When I first started baking pies I was often disappointed after putting a beautiful full pie in the oven and pulling out a pie whose crust had dramatically shrunk from the edges of the pan. You want the baked pie crust to shrink as little as possible, as in these pics. This is the same pie before and after baking. Notice how minimal the difference. In order to keep the crust from shrinking you must relax the dough. After I make my crust, I always refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes to relax the gluten. Then after I put the pie together, I refrigerate it again for another 30 minutes. Agitating the dough while rolling it out promotes gluten formation, so it is important to let the dough chill out before baking. Cutting corners and rushing the process will show in the final product, and we all want that “wow” factor when we present our goody!

Best donuts ever!

Half the fun of creating new treats is naming them! Here is the revised and renamed Hound Dog (2.0). I changed the filling to banana pastry cream, kept the peanut butter glaze, and added a drizzle of chocolate. Dave renamed them “Monkey Bars”!

Pretzels, hot out of the oven!

It had to be done…these are filled with mashed bananas with a peanut butter glaze. It is too cliche to call them “the Elvis”, so I will call them “the Hound Dog”. We can argue they are breakfast worthy with fruit, protein, and grains!

Yeast donuts, cake donuts, baked donuts…what’s the difference?…Texture. Cake donuts, like the buttermilk old fashioneds in the top pic, are crunchy on the outside, soft and tender inside. Yeast donuts (the chocolate glazed ones) are lofty and soft inside and out. Baked donuts (strawberry buttermilk ones in the pic) are soft with a texture more delicate than a muffin, similar to a pancake interior. A texture for every palate!

Handmade soft pretzels with kosher salt and a side of my homemade sweet-hot mustard. Brushed with melted butter, of course!!

Look who came to visit this morning–2 beautiful white swans swimming in the pond behind the store. It doesn’t get any better than that!