Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with food and baking

Mmm, cookies.

SuzySmith — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:13:49 -0800

What cookies should I bake for my family this year? What have been your most successful cookies and/or cake or other holiday sweet? Last year I was out of commission baking wise. Normally I bake about 60 dozen cookies for family and friends. The basics are: chocolate chip, peanut butter, and a sugar cookie.

Everything else is up in the air.

Thanks in advance.

Giving the gift of deliciousness

sararah — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:32:56 -0800

In previous years I've made a lot of cookies to give away to friends and family around the holidays. This year I'd like to do something a little different, but still make it a gift of food. So I've done my holiday-cookie-palooza for the last three years or so, and I'd like to change it up a bit this year. For one, making all of the cookies tends to be a lot of minutiae since it is like 10 different recipes. Also, a lot of people (including yours truly) are trying to eat better, and there are more than enough holiday cookies that will make their way on to our plates throughout the season. I recognize not all of the ideas below are "healthy," per se, but some of them will last a lot longer, are used in small quantities, or are freezable for enjoyment after the holidays.

I'm not ruling out cookies entirely, and I may still make a few favorite batches. I'm not really interested in making the jars of brownie mix/cookie mix or whatever, I feel as if those often go unused.

Some ideas I have rolling around in my head:
-Breads: either a sandwich-type loaf or a sweet fruit bread
-Jams: I have recently learned how to preserve and have successfully made strawberry jam and apple butter. Considering making pumpkin butter, cranberry jams/chutneys or some sort of citrus jam/marmalade as oranges, etc hit their peak.
-Frozen baked goods: fully prepared pies, scones, chocolate chip cookie dough or cinnamon rolls that you would just have to bake.
-Granola
-Would be awesome but also a lot of work: homemade bacon

So I'm wondering what you would personally like to receive in a holiday-themed gift basket of food? Have you ever done anything like this or received one from a friend? Ideas on clever packaging are also welcome.

Piece of Cake

misha — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:38:42 -0800

My lovely castle cake pan is sadly suffering from disuse. Help me out with your favorite bundt cake recipes and glazes. I'm especially looking for recipes that go well with seasons or themes (for example, for Fall/Halloween, maybe a pumpkin or haunted house chocolate bundt cake), but I'd enjoy anything from your favorite, easy-to-make staples to the most exotic variety. Again, don't forget to include special glazes (and yes, I have seen the top 20 on allrecipes.com).

Help Salvage My Muffins!

munichmaiden — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 06:10:36 -0800

I just made a huge batch of zucchini/apple muffins and they look beautiful. Unfortunately, they taste well, not horrible, but very, very baking soda-y. What should I do with them? Is there another dessert I could turn them into? A sauce to serve over them that would cut the soda taste? Should I cube and toast them? I'm willing to try anything! I just spent an hour making these and I'd hate too see all that work go to waste. They are so close to being really tasty, but I can't stand the edge of the soda.

What's the difference between good buttercream icing and old fashioned birthday cake icing?

kdern — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:27:24 -0800

What's the difference between good buttercream icing and old fashioned birthday cake icing? My fiancee and I have picked up cake & icing samples from a couple well known bakeries here in St. Louis... we need to order our wedding cake soon. Traditional birthday cake is one of my favorite foods - yellow cake with white icing and flowers.. but the buttercream icings from these bakeries taste nothing like what I'm used to.

I'm sure the buttercream icing is supposed to be better and more elegant, but I like the thicker, sweeter icing I grew up with on birthday cake since I was a kid.

(Note - I don't mean the super light, lardy, cheap icing that some supermarkets have. I mean rich, sweet, birthday cake icing. Here in St. Louis, Dierberg's Supermarket bakery uses it. In Northeast Philadelphia, Hesh's Bakery on Castor Avenue uses it.)

So what is the regular stuff called? Is it just a buttercream with more sugar and less butter?

Also - my fiancee says the kind of icing I like is not elegant enough for a wedding cake. Do you agree?

Good baked goods?

disillusioned — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:56:56 -0800

What great baked goods would make a coffee shop/cafe AMAZING for you? I've got a friend who has an opportunity to bake for a coffee shop that has an emphasis on local, organic, and sustainable stuff (as all good coffee shops should). They're wanting her to come up with some cool and off-the-beaten path baked goods that will work well in display cases and taste great. (And old standards as well!)

Thoughts and recipes and experiences with fun baked-goods selections at coffee places would be great. It'll be relatively limited space and smaller batches, so not a HUGE production, but in general, throw it at us!

Cooking Diary?

Maia — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 15:04:51 -0800

Where can I buy a notebook/journal intended to let me record the meals I cook? I'm looking for not only something to hold recipes, but something where I could also put the date and my opinion of the recipe. In essence, it'd be like a cooking diary. Does such a thing exist?

Please identify this Armenian treat

contessa — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:09:00 -0800

Please help me identify this yummy Armenian treat. I would love to know the name of (and recipe for, if possible) a yummy cookie-type-treat that an old Armenian co-worker used to bake up for us.

It was mildly sweet and had the texture of a grainy shortbread. There was a very light, thin sweet glaze or wash of some kind on the top, and saffron was one of the ingredients. By my recollection it must have been formed into patties or logs before baking and then cut into segments - maybe something like a biscotti, but probably not twice-baked.

I want to say the name of it started with an "M" but my memory could be playing tricks on me, because the lady who made it for me had a name that started with "M." Also, I'm 99% sure she said it was a traditional Armenian recipe.

Tried and true fat-free baked dessert recipes that don't suck?

vytae — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:21:02 -0800

I'm looking for fat-free (or super low-fat, like under a gram per reasonably-sized serving) recipes for baked goods that you've personally made and enjoyed. Cookies, cakes, quick breads, etc. are all fair game. Bonus points for chocolate stuff. I've heard all the usual tips about using apple sauce, prune baby food, black beans, instant fat-free pudding, etc. in place of the oil. I'm not averse to those things, but I'm having trouble finding any recipes using these techniques that aren't followed by 150 reviews saying how disgusting the results are. So: I'm not looking for general low-fat baking tips, I'm looking for specific recipes that you've actually had good results with. I don't expect the results to taste exactly like the real thing, I just want a non-gross approximation, and I trust the taste of my fellow MeFites more than a slew of random complainers on the internet cooking sites.

(Also, I understand that 2 bites of the real thing may be more satisfying than a huge piece of some nonfat substitute. And that adding sugar to make up for lost fat yumminess doesn't reduce overall calories. And that low-fat diets aren't a cure-all. I'm hoping to head off any derails here at the pass - just recipes, please! Thanks!)

Help a health-conscious snacker bake!

schmoo — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 08:28:08 -0800

Please suggest me some snacks, light or portable dishes that are both healthy and involve baking or cooking. I love to cook. I especially love to cook recipes that involve lots of chopping, stiring, mixing, frying or baking. I don't like recipes that are just an assembly of ingredients, or which only take 2 minutes. I like to be in the kitchen! That said, I'm not looking to spend hours in the kitchen, so something that takes 3 days isn't really an option!

I cook a lot of meals like this in the evenings, but I'm looking for snacks that I can bake or cook. - Things that I can take to work in my lunchbox, snack on after work, or leave in the fridge and graze on for a few days.

However, I'm also pretty health-conscious and trying to, if not lose a few pounds, definately not put any on. This rules out the normal things that I think I would find fun cooking - cookies, cupcakes, muffins, quiche, samosas, breads, etc. That list seems biased towards sweet things, but savoury are just as welcome, if not more.

The kinds of things that I am looking for, and have experimented with already are: falafels (baked, not fried), healthy lo-cal dips (would welcome more of these!) and glazed nuts (not the most low-fat of snack but at least has health benefits). I would love any and all suggestions for things along these lines. I would also welcome low-calorie versions of the things that I don't bake - cookies, cakes, etc.

So - give me your recipes for low-fat, low-cal or just plain healthy snacks and light dishes which involve cooking or baking.

I have searched previous posts, and while there are many on health snack ideas, none that meet my particular criteria! Thanks in advance!

What's a good recipe for gingerbread construction materials?

ErWenn — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:35:40 -0800

I'm thinking about building a gingerbread house this year, and as usual for food topics that have yet to show up on Good Eats, I'm at a loss for where to find a good recipe. I'm looking for something that balances structural integrity with taste because I think it's utterly ridiculous to build something out of edible materials and then not eat the thing. Besides, eating the roof off of a gingerbread house must be at least twice as much fun as biting the head off a gingerbread man.

If you can also point me to a good recipe for the frosting stuff that you use to stick things together. I think it's called "royal frosting", but I'm not positive on that.

Help me make the best cupcakes ever.

The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 23:24:18 -0800

What are the best cupcakes you've ever ever had? How can I make them? I'm looking to bake the best, most delicious, wonderful cupcakes ever. Like, cupcakes that would win awards. So please, share with me your tips, tricks, and recipes, and maybe i'll send you a few. okay, probably not really.
also, bonus points for a really really good cream cheese frosting.

Give me your best non-froofy Devil's Food Cake recipes, please

Your Time Machine Sucks — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:22:12 -0800

Give me your best non-froofy Devil's Food Cake recipes, please. Hello,

I'm baking a cake for a birthday party and it's going to be a Devil's Food. I would love to hear or get links to some recipes that you have baked to great success. But, you know how it is; when an expat asks for a recipe for an item from home, what they are really asking for is the platonic ideal of that foodstuff. What they ate for dessert at a mythological diner when they were 12. So, nothing with contrarian flavor pairings or extraordinary chemical processes, or low-fat/low-sodium please: I'm looking for grandma cake here. I will do any necessary conversion to metric/celsius/eurobutterstick. My preference for cake sweetness is right in the middle, and my preference for frosting texture is airy and creamy. I'm an experienced baker and can deal with timing constraints, double-boiling and the like. The only ingredient which I'd say is right out is Crisco, since it is only known here as a lubricant and I'm not keen on paying a sex shop €10 for a can of the stuff.

LOL.

Bonus for any recipes which use no or very little baking soda, since it is hard to obtain here while baking powder is ubiquitous, but if not, no prob!

Thank you very much!

I'd like to bake eggy-stink-free biscotti, but how?

Salthound — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 15:33:16 -0800

Need help from experienced bakers: how do I get rid of the eggy smell that clings to otherwise delicious biscotti (and some other baked goods) after they come out of the oven? The only advice I have found is to add a teaspoon of honey to the batter. (I use your standard eggs, out of the shell) Does this work? What causes the eggy smell anyway? How do industrial biscotti-bakers avoid having the smell?

Baking treats without baking people

melissam — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:10:36 -0800

Looking for a way to bake some treats without baking the entire apartment. I love to bake, but now it's getting hot and my tiny kitchen doesn't disperse heat well. If the oven is at 400 F, it's going to make the place hotter. I know about berry parfaits and other fruity summer desserts, but I like to bake. Anyone have recipes that either don't use the oven (stove seems to not heat the rest of the place as much, so crepes are an option) or keep it at a low temperature?

Am I "one cupcake short of a baker's dozen?"

richmondparker — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:47:29 -0800

1 Cupcake short of a Baker's Dozen...or how to arrange 12 cupcakes on a circular plate. OK, so I've followed the recipe and now have 12 delicious-looking cupcakes for dinner tonight. Try as I might, though, I can't seem to get them on a circular plate in any kind of a pattern that doesn't bug me to death. Is there a way to do this, or is that why a baker's dozen is called a baker's dozen ("Aw, screw it...I'll just make one extra cupcake so everything is nice and even."). Obviously, not earth-shatteringly important, but I'm curious...

Granooooooola! Granoooooola!

santojulieta — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:06:46 -0800

Granola me! How can I make really really tasty granola? What granola recipes do you love love love? Where the hell can I find brown rice syrup in Chicago? I love granola, but I'm sick of spending $3.50 per box of the store bought time once a week. I want to make my own in large quantities to be stored in large airtight containers.

What can you tell me about making granola of my own? I have tried to make a granola recipe from Martha Stewart ("Six Mile Granola") with very unsuccessful results multiple times. Are there other recipes that you love and are not terribly difficult to make?

And I have never ever ever found brown rice syrup, whatever that is... Where could I find some in Chicago?

Vegans do it without animal products.

sneakin — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:11:05 -0800

I need some tried and true delicious vegan recipes. I am going to an office party tomorrow and I'd some really yummy recipes for vegan stuff. I'm an omnivore so I'm a bit at sea trying to suss out which recipes will be really truly delish. I can't decide if I want appetizery stuff, entree type stuff or desserty type stuff so whatever you know, please send it my way. I already reviewed the existing AskMe threads and do have some potential contenders but I would like a few more options, especially since I haven't decided what "genre" of food to bring yet.

"Machine that spits out the shape I want."

scottMontgomery — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 07:25:08 -0800

Trying to find a company that makes a machine that can make food moulds in the shape of an animal. Anyone? I've heard that there is a German company that makes these machines only I didn't get the name and now I can't seem to find this company anywhere on the internet.

undead fruit.

digifox — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 16:21:03 -0800

How do I work with freeze-dried foods? I like the idea of having astronaut berries around if I all of a sudden need to bake up some delicious snacky treat when all the stores all closed, but what do I do with them? Do I rehydrate them, and then bake? Throw them in dry? How do I know how much to put in? Could I make delicious smoothies with rehydrated fruits? Would I be better off with plain old frozen fruit entirely?

Basically, I don't know anything about freeze-dried food, except that it exists. Teach me.

What happens in that oven?

coolhappysteve — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 21:19:36 -0800

Why does cookie dough taste better than cookies? It's the same story with brownie batter, cake batter, and any number of other pre-baked batters and doughs - I contemplated this question tonight as I licked the bowl clean after putting a loaf-to-be of banana bread in the oven.

While you may personally disagree, look at ice cream companies, who have offered "cake batter," "brownie batter," and - of course - cookie dough ice creams for ages.

My question is, what are some concrete reasons for why batters taste so incredible? What happens chemically during the baking process to alter the taste and in what ways does it change? What exactly is so satisfying about the raw dough?

Oh, and this is my first ever MeFi post, after so many years of watching. Hello, everyone!

This is me blushing

bilabial — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 13:05:56 -0800

I think people would pay to watch me do (tame) stuff on the internet, but getting from that idea to the whole moving forward, I need help. I really like to bake, and I have some other hobbies that I enjoy doing, and the end product is useful to me. I've heard there are people with fetishes. My inspired mind is mostly inspired by a combination of stories about girls paying the rent with web cam shows that are, um, dirty AND crafty websites and podcasts. But I don't know how they get all the stuff hooked up. Or how they connect to the internet for this kind of stuff and what sort of paperwork is required to be sure that the IRS isn't going to want my ass on a platter in three years for tax stuff. I mean, we have a fast connection, and I have a laptop but no webcam yet.

Where can I go for a step by step "how to open a web business (that you kind of want to be a secret but secretly hope will make gazillions of dollars and be lots of fun)" primer? (oh, that was embarassingly easy)

About the baking, really, I'm serious. I imagine this to be a sort of website where people could go to learn to cook, because that would be serious, not just some chick smearing chocolate sauce on herself (not that that's not art or something, I just can't get into it). But there could be some aspects of it that could be more subtly erotic. And I have lots of shoes and probably other stuff that's fetishized.

As for myself, I'm in very good shape and pretty attractive.

I had wanted to do this anon, but I'm sure I will need to engage in a dialog about all of this.

I don't yet know how to write code, I don't know how to hide my personal paypal information (someone mentioned that I could get stalked with that information), but I have some patience and a day job that makes baking/crocheting/sewing a really good way to unwind. I also like the idea of having an Amazon wishlist connected to this webcast so that I can get a better stocked kitchen, and I've seen that it looks pretty secure.

What's the secret to baking cookies that stay soft?

macadamia — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 21:51:07 -0800

What's the secret to baking cookies that stay soft? I've been told to add lecitihin, trade 1/2 butter for shortening, use egg yolks, etc. "C is for Cookie, and H is for Help" includes good suggestions for preventing flat, runny cookies, but I'm trying to bake cookies that don't go crunchy 30 minutes out of the oven.

CookieFilter

Goofyy — Sat, 12 Mar 2005 09:53:19 -0800

Coffee Walnut Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Originally known from David's Cookies, in NYC. Recipe? Google turns up a recipe reference on a dead site, the cache only returns search pages, not the recipe. Anyone have the recipe or a link? A very fond memory! Coffee-flavored dough, walnuts, and chunks of dark chocolate. YUM!

Sourdough Bread

dame — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 11:11:07 -0800

Bakers, help! How do I get my sourdough sourer? The one thing I miss living Back East is real sourdough. Having despaired of finding it in stores, I have begun trying to make my own. However, I cannot get it to taste the way it should (like it does in Cali). I made starter according to the bread machine recipe & left it out for days, but no dice. Is it a question of the air and the water? Am I just doomed?