresh cloves, and fresh cinnamon.

My mom started grinding the nutmeg. I mixed the flour and salt. , I measured how much nutmeg we needed with a measuring spoon. and then dumped it in the bowl. My mom started working on the cloves and cinnamon next . When she finished grinding those, I measured and put all of those in. The air was full of spices! (See full recipe below)

Here is a short video of all the steps of creating the cookies.

The cookies were yummy — Merry Christmas!

GINGERBREAD COOKIES RECIPE (courtesy: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/gingerbread-cookies/)

TO MAKE THE GINGERBREAD COOKIES:
A Fateful Babka
By: Critical Kitchen
Tags: Cake, Kids, Recipe, Baking, Doughnuts

Critical Kitchen snuck up on me in the best way. In December 2015, I pulled my first chocolate babka out of the oven. To my relief, it looked…decent. It was slightly burnt and a bit too dense, but featured a truly beautiful swirl. And it was babka, which everyone knows is level ten difficulty baking.

Needless to say, I wanted the dozen family members who followed me on Instagram to share in the moment. #CriticalKitchen was born.

My top Instagram posts from 2017, when our new baby got as much visibility as a French apple tart. Love you, kiddo!

At that point, I was my own worst critic in the kitchen. But my kids quickly took the lead on that role, with their unreasonable rejection of nearly anything that isn’t noodles.

Over the past few years, I’ve explored new recipes and made them my own, sharing photos of the results and my critics’ brutally honest reviews. Posting photos has been fun (and often cathartic), but there is so much story behind the photos — so much I learn each time I attempt a new recipe. So I’ve started this blog.

Through my Critical Kitchen adventures I discovered Jeni Britton Bauer’s rich and refreshing ice creams — and that my 7-year-old refuses roasted strawberry ice cream, no matter how lovingly churned, if it includes seeds. Really.

Someone get that baby a slice of challah. July 2019

I savored the aromas of Paul Hollywood’s astoundingly reliable classic sourdough and Michael Solomonov’s perfectly textured seven-egg yolk challah. Then I tracked down recipes for angel food cake and pavlovas to use up all the leftover egg whites.

I eventually found the nerve to tackle Julia Child’s raspberry danish. I also realized the transcendent taste of danish when you’ve gone all in with the thirty sticks of butter required, and you’ve made that butter yourself. Pro-tip: nearly spoiled cream you forgot in the back of the fridge (and can’t bear to throw out) can make a lovely cultured butter.
Turning guilt into sourdough biscuits in 30 minutes
By: Critical Kitchen
Tags: Biscuits, Sourdough, Bread, Recipe, Baking

Sourdough bread has been one of my most satisfying baking challenges. When you pull a loaf out of the oven, relief that the sourdough starter has worked its magic quickly turns into voracity as you give the bread a little squeeze and feel the golden crust crunch and crackle.

Sourdough bread fresh from the oven, March 2019.

That said, I’m terrible at taking care of the starter. It takes just minutes to feed, but, honestly, it’s one more thing to remember. It gets lost in the jumble of work, kids, and the rest.

So, the starter sadly waits and deflates. It lingers in the back of the fridge for days, then weeks, until I remember to pull it out, skim off the liquid on top (evidence of my negligence), and give it a floury meal. If it’s been too long and needs a full reboot, I have to throw out most of it and keep just a bit to nurse back to health. That always feels like such a waste.

My sourdough starter, alive again thanks to little extra love (and by love I mean flour), July 2019.

To my delight, this weekend I learned there’s a recipe that can help: sourdough biscuits.

King Arthur Flour is an employee-owned company known for producing particularly high quality flours. The company also publishes cookbooks and runs an engaging blog, Flourish, that is somehow aspirational and accessible at the same time.

Baker and writer PJ Hamel’s latest Flourish recipe is for a quick and easy biscuit that gets a “flavorful edge” from the addition of dormant sourdough starter. Yes, the unfortunate, neglected starter that I would otherwise need to throw out.

The recipe looked very doable and turned into a Sunday morning project with my daughters and niece, who was staying over for a mini slumber party. Within 15 minutes, we had the biscuits in the oven. Twenty minutes later, they were on our plates.

The reviews

I enjoyed the biscuits, with their flaky, golden texture and distinctive flavor, which made them stand out from everyday cream or buttermilk biscuits. They weren’t as sky-high and luxuriously layered as the Ultimate Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits from America’s Test Kitchen, but they were also quicker and easier. And they were robust enough to turn into breakfast sandwiches with egg and tomato.

Fried egg and tomato on a sourdough biscuit, July 2019.

The kids, ever hesitant to try new flavors, spread on their favorite Kerrygold salted butter and nothing else. (They generally see bread as a vehicle for butter, with any other flavors getting in the way.) They happily gobbled up their biscuits before reporting that, unfortunately, they tasted different from the usual and they definitely didn’t like them after all.

Needless to say, don’t listen to my children. If you love the flavor of sourdough and you, too, are terrible at remembering to care for your starter, I’d recommend making this recipe. Just make sure you bake a double batch. Really, when are seven biscuits enough?

An abbreviated version of the recipe is below. See Flourish for a full version with step by step photos.
DIY — Tips to make awesome pictures of your baked goods.
By: Davars Group
Tags: Pictures, Tips, DIY, Baking, Photography

Isn’t a picture worth a thousand words?

So, then a meme or infographic must be worth a thousand likes, right?

Nowadays posting visuals on social media has become one of the most popular fuel to your success online.

And luckily every smartphone is equipped with a decent camera.

Also, we all are blessed with plenty of editing apps which you can download for free.

With these hands-on tips and tricks, we can effectively make our baked goods pictures, more pleasant and attractive.

1. Clean start

Remove fingerprints, dust and other dirty spots and starts with a clean lens every time and again.It’s really a small effort that makes a huge difference.

2. Hurry up

Your baked goods will look at their best when they come straight out of the oven or kitchen So, make sure you are prepared.Think beforehand about where you want to take the picture, prepare the setting and arrange the attributes you want to use.

3. Bright light

Natural light is key. The best light for pictures is daylight; take this into consideration when you pick a place to take the picture.

Avoid using the flash on your phone or camera because it will make the structure and color fade away.

4. Perspective

The angle you should choose to take the pictures depends on the composition of your dish or the filling and layers of your baked goods.

When the dish has no real height dimension, you can take a picture from the top.

Taking a picture from the side will give your picture more depth and reveals what’s inside.

5. No zoom

Be Alert! Zooming in may reduce the quality and sharpness of your picture.

Do not use the zoom for a close-up. Just move the camera closer.

6. The set

The food should be the center point of the picture. Backgrounds that are too busy will distract the attention of the food.

You can add something extra to your picture but at the same time make sure you don’t lose the focus on the food.

And yes, almost every phone has a focus setting so make sure you are using that to make distracting backgrounds blurry.

7. Finishing touch

In the app store you can find plenty of tools for photo editing. Use tools like Contrast, Brightness, Warmth and Structure for food pictures and it is always better to try the editing tools.

Just experiment with the different tools, see what happens and decide what looks visually more pleasing.

8. Make it worth to share

In today’s visual world it is essential to be able to make a good picture that can travel around. But what’s even more important is that you enthuse your customers to share their pictures of your shop & offering to the world.

So always make your product presentation stand out, choose attractive branded packaging materials for your taking-away orders and make sure your shop interior is neat and tidy.

Originally published at https://davars.com.
The Best Chocolate Cake
By: M Capetz
Tags: Cake, Recipe, Baking, Chocolate, Dessert

it’s simply the best (s/o Schitt’s Creek iykyk)

Read “Carbon-Conscious Cooking” for free here.

This is simply the best. (Go watch Schitt’s Creek if you haven’t already!) There’s no other way to put it. This chocolate cake recipe is a slight variation from Add a Pinch’s “The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe {Ever}.” I could not agree more with that title. I omit the coffee because I don’t enjoy the taste, but adding it is supposed to give a deeper depth of flavor.

I made this for my brother’s birthday, so I didn’t do any vegan-izing experiments! But Add a Pinch does recommend using plant-based milk and Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer if you are vegan. The second way I deviated from the recipe was using my own homemade vanilla extract. It is extremely easy and you’ll never have to buy an expensive bottle of vanilla extract again. You have to invest in vanilla beans, usually $15, but it is worth it for the amount of extract. Cut the vanilla beans, scrape the seeds, and add it all to a little bottle or jar. Then fill with any neutral alcohol — vodka works well, and so does brandy or rum for some funk. Let it sit for a few days before using, and refill with alcohol when needed. Making your own vanilla extract can kickstart your zero-waste journey ;)

Ingredients

240 g flour

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Directions

Combine dry and wet ingredients (excluding boiling water) separately. In a stand mixer, add wet ingredients to dry until well combined. Add boiling water and mix until incorporated. Prepare 3 cake pans by oiling and lining with parchment. Alternatively, use 1 pan and bake the layers in batches. Bake at 350F for 30–35 minutes. Cool completely before frosting. (In my opinion, this cake is wonderful with a minimal amount of frosting or ganache). Serve with fresh fruit and enjoy!!
Quarantine Hobbies! 5 Ways to Find Fun During Covid-19.
By: Heather Blair
Tags: Knitting, Quarantine, Hobby, Baking, Calligraphy

Quarantine Hobbies! 5 Ways to Find Fun During Covid-19.

Quarantine is hitting all of us in strange ways, but one of the biggest is that people suddenly have more time than we know what to do with. In a society that has learned to ,monetize every minute and treat anything interesting as a potential side hustle, the luxury of doing something just because you want to is almost too much. If you’re wondering how best you can spend your time in lock-down, here are some ideas!

Knitting is making a HUGE comeback.

As people look for things to keep busy with, many are ordering yarn, needles, and checking out YouTube channels to teach themselves to make their own creations. Socks, sweaters, and scarves aren’t just clothing items that conveniently start with “S”, they’re also great items to knit!

2. People Suddenly LOVE sourdough bread.

Suddenly realizing that intense boredom and a fear-based rush on food and hygiene goods, many people are turning shelves in their fridge into homes for starter jars to make their own bread. What they then do with their bread is entirely up to them, I certainly hope it involves jam or sandwiches and not just throwing it at each other.

3. It’s a great time to start a YouTube channel!

Whether you’re interested in serial killers, makeup tutorials, or evaluating the best aquarium light for your water-based plants, with the use of a smartphone and decent lighting people finally have the time to put together content to share. If you want to get really meta, you could set up a second camera to record yourself recording yourself and set up a second YouTube channel documenting your process in starting a YouTube channel.

4. Get back into nature by gardening!

Backyards, window boxes, even raised beds are being used to cultivate fresh vegetables and flowers. It can also spawn any number of side hobbies, including composting, fertilizer research, exploring the woods to learn about new plants, and explaining to the police that your browser history is purely academic entirely coincidental to the research one might be doing to hide a body!

5. Writing like you’re signing the Declaration of Independence! Calligraphy!

Because of how few materials are needed and how little room it takes up, calligraphy is a great option for those in close quarters, or with a lot of kids who use every surface in the house! Great for wedding invitations, thoughtful wall art, or really creating ransom notes, there’s no limit to what you can write down!