#1/2c brown sugar

[robertfettuccine]

❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️ OBSERVE MY PIE ❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️

[a2zillustration]

December Baking 2024

My Great Aunt's Molasses Cookies - 5/5

I actually made a metric ton of cookies this month, but this was the one two batches I made by myself. This one comes straight from the fam, so I have to type out the recipe (spoilers, it seems suspiciously like the recipe on the molasses jar, but it is slightly different).

INGREDIENTS 3/4c shortening 1c sugar 1/4c molasses (we get mild) 1 egg 1/2 tsp cloves (we don't use them bc my mom hates them) 1/2 tsp ginger 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp baking soda 2c flour extra sugar for rolling

DIRECTIONS • Preheat the oven to 375ºF

• Mix shortening and sugar; add molasses and mix.

• Put egg in a separate bowl and put the dry spices into the egg. Mix together and then blend them in with the rest. (author's note: I don't really know why we do this bc mixing the spices with the egg is hard and you have to really scrape it out of the second bowl, but who am I to judge)

• Add in the flour and baking soda. (author's note: I mix these and the salt separately, like you would a normal cookie recipe, then add them gradually)

• Use a small cookie scoop to make the balls and roll in sugar.

• Bake on ungreased sheet at 375 degrees for 8-10 mins. They need to look done but not necessarily brown. Makes approx. 3 doz

NOTE: The first batch was made subbing in butter for shortening. I added ~1/2tsp of corn starch just to see what would happen, but they still spread considerably. They're much chewier than the shortening version though. Next time I might try using slightly less molasses or adding a little more flour to offset the extra liquid from the butter.

ANOTHER NOTE: The shortening cookies do come out a little crunchier, but you can do the trick where you put them in a container with a fresh slice of bread for a day or so to soften them up.

Anyway, we love these cookies. My mom makes them all the time because they make a lot, they're pretty easy, and they taste really good. Plus, they're usually something that you wouldn't see when you'd expect cookies!

[disaster-kitchen]

Buckle up, babes, we're making Loretta's White Fruitcake from 1955.

1 cup butter or shortening

1 1/2 cup sugar

4 eggs

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup pineapple juice

1 tbsp lemon juice

4 cups flour

1/2 teasp soda

1 teasp baking powder

1/4 teasp salt

1 cup (shredded, sweetened) coconut

1 cup candied pineapple, chopped small

1/2 cup each orange peel, lemon peel, and candied cherries, or 1 1/2c mixed candied peel

1 cup white raisins

1 cup chopped pecans

Ideally all your ingredients should be the same temperature- if your butter and eggs are room temp, make sure your orange/lemon/pineapple juice is, too!

Preheat oven to 325; grease and line an angel food cake pan with parchment. The recipe calls for lining the pan with brown paper- modern parchment paper didn't exist then. Loretta doesn't specify what kind of pan, so we're going off what my mom remembers.

Cream together butter and sugar, beating until light and fluffy

Beat in eggs one at a time until smooth

Add juices- if, like me, you dumped a cup of cold fruit juice into your beautifully smooth and fluffy creamed butter, it will seize up instantly. Stand there with an egg beater and beat the shit out it for at least 5 minutes, until it's mostly emulsified again. It smells delightful!

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mom used to have an actual flour sifter, but I just used a sieve. Fluffy!

Add flour to other mixture, stirring until incorporated.

Toss fruits, nuts, and coconut in a few tablespoons of flour so they don't clump together, then fold into batter.

Smooth batter into prepared pan and bake for 90 minutes or until done.

Here we go- best of luck!

[vaspider]

Spider!! Hola :)

So I know I came back way too early this time but with this whole situation we lost sight that 2 of the affected family members will be having their bdays.

So, if you don't feel comfortable with us asking so soon for a boost I do come asking for a fool proof apple pie recipe.

We're short on money so gifts are out of the question, but I could make them something tasty, and they have always wanted to try apple pie.

There are many recipes on the internet but I need one even I, who have never baked a pie, can bake.

Hope it's not a weird petition, I just remembered you have valuable experience in the recipes department.

Thanks for taking time to read our ask, please stay safe!

If you're looking for foolproof, I would actually skip over Apple pie as a starting point & I would instead go for an apple crisp.

A crisp is much easier to make - pastry can be really finicky if you aren't familiar with how to make it, whereas a crisp you just mix together all the good stuff that makes a tasty topping and you are good to go.

Easy Apple Crisp

Ingredients

1/2c butter, cold (do not take out to soften like you would for cookies)

6 apples (Granny Smith, Fuji, Pink Lady, or similar. NOT RED DELICIOUS.)

2T granulated sugar

2t pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon, if that's what you've got, but I find that using pumpkin pie spice is just... better... if you can)

2t lemon juice

1c light brown sugar, lightly packed

1c old-fashioned rolled oats

1c all-purpose flour (if using gluten-free flour, that's fine - you don't need to add xanthan gum for this recipe)

1/2c chopped walnuts or pecans

1/2c craisins (technically optional, but don't skip)

Pinch kosher salt

Equipment

2 medium-sized mixing bowls

Sharp knife

Cutting board

2 large spoons for mixing

1 small bowl for butter

Method

Wash hands thoroughly before beginning. You should do this every time you cook or bake, but especially this time, bc we will be handling a lot of the ingredients directly.

Cut butter into small cubes. Put into small bowl and place back into refrigerator to keep cold until needed.

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray 8" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray or grease with butter. Set aside.

Core and chop apples into large bite-sized pieces, about as big across as a nickel. Some people peel the apples. I don't. I think that's a lot of extra work to eliminate a great source of fiber & flavor. Place apples in one of the mixing bowls. Add lemon juice, granulated sugar, 1t of the pumpkin pie spice. Stir until combined, then pour into prepared baking dish.

If you prefer smaller bits, lightly chop the craisins. I like them full-sized, personally.

Put the rest of the ingredients except the butter - craisins, chopped nuts, brown sugar, flour, oats, 1t pie spice, salt - into the 2nd bowl and stir to combine.

Get the butter out of the fridge. Work it into the dry ingredients with your fingers until you have pea-sized crumbs. You can also use a fork or two knives for this or a pastry blender if you're very posh, but I really prefer using my hands. It's easier, and you get better texture, IMO.

Spread evenly over apple mix. Even it out a bit with the back of one of your mixing spoons. Don't leave any big gaps, but also don't press down on the mix at all.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the apple/sugar mix bubbles up at the corners of the dish.

Notes

This recipe is specifically written with round amounts to make it easy to size up or down! You can halve this or double it. Doubling it should make about enough to fill a 13 x 9 casserole dish.

Make sure to adjust your cooking time if you adjust the size!

If you have small oven-safe bowls or ramekins, you can divide this between those ramekins instead. If you do this, DON'T heap up the topping higher than the top of the dish. It gets very easy to spill.

Like technically you don't HAVE to use the nuts or craisins but ... why would you want to skip those? THE FLAVOR!!

If you really prefer raisins I guess you can use those. I hate raisins, and also craisins add a tart element which makes the dish really delightful and more complex IMO.

You can make a crisp like this with lots of different fruit! This recipe works pretty much exactly the same if you substitute in 4-5c of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, or pears. You may want to fiddle with the amount of white sugar or the spices, but yeah. Once you know this recipe, it's a good basic dessert recipe that you can use for a lot of fruit!

If using berries, make sure to rinse them very well with cold water and inspect for any spots of mold. Supermarket berries get moldly REALLY fast. If possible, buy berries from chain supermarkets the day you're going to use them, and check berries in the store. Open the containers, don't be shy. Nothing sucks more than wasting money from your grocery budget and realizing when you get home that you bought moldy berries.

Enjoy!

[lee-romee]

peanut butter brownies

112g (1/2c) applesauce

176g (2/3c) peanut butter

1/3c maple syrup

1tsp vanilla extract

36g (3tb) white sugar ((i've also used 2 packed tb of brown sugar))

26g (1/3c) cocoa powder

1/2tsp salt

1tsp baking soda

preheat the oven to 350F

mix together the applesauce, peanut butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and sugar until smooth

whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl

fold the dry ingredients into the wet

pour the batter into a glass 8x8 pan and bake for 40-50 minutes

remove from the oven and cover with a towel for a half hour while they cool ((keeps the centre from sinking))

once fully cooled, cut into squares and remove using a spatula

i used crunchy jif peanut butter, especially since i didn't add any chocolate chips today (when i do i add a half-cup)

[fox-bright]

Gen's Soft Browned-Butter Rum Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is really for everybody, but I'm putting it up at last 'cause @sounddesignerjeans requested the recipe. I have been making chocolate chip cookies for thirty years, I was making them when I was too young to have been allowed near an oven by sane parents, but it wasn't until fairly recently that I was really happy with the recipe. I want cookies that are soft and stay soft, but that are chewy and not cakey; that have a lot of flavor instead of just being overwhelmingly sweet; that aren't too much trouble to make in terms of tools, and that are entirely made up of stuff that the average American probably has in their kitchen cupboards.

Here's your classic flatlay of ingredients:

2C plus 2TBSP all-purpose flour

2 TBSP corn starch

1/2tsp baking soda

1tsp kosher salt OR 1/2 tsp fine table salt

1C brown sugar (light or dark)

1/2C white sugar

1C butter (two sticks/16 TBSP. Must be butter--I don't know anything about soy or nut spreads, but margarine absolutely will not work for this, unfortunately)

2 eggs, room temperature

Vanilla to taste (anywhere between 1tsp and 1TBSP is usually the sweet spot)

Chocolate chips to taste (Average is 1-2 cups, but live your dreams! I like my cookies a little less chocolatey personally, but this is absolutely up to you, anything under three cups shouldn't overwhelm the dough to the point that it doesn't cook right, though that would be Way Too Many for  me. I'm usually at about a cup or under.)

A couple of notes: this recipe really does work best if the eggs and chocolate chips are room temperature, but the butter can start from frozen if that's what you have. Take a half-cup measure and use that to scoop flour into your cup measure, and then scrape, don't compress, until the flour is level across the top of the cup.  And lastly--ANY vanilla will do, but I am hugely privileged to be able to say that the Bacardi there has been transformed to vanilla extract by a particularly enterprising kendo student of mine, I'm not just pouring straight rum into the cookies (though that might be interesting)

Also, please allow me to introduce you to Fork!

Fork is a stalwart friend. When I moved to be with the Magical Flying Husband, he was somewhat horrified by my Poverty Child, "This table fork and butterknife are all the tools I need for my day-to-day household existence" ways, and got me Fork as a present so that I would leave the silverware alone. Fork can handle a dense boiled potato and a silky buttercream with equal aplomb, not bending or transmitting too much heat up into my hand. I highly recommend Fork. But for this recipe, a hand mixer will also do, as will a table fork if that's what you have.

(The rest of Part 1 of this recipe under the cut:)

If you have two bowls, put the dry ingredients (flour, corn starch, baking soda, salt) into the smaller one, and both sugars into the larger one. If you only have one bowl, put the sugars into it and let the dry ingredients wait their turn.

When I was a kid, I used to imagine that the brown sugar was a castle keep in deep winter, and the white sugar the snow that hemmed it in.

Get a little pan onto the stove, and pop both sticks of butter in it to melt.

The butter will start off bright, but it will pretty quickly separate into liquid and solid; you must not leave it alone at this point, this is the most eyes-on-it portion of the game here. Take Fork, or a fork, or a whisk, and stir, stir, every few seconds.

The milkfats will sink to the bottom of the pan. Stir, stir. The milkfats will get sticky; don't let them cling to the pan, keep them in motion.

Pretty soon the butter will start giving off a lovely chestnutty smell, and the milkfats at the bottom of the pan will turn a darker color. Take the pan off the heat and continue to stir for another thirty seconds or so. If you leave it on the heat and stir now, the fats can easily burn; if they burn, you need to start over, there's no salvaging it. So better safe than sorry.

Carefully pour the butter over your sugars, making sure you get all those delicious browned bits in there, and stir stir stir! Don't burn yourself--but it starts cooling off immediately as the sugars dissolve into cooling liquid. I use Fork for this, but you can use a strong whisk or a hand mixer.

Once the sugars are completely dissolved and mixed, it will look kind of like a grainy caramel. Let it sit until completely cool, somewhere around fifteen minutes. Maybe take this time to go put up a Tumblr post about your delicious cookies.

(Part 2 incoming shortly)

[kitchen-princess]

Focaccia

In a large mixing bowl, add one packet (2 1/4 tsp) of yeast and 1/2 tsp of sugar into 2c of warm water, stir to dissolve

Add 1-2 Tbsp olive oil to water/yeast mixture, then 4c all-purpose flour and 1 Tbsp diamond crystal kosher salt (or 1tsp other salt brand) stir to combine until there are no flour lumps left, dough should be relatively wet and sticky

[Optional] hand-knead dough for a few minutes; the more you knead, the chewier and less cake-like the final product

Cover mixing bowl with plastic wrap and kitchen towel and [if possible] place in a warm area (e.g. inside of turned-off oven, on countertop near oven if it is on), allow to rise until near double in size (can take up to a few hours)

Prepare a sheet pan with a layer of parchment paper, and pour a generous few tbsp of olive oil on the parchment

Preheat oven to 500+ degrees, convection if possible

Turn out the risen dough onto the sheet tray / cookie sheet; using oil-covered hands, stretch and pull the dough so that it fills the majority of the tray

If the dough is stubbornly elastic, wait 5-10 mins and try stretching again; the gluten strands will have temporarily relaxed and you can finish stretching the dough to fill the tray

Cover the dough with oiled plastic wrap (I use cooking spray) and let it rise again for 30-60 mins in the tray

Prepare toppings: some of my favorites are rosemary, cherry tomato, green olive, garlic, or plain (topping-free!)

Prepare brine: in a small bowl or jar, mix 1/3c water with 1 tsp of diamond crystal kosher salt (large pinch of other brand), 1-2 Tbsp olive oil; stir or shake to dissolve salt

Once the tray rise is complete and the oven is ready, use oiled fingers to push toppings deep into the airy dough; if they sit on top it is likelier they will burn

Use fingers to create rows of dense, deep dimples in the focaccia surface; more = better and it is ok to push the toppings down further into the dough

Vigorously shake or stir brine to temporarily emulsify; pour in an even layer over focaccia surface - it should mostly settle into the dimples

Bake in the middle-to-top of the oven for 10+ minutes (depends on oven and convection vs. regular bake); focaccia should have risen a bit more in the oven, and the top should be deeply golden brown

Allow a few minutes to cool, then cut and serve focaccia while warm!!!

[artificial-condition]

Ooo, chai… 👀👀 recipe, pretty please?

Sorry this is so late, I haven't checked my notifications in weeks but here's the recipe >:)

I can't remember where I found it at this point, I remember it was on a reddit page somewhere.

[Transcript:

Homemade Chai Tea Concentrate

INGREDIENTS:

16 cups water

4 teaspoons cardamom

32 black peppercorns

32 whole cloves

about a 4 inch piece of fresh ginger, sliced

12 cinnamon sticks

1 c brown sugar

8 star anise

2 vanilla beans, sliced down the middle

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 Lipton tea bags

DIRECTIONS: Bring all ingredients except tea bags together to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add tea bags and let steep for 5 minutes. Pour mixture through a strainer or cheesecloth and reserve the liquid for concentrate, and let cool to room temperature. Mix equal parts concentrate with water or milk to make chai tea. Or refrigerate in air tight container up to one week.

Chai latte instructions: Steam half milk and half chai concentrate and serve. Iced chai latte instructions: Use a little more chai than milk, shake, and serve over ice.]

I did modify the recipe to fit my needs. I didn't have fresh ginger, so I used powdered (maybe 1 tsp?). I halved the recipe because it makes a lottttt :) . I used looseleaf tea at a ratio of 1/2c per gallon (so in my case when I halved it I used 1/4c). I didn't add sugar because people in my house like varying of levels of sweetness, so I just made a brown sugar simple syrup so people could sweeten their own. I'm planning on making some again this weekend and I bought fresh ginger for the occasion and might toast the spices first :)

I didn't really follow the instructions much but I'm sure they'd work great. What I did was combine all the spices (not tea or sugar) and water, brought to a boil, covered, simmered for 15 minutes, then turned off heat and let them steep overnight. In the morning I brought everything back up to a boil, took the pot off the heat, added the tea, then steeped with the lid on for 35 minutes. I strained everything then combined with milk, ice, and simple syrup to serve :D

I really, REALLY want tea now mmmmm

[bioethicists]

What’s your fave tsimmes? It’s cooked a lot of different ways so like what’s your preferred style is more what I mean? (I haven’t had it and I wanna try it bc it seems right up my alley but there’s so many different recipes that it’s overwhelming)

i like it quite sweet! i tailor it to my preferences (i love sweet potatoes + apricots, the carrots in this one are much less forward than they usually would be) the recipe i made last night was

3lbs sweet potatoes (half white, half yam, peeled + cubed)

1 bag dried cherries

1 bag dried apricots

7 carrots (peeled + cubed, this is just all we had haha)

like 20 prunes

2c chicken stock (i boil a kettle then mix in powdered stock but some ppl take this part much more seriously or use like schmaltz or smth)

2c orange juice

3oz honey

large scoop of generic mix of warm spices (cinnamon/cardamom/allspice/nutmeg- i have these premixed in my cabinet so idk ratios)

several sprigs of thyme

add everything except the prunes + only add half the liquid at first (so it goes up halfway to the veg, not submerging them). stack potatoes on bottom, then carrots, then dried fruit, lay thyme on top so it's easy to fish out. mix the honey in with the liquids ahead of time. slow boil, covered for 40 min, then add prunes + the rest of the liquid (DO NOT STIR, you can shake the pot a lil if u are worried abt sticking) + do another ~10 min (prunes will get yucky nasty if u add them at the beginning). fish out the thyme sprigs.

what i look for: a bit of liquid hanging around, ideally runny syrup texture (tbh u could add more honey or add brown sugar for this cuz i skimped on it due to The Neuroses) but mostly a root vegetable/fruit medley, sweet with a slightly savory undercurrent, potatoes hold together but fall apart when bitten

this is not a very traditional recipe + is primarily based on my preferences!

[prettypupaposts]

a hot girl is a fed girl. we are fixing our relationship with food one day at a time ! breakfast has always been hard (im a nauseated mess some mornings) so baked good have really helped ! Proud of how my banana bread turned out :). Baking with protein powder can mess with textures but feeling motivated to try more soon

protein banana bread:

- four bananas

-1/2c brown sugar

-1c white sugar

-1/3c softened butter

-3 scoops protein powder (I use musclemilk)

-2c flour

-tablespoon baking soda

-vanilla (with yr heart ofc)

-cinnamon

-choc chips (i wanted to)

mix wet ingredients, slowly add dry ingredients, 350 oven for 35-40 min (i wish i wouldve done less this time around)

now part of my daily breakfast :)

[bioluminescent-fungus]

@shrikeseams replied to your post “it is october which means it is time for Medicinal...”:

...please elaborate.

​sometimes it turns out that the best cure for the seasonal brain weasels is a medieval remedy for reducing the melancholy humor

and sometimes that medieval remedy takes the form of a cookie

here is Recipe:

Beat together 12Tbsp of melted butter, 3/4c of brown sugar, 1/3c honey, and 4 egg yolks. Mix in 2 1/2c of spelt flour (or all-purpose works if you can't find spelt), 1tsp salt, 1tsp cloves, 1Tbsp nutmeg, 1Tbsp cinnamon. Chill one hour. Roll out dough and cut into shapes. Bake at 375F for 10 minutes. Consume When Sad.

do not mix with cold drinks or the humors will cancel each other out. drink tea or coffee with them.

[smalltowngnoll]

Gourmet Fried Chicken and Waffles

Eat them together and its a combination of sweet, salty, and crispy!

A comfort food restaurant in town sadly closed when the owner retired, and they made the best chicken and waffles I’ve had! They made maple butter and a sriracha aioli which made the waffles to die for! This is an involved recipe, be warned. Let’s break it down!

The chicken needs to sit in buttermilk for a while, and you’ll want to make the maple butter and aioli before you serve. This is written in paragraph form, and I hope I’ve made it easy to read!

Fried Chicken

Take 2 lb boneless chicken (light, dark, whatever) and put it in a container filled with 2 c buttermilk to sit for at least a couple hours.

In a large bowl, mix 2 cups of flour. Add 1 tsp of salt, 1/4 tsp paprika, and 1/2 tsp black pepper. To flavor that chicken add between 1/4 tsp to 1 tsp each of herbs and spices you like, such as garlic powder, onion powder, tarragon, thyme, oregano, ground mustard, ground ginger, white pepper, green pepper, and /or chili powder. You can even just do a tablespoon or two of curry powder if you want. Sift it all up with a fork. Store until usage.

Once your aioli, maple butter, and waffle batter are made, you need to fry the chicken. Start by taking out chicken from the buttermilk and dredging it in the flour mixture so both sides are coated

Fill a skillet with enough neutral oil (I used veggie oil) that your chicken cutlets are half submerged. Bring to heat on medium high, that a little drop of buttermilk sputters when dropped in. Put cutlets in a few at a time, as to not overcrowd and reduce the temp of the oil. Once browned flip them over with a spatula or tongs. After both sides brown, put the chicken on a towel or a baking rack to sop up any extra oil.

Sriracha Aoili

Mix 1 cup mayo with 1 TBS of sriracha. Mix. Halve this if you want.

Maple Butter

Melt 1/2 c butter in a bowl. I don’t own a microwave, so I double broiled it on the stove. Add 2 TBS of maple syrup and mix. Put maple butter in a smaller container to chill and harden.

Buttermilk Pancakes

In a bowl, sift 2 c flours (I used 1 1/2c all purpose and 1/2 c buckwheat for earthiness), 2 tsp powder, 2 tsp soda, 2 TBS sugar, and 1 tsp salt in a bowl.

Whisk 1 egg. Add it to the bowl with 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2 TBS neutral oil, and 1 c buttermilk. It will create a thick paste.

Whisk in 1 more c buttermilk until lumps disappear.

Heat up your waffle iron, and I recommend putting in batter after you heat the oil for the chicken, but not before you put the chicken in.

Shitty Picture

I don’t own a traditionally shaped waffle maker. We left it when we moved out of my granny unit (too small for two), and when I went online to replace it, I saw the bubble waffle maker and that was that!

[dumbass-fae]

🍒Cherry Pie🍒

For: Love

Cherries have long been associated with love and affection ♥️ This is a simple recipe for cherry pie using store bought pie filling and a homemade crust. (I'm also gonna include how to make a homemade filling if you have the energy to make it completely from scratch)

🍒Crust:

* 2/3c plus 2tbsp shortening

* 2c all purpose flour

* 1 tsp salt

* 4-5 tbsp ice cold water

🍒Filling:

1 can cherry pie filling

OR

1 1/3c sugar

1/2c all purpose flour

6c red tart pitted cherries

2 tbsp butter

🍒Directions:

Heat oven to 425°F and prepare the crust first.

🍒Crust:

* cut the shortening into the flour and salt using a pastry cutter/blender or crisscrossing two knives until the mixture is the size of coarse crumbs. Sprinkle with cold water one tablespoon at a time. Toss with a fork until all flour is moistened. (You can add 1-2 tbsp more water if needed)

* Gather pastry into a ball, divide in half and shape into flattened rounds on a lightly floured surface.

* roll pastry into a circle about 2 inches larger than your pie plate is upside down with a floured rolling pin. Fold one pastry into fourths and place into pie plate. Unfold and ease it into the plate pressing firmly against the bottom and sides.

🍒Filling:

* Mix sugar and flour together in a bowl, add in cherries. (Or crack open that can of pie filling) Pour into the pastry lined pie plate and dot with butter.

* Cover with the top pastry that has slits cut in it (You could also cut a heart out of the top pie crust like I did)

* press the edges of the pie crust together and seal by pressing a fork down on the edges (like in the picture) trim off the overhang

🍒Baking:

Bake 35-45 minutes until crust is golden brown. Cool the pie plate on a wire rack, serve warm if you like ♥️

[doodyboy]

Salmon Brine. 1/3c brown sugar, 1/4c kosher salt, 16oz soy sauce, 1c white wine, 1 1/2c water, 1/2tsp garlic powder, 1/2tsp onion powder, 1/2tsp pepper, 1tsp hot sauce. Brine for 6 hours. Once done brineing. Rinse and pat dry fish. Then put in refrigerator uncovered for 3 to 4 hours before smoking. Smoke at 250 degrees for about 2 1/2 hours. This was for about 3 pounds of salmon. 😋

[wistfulcynic]

spring equinox cake

to welcome the advent of longer days this year i made a new recipe bundt cake. It was adapted from a recipe i intended to make for the winter solstice (hence the harvest leaf pattern) but the bundt tin i ordered was not delivered--or rather, it was delivered but not to me. The courier company, in typical form, refused to do anything about it. They insisted that the parcel had been delivered and provided “proof” in the form of an extremely blurry photo that was not of my house or indeed of anyone’s house. It was unmistakably an office, in fact. The courier company was unmoved by this logic. i gave the pan up as lost. 

well as it turns out the office in the photo is an estate agent down the street. Earlier this month i discovered an old message from one of their employees on FB messenger, which i hadn’t seen before because messenger for some reason does not alert me when people outside my friends list try to contact me. This message inquired if i had by any chance ordered a cake tin, and when i answered yes i had, the woman said that they had it in their office and i could come by to pick it up at my convenience.  

a spring equinox miracle! 

apparently it was a bit of a Thing in their office, the mysterious bundt tin, and they were very excited when i came in to collect it. i was delighted they had held onto it and made an effort to locate its owner. A good ending all around. 

for the spring equinox bundt cake you need: butter, sugar, saffron, egg, flour, baking powder, honey, brown sugar, water, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, tea or other herbs for infusion. 

(bay leaf for wisdom, cinnamon for love & prosperity, saffron for courage & devotion)

this is a cake with a unique flavour profile that will taste different depending on the honey and the tea/infusion that you choose. i used acacia honey which has a mild flavour and Earl Grey Creme from Bird&Blend, a floral, aromatic black tea. It turned out very moist and a bit dense but not unpleasantly so. The flavour is strongly floral and fragrant like the tea, but the honey is discernible as is the saffron, cinnamon, and bay, though they are perhaps more in the aroma than the taste. 

at any rate, you could mix it up with different herb/spice blends, types of tea, etc. You could eliminate the honey entirely. There are loads of potential variations here. Experiment! (and if you make this please share a pic)(also this can be made without a bundt tin--try a well-lined springform pan and reduce the amount of liquid by maybe 1/3 to 1/2)

blessed equinox and happy longer days to all in the northern hemisphere! Antipodeans, hang in there ❤️.

full recipe below the cut

1/2 c golden sugar  

a few strands of saffron

1/2 c butter, softened 

1 egg

1 c syrup (1/4c honey, 1/4c brown sugar, 1/2c water, cinnamon stick, bay leaf)

2 1/2 c flour 

1 T baking powder 

pinch salt 

1 c hot water infused with tea and/or herbs of choice 

a few hours to one day before making crush a few strands of saffron and add them to the sugar. Set aside.

make the syrup by mixing the honey and brown sugar with water. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and add the cinnamon stick and bay leaf. Leave to cool and infuse.

heat water to an acceptable temperature (boiling for black tea, cooler for green tea or herbal infusion) and infuse. Strain when it has reached the desired intensity. Let cool.

soften butter.

cream butter and sugar until light & fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Add syrup gently. Sift the dry ingredients. With the mixer on low speed add the flour mixture one spoonful at a time, or fold in gently if mixing by hand, until just incorporated. Add the infusion and mix until the batter is a uniform consistency.

pour into prepared (well-greased and floured) bundt tin and bake at 350F/190C for 45-50 minutes. 

let cool 10 minutes before removing from tin by inverting over a cooling rack or plate. 

[lee-romee]

chocolate cake with chocolate frosting

240g all-purpose flour

100g (1/2c) granulate sugar

110g (1/2c) brown sugar

27g (1/3c) cocoa powder

1tsp baking soda

1tsp baking powder

54g (1/4c) salted butter

113g (1/2c) thick yogurt / sour cream

1 large egg

3/4c hot water

2tsp vanilla

preheat oven to 350F

whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, & leaveners in a large bowl and set aside

melt butter in a separate bowl

boil water & let cool a few minutes

add yogurt, egg, hot water, & vanilla to the butter; whisk well

add the wet ingredients into the dry & fold in until no flour-streaks are left

pour the batter into a well-greased cake tin

bake for 40-45min, or until a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few crumbs

cool in the pan until cool enough to handle, then turn out onto a rack to cool fully

frost once cake is completely cool

i used just one 8" round & cut the cake in half (i waited until the cake was mostly cool, then cooled it fully once cut), but two 8" rounds would work really nicely, just reduce the baking time to 30-35min

frosting:

1/4c butter

240g (1c) chocolate chips

113g (1/2c) thick yogurt / sour cream

1tsp vanilla extract

1/8tsp salt

1-2c powdered sugar

melt butter in a medium-sized bowel

add chocolate chips, stirring until melted --- microwave in 15sec incriments as needed

add in yogurt, vanilla, & salt, & beat with a mixer on medium-high

add in powdered sugar, beating until fully incorporated & to desired sweetness