I make bran muffins for my dad, so it seems that’s what I bake most often.
Since I make them so often, I don’t have any one recipe that I’m loyal to. (Dad, it seems, has never met a bran muffin he didn’t like, particularly if I put in extra raisins.) I vary things just to keep myself interested.
For a long time I made some by the folks at Cook’s Illustrated, but I ran out of yogurt one day and tried another recipe, and since then I’ve tended to bounce around from one to another.
Lately, I’ve been baking the ones from Nancy Silverton’s ‘Pastries from the LaBrea Bakery’ but I add some orange extract, just to liven things up a tad.
Hmmm, most of my friends and family request chocolate butter cake with ganache frosting, but I also make a lot of cheesecakes (family favorite), and the kids often request chocolate chip cookies. I make a lot of quick breads too.
We have a family tradition of going to my In-law’s house for Thanksgiving… this year I’ll be taking 2 of Rose’s Peacan Pies. I can’t wait to try the Lyle’s Golden Syrup.
I use both zest and extract, just to give things a bit of extra zip, soak the zest in some extract before adding it in to the recipe. (got the idea from Lisa Yockelson’s Baking by Flavor)
Sometimes I use orange liqueur, sometimes actual orange extract, sometimes both, but I always use zest in there someplace.
Neat…I always like hearing how people bake things and experiment with flavors in things I do not venture into, like muffins, but I love a good muffin.
You should try lemon zest. Interesting to soak the zest first.
Bread, in various kinds, once or twice a week. I’m starting a pineapple sourdough starter again (keeping the old grape one, which is still working well.)
Cakes and sweet breads for work and home, two or three a month, more for holidays.
Oh, gosh…if you’re going to press me, I’d have to say quick breads simply because we both work such long hours. Corn bread tops that list, followed by biscuits (I can’t help it; I’m from Texas LOL), and things like banana bread and bran muffins. Lately I’ve been making Rose’s quick popovers make with Wondra Flour - they’ve become such a big hit in our house.
On the weekends, however, I make one “big” dessert. It’s usually a pie of some sort, because I like pie, but I’ll be making more cakes since buying TCB. The chocolate butter cake I made last week was such a big hit!
Flourless chocolate torte is a favorite, along with the chocolate domingo cake, and devil’s food, as well as pound cake. For anything but pound cake, it has to have either buttercream or ganache. Or whipped cream, or…
At least once a week I make a batch of Fruit Fougasse. We often have it for breakfast and they are also wonderful with a cuppa.
The recipe comes from Baking with Julia, Chef Craig Kominiak’s chapter. The dough can be used as either savory (with cheese or olives it is great) or sweet. We raise a lot of soft fruits and we pick and freeze them and have them all through the year, especially on our fougasse. This time of year I love to use pears since they are in season and then add a few blackberries since they are a pear’s perfect partner.
I bake what everyone likes to eat. There is always something homemade on the counter in my kitchen. Cookies are my favorite. I bake my recipe for Chewy Cranberry Oatmeal cookies at least a few times a month. I also love Triple Ginger cookies. They are addictive and have a kick from all the ginger. Surprisingly…the kids love them too. Yesterday, I used a few finely processed ginger cookies to add a bit of interest to a graham cracker crust for a pumpkin pie I made. Coffee Cakes and Mufins are my specialty. Lorraine
Pumpkin Spice Bars with cream cheese frosting from a Betty Crocker cookbook I’ve had for years! I love it because the flavor isn’t overwhelming like a pumpkin pie and it is so very moist. I’ve made it into layer cakes as well. It reminds me of fall which is probably why I like it so much, too! A little bit of fall anytime I want to go in the kitchen and cook it which is very nice during our Texas summers.
Three times a week at least I make spelt bread. Always get my flour from the mill here in the village. Very rare I use a mix of flour bought in the shop, mix it all myself from the mill.
