Category Archives: Baking Wrecks

Oh yes, I screwed up big time

Baking Wreck: The GF Croissant that Wasn’t

Posted on February 16, 2011 | 6 Comments

Photobucket19 hours of labor later

They look quite like about-to-be croissants in this photo.

Those three in the back were set to become little pain au chocolat.  It took over 19 hours to make them that pretty.  First there was the top dog secret dough prep by Captain Awesome.  Then came the chilling, then the folding, then the chilling.  That included making sure the marble board was ice cold for each turning so the result is a zillion layers folded in loaded with good unsalted butter.  They were left to rise, slowly overnight, ready to bake in the wee hours of the morning.

Captain Awesome is on a mission to create a gluten free puff pastry and croissant that reminds him of Paris.  These little pastries came out of the oven looking like perfect little gluten free imitations of a French croissant.  Small, crispy, flaky on the outside and the smell would have made you swoon with lust.  For croissants, that is. Continue reading →

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Posted in Baking Wrecks, Breads, Currently in the Gluten Free Canteen, Gluten Free

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Baking Wreck: The Fallen Gluten Free Angel (Cake)

Posted on January 31, 2011 | 2 Comments

GF angel cake wreck; tunnel meets too much chocolate glaze

Like calculus, there are some things that defy staying cemented in my brain.  Like the difference between  chiffon and angel cake.   I thought they were both of the sponge-ish variety and kind of the same – only different.  If you want to read up on chiffon, Google a guy named Harry Baker.  Seriously, that’s his name.  He was the dude who developed the chiffon way back in the dark ages and guarded his top-dog secret ingredient until he met that siren called Betty Crocker.  By the 1940s, chiffon was a cake that everyone was writing about.

The big obvious difference is that angel cake has no fat in it, just a boat-load of sugar.  The chiffon has oil and yolks.  Think hybrid – a sponge-ish cake that looks a lot like an angel cake, but has the flavor of a yellow cake.

Chiffon and angel were the dressy cakes in our house.  Mom made those for parties, gifts, and Hadassah meetings or holidays.   My mother taught me all kinds of baking, but never how to do the chiffon or an angel cake.  Somehow I got the idea that they were complicated enough that I didn’t dare to try to make them. Continue reading →

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Posted in Baking Wrecks, Cakes, Currently in the Gluten Free Canteen, Gluten Free

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Baking Wrecks: Gluten Free Ginger Pear Upside Down Cake

Posted on January 24, 2011 | 1 Comment

For every goody that makes it to the blog – recipe stage with a pretty little photo, there is a train wreck of casualties lined up behind it.  No recipe ever gets to the blog without repetition and plenty of upgrades along the way.   Continue reading →

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Posted in Baking Wrecks, Cakes, Fruit Goodies

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