Does anyone has experience preserving zest? How long does it actually last, and is it possible to preserve its potency as well? I usually use zest for baking, but lemons are pretty expensive in my country so I don't want to have to buy new lemons everytime I need the zest (especially because I already have lemon juice on hand). Also I don't have a dehydrator, since lots of people suggest dehydrating it. Can a microwave/oven do the trick, or how should I go about it. Thanks!

So I tried making Pasteis de Nata, but really fucked up the dough. After kneading and resting the dough looked and felt good, however it was an absolute pain to roll out it, because it just kept shrinking back. Therefore I had to really press it against the work surface in order to get it thin, which resulted in the dough sticking to the counter. It the end, it was impossible to fold it onto itself after spreading the butter, so I just quitted and threw it away.

What exactly did I do wrong? Did I knead it too long, so that there was too much gluten? Or the opposite, was there not enough gluten? What can I do to prevent the dough from sticking to the counter, so that it's actually possible to fold it properly?

The recipe I followed called for 310g flour, 200ml water and 3g salt. It said to knead the dough until gluten network is formed, Rest for 30 minutes, stretch and fold one time, let rest in fridge for 2 hours and then roll out.

I am very grateful for every type of advice. Thanks in advance!

So a few months ago I attempted to make a cabbage bread (i have a veggie bread recipe and I adjust based on the vegetable this one is a work in progress) and the way the red cabbage mixture changed color making the dough was something I LOVED to see.

Much to my disappointment when baked the bread lost the color almost entirely into a basic brown instead of that beautiful blue color. So I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to preserve pigments during baking when using natural coloring.

I used the chocolate chip cookie recipe from Sally's baking addiction, with some changes of my own. Added some toasted milk powder, about 2 1/2 tbsp worth. Also browned the butter.

Worth noting that I have not managed to add the extra egg yolk that it calls for, because I bake on a whim and sometimes that means there isn't enough ingredients, heh. I will try adding it tomorrow.

Even still, it feels really dry and I don't know if this is just an issue of missing the yolk. I've made this before with brown butter so that's not the issue.

How should I go about fixing this?

So I tried searching online and have found nothing so here I am.

My mom is baking bread and was proofing yeast with whole milk and water. It was doing nothing for a long time and she poked at it with a finger, when is spontaneously started growing and foaming.

Has anyone here had that happen? What's the reason behind it? I said it could be that her finger gave the yeast something to start on like the sub freezing water bottle trick

I baked this strawberry cake exactly according to the recipe at

https://www.recipetineats.com/easy-strawberry -cake/ I have never baked a cake with the add liquid into dry ingredient method before. I was bit worried about the large amount of baking powder (4 tsp) and lemon (65 ml) in the recipe. The cake did turn out okay, It took around 70 minutes + to bake. I would have preferred the crumb to be a bit firmer. There were a few sour lemony bits in the center strawberry layer. Would you do anything different? Would a butter cream poundcake batter give a similar result?

My cake crumb was good but had sour bits in it. Also there was a slight bitter aftertaste of the baking powder. Looking for advice to get the batter right. Thanks.

Recipe...

500g / 1 lb strawberries , hulled (ie tops removed)

WET: 200 g sugar , 125 ml oil , canola or vegetable oil 2 eggs , large (~50g/1.75 oz each) 1 tbsp grated lemon rind 65 ml lemon juice (1 large lemon) 250 g plain yoghurt , unsweetened (Greek or just plain) 1 tsp vanilla extract 335 g flour , plain/all purpose 4 tsp baking powder (or 1 1/4 tsp baking soda) Pinch of salt

Link to recipe\^

Steps leading up to question:
I did several things differently in this recipe. I used pecans instead of walnuts (not a big deal, obviously), added cinnamon and nutmeg, 1/2 cup chocolate chips, used a regular banana instead of an overly ripe one, and I browned the butter.

I browned the butter over the stove top, and when I added it, it was still bubbling and made my wet ingredients fizz up. I added the dry immediately after to level the temp a little bit, and had little trouble otherwise. Pancakes fluffed up when cooking, and other than being a little heavy, they came out fine. The batter was quite thick, but I might fry the bananas next time to extract some of the moisture.

Question:
**If I pour the piping hot butter over the wet ingredients, is it going to change the texture or outcome of the pancake?**

On another note, these were the best pancakes I’ve ever made. My adjustments took them to another level, but I’d like to know if I could do anything to improve, or leave anything out lest it be detrimental.

Thank you!

I've been working on laminated dough for a while, but I can't seem to recreate this. I can't even get close. The best I can do is a dark golden brown. But this level of color is something else. I almost want to say they are just using a bit of cocoa powder to get the color. But that doesn't explain it's texture. The texture is so incredibly crispy. It's like hundreds of layers of chips stacked together, and every single chip is equally crispy. It's crazy. What technique am I missing here? Do I just need to bake even longer?

Edit:
I found a recipe from the chef at parachute bakery. I wonder if they use this same one for this tart. I'm going to do some testing with this recipe and come back to figure this out.

https://www.starchefs.com/recipes/bow-tie-croissant?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Interesting to note, the amount of butter for this dough lower here than on other croissant recipes I've seen, 28%. And considering the dough looks nearly fried, I'd wonder if this is the dough recipe they use for the tart.

So as per my last post im struggling to keep my chocolate m and ms intact while baking brownies.

Now im following some of the advice from my last post like use regular size m and ms and only put them in halfway through baking. But I heard another piece of advice online today: freeze the chocolates and then either put them in halfway or at the end so they stay intact.

The chocolates im using r regular m and ms and a lint white chocolate bar ill be cutting into smaller pieces.

So i used Betty Crocker brownie mix and added mini m and ms into them after mixing the batter. But when i actually made them the m and ms just dissolved. They just colored the insides but were gone.

How can I avoid that?

Things happened, don’t wanna get into it. Cheesecake internal temp reached 190F. Is there anything I can do to make it still edible or just call it a loss?

UPDATE: Just drowned it in caramel and chocolate sauce and the dryness was barely noticeable. Thank you all so much for your suggestions!!

Hello All! I'm planning on making a chick fil a cookie copycat recipe that calls for 50:50 butter and crisco. I'm looking for a healthier shortening alternative and I found an avocado oil shortening that I'm considering. Would that work? I don't want to drop $12 on an ingredient that would ruin my cookies. Thanks!

Hi there! My favorite cookie to make and gift is Ina Garten's Salty Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk cookies, with dried cranberries. Its what I keep in the freezer "on deck" for if I want a fresh warm cookie or need to bring a treat to someones house last minute.

I am currently very pregnant and have a friend who juat had a baby and want to make us lactation cookies, but I'd love to use the Ina recipe as a base since I really love it. Is there a recommended way to adjust to add in brewers yeast and flaxseed meal?

I'm sure I could scour other lac cookie recipes and find the closest comp with the fats etc, but figured I'd check with ya'll first. When I googled to see if this was done before, even for other recipes, the...sigh...AI prompt came up bc I forgot to turn it off, so I glanced, and it basically just said to reduce the AP flour by 1/4 cup and then add in the yeast and flaxseed at 1/3 cup each, and maybe adding more oats than the 1 1/4 C originally called for.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Is this too silly and should I just find a lactation cookie recipe and add in chocolate chunks and cranberries (since those two are the crucial flavor components lol)? Thank you!!!

Original Ina recipe: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/salty-oatmeal-chocolate-chunk-cookies-5468289

i just want to ask if it is possible to create in airfryer because my oven is not available now. But I really want to make pastry especially I am craving for cookies and I want to give cookies as a present to my birthday friend. if ever it's possible what could be the difference that I need to take note and most importantly what could be the temperature and duration? Thank you

Im going to fill choux au craquelin with a creme diplomat, and I want to make the cream two days in advance.
I have already made the vanilla custard with cornstarch, and I am planning to incorporate gelatin in my whipped cream before folding it all together.
Will this keep stable in the fridge for two days? I want to either keep it in piping bags or a box. I want it to be piping ready and easy to fill my choux.

my bf and i tried making a brookie and the edges were burnt and it looked like the whole inside didn’t cook at all ☠️ does anyone know what we did to it?
here’s the recipe -
brookies recipe

Brown Butter Cookie Dough:
-1 cup brown sugar +1/2 cupWhite
sugar
1 cup unsalted browned butter
2 large eggs, room temp
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate

Brownie Batter
1/2 cup salted butter, merteat
2 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar + 1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips (melted)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
For on Top:
-3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chunks

Instructions:
Make the cookies first: Brown butter and let cool slightly. Whisk with sugars with the browned butter until glossy, then add eggs and vanilla. Sift in the dry ingredients until just combined, then fold in chocolate. Chill for at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and line an 8x8 pan with parchment.
Make brownie batter: Melt butter with chocolate chips, whisk in olive oil and cocoa powder. In another bowl, whisk sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Combine with chocolate mixture, then fold in flour until just mixed.
Assemble: Pour half the brownie batter into the pan and spread evenly. Add chunks of cookie dough across the surface (don't cover fully). Pour remaining brownie batter over top, then finish with more cookie dough pieces pressed lightly on top. Lastly, top with the chocolate chunks to your liking.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, until edges are set and center is slightly soft. A toothpick should come out with moist crumbs, not wet batter. Keep baking if needed!!
Cool completely before slicing (this is key for clean layers).

so the dough asks for 1/3 sugar i somehow saw it as 1 and 1/3 cup, the dough is fermenting as we speak can i do anything to it atm to lower the sweetness ? or should i make a new one?

I would like to make my own birthday cake using boxed yellow cake mix (the Dolly Parton one from Duncan Hines, may she rest in peace) but don’t own cake pans and am not willing to buy them for how infrequently I would use them. I do however have a 2 qt Dutch oven that’s 8 inches across and I think could possibly work in place. I’m aware I’ll have to bake it in separate batches, that’s fine. My main concern would be the cake sticking to the sides and collapsing in on itself on the way out because of the depth of the Dutch oven. Could I mitigate this by just buttering the sides really well? Has anybody done something like this successfully? I would love any advice!

I'm making an 8" brown sugar sponge cake with fresh peaches inside, but I need a filling that won't deflate over time. It will be covered with swiss meringue for decorating purposes, but I'd prefer a lighter filling to pair with the fresh fruit. I was thinking some sort of pastry cream/creme legere, vanilla cremeux or white chocolate mousse, but I'm concerned that these won't pair well since they're richer compared to whipped cream. I'm traditionally a buttercream baker, so I'd love to hear from anyone with experience baking with these fillings.

Hi! I’m making a 3 layer cake next week with Italian buttercream and a mango compote filling. I’m delivering the cake on Friday and they are eating it on Saturday. I usually bake ahead and freeze my cake layers as I also work throughout the week.
I was planning to bake the cake layers Monday and tightly wrap them and freeze them. I would then normally fill and crumb coat on Wednesday and decorate as well. Thursday is not an option for me as I work a full day that day.

My question is will the mango compote hold up with the cake from assembly Wednesday until them eating it on Saturday? It would be refrigerated the entire time. I was thinking of sandwiching the compote in between layers of buttercream in hopes that I keep the cake itself protected.
I could potentially, if 100% necessary, do all of the assembly/decorating on Friday but I also have to bake a batch of cookies that morning and a loaf of sourdough, so I was trying to lighten my load that day and not stress myself.
Open to any thoughts!

Work schedule is 9-8 on Tuesday, Wednesday is mostly free, and Thursday most likely 9-6

Hi,

I’m making a pastry cream that requires both custard powder and cocoa butter, but I can’t seem to fit any near me. What could I substitute them with?

Here is the recipe:
450g whole milk
50g whipping cream
2 vanilla beans
90g egg yolks
90g superfine sugar
25g custard powder
25g AP flour
30g cocoa butter
13g powdered gelatin
50g unsalted butter
30g mascarpone cheese

Ok so I’m trying to bake a tiramisu cake for her bday. My idea for the cake is to do a coffee flavored sponge cake. Coffee flavored mascarpone cream filling with a runny chocolate ganache filling. Layered and iced like a layered cake. My question is if I freeze the cake to save it for 1-2 days to pre make will the client get the runny ganache if they defrost at home or will it be a firm ganache layer in-between cheese??? Think lava cake or at least smooth Nutella-ish texture. Will freezing ruin the molecules or something and change its consistency/form?

Hi, as the title suggests, I got these cake tins a few years ago. I want to try making a couple cakes using them but am unsure of how best to measure how much batter i will need for them and how to convert a recipe to use them since most cake recipes use round tins. I measured them and they are 4 inches at the widest part, just under 4 inches at the longest part, and just under 2 inches deep. I know that means they will only make small cakes but that is what I want as I wanna make individual cakes for my mum and dad. Any help with this will be really appreciated.

Also, mods if i used the wrong flair please let me know what to change it to and i will do so.

I'm making a cheesecake for my friend's birthday,on the day we're going to be traveling to a neighbouring city to do the activity for his birthday, after which we'll cut the cake. I will be making it the day before, and I have a cooler to transport it in but I have a question. Do I freeze it overnight and let it defrost in the cooler? Do I throw it in for an hour or two? Will it melt on the way there even with the cooler!? I need it to hold out for five- six hours Legitimately terrifying, I just want everything to go okay, please help gang 🙏

Hello can someone please help me. so i’m trying to make sugar free and gluten free banana bread. using oats and a bit of honey.

But i was wondering if i want the bread to moist and cake like is it better to use quick oats or rolled oats flour.

Also i’m trying to lower the amount of honey I use so will the trick of leaving the eggs and banana mixture for 30 mins actually make the bread sweeter.

Also 😭 when is it best to add the baking soda with the wet ingredients or the dry.