Thanks! They are REALLY tasty. Here’s a recipe which includes good directions for making the “slapped ears.” If you can’t find pearl sugar for the tops, you can smash up sugar cubes into small chunks. It works in a pinch.

http://myblueandwhitekitchen.com/home/2014/10/9/korvapuusti-finnish-cinnamon-rolls

ediej, yeast donuts aren't very hard. I don't make them often because I don't like deep frying but I also prefer yeast donuts (though I'm thinking about making a recipe I found using a Boxed cake mix, Nutella and a pie maker :-)

A couple of days ago I made a sour cream cinnamon coffee cake. Before that was a carrot cake for Easter. My daughter has already requested another one. I have some Irish soda bread sliced and wrapped in waxed paper in a Tupperware container in the freezer. I take a slice out when the mood strikes. Oh I also made a sour cream rhubarb pie recently too.

I had some ricotta leftover from making lasagna, and I had an apple just sitting around with the lemons, doing not much, so I made a recipe I found for Ricotta Cake called Louisa's Cake. Link is below. I reduced the sugar to 3/4 of a cup with no discernible problem, and I think next time, I'll reduce the butter as well (the recipe called for 9 Tablespoons & I really think that can be reduced a bit without a problem). Definitely squeeze the liquid out of the grated apple. It came out really well, based on the fact that DH ate half of it before dinner!

The sweetpeas (the flowers, not the vegetable) in the background of the photo are from today's pickings.

Ricotta Cake

I wasn't planning on baking this week , but I got so many freaking eggs I have to do something with them. We had 3 dz we got at the egg farm, then yesterday a friend dropped off 3 dz from his chickens.

Colleenoz, do you have a recipe for yeast donuts?

That cake does look good, Sooz. I'll put it on the "try soon" list :-) And those cinnamon rolls...

As I said I’m pretty much a non-baker. This weekend I learned a lesson that I already knew - in baking you can’t haphazardly replace things without considering their impact. I baked the same koulourakia as last week but subbed a tablespoon each of ouzo and grand marnier for one ounce of the cream. Now I know that aside from being wet they don’t have much in common, but I figured since most recipes don’t even seem to have cream I’d be safe. Texture and taste both suffered, and I taste neither.

I again forgot to make hot cross buns on Friday, so I made them for Easter2 instead. KA recipe, subbed brandy for rum (on hand) no dried fruit. They don’t look pretty but are delicious.

I didn’t make the Greek Easter Bread. Couldn’t decide on a recipe but more importantly got hung up on the Mahlab thing. And turns out my wife didn’t care at all, she was more excited that I found lamb.

Shambo - Do you happen to have a reliable online source? Most of what I’m seeing is ground, which I understand goes bad quickly. Whole, on Amazon, gets mixed reviews for being old. Also, if whole, how to grind? Will my coffee whizzer work? (Metal bowl) I see warnings not to put it in FP, and my experience with cloves gives me an idea why. Now that I know what it is, I see that the grater I pictured above is clearly not the tool.

Happy Easter to the Orthodox!

Foas, I suspect the difference with your koulourakia is that cream is mostly fat, so the fat content of your cookies would have been altered.

Later today I am going to make a german chocolate cake with pecan frosting. My DH favorite.

This morning I made biscuits using cake flour. So light and flaky!

Well, the KA English Muffin Bread smelled wonderful and looked beautiful when it was done. I removed from the pan, wrapped in a tea towel and put back in the unplugged Zoji to cool overnight. Unwrapped the bread this morning to make toast; the bread still smelled great. However, as I feared, the bread has no flavor. Won't be making that one again.

I baked Cranberry Orange Nut Bread last night. I use the recipe form Ocean Spray. I had vowed to only eat one slice and freeze the rest, but, alas, I'm down 3 slices already.

CA, will have to look for the Ocean Spray recipe. I love the mix of cranberry and orange flavors. I did not even know Ocean Spray had a recipe for it.

Three very very ripe bananas are calling my name. Banana bread in my future.

Pizza last night - one plain cheese (for my picky eater granddaughter), one tuna and one veggie.

Made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies with my grandson today. They came out really good and I'm not usually a fan of peanut butter cookies.

I'll be making pita bread to go with falafel for dinner. This will use up most of my dried garbanzo beans. If I don't find some more, it will be my last batch until things get better.

I made Ina Garten's Lemon Yogurt Cake. Had to use white whole wheat flour because I can't find AP and also used evoo instead of veg oil. It turned out really delicious, very moist and the lemon syrup makes it even better.

That sounds good!

I just started a batch of no-knead bread, luckily have yeast in the freezer. I haven't made it in years and DD doesn't remember it, think she'll like it.

Has anyone tried baking with monkfruit sweetener? Trying to avoid sugar around here.

I'm also looking for a good and easy cinnamon bread recipe.

I did make the banana bread and yay I did freeze half! The recipe calls for raisins and walnuts but this time I used cranberries. It's all good.

We had a lot of brown rice left over, and DH finally tried rice pudding. He loves it and I don't usually but this was really good!

Banana bread last night, next up is some Turkish pide

A few nights ago we had pizza, and tonight I made sausage rolls using the challah recipe from The Joy of Cooking. (1/3 whole wheat flour.) There was enough dough for 18 rolls and a round 'artisan' loaf. Lunch today was chili I'd made last night, so I pureed the leftover chili for dipping sauce for the rolls.

I have to admit the mental concept of sausage rolls made with bread dough seems odd to me, though no doubt they are good. Traditionally here they are made with puff pastry.

FOAS & CC, the last two times I ordered this brand from Amazon. But as I read the reviews, it seems as though there are problems getting whole kernels rather than the promised ground. I’ve never had that problem, but things can always change.

I’ve never ground up the whole kernels, so I’m not sure how you would do it. Mortar & pestle? Coffee grinder?

World Spice Merchants and Zamouri Spices also sell the whole kernels. I originally bought mahleb from Parthenon Foods, but I just checked, and they are sold out. That makes sense, though. Easter was just celebrated. https://www.amazon.com/Ziyad-Premium-Ground-Mahlab-Ounce/dp/B005SEMGYG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1EXNVQY7HK8YA&dchild=1&keywords=mahleb+ground&qid=1587356281&s=grocery&sprefix=Mahleb%2Cgrocery%2C251&sr=1-1

The Aunt Duddie's English Muffin Bread was very chewy. It will be good with some beef veg. soup or to make French Toast. I did make French Toast and I made thick slices for that. I sliced the rest in thick slices and froze for future use. I am thinking of making Aunt Duddie's Poufy Buns again. Love those, but I use the all purpose flour instead of half that and half bread flour. Expect that dough to really rise in the bread machine so watch it if you decide to make it. Lots of folks are baking, nice to see.

Sue

Thanks, Shambo. I grind the kernels in a small electric coffee grinder I keep just for spices.

Looking it up now, I found some sites say mahlab is the pits but some say it's dried kernels from inside the pits of those cherries. I figured they're very small because they come from a tiny cherry species. But maybe they are the kernels! Somebody is just plain wrong. Botanist needed! I have a friend whose daughter is a botanist. I'll email her.

Here is the Wikipedia article; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahleb

How odd that everything else says it's pits, as I always thought.

CC - I was reading/wondering the same thing. Reminds me of cardamom; I’ve seen people say include the pod when grinding. I don’t.

Shambo - Whatever it is that you’re leaving whole, it’s small enough or soft enough not to crack your teeth on?

I think I’ll wait for Parthenon to restock. Thanks for reminding me of that site.

colleenoz, I've used puff pastry, but I didn't have time yesterday to make it. About a year ago someone asked about a traditional bread-dough sausage roll he remembered from his youth and wanted to re-create (I don't recall if it was this forum, or maybe kitchens), but I think the consensus was pizza dough.

This recipe says bread dough is more Asian than western.

BTW, I had a slice of the challah, buttered, for breakfast. Mmmmmmm. :)

I am baking again today. I found I had written down a recipe for bread and I also have it written down for the small loaf, so I got out the one pound bread maker machine and have a loaf of it kneading away. I hope this machine works all the way though. I have never baked in it but am going to try it today. This was the machine I paid $3.00 for and it is a Westinghouse. Very heavy to lift. The recipe is called Buttery Sweet Bread and calls for Bread Flour which I did use. I usually like to go by the recipe the first time I use it. I also have the recipe for a bigger loaf but thought I would try this today.

Sue

FOAS, when Shambo said she never ground up the whole kernels, she meant that she always buys and uses it already ground. She didn't mean she leaves it whole. The little pits are very, very hard. Like tiny cherry pits. Maybe harder.

Oh!!! Yeah that makes more sense!

I'd never heard of Mahlab before reading this thread, but now I want some to bake with. :) There are several Middle Eastern stores in the city an hour away, so once we go back to "normal" and can drive there again, it's on the shopping list.

Here's some info re. how it's harvested.

Mahlab is an aromatic spice which comes from the stones or kernels from black
cherries. The kernels are cracked open, the seeds removed and dried.
These little gems are sold whole (which I prefer), or in powdered form. Mahlab is used mainly as a flavoring in baked goods –such as choreg, cookies, and cakes. It’s sold in Middle Eastern stores, or can be purchased online.

Powdered mahlab will lose its flavorful punch rather quickly, so it’s best to buy it in small quantities, and store it in a cool, dry place. Whole mahlab seeds store well in the freezer for a very long time. Grind it just before using for best results.

Mahlab has a very distinctive flavor. Some say its taste is a cross between a bitter almond, cherry, with a hint of rose. You’ll have to try it and decide for yourself. Once baked in a recipe, the scent is alluring, and the taste is subtle.
https://www.thearmeniankitchen.com/2017/11/a-lesson-in-mahlab-mahleb.html

Kadefol, that's a pretty good description. It's hard to pin down the actual flavor of mahleb. It's rather elusive. I've only used ground, but I get about 2-3 years out of it because I wrap the container in several layers of plastic wrap, then in foil, then in a freezer bag, then expel the air and keep it expelled by stretching rubber bands around the container.

The first time I used ground mahleb, I doubled, then tripled the amount called for when mixing the dry ingredients. It just didn't seem to be strong enough. Then, after proofing, I worried that I had overdone it. The smell was much stronger mixed with the liquids. I thought I had made a huge mistake. But once the bread was baked and I sliced it, everything was perfect. There was enough flavoring to remind me of that wonderful tsoureki I had eaten in Los Angeles, but it wasn't so strong as to make the bread inedible.

Patience is not my strong suit. I bought a couple jars from greekmarket.com. Now I’ve got to find a non-holiday something to try it in.

Why not make a holiday recipe? I didn't have bread flour to make hot cross buns for Easter, so I am going to make them on the weekend.

^^^ Yummm!!

I made a carrot cake on Easter. My daughter asked for

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies yesterday. Today I didn’t know what to make for dinner until it got late. I found I had a recipe for a 10 minute pizza. Wasn’t as good as my usual traditional pizza recipe, but it was quick and edible. I will reduce the salt next time.

Just put a loaf of CA_Kate's Grandma Wongstrom's Rye Bread in the breadmaker. Have been meaning to try this for a while. I'll let you all know how it came out :-)

Edited to add:

It turned out very well :-) I was afraid I had let it over prove but it had a great texture, moist and somewhat spongy. I did play around with the recipe (you knew I would :-) ) as it had 1/2 cup of rye flour and 2 3/4 cups of white flour, so I made it 1 cup of rye flour and 2 1/4 cups of white, and kneaded in a little more rye flour after the first rise. I might even try more rye flour next time :-)

Colleenoz, please post the link to the rye bread recipe you used.

Here you go:

CA_Kate's Grandma Wongstrom's Swedish Rye Bread

I'm home for a couple days because I have a minor case of pink eye. Yesterday I made apple fritters. I didn't like them at all, not at all like you get a Tim Hortons (one of the few things I like from there). And today my daughter in law posted a "memory" from 6 years ago when I gave her a batch of peanut butter cup cookies, saying she could use more of them. I baked her a batch and am waiting for them to cook off enough to take out of the muffin tins

I made a big loaf of the Buttery Sweet Bread today. Plan to send that on to my youngest home.

Sue

Today I made another rye loaf, this one with 1 1/2 cups of rye flour and 1 3/4 cups of white flour. It’s also delicious. Thanks CA Kate.

I also made a batch of 2pups4me’s korvapuusti. They’re not quite as pretty as the picture above, but they look pretty darn good and they taste great. I’ll give some extras to DH to give the police who are manning the roadblock he has to come through to get home from the city and then go back to work. Our state has been divided into regions and unless yo have an exemption as DH does - he’s an “essential worker” who lives in one region and works in another- you can’t leave your home region to minimise the spread of Covid-19. It can’t be a lot of fun manning the roadblocks so this is my thank you for them letting DH through quickly.

Tomorrow is ANZAC Day, which is our Veterans‘ Day. We can’t attend mass services and parades as in previous years, so many people will be standing at the end of their driveways at dawn tomorrow (traditionally ANZAC Day commemorations start with a Dawn Service) playing the Last Post as best they can and waving flags and red poppies.

In the afternoon I will bake Anzac cookies, which were originally invented to keep well enough to send to the troops in Europe and the Middle East. They have oats, coconut and golden syrup, no eggs and are crunchy. And for dessert I’m planning to make cherry cobbler especially for DH.

Our blueberries are ripe, so I made blueberry muffins and pie.

The Danishes are from a quickie shortcut recipe floating around Facebook. Made with crescent roll dough and a bit of cream cheese filling. I didn't have any pie fillings so I used some of a couple types of DH's just fruit spread. They actually taste pretty good. I've had this roll of crescent dough since Christmas, I'm surprised it was still good. So it got used up YAY.

I hope the weather improves so the rest of this week we can be outside working off all the calories we've consumed lately!

Didn’t get the Anzac cookies done Saturday because I discovered I was short a crucial ingredient too late to go to the store. So I made a quiche for Sunday lunch instead. Yesterday DH went to the store for me so I made the cookies. Will make more today along with date loaf for work and possibly some brownies.

Look familiar? (If not as pretty, and yes there’s a reason I’m only posting one!)

Quite delicious but Holy Cardamom! I wonder if mine (fresh ground) is a lot stronger than the recipe author’s is, or if this was intended. Could easily halve the amount and still have it stand out.

I’m a fan of the pearl sugar and have no doubt I’ll find additional ways to work through the two pounds I bought.

Thanks, 2pups!