Confession: I have baker/blog writer’s block.
It all started after I used the last of my fancy cocoa powder on a ill-fated chocolate cake experiment.
Now I’m just staring down my butter and sugar…
It’s a staring contest and they’re totally winning.
Maybe I need to drink more coffee. Maybe I need to stop trying to make myself chocolate cake for dinner. Maybe I should just go buy a pound of bacon and see where it takes me. Maybe I should stop watching The Real Housewives of DC because it’s rotting my brain. Maybe I should get a puppy.
Maybe you can help. What’s in your baker brain? Let’s see if we can’t make whatever that is come out of my kitchen.
283 Responses
I know this is WAY late, but…did you say you had coffee, butter and sugar? Assuming you have other typical baking essentials (which isn’t much of a stretch considering the nature of this blog), why not forego the chocolate, and make a coffee-cake? I don’t mean the typical breakfast munchie, thing. I mean a cake that would have been chocolate, but instead with coffee… and maybe another flavor to break up coffee (hazelnut? vanilla? nutmeg?…maybe not nutmeg?) I mean, really… coffee is the BEST smell in the morning for some people, and you say you love to bake in the morning. Why not combine the two and whip up something fabulous?! Good luck should “writer’s/baker’s block” come up again!
About a month late, but I would love you see you make caramel eclairs. I tried them once to bitter disappointment and haven’t had time to try them again.
funny to read this as I am having a bit of bloggers block too and came to your blog searching for inspiration. despite this post you are always inspiring and just browsing your last few posts has helped to clear my mind and let me think about what I want to post so thank you!
Pumpkin Ice Cream. Just made a batch which is chilling in the fridge waiting to meet its fate in the ice cream maker. Smells AWESOME….fall is officially here as of today, so break out the cinnamon, cardamom, pumpkinds and apples! About to make an apple crisp to serve as an ice cream vehicle. Making the topping with almond flour, which is awesome and makes me feel healthy because it’s protein :)
I’m even later to the party — but I vote for a puppy! I got a pug puppy this week and I have to say that I haven’t been so happy in a long time. I think I just forgot how important it is to play and to not take myself so seriously. But chocolate cake for dinner sounds good. Maybe you could try the whole bacon-on-donuts thing, but with a twist and put it on chocolate cake? Hope you’ve broken thru your block by now!! I enjoyed your writing and that of your readers!
have you ever heard the “Bob the Builder” theme song- you know the kids’ cartoon?
“bob the builder…can he build it….bob the builder- Yes He Can!”
Well, your name “Joy the Baker” has always reminded me of that little song…
so when you are feeling your baker’s blog…just remember our little friend bob…
“joy the baker…can she bake it…joy the baker- Yes She Can!”
thanks for all the work you put into the blog…it is much appreciated…
I’m thinking.. something with apples?? Home made applesauce, delicious! Or baked apples, or apple cake. Apples are in season, yum yum. My favorites are Pink Pearl apples – so pretty and vaguely perfumy tasting but still tart.
How about something Fallish…pumpkin yumminess?? That is what is on my brain. I am forcing fall upon Southern California…with all of the pumkin yumminess.
Hey Joy! Lordy I have a list of things I want to make! On said list is : Chocolate Earl Grey Cake filled with a Lavender Chocolate Ganache and iced with Lavender Honey Cream Cheese Frosting, Apple Strudel, Chai Ice Cream, Espresso Shortbread Brownie Bars, and Banana Cream Pie!!!
Robin O: Chocolate Earl Grey Cake filled with a Lavender Chocolate Ganache and iced with Lavender Honey Cream Cheese Frosting
Where is the recipe for that? I am all over it!
xoxo
mandy
i’d love to see strawberry cheesecake or something similarly fruity and delicious :)
also….molasses cookies. always so delicious. do you have a recipe for those?
In Saint Louis we are crazy about gooey butter cake.
It’s pretty awesome. You could make a mean gooey butter cake. Let me know if you want my recipe!
I like your posts about essential utensils that you use in the kitchen.
Anything pumpkin? Fall is coming on and I love pumpkin in the fall.
Thanks for your awesome blog!
Hey Joy, how about….apple pie? :)
I love you.
And… I made your white chocolate and macadamia cookies last week. The men took them to work….. came back and said that their employer’s wife wanted the recipe! :) So I thought it was you that should have the credit for that one!
They were absolutely incredible! (Wait…. incredible rhymes with inedible. That isn’t right.)
Love,
me
Joy: don’t worry. Bakers’ and writers’ blocks come and go, and I’m sure your inspiration will be back soon. :)
By the way, it’s apples for me; autumn is settling in and it’s time to make an apple pie, if you ask me.
dude i feel you…totally having recipe block this week. thank god for the ever expanding list of blogs that inspire (!).
but…the one that got away…
i once had this dessert in england that they called sticky toffee pudding…except that when i tried to find a recipe online the variations all sounded gross and not close to what i had (ok maybe not gross but definitely not remotely similar to the deliciousness I experienced). the way i remember the dish (i had it way too long ago) was a cross between bread pudding, gooey yet light toffee and banana pieces…it was creamy, gooey, toffee heaven with banana…sigh. maybe experimentation is in my future…or yours?
maybe a desert called banofee?(sounds made up but it is’nt)
In my baker brain is the German Chocolate birthday cake I’ll be making for DH tomorrow – his request. :)
joy
i love your blog.
you’ve inspired me along with my friends who’ve been begging me to begin my own food blog
to blog
blog away
create create create
do not be fooled by failures
they are mere opportunities to succeed in disguise
and besides
it’s almost halloween
ok i’m jumping the gun A LITTLE but not by too much.
that failed cake attempt? a gool a goblin a mask
we ALL know YOU can bake girl
and be sure you know it too
(should you ever need a math problem completed feel free to ask i’ll help ya gladly)
for some inspiration? maybe check out my blog
i made some beautiful pear muffins with no sugar or grain
maybe that’ll put a new space in your brain to
start again
with much love
always
doc rona :) xoxo…
OH here’s my blog: (duH!) https://InHonorOfFood.WordPress.com
i hope you’ll leave me a comment so I know you visited.
Happy creating in your kitchen! Hope we can collaborate and elaborate sometime together in a kitchen too.
i’m late to the party…but a lemon pie? that sounds nice. right?
No matter what’s going on a puppy is always the answer!
I just made Amaretti-stuffed peaches
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Amaretti-Stuffed-Peaches-232511
twice this week and think it’s AMAZING!! I served it yesterday with some brandy-infused whipped cream!! Super easy and SOOO yummy. I hope you have some great peaches that you can enjoy in this delectable way. :)
Baked Oatmeal. Big Yum.
okay i’ve been in search for a extraordinary chocolate bread pudding recipe…..any ideas??
Joy, you’re awesome! :) So, I know it’s a little off the beaten path, but I’d love to see a recipe for baklava.
Donut muffins & quiche…..Those both sound good!! Or french toast with walnuts and crumbly stuff on top — that sounds good too. I just ate breakfast, why am I so hungry!!??
Hi Joy! I thought I posted this yesterday but maybe I didn’t press submit? I don’t know I don’t see my comment but over the weekend I had this Apple Pie Bread from a bakery in MA –not a quick bread like banana bread—but a yeast wheat bread and when you cut into it—sliced apples and apple pie filling! AMAZING.
Have been trying to figure out how to make it —can’t quite wrap my mind around it.
any ideas on how to craft this awesomeness?
I guess your bakers block is gone seeing that cool popcorn but still thought I would throw this out there! now off to read the bacony popcorn recipe :)
something pumpkiny is what I need but there’s a canned pumpkin puree shortage in this town of mine. WHAT?? And roasting pumpkin just isn’t on the list right now. I’ve been sticking with too much coffee and thoughts of a puppy, too, in the meantime. Can’t wait to see what you’re baking when the baker’s block recedes. go, Joy!
Take a plane and come to peru! we have the food week here… its like a fashion week but better!!! it has no fashion and a lot of food!!!!!!!!!
no kidding.. its name is Mistura… i went today and literally there are 1000 kinds of potato and sooooooooooooooo much food!
I’ve been thinking about pistachios, white chocolate and apricots lately. I’m sure they would all be pretty tasty together. Maybe a bar or cookie? Hmm….
I’m feeling the pumpkin theme. Bring on fall weather!
Also, the single lady pancake was genius. Any other one-person sized desserts or breakfastes??
I’ve been obsessing over pie lately. I want creme and fresh raspberries, or a throw back from my childhood “Champurradas” my moms version was like a Guatemalan sugar cookie. She never let me lick the spoon….evil I tell you
I read your post this morning. Inspiration is yet to be something i have to struggle with…rather the talent or bravado to be adventurous beyond a stipulated recipie.
I’m more intrigued to see if this idea can be carried off or not….not so much baking that sweet deliciousness. I long for a recipie to create a raspberry pulled taffey… im not so sure the toffee and the raspberry will be completely harmonious, or even if it could set to a consistency that works…
but how i have been day dreaming about the sweet stickyness of pulled taffy with this swirling of raspberry…my mouth waters again thinking about it…
I’m drowning in potatoes from our CSA shares. I’ve heard tales of potato candy…is there such thing as potato cookies (*could* there be?)?
Also? Holiday baking time is coming up, any recipes that look super impressive, taste great and are easy to make 8 dozen of? Those would be wonderful.
Tips on how to make the perfect brownie.
A super fancy chocolate and fruit confection (or just a fruit confection). My hubby is a fruit guy and it’s his birthday this weekend. : D
something with pumpkin! pumpkin woopie pies? Come on! Tis the season!
MAKE A TASTYKAKE FROM SCRATCH!!!!!!!
coconut anything!! yumm…. or maybe some cocktails!
Personally, I’d love to see you post something using earl gray tea. Perhaps a chocolate earl gray tea cake??
i’ve been on a pumpkin kick since it feels like fall in my little town in Southern Cali! right now, its pumpkin pie with a sweetened creem cheese marbled top.
one day though i hope to figure out how to make pumpkin flavored french macaroons!
I posted this on your FB page too. Maybe it will inspire you: September is National Bourbon Heritage Month. I hope you’ll be celebrating! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Bourbon_Heritage_Month Bake something with bourbon in it!!!!
How about doing something with REAL pumpkin since there is a canned pumpkin shortage (I’m not kidding!).
Hi Joy! Could you please bake a chiffon cake? I fail at those things and your pro tips are always so helpful =)
Or try some Indian Pudding! https://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/indian_pudding/
That is what I need today. It’s cold and rainy here.
TJ
Thinking late summer fruit…
Make Dorie Greenspan’s dimply plum cake. Or concord grape crumble. Or something with tomatoes.
Just as I finished reading this post I looked up at the tv and saw Ina Garten finishing chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting and peanut crumbles on top. Cupcakes, maybe? Or are they overrated by now?
I wouldn’t mind seeing what you could do with a pound of bacon.
aw i always feel awful when i botch something. do something you know you can nail, like cookies or cupcakes!
OK, so I’ve totally been stalking you in my email inbox because life has been wild around here with three kiddos now. I had to speak up on this one though because I have the opposite problem right now – tons of things I want to make and no time. The one that comes to mind though is from a looooong time ago when you tried to help me with a white chocolate lime cupcake I was trying to come up with. I never did figure it out, but they were some of the best tasting failures I’ve ever had – completely my fault, but I never did get it right. The premise was a cupcake made with melted white chocolate, lime zest and/or juice and using sweetened condensed milk. They overflowed and sunk to about nothing every time til I had to give up – but those scraps were crazy good!
Looks like you’ll have collected a ton of inspiration from all these great comments! So fun – I can’t wait to read them all and see what people are thinking of now! Good luck!
I am completely, utterly, unhealthily obsessed with ganache cake/tarts/tortes right now. Melting chocolate/cream/butter together to create a dessert? EPIC WIN!
How about you give us a menu and recipes for a co-ed baby shower? I just happen to be planning one and would love ideas!:) No matter what you end up posting when your baker’s block is lifted, I know it will be delish!
We all have those days… but if you’re up for the challenge, how about some new vegan recipes? :D
I know that Labor Day is supposed to mean the end of summer, but it’s not officially over for fifteen days. How about making an old fashioned cottage pudding *and* a sauce to put over it using some of the fruits or berries (or both) you won’t see again until next spring – making extra sauce to freeze allows you to have sundaes and shortcakes through the fall and winter and not feel so deprived of the fresh summer fruits.
When in doubt, make chocolate chip cookies!! That’s what I do whenever I can’t think of anything else to bake. Since they can always be perfected, you never run out of options. I wish I had a cure for baker’s block to give you, but for now I’ll be eating chocolate chip cookies. :)
Zucchini… it is growing like crazy in my garden so I am making zucchini everything just to get rid of it? Do you want some… I could fed ex it to you from Canada! : )
a fall… cheesecake??
my family has requested a pumpkin caramel cheesecake. perhaps it’s too soon for pumpkins.
https://www.cookiemadness.net/?p=5151
hope i posted the right link… anywho, theres no caramel, but i think it would be an easy add to it. i made it for thanksgiving last year, my family loved it.
When I have a bad day and nothing goes right……I know that I can make chocolate chip cookies!
The DC housewives were on The View and honestly, what a bunch of.. oh never mind. They’re supposed to be the most political of the housewives. My friend’s Michelle Obama cobbler is more political than they are. She made it for Thanksgiving last year and I must say it was pretty bomb. Here in Oregon, fall is already upon us. I’m dying for a slab pie of some sort also. Or so I don’t eat it all, a hand pie. I have tons of granny smiths and peaches, can you combine these in a pie?
coconut cream cake!!!
Humm.. ok. Try this. It’s the best comfy “food” ever. Mix one can of condensed milk , 2 ts of chocolate powder of your choice (use any you like, even the one you add to your milk), and 2 ts of margerine. Mix everything till the margerine melts and bubbles starts to form on the botton of your pan. that’s when it’s ready. Place that silky gorgeous cream on a plate and eat it after 15 min.. otherwise you will burn your tongue. We call that Brigadeiro in Brazil… if you add a few cookies to it and put it in the fridge, dear God!, just heaven.
Plum clafoutis with mascarpone whipped cream!! I made it this weekend with plums from the farmers market – amazing!!
Since the weather in L.A. has been a bit dreary the last two days… I’m in need of something happy. How about a Lemon Loaf Cake with Blueberry/Blackberry(?) sauce on top? We need a little more summer before it gets any colder. Hope you find some inspiration amid all of these wonderful ideas! (And you should definitely make some cheesecake… with mangos.) Happy baking!
I too have bakers block, but of an entirely different variety. I’m crazy busy at work and haven’t gone grocery shopping in ages and now I’m out of butter. I normally bake at night and yesterday I had to jury rig an olive oil cake to use up my giant pile of peaches. I poured the batter into a casserole dish, shoved thick slices of peaches in and topped with a cinnamon spiked cheesecake topping. It’s coming with me tonight to a family dinner, but what I wanted to say to you was, where there’s a will (and a bunch of peaches), there’s a way. Try going to the market and pick up something pretty. You’ll get inspired to bake something with it in no time :D
Can we be best friends? Thanks.
peach pecan muffins, before peach season comes to its end in western new york!!
Almonds? Something cakey? And fancy to go with tea =)
I think there has been a general concensus….pumpkin pumpkin pumpkin!!! Or banana bread…or something with apples…or something for tailgating! It’s that time of year again!
*PS – Paul Deen has a recipe for an AMAZING pumpkin bar with cream cheese frosting, which is really just pumpkin cake that you cut up into bar shapes…but it is FABULOUS!
https://recipesmademyway.blogspot.com/2010/04/raspberry-cream-cheese-braid.html I made this raspberry cream cheese braid for like the 20th time the other day… It is SO good!
I just made the blueberry crumb bars from Smitten Kitchen. You should too. Amazing.
I was recently in Avila too and stopped to pick apples at Avila Farm. Perhaps some cider doughnuts?! That sounds kinda yummy!
Or….. maybe we could do something with figs? There’s no short supply of those around here. I made fig jam recently. First time I’ve ever made jam and it was a success! Have you made jam?
in a couple of weeks i’m supposed to make a kinda sorta thanksgiving dinner. my brother took a job in japan and is leaving before the holidays so my family is traveling up to see me so we can celebrate early. i’m struggling with what to make for dessert…i’d like to do a cake, just nothing chocolate, and i’m being indecisive…
I have made some really good pumpkin filled cinnamon rolls with a penuche frosting on them. I love the taste, but I want the texture of the filling to be thicker, more like pumpkin pie or oh….inspiration just struck, add cream cheese to the filling and make them cheesecake like?
https://thedessertblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/pumpkin-penuche-cinnamon-rolls.html
So that is my recipe, but any changes and improvements would be very awesome.
im on a caramel kick. maybe a caramel cake? thats whats on my brain right now. good luck lady.
speaking of caramel, how about some caramel popcorn, yummm sounds delicious already =)
I’ve wanted to make some kina of vegetable Tart for a week now. Since I’m in the Caribbean we really don’t have much difference between seasons and get most vegetables all year round. I was thinking about pesto, and eggplants, some roasted peppers, onions and mushrooms but that’s it can’t really find a combination that I can say OK lets bake this tart :D
I just recieved a 16ounce jar of fabulous local organiz honey. I’m trying to figure out what to do with it. Sympathy baker’s block, clearly.
You definately need to try bake theese danish knækkebrød.. Its this crispy cracker which you should eat for lunch with stuff on.. IT’S SOOO GOOOD..
mmmm..
1 dl linseed
1 dl sunflower seeds
1 dl pumpkin seed
1 dl sesame seed
1 dl dried cranberry, finely chopped
2,5 dl flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2,5 dl water
0,5 dl sunflower oil
mix all ingredients and spread the sticky dough over two ovenplates/roasting pan (the flat thingies in your oven) covered with backing paper..
bake for twenty minutes at 200 degree in a hot air oven..
it so nice to eat instead of bread, and so yummi that it can be eaten with nothing on a little snack aswell..
Hope it can get you out of your litlle blok :)
you should make macarons! i really want to attempt, but i’d rather see you do it. :)
Something win apples, please? I have 13 lbs of apples staring me down, and I need to deal with them soon…
Whenever I find myself in a slump, I go out to a food store of some sort (usually a Whole Foods type place with lots of variety of good-for-you stuff) and buy something I’ve never tried before. That, or I reference the overflowing folder I have of recipes I have yet to attempt!
Good luck! Oh, and if those fail, get a puppy. ;)
Because I’m obsessed with tomatoes and I also love pate de fruit, I’m attempting a tomato pate de fruit using sungold tomatoes. The first try was not successful (it didn’t set), so I turned it into a tomato caramel sauce (trust me, it’s not gross! It’s sweet!) to serve with your fabulous Avocado Pound Cake (and perhaps creme fraiche ice cream if I get around to making some). So, maybe making weird candies will take your mind off of chocolate?
Pumpkin Cinnamon rolls with pumpkin cream cheese frosting. Pretend its alot more fall than it is…nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, need I say more?
I’ve been thinking a lot about raspberries. Maybe a vanilla bundt cake with a raspberry swirl through the middle and some kind of raspberry – chocolate glaze poured over the top?
Holy smokes…I think I might make (and blog about this) myself!
My current to-bake list includes Whoopie Pies (possibly Red Velvet ones, but I’m not a fan of the toxic nastiness in food coloring, so I’m exploring a suitable recipe that would use beets to tint the chocolate part), Banana Cream Pie, and Peach Pie – not together. Just my current obsessions.
Good luck!! I totally feel ya on the block. I’m dealing with one currently for my career that actually is supposed to make me money, which is unfortunately not the baking/creative part. ; )
I just saw the strangest and most intriguing recipe in the latest Bon Appetite – a tomato tarte tatin, with the tomatoes actually cooked in a caramel sauce. I’ve also had a stunning tomato jam made from those sweet little orange Sungold tomatoes. So, I think you should make something sweet that has a surprising savory ingredient…
I had a bread last week called Apple Pie Bread—it wasn’t a quick bread like banana bread—it was like yeast (not pastry) bread and then in the middle—apples/apple pie filling. Ummm… amazing. Cannot figure out how to make it.
How do we do this?!
Yes, get a puppy. Puppies are awesome and adorable.
But I think you should make morning buns! Because what could be better than the love child of a cinnamon roll and a croissant?!? (Yeah, a weird way of putting it, I know, buuut whatever…haha) They’re super delicious, and I’ve been wanting to make them for awhile, but I’ve never had the time, and now I’m back at school and I don’t have a kitchen (outside of the baking and pastry labs I’m in) that I can use, soo I’ll have to wait. But I’d love to see you bake some delicious morning buns!
Pumpkin cheesecake!!
I saw this recipe for chocolate ginger pudding pie. I’m inspired to try it!
Joy,
I have just discovered the delights of an Indian sweet called Burfi (or Barfi). It’s like fudge, with more dairy in it and less sugar. Richer, but not so sweet. Make it for holidays, or to cheer yourself up, or for your neices/nephews/grandchildren to lure their affection away from their parents. I tried to reduce whole milk down to a solid, like the super-traditional method your Indian Amma would use, but have since found the quick and easy way is to start with powdered milk. There’s pistachio burfi, almond burfi, peanut/peanut butter burfi, chocolate burfi (imagine a two-layer chocolate and peanut butter burfi!), coconut burfi, and a zillion more. Start here https://showmethecurry.com/desserts/chocolate-burfi.html with the super-easy microwave chocolate burfi, and Google yourself silly on the others. Have fun!!
TJ
I know you’re a Molasses person, so here’s the ticket.
I suggest you make Guinness Stout Ginger Cake. Wonderfully pungent and great with coffee OR beer. Trust me, I know.
Let me know and I’ll shoot ya my recipe.
Ron Merlin
The Merlin Menu
It’s cold, grey and rainy here (Seattle) and I am starting to think about fall desserts. I just printed a recipe for “Old-Fashioned Apple Slab” from King Arthur Flour. It looks like a thinner apple pie baked in a rectangular pan with a yummy cinnamony glaze. You cut it into squares and might be just the thing for our annual Halloween Chili Feed.
Hmmm.. what about something for Halloween? It’s coming up soon and it’s never too early to make something deliciously pumpkiny. Pumpkin mousse?? Or just something super easy and delicious like a fruit cobbler or a good ol’ cookie.
I am very sad this year because Libby’s pumpkin fields all failed, and there is NO canned pumpkin to be had. (It’s true! Google “pumpkin shortage.”) Which means that there will be no pumpkin bread this year, unless I want to wait until pie pumpkins come into season at the farmer’s market, and puree them myself. (Which I do not.)
I had a failed experiment with Amish Friendship Bread over the weekend. Maybe the baking stars are out of alignment.
Do not despair about the pumpkin puree, it’s easy to do your own. Gut the pummy and cut him into wedges, then bake them on low heat for quite a while (350 or less, for 45 minutes or more, check some recipes online). Then rip the skins off and puree and freeze. Soooo much better than canned! The shortage is due to crop failures of more than 1 year ago, but there should be plenty of fresh pumpkins this year.
TJ
Had some delicious bread bowls the other day, and don’t know how to make them. Super cool party trick, they were.
I know what you mean. Sometimes it’s just not easy to wrangle up a cake and love it. Personally, I want some serious pumpkin in my life. I want it for dinner and dessert and I want to wake up in the night and stand in the kitchen snacking on it. I guess I have pumpkin fever.
I have been tinkering with changing things in your basic recipes… or instance, your flat choclate chip cookies.. I decided (and will do them today for Rosh Hashana, probably) to remove the chocolate chips altogether from the mix and make it a more ginger-ish item, with coriander, a ton of lemon zest and maybe shaved crystalized ginger and fresh ginger…. I think that reinventing or perhaps teaching people how they can adapt certain parts of your recipes to OTHER confectionary items might be a great thing to talk about. Tom Colicchio has a book called “Think Like A Chef”… You should try to create a “Think Like A Baker” concept, perhaps… I think that’d be mad useful!!!
Home made candy bars of some kind, perhaps?
On my wish list right now: I want a recipe for a cookie, less hard than biscotti but not quite as crumbly as shortbread. I want it to taste good and be versatile, because my idea is to shape it into a long-ish squared-off log, and then dig a little channel in the log, and be able to fill it with whatever delicious filling I want. And then I could cut the log into little squares (each with a bite of gooey filling goodness) or into longer biscotti-length rectangles and maybe even drizzle them with chocolate. (Oh, and of course I want to use minimal bowls and utensils and have it take, like, 15 minutes to make. Ha.) Do you already have or know of something like this?
(I got this idea because I have a jar of coconut butter and I want to do something special with it. I had this little vision of cookie + coconut goo moat + maybe a sprinkle of sea salt or tiny bits of dried tropical fruit or something for texture. I have no idea how to start making this a reality…but maybe you will!)
Sourdough Bread. From homemade Sourdough Starter. My father made his own starter years ago from the wild yeast on organic grapes, and he still uses it to make the most amazing sourdough breads. Unfortunately for me, he is on the other side of the country with all his yummy, yummy warm sourdough breads, like rosemary olive oil Sourdough bread… now my mouth is watering, darn it. Help a girl out. Make some sourdough.
Dark Chocolate Espresso Brownies.
I can’t believe Starbucks did away with them : (
Joy! Make something with pumpkin…pumpkin and nutmeg and cinnamon and molasses…something for fall :)
I am making cinnamon rolls for my family and some cookies as an after school treat for my favorite neighbor boys (ages 7 and 5).
I am totally feeling caramel, caramel macaroons, caramel cake. Something rich and gooey. Like butterscotch pudding, I had it once and it has haunted my brain for years! Hope this helps!
P.S. I just recently found your blog and I just love it. You are amazing! This block will pass.
Bread Pudding and Lots of it. Breakfast Bread Pudding, Lunch Bread Pudding, Dinner …well you get the picture. Savory, Sweet, Sour, as long as the main ingredient is bread I am sure to love it. If this doesn’t peak your interest, I suggest you google “Malva Pudding” and make it immediately.
Love your blog!
I’ve had a lemon kick all summer. Made way too much lemon curd and put it in everything. And on a spoon, before breakfast.Yummmm.
Otherwise, I recently bought some wonderful Scottish Shortbread cookies. So nice, and with a truly “buttery”(butter, buttery, is that even a word?). I wanted to find a great recipe. Perhaps you can instead?
I made bagels last weekend – they were splendid! Also, I am trying to duplicate my wedding cake for my first anniversary in october…it was chocolate cake with bavarian cram filling and chocolate icing…any ideas?
Pop-tarts or if not, something brownie-like. Please and thank you.
I’m still obsessing over this s’mores pie over at The Boastful Baker.
https://www.boastfulbaker.com/?p=152
The pictures make it look amazing! So, I went out and bought a kitchen torch, and I tried it. Sadly, the chocolate filling just wasn’t what I wanted (I know, don’t diss the chocolate…but really!) Maye you can help me?
The other day I saw something called Razzleberry Pie. I don’t buy frozen pies, and I don’t make pie crust, but I’m thinking it would make sweet individual cobblers or something…
To boost your confidence, go back and make a favorite old standby, something tried and true. Then go wander around for inspiration: museums, markets, movies, magazines, etc. Don’t stress over it!
Puppy puppy puppy puppy!
Not to bake of course. To hug and squeeze and cuddle and love. And then you can bake your own doggy treats for your new friend! I’ve done it. My dog wouldn’t leave me alone after that.
As much as I hate to admit it, autumn is upon us. (We didn’t really get a summer in Anchorage this year. Bummer.) But, that just means that I’m thinking of fall goodies, as well. How about something with seeds, like pumpkin, sunflower, etc? Fuji apples are super sweet right now too. I’ve been working on muffin variations and I love your ideas. Hope you crush the baker’s block soon! =)
Apple pie. I’ve been thinking that I must bake an apple pie.
i have an enormous basket of almost ripe peaches i need to do something with. enormous.
my experience and kitchen utensils are rather thin.
help?
Using up garden produce…measley garden…has given me hardly any of my favorite – tomatos- and lots of *cough* hard to hide healthy foods to the kids. Carrots and Zucchini :) I’d rather be eating and making anything with chocolate. Though I have to face it, my family needs a bit more vegetables and whole wheat. :) Currently I’m trying to figure out how to use zucchini and Stevia into a nice breakfast bread something or other.
I recommend taking on something that you’ve never done before — puff pastry from scratch? Crepe cake? Something savory perhaps? Cheesecake? I have noticed a distinct lack of cheesecake on your website!
I baked a pumpkin meringue pie out of an old 1965 garden club cookbook. It is interesting because it doesn’t use cinnamon or nutmeg but instead has vanilla and lemon extract. You cook the custard on the stovetop and fill the pre-baked pie shell, then spread on your meringue and bake till brown. We are having it for dessert tonight but the filling I tasted was yummy!
I second Amber with the apple thing. Tarte tatin, apple cake, apple pie. There’s rhubarb at the markets now… what about an apple and rhubarb tart. With a lattice top and lots of crunchy sugar sprinkled over it.
Here’s my recipe for salted caramel ice cream. It’ll go perfectly with the tarte tatin :).
https://cauldronsandcrockpots.wordpress.com/2010/07/25/salted-caramel-ice-cream/
Sometimes I feel we have the same brain…well maybe not because you create these wonderful recipes and I simply follow them. But there will days I feel like baking chocolate and low and behold you post a chocolate recipe! This past weekend I wanted to bake…i stared at my pantry and nothing. =/ And now you post that you also have baking blocks!
You make me feel good.
You make me happy.
PLEASE bake me up some coconut cream pie. I’m road tripping from Odessa Texas to Ottawa Ontario. I just entered Memphis! I baked one up in Texas for my fiances ailing grandfather, but I just know that recipe could be better. Do it Joy, dooo itttt.
I have a baby…so I spend a lot of time with baby food…but the best I’ve had recently is a pumpkin banana sauce…delicious (which does not usually happen with baby food!). It made me crave a pumpkin banana bread…which I have never had before. So I don’t have a recipe…think you could help? Have fun!
It’s that time of year when I love pumpkin and apple (separately) recipes.
So a while back I made a totally delicious duck egg and ham quiche. The ham was really good quality, which is hard to find in my corner of the world – although I haven’t tried the local butcher. And the duck eggs gave it a really nice richness.
Here’s the thing. I just winged it using Bisquick for the crust – so I guess I can’t really call it quiche – anyhow I cannot for the life of me remember how I made.
Also, every other quiche I have made has been a total failure, so I am afraid to try again! :( So, I would like to request duck egg and ham quiche, with maybe some cheese …
bake thanksgiving.
lol.
Check out the book Savory Baking by Mary Cech, it’s inspiring me lately. Also, got the puppy. I am really tired. So of the two, I’d definitely stick with Housewives of DC though they aren’t quite as interesting as some of the other, right?
Joy,
Apple season is just around the corner and that means picking a whole bunch of ’em.
How about some recipes that I can use on all those apples?
Apple sauce, apple butter, apple butter bread, pies, cakes, doughnuts… you name it!
I totally had this happen a few months ago. I even made a soup that turned out an aspic. Ugh. Cooking ruts are the worst. But if it helps at all, you can use your next box of fancy cocoa powder to make a Mexican hot chocolate variation on smitten kitchen caramel pudding. Just add a tablespoon of cocoa powder and a half teaspoon of cinnamon when you add the milk. I also have good luck using an oz of semisweet baking chocolate. It’s not baking, but it’s yummy and you already know how to make the pudding!
Yes, something with apples in it! How ’bout FRIED apples in something?! Aw, yeah…
I recently bought some spicy Taralli from a bakery and would love to make them at home. They were such good snacks with wine!
Also, it has cooled off here in Chicago and I’m in the mood for anything pumpkin!!
I totally know that feeling! It usually happens when I cook something and it bombs. I end up being in a funk for a few days (weeks?) until I find an inspiring recipe.
I say, go for something easy that you know will turn out good, like chocolate chip cookies! Good luck!
I’ve been looking for a good granola/energy/snack bar recipe. Just something easy to travel with that my two year old might also enjoy; OR a good whoopy pie!! Thanks, you’re the best.
or macarons the french kind :D
i have to say PECAN PIE!
and i was surprise neither you nor deb at smitten kitchen (2 sources i absolutely trust when it comes to desert) had a recipe!
i found one online after a bit of searching and my craving was satisfied!
all is well that ends well! true story
plum dumpling pleeeeease :D pretty please! i <3 u!
For some reason i’ve always wanted to make a neapolitan three layer cake. Like one layer would be chocolate, the next vanilla, and then strawberry. With filling in the middle of course.
Dark chocolate chip cookies with blackberries and raspberries. Trust.
Sometimes all I need to get my baking brain kicking is an old classic like banana bread. Other times it doesn’t need to be a baked good at all; I’ve got some strawberries sitting pretty in my refrigerator just waiting to be made into decadent bittersweet chocolate-dipped strawberries. Drizzle with a bit of white chocolate and mmmmmm… the perfect snack for an inbetween summer-fall day.
This may seem ridiculous, but Funfetti cake. My nephew wanted one for his birthday this past weekend, and I refused to buy a box mix. I made a recipe I found somewhere, but it was not very good.
Well, I’ve got nine ears of corn in my fridge that, after already eating plenty of boiled and grilled corns on the cob, suddenly feel very daunting to deal with. Thoughts? (I was thinking a quiche, but something more interesting would be… interestinger.)
I’m curious what the next dessert fad will be whenever people are finally sick of cupcakes. Maybe you can tell us what you THINK the next trend should be, and demonstrate with some recipes???
How about apple turnovers? I’ve always had the plan to make different kinds of turnovers/empanadas (fruit and savory), and stick them in the freezer and when my kids or husband want dessert or a quick meal it’s easy peasy. I just haven’t gotten around to it. Plus the times I’ve tried to make apple turnovers, the kinda sucked :)
Something yummy that I can make in my poorly-equipped kitchen in Italy! There’s no sour cream and nothing remotely “ethnic” ingredient-wise where I am. And no stand mixer allowed.
i propose you get the puppy! they are so wonderful, fluffy and warm and give great nose kisses. and you can train them to sit at the edge of the kitchen watching you bake (if you throw them the occasional little crunchy treat). and after you eat your baking you have a great excuse to burn those calories by taking doggie for a walk. :)
My vote is #1 get a puppy and #2 some kind of granola bars that don’t taste like cardboard.
I’m not Jewish, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make some challah bread. It always looks SO good!! And then I could make french toast the next day.
Oh Joy, it’ll be ok. Maybe you should make some petit fours! Or hand pies! Dessert Lasagna?!?!
This week, with the fall-like weather coming in, I have been thinking espresso powder…I have a couple things in mind, and it is a toss-up between cookies or muffins. I think a nice warm cappuccino muffin with a cup of coffee, sitting outside on the deck, with leaves lightly falling, and just a slight chill in the air….OK, OK, I’ll stop, but it does sound good.
Kentucy Butter Cake. It’s a recipe my mom found in the newspaper and we’ve used it ever since. And it would totally help you because it’s main ingredients are your two current adversaries – butter and sugar! You’d totally win!
All I can think about lately is chocolate, peanut butter cupcakes… Mmmmmmmm… I think I’ll stop at the grocery store on the way home to pick-up the goods! :)
I am thinking a classic…. delicious, simple, vanilla-y yellow cake with a deep, dark, fluffy chocolate frosting. yummmm
I’m in the mood to bake a wonderful fall flavored casserole that isn’t cheesy. Cheese doesn’t agree with me at all and it’s really hard to find a casserole that’s “healthy” and not cheesy.
i feel you. last night i made a caramel cake that is about the ugliest thing i’ve ever seen. and worse, i have to take it to a fancy dinner this evening for people who have never had my baking. the top layer cracked grand-canyon style, and the caramel icing turned out to be too thin to cover it up. and since it’s caramel, it’s, you know… brown. which would be ok if it weren’t for the textural issues… ick.
what i really wanted to make was david lebovitz’s nectarine-raspberry upside-down gingerbread cake, but i thought that would be a bit too out there for this evening’s dinner. probably would have been a hell of a lot prettier, though. you should make that. i was also considering making a bundt cake with bits of butterfinger inside and a caramel-peanut butter sauce. but i made caramel cake. stupid.
Get a Puppy!
I have half a pound of culinary pink rosebuds in my pantry. Help me, Joy, help me figure out something to do with them!
I make apple cider cake every year – to die for! My vote is for either an early fall treat or a late summer snack – maybe involving fresh corn??
I’d love to be a baker first!..
The Peach Kitchen
peach and things
blowing peachkisses
hi joy–writer’s block here like you can’t imagine. trying to plow through.
every year i bake cookies (oatmeal chocolate chip) for the local fire department, they lost seven people on 9/11. but i’m working that day and the next, and need to find a far quicker way to make something delicious for @50 firefighters. ideas?
Could you maybe, pretty pretty please, do a detailed tutorial on how to make browned butter? Start to finish?!?
Questions that need answering: Can you use salted butter, how long should it take, how do you know if it is browned or burned or just melted yellow butter,what about those little brown bits- do you use those or do you strain those out before adding to your recipe…
So many questions.
How about something for fall? You did yeast-doughnuts before, so you could do cake doughnuts like apple cider doughnuts! Or a really yummy apple bread with a vanilla glaze… I guess I totes have apples in my brain this morning! hahaha.
Mmmmmm . . . . Donuts!
I have been thinking of making my own kale chips. You just toss torn/cut kale in olive oil and throw in some salt and pepper and put them on a baking sheet. Bake until crispy. I have then heard of taking those kale chips and crushing them over popcorn and adding parmesan. This is what I have been contemplating for the past couple days
Well, since I always come to you for baking inspiration…. I recently moved and was trying to decide how to inaugurate my new place. The first things I did was can some peaches for winter and bake granola. Now that I learned how easy granola is, I love making it and varying the sweetener (maybe some molasses/maple syrup/agave) and adding dried fruits I actually want in my granola (dried pears/peaches/blueberries). It’s simple, but a good staple. Always good to go back to something you know and love (and know will come out well).
Gingerbread ANYTHING!
Chocolate/bacon bark.
Hey, you said ‘bacon’ so that’s what I came up with. ;)
how about something hip and Joy-like using a retro appliance? like something in a crockpot that but make it taste amazing! I know you are up to that challenge :)
I like the puppy idea!
At the moment I am binge cooking thanks to my recent discovery of The Pioneer Woman. I made the vanilla bean scones the other day and they were pretty tasty. They are a knockoff of the Starbuck’s scones only a little less processed and more flavorful. Which is always a plus. Today I need to come up with something for the two semi-rotten bananas sitting on my counter. I am with the others as far as fall recipes are concerned. I am over summer and ready to embrace all the comforts of fall.
I made these not so ordinary muffins recently: https://allrecipes.com//Recipe/poppy-seed-muffins/Detail.aspx
We finished them off.
Welcome home…looked like a great trip.
Hmm…..bake something that photographs beautifully because I adore your photos.
How about something that will bubble over little ramekins? All ooey and gooey. With maybe a topping so that ooey gooey goodness will ooooze out from under it?
Yeah. Something like that.
How about a dairy-free birthday cake?
I woke up craving two things. Pumpkin muffins, and chai latte cupcakes.
https://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=386
it’s a vegan recipe, and it’s pretty good, but I’m sure you could jazz it up to be even more awesome.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake…I make a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing…I’d love to see if you could come up with a twist on that…oh yeah…the other day I was on the Bakerella website two words…pillow cookies…mmmmmmmmmmmmm Have fun!! I know you’ll come up with something great :0)
Hey. First of all, let me say that I have been browsing your blog all summer long, making scrumptious berry bars, cupackes and so on. It’s one of the first things I do when I turn on my computer and have a bit of time, I go on your blog, and instantly get a smile on my face. Okay, sometimes, it’s a frown, because I live in France and can’t get all the ingredients, but anyway.
The thing is, I have just moved in to a tiny studio in Paris – i’m a student – and it has no oven. It’s absolutely nightmarish, because I’m coped up here not knowing anyone, alone for the next month, and walking around Paris is just fine and wonderful but it tends to get a bit lonesome. So I come home with an urge to bake, and I can’t. I would therefore simply adore, worship, raise statues in your name, if you came up with some no-bake recipes. Like that, you would be sneaking around that block of yours.
But then again, you could just forget your blog for a couple of days/weeks, do things for yourself, goof off, learn to knit (it is gruelling, keeps your mind off anything), just wait for the inspiration to come back … Because hey, so many delicious things come out of your oven that you have the right to give yourself and the faithfull Kitchen-aid a break. No one will punish you for it :)
And get a cat. Kittens are better than puppies.
Caramel apple cupcakes!
Wow that sounds delicious! I second that!
I don’t have any suggestions on what to make per se, but I can tell you that in the last two days, I’ve made Meyer lemon pancakes and the “best chocolate bundt cake ever” from your Web site. So you’re all inspiring, even if you’re not making anything currently.
I get cooking blocked when I have to make dinner for my family and I don’t know what to make and don’t feel hungry for anything in particular. Sooo, I turn on a foodtv channel and typically get inspired. Sometimes the recipe the cook has is great and I give it a try (with my tweaks) but sometimes I watch and think to myself, “I could totally do that so much better!” And then there’s those weird moments when it inspires me in a way that it so far off from anything they are doing. But I guess then it’s just that I was over thinking and needed to STOP thinking so hard. Kwim?
Hugs and best baking wishes!
Jen-
Something I’ve been trying to work out for a while, but every time I try it doesn’t come out right. Maybe the idea will bust your baker’s block. Pumpkin custard, right? And instead of a traditional crust, a chocolate chip cookie. Maybe in a ramekin (conveniently cookie-sized). Baked under the custard, though, the cookie doesn’t get crisp. Soggy cookie crust is sad. Perhaps the ramekin is my downfall.
Good luck!
spice cake. 2 layer spice cake with orange marmalade filling. 2 layer spice cake with orange marmalade filling and cream cheese icing covered in toasted coconut :)
This past weekend I went to the Farmers Market, bought some fresh peaches and made some peach cobbler! Delish.
And totally get a puppy!
I can understand the blog block, I get that too! So….what to bake….how about something to do with apples…apples are SOOOO SEPTEMBER! How about an apple dumpling with caramel drizzled on top? MMMM!!
Might I suggest a pluot galette – the perfect mid-season dessert. Or breakfast. You know, whatever works.
i feel ya…definitely have baker’s block over here too! i have big dreams of pumpkin recipes…only to find there’s no pumpkin available. sad day :(
Heather, check walmart, I just happened upon organic canned pumpkin about 2 weeks ago. I believe the brand was Farmers Market. I had been looking for it to make pumpkin rolls for a friend and all the grocery stores said they didn’t have any since it’s seasonal (I’ll be stocking up this fall!).
I’ve been dreaming of some sort of cookie that incorporates coffee and hazelnut Nutella! Would love to see your take on it :)
Sourdough Chocolate Cake.
Best Chocolate Cake I’ve ever had.
https://gamereviewwiki.com/bikinibirthday/2010/06/21/day-158-binge-weekend/
ugh i hate the block. i have blog writing block, but luckily not baking block yet. i say go for a new cupcake – maybe something to lead us into fall? a spice cake of some type. with a glaze…hmmm now i have to go recipe hunting. good luck!
Glad I’m not the only one who experiences the dreaded block. I am going to share my recipe for Butternut Squash Bread with all of you because I am so nice. I love this. I use olive oil as the fat and throw in dried cherries. It is truly amazing. You can thank me later.
https://whenpigsfly.squarespace.com/journal/2009/9/2/its-your-lucky-day.html
Pigs,
That sounds heavenly! Thanks for sharing.
How about some carrot cake. It has been on my mind lately and I can’t seem to shake it. It’s healthy, right?
First, I have to say I made your chocolate bundt cake this past weekend. It was AMAZING! I am sorry you had a recent failure with another chocolate recipe but the bundt cake should remind you of a super success. As for an inspiration for now, anything that might be connected to fall….apple, pumpkin, warm spices…perhaps a tart or a coffee cake.
As much as I love pumpkin and can’t wait to start cooking/baking with it again, you don’t want to burn out on it too soon (if there’s such a thing)! Besides, it’s still 80+ degrees outside, so I say savor the last few days (or weeks, depending on your locale) of summer and do something fruity and light! Maybe a tart or pie of some sort?
Either way, you should definitely get a puppy! That’s the solution to all of life’s problems :)
Well fall is around the corner, Holloween, the holidays, cool weather (at least here). Make things with pumpkin, get crazy with Holloween, prep us for Thanksgiving and Christmas!
In the near future I plan on making cupcakes…with a cookie inside. Like, you do the cupcake, and you stick a little dollop of cookie dough in the middle and bake…amazing! :)
oh how about something gluten free … i have celiac and its hard to find a decent bread that isn’t expensive. or something gluten free and chocolatey. chocolatey bread, perhaps?? :) sounds weird but i bet YOU could make it happen. :)
Soup with crusty bread! It is so close to soup season!! How about a great warm soup and some bad-ass bread to go with? Something herby and delicious? YUM!
Anything and everything pumpkin! Please!
Hi Joy! I’d love to see a gluten free baked good — there are so many people going gluten free recently, but it is so gosh darn hard to find a gluten free pastry! With you’re baking talent I’m sure you’d come up with something wonderful.
If I stare at sugar and butter, I am put into the mind of Scottish shortbread. Made using Mrs. McDonald’s recipe that I got as an exchange student around 1981. Buttery, light, delicious.
RH of DC should come with a warning label.
I haven’t turned my oven on in 2 months; its all ice creams and sorbets for me.
I just made 54 cinnamon buns (from the PioneerWoman). It was just one batch. I had no idea it would be that many. Thank goodness I volunteer for the fire department or I would have had to eat them all myself. I do not need that kind of pressure. Maybe you should make something with cinnamon… but not in bulk, like me. I am daft.
oooooooo make a lemon tart with a coconut crust! :)
I’m ready for something that tastes like fall. It is still warm here in the South but starting to cool off. I am ready to start baking soon. Since I’m single, I love things I can make and give away (otherwise I just eat it all myself).
Maybe a perfect fruit pie. Or some quickbreads to freeze for Christmas. Whatever you make I’m sure it will be wonderful.
Could you please, please, please make chocolate covered caramels with salt on top? Okay, it’s candy making, not baking, but I would love to see your pictures, and have a way to fill the void since Trader Joe’s stopped selling them.
I second Sophie’s idea: JAM!!
Or…what do I do with that intimidating piece of celery root that I had the hair brained idea of buying but once I got it home I had no idea what to do with it. whoops!
This might be totally unoriginal but the other day I was contemplating entering a cupcake contest and this is what I had in mind:
Mocha chocolate cupcake with mocha filling and a hazelnut buttercream frosting.
I never got around to it, but it sounded pretty good. Or something with chocolate cupcake, raspberry filling, and mocha buttercream.
i’m thinking apples. caramel apples? stuffed, baked apples? caramel apple cheesecake?
Fudge. Fudge is always on my brain, and food bloggers (including myself) never seem to post anything about it. They post easy-chocolate fudge recipes, but there are never any vanilla or butterscotch REAL fudge recipes. I’m sad. Can you help?
my september baking projects: apple & cinnamon crumble muffins, carrot cake cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting, sour cream pumpkin streusel bundt cake. someone is excited for fall!
Go buy that bacon and fix Maple-Bacon Cupcakes :)
I watched an old episode of ‘Throwdown With Bobby Flay’ yesterday, where he challenged this guy who made a magnificent 6 layer coconut cream cake… now coconut is not normally at the top of my ingredient list (as I wouldn’t know what to do with it), but this was to die for… now it’s all I can think of recreating… any ideas how would be most welcome:-)
Just made a version of Dorie Greenspan’s summer fruit galette yesterday and it was YUMMY! Nectarines = happy.
My baker brain always says: cupcakes! But yesterday we just went for a Mexican tortilla used as a pizza dough, with loooooooots of goat cheese.
Unblock soon, we miss you already!
Something with cornmeal. It changes the flavor of familiar recipes in a very, very positive way.
mmmm…. banana nut loaf! Either that or chocolate chip cookies with nuts. Or, how about a red velvet cake?
I don’t know how inspiring I’m being, I think I’m just hungry.
Good morning!
I know exactly what you mean with baker’s block. I can’t say I have it now though. I am preparing to make my uncle’s weding cake this week-end…inspired by yours.
Nigella Lawson’s rum banana bread, best ever.
Or how’s about a bread and butter pudding?
But I have to admit, I love the idea of using some delicious fruit, perhaps a fig tarte tatin with marscapone? I could handle that. Handle that right into my face.
i’ve been really craving anything pumpkin. i guess ut could be because fall is getting here or maybe just my love for anything pumpkin. ha! i’ve been searching for pumpkin whoopie pie recipes. they sound like heaven.
I haven’t really been feeling the baker’s pull lately either, although I was watching Stranger Than Fiction over the weekend and it really gave me the urge to make chocolate chip cookies (you know, the scene where Maggie Gyllenhaal feeds Will Farrel ooey gooey chocolate chip cookies?). Also, my boyfriend’s been asking for pumpkin bread, which I guess is a good way to welcome fall. Possibly not interesting enough for a blog post, but who knows…. pumpkin chocolate chip cookies?
I often get baker’s block – can’t go wrong with something chocolate peanut butter!
I made some donut muffins the other day. they were really good! liked to see what you could do with it. cakey donuts, dipped in melted butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar. mmmmmm….
Pears. Everything pears. I’m making pear cobbler and cake and crisp and tart. They’re harder to work with than you’d think. I have the pear tart down pat (https://bit.ly/cSjW0M), but I need some more REALLY spectacular recipes. I have a lot of pears.
1) Get the puppy. A cute one from the shelter. Puppies make everything better!!
2) I have a colossal butt-ton of apples that my children picked at a local orchard last week. I managed to make a fabulous peach cobbler from the peaches that we also acquired during that trip, but other than the super yummy apple cider chicken I made last week, I’m at a loss for what to do with my colossal butt-ton of apples. Help, please?
3) I would like to echo the calls for all things bacon. Bacon for the win!
I’m 36 weeks pregnant, and I have gestational diabetes. I love to bake but haven’t been because I’m on a carb-restricted diet. Do you have anything lower-carb/whole grain? I’m missing being in the kitchen with flour up to my elbows…
@Ginny: I have a co-worker who suffered from gestational diabetes last fall. I felt really awful that I was bringing in desserts that she couldn’t have, so I looked up some recipes online that might work and came across one for Apple Muffins (which was pretty good!):
* Unsweetened applesauce, ¾ cup
* Oat bran cereal; uncooked, 1-¼ cup
* Whole wheat flour, 1 cup
* Ground cinnamon, 2 tsp
* Baking powder, 1 tsp
* Baking soda, ¾ tsp
* Apple, peeled, cored, diced, 1 cup
* Honey, ½ cup
* Vegetable oil, ½ cup
* Egg, 1
* Pure vanilla extract, 1 tsp
* Salt, ½ tsp
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat 12 muffin cups with vegetable oil or line with paper cupcake liners. Mix oat bran cereal, baking powder, cinnamon, flour, soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, combine honey, egg, applesauce, oil and vanilla in it. Add in the flour mixture and stir well. Add in the cut apple. Spoon the batter in the muffin cup and bake for 15-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
(Editor’s Note: Now that I’m thinking about it, this might help me with my apple dilemma. I had completely forgotten about this recipe until I read your comment!)
… get the puppy……
I’ve had a sudden craving for rose macarons. yum.
I’d suggest a jam too. I think there’s lot to experiment and you can say goodbye to summer. there are grapes, necatines, apricots but also onions and tomatoes.
I personally can’t stop thinking about plums. a yeast dough, couvered with halved plums decorated with lots of lovely streusels. maybe with cinnamon or ginger (I add ginger everywhere lately).
Nevermind being blocked now, it’s not always time for everything and sometimes not doing things is good for inspiration.
I wouod LOVE a recipe for a lemon muffin with cranberries drizzed with a bit of icing sugar OR a copycat recipe for starbucks lemon cranberry scones—–I live in Ireland and we don’t have anything like them here:(
Open the dictonary randomly and scan the page until you come to the first foodie word or ingredient then make something based around that!
I really really really want to know how to make these breakfast biscuit I once saw/ate.
They are a biscuit baked in Texas muffin pans (do you guys call those giant muffin pans texas..) but there is a slice or so of bacon and an egg in between to bits of biscuit dough and baked like that….. not added after you have cooked the biscuit.
That would work with the pound of bacon you know you want to get….. :-)
I am thinking about apple crumble right now. Easy peasy, just the sweet quick fix I can use right now. Although now I am looking at that picture I am starting to crave some chocolate. Apple and chocolate, how would they combine you think?
Zucchini – or courgette as they are called here in France – they are everywhere. Why do people bake with them, because by September there are too many in the garden?
I’ve had rolls on my mind, lately.
Proper, crusty, fluffy German ones. https://bakingfiend-akinaj.blogspot.com/2010/09/baking-adventures-brotchen-rolls.html
I’m still not satisfied with them, but I shall persist. Bread and rolls are definitely my holy grail.
After years of begging, my friend in South-America send me a jar of dulce de leche. After eating half of it with a spoon, straight from the jar, I don’t know what to do with the rest of it. I really want to make something that brings out the flavour of dulce de leche, but like you, I’m stuck…
howsabout Nutella Swirl Pound Cake? you can’t go wrong with pound cake!
I made Raspberry buttermilk cake on Sunday and I ate it within two days (although my husband did help, not just me eating it). Now I want to make buttermilk cakes with every fruit I can find – rhubarb next. Maybe blackberries after.
Also I have my eye on a recipe for One Hour Bread.
Hope I have given you some ideas, I have gained a few from the comments already! =
I know it’s not baking, but what about a Joy-ized sangria recipe (ahem, bourbon..)? Bonus: it would double as an opportunity to talk about your wine trip! Might as well get fruit drunk and enjoy what’s left of the summer. :)
Joy! I totally understand. I’m just about to make pizza base again. I thought it was too hard and had always bought them but my man friend and I made our own last Saturday night and they were amazing. And easy..
Dearest Joy,
I feel your frustration. Every time I go into the kitchen I can not make up my mind about what I want…
Do I want peanut butter or string cheese? Do I want ice cream or soup? Do I want to lay down and watch the Office or do I want to go for a run…or do I want a cupcake?
Joy, I feel like I’m going insane.
Right now I’m feeling like bread and butter may cure that…we shall see.
Love from a confused food addict!
Dear Joy,
I’m longing for Chocolate Mud Pie the last days, with a yum Oreo Crust ( I’m a little Gilmore Girls addict ), or try something from far far away ;) like:
Black Forest gateau (Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte)
Frankfurt crown cake ( Frankfurter Kranz )
Tarte flambee (Flammkuchen)
Lots of love!
Last week I invented a recipe for a delightful caramel apple cheesecake. Over the weekend I created a great snickerdoodle cinnamon cake and cookie and cream cupcakes. Up next- hmmm. Don’t know.
Its my hubby wubby’s birthday this weekend and he wants me to make chocolate cupcakes for his friends at office. I could use my mom’s recipe that involves cocoa powder, or one of yours, but then I need an icing that wont melt in the car.I have searched high and low but there is no cooking chocolate/dark/milk chocolate bar to be found in my city!!! (let me remind you that I don’t live in the USA but in India) (buttercream ruled out and no cooking choc to make european choc. icing)
I’d just really feel good about life in general if you went and got that pound of bacon :)
Ditto for Apples!!!! There’re not in full season yet here, but I am ready to tackle $1.00 an apple for the sake of something delicious coming out of your and my ovens.
Joy- One question.How about grapes? If I added them to a simple butter cake would I get a mush out of it? Just wondering before I try :)
Oh & Heather- About Okra, heat some butter & temper okra slices with some chillie flakes & sliced onions. Take off the fire before they loose their colour. Eat with plain white rice.
And I have tough question what cake goes well with cheese fondue?
Cheese-cake? Not really. Something with chocolate? Maybe, but isn’t it too much?
Any idea?
I’m still trying to figure out what I can do with that peanut flour I bought after being diagnosed with gestational diabetes and was looking for something that would boost the protein content of baked goods… dang I miss homemade baked goods :(
I vote puppy. And ice cream.
just experiemented baking with nectarines and i trully enjoyed
would love to see creme brulee or some beer baking?
but i also could read more of your random thoughts and cool pictures too!
I need a new tea loaf recipe. I’m tired or lemon poppyseed, banana, and pumpkin. Any other flavor/recipe ideas for tea loaf in your amazing store of ideas?
Figure out why I can’t make an angel food cake to save my life. The flavor is great (so says the bf for whom said cake is for) but it never rises. I’ve tried using egg whites and by using near a half can of merengue (sp?) that I had left over from that one time I thought it’d be a good idea to make icing. I even went out and bought the right pan for it and everything.
I love your blog. I’ve never bought so much powdered sugar in my life. :)
I have 3 ripe avocados sitting on my counter, so I was thinking I might try making your avocado pound cake. But, since I would probably not be able to stop myself from eating the whole thing, I think I’ll wait until I have other people around to feed it to. Maybe you could make a slightly healthier avocado quick bread or muffins come out of your kitchen.
I am fixated on creating a recipe for walnut oat crackers at the moment… in fact I plan to give them a go tonight! Would love to see a JTB version too :)
challah… you showed us your pretzel folding skills, i’m sure you’re fantastic at braiding challah
I bought some okra & realized that other than including it in jambalaya, I don’t have the slightest idea how to prepare it! Any recipe suggestions?
Hey heather,
just put them in a curry. let me know if you need a really simple recipe you can make from scratch.
you can also put them in whatever chili you like or just fry them with some onions and garlic.
Be careful not so chop of too much of the ends, because they tend to get slimey.
i hope that does something for you, enjoy those ocras!
fried okra is big in the south, and for good reason, It’s tasty! Also can be pickled quite nicely.
Okra is a natural thickener, so any kind of soup or stew will get thicker with the Okra added, or a 1 pot dinner such as a stir fry if you add other liquid ingredients to create a sauce. It can be used many ways so enjoy!
I’ve had the picture of a hazelnut brown butter cake with a dark chocolate ganache… maybe even adding a little espresso powder in it. On the fruit side, I’ve been enjoying (while I can) sweet Flavor King Pluots. While I can’t restrain myself from them long enough to experiment baking with them, I’m satisfied with just having some with Greek yogurt and a bit of wildflower honey. :)
fig jam!
I’ve been thinking about homemade doughnuts all…night…long…I can’t get them out of my head! But my 8-month-pregnant-body doesn’t want to get up and make them! Maybe if you made some and then posted a picture (with your awesome photography skills!) of a perfectly golden doughnut, dripping with glaze, maybe that would either (a) curb my craving; or (b) give me motivation enough to get off this couch and make some for myself.
P.S. I so love your blog!
Joy,
Ever try to perfect Chicken Kiev? It’s been my enemy for years and what I turn to when I’m stuck. It’s the new bacon.
I haven’t baked in a while. It annoys me. I think I have baker’s block. :(
I thought writers block was impossible for you, joy!
I’ve been stuck on Mexican food, lately. So that’s what’s been going on in my kitchen…I know you specialize in sweet treats, but maybe this comment will leave you thinking about Pan Dulce, and Tres Leches….
Or Bacon, wonderful, savory bacon.
Creme Brulee french toast is ALWAYS on my mind. https://bonniethebaker.com/?p=356
And frankly I think that bacon would go well, QUITE well with it. plus, it makes a huge pan so grab a cup of coffee, bacon, and let yourself have a day to eat and think. :)
works like a charm
Mmm chocolate zucchini cake! Delicious enough to begin with, but with a Joy the Baker spin on it…? Even better!
yellow cake! pineapple upside down cake! tres leches cake! lemon cake!
you know i love me some chocolate but there’s so much MORE out there!
ps…longtime lutker. LOVE your red velvet cupcakes!
Joy,
Breathe in, breathe out. :)
Here’s a bunch of things I’m DYING to bake, but will not till I hit a certain goal weight.
– https://lifeinapeanutshell.blogspot.com/2008/05/peanut-butter-chocolate-muffin-mounds.html (I lie, I made these once already. Last year. Ate the whole batch. True story (as you would say).
– https://smittenkitchen.com/2010/02/monkey-bread-with-cream-cheese-glaze/
– https://smittenkitchen.com/2010/04/homemade-pop-tarts/
– https://smittenkitchen.com/2010/04/new-york-cheesecake/
– https://lifeinapeanutshell.blogspot.com/2009/04/chocolate-peanut-butter-cupcakes.html
Or, if you have a good recipe, make Pumpkin pie. I’ve never had any. The pictures alone will make me happy. :)
Me? Inspire you????? I wouldn’t even know where to begin… How about with the three batches of Peanut Butter Bacon cookies that I literally just finished baking… Then there was the Avocado Pound Cake last week. And though it was my grandma’s recipe instead of one of yours, I made four apple pies this weekend. FOUR. I’ve only been reading your blog for a few weeks, and I can’t stay out of my kitchen…
Thanks to you.
Well, I was looking at your gorgeous heirloom tomatoes, and thinking how lovely a nice piece of Focaccia bread would go with it. Pizza? Focaccia? Amish Friendship bread? I don’t know… that’s why you have the baking blog and not ME.
Good luck Joy. Can’t wait to see what you come up with next.
My husband’s work has “Pumpkin Day” the first of October every year. I need to make something soopa good to show off my mad (glad?) baking skills. Anything pumpkin that can be easily transported.
Oh, and when you do the post say “punkin” once cause it’s cute. Once is good :)
Go to farmers market and find something fruity and in season and figure out something to make with it. Figs maybe?
Well, I’m poor as all get-out, so all I can’t actually make anything. Probably for a few months. At least. That’s pretty depressing.
Anywho! When I’d get baker’s block, I’d go to Tastespotting (https://www.tastespotting.com/) and look at what’s happening there. I have a whole bunch of things favourited that I’m too freakin’ poor to make – I want sugar doughnut muffins! Woe is me! Tastespotting is handy.
Pumpkin is all I can think about this week, despite the fact that is’ 90 degrees here. I’m ready for Fall and all the wonderful holidays that come with it. Halloween + Thanksgiving, of course they would be eating holidays :)
Even that chocolate mixture looks delicious….
x
Apples are on my brain. Anything with apples to celebrate fall!
I have rugelach on the brain….
Is it wrong to admit that I’ve never heard of rugelach? :)
Okay, did you read the Amelia Bedelia books as a girl? I did. I loved them, and now I’m reading them to my four-year-old and she loves them. If you don’t know them, Amelia Bedelia is a housekeeper who is always getting into trouble by interpreting her instructions too literally. In one of them, Mrs. Rogers asks her to make a jelly roll. Of course what she does is roll a blob of jelly across the dining room table. My daughter didn’t get the joke because she didn’t know that a jelly roll is a kind of cake, and now she wants to make one. Problem is, my memory of jelly rolls is that they’re too sweet and kinda dried out and just sort of gross. I love baking non-gross things with my daughter but I need some guidance on this one. What do you think?
I have a bunch of ripe peaches to use and a bunch of homegrown tomatoes…help! I can’t let them go bad before I use them. Plus, I’m holding on to summer as long as I possibly can. :(
My brother made this amazing homemade bruschetta the other day. It was to die for and was the perfect summer treat :) I think he said it was out of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Don’t ever let homegrown tomatoes go to waste!
Thanks Lauren! I was thinking of some sort of pasta/bruschetta mix. I will be sure not to let them go to waste!
I have pumpkin on the brain!