Baking!

Most Minor Minion came over on Saturday to get some lessons on making pies. He brought his cookbook and supplies (he insisted on bringing his own ingredients), then he and Tam began putting it all together. I tried getting pictures, but he’s at that age where he avoids the camera at all costs, thereby ruining every damn shot.

Anyway, they began with a comparison of recipes and discovered that they were using the same one, with the exception of a salt omission in the one he was using. We had him notate his book to add salt and all was well. Once the pie dough was mixed and stuck in the fridge, they began prepping apples. And by “they,” I mean he, because Tam wanted the kid to learn how to do it all himself. Yay, Tam!

Once that little job was underway and I realized there would be no photographs, I wanted to do something. Craving cinnamon rolls, I searched all our cookbooks and found one that seemed fairly straightforward. Tam agreed, yoinked the yeast out of the fridge and put me to work.

That’s about the time we both realized we had no idea exactly what the hell a “sponge” should look like when it comes to baking. She’s never baked anything that started that way, and neither had I. But we fiddled and fussed and decided that it needed to look like thin pancake batter.

Whatever we did, it was right, because the yeast went to town! Most Minor Minion was impressed! So were we.

I gathered the rest of the ingredients and when it was time, began putting everything in the mixer. The cookbook is one of the old ones, written when every girl left home knowing how to cook, and butter was an acceptable ingredient. This dough has half a cup of melted butter in it. And two cups of milk, lots of sugar and salt, and of course, flour. The filling has butter in it as well, because, well, damn! Butter!

The dough was extremely soft and almost difficult to work because it kept floating off the table where I was trying to roll it out. But, I persevered and the dough became A SHIT TON OF ROLLS! I was not expecting there to be so many. The recipe said it would make about 18. “About.” They seem to like that word, “about,” but I do not think it means what THEY think it means.

One 13x9 inch pan STUFFED with rolls (note: don’t do that again) and another, smaller pan three quarters full.

Of course, Most Minor Minion still needed to finish baking his pumpkin pie, so my rolls had to sit out and rise again. Mountains of rolls. Mountains of delicious, light rolls…(sigh).

We didn’t get to sample the pies since he’s taking them to class this week, but we did get to nosh on the fresh cinnamon rolls and yes, they are amazing. Soft, not too sweet, and very rich. Unfortunately, because I overcrowded the pan, the center ones will need to be baked again, but that’s ok. I know what to do next time, and I’m thinking next time will be next weekend… because I’m that awesome!

But someone better bring me some pie.