Daring Bakers November – Bullshit

I came across the Daring Bakers sometime in May and made my first recipe (the apple danish bread) in June.  I found it a little odd that we had to sign up for a website and keep things a secret until reveal day.  But, whatever.  It was still fun.

But now, it just retarded.

There are way too many rules for just a fun baking/blog group.  I don’t understand why it has to be so regulated.  Someone will be going around to make sure you follow the rules or else you get kicked out of the group? I call bullshit.

I quit.

TWiB #48 – Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

While visiting relatives in Indiana, I came across a recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. As soon as they heard about it, they requested I make them immediately.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Modifications
I split the dough in half.  One half had 1/2 cup pecans and the other half had 1/2 cup extra chocolate chips.  My relatives didn’t have any pumpkin pie spice (or any nutmeg), so I used 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp allspice, 1/8 tsp cloves, and 1/8 tsp ginger.

Rating
Too much chocolate; you couldn’t taste the pumpkin at all.  Too gooey.  3 1/2 stars out of 5.

TWiB #47 – Caramel Pumpkin Pie

I was making a pie for a potluck at work and I had a small amount of leftover dough. I baked up a mini pie crust and decided to try out Dorie’s Caramel Pumpkin Pie. I ended up over-darkening my caramel (and slightly overbaking the crust) so it didn’t taste very good, but I say that this recipe definitely has potential.

Caramel Pumpkin Pie

Recipe
Caramel Pumpkin Pie from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Modifications
I made a 1/4 recipe to fit my tiny pie crust.

Rating

This batch was pretty bad, only 1.5 stars out of 5, but I definitely want to try it again.

TWiB #46 – Paczki

My mom’s side of the family is all Polish, so Paczki are a pretty traditional sweet. They are also known as Bismarcks or Berliners in other parts of the world. For my fillings, I chose strawberry jam, lemon curd, and bavarian cream.

Paczki

Recipe
Authentic Polish Paczki

Modifications
I did not fry the filling in with dough. I also had to add a LOT more flour to get the dough to come together properly.

Rating
Good, but not fantastic. Gets dry if you want too long to eat them after making them. 3 stars out of 5.

TWiB #45 – Jalapeno Cake

In looking for interesting flavor combinations, I came across this jalapeno cake.  It’s a very complex recipe, with a lot of different flavors going on – chocolate, almonds, jalapeno, coffee, cinnamon – but it turned out pretty good.

Mexican Jalapeno Chocolate Cream Cake

Recipe
Mexican Jalapeno Chocolate Cream Cake

Modifications
None.  Served with coffee liqueur flavored whipped cream.

Rating
Good, but not jalapeno-y enough.  3 stars out of 5.