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Category: Baking

Gluten-Free Orange Almond Polenta Cake

I made this gluten-free cake on my second day of baking with my sister. I also made a classic Victoria’s Sandwich, but I was less happy with that, and this was so delicious. Now before I get to this fab gluten-free recipe, I want to explain that the cookbook I reference is my British cookbook from the GBBO show. For that reason, the recipe is in grams instead of cups, and I like it that way. We all know that my efforts in baking have been “iffy” at best. So translating the measurements seemed silly when grams is a much…

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Baking Day * Part 2 * Sweet & Savory

If you missed Part One of our baking day, you would want to go back. In part one, I posted about making Kouign Amann.  A Breton flaky, buttery sweet pastry that I first saw on The Great British Bake Off. Since then, I found a local bakery that makes them, but I rarely can get there before they are gone for the day. So if you missed it, take a look back. But today I will share the savory German roll that Craig made and the sweet, gluten-free breakfast roll that my sister made. Lastly, I will share the shortbreads…

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Ready, Set, Bake * Kouign Amann * Part 1

As I have said before, I am a huge, huge fan of the TV show The Great British Bake Off (Netflix changed the name to The Great British Baking Show for the US market). I am not sure why I love this show so much because I am a crappy baker. But the thrill is there, and I can’t wait for more seasons to show up on Netflix starting in August. My youngest sister is also a huge fan and last Christmas, unaware of the other, we each got the other a cookbook from the show. So when she suggested…

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Brownies with a Hack

I love brownies with crisp edges and gooey centers. I also think that there is enough chocolate in brownies that you do not need to add chocolate chips to the batter. But that does not mean you should not do all you can to enhance the chocolate flavor in this delectable dessert morsel. For some reason lately, the newsfeed on my phone has been sending me brownie recipes. So I have been craving them. As I mentioned in my last brunch post, brownies were the dessert du jour. They were great the day I made them but lost its goo…

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Brunch with Friends – What a Weekend

This was a crazy busy weekend. We had a birthday dinner to attend with some great friends on Saturday evening and then Gary & I hosted a brunch with two other couples that turned into an all-day affair on Sunday. I am not sure how I was able to accomplish that given that the Saturday birthday was still going strong when we left at 1:30 am (home at 2:00 am). At which point I had to clean the kitchen from doing brunch prep work until 20 minutes before the earlier departure time and make the custard for the breakfast casserole so it…

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Hand Pies & Date Paste

This post was planned way before I got hooked on the Great British Baking Show. So I need to come clean right away. I did not make my crust; I bought it at Whole Foods back in December. But I did make the fillings for these hand pies, and I am quite pleased with the result. But before we get to the hand pies, we have to talk about the date paste because that is what started this entire post.   What to do with all these Dates A while back I bought a huge bag of dates at Costco.…

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Applesauce & Almond Bundt Cake

I am craving fall flavors like apple and pumpkin pie spice. Something sweet but not too sweet. I know that I do not bake much at all, but I knew I could put this cake together.  This cake is dense, moist, and flavorful. So a little goes a long way to satiate my cravings, and it lasted close to a week without drying out thanks to the applesauce and the buttermilk. Applesauce & Almond Bundt Cake Ingredients 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice (or 4 teaspoons)…

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Dinner for Six Part One: First Course

This past weekend Gary and I had two couples over for dinner. I had several recipes I wanted to try and needed a few guinea pigs. Enter Bryan & Craig and Shawn & Michael. For me, this was an all-day affair as I just decided what yo make on Friday morning and I needed to get to the store asap. But my Friday was a hot mess with a wine delivery by UPS that I had to sign for so I could not leave the house until it arrived. And that was at 4:30p and I had to pick Gary up at…

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