Adventures in Baking

I would not describe myself as domestic. I clean to preserve my marriage. I don't sew. I don't knit. And I cook only if necessary. Even then, my "cooking" typically involves opening a bag of something.

It's not that I'm unskilled in cooking; it's just that other things tend to be more important to me on a daily basis. During the weekend, I'd rather hang out with my family and friends than slave over a slow-cooked meal. During the week, I tend to get home after Justin because I teach an extra period of English after school and because I pick up Em. Also, I like to exercise during the week as much as possible.

The only domestic thing I really like doing is baking, which I don't get to do nearly enough. Typically, the only time I bake in for the holidays, and I tend to bake HUNDREDS of cookies. So, I've become adept at baking cookies, and, even more surprisingly, quite neat at baking cookies. But I don't know how to bake much else.

So I've decided, now that I don't have classes all the time, to explore baking. I'd like to try different desserts, breads, etc and see how they turn out. I will not set up a baking blog because that is WAY too much commitment, but I will chronicle my adventures here. Since November, I have baked pies, cupcakes, and today granola bars.

Thanksgiving Pies
For Thanksgiving, I made three pies: classic apple, apple-cranberry, and triple-chocolate pecan.

Successes: the apple-cranberry was quite tasty. I was a little worried that the apples would not be sweet enough to counter the tart of the cranberries, but it was actually quite balanced. It was very pretty too.

Oopsies: my classic apple baked down way too much and so the top crust collapsed. It was not very pretty and it was very sticky, but the flavor was fine. I don't think I cooked my pecan pie enough, but maybe I just don't like pecan pie. Also, the egg wash on the pecan pie crust was nauseating.

Cheats: I bought the pie crust, partly because making pie crust scares me and partly because I didn't have enough time to make my own crust. I still have pie crusts in my freezer.

Chocolate Cupcakes
During the holidays, I didn't get to make my usual army of cookies, so after Christmas I made cupcakes. I thought it'd be a fun activity for Em and her friend.

Successes: the recipe called for melted chocolate AND cocoa powder, so it was a very rich, dense cake with a lot of chocolate flavor. I was actually pretty pleased with the cake part.

Oopsies: because the cake had so little flour, it was incredibly sticky and hard to get into the cupcake tins. Making the cupcakes took a LOT longer than I thought it would, which is not great when you have two little girls waiting to frost cupcakes.

Cheats: I bought the icing. At some point in my life I need to try to make my own. And my friend ended up frosting most of them. I also used the cupcake foils that you can bake the cupcakes in; I highly recommend these.

Granola Bars
Today I decided to make granola bars with Emerson. I thought they'd be pretty easy and she loves eating granola bars, so I thought they'd make a good snack/breakfast.

Successes: the bars are baking right now, and they smell wonderful. They are a mixture of oats, honey, cinnamon, vanilla, brown sugar, raisins, and nuts (a mixture I had on hand.) I think they'll be fun to make in the future because the options are endless. The actual recipe was quite easy.

Oopsies: because of all the oats (seven cups), this recipe is quite messy. Luckily Justin stayed out of the kitchen, so I was able to cover up my mess...mostly.

Cheats: no cheats on this one. It was a really simple recipe. We'll see how they turn out.

All the baking recipes I use are from America's Test Kitchen and Cooks Illustrated cook books and magazines. I highly recommend this recipes. They test them beyond thoroughly and they always turn out. I have used dozens of recipes and have mildly disliked only one: the apple-upside down cake. Everything else has been awesome.