Did you know that cranberries are full of pectin? I sure didn't until this week. But it's cranberry season here in the US, so i made a cranberry sauce with lime juice and maple syrup, and threw some corn starch in there to really seal the deal! O absolutely love lime and cranberry sauce, and the maple syrup really brings out a fall flavor to the pie. Thats on top of a condensed milk and cream cheese filling. On top we have a flour, brown sugar,and walnut crumb. I will admit that i cheated and used a frozen pie crust for it, but the challenge was for gelling agents, so hopefully you'll all be kind on me for that.

Original reddit post

Hi bakers! This week, we celebrate the Celtic festival of Samhain by asking you to make something Samhain themed or traditional to the regions in which the holiday is celebrated.

Samhain is officially on November 1st , but celebrations actually begin the evening of October 31st. It denotes the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. Bonfires are lit on that night, and some believe that on that night the boundary between the living and the Otherworld is thinnest at that time. Souls of family members that have passed are believed to revisit their homes and family members may even set places for them at the table. People may dress in costume and go door to door to recite verses in exchange for food (sound familiar?). It's thought that people may have dressed up to disguise themselves from spirits.

As always, here are some example recipes that fit the theme. Happy baking, and happy Samhain!

Soul Cakes

Barmbrack

Irish Soda Bread

Recipe. Recipe was a little confusing, but it came out delicious and beautiful.

Original reddit post

Intro Hi bakers! This week's challenge is to make something using a gelling agent - that is, a substance that can turn a liquid into a semi-solid or a solid.

There are many options to choose from. There's gelatin, of course! There's also things like agar, pectin, guar gum, and more.

As always, here are some example recipes that fit the theme. Happy baking!

Spanish Flan

Vegan Lemon Tart

Mirror Glazed Cake

I made these with some more pureed pumpkin for Sunday dinner with my old neighbors. These were super simple to make and made a great addition to a lovely dinner of butternut squash bisque and a chuck roast.

Recipe. I stuffed them with hamburger filling.

Original reddit post

Hello bakers! It's week 42, and this week's challenge is to make something using an enriched dough. An enriched dough is a bread dough (aka a lean dough - made with flour, water, yeast, and salt) which has been enriched with things like sugar, milk, and eggs. Enriched doughs cover a pretty wide breadth of treats both sweet and savory.

As always, here are some example recipes that fit the theme:

No-Knead Challah

Cheese, Spring Onion, and Chive Brioche Buns

Cinnamon Rolls

Happy baking!

Recipe. Really really good with butternut squash bisque. Also I made these a few weeks ago and had a sandwich with pimiento cheese, bacon, mustard, and caramelized onions. The bun couldn't hold it together but the flavor combination was incredible.

It's pumpkin season here in Ohio, so i bought a couple pie pumpkins from a farm market and wemt to town. Unfortunately i had a lot of trouble with my pastry dough, which was ledt over from the danishes i made for the laminated challenge. You can see uncooked puff pastry on the pie, and the crust also came off the pie pan and was a hot mess. But the pumpkin filling was excellent and a big!

Original reddit post

Hi bakers! Hold on to your buns, because it's buns week! ;) Bun can mean different things in different parts of the world, but as long as it's called a bun it's fair game. Examples include small savory bread rolls, sweet rolls, small sweet cakes, and more!

Here are some example recipes that fit the theme, as always:

Baked BBQ Pork Buns (Char Siu Bao)

Hot Cross Buns

Burger Buns

Happy baking!

Recipe. I've had the Pullman pan for at least 2 years, and finally used it. My first attempt with King Arthur's recipe was a fail. The dough didn't rise and only filled half the tin. This one came out beautifully. The only snag (literally) was that the dough baked into the crevice of the lid, and I couldn't get it off without tearing off a bit of corner. Over all, very happy with this rectangle.

I made Apfelstrudel following Granny's recipe.

Dough:

• 300 g pastry flour
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil + a bit for greasing
• 1 tsp salt
• 175 ml warm water + more water for boiling

Boil some water in a pot. Mix the ingredients together, adding only enough water so that you get a soft, but not batter-like, dough. Knead well until you can form a soft, elastic, smooth ball. Grease with a little more oil. Put the dough on a plate that fits under the pot: Pour the water out of the pot, maybe make some tea. Put the pot (upside down) onto the plate, so that it keeps your dough warm. Let rest for 30-45 mins.

Filling

• 1,5 kg apples
• juice from 1 small lemon
• optional: 75 g raisins according to taste
• optional: 75g chopped or ground almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, ... To taste
• 80 g sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 50 g + 25 g butter

Soak raisins in rum, water or juice. Melt butter. Core and peel apples, cut them in quarters to eighths, depending on the apples' size, then slice the pieces crosswise in smaller, flat pieces. Sprinkle lemon juice over the apple slices to prevent them from browning (and also adding a bit of sourness). Butter a 30x20 cm (12 x 8 inch?), deep mild. When the dough is rested, take a kitchen towel, sprinkle flour onto it to make it non-stick. Roll the dough out onto the towel, then widen the dough further with your hands. It should be thin enough, to see through. It takes a lot of practice to get there, I have yet to master that skill.... Spread 50g of butter over the dough, add apples, raisins, and nuts, leaving about ½ inch on every side plus about 3 inches on one side. Roll the dough up: start by folding over the ½inch wide sides onto the apple covered dough. Then start rolling at the side opposite the 3 inch wide side. The towel under the dough is pretty helpful here. Put the Strudel into the buttered mold, ideally with the end of the dough on the bottom. Grease the strudel with the remaining 25g of butter. Let it bake at 180°C/ 350 °F for about 1-1½ hours, until golden brown and crispy. For more crisp and colour, spread more butter onto the strudel during baking time. Eat with vanilla sauce, ice cream, whipped cream, apple sauce, some milk on the side or plain. I sent Granny some pictures and she thinks, i made an okay Strudel but way too thick. Also I tried to add more pictures but I couldn't Find out how 😅

I think i need bigger pipe tips. These were supposed to be churros, but the dough came out so narrow even on my largest pipe tip, and the ridges got lost when i fried the churros. So i called them churro fries instead and am gonna pretend that was my plan all along!

Original reddit post

Happy almost October folks! We are 3/4th of the way through this year already, can you believe it!

Let's celebrate by baking something that challenges gravity - a 3D shaped object. You can use a pan that supports 3D cake shapes like these from Fat Daddio. Or you can use your ingenuity and engineering skills on anything from a book cake to a gingerbread house.

Or maybe go all out and attempt a showstopper with a full biscuit scene or two.

Do share the creative ideas you are considering this week!

Recipe

I've been wanting to try Kimchi, but I am afraid of new foods. It's best if I try them in something I really like. This was the perfect introduction.

It's not a real regional specialty unless people get really angry about it online, and few regional delicacies stir up emotions like Cincinnati chili. I'm in Northern Ohio,which doesn't have anything special, but Skyline is decisive across all of Ohio. Posted about it in one group chat and a big fight aboit whether it was edible or not broke out. Another, more favorable chat, started arguing about chocolate in the chili. Since the chili isn't really a challenge, I decided to make the spaghetti myself. I already had the roller, but i have only used it once. The history of Cincinnati chili is actually fascinating. I didn't realize it was made by Greek immigrants, so there are loads of Mediterranean spices like cloves, allspice, cumin, and cinnamon in the chili, as well as a bit of dark chocolate.

I'm a beans and onion guy, so i went for the full 5 way chili, although i forgot to bring my oyster crackers.

Original reddit post

Another wide open challenge this week! Today's theme is all about exploring the unfamiliar (or the intimidating), so unleash your adventurous side, embrace the risk, and bake with something you've never used before.

This could be a less common spice like cardamom or sumac, an alternative flour such as buckwheat or chickpea, or a unique fruit like persimmon or dragon fruit. Or you might consider a different sweetener like maple sugar or date syrup, or perhaps a floral element such as rosewater or orange blossom.

This could also be an opportunity to explore ingredients for alternate diets - protein powder for high protein bakes, gluten free flour or vegan alternative to eggs.

Good luck!

Made everything from scratch here! I picked up the plums from a local farmers market, but end of August/early September is tricky for fruits around northern Ohio since everyone is trying to get their corn, soy, pumpkin, and squash harvested and off to market. While this was a fun one, to quote Mary Berry, "life's too short to make your own puff pastry". Normally i only make my own for meat pies since you wont find any puff pastry with mustard in it state side.

Recipe. Mashed potatoes mixed with choux dough and fried. Tasty.

Original reddit post

Welcome to another technical challenge - the Pâte à Choux... Pronounced "Shoe Pastry" (confusing when you hear it for the first time on an English baking show), choux means "cabbage" in French. Which should give you a rough idea of what your bakes should look like, especially if you go for the small round kinds.

Like our other technical challenges, this is not a specific item but a baking technique. Choux pastry does not use a raising or leavening agent, instead it "employs its high moisture content to create steam, as the water in the dough evaporates when baked, puffing the pastry" (source : Wikipedia). Once you master the basic technique, you can use it to make various delicious recipes - sweet or savory, and maybe even come up with your own. For the basics, check out Sally's tutorial.

Popular recipes include Éclairs, Gougeres (which are savory, cheesy Profiteroles) or Paris Brest. For a non-French, unorthodox take on the challenge - try some delicious churros.

Recipe. My birthday gift to me.

Recipe. Apparently it's a Virginia favorite. I don't generally care for biscuits, but these were delicious. Filled them with ham and cheese.

Original reddit post

This is one of my favorite challenges. Bake something that is a regional specialty, or inspired by a regional specialty. Maybe you're from Turkey, so this is the week you whip up a pistachio baklava. Or maybe you're from Georgia (the US state) that's well known for peaches, so you bake a peach cobbler.

Or maybe, like me, you solicit your local subreddit for ideas, and discover a cherished favorite from a local bakery.

Let us see what your region is well known for, and share its story with us!