Rosemary Focaccia

Prep Time: 30-35 minutes (mostly hands-off time)
Rise Time: 2 hours (shape after 1 hour)
Bake Time: 23-25 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Baking Illustrated
Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (May 1997)

I just noticed when looking for the link to the recipe on CI's website that they have a new recipe that they published this past summer. I will have to try that one later.  This was good, but I'm not sure I'm compelled to make again soon, so it will be interesting to try the other one.

I used no oil on top, but the oil from pan added enough richness. This was an easy recipe, but you do need to boil a potato which adds to the complexity a touch.

Soft Pretzels

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Rise Time: 2+ hours
Assemble Time: 15-20 minutes
Bake Time: 12-16 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Baking Illustrated

These are not the most attractive pretzels. I never get the salt to stick, and I am not great at shaping them, but they are delicious.

I made these years ago when I first got Baking Illustrated, but it has been at least 3 years. I forgot how good they are.

These are pretty easy to make. The only trouble is rolling them out and boiling them, but even that isn't too hard. My dough didn't rise well (it is cold) and the dough a little tight, so I had trouble rolling some pieces out to 20" like I was supposed to. I just left the hardest pieces to roll in shorter logs, and they still came out great. Next time I may just make them that way instead of rolling to keep the recipe even simpler.

I did burn the bottoms though, so I will have to watch that next time also. 

Pumpkin Cheesecake (Mini)

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Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Cool Time: 7-8 hours total

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (Nov 2003)

Recipe Source: Baking Illustrated

I made this recipe when it was first published and really liked it, but I haven't made it again since. It was for Thanksgiving dessert this year, and dinner was just for two. So, I made a half recipe and used my (previously unused) mini-cheesecake pan. Using the mini pan was a great timesaver, because the cakes cooked and cooled faster. They were done in under 25 minutes instead of the 90 minutes it would have taken in a 9" pan.

The only problem I had was that a half recipe can fill the 12 mini pans with crust, but there was a lot of extra filling after filling all 12. The crust amount was probably perfect, although I only filled 9, because I wanted a really thick crust. I filled all 12 with filling and still had another cup of filling at least. I ended up saving and making a bar cookie out of it (which was not that great) because I didn't like the idea of throwing it away. Next time I would probably make a 1/3 of the filling and 1/2 of the crust. (Or more crust and 1/2 filling.) I have some 4" pans also, so I could maybe do one mini pan and one 4".

Molasses Spice Cookies

Prep Time: 21 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes (per sheet)
Cool Time: 5 minutes (on pan)

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Sources:
~ Cook's Illustrated (Jan 2002)
~ The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
~ Baking Illustrated

The prep time includes rolling all cookies in sugar. I get more than 22 cookies from this recipe, because I like them a little smaller (and then just eat more!) I'm not sure what is better, this one or the Everyday foods Ginger cookie recipe. I really like spicy cookies.

Parker House Rolls

Prep Time: 20 minutes
1st Rise: 45 minutes
Assemble: 15 minutes
2nd Rise: 45 minutes
Bake Time: 20 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Maybe

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (2007)

Recipe Source: Baking Illustrated

These were quite delicious, but I'm not sure if I will make again. The main reason being that I did a horrible job of shaping them, and I'm not sure if I would do better next time. Maybe I would just use the dough, but a different shape. Mine didn't stay folded over like they were supposed to and just ended up as ovals. I think they don't need to be cooked as long when shaped this way either, because mine got quite brown.

So, if I do make again, I will try a different shape and cooking less. They were very tasty with the butter brushed on, and butter in the dough, so I might try again.

Oatmeal Scones

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 12-14 minutes
Cool Time: 30 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Recipe Source: Baking Illustrated

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (September 2003)

Part of the prep time, (5-10 minutes) was spent waiting for the toasted oatmeal to cool and for the oven to finish preheating to higher temp. This is a pretty easy recipe and very good.

Strawberry Shortcake

Prep Time: 20-25 minutes
Cook Time: 12-14 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Baking Illustrated

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (May 1997)

Yellow Cupcakes

Prep Time: 12 minutes
Bake Time: 20-25 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Baking Illustrated

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (January 2003)

These are super easy to make - you dump everything into mixer bowl and mix, almost. Just make sure butter gets incorporated all the way. The biggest trouble I had was getting into muffin tin in an even manner. A smaller ice cream scoop would work well, I think.

Lemon Cheesecake

Crust Time: 7 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Cool Time: 30 minutes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours (1 hour with oven off)
Curd Time: 15 minutes
Cool Time: 6 hours

Grade: A+

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Baking Illustrated

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (May 2003)

Some of the above can happen at the same time. The work time is between 30 and 45 minutes. That is probably slightly longer than most cheesecakes, but it includes a lemon curd for the top of the cheeecake. Most of the time is baking and cooling.

This is a very nice cheesecake. I made it in a 7" spring form pan, which works well with a half recipe.

Cream Cheese Brownies

Prep Time: 21 minutes
Bake Time: 50-60 minutes
Cool Time: 4+ hours

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source:

Cook's Illustrated (January 1999)

Baking Illustrated

Glazed Lemon Cookies

Prep Time: 16 minutes
Cool Time: 45 minutes (freezer)
Cut Time: 5 minutes
Bake Time: 14-16 minutes
Cool Time: 1 hour
Glaze Time: 15 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source:

Cook's Illustrated (March 2003)

Baking Illustrated

If you like lemon flavor, these are really good. Glazing is a little bit of a pain, but they make the cookie, so it is worth it.

This last time I sliced the cookies a little thin and they got a little more browned than normal. I also was a little short of lemon juice from my lemon and the glaze was a little thick and didn't spread as nicely as it should have.

Blondies

Prep Time: 9 minutes
Cook Time: 22-25 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes


Recipe Source:

The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Baking Illustrated

Cook's Illustrated (July 2005)

This recipe is like the recipe we used when I was growing up for "Congo Bars" which I think were mis-named, since congo bars should have coconut in them. They are a little thinner, and cook better for me, so I prefer this recipe. I usually make a half batch in an 8x8 pan, which works well.

Cream Biscuits

Prep Time: 7 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Grade: B

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Sources:

Cook's Illustrated Magazine (January 2000)

Baking Illustrated

The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

This is not my favorite biscuit recipe. However, it is a nice way to use up cream, and it is an extremely easy recipe. The biscuits are on the table in under 25 minutes, which cannot be beat.

I prefer other buttermilk biscuits because I like the butter flavor. These are just slightly bland. I will make these again when I have some cream I need to use up, but otherwise, I will stick to other recipes.

Banana Bread

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Cool Time: 10 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Sources:

Cook's Illustrated Magazine (March 1998)

Baking Illustrated

The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

This is a very good banana bread recipe, that I use often. The only flaw is you do need to have a little bit of plain yogurt on hand.

Peach Crisp

Prep Time:16 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes

Grade: C

Make Again: No

Recipe Source: Baking Illustrated

I don't love this recipe because I didn't love the topping. It calls for nuts, and was developed with that in mind. I used almonds, since I don't really like pecans, and I just didn't like the texture or taste of this. Nut lovers, might love this recipe, though. I'm just kind of picky about nuts in my desserts, and only on rare occasion like them that way.

Fruit Tart with Pastry Cream

Pastry Cream: 17 minutes
Cool Time: 3 hours
Tart Time: 40 minutes
Assemble Time: 5 minutes (but I didn't glaze)

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes, as long as I can master the tart dough.

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (July 2001)
America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
Baking Illustrated

This is my second attempt at making a tart. I used the 2nd half of the pastry dough from my Lemon Tart, when I tried making mini tarts. I had trouble with the tart dough again. Last time I thought my oven was too hot, and I made sure that wasn't the issue. So, I am left to believe I didn't prepare the dough correctly. My best guess is that I didn't get the butter pieces small enough in the food processor.



The dough was filled with holes and greasy. It cooked unevenly also. As before, it tasted good, but I need to figure out how to make this dough properly.

I didn't bother making a full beautiful fruit tart, because I was just experimenting, and it wasn't to serve, and I even threw away half of this, because I assumed it wouldn't keep well past 1 day. I will try again, because I think the pastry cream is also very good, and I would love to master this recipe.

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Prep Time: 18 minutes
Bake Time: 40 minutes
Cool Time: 1 hour

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated Magazine(January 2001) and Baking Illustrated

I think this was my first ever Cook's Illustrated recipe. It was such a success, and I enjoyed reading that first magazine so much that I ended up purchasing all the previous issues in bound books. (I no longer have all those books, but I did read them all.)

I am not a big cake person, because I prefer moister and more dense desserts. This cake is very good, however. It is moist and has a rich chocolate taste.

Although I have made this cake many times, it isn't a frequent thing, and I always end up overbaking it slightly. I think I am fooled by the fact that it still seems undone when I press on the top. It doesn't spring back as much as I think it should (which is silly since I am not a baking expert). I need to pay more attention to my cake tester which I put in at an angle (thanks to a tip I found on the CI forum.) Although slightly overbaked on the sides, this cake is still excellent.

I am still working on finding a good frosting recipe that is not too rich, but better than those fluffy frosting that supermarket and some bakery cakes have. With this cake I resorted to canned frosting! It was for my nephew, and I knew he would prefer it.

I think my decorating technique has improved, but I should smooth the base frosting out better before I start the decorating.

Cookbook - Baking Illustrated

This book is by the editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine and includes many recipes that are found in the magazine, with some new ones added. Although there are lots of duplicates, it is nice to have all baking recipes in one spot.

I have tried quite a few baking recipes from Cook's Illustrated over the years, and almost every recipe has been a winner. The few that were not, were just not to my tastes. It usually is not because they didn't turn out well.




To see all the recipes I've tried that are in this book, click on the "bi" label below.