Once, I heard somebody compare donuts to one-night stands. You know, both seem like a good idea at the time, but when it’s all over…yep. You get it.
But then, whoever made that comparison obviously never had a baked donut. And they also never had a donut cake. No, that’s not a cake made of donuts.
I’m finally doing it, kids. It’s browned butter week on JAB!
Yep, JAB is my super-cool acronym for Just About Baked. Feel free to use it with all of your friends. Make it a thing.
After posting last week’s browned butter sandwich cookies, I kind of got into the flavor so much that I decided to create a whole week around the stuff. Why not? Remember, never answer that question. Just go with it. And first up today are these incredible, rich (Kenny’s word because all desserts are rich to him, the weirdo), yeast-free rolls.
Whenever I’m in my local grocery store, I always accidentally-on-purpose wind my way toward the bakery section. Because you know, it’s really fun to stare at treats and wonder why you aren’t buying them all.
As someone who bakes regularly, I don’t often buy dessert. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t reallyreally want to. There are very few desserts that I have a physically hard time turning away from at the store, but babka is one of them. I love babka. Deeply. Passionately. How could I not? If you’ve ever had babka, you know what I mean.
It’s been a snow day kind of week.
The other day, my kids and I spent our first snow day of the season together. I’m always the parent on duty for snow days since I’m a teacher, so we do snuggly activities during the day. We watch movies, drink lukewarm chocolate (nothing hot for my babies!), dabble in arts and crafts, and of course, we bake.
This time, I happened to have some overripe bananas on the countertop, which could only mean one thing. In a world with bananas and children, there must be banana bread.
Happy 2015, everybody!
In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been absent. It was totally beyond my control this time. That flu epidemic the CDC declared the other day found its way into my house. I’ve never been so sick in my life. A week down, unable to do anything but moan. And in the process, my blog just kind of stopped.
But now it’s back, and it’s a new year! Don’t expect me to go with the trend here and start posting healthy recipes. I have very strong feelings about resolutions this time of year. It’s not that I don’t believe in making healthy decisions, but doing it on January 1st is just plain odd. Why would you want to? That date seems to have an alarming failure rate.
I warned you this was coming. The mashup of all mashups. The moment in my baking career all will look back upon and point to as that one, special instant when everything came together.
Or maybe it’s just a nice post for a nice day.
Boys, this one’s for you. You like beer. You like donuts. And your feminine counterparts are pretty wild for brownies and anything with maple syrup. Actually, we like beer and donuts, too. Why gender stereotype?
There is something about a donut. Or two.
Every day, donuts used to be my after-school snack. That was back when my metabolism was working in my favor. Now I can still have donuts, but maybe not every day.
That’s why I love my donut pan! Because you can bake healthier donuts, and they taste phenomenal. And you can get really creative with your flavors. Plus, you don’t get that weird feeling in your tummy that sits there after fried food has invaded the premises.
I’m really trying here, folks. You know, to come to terms with the end of summer. It ain’t so easy.
As a warm-weather enthusiast, I greet cooler temperatures with about as much joy as a toddler greets a shot-wielding nurse. Over the past two weeks, my fellow awesome food bloggers have pulled out the pumpkin, heralding an early start to autumn. It’s still August, people! Rage against the dying of the light!
I’m going to hold out against pumpkin for a bit longer. I mean, I love pumpkin. But I want to use it when I really need it, i.e., when the long sleeves start coming out of my closet.
You know how much I love peanut butter by now, right? Because I really, really, reallyreally need that fix every day. Preferably in some kind of peanut butter cup, but I’ll take the stuff straight up as well. Stirred, not shaken. With a spoon!
Years ago, I was part of a tour group in a foreign country. We stopped in a grocery store, and there on the shelf was a jar of Peter Pan, imported and outrageously marked up in price. I bought it immediately and without any hesitation, despite the fact that everyone in my group was mocking me for spending so much on a jar of peanut butter.
Well, folks, the laugh was on them. I sat on the tour bus, opened the jar, inhaled the sweet aroma and looked up, only to realize that the entire bus was eyeing my Peter Pan with what can only be described as mad lust. And for the rest of the trip, people kept asking if they could have a taste. They missed it so much, you see, and I was the smart one. I was also nice and shared, but not after a whole lotta “I told you so” lectures.
A few months back, I was Netflix bingeing episodes of Cake Boss when Buddy and his crew had yet another challenge. A woman came to the bakery from somewhere far away just to pick up her pre-ordered crumb cake, and (gasp!) it wasn’t there. In an exciting and conflict-ridden turn of events, Buddy’s sister sold it by accident.
So Buddy, ever the obliging baker, set about making another crumb cake as fast as he could, promising to be done within the hour. And I watched. Fascinated. Enthralled. I’d kind of forgotten, until that episode, how much I love crumb cake.
