u/JustAGuyWhoBakes

One for the Baristas (at the coffee shop I frequent M-F) and one for the house. These are the last of the late season peaches I have and this was the perfect use for them. I also have some late season plums, but that’s a story for another time.

There’s something about using last season’s fruit to bake at the beginning of the new season…using that to soften the transition from one to another. I've been feeling kind of calm the whole because of that. As I lean into my kitchen craft more, I'm finding myself connecting with the seasons deeper than I ever have. At the ripe age of 65 (almost) I'm beginning to experience my seasons of the witch. We'll see where this leads me.

I woke up early to bake my first Upside Down Plum Cake (actually, it was my first-ever upside down anything cake) and I set things up for a little magic before I cast the recipe. Good report from the folks I gave it to, so not bad for a first try.

I used the Cafe Sucre Farina recipe but scaled it a six-inch pan. I’m thrilled with the results and ecstatic that the cake has been well-received!

I made my first egg custard pie in six years. When I was a kid, my Nana (my mother's mother) made egg custard pies for holidays and other gatherings. She wasn't much of a cook and I'm sure her recipe came from the back of a box and used store-bought crust, but we loved them all the same. She never gave the recipe to any of us, so a while back I found several online and tested them to find one that was closest to hers. Baking this pie brought on a feeling of connection to my family that filled me with warmth and contentment. I think I passed those feelings into the bake because my wife and our dinner guest had two slices!

If that's not magic, I don't know what is.

I made challah for the first time in six years! My braiding technique is rusty but I'm happy with how this turned out. I'm definitely going to be making more!

Just a couple of pics from the baking bench/altar.

I baked a loaf of Mixed-Seed Bread and I'm quite happy with how it turned out. The recipe calls for rye flour but I was out so I substituted buckwheat instead. Buckwheat is often a good replacement for rye. The seeds are caraway, poppy, and sesame, which gives the it a wonderful "deli" type flavor, with the density of a rye bread.

We spent several days in Kingston, NY this week and it was a truly fun and restful break. We stayed in a fabulous Air B&B with a wonderful screened-in-porch (where we hung out during a thunderstorm) Due to circumstances beyond any of our control, the oven was gebrochen and I wasn’t able to bake. We were disappointed but it really allowed me to chill and center, and for that I am grateful. 

While on the porch, I found myself deep in a memory of a summer day as a kid sitting on my Granma’s porch in Florida while she shelled peas for dinner. Yeah. I got centered and grounded alright.

Now that I’m home again, I’m going to bake up what I’d planned and share them here. First up: Mixed-Seed Bread. This is usually a rye bread but I was out of rye so I used buckwheat instead. The seeds are caraway, poppy and sesame.

I made my first attempts at Tres Leches Cake, at the suggestion of one of our building staff members. I made cupcakes the first time and used my 4” springform pans. I stabilized the whipped cream with gelatin. The staff, the Baristas at my local coffee shop, and my wife and a friend gave them high marks!

My wife brought home a couple of friends for dessert after they'd been out looking at art and having dinner. I baked the cookies this past weekend and the cheesecake today. Gingersnaps, FauxReos, Gingered Oatmeal Cookies, and Basque Burnt Cheesecake.

My wife brought home a couple of friends for dessert after they'd been out looking at art and having dinner. I baked the cookies this past weekend and the cheesecake today. Gingersnaps, FauxReos, Gingered Oatmeal Cookies, and Basque Burnt Cheesecake.

I was back in South Jersey this past weekend, baking gluten free again. I decided to try a new-to-me bread recipe, adding rosemary and sunflower seeds. I’ve baked with psyllium husk before but this recipe used a different technique which actually allowed kneading and shaping of the dough. Result? Something that was closer to a dark rye or pumpernickel, which thrilled my friend to no end! Success!

And I wanted to make something GF that my wife could also enjoy, so I went all-in on Burnt Basque Cheesecake, lining the tin in a way that I’ve always wanted to try. The way the collar controlled the baking amazed me, allowing the cake to “burn” in the right places and retain a creamy texture at the same time. This was the best cheesecake I’ve ever made! And we got to share it with another friend whom we don’t get to see very often!

The more I lean into my intuition in my baking the more pleased I am with the outcome! I am a happy kitchen witch!

Baked this for some guests we had yesterday. It was the first time making it and I'm thrilled with how it turned out. Moist crumb with a lovely, crunchy sugar top. The late-season Chilean (I think these came from Chile) cherries are actually tasty.

We have friends visiting from DC and though I wasn’t going to be able to join them (and my wife) for dinner last night, I offered to serve dessert. I’d planned on leaving work early to because I needed the extra time to work out my top crust design (I had different lattice idea in mind), bake, and the cool the pie before folks arrived to chow down. But things went sideways and I barely would barely have time to bake and cool the pie, let alone craft the crust design. Fortunately I’d made the dough and the filling the night before (as well as Double-Vanilla Ice Cream), so I had a little breathing room.

Here’s where the craft comes in: I cleared my workspace, lit a candle in my salt black holder, and burned a little Palo Santo wood in my cauldron. This little ritual calmed me down and helped me to connect to the kitchen magic as I rolled, filled, and baked. I was even able to rely on my sense of smell to let me know when the pie was actually finished baking (two minutes before my timer). The result? A pie that was so good that my wife actually ate the crust, which she hardly ever does! I’m definitely putting this in the Win column!

Calming Kitchen Witchery = 1

Work-related stress = 0

Acquired at Watkins Books.