(Part 3) Best products from r/Baking

As someone else said, Kitchen-Aid standing mixers are awesome, but hella expensive. So unless you were planning on spending A LOT, maybe try something like this:

If she is geeky: Williams-Sonoma has Star Wars and Marvel cookie cutters/cupcake kits/cake pans/pancake molds/etc.

Mixing bowls are always a must, these are super cute and colorful, and have a grip and spout so they're easy to pour, and they have great reviews.

Here is a good set of different baking pans, I actually got this for my last birthday and they're great.

And since you said she likes cupcakes primarily, maybe a cupcake decorating book, icing tips and etc., cupcake recipe book, or maybe more generic baking-wise a cute apron or a cute recipe box. Good luck, I'm sure whatever you get her she'll love! And kudos to you for trying so hard to find a great gift for her. :)

These are French style cakes, called patisserie. Other notable French pastry chefs include Pierre Herme, Sadaharu Aoki, and Jaques Genin just to name a few. These are different from usual baked goods because of well... The lack of being baked. A lot of techniques are used to make these pastries such as tempering chocolate, making mousses, etc. Many consider them difficult to make because of the large number of components required to assemble them. For example, a simple cake is just cake and frosting. But these pastries may require many hours of work because you have to wait for the mousse to set, the tart shell dough to be cool enough to work with, the meringue for baking the macaron shells to be the right consistency, and tempering the chocolate. Making quality French pastries is hard because you're working with a bunch of different components and all of these components are arguably difficult to master.

My suggestion is to master all of the basic French recipes (choux pastry, pastry cream, almond tart crust, macaron meringue), learn about flavour pairings (I don't know if the site is still active but try parispatisseries.com for some more information on the French pastry scene in Paris), and then combine the knowledge to make your own pastries. There are also recipe book out there such as Laduree's Sucre which covers a lot of iconic French pastries!

I'm typing this up on my phone so hopefully my information isn't too confusing !

Edit- I have added a list of resources that I think may be helpful:

Websites:

Basic French patisserie recipes

Road to Pastry Pretty sure someone mentioned this above! Great basic recipes.

Patisserie Makes Perfect Solid website about patisserie

Paris' patisserie scene Great for learning more about the components of pastries, popular flavours, etc. The site however is no longer being updated, but it can still serve as good inspiration. Also if you are interested in a certain reciple, you can probably do further googling and find the recipe for it online.

Evan's Kitchen Ramblings A variety of entrement cakes that offer a twist with Asian flabours, and many of her posts offer recipes (but not all of them). Great for inspiration as well!

Books:

Fou de Patisserie is a French magazine that talks about pastries by all the big name pastry shops.

Laduree's Sucre is a recipe book that comes in both French and English that teaches you how to make basic French recipes, as well as the store's most iconic pastries (Laduree is the story that invented the macaron!)

Pastries by Pierre Herme Often regarded as the Picasso of French pastry. His book offers basic recipes as well as recipes for his creations.


These are just places to start and get you thinking about pastries.

Hi everyone!! Sorry for the late response, but basically I just used the recipe from sallysbakingaddiction with a few modifications from the first time I made these. (https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/lemon-bars-recipe/)

Some suggestions

• I personally didn’t melt the butter like the recipe says, and instead let it soften to room temp and then creamed it with the sugar like most recipes typically recommend.
  
• I also reduced the amount of sugar in the filling to 1 1/2 cup
  
• For the lemon juice, I definitely recommend using fresh squeezed lemons and I found it to be more like 6-7 lemons instead of 4
  
• I also strongly recommend using a glass pan and lining it with parchment paper
  
• For the crust, I found it better to blind bake it for much longer (closer to 25 mins) to make sure it didn’t end up undercooked (that happened to me the first time I made these and the crust ended up rock hard the next day)
  
• I also whisked the eggs separately first and tried to get them really well incorporated
  
• Sifting the lemon curd over the crust helped remove most of the bubbles, and the rest I just popped with a chopstick
  
  As far as cutting:
  
  I really didn't do anything special, but my best advice for smooth cuts is to wait until they’re firm but not too hard. After about an hour at room temp and then an hour in the fridge they were the perfect consistency to cut. I think it’s best to use a really sharp knife and make sure it’s not serrated! If you’re interested in the exact one I used, here’s a link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IBU9FW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (I used the 8-inch chef's knife). It also makes a huge difference if you wipe down the knife after every cut and if that still doesn’t work, try running it under hot water for a few seconds.
  
  (Also sorry just realised how long this is haha)

It does depend on what she loves making for the most part, but greaseproof cupcake liners are awesome. You can get some here in some of here---> https://shopsweetsandtreats.com/ favorite colors. The benefit to greaseproof is that the color stays vibrant and doesn't dull down when baked (because it doesn't absorb grease).

Portion scoops in various sizes. I don't have a restaurant supply store by me, so I buy from webstaurantstore.com. This type of place would also be the place to buy stainless steel half-sheet pans. Note that restaurant supply stores are not necessarily the same as baking supply stores. One is geared more toward commercial users (but most sell to residential users), the other is likely a retail store that just stocks items commonly used in baking, but at retail prices.

You said she already has the stand mixer... if it's a Kitchenaid, you could upgrade the flat paddle and the whisk attachments. https://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-KFE6L-5-5-6-Bowl-Lift-Beater/dp/B006HGZ7AY/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1511341329&sr=1-1&keywords=KitchenAid+Flex+Edge+Beater+for+pro+600+stand+mixerhttps:// and www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-KN211WW-11-Wire-Whip-Bowl-Lift/dp/B000PJ6XGQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1511340838&sr=8-3&keywords=11+wire+whip+kitchenaid . Make sure you get the one that fits the right model number of the mixer you have (if you, in fact, have a Kitchenaid). These attachments are better because they are more efficient AND are completely dishwasher safe.

You could also get her an extra bowl for the stand mixer. Comes in handy more often than you might think.

Edit: Came back to say that if she's going to bake artisan breads, the best baking "stone" I've ever had isn't stone, it's cast iron. ttps://www.amazon.com/Lodge-P14P3-Seasoned-Baking-Pizza/dp/B0000E2V3X/ref=sr_1_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1511341833&sr=1-3&keywords=lodge+baking+stone

The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart is my number one recommendation for bread. Im also a big fan of Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson. His first book, Tartine is also great btw. I would skip out on Tartine Book No.3 though which seems to have too many errors for my liking. Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish is also one of the better bread baking books out there.

For general baking, im a big fan of Bouchon Bakery. And one book that will surely help you improve as a baker and I highly recommend you cook through is The Art of French Pastry by Jacquy Pfeiffer. Its like a pastry arts class in a book. I am actually cooking my way through this. If you have a serious sweet tooth, Momofoku Milk Bar by Christina Tosi will probably be what you're looking for. And as someone else recommended, the Baked books are all great.

For cakes, it has to be The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Bernanbaum. This is probably the best cake book of all time. I would supplement this with Toba Garrett's Professional Cake Decorating book.

For pies, my favorites are Four and Twenty Blackbirds and Hoosier Mama. One that I haven't tried but am planning to buy is First Prize Pies. If the book lives up to their reputation, it should be an excellent book.

For plated, more ambitious desserts, I like Payard Desserts. I refer to this when I want to impress company.

The Wilton chart is for 2" pans.

A 3" pan will hold more batter.

You want to fill a cake pan no more than 1/2 to 2/3 full, depending on how much the batter rises - I have a recipe for Red Velvet Cake that rises more than usual so I use a deeper pan or go up to a 9" pan when making a full recipe.

However 6" cake pans are perfect for making smaller cakes for one or two people so I use them much more often than my larger pans these days as there are only the 2 of us and neither of us have much of a sweet tooth.

a 6x3 pan has a total volume of 5.8 cups. So 1/2 to 2/3 of that is what you can safely bake in it - 2.9 cups to 3.9 cups of batter fills it.

an 8x2 pan has a usable volume of 3.5 c to 4.6 c

a 9x2 pan has a usable volume of 4.4 c to 5.9 cups

Most recipes are for 2 layers.

The easiest conversion for your smaller pans is to find a recipe intended for a 9x2 pan and make half of it - that will make enough for 2 layers using 6x3 pans.

Because recipes vary somewhat in the actual volume they make, you will probably need to experiment a few times. Using an 8x2 two layer recipe could give you just enough batter (if the yield is at the low end of the range for the pans) or a bit too much (if it yields at the high end). No big deal, just make some cupcakes as well and adjust accordingly next time you make the recipe. A little math will be involved is all.

I'm curious, is the book to which you refer one of the Small Batch Baking books? My experience with those was also negative. The problem, I believe, is not with the recipes per se but with the way they are measured. Cake batters are extremely susceptible to small changes in ingredient quantities. Even when making "normal" quantities of 2 8" or 9" layers, variations in ingredient quantities can easily "break" a recipe. And when measuring by volume, quantities ALWAYS vary.

I strongly recommend switching to by-weight measuring for baking, especially for cakes. There are at least 3 pretty good recipe books that give most or all measurements by weight.

The Cake Book

The Cake Bible

*Great Cakes

If you've had trouble with cakes, switch to by-weight measures. It's amazing how much difference it can make in your baking. It also makes dividing recipe quantities much easier. Scales are quite affordable.

I own the Polder KSC-310-28, currently on sale at Amazon for $21, a real deal since I paid a lot more for mine.

http://www.amazon.com/Polder-KSC-310-28-Digital-Glass-Silver/dp/B000G2OTM2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369835990&sr=8-1&keywords=Polder+KSC-310-28+Easy+Read+Digital+Glass+Top+Scale%2C+Silver

I also own the Escali P115C Primo, which is ok but I like the Polder better, plus atm it's more expensive (normally the Polder is the more expensive scale).

http://www.amazon.com/Escali-P115C-Digital-Multifunctional-Chrome/dp/B0007GAWRS/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1370129662&sr=1-1&keywords=Escali+P115C+Primo

Also many people swear by the My Weigh KD-8000 "Baker's Math" Scale. It's a bit pricier but it is pretty heavy duty - manages up to 17 lbs! You can get a power cord for it (though you can use batteries if you want to) - search on "Old Will Knott Scales" to find where you can get both the scale and the power cord (plus full details on the scale itself).

I have a cookbook obsession, I have roughly 500 that are somewhat organized so I feel like I can be of great use here. I will break it down by type to make it easier.

Bibles

• Baking Bible
  
• Cake Bible
  
• The Pie and Pastry Bible
  
  Bread
  
  
• Beard on Bread
  
• Bread
  
• Bread Baker's Apprentice
  
• Flour Water Salt Yeast
  
• Josey Baker Bread (I just genuinely like this guy tho lol)
  
• All of the Tartine books (just get all of them, Chad is the man when it comes to bread)
  
  Caramels/Candys/Ice Cream
  
  
• Ample hills creamery
  
• Artisan caramels
  
• Chocolates & Confections
  
• The Sweet Book of Candy Making
  
• Sweet Cream And Sugar Cones
  
  Jack of all trades
  
  
• Baked Occasions
  
• Baker's four seasons
  
• Flour
  
• Flour Too
  
• Model Bakery Cookbook
  
• Momofuku Milk Bar
  
• Ovenly
  
  Pastry/Pies
  
  
• The Art of French Pastry (this is one of my all time favorites)
  
• Creative Eclairs (whole set is great for beginners to intermediates)
  
• First Prize Pies
  
  Textbooks
  
  
• Baking and pastry
  
• On Baking
  
  
  I'm sure I am leaving out a bunch of great ones but if I had to suggest just 1 to anyone it would DEFINITELY be The Art of French Pastry. Best for somebody who has done basics already and looking to try a little more. Even as a professional baker I find myself coming back and just reading the little spots like how he burned himself on his caramel. Great, great book!

Here are some of my favorite tools:

• Mini measuring cups/beakers - I love these! No more spilled/wasted vanilla extract.
  
• Instant-read thermometer - I use this to check on the temperature of my dough/ingredients and even to confirm things are done baking.
  
• Maybe you already have these, but if not, I use my kitchen scale and oven thermometer all the time.
  
• Bakeware rack - This keeps my baking sheets and smaller pans better organized and more easily accessible than just stacking them on top of each other.
  
• Marble slab - keeps pie/pastry dough cold as you roll it out (I keep mine in the fridge so it's always ready).
  
• Pastry strips for making sure pie (or rolled-out cookie) dough is rolled out to an even thickness. Pastry cloth/sleeve for keeping dough from sticking.
  
• Cookie scoops - for drop cookies, muffins, cupcakes, and really anything that needs to be portioned out evenly (including non-baking stuff like meatballs). Whenever I use these, I'm always really grateful for them. Mine are Zeroll dishers I got from King Arthur Flour, but Webstaurant Store has them for cheaper, and Oxo has a line of cookie scoops too.
  
• If you make layer cakes, you may already have a turntable, but if not, this one is really good. I also like this cake lifter.
  
• Of course, there's also stand mixers. Super-helpful for things like whipping egg whites for meringues/souffles/angel food cake, creaming butter and sugar, and kneading bread dough. If you ask for a stand mixer, the KitchenAid Pro has a stronger motor than the Artisan. I have the Artisan, and it's worked fine for me for several years, but if I could go back, I'd go with the Pro instead. An extra bowl is very handy as well.

I thought I would share some tips for taking better photos of your food products that I posted as a comment earlier on another thread. Feel free to add your suggestions as well!

The first thing I would recommend buying is a light box and a couple of lights. Here is the set I bought.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00TQA19AK/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You can forget about the color filters that come with it. You need a light diffuser and great lighting more than anything. If you can take this thing outside in direct sunlight, always do that first. You will only need the light box if you do it that way. If you are inside, get in front of a window, have good overhead lighting, and point those spotlights downward on each side of the box.

Next, get some great platters or (ideally) professional vinyl backdrops. The backdrops won’t give you glare like a platter will and they don’t get grease spots from the food. Keep your background primarily white. Professional product photos are usually set against white backgrounds. Ink and Elm has 3x3 backdrops that fit perfectly into the bottom of that light box. Here is an example.

http://www.inkandelm.com/Photography-Backdrop-Faded-Whites.htm

Finally, figure out how to use the editing tools on your camera or phone. It doesn’t have to be an expensive professional camera if the lighting is good. I only use an iPhone to take my photos and the standard photo editing that comes with it. No extra apps or anything.

Here is how my cookie photography looked before.

Here is my cookie photography now.

Here is the behind the scene photo of this picture I posted earlier. I wrapped boxes in Christmas paper and stacked them in my light box. I strung a strand of battery lights in a placemat and hung it down the back of the light box through the zipper on top. You can see the battery pack on the top of the box. That made a nice background for the houses and matched the wrapping paper.

It's so nice that you want to do this for your wife! Does she like to do cupcakes/cakes? Do you know what equipment she has?

For tips, I would recommend a nice set from Ateco. You can buy a less expensive version by Wilton, but I feel like their tips warp/bend way too easily. I have the 55 piece, but there is also a 14 piece version available:

https://www.amazon.com/Ateco-55-Piece-Stainless-Decorating-Storage/dp/B0000DE12F/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1492868478&sr=8-2&keywords=ateco+tips

https://www.amazon.com/Ateco-14-Piece-Cake-Decorating-Set/dp/B000BVFYTA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1492868478&sr=8-5&keywords=ateco+tips

I (again) prefer Ateco's piping bags, but Wilton will also work fine. Wilton bags have split on me before, but I am also a semi-professional and very picky. :D I also prefer the smaller 12-in bags in general, because I can control the flow a lot easier.

https://www.amazon.com/Ateco-DISPOSABLE-PASTRY-BAGS/dp/B01EXHJCTA/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1492868619&sr=8-6&keywords=piping+bags

https://www.amazon.com/Wilton-Disposable-16-Inch-Decorating-Bags/dp/B00175TFJ4/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1492868619&sr=8-5&keywords=piping+bags

She might like using these bag ties. Much easier than a rubber band.

https://www.amazon.com/Wilton-417-173-Icing-Bag-Ties/dp/B000PBZHOS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492868890&sr=8-1&keywords=wilton+bands

For cake pans, I like Fat Daddio. They're relatively inexpensive and bake evenly.

https://www.amazon.com/Fat-Daddios-Anodized-Aluminum-Inches/dp/B0000VLIH8/ref=sr_1_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1492868964&sr=1-3&keywords=cake+pan+fat+daddio

I'm not a super big fan of cupcakes, but I got my pans from Sur La Table, but there are definitely cheaper options on Amazon.

Some other general tools that are helpful are straight/offset spatulas in different sizes (Wilton, OXO, Ateco all make them), cookie scoops if she's into cookies (OXO makes very sturdy ones that have lasted nearly 10 years for me). I would also get her a kitchen scale or measuring cups spoons, parchment paper, cooling racks, cake tester/toothpicks.

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Title | How To Make A WATERMELON out of CAKE! PINK VELVET cake with BUTTERCREAM and FONDANT!
Description | Click The Notification Bell To Get Freshly Baked Vids - Hot Out Of The Oven! Get The Vids EARLY! SIGN UP To Become One Of My VIPS: http://bit.ly/HowToCakeItVIP New Videos EVERY TUESDAY! SUBSCRIBE for more: http://bit.ly/HowToCakeItYT Want to see more of Walter? Check out my HOLIDAY COOKIE SANDWICHES video for his epic undercover mission! http://bit.ly/HolidayCookieSandwich Hi, I'm Yolanda! Some people call me the Beyoncé of cakes. I post my drool-worthy, jaw-dropping caking creations every Tuesday at 11am EST! From novelty cakes that look like your favourite foods to my MEGA mash up cakes that have layers upon layers of goodness - I dream in cake! Got an idea for a cake? I'd love to hear it - subscribe & comment below! FOLLOW ME: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/HowToCakeItW... Twitter - https://twitter.com/yolanda_gampp Instagram - http://instagram.com/yolanda_gampp Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/yolanda_gampp Snapchat - @yolanda_gampp USEFUL LINKS: For the FULL BREAKDOWN of how I made this PINK VELVET WATERMELON CAKE go here - http://bit.ly/WaterMelonCakeRecipe Check out this vid for full instructions on how to make my ITALIAN MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM - http://bit.ly/YolandasButterCream GET YOUR VERY OWN CAKE TEE HERE! http://bit.ly/HowToCakeItTees What is that liquid I drizzle all over my cakes?? SIMPLE SYRUP! Read more here - http://bit.ly/YOsSimpleSyrupRecipe Get my SIMPLE SYRUP SQUEEZE BOTTLE! - http://bit.ly/SimpleSyrupSqueezeBottle INGREDIENTS PINK VELVET CAKE - Makes 3 x 9” Round Cakes and 1 9” bowl cake - 1 1/2 cups butter 1/2 cup vegetable oil - http://amzn.to/1U2TmE7 4 1/2 cups sugar - http://amzn.to/1Sm38i3 2 teaspoons vanilla - http://amzn.to/1O4VV4O 6 eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons Wilton Rose Icing Colour - http://amzn.to/1MSIHYx 6 cups flour - http://amzn.to/1f1mn3M 1 tablespoon salt - http://amzn.to/1DfvFPq 3 cups buttermilk, at room temperature 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar - http://amzn.to/1M9lUu8 1 tablespoon baking soda - http://amzn.to/1M9lVOI 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips - http://amzn.to/1I5Bp0n 4 lbs Satin Ice White Fondant - http://amzn.to/1SKaUCx WATERMELON PINK BUTTERCREAM 400g sugar - http://amzn.to/1Sm38i3 8 Egg Whites 1 lb Butter Wilton Red Icing Colour - http://amzn.to/1HWbdar 1 cup Chocolate Chips - http://amzn.to/1I5Bp0n PAINT COLOURS FOR RIND Wilton Moss Green Icing Colour - http://amzn.to/1HWcmPg Wilton Kelly Green Icing Colour - http://amzn.to/1LOzOk8 Wilton Buttercup Yellow Icing Colour - http://amzn.to/1LOzUIl Wilton Ivory Icing Colour - http://amzn.to/1HWcRZI Clear Alcohol OR Lemon Extract ALL TOOLS 3 x 9” Round Pans - http://amzn.to/1DK4RHg 1 x Stainless Bowl 9” in diameter - http://amzn.to/1OMrtxo Electric Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment and Whisk Attacment - http://amzn.to/1Sm3oh6 Lazy Susan - http://amzn.to/1JOhx6o Whisk Sifter Mixing Bowls Rubber Spatula Parchment Paper - http://amzn.to/1IDuQHI Serrated knife Paint brushes with round tips Palette Knife Ball tool - http://amzn.to/1I5FCRy Pointed sculpting tool - http://amzn.to/1I5FCRy THE HOW TO CAKE IT TEAM Director of Photography: Chet Tilokani http://www.chet4days.com Editor: Orhan Sumen https://vimeo.com/orhansumen Producers: Jocelyn Mercer & Connie Contardi http://www.cjmercon.com T-Shirt: http://www.howtocakeit.com/
Length | 0:09:29






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Oooh. I would suggest some fancy ingredients like some Nielsen Massey vanilla paste (I have the gigantic 1 quart size myself and it's pretty much my favorite thing ever) or some Valrhona cocoa powder or feves (fancy chocolate chips). Some high quality measuring cups like these ones from All Clad would probably make her over the moon (as others have said, you can never have enough measuring cups and spoons, and heavy-weighted ones like those are a delight to use). You can round out your gift with a few cookbooks you think she might like -- some suggestions are the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook (since you mentioned she makes lots of cupcakes), the Tartine Cookbook (I love this one), and Rose Levy Berenbaum's Cake Bible or Heavenly Cakes.

The Breville Smart Oven is fantastic. I've got this version, which is a bit cheaper than the one you linked to. It's also smaller, but it's usually not a big problem (although I have sometimes made bread that rose a bit too close to the heating element and burned a bit on top. But it was still delicious). I do have a (vintage) 12 cup muffin pan that will fit in the toaster oven, although it is the type with closely spaced cups that tends to result in the tops running together. I think there's a Nordic Ware one that'll fit too.

Anyway, it heats way, way more evenly than your standard oven, so it's much easier to bake in that many of them. In a typical oven, filling the space very full causes a lot of problems (putting two 9x13s side by side in my full size oven always results in some burning, and it's actually a reasonably good oven), but the Breville not only fits a 9x13, it also cooks it evenly.

My 6 year old son is HFA as well and loves to bake with me - I've started explaining some of the concepts and he really responds to the science-like nature of the process.

I don't know what your son's reading comprehension level is, but perhaps Alton Brown's baking book would work. He throws a lot of history, science and explanation into his recipes so there is definitely some "teaching" going on.

Another great one is the good old fashioned Better Homes and Gardens Baking Book (whatever edition they're into now). It includes very basic recipes (then graduates to harder ones), easy to follow instructions and lots of pictures. I've had mine for over 20 years and still bake from it frequently.

As a professional baker, there are two books that I recommend:

• I'm Just Here for More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking by Alton Brown (gets into the science of baking, it's entertaining, and has some great recipes)
  
  
• Baker's Manual by Joseph Amendola and Nicole Rees (has the most classic recipes, and covers a lot of the things I learned in culinary school)
  
  I doubt it's in your price range, but every baker absolutely needs a kitchen-aid standing mixer.
  
  Other necessary items: wire whisk, rubber spatula, good set of bowls, various pans, or at least two half sheet pans, measuring cups, measuring spoons, bench scraper, etc.
  
  Wilton has a good cupcake decorating kit. Offset spatulas are necessary for any decorating, 4" for cupcakes, 8" for most cakes. If she likes cake decorating, then she needs a cake wheel and a decorating comb.
  
  I personally go for more practical items as opposed to novelty items. I hope some of that was useful.

This recipe comes from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads which I cannot recommend highly enough. The book has over 700 pages of recipes, tips, and tricks and EVERY bread recipe has instructions for making the doough by hand (below), by mixer, and by food processor!

He describes this as "A farmhouse loaf in New England kitchens for more than 150 years. When white flour was scarce, often in wartime, this blend of rolled oats, cornmeal and whole wheat was added to the flour to make it go farther. It makes a delicious loaf that tastes equally good in less troubled times."

Total Time: 4 hrs 30 mins
Prep Time: 3 hrs 30 mins
Cook Time: 1 hrs

WAR BREAD

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon shortening
1/3 cup molasses
1 tablespoon salt
3 cups boiling water
1 (1/4 ounce) package yeast
5 -6 cups all-purpose flour, approximately

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl combine the rolled oats, cornmeal, whole wheat flour, shortening, molasses and salt.
   
2. Pour in the boiling water, stirring constantly, until the mixture is smooth.
   
3. Set aside to cool to 120-130 degrees.
   
4. Sprinkle the yeast on the batter and blend.
   
5. Stir in the white flour, 1/2 cup at a time, first with the spoon and then by hand, or with the flat beater of a mixer.
   
6. The dough will be somewhat heavy and dense and will not have the elasticity of white dough. Nevertheless, the dough will eventually form a shaggy mass that cleans the side of the bowl. Sprinkle on flour to control stickiness as necessary.
   
7. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead with a rhytmic motion of push-turn-fold, for 8 minutes. the dough will become smooth. Sprinkle on more flour if the dough sticks to the work surface or your fingers.
   
8. place the dough in a bowl and pat with butter or greased fingers to keep the surface from crusting.
   
9. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and put aside for the dough to rise at room temp till twice its original size - about 1 hour (shorter if using rapid rise yeast).
   
10. Punch down the dough and knead for 30 seconds to press out bubbles.
    
11. Divide the dough into 2 or 3 pieces. shape into balls and let them rest on the work surface for 3-4 minutes.
    
12. Form into loaves and place into 9-inch (2 loaves) or 8-inch (3 loaves) loaf pans. Cover with wax paper and leave till the center of the dough has risen to an inch above the edge of the pans, about 50 minutes.
    
13. Preheat oven to 350 20 minutes before baking.
    
14. Bake the loaves in the oven till they are nicely browned and test done, about 1 hour (I check at about 45 minutes). Turn one loaf out of its pan and tap the bottom crust with your finger - a hard, hollow sound means it is done.
    
15. if the loaves brown too quickly, cover with brown sack paper or foil.
    
16. Midway through baking and again near the end, shift the pans so loaves are exposed equally exposed to the temperature variations in the oven.
    
17. remove bread from oven and turn out of pans. place on metal rack to cool.
    
    FIELD NOTES:
    
    NOTE1: It was a very hot, humid evening when I made this and I ended up using 7+ cups of bread flour. This dough will ALWAYS have a slightly sticky/tacky feel to it but try not to dust on more flour unless you are getting dough-monster-hands; I think mine would have had a lighter crumb if I had used less flour.
    
    NOTE2: I let the boiling water mixture sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, and yet I still get that slight crunchiness from the cornmeal. It does NOT negatively effect the bread (no more than the cornmeal dusting an English muffin or pizza would), but perhaps leave it sit for 1/2 hour or more to allow the cornmeal to hydrate.
    
    NOTE3: This was a nice loaf; chewy crust with a slightly dense, close crumb and just a hint of sweetness from the molasses. I think that next time I will make a pollenta from the cornmeal (and 3 cups water), and add that to the oats/wheat mixture in order to remove that slightly sandy crunch from the cornmeal.
    
    OTHER IMAGES

these are cool:

http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Elevate-Spatula-Set/dp/B004P28WHM

i always love getting beautiful cook books/subscriptions to food network mag, bon appetit etc. kitchenaid attachments. the paddle attachment with the silicone side is the best thing for frostings.

Start with a set like this. As a basic walking around set I'd recommend a writing tip (I like ateco number 3 or 4), a larger round tip, a closed star, a petal, a mum, and a ribbon. Ateco is a good brand, wilton is easy to find. Dont buy plastic tips, and always dry your metal tips well before storing them.

For cupcakes, find youself a nice big closed star and a french tip.

Edit: and a leaf tip!

I had the same issue recently. I ended up getting a nice counter top convection/toaster oven and I love it! It bakes faster than the oven I used to use so if you got one, I would recommend doing some research on adjusting bake times for a convection oven.

The only downside is the size, really. But that usually just means it takes more loads for cookies, etc. You can bake anything in it that you would bake in a normal oven, as long as it fits.

The one I use and love is:

Breville Convection Oven

I bake a lot so I splurged on my oven, but you can get a good convection/toaster oven for a lot less too. I would shop around and decide what features you want it to have.

Also, If you end up getting a convection oven, remember when using it to not have it's back against the wall because it needs some clearance or it might overheat/damage the oven.

Hope you find something that works for you! : )

If you are interested in some of the science of it but not all I really like Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for More Food. I pretty much love all of his recipes and I learned a bit from the book. I haven't completely gone trough it and I still use the internet for learning some new recipes. But overall I think it's a good one with information and little diagrams that explain what he means. I'm not sure if it would be pastry enough for you but it has a lot of baking info.

Based on Pain Ordinaire Carême from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads https://www.amazon.com/dp/0743287096

Activate 2 teas yeast in 1-1/4 cup warm water in a stand mixer. Add 2 cups flour and beat with flat beater at high speed until gluten develops (~10 minutes). You'll know. The batter will pull together around the beater. Add 1 teas salt dissolved in 1 teas warm water.

Switch to dough hook and add around 1-1/2 to 2 cups flour. You want a slightly wet dough. Turn out and let rise for an hour, until doubled.

Grate ~1 cup Parmesan cheese and mash two cloves of garlic. Combine with a fork.

Split the dough in half, two baguette. For each one, flatten to a rectangle and add cheese/garlic and fold over. Repeat flattening and folding a few times, but not too many or the mixture will be completely dispersed throughout. I like veins of cheese within the crumb. Let shaped baguettes rise for an hour.

Half hour before baking, place pizza stone in middle of oven and shallow metal pan on the bottom. Heat oven to 450F.

When ready to bake, plenty of slits on the tops of the loaves. Place loaves on stone and dump water in the shallow pan for a blast of steam. Close door quickly. After 5 minutes, add more water to pan. Maybe again after 15 minutes. Bakes in around 25 minutes. The usual: golden crust and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Remove and place on cooling rack. Wait 15 minutes so when cutting the crumb doesn't collapse.

Getting her ingredients might be hit or miss. I've been looking for some things for my wife who loves to bake. I ran across this book and read a lot of great things about it.

Roses Heavenly Cakes

It’s reeeeally good! I think I slightly overbaked the génoise, but the mousseline is so fluffy and delicious. It tastes like a fancy strawberry shortcake. I used the recipe from Pierre Hermé Pastries

more pics