(no subject)

Blackout cake didn't win, place, or show at the bakeoff, although it got some fine comments for its appearance and quite a lot of speculation on whether those were Oreo crumbs (they weren't) and what the flavor that wasn't chocolate in it was (it was orange extract- I'd run out of vanilla). So at least it was respectable. Can't help feeling it would've done better if we'd been serving milk at the event, since high caliber chocolate baked goods usually go over better with milk, but oh well.

Might see how it turns out without the black cocoa next time- I use a mixture of about 40% King Arthur Flour Company black cocoa to 60% regular Dutch process cocoa, hence the Oreo color. Black cocoa's more intense than the regular kind, so it can get a little overwhelming.

Next baked goods out of my kitchen will probably be an apple pie. I have the apples, and I haven't had pie in a while. Nothing too fancy gets done there other than cooking the apples down a bit first so they're less likely to result in gaps between top crust and fruit- if I cook the mushier apples in the mix (Macintoshes for me, usually) for a while they do their breaking down early and fill in the spaces between the firmer apples' slices.

(no subject)

Is there anyone reading this who would like soap or bar shampoo for their winter holiday of choice? I'd like to get them made now so they have time to age properly before I send them out- also I need to get the right essential oils. (I'm thinking an orange-cinnamon-clove blend should cover a lot of ground at this time of year, but I'm open to other ideas/preferences/requests.)