favorite pasta dough

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After many tasty tests, we’ve decided that this is our go-to pasta dough recipe. We resisted using extra egg yolks for so long, but alas, the difference it makes has convinced us.

Scale up as needed. 1 c flour makes enough filled pasta for two people without leftovers, so I suggest making 1c per person to stock the freezer.

Mix 1 c all purpose flour, loose with 1/4 tsp sea salt. Make a well in the center and crack in 1 large egg and 1 egg yolk. Loosen the eggs with chopsticks or a fork and integrate flour until there are minimal dry bits. Begin kneading by hand, and when dough begins to come together, either discard the excess dry flour on the bottom of the bowl, or add more flour 1 Tbsp at a time if it sticks to your hands. Continue kneading for about 3-5 minutes until supple and uniform. Spritz the surface of the dough ball with water if it feels at all tough, then cover and let rest for at least 90 minutes. After it’s rest, shape into pasta at will. Don’t knead it, but press into disks to roll out with a pasta maker.

dahlia bakery molasses cookies

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PXL_20201125_013801239I’ve made these cookies countless time and made a few adjustments each time to get from the cookbook recipe to here. Straight from the cookbook, cookies were too flat and didn’t have enough chew. I’ve added more flour and baking soda, plus coated the cookie in a sugar crust for that extra crunch. You can omit the sugar coating to be more true-to-bakery, depending on your preference. I prefer using the scale for any recipe that uses molasses, so I don’t lose any to the measuring cup, but either works.

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banana bread

butter breakfast, cake, cupcakes, for sharing, vegan 0 Comment

IMG_20200917_085022I wanted this post to be prettier so I could really let the glory of my new mini loaf pan to sing, but alas, I haven’t used my digital camera in months, and I really need to start documenting my recipes again. Searching through my browsing history just isn’t cutting it anymore. But. Whatever. I made my first banana bread earlier this summer and I was unnecessarily shocked at how tasty it was. Finally made it again, with a few modifications. Also, a new CATEGORY: “vegan” !
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real pumpkin pie

butter 1-2 hours, for sharing, pie, under 30 minutes 0 Comment

I got my hands on some pumpkins much too early for a traditional Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, but… whatever! Let’s do it anyway! Also I forgot to take process pictures because I’m an amateur blogger now 🙁 Oh well.

Cut pumpkin(s) in half, remove seeds, and roast flat-side-down for about 20 minutes in a 400 deg oven, until soft. Let cool.

Separate flesh from skin and mash with a fork. Measure out filling weight needed.

7 oz pumpkin (roasted)
7 oz sweetened condensed milk
1 large egg
big dash cinnamon
small dash nutmet
small dash allspice
small amount grated fresh or powdered ginger

Mix all ingredients together until uniform. Pour into par-baked pie pan(s).

Bake at 400 deg for 5 minutes, then turn oven down to 350 deg for remaining bake time (ranges from 20~40 additional minutes). If crust is getting too toasty, tent with foil.

costco double chocolate cake copycat

butter 1-2 hours, cake, copycat recipe, for sharing 0 Comment

I had a Costco double chocolate chip muffin last weekend for the first time in multiple years, and it was so nostalgic that I needed more. But not 12 more. I tried to search on Google for a copycat recipe, but they all started from box cake and instant putting, which is just too much work for me.

Instead, I started from my ever-so-reliable moistest chocolate cake recipe, bumped up the flour by 1/4 c, and added 1/2 c of cocoa powder covered chocolate chips. I baked it in a parchment-lined loaf pan, since I don’t have larger muffin tins, but will say that it was an absolute hit. The loaf pan took over an hour to bake through, so I may try a cake pan next time.

Will definitely make again! Sorry no pics – disappeared into our bellies in a quick minute.

moistest white cake

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IMG_20190304_180854Ok, this is a work in progress. But I guess I figured something to prove I’m alive is better than continuing the lack of posts :'(. SO. My number one recipe for the moistest chocolate cake ever is great, and I’ve made that cake more times than I can count. But it’s chocolate! And even though I am 100% always down for chocolate, I’ve been looking for a go-to white cake recipe for years. The other day I thought to myself, if I love my chocolate cake so much, why don’t I just modify it until it makes the moistest white cake?? So I did. Still needs work, but a very reasonable starting point! Next steps are to find the right baking time/adjustments so that it doesn’t fall flat after cooling. But even though it fell, the crumb was still super moist and fluffy inside.
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basic doughs (tested!)

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Dumpling wrapper dough (hot water style)
2 c all purpose flour
3/4 c boiling hot water

Add hot water slowly to the flour while mixing. Knead until smooth and elastic (takes awhile). Place in a ziploc bag to maintain warmth/moisture and rest for at least 20 minutes before forming.
(Also used for green onion pancakes)

Shen jian bao dough (yeasted asian dough)
4 c all purpose flour
1 1/4 c warm water
2 tsp instant dry yeast
2 tsp granulated sugar

Mix all but water with chopsticks for a few seconds, then slowly add water while mixing. Knead until bouncey (not smooth). Let rise until doubled.
(Also used for green onion “pies”)

Pizza dough
4 c all purpose flour
1 1/2 c warm water
2 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast
1 tsp granulated sugar
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil plus more for the bowl

Mix all but water with chopsticks for a few seconds, then slowly add water while mixing. Knead until bouncey (not smooth). Let rise in an oiled bowl until doubled. Separate into portions and knead very briefly, let rest 10 minutes before forming.

egg tarts

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DSCF3852Chinese egg tarts! This is now my go-to recipe for using up spare egg yolks. It’s a quick and simple recipe, the base recipe uses 8 egg yolks for the custard, which means plenty of whites for meringues and frostings and all kinds of tasty other things. We’ve made this twice now, both very successful. A few notes though – first, the dough recipe makes 16 tarts, which doesn’t work in my 12 cupcake pan and needs a few more small tarts (either mini ones or medium sized ones). Also, for some reason when I bake at the temperature and time recommended, the custard poofs up a lot. It falls down when cooling which is fine, but then the surface of the custard is wrinkly like a Portuguese egg tart instead of a Taiwanese egg tart. I may need to tweak. But still tasty, so still posting now.

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boccone dolce bites

butter cookies, for sharing, gluten free, half day 1 Comment

DSCF4328For July 4th last year (yes, I’m 6 months behind on posts) I made bite-size boccone dolce. I hadn’t remade this recipe since I posted it in 2015, but did recall that the meringue moistened up really quickly, so I made the components ahead of time and had a DIY boccone dolce set-up when dessert o’clock rolled around. These were little bite-sized red, white and blue desserts with a simple, sweet kick. Not sure how feasible these are for a larger potluck (typical of July 4th) but might work fine if you skip the whipped cream entirely.