The Adventures of Goldilocks and Her Bears

I have needed to reduce the amount of crust I make for my cheesecakes, which means that experimentation is clearly in order. Tonight's batch was about 1/5-1/4 of my previous volume, but still too deep on the bottom. That's a shame, I shall have to make another.

While I was experimenting, I decided to go with a bit of lemon to see how that worked. I used just a bit - the zest of one lemon, with just a bit of juice - and the flavor was really delicate. I may go with more next time. The texture was spectacular - light, moist, airy.

Steingrim was over for fighter talk and I forced some on him. Purely in the name of science.

I had some extra cream on hand, so I decided to make an experimental cheesecake. (Like I need an excuse.)

This time I made a shortbread crust and infused the cream with double bergamot Earl Grey tea. The crust turned out well; it had a good buttery flavor and was firm enough to hold its shape but wasn't rock hard. The custard was citrusy and smooth.

I'd make it again. It needs a clever name like my other favorite recipes: Two Proposal Cheesecake (plain) and I Need a Moment to Myself Cheesecake (molten chocolate, served warm).

Thanks to everyone for the kind birthday wishes. I loved the singing and the flowers :) I had a fabulous day.

I spent a big part of it happily baking in the kitchen. (Yes, barefoot - Ha!) I was trying out two cakes I hadn't done before using new-to-me techniques. I was, overall, pretty pleased with the results. (Plus, giving myself an all-day sugar high was an exciting thing! *cue manic eyes*) I decided to do some rolled cakes because, well, I like the look of them. Beranbaum's The Cake Bible was astonishingly light on cake recipes. Fortunately my favorite cake book, Nick Malgiere's Perfect Cakes, came through with some great recipes.

( Baking details )

Both cake rolls fit in my big tupperware, which in turn fit nicely in our new cooler with a 20lb bag of ice below and a 7lb bag on top. This solves a bit of my usual logistical problem of how to transport cakes, so I consider that a big win.

Overall, I had a sticky sweet fun time! Now I need to figure out what I want to do with the rest of the manufacturer's cream.  :-)
I sense another sugar high in my future!

There weren't a lot of people at sewing night, so I got a lot done. I'm nearly done with the German hat for the silent auction. The shot silk that

ysabella_dolfingave me for accents is super-sexy with the black velvet.

I also got a start on the new persian undershirt for myself, with moriven's help. I cut, pin, and iron, he runs the machine. We've gotten quite efficient at this. misagilliangot a little farther on her dress. I'm looking forward to seeing that finished soon, since it looks a lot like clothing now.

The peach pie I brought was yummy. The leftover strawberry pie was a hit, too. I was hoping for more people to help eat them. I was happy with the crumb upper crust on the peach pie, which came from a crumb cake recipe. For these, I tried out the TJ's pre-made pie crusts. I usually make my own, but I do like to have options. I would use these again, as they were not dry nor too thin - like many I've used - and so were easy to work with. 

Marguerite gave me a new cake recipe to try. It will be the first time I've tried meringue with the new mixer. I'm hoping it'll do well, since I love meringue and haven't been able to make it in ages.