dough – Page 3 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

17-44: Homemade Danish Pastries

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods May 29, 2017September 21, 2020all-purpose flour, applesauce, baked goods, breakfast, brunch, butter, cake yeast, chilled, chocolate, creamy, custard, Danish, dark chocolate, dollop, dough, egg wash, eggs, fairly hard, fairly inexpensive, flaky, folded, glazed, granulated sugar, layers, MD2017, melted, milk, Mother's Day, party food, pastry, powdered sugar, proofed, pudding, puff pastry, salt, sliced, untested, vegetarian, yeast

Strap in ladies and gents, this one’s a long one. As part of my Mother’s Day brunch this year (MD2017), I thought I’d raise the bar and attempt some of the harder ones in the book–nothing impresses your mother like showing her you can cook (and bake). My mom LOVES pastries, so I made her 17-44: Homemade Danish Pastries to nosh on while I worked on trying to serve up 5-4: Eggs Benedict. Luckily, these turned out better than my hollandaise sauce attempt did.

Obviously, mine look a bit different than what’s pictured on their card–we’ll get into all the decisions and pitfalls that led to that being the case after the jump.

17-39: Herbed Buttermilk Biscuits

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods May 20, 2017September 20, 20204-6-09 dinner, all-purpose flour, baked goods, baking powder, baking soda, basil, biscuit cutters, biscuits, butter, buttermilk, cookie cutters, cut in, Dijon mustard, dough, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, flute, green onions, herb salt, herbs and spices, inexpensive, minced, parchment paper, parsley, ranch house, revisited, salt, scallions, shortening, side dish, Silpat, snacks, vegetarian

If you’re looking for a relatively easy homemade buttermilk biscuit recipe, 17-39: Herbed Buttermilk Biscuits isn’t a bad choice. I made these once before for a dinner I made about 8 years ago. I remember thinking they were very bland as written–hence my notes written on the front and back about adding more salt. After following my own suggestions this time around, they’re much improved.

I didn’t make these for any particular dinner or reason this time around, but they still made decent snacks and accompaniments to meals throughout the week.

5-20: Golden Cheese Tartlettes

Jamie Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters May 7, 2017December 20, 202180s party, all-purpose flour, appetizers, baked goods, blender, blue cheese, brandy, breakfast, butter, Cheddar, cheese, chilled, cognac, Colby Jack, cookie cutters, creamy, dough, dried spices, egg yolks, eggs, fail, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, filling, food processor, Gorgonzola, Grand Marnier, Greenback apt, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, Jarlsberg, liquor, paprika, party food, pastry, pastry cups, pie crust, revisited, roach motel apt, Roquefort, shredded, snacks, Swiss, tart, tartlette, vegetarian, whole wheat flour

Finally, one from the “revisited” pile–those are recipes I’ve already made before, but am making again for the sake of this project. 5-20: Golden Cheese Tartlettes were one of the appetizers I made for a Valentine’s Day 80’s party I talked about in 1-22: Onion-Potato Diamonds–I thought these little cheese tarts seemed very 1980s.

They’re not kidding about the “fragile” part when it comes to these tartlettes–I originally made these for this project back in July of 2016, but the whole operation went so poorly that I abandoned it and never even posted about it. Now that I’ve bought the proper equipment and ingredients for it, it went much smoother.

17-11: Scones

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods May 5, 2017January 29, 2021all-purpose flour, baked goods, baking powder, breakfast, brown sugar, butter, buttermilk, cakes, coffee, cut in, dessert, dough, easy, egg wash, eggs, English, gift ideas, inexpensive, jam/jelly/preserves, marmalade, milk, pastry, quick breads, salt, scones, scored, Silpat, slit, snacks, tea, untested, vegetarian, whole wheat flour

Scones have a lot of different methods of preparation, usually depending on varying geographical interpretations. There’s even different pronunciations of the word “scone”–some rhyme it with “tone”, while others rhyme it with “gone.”

Simply Delicious‘ take, 17-11: Scones, seems to most closely adhere to the British version of scones in that they make theirs into round cakes, score them, and then break them apart into triangle shapes after baking. The North American versions tend to be individually-sized, round, and more often than not closely resemble what we refer to as biscuits.

One of my first memorable experiences with scones were at an 18th birthday tea party I attended in the last few months of senior year of high school–we had just come back from a Spring Break trip to England & Ireland, and I came to the tea party prepared with white gloves and pinkies up. They had scones with clotted cream & jam, finger sandwiches, and lots of flowery, delicate pots of tea. ☕️

Wouldn’t have been my choice for an 18th birthday party (I spent a good portion of mine in my freshman dorm room hungover from the Halloween extravaganza the night before), but it was definitely unique.

16-39: Apricot Tart

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods April 24, 2017November 5, 2020all-purpose flour, almond extract, almond meal, almonds, apricots, baked goods, baking powder, breakfast, butter, citrus, creamed, dessert, dough, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, filling, fruit, gift ideas, glazed, granulated sugar, half-and-half, jam/jelly/preserves, julienned, lemon juice, lemons, melted, milk, party food, pastry, peeled, pie crust, sifted, snacks, springform pan, tart, tart pan, toppings, untested, vanilla extract, vegetarian, zested

I had mentioned in 16-24: French Chocolate Cake that it was one of two desserts that I made for a recent baby shower I attended: 16-39: Apricot Tart was the second dessert. I’ve been meaning to make this thing since near the start of this project, and it only took me a few years to finally get around to it. There’s something about this recipe and procrastination, though–this entry’s been sitting in my writing queue half-finished for over a month.

For the length of time that it took me to make it (and to write about it), I never even got to try it–I ended up leaving this and 16-24: French Chocolate Cake still wrapped up on the table at the party. We’ll just assume that both of them were delicious and everyone ate every last crumb of them.

17-18: Golfer’s Rolls

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods March 20, 2017August 31, 2020alfalfa sprouts, all-purpose flour, anise, apples, avocados, baked goods, breads, Brie, butter, cardamom, Cheddar, cheese, Colby Jack, cooked chicken, cream cheese, cucumbers, dark corn syrup, dough, dried herbs, dried spices, egg-free, fairly easy, fennel, frozen, ham, herbs and spices, hummus, inexpensive, kneaded, light corn syrup, lukewarm, lunch, mayonnaise, melted, milk, Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack, picnic, proofed, Provolone, rolls, rye flour, sandwiches, sausage, sliced, smoked ham, Swiss, toasted, turkey, untested, vegetarian, yeast

If you’re looking for something you could use for making lunches in advance, 17-18: Golfer’s Rolls could be an option. My suggestion? Use a creamier, softer cheese like they do in their picture (Simply Delicious shows Brie) or add some mayonnaise/avocado/hummus at the time of eating because these rolls can get a little dry.

Simply Delicious advocates freezing these rolls after filling them like sandwiches, and then bringing them with you somewhere (like a golf course). While my new co-workers like to play golf a lot, I only ended up bringing these to lunch at my desk. ⛳️

17-65: Giant Caramel Rolls

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods March 16, 2017November 8, 2020all-purpose flour, baked goods, baking cups, breakfast, brown sugar, brunch, butter, caramel, chopped, cinnamon, dark corn syrup, dough, easy, eggs, filling, gift ideas, granulated sugar, herbs and spices, inexpensive, melted, nuts, pastry, pecans, proofed, rolls, salt, Silpat, snacks, untested, vegetarian, yeast

A recent Sunday brunch called for a special treat: 17-65: Giant Caramel Rolls. Similar to “sticky buns“, these rolls have been taunting me for a while. I decided to make a batch and drop them off for brunch–that way most of them gets eaten by everyone else.

Don’t get me wrong–there’s still two in my freezer as I type this. But that’s better than ALL of them. Plus, there wasn’t room for all of them–I still had 16-14: Orange-Almond Cake in there, too. The rest of these ended up in my mom’s freezer instead.

16-9: Raspberry Tart

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods February 21, 2017July 30, 2020all-purpose flour, baked goods, baking powder, bread crumbs, butter, cookie cutters, creamed, dough, eggs, fairly easy, filling, French, fruit, gift ideas, graham crackers, granulated sugar, inexpensive, jam/jelly/preserves, party food, pastry, pie crust, raspberries, sifted, snacks, springform pan, stand mixer, strawberries, tart, tart pan, untested, vegetarian

Here’s a simple dessert that’s easy for a dinner, gift, or even just a snack. 16-9: Raspberry Tart is exactly what it sounds like–pie crust in a tart pan filled with raspberry preserves and topped with bits of dough. Simply Delicious uses a simple drop method for the dough topping, but I think we can do better than that. 🌟

Why did anyone think that amorphous blobs of dough were an acceptable tart topping? 🤷‍♀️

18-10: Pasta II

Jamie Martin Group 18: Basic Techniques, Section 4: Cooking School January 29, 2017September 30, 2020al dente, all-purpose flour, boiled, butter, canola oil, carrots, cheese, cheese sauce, conchiglie, cooking school, dough, durum wheat flour, eggs, farfalle, herbs and spices, Italian, meat sauce, Parmesan, pasta machine, pasta/noodles, penne, ravioli, rotini, salt, seafood, semolina, soups, spinach, stuffed, stuffing, tomato sauce, tomatoes, tortellini, vegetable oil, vegetarian

Back with another Cooking School follow-up to 18-19: Pasta I from a few weeks ago. 18-10: Pasta II discusses proper pasta making techniques & cooking methods on its front face, as well as offering some tips on using fresh and dried varieties. On the back side, the deep dive into the myriad of pasta shapes that started with 18-9: Pasta I continues–this card covers smaller forms like penne, farfalle, and tortellini.

Most of this advice is pretty generic–here’s a basic pasta dough recipe, and pasta cooking methods are outlined pretty well here. I’ve made both plain dough as well as some with spinach and sun-dried tomato–it’s a lot of work, but the taste difference is pretty noticeable. I don’t currently have a pasta machine, but I’d love to add one to my already-too-large collection of kitchen appliances and tools.

After the jump, read about some more pasta shapes–there’s some links to a few additional pasta dishes we’ve already covered here as well.

17-50: Cornmeal-Jalapeño Biscuits

Adam Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods January 11, 2017November 8, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, baked goods, baking powder, baking soda, biscuit cutters, biscuits, breakfast, butter, buttermilk, chopped, cilantro, cookie cutters, coriander, cornmeal, cumin, cut in, dough, easy, egg-free, gift ideas, granulated sugar, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, inexpensive, jalapeño peppers, lunch, melted, minced, parsley, party food, salt, side dish, Silpat, snacks, untested, vegetarian

Making biscuits is quick and easy, especially when following this recipe for 17-50: Cornmeal-Jalapeño Biscuits from Simply Delicious. One of my favorite rainy-day activities, I enjoy baking because the warm oven heats up the house nicely. The only feeling that can beat it is sitting by the fireplace.🔥

A recipe like this could be cooked similar to a cornbread in a cast iron skillet placed near a fireplace hearth. That would be really old school, but I prefer using this biscuit method because each biscuit is baked with its own crunchy, delicious crust.

This recipe is so versatile. You can make the biscuits small for appetizer-sized portions or you can make dinner sized biscuits as a side dish.