Sarah Baird's Profile | Serious Eats

Know Your Sweets: Angel Food Cake

@sbertie, @hollywithay: I wish that angel food cake and bundt cake pans could live together in harmony, but I don't think there's any way to avoid the cake getting completely mangled in the process with all the nooks and crannies while still allowing the cake to rise properly. :(

Know Your Sweets: Cinnamon Rolls

@darklighter: got it, @darklighter. thanks!

Know Your Sweets: Cinnamon Rolls

@johnnysplendid: Cinnamon Bun is so precious! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbErhqfk7Ak

Know Your Sweets: Cranberry Sauce

@Katie Potato: Hey Katie! I love (love!) that you know about pawpaws: I grew up in Kentucky, have eaten them my whole life, and have worked a good bit with the pawpaw research program at KSU.

However, there's a little bit of debate about their status as native because of their unusual cultivar background, which is why I didn't include them.

Other berries (such as elderberries) are also native, but, for the most part, aren't commercially available.

If you ever need a good recipe for pawpaw custard, let me know!

Know Your Sweets: Rocky Road Ice Cream

@Rosewood: oh my gosh! this is an omission from which i may never personally recover. that clip is so great!

Know Your Sweets: Rocky Road Ice Cream

@ag3208: haha, i've heard that! oh well, bad name or not, still pretty delicious. :)

Know Your Sweets: Baked Alaska

@korenni: Ask and ye shall receive! ;) I've done a good bit of research about them, and here's what I've found:

The credit for the first iteration of the dessert goes to two English women, who defied the odds of their time (reading and writing were not, ahem, “ladylike”) and secured a solid place in international culinary history. Lady Elinor Fettiplace of Appleton in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire) recorded the first baked beaten-egg-white-and-sugar confection in a manuscript book in 1604. The handwritten recipe for “white bisket bread” is comparable to the fluffy confection we know and love today. After her death, the book was passed down to her niece, and published under the title, Elinor Fettiplace’s Receipt Book — Elizabethan Country House Cooking.

In 1630, Lady Rachel Fane of Knole, Kent recorded an almost identical recipe for “pets” using the same preparation and ingredients as Lady Fettiplace’s creations. Although they lived and baked in roughly the same era, there are no records to indicate that the two women knew one another or ever corresponded. Thus is the divine magic of meringue.

Know Your Sweets: Baked Alaska

@quicksand: They both also involve a pretty serious fire/ice interplay. :)

Know Your Sweets: Banana Pudding

@babybokchoy: i think sweetened condensed milk can make any situation better, and chessmen pieces sound great! i'd love to even try walker's shortbreads in a banana pudding sometime.

Know Your Sweets: Banana Pudding

@tinybanquetcommittee: oh wow, that sounds fantastic! pepper is super underrated as a dessert ingredient.

Know Your Sweets: Banana Pudding

@mnrobb: here's another option for a more exotic version: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/09/baked-elements-banana-caramel-pudding-meringue-topping-recipe.html

Know Your Sweets: Funnel Cake

@girlalive: Don't worry! It's in there, under variations. :)

Know Your Sweets: Funnel Cake

@PSFam: That sounds fantastic!

Pie of the Week: Black Bottom Chai Cream Pie

@Nicholas Byrd: Yogi Chai Rooibos is a really nice go-to, and I would probably doctor it up with a good amount of honey/milk to create chai latte.

Hooray dwarf fruit trees! Just picked some kumquats off one of my trees this morning to make some marmalade. :)

Pie of the Week: Black Bottom Chai Cream Pie

@katz2360: Haha, I'm glad there are at least two of us! :)

Blueberry-Blackberry Pie with Pretzel Crust

@plazmaorb, @gardenstate: It's just blueberry jell-o. They make it and it's available in almost all grocery stores, but for some reason doesn't seem to be on their website. You just use the gelatin powder itself in the pie. :)

Baking Guides: How to Select, Freeze, and Bake with Strawberries

@theotherworldly: there are actually quite a few really nice options for buying strawberry plants/seeds online complete with photos and helpful growing tips:

Baron: http://www.strawberryseedstore.com/buyseeds/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=51
Earliglow: http://www.burpee.com/fruit-plants/strawberry-plants/strawberry-earliglow-prod000531.html
Blakemore: http://shop.hamesstrawberries.com/Blakemore-100-Plants-Blakemore100.htm;jsessionid=A673C2733B8D41A0955CFE8BBFCB250B.m1plqscsfapp05
Sparkle: http://www.gurneys.com/product.asp?pn=65893

Baking Guides: How to Select, Freeze, and Bake with Strawberries

@candide: I think at the very least, freezing is the best way to retain a pure, fresh-off-the-vine strawberry flavor. It would be interesting to do a side-by-side taste test to try out this idea and see how freezing has an impact on overall flavor.

Pie of the Week: Apple Butter Pie with Oatmeal Pecan Crust

@hyperfocal: especially in the first 8-12 hours, keeping an eye on it and stirring every 1-2 hours is pretty critical to ensure it begins to reduce evenly. overnight, it will be fine, but that same kind of attention should be paid for the last 1-2 hours after the lid comes off when it is almost completely thickened.

traditionally (and for bigger batches) folks did work in shifts to stir all night (http://www.semissourian.com/photos/13/63/50/1363509-L.jpg) but this isn't quite as practical now. :)

Pie of the Week: Carrot Vanilla Bean Mascarpone Pie

@santiago: I totally agree! I'm a huge ginger fan, and will have to try that David Lebovitz recipe--that sounds amazing.

Carrot Vanilla Bean Mascarpone Pie

@WetIII: The carrot puree should be the same as with pumpkin: steam the carrots for 15 minutes until tender (after peeling and dicing) then use a food processor to puree, adding in water a tablespoon at a time as needed to thin the mixture. Also, a lot of farmer's markets and natural food stores actually sell organic carrot puree.