More pre-Christmas baking experiments in the works. Because I mostly give food gifts, I have to test out my recipes before making the final “masterpieces”. Some of them work well right off the bat, like this one. The saffron, orange, cinnamon and ginger work well, and I like the way the pearl sugar looks a little like snow, something we are missing this December in New England (yes, that is a little bit of a complaint … I like a little snow leading into Christmas!). Cardamom always reminds me of a family friend from Sweden. Happy memories!
breads
A few weeks ago, a friend’s daughter (who is 13) made him Peanut Butter Cup Banana Bread, which sounded yummy so of course I asked him for the recipe. I am not a fan of peanut butter on the whole (“good not great”) but if you have chocolate too, then I am all in. This isn’t her recipe (I modified by own “usual” banana bread recipe) but her’s looked awesome as well. So, thanks for the inspiration!
Here is Kat’s silly tip for the day, which you probably already know, but I am going to tell you again. When making muffins or quick breads, has it ever happened to you that the “stuff” (i.e. blueberries, chocolate chips, nuts) all gravitates to the bottom and then you have a nice top but everything else ends up in a gooey mess? solution: toss the berries, chocolate chips and/or nuts with a couple of spoonfuls of flour, creating a light coating. Then mix them into the batter. This makes the “stuff” grippier and it doesn’t all sink to the bottom!