A Roundup of Things I Baked This Summer

I guess I have been a very uninterested blogger this summer--well let's face it, I go through a rough patch every year, don't I?--and I thought I'd finally lay these baked goods to rest.

And without further ado....

for the blog

July 13, 2009
A Cheesecake for the Doulas

RLB's famous cheesecake, right out of The Cake Bible.

Rose recommends baking the cheese cake without a graham crust to prevent it from getting soggy. She then adds that if you want a graham cracker crust to pat it on afterward. I tried that once, and it was a big crumbly disaster.

So this time I did it the old fashioned way. And that created enough leftover batter to make me a tiny little personal cheesecake.

cheesecake from july

It was a little undercooked in the middle, but really, who cares? Well, I did, but we ate the entire thing anyway. I think this was the meeting where we had three different desserts. Good meeting.

August 02, 2009
Hooray I'm Off Call! Cupcakes

I was on call from March through August this year, and I was looking forward to a break. The last birth I attended was a three-day sucker during the heatwave that fooled Portland into thinking we were in Arizona. For once, I was really glad to spend three days stuck at OHSU. (Hooray for cold L&D wards!)

cupcakes from august

I cheated and tried Dr Oetker's chocolate cake mix. Not bad, but a little dry. I defrosted a few buttercreams (one from 2006, but it was still good!) and that's the story. Easy as pie, and even more rewarding.

August 03, 2009
Carlotta's Peanut Butter Birthday Torte

Carlotta saw my blog post about Dorie Greenspan's Peanut Butter Torte (from another good doula meeting) , and asked if I would make it for her birthday. Of course I would, and I did.

This is the only photo I have of her torte:

IMG_1244

She had to pull photos from the other torte for her blog. Sorry Carlotta. But happy birthday!!

September 14, 2009
Dorie Greenspan's Cinnamon Squares

Oh, to be lazy, here's a wonderful article written by Dorie about her favorite spice, cinnamon, and these cinnamon squares.

They have long tempted me, these squares. And so for this month's doula meeting I finally gave these a try. Thank god for the doula meeting.

Hoo-boy, I decided to go whole hog and do the cappuccino variation, where you infuse espresso into the milk (and you already use instant espresso for the filling). After two squares of cake I was jittery as all hell. But it was so good!

cinnamon squares from september

Our resident midwife brought along an excellent plum cake. A two-cake meeting. Awesome.

September 19, 2009
Dorie's Buttery Jam Cookies

I cleaned out the refrigerator as I am about to go on a very long vacation, and I found SIX jars of opened jam. Six. Jars. Opened.

Sigh.

What the heck was I going to do with all that jam? And on the eve of my trip?

buttery jam cookies

I opted for cookies. I could give some to the Jellos and take the rest home to the family. Plus, it would hopefully polish off a jar of jam.

The Buttery Jam cookies did NOT polish off a jar of jam, but they are pretty darn tasty. They are cakelike and tender, and if you don't use an overly sweet jam the cookies are just sweet enough. The jammy flavor is a little muted but regardless I can't stop eating them. I used raspberry jam and the cookies are faintly pink. Very cute.

Tuesdays With Dorie
member Randomosity and the Girl has posted the recipe.

That's it, fellow bakers. I'm off to California for the next month. I've got my baking books all packed; we'll see what I bake up!

Comments

  1. Hello Evil! That cinnamon thing looks so good!
    Have a wonderful holiday at home! I just got my RLB Heavenly Cakes book this afternoon. I have looked through the proof copy with Rose (which is really something!) but the finished copy with the colur pictures is fab! When you come back we should do a bake from it for the Lazy Bakers new season baking!
    I have something to bake tomorrow and if it turns out OK I will put it on my blog.
    Have a blast! Cheerio.

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  2. Oh, how I want a piece of those cinnamon squares. Perfect fall dessert. Yay, осень! My favorite season!

    Have a fantastic trip home, come back ready to blog, mkay?

    Love
    Raya

    ReplyDelete
  3. Melinda, oh yeah, I'd love to do a lazy bake to anything from Rose's Heavenly Cakes!! So much for us to try!

    Raiuchka, Yay fall indeed! Fall in CA isn't quite the same, but it is nice too. I might have something to blog about in a few days...we'll see! :)

    ReplyDelete

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