Joe Pastry - Knishes

ב''ה

Boy are these good.

I'm going to make a whole batch of these to give out on Purim (along with a Dr. Browns soda.) :)

Thank you Joe Pastry!

http://joepastry.com/index.php?cat=168

Joe Pastry - Sourdough Pancakes

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Just looking for new ways to use up my starter before Passover hits. After the baking soda bubbles wore off the texture of the pancakes suffered. They were all delicious though! (I am still trying to decide whether or not to tell my kids they were sourdough, since they liked them so much. Will it turn them on to sourdough or just turn them off of my pancakes?)

The "Ez Man" is still too little for pancakes... (just ignore the pink bouncy, he has older sisters ;)

Heavenly Cake - Double Chocolate Cake (2 attempts)

ב''ה

Mis en place:

Chocolate and butter.

I should have realized something was wrong when the batter was as thick as a buttercream...

Keep the ganache warm while the cake bakes.

Carefully check the raspberries to make sure they are kosher (no bugs...)

Looks OK...

I used a tooth-pick. I think I made the holes too small as the ganache did not really seep in. I told my wife that I think I saw Rose use something bigger in one her videos. My wife jokingly said, "...are you kidding! I think Rose uses a coffee cup to make her ganache holes!"

I put some chambord in the ganache for extra raspberry flavor. Yum!

After glazing the raspberries I am ready for divine inspiration I take a bite...

The verdict is... ach! Dry!!

Gross!

What happened?

I soon found out:

http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2006/11/blogger_aaron_solves_dry_choco.html

Apparently, this is a common problem. I wish Rose had given a warning of how unforgiving the chocolate cake batter could be...

There simply was not enough liquid to dry ratio in the batter. To be fair I did not sift the flour and chocolate. It seems the wet and dry proportions of the chocolate cake must be exact for the proper  texture.

I had to make it again.

So...

My father was having a house warming party the next day. A 1/2 hour or so before I whipped up one of these cakes up and put in 3/4 cup of boiling water into the chocolate instead of the 1/2 cup. The batter was nice and runny. (I also had to make it parve (i.e. margarine) since it was a meat meal...)

The cake cake came out a little lopsided with out the proper height. But... it was moist, fudge-y (, warm) and yummy! The extra liquid must have weighed it down. Next time I will either weigh my ingredients properly (not likely until I can afford (and have room for) a nice scale, sorry Rose!) or attempt to use 2/3 cup boiling water instead of 3/4 and see the difference...

Rose's cake even though it was made funny looking by my efforts totally blew this bakery cake out of the water! Only one or two pieces were attempted from this cake (and not finished.)

 

Rose's Cake after it was attacked by the populous...

Just goes to show you that a really good unadorned (and lopsided) cake can out-do a fancy looking cake any day. :) Thank you Rose!

My father's new place, by the way, has three ovens! Meat, Dairy and Parve! Yowza! I'll think I may be coming over more often... ;)

I also made Chocolate chip cookies (using Joe Pastry's tutorial.) The Muscavodo sugar I added really made these great!

My little brother Georgie snuck an extra cookie from the tin on our way out...

Alfred E. Neuman for President...

(Actually it is a smily face for my Hebrew Birthday cake I made. Rose's Golden Yellow Butter cake with Chocolate Glaze...)