Baked Good Recipes Tested

Long post ahead. In the two months since I've moved back to Tucson, I've definitely been baking a lot more. Two reasons for that: 1. I actually have my baking utensils available- I never took them with me when I packed and moved home. 2. When I make two dozen cupcakes, I have people who will actually eat them; between coworkers, roommates, and sorority sisters, things don't last more than 2 days usually.

Last week, I made two batches of Zucchini Spiced Muffin with Cream Cheese Frosting (from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes). These were very good and moist. I omitted the walnuts the first time and forgot to make the frosting (still good without it), but I thought it was missing something so the next time I added them and made the frosting and I think they were much better. Recipe found online here.

N wanted to try the Chocolate Gingerbread Bar from the Food Librarians blog so I said I would make them last weekend. I read the Everyday Food recipe that she used and a review of it. The reviewer said it was bitter (from too much molasses) and too gingery so I used Martha Stewart's recipe. I couldn't find my square pan so used a round one instead. I did not like the taste of this very much. It definitely tasted like fall from the ginger and pumpkin pie spices, but the texture was a little dry for me and I did not think the chocolate tasted very good. For chocolate recipes, I prefer to use real chocolate or a mix, not just straight cocoa so that could be why. I might try the other recipe sometime later this fall to see if it makes a difference. Recipe found online here.

Everyone has a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. After making a dozens and dozens of chocolate chip cookies in the years I've been baking, I've finally found one I really love. The King Arthur Flour recipe is delicious. The cookies are not too crispy and not to chewy and the almond extract really makes a difference. Recipe found online here.

I really don't like cupcakes. I dislike its cake to frosting ratio. I think they are hard to eat. And the stores that sell them are way overpriced for the amount of work it takes to make them. But my sister always ask that I make her cupcakes so one night I searched online for awhile looking for a cupcake recipe that sounded good. I decided on the Vanilla Cupcake with a fake Vanilla Butter cream Frosting from the famous Magnolia's Cupcakes and they were great. This will be my go-to recipe for cupcakes now. They are very vanilla-y and moist (I added two extra tablespoons of butter to be sure). Recipe found online here.

The Food Librarian's blog is one of the only baking blogs I check regularly. The recipes she chooses are fairly simple to make and she gives good tips on substitute ingredients which I like. Thus, I often make things she posts.

T had made brioche the week before (which are sooooo good and I know I shouldn't eat so many because they are full of butter) and I remember reading one of her post with a brioche tart so I wanted to make that. I asked him to make me a batch one night because we had bought some pluot plums and nectarines. The result was decent, but I would not make these again. The brioche got a bit soggy from the fruit and jam and so I thought it was a perfectly good waste of delicious, buttery brioche. Looking at the picture from the Chez Us blog that posted the recipe, maybe I should have made one giant tart instead of the little tarts I like. Recipe found online here.

Another copycat from the FL blog, was Mark Bittman's Olive Oil Cake. I've always wanted to make an EVOO cake because I've read that they have good texture and flavor and the librarian herself gave it a good review. When I made it, T was nagging me again about weighing my flour because I usually just scoop (I know it's wrong, but it's so much faster). As always I ignored him, but as I was mixing, I realized it did look like a bit too much flour, however, it was too late to remeasure so I went with it. The cake turned out okay, but it was a bit dry. I actually made the orange glaze and that really helped it out. Overall I might make this again if I was in a citrus cake mood. Recipe found online here.

I'll try to post my baking blogs on a more regular basis now so I can actually say more about the recipe and how it turned out. Because I posted six different things, I didn't want to to make this longer than it already had to be. Happy Baking!

p.s. I also need to actually build my light box to take pictures of the food. These photos are horrendous. I apologize.