I'm in a large urban area so I can get pretty much everything. I am from North Dakota so I actually know some of the tricks but I don't cook and bake like I used to when I was up north. I also work way too much.
#EdenCooks - Cinnamon Rolls - Monday, Nov 19, 8pm EST
11/19/2012
Quote:
Yep.
Originally posted by
Antipova
Is everybody with me so far?
11/19/2012
Quote:
Totally fair.
Originally posted by
SneakersAndPearls
Depends on what it is and whether I feel the need to make it right now.
Maybe at the end of the meeting I'll take a quick poll of what kinds of things everybody keeps in their cupboards, and practice making recipes up that don't force you to leave the house.
11/19/2012
I am!
I almost never have everything I need on hand. I'm almost always unprepared when a baking/cooking moment strikes!
I almost never have everything I need on hand. I'm almost always unprepared when a baking/cooking moment strikes!
11/19/2012
I just made it in from work How's everyone doing?
11/19/2012
Quote:
Cannot tell anything, it is Ok.
Originally posted by
Antipova
Whoops! Well that's the most careless I've been with images of myself yet! Dag nabbit, teapot! At least I was wearing a stocking cap...
11/19/2012
Quote:
Me too. But we live right next to a few grocery and specialty food stores so it's not such a big deal to go out and get something we need.
Originally posted by
PropertyOfPotter
I am!
I almost never have everything I need on hand. I'm almost always unprepared when a baking/cooking moment strikes!
I almost never have everything I need on hand. I'm almost always unprepared when a baking/cooking moment strikes!
11/19/2012
Quote:
I like the caramel like flavoring myself.
Originally posted by
Antipova
Because potatoes boiling is the longest part of getting the dough started, fill a pot with water and let them start to get soft.
While your potatoes are boiling, fill a heavy-bottomed pot with the sugar, milk, and butter. Using ... more
Because potatoes boiling is the longest part of getting the dough started, fill a pot with water and let them start to get soft.
While your potatoes are boiling, fill a heavy-bottomed pot with the sugar, milk, and butter. Using liquid butter to make your dough adds some fat, which makes the dough softer and more elastic, and also improves the flavor. Using milk instead of water to moisten the dough, also, adds a bit of fat... and it also adds a lot of flavor. I like to heat my milk up just to the point of scalding so the proteins shift and you get the nice (to me) leaning-toward-caramel flavor.
Heat the milk and sugar and butter just until you smell a change (this is about 140 Fahrenheit), then pull them from the heat. I put them in a Pyrex cup so they can cool more quickly than if I left them in the pan.
less
Because potatoes boiling is the longest part of getting the dough started, fill a pot with water and let them start to get soft.
While your potatoes are boiling, fill a heavy-bottomed pot with the sugar, milk, and butter. Using ... more
Because potatoes boiling is the longest part of getting the dough started, fill a pot with water and let them start to get soft.
While your potatoes are boiling, fill a heavy-bottomed pot with the sugar, milk, and butter. Using liquid butter to make your dough adds some fat, which makes the dough softer and more elastic, and also improves the flavor. Using milk instead of water to moisten the dough, also, adds a bit of fat... and it also adds a lot of flavor. I like to heat my milk up just to the point of scalding so the proteins shift and you get the nice (to me) leaning-toward-caramel flavor.
Heat the milk and sugar and butter just until you smell a change (this is about 140 Fahrenheit), then pull them from the heat. I put them in a Pyrex cup so they can cool more quickly than if I left them in the pan.
less
11/19/2012
Quote:
I have a ton of baking staples.
Originally posted by
Antipova
Totally fair.
Maybe at the end of the meeting I'll take a quick poll of what kinds of things everybody keeps in their cupboards, and practice making recipes up that don't force you to leave the house.
Maybe at the end of the meeting I'll take a quick poll of what kinds of things everybody keeps in their cupboards, and practice making recipes up that don't force you to leave the house.
11/19/2012
Quote:
Same here!
Originally posted by
Melan!e
Me too. But we live right next to a few grocery and specialty food stores so it's not such a big deal to go out and get something we need.
11/19/2012
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Welcome!
Originally posted by
Jordan B
I just made it in from work How's everyone doing?
11/19/2012
Quote:
So do I, I actually end up throwing stuff because it went bad before I used it.
Originally posted by
SneakersAndPearls
I have a ton of baking staples.
11/19/2012
I usually have a lot of things on hand... but I typically have to go pick up mix-ins like almonds or pecans or other things that would get stale on me if I just kept them in the pantry and forgot about them.
Once you add your yeast to your milk and have mixed it in, you have all the components of your dough. Add the milk/butter/sugar/yeas t and the potato and the egg to the flour.
Mix everything in with your hands until it is smooth and elastic.
I don't have a potato masher so I had to pull out a few stray bigger potato chunks.
Once you add your yeast to your milk and have mixed it in, you have all the components of your dough. Add the milk/butter/sugar/yeas t and the potato and the egg to the flour.
Mix everything in with your hands until it is smooth and elastic.
I don't have a potato masher so I had to pull out a few stray bigger potato chunks.
11/19/2012
Quote:
Ours gets used and replaced every week. We do a ton of scratch cooking and baking.
Originally posted by
travelnurse
So do I, I actually end up throwing stuff because it went bad before I used it.
11/19/2012
When your dough is nicely silky, rinse out your bowl, dry it, and add a bit of oil so that the dough can rise without sticking to anything. Return the dough to the bowl, cover it up with a damp cloth or saran wrap, and let it rise until it doubles.
This took about an hour in my November-temperatured house.
Because I'm poor and I keep my house pretty cold, I sometimes use an electric heating pad so my dough is rising at more like "room temperature," but I had to leave the house during this first rise so I just let it go its own slow pace.
11/19/2012
Prepare a bowl with your cinnamon and sugar, and mix them together.
Once your dough has risen, punch it down and smooth it out.
11/19/2012
Melt the butter a little bit. You can either plan to spread the butter on your dough rectangle and then combine the sugar and cinnamon then---or you can mix the butter and sugar and cinnamon all at once, and just apply the "muck."
Butter a 9x13" pan.
11/19/2012
Quote:
What do you mean by punch it down? Rolling it?
Originally posted by
Antipova
Prepare a bowl with your cinnamon and sugar, and mix them together.
Once your dough has risen, punch it down and smooth it out.
Prepare a bowl with your cinnamon and sugar, and mix them together.
Once your dough has risen, punch it down and smooth it out.
11/19/2012
Quote:
Well, once it has risen, just make a fist and literally punch it, straight downward, two or three times so that you release some of the gas that was trapped while the dough was rising. (Yeast generates CO2. If you don't release some, once you bake your dough, it will be all insubstantial and not as good as it would be.)
Originally posted by
Jordan B
What do you mean by punch it down? Rolling it?
11/19/2012
Roll your dough into a nice rectangle. Measure it up with your pan---they should be about the same size.
Now apply your butter and cinnamon sugar, or your "muck."
11/19/2012
Quote:
Ah ok I understand, but wouldn't rolling it out do the same thing?
Originally posted by
Antipova
Well, once it has risen, just make a fist and literally punch it, straight downward, two or three times so that you release some of the gas that was trapped while the dough was rising. (Yeast generates CO2. If you don't release some, once you
...
more
Well, once it has risen, just make a fist and literally punch it, straight downward, two or three times so that you release some of the gas that was trapped while the dough was rising. (Yeast generates CO2. If you don't release some, once you bake your dough, it will be all insubstantial and not as good as it would be.)
less
11/19/2012
Quote:
I read somewhere once that if you have trouble getting a dough to rise properly, you can gently press it down instead of punching, so you would retain some of the air. It became a habit.
Originally posted by
Antipova
Well, once it has risen, just make a fist and literally punch it, straight downward, two or three times so that you release some of the gas that was trapped while the dough was rising. (Yeast generates CO2. If you don't release some, once you
...
more
Well, once it has risen, just make a fist and literally punch it, straight downward, two or three times so that you release some of the gas that was trapped while the dough was rising. (Yeast generates CO2. If you don't release some, once you bake your dough, it will be all insubstantial and not as good as it would be.)
less
11/19/2012
Quote:
Yes I guess so, and you are definitely going to roll it soon anyway---it might feel uneven while you were doing it, though. To be honest, I have never tried not punching it down. So give it a shot in the name of Science, and report your findings!
Originally posted by
Jordan B
Ah ok I understand, but wouldn't rolling it out do the same thing?
11/19/2012
Quote:
That makes sense. Ever since I realized I could set things to rise on an electric heating pad, though, everything's always risen! (Even that ever-so-finnicky rye!)
Originally posted by
SneakersAndPearls
I read somewhere once that if you have trouble getting a dough to rise properly, you can gently press it down instead of punching, so you would retain some of the air. It became a habit.
11/19/2012
Quote:
All right sounds good. Thanks for the info
Originally posted by
Antipova
Yes I guess so, and you are definitely going to roll it soon anyway---it might feel uneven while you were doing it, though. To be honest, I have never tried not punching it down. So give it a shot in the name of Science, and report your findings!
11/19/2012
Roll your dough into as tight a cylinder as possible (the long way). Cut it into twelve pieces.
Put them all (cut side up for the end pieces) in the pan.
Cover them with your same cloth or saran wrap, and let them rise until doubled again.
Now is a good time to start letting your oven preheat to 350F, because this rise will also take about an hour.
11/19/2012
Quote:
When we do bread, we turn the oven on as soon as the second rise starts, and just set the loaves near the stove for the second rise. Works pretty well, since we don't have a heating pad.
Originally posted by
Antipova
That makes sense. Ever since I realized I could set things to rise on an electric heating pad, though, everything's always risen! (Even that ever-so-finnicky rye!)
11/19/2012
Quote:
That's a good idea!
Originally posted by
SneakersAndPearls
When we do bread, we turn the oven on as soon as the second rise starts, and just set the loaves near the stove for the second rise. Works pretty well, since we don't have a heating pad.
11/19/2012
well tonight it is in the 50's here in Florida and I refuse to turn on the heat (poor too). I wish I had a heating pad but baking sounds good.
11/19/2012
Quote:
I used to do this too, but apparently my oven-to-stovetop vent was a little too intense because sometimes the back side of my dough would bake while it was supposed to be rising But if that works with your oven, awesome!
Originally posted by
SneakersAndPearls
When we do bread, we turn the oven on as soon as the second rise starts, and just set the loaves near the stove for the second rise. Works pretty well, since we don't have a heating pad.
I know in old wood stoves there was always a "rising shelf" up above... makes me wish I had one.
11/19/2012