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7:04 pm
Councillor
Wed 30-Dec-09
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So since the what are you cooking today thread is in the 'main course' part of the forum, I thought I'd start a pudding version of the thread here.
To get the ball rolling, today I did lemon berry puddings, based on a recipe from the Anna Olson baking programme on the food network (recipe here). I used fruit from our garden, along with some blackberries from the alleyway. They were easy to make and turned out better than I expected, even down to the lemon sauce which you get on the top.
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7:30 pm
Supreme Being
New members
Sun 30-Jan-11
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Great idea Mike
Those puds look and sound really good, I'll definitely give them a try. And yours look exactly like Anna Olson's! Well done.
learning to love veg…..except celery :-O
8:56 pm
Supreme Being
Wed 30-Dec-09
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One of our group doesn't like the local chocolate eclairs - mainly because they are filled with chocolate mousse, not cream.
Today I baked the Delia recipe for choux pastry, but made them into choux buns, not profiteroles or eclairs - it was easier to put spoonfuls on the baking sheet !!
They turned out beautifully, well-risen, and crisp, with hollow insides. Delia said to prick the cooked buns immediately to release the air, but tbh, I didn't need to - they were already just right.
Tomorrow will be the filling with cream, and topping with chocolate (not chocolate icing, like the local ones!).
Although Mike, I think that the "What are you cooking today" thread covers most things, not just main course! (However, it is getting a bit long .....)
9:35 pm
Councillor
Wed 30-Dec-09
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brightspark said:
Although Mike, I think that the "What are you cooking today" thread covers most things, not just main course! (However, it is getting a bit long .....)
I know... I'm sure I've posted some cake stuff there before but it always bugged me a bit that it was in the main course forum. Since most of my cooking experimenting recently has been breads and cakes, I thought I should set up somewhere to post them.
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10:53 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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Well done, Dr Mike.
Val, don't you think that Choux pastry is the easiest to make? I love it as gougères - I used to make a chicken liver one that was delicious.
I'll try that again!
6:33 am
Supreme Being
New members
Sun 2-Oct-11
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Vanilla sponge tray bake, I will cover with vanilla butter icing and sprinkle with chocolate drops, it cuts into 16 squares. Will also do some chocolate cup cakes. That will be enough for visitors tomorrow and us the rest of the week.
Baking is my favourite sort of cooking.
Trying to enjoy life as it is
8:32 am
Councillor
Wed 30-Dec-09
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I think I agree with you, Aly. I'm a bit of a newcomer to baking and cake making but I do enjoy it. I'm still trying to do a new recipe each week and so far this year most of them have been breads or cakes. I do like cake 
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8:47 am
Supreme Being
New members
Sun 30-Jan-11
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Me too! Although I don't actually eat most of the cakes I make (apart from a test slice!) as I'm diabetic. But husband loves cake, and of course it's obligatory for visitors 
learning to love veg…..except celery :-O
12:48 pm
Supreme Being
Wed 30-Dec-09
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Toni - it certainly is brilliantly easy to make - and you don't need cold fingers as in regular pastry!
The choux buns themselves turned out really well - although the cream took a lot of beating to get it thick enough, and then on the top ..... well, I am not a dark chocolate lover (give me Dairy Milk anytime!!) but there were some complaints that the dark chocolate was 'only' 60%, so I bought some 85%. Guess what? Too bitter, yep, we now have 7 chocolate choux buns sitting in the fridge! 
12:57 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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Could you melt the chocolate, add a little butter and some icing sugar to make it less sweet?
I'll try that again!
1:00 pm
Supreme Being
Wed 30-Dec-09
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After that, I did sprinkle a generous amount of icing sugar on top (and had already added some of the thick cream to the chocolate) but some people are not too keen if if isn't just right! 
1:28 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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I would eat it anyway, I love choux buns. At least, I used to, I haven't had any for ages. I could make some for my birthday and find out, eh? crème patissière, here I come!
I'll try that again!
3:51 pm
Supreme Being
Wed 30-Dec-09
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Well, Toni, despite not being too keen on dark chocolate, I still had one, and I thought it was rather nice!
9:51 pm
Councillor
New members
Tue 12-Feb-13
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I made a batch of ginger shortbread this afternoon as I am going to a social tomorrow and needed to take something sweet for folks to nibble on. The recipe is super easy. I used preserved ginger chunks but you can also use candied ginger. This is also good with dried cranberries for C.....
4 oz. flour
2 oz. rice flour
2 oz. sugar
4 oz. butter
2 oz. ginger, cut into small pieces
Knead the first four ingredients until they form a dough. Knead in the ginger pieces. Pack into a greased 9x9 inch pan and press down well. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon and prick with a fork. Bake at 325C degrees for 40 minutes. Cut immediately into about 24 pieces. Let cool in pan.
Home is where the heart is.
6:09 am
Supreme Being
New members
Sun 2-Oct-11
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The shortbread sounds good. Will have to try and track down rice flour.
Did a big chocolate sponge with fudge type icing in the middle and on top. Decorated with glacé cherries. Think I will do some plain shortbread today.
Trying to enjoy life as it is
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