Semolina Bread

The July 17th recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie is Semolina Bread from the book Baking with Julia.

Learn more about Tuesdays with Dorie and see links to the blogs of my fellow bakers.  Also the hosts will have the recipe on their blog!

Lately I have kept up with the baking but been horribly late with the posting.  The bread was tasty but mine turned out a little flat.  It seemed to rise more out than up.  I sliced it very thin and ate it with hummus.  Honestly, I like the semolina bread recipe from the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day cookbook better.

I lost my camera while baking this so the pictures are from my husband's phone.  Note the Baking with Julia cookbook in the background! 

Hazelnut Biscotti

The July 3rd recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie is Hazelnut Biscotti from the book Baking with Julia.

Learn more about Tuesdays with Dorie and see links to the blogs of my fellow bakers.  Also the hosts will have the recipe on their blog!

So easy.  So delicious.  Every single ingredient was already in my kitchen.  The baby played happily while I baked.  My husband was so excited to try them I had to fight him off from digging in before the 2nd bake.

I'm sure reality will set in soon.  But until then I will enjoy my morning nibble.

French Blueberry/Black Raspberry Cake

The June 19th recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie is French Strawberry Cake from the book Baking with Julia.

Learn more about Tuesdays with Dorie and see links to the blogs of my fellow bakers.  Also the hosts will have the recipe on their blog!

I had this cake baked and served on Father's Day, but never got around to posting on Tuesday... my bad!


I had just went blueberry and black raspberry picking, so I made a French Blueberry/Blackberry cake instead.

The génoise was challenging for me.  The first one I made was about as flat as a pancake.  Forget cutting it in half much less in thirds!  So I tried again, and my second attempt was much better, enough that I could cut it in half.  Therefore, my three layers were actually two cakes and thus the finished product was very heavy.  But practice makes perfect, and I think a génoise will be a great cake for me once I perfect my technique.

But it tasted good and looked pretty.

Non-Naan

The May 15th recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie is Oasis Naan from the book Baking with Julia.

Learn more about Tuesdays with Dorie and see links to the blogs of my fellow bakers.  Also the hosts will have the recipe on their blog!

This Naan was tasty and easy!  However, my half-Indian husband looked at my naan, took and bite, and said "This is good, but isn't naan."  I valiantly tried to defend the naan-ish bread, "This is Julia Child naan, it is white person naan!" (I call all the Indian food I make white-person-Indian-food, because well, I'm a white person making Indian food.  That way I can defend my attempts at Indian-European fusion (or failed attempts at traditional Indian) when he points out it's not like what he grew up with.  Because it isn't SUPPOSED to be!)

Took the naan to a party, and the other guests agreed with my husband.  I still got great satisfaction out of eating this bread and it was crazy easy.  The early ones did end up a little overly puffy (another non-naan characteristic my husband pointed out) so I went a little crazy with the fork poking holes in the later breads and that seemed to work better.  I have a pretty well-stocked kitchen, but I do not own a baking stone or a pizza peel and they would have been very useful for this recipe.

Sticky Bun Fail

The May 15th recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie is Pecan Sticky Buns from the book Baking with Julia (see the sites of my fellow bloggers Nicole or Lynn for the full recipe or refer to the cookbook.

Learn more about Tuesdays with Dorie and see links to the blogs of my fellow bakers.

I did my best this two week period, but life got the better of me and I only got through the brioche dough part of the recipe.

I really enjoyed bashing the dough with the rolling pin.

My Kitchen Aid mixer is awesome.  It held up like a champ.  

My Kitchen Aid mixer is awesome.  It held up like a champ.

I froze the dough for a day and then moved it to the fridge.


Then I forgot about it for a day.


I remembered the dough 9pm Monday night in a panic.  So rather than waste it I just made brioche.

The brioche was very easy and very good.  


My husband was disappointed I didn't get through to the finished Sticky Buns, but I promised him I will give it another go soon.

Hungarian Shortbread: butter with a side of jam

The May 1st recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie is Hungarian Shortbread from the book Baking with Julia (see the sites of my fellow bloggers Lynette or Cher for the full recipe or refer to the cookbook.

Learn more about Tuesdays with Dorie and see links to the blogs of my fellow bakers.

This recipe was easier than I expected and a lot of fun.  I felt like a little kid grating dough with the big cheese grater!  When the baby gets older, I can see us grating dough and mounding powdered sugar gleefully.  I used Trappist Monk Strawberry Rhubarb jam, but I really want to try red currant jam or gooseberry.  Maybe ginger!

                                                                     My grated dough!

Yes, I forgot to transfer the dough from the freezer to fridge before work Monday, so Monday night the frozen dough-rocks were placed out at room temperature with a prayer to the kitchen gods.  Yes, while grating a couple of chunks of dough broke away from the whole and went flying across the kitchen.  But it all worked out.  It’s hard to ruin a baked good that contains four sticks of butter.

Fun, easy, and received rave reviews from all who ate it.  I am absolutely going to make this again many many times!

Ladylike Lemon Loaf Cake

The Apr. 16th recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie is Lemon Loaf Cake from the book Baking with Julia (see the sites of my fellow bloggers Truc or Michelle for the full recipe or refer to the cookbook pages 252-253).

Learn more about Tuesdays with Dorie and see links to the blogs of my fellow bakers.

There is something just so cozy about a loaf cake. I find it extremely pleasurable to curl up with a slice of loaf cake and a cup of tea. And they are so simple to make!

I made this Lemon Loaf Cake as a dish-to-pass for a large family Easter buffet dinner. I was afraid it was going to be under-cooked, so I gave it an extra 5-10 minutes. I wish I hadn't because it ended up a touch dry for my taste. Easily fixed by adding some saucy berries that another guest so thoughtfully brought! I would make this again and not be afraid of a wet-looking toothpick.

I tried to look up the history of the loaf cake online, but other than finding them mentioned in early 20th century American recipes, there wasn't much that I could find in my five baby-free laundry-free minutes. To me it seems like an old-fashioned European/British afternoon cake to eat with tea, but this could absolutely be my own fantasy.

Next time Hungarian Shortbread!