Blog # 3

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all- purposed flour 

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened 

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups (12-oz. pkg)

Nestle Toll House 

Semi-sweet chocolate

Morsels

1 cup chopped nuts

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Combine Flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. 

For this recipe I stuck close to the original recipe. I did not put the chopped nuts in the cookies. Also, I didn't use semi-sweet chocolate chips, I used milk chocolate chips. One thing that I didn't do was crack the eggs one at a time and then mix it together after like the recipe says. I cracked both of the eggs at the same time and then mix it together with the other ingredients, and then add the flour ingredients. This recipe was similar to the time that each kitchen made a different type of cookie, and one of the recipes was for chocolate chip cookies. I used the creaming method for this recipe. For this recipe you had to combine all the dry ingredients first before combining the liquids to it. We had to do that as well for the butter cookies. Also for the other cookies that we made in class.I feel by making so many different cookies in class made my technique better for when I make cookies at home by myself. Also, in class we are in groups so you don't get to do everything like you would when you are on your own. One mistake that I did make when they came out of the oven is right away I almost transferred the cookies to the cooling rack before cooling, but then I remembered right before picking up the cookie to let it cool. 

Critique

I thought my cookies were absolutely amazing. I would absolutely make this recipe again. I was very impressed with the outcome, they were nicely golden brown. When you were to bite into them they were nice and soft in the inside. you could taste the chocolate and the cookie at the same time. They had a strong scent to them especially when they were baking in the oven. 

Assessment

In my free time I would definitely make these again. My family and grandparents really enjoyed them. I leaned from this experiment that it is very important to follow directions if you want your recipe to turn out the way you plan

Kira Hanson

Baking Blog #3: Birthday Cake



                        

2 cups white sugar

                                        

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 eggs

                    

1 cup milk

              

1/2 cup vegetable oil

                     

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

            

1 cup boiling water 

 

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

 

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

 

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

 

1 teaspoon salt

                                       

 

      I used the creaming method to bake this cake, which is the same method my baking and pastries class used to make cookies in one lab and a cake in another. Learning how to bake a soft, moist cake in class during the cake lab helped me to successfully bake this cake here at home for my project. My preparation method and technique greatly influenced my final product. I really wanted my cake to be light and fluffy, but not so fragile that it would crumble easily. I used very precise measurements and was sure to keep close to the recipe in order to achieve my goal of a very moist, rich cake. In the past, I have baked cakes for too long in the oven, for I always wanted to be sure I wasn't feeding people cake batter instead of actual cake, so I was sure to consistently check my cake with a toothpick to check the doneness of it. I knew that the person I was baking the cake for really liked chocolate, so I added in an extra tablespoon of cocoa powder in order to give the cake a more robust flavor.

     The appearance of the cake is not all that captivating, but it did turn out the way I intended. The person whose cake it is wanted little frosting, so I only put a rim of frosting on the cake and used the persons favorite color, purple. The words are written in gel and are the persons second favorite color; I used gel because I didn't want to over do it on the frosting. Taste was pretty strong in the chocolate category, but again turned out as intended. I'm not one for such a strong flavor, but the birthday person liked it, so I think it was a success. I was very happy to learn that the texture was moist, as I had hoped for, and help together well (the crumbs didn't get all over the place). Overall, the cake smelled like cocoa powder and frosting. It was a mildly sweet aroma.

     I would absolutely make this again! Cake is something that is fun to make and a blast to eat, plus I do like chocolate. The only thing I would do differently for next time is not add in the extra cocoa and, rather, follow the recipe. One thing I learned from this experience is that making a cake is not such a major challenge, as I thought it would turn out to be. I gained confidence in my ability to create a tasty product.

                          

                        

 

 

 

               

 

 

 

 

 

       

 

 

 

 

 



Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

•   1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg

• 1/3cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Preparation Method:

I used the muffin method to prepare blueberry muffins. I followed the recipe exactly as instructed. For the blueberries, i used fresh ones. I had some trouble making the topping because it wasn't very informative on how to mix it and it was very hard to get an idea of what it should look like. I used a rubber muffin pan and did not use liners, the muffins were hard to take out.

Critique:

These muffins claimed to have been "to die for", by recipe name, but i could easily live without these. These muffins were a total disaster. I don't know where i went wrong. I did everything as instructed! The muffins were very rubbery and tough.The flavor was terrible, the blueberries were not sweet and i should have used frozen ones. The crumb topping, however, was very good. The butter melted and it produced a nice, tasty, sweet topping. The top of the muffins were good, but only because of the topping. 

Assessment:

I would try to make these again and use frozen blueberries. I would also use a different pan and use liners. 

Lemon Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:

Batter:

• 7 eggs, separated
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 4 tsp. grated lemon peel
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Lemon Frosting:

• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 3 cups confectioners sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 4 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
• dash of salt

Directions:

1. Place egg whites in a large bowl; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.
2. Place oven rack in the lowest position. Preheat oven to 325°. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks, water, oil, lemon peel and vanilla; add to dry ingredients and beat until well blended. Add cream of tartar to egg whites; with clean beaters, beat on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Fold a fourth of the whites into batter, then fold in remaining whites.
3. Gently spoon into an ungreased 10-in. tube pan. Cut through batter with a knife to remove air pockets. Bake 50-55 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Immediately invert pan; cool completely, about 1 hour.
4. Run a knife around side and center tube of pan. Remove cake to a serving plate. In a small bowl, combine frosting ingredients; beat until smooth. Spread over top of cake, allowing frosting to drape down the sides.

Preparation Method:

I made a few mistakes in preparing this cake. First, while separating the eggs, i may have let a little egg yolk slip into the egg whites and when i was pouring the vanilla, i poured it over the egg white bowl and a little got in. I have no idea if that affected the cake in any way. I also did not wait thirty minutes, because i just simply did not feel like it. When mixing the batter ingredients, i forgot to add the lemon peel, so you can infer my cake did not taste like lemon. When i was mixing the egg whites, by hand, i realized this was going to be like the angel food cakes we made in class and take forever. i paused my mixing to try and find the electric hand mixer. I then used that for a majority of the rest of the mixing. It took me about twenty minutes to get it to a fifty-fifty chance that the peak would be stiff, like instructed. I decided to take my chances because my arm was tired and proceeded to fold the white as described into the batter. I cooked the cake for 46 minutes instead of 50. I let the cake cool for an hour on a cooling rack raised upon two glasses. The cake was a little difficult to take out because it was not fully cooled when i attempted to. For the lemon juice in the icing, i used mostly fresh lemon juice but i didnt feel like cutting up another lemon so i made 1/3 of the 1/4 needed not fresh and from a bottle. 

Critique:

To be honest, i did not like this cake. It was very spongy, dry, and a little crumbly. It was also bouncy, like if i squished it with a fork it would bounce back like a rubber band to its original position. The cake without the icing was very bland, but i later realized it was due to my absent mindedness. I did like the icing, it was very lemony but also sweet. 

Assessment:

I would not like to make this cake again. It was too much work and needed too much attention for something that wasn't even that good. Maybe it would have succeeded if i followed the recipe exactly as written, but I will live if i dont figure it out. 

1993 Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

Dough

• 1/4 ounce package dry yeast
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup margarine
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups flour

Filling

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 1/2 tbsp. cinnamon
• 1/3 cup margarine, softened

Icing

• 8 tbsp. margarine
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/8 tsp salt

Directions:

1. For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl.
2. Add rest of the dough ingredients, mix well.
3. Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour.
4. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for an hour or until dough has doubled in size.
5. Roll dough out onto lightly floured surface until 21 inches long and 16 inches wide.
6. Should be approximately 1/4 inch thick.
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
8. To make filling, combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
9. Spread softened margarine over surface of dough then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture over. 
10. Working carefully from the long edge, roll the dough to the bottom edge.
11. Cut the dough into 1 3/4 inch thick slices and place on lightly greased baking pan.
12. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
13. while rolls are baking, combine icing ingredients.
14. Beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy.
15. When rolls are done, spread generously with icing. 

Preparation Method:

In the directions for the recipe, it says to let the yeast fully dissolve in warm milk. I ended up microwaving the milk and i didn't wait for the yeast to fully dissolve. I was a little nervous, I'll admit, that in me doing so the dough wouldn't fully rise. I also did not have a stand mixer, so i had to mix the dough by hand and it was very crumbly and did not represent dough. I decided to add some milk in certain areas to make it stick together easier then proceeded to dump the dough clumps on the cutting board and knead it. As i was kneading, I was careful as not to over-knead and produce gluten. Once i was finished kneading the dough, I found a tubular tupperware and set the dough inside, covered the tupperware with plastic wrap, and stuck in my oven. To make the oven warm, i boiled some water and placed it in the bottom of my oven. I then went to bed and, eight hours later, I checked on the risen dough. I took the dough out and, although the recipe did not specify to punch down the dough, i did it anyway. I continued to roll out the dough trying to make it as close to the specific measurements of 21 inches long and 16 inches wide as i could. Once i decided i was done rolling the dough, i discovered i did not have brown sugar and I went to the store for about 15 minutes, leaving the dough to sit on my counter. When i returned to it, it was warm and had slightly puffed. I took it as an oppurtunity to roll more and make it longer. Rolling more created air bubbles and wrinkles in the dough. For the filling, it did not specify what type of brown sugar was needed, so i just used light brown sugar. I also cooked the rolls for 12 minutes, instead of 10. The cinnamon rolls were golden and squishy when I took them from the oven. I let them cool for about 10 minutes before i proceeded to add the icing. 

Critique:

The icing, to me, was more on the sweet side than i would have liked and tasted too much of vanilla. The cinnamon filling had melted and become very smooth. The dough was a little salty, which I liked. The center of the roll was very soft. Overall, my cinnamon rolls were not that bad and i would make them again when i have the time. 

Assessment:

From making these cinnamon rolls, and following this recipe, i learned that it would be helpful if recipes were more exact in their instructions.