Question of the Day - Monday, August 3, 2020

MoochNNoodles

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I'm going to be proactive and post early because my to-do list is long for today. ;)



When you need a dessert: from scratch, a box or bakery?



It really depends for us. At Christmas I bake our cookies from scratch. A ton of them. Cakes and brownies are usually a box mix. But for a weekend dessert or a kid-free date night; DH and I will pick something up from a bakery. Usually just a grocery store one. Occasionally my mother will stop by a French bakery near her work and get us a few treats. Its way out of our way. When I visit my family we tend to get things from bakeries because they have some AMAZING ones up there. One Italian bakery is over 100 years old now and I have to get my fix when I'm in town. The best ever cheesecake place burned down but I'm told they are making some from a smaller location.

My DD is been itching to bake badly but I've not been feeling it. Or the extra dishes. But I just finished my grocery order for the week and I got some things so we can make a from-scratch chocolate cake with from scratch chocolate icing. I haven't told her yet; in case it's not till late week that we get around to it. I don't want to hear about it every day. I'd rather surprise her. ;)

I found a bakery in town near us via Facebook that I need to try; but they seem to focus on breads and just a few sweets. Still! :yummy: Soup weather will be here in a few months! Fresh bread with homemade soup sounds good to me!
 

Xraystyle

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Almost no one has an oven here. They're not standard appliances, so "baking" in the western sense is still catching on. I have a toaster oven so I can bake little single servings of cookies or bread. There are chain bakeries every couple of blocks but they aren't that great. My favorite cookies just come from Subway. I also like the cinnamon sugar pretzels from Auntie Anne's or the gelato from my neighborhood cafe.

My favorite local dessert is hotteok. It's one of the only "food stall" foods I'll eat. haha It's just fried dough with molten brown sugar, sesame, and nuts inside. It's fantastic though. The lady I always buy from makes green tea and mugwort flavored doughs that are just *chef's kiss*
 

Mia6

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Anything Nicole makes or bakery. She made a lemon-blueberry cake with lemon drizzled icing
a few weeks ago and it was scrumptious. Dense and wonderful.
 

mani

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From scratch.
I often just do some kind of parfait. They're easy, fun and people love them.
 

Jem

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From scratch mostly, depending on what it is and the occasion, or a mix of box and scratch.
I always make my Christmas cookies from scratch. Sometimes up to 2 dozen different kinds, but I make platters for people as my gift.
Birthday cake, I'll usually use a box for the batter if I'm just making a plain white or chocolate cake, but I always make my own icing.
Cheesecake is always from scratch, but I'll go between the no-bake and bake, depending on how much time I have.
Brownies from scratch, banana bread from scratch,......I just have too many good recipes not to use them!
I really only use a box for birthday cake and lemon pie filling....Oh and I'll use the Pillsbury cans of country biscuits to make my monkey bread..it's just easier and they work perfectly. I'll also usually use a store bought pie crust but make my filling from scratch.
I'll only buy from a bakery (my local grocery store bakery section) when things are on sale to treat my husband to donuts and other goodies that I don't really make often.
I love baking so I don't mind making from scratch, and I've never had anything not turn out so I must have a knack for it! I'll always try from scratch first if I can, although sometimes I get a request for a gathering and have to cheat a bit because I didn't get enough notice.
 

Columbine

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Almost always from scratch. Dad's gluten-sensitive and I'm coeliac and vegan. Bakeries round here just don't cater to that. Dad will occasionally have shop bought things, but homemade is so much better. The only real exception is that there's a little chocolate and coffee shop in town that has gluten free homemade cakes that dad loves. Liz (the owner) makes much more indulgent things than I have the energy for these days, so he'll sometimes buy a slice or two to bring home.

I don't think I've ever used a box mix for cakes or cookies/biscuits. The only mix I use is a gluten free pastry mix, which is essentially just a different gluten free flour blend to my usual one, and is more stable for pastry (gluten free pastry is notoriously fragile and insanely 'short').
 

Winchester

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The only bakery item that I'll buy is a white coconut cake from a local bakery and that's usually for Christmas dinner. And let me say that I really can make a white coconut layer cake and it turns out quite yummy; my problem at Christmas is the lack of time. Plus, for years now, it's been a tradition in the family to order the white coconut cake.

Other than that, I'll make our desserts. And I make them from scratch. By now you all know how I feel about the reduction in quantity of packaged cake mixes; if I have to doctor the mixes up to get those extra 3 ounces, well, I might as well bake the thing from scratch to begin with.

Pie crusts? Well, I have no problem taking advantage of the Dough-Boy. Yes, I can make pie crust; Rick's mom made sure of that. But honestly, it's such a hassle and I hate doing it. For years I made my own crusts. And then one night, Rick's parents came down for dinner; my sister and BIL were here, too. And we got to talking about pies. When Rick's mom (who was one of the best bakers in the world, IMO) pooh-poohed homemade pie crust and told me that the Dough-Boy was my friend, my sister picked my jaw up off the floor. And that was it. By golly, if Evelyn could use the Dough Boy, then so could I. She told me that she wanted to make sure I could made pie crust. And I can. But I hate every minute of it. And life is too short.

Our cookies are always homemade (with the exception of buying a boxed cookie mix from time to time when we go to Vermont to hit King Arthur). Breads are homemade as much as possible because I like playing with yeast dough.

I like to bake and I like to play around with recipes. There's always that, "What would happen if I did this or added that?"
 
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posiepurrs

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I would say average week, it is 50/50. Holidays strictly from scratch. I do like to bake from scratch but normal week I sometimes don't have the energy. Always make my own pie crust and am toying with the idea of learning to do strudel from scratch. Really we aren't supposed to have any of it so my dessert making has slowed over the years. When my kids were home, I seemed to bake everyday. They thought they were mistreated because their friends had store bought goodies!
 

maggiedemi

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I don't really like dessert much. Once in a while I will get a crumbcake donut when they have them. I prefer stuff like pot pie.
 

catapault

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Chocolate chip cookies, a favorite for Himself. I bake a half-batch every week or ten days. Fruitcake for Christmas - I'm already wondering if The Larder in Doylstown PA gets the bulk candied fruit around Thanksgiving how I'll arrange to get it. Bread - Mark Bittman's take on the Sullivan Street bakery no-knead bread. So good it might as well be dessert. Recently - blueberry cornmeal muffins.

It's boring, making chocolate chip cookies all the time. I rarely eat them. But if I make mint chocolate chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookies Himself does eat them but also says "They're good but chocolate chip are better." So why bother.

Other desserts - in summer we like cornstarch based puddings - butterscotch or chocolate. Very easy to make. Have not make ice cream in a very long time. Am thinking of freezing a can of fruit in heavy syrup, pulverizing in Cuisinart, back in freezer and hey presto! sorbet. Used to do that when children were young. Now . . . it is difficult to find cans where both ends can be cut apart with can opener so frozen fruit + syrup can easily be pushed out.

Infrequent but good cake recipes - Wellsley fudge as a bundt cake, not in layers. Flourless chocolate citrus cake. Pound cake. Marble cake. But with only two of us cakes are excessive, and cake recipes are more difficult than cookies to halve. I think somewhere I have directions on baking cakes as muffins. Or is it muffins as cakes? Shall have to look in my files.
 

Elphaba09

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From scratch. I buy from a bakery one every year two. Maybe. I use a box for exactly one thing: biscotti. I am sure they are easy enough to make from scratch. I have a recipe that uses a box cake mix for them and it works nicely so no reason to mess with it.
 

susanm9006

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I don’t bake anywhere near what I used to. Occasional cupcakes or brownies from box mixes and an oldie, butterscotch brownies, from scratch. On very special occasions I will make a cheesecake from scratch.
 

MonaLyssa33

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For an event you mean? If I'm bringing a dessert for a potluck or something, I'll almost always make something from scratch. If I'm just wanting something for myself, then it could be any of the three.
 

neely

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Almost always from scratch, there's no comparison between home baked dessert vs a box. The only reason I don't bake more is because the kids are grown and out of the house so I don't want to have a whole cake or two dozen cookies for DH and me. I used to share with the neighbors but since Covid that's not an option.
 

Roxabelle

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If I need dessert, then I need it NOW! So no time to ever make sweet things from scratch! :lol: We're both addicted to Gü puddings at home, so we nearly always have a supply in the fridge if we want a sweet treat.

I used to bake shortbread all the time, in 20 different flavours, but that was more of a way to pass the time or bake it as a gift for someone else. If I want dessert, then I expect it in my mouth within 5 minutes.
 

Moz

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From scratch. It's so much more satisfying eating a dessert that you made, even if it takes a while to make. Besides, I can make so many good desserts that aren't sold in bakeries or stores here.
 
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