Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

[CottonBall]

I’ll try that method on my metal little flower bundt pan then. The instructions said to let sit 10 min, then remove. Like most metal pans I guess.

Let me know how the metal one works For you, and I’ll do the same with the silicone. I was concerned the silicone, being flexible, might not put such details into the cakes.

[CottonBall]

“It’s a winter wonderland out my door this morning. What should I bake today?”

It’s supposed to be cold all week, so I figured I would stay inside, baking also :-)

I guess the neighbors will all be getting bread. And I soon as my little village cozy pan shows up, I’ll practice with that.

[Liz]

Very, very Italian.The cake nonna made from (shocker) a mix.
The trick is steeping 12 hours (or more) before serving--to absorb rum glaze.

ITALIAN RUM CAKE

BATTER Mix yellow cake mix, 4-serving pkg vanilla instant pudding, 4 eggs, 1/2 c oil, 1/2 cup dark rum.

ASSEMBLY Pour batter into greased bundt cake pan. Bake 325 deg an hour. Cool.

FINAL invert cooled cake on plate. Fork/prick top. Drizzle glaze evenly over sides/top.

Tent top using toothpicks to elevate saran, or foil over in tight seal. Steep cake 12 hours.

GLAZE melt stick of butter, stir in cup sugar, 1/4 cup water. Boil/stir 5 min. Offheat add 1/2 cup dark rum.

[miss marmelstein]

I think you wrote a post about Amazon being slow. While it is usually slow at this time of year, it seems to have gotten slow generally. Oddly enough, a huge, cavernous Amazon shipping center just opened one town over from me.

And buying used books on Amazon takes months - which I find very annoying and somewhat deceptive.

[Covenantor]

Last week I placed an order for standard Prime delivery.

Weds-2: order confirm 8:09pm....ship’d 11:20pm...del Thurs 6:00am....just about 10 hours! Don’t know exact time as I was walking out the door to walk the dog before turning my phone on.

Granted I have had some, very, very few, over due deliveries but in the main they have been on time or a day or two ahead of schedule. All depends on the vendor. I review seller ratings and bad delivery ratings affect my buying decision.

But this one holds the record at my abode.
The new photo notification show Amazon packages at door is terrific. Tells me when they block the front outswinging storm door so I know to use the back door. LOL!

[CottonBall]

Yeah they ship media mail, which is slow.

But if I’m paying $.99 for a book and $3.99 shipping, they are making all their money off of shipping. So they have to pick the cheapest.

I think the last book I bought took 3weeks to get here!

[miss marmelstein]

That’s cool, Cov, and I’ve had the occasional quickie delivery too. Perhaps that’s why I get impatient when I have to wait over a week for a delivery.

I love to order used books from Amazon ($1.00 for a clean hardback!) but it takes forever. I’ve waited two months for a lazy Brit to get off his backside to mail me a cookbook. The overseas deliveries are the worst.

[miss marmelstein]

I’ve waited two months for a used book. I don’t know what they’re doing half the time, lol!

[mylife]

sounds yummy!

[Jamestown1630]

Those are beautiful. What are the ones at about 4 O’Clock?

[Jamestown1630]

Here’s the link to the cookie thread from the previous week:

https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3608719/posts

[Jamestown1630]

I’m not sure about canned, but apparently people have used frozen:

https://www.chowhound.com/post/brandied-cherries-frozen-cherries-464635

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Media mail is what is sent when everything else in the post office has been sent out and they need to fill up some empty space.

I had a customer buy a signed first edition from me and want it sent media mail. What? You are willing to shell out six hundred for a first edition signed (Veronica Lake, autobiography, American edition, some wear on dust jacket) and not spend $10 on priority, insured shipping? At Christmas?

His book did arrive, in good condition thanks to the extra care I put into the packing, but it arrived after New Year.

He called my boss and ranted and raved about how horrible I was that I did not get the book to him by Christmas. My boss pulled the file and read where I had suggested that he pick a quicker method of shipping because it was likely the book would not arrive in time.

He then read the customer the tracking information. I had sent it out the day he bought it, it sat in the distribution center for three weeks.

Media mail, use only when you do not care when it gets to you. :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Those are the Coconut Macaroons.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[CottonBall]

I was wondering why the media mail times varied so much. I’ve gotten a package in the normal priority mail time, and also much later.

I bought a set of Thoreau journals on eBay and was SO impressed with the packaging! The seller even took a little strip of cardboard and taped it into the bottom of the box to make sure the book was completely level. Lots of bubble wrap and paper - it was exemplary!

[CottonBall]

I’ve been looking for that recipe! It does make a fantastic cake and thanks for posting it.

[miss marmelstein]

Wow. I’m too busy gaping at the idea of a 600 dollar Veronica Lake autobiography! I had that book back in the 60s.

[CottonBall]

“Wonder what kind of cake would work best if I brought it to a Hanukkah party... I’d like to do gingerbread but it might be wrong for that event.”

Here’s 3 options, the last is a gingerbread. I’ve read a dense cake works best with the little molds.

The first has a link to a page with pictures for the silicone pan. I converted that one to US measurements below.

Cozy Village Cakes https://www.icedjems.com/2012/12/christmas-village-cakes/

3 1/8 cup Plain Flour
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 Tsp Salt
1 cup Milk
1 1/2 Tsp vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
1 cup Unsalted Butter or Margarine
4 Eggs

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Start by mixing your Butter and Sugar until fluffy. Next, add your eggs one a time until well combined. Next add a little milk and a little flour and mix well, repeat this until all of the milk and flour are in the mixed in. To finish, add the Vanilla, Salt and Baking Powder and mix a final time until you have a smooth batter. Grease the silicone Cake Mould and pour the cake batter in. Fill it nearly to the top, the mixture will rise so it doesn’t need to be completely full. Bake in the oven for approx 20-25 mins. Remove from the oven once cooked, don’t worry about any excess cake, as this can be trimmed off! Don’t remove the cakes from the mould until they are completely cooled - the cakes are much firmer once cooled, and thus less likely to break when removing them from the mould! Once completely cooled, simply stretch each cavity and push the cake out from the bottom. Trim the excess off, so your mini houses have a flat bottom. Sprinkle Icing sugar over the cakes and the details will pop out immediately! Alternatively you could decorate with piping details and sweets!

Snowy Village Cake Recipe, courtesy of Nordic Ware:

2 1/4 cups flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
1 cup butter, melted
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp orange extract
grated orange peel from 1 orange

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour Cozy Village Baking Pan; set aside (I used Baker’s Joy). Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, combine yogurt (or sour cream), butter, eggs, vanilla and orange extract; beat on medium speed, scraping bowl often, until well blended. Add dry ingredients; blend on lowest speed, scraping bowl often, until well combined. Beat on medium speed 1 minute. Stir in orange peel. Spoon half of batter into prepared pan, filling each well 3/4 full. Tap pan onto countertop to release air bubbles. For best results, spread batter up to reach the top edges of each well, so it is slightly lower in the centers. Set remaining batter aside. Bake for 22-27 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Invert cakes onto cooling rack and cool completely. Wash and dry out pan. Prepare pan as previously instructed. Repeat filling and baking procedure with remaining batter. Decorate as desired.
Makes 12 little cakes. I’m sure this would also make one large bundt cake.

Mini Gingerbread Bundt Cakes

Gingerbread cake
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsps ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup molasses (not blackstrap)
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
3 eggs + 2 yolks, @rt
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, softened
Cinnamon sugar coating, combine:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsps ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a mini bundt pan with flour-based baking spray (such as Baker’s Joy brand) or grease and flour, tapping out excess flour; set pan aside. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. In a small bowl, combine the molasses with the hot water. Cream the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add the brown sugar and beat until lightened, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs and yolks, adding one at a time and scraping down the bowl intermittently. Add the flour and molasses mixture alternately, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, filling each cavity about 2/3 full. Gently drop the pan onto a work surface two times to remove any air pockets. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean. Let cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn cakes out and dredge in cinnamon and sugar. This cake recipe also makes one standard size bundt cake or 12 little buildings.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Don't forget the "signed". That was what made it valuable.

Without that it was a seventy five dollar book.

Without the dust jacket it was a twenty dollar book.

I wished I still had some of the books I picked up as a child from the used store for a nickle a piece.

I had the entire collection of Jim Kjelgaard books in hard cover, with dust jacket and probably first editions.

I would not be able to retire but I could take a vacation.