Stefin is celebrating another family birthday and breaking out her traditional Triple Layer Guinness Chocolate Cake, which is no easy feat. To make things a bit easier on herself this year, she acted as her own sous chef, got things ready in advance, and spread the work across several days. To do this at home, think about what you’d need if you were recording a food show on TV, and prep accordingly.

Language Lab: Joconde and Pissaladiere

Andrea’s learned two new words this week. The first is a joconde, a sponge cake traditionally used in making an Opera Cake. A joconde differs from a traditional sponge cake in that it is almond flavored and usually has whole eggs, rather than just egg whites. The second is a pissaladiere (or a Provençal Pizza) which is a pizza-like dough topped with an anchovy paste, olives, caramelized onions, and tomatoes. This delicious pissaladiere recipe from Alexandra Stafford can be served warm or at room temperature, and Andrea especially enjoyed the slow rise version, mixing the dough with cold water and allowing it to rise overnight.

Recipe Review: Pineapple Coconut Curry Loaf

Andrea enjoyed prepping and baking this easy quick loaf recipe from Bake From Scratch. Make sure to follow the step for draining the crushed pineapple, as it will yield over a cup of pineapple juice (surprise your kids with a special treat!) Be sure to cover your loaf while baking to keep the coconut flakes form burning; Stefin covered hers at seven minutes in her fan (convection) oven, while Andrea covered hers at 22 minutes. Andrea needed a full 75 minutes for the tester to come out clean in her 8 x 4.5 inch pan, while Stefin needed 50 minutes for her three miniature loaf pans.
Stefin surprised Andrea with news of a new (and surprisingly effective) gadget – a cute cake tester topped with a red heart!

Andrea tasted the raw batter and didn’t taste the curry powder at all, but she resisted her temptation to add more curry powder … thank goodness, as the curry flavor did come through in the finished loaf! Stefin tasted both the curry and the coconut, but both hosts felt the pineapple flavor was lacking. Perhaps adding some dehydrated pineapple powder to boost the flavor next time?

Don’t make the same mistake Andrea did and wrap the loaf in plastic wrap while it was still warm … instead, enjoy the bread hot out of the oven! We think you’ll enjoy the golden color of this loaf and the warm and comforting cake-like feel.

Bake Along: Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins

You can make a dozen standard muffins or three dozen minis with this fun fall recipe from food blogger Amanda from The Girl Who Bakes. Stefin had previously made a donut muffin, but it was too heavy, so she’s really excited about some of the lighter techniques in this recipe. Donuts, sugar, cinnamon, apples … this recipe screams “fall” to both the hosts and they can’t wait to try these baked donuts.

Bake Sale Bona Fides

Andrea and Stefin give a quick run down of four steps for Bake Sale Success: 1) Generating excitement with an announcement; 2) Creating a theme (optional); 3) Making it fun with a special competition or a donation from a local celebrity; and 4) Taking good photos of the baked goods and the adorable sellers if you’ve got children involved (of course, asking for their parents’ permission first!).

Looking for some resources and recipes? How about the Bake Sale Cookbook from Sandra Lee or Good Housekeeping’s The Great Bake Sale Cookbook?

And of course, the Preheaters weighed in with some fabulous ideas as well. Listener Maggie had a great suggestion to start with a boxed cake mix, place a few tablespoons into a mini cupcake pan, and then pour frosting over them to create really cute mini cakes. Nancy recommended a recipe for some ultra-huge Rice Krispy treats, and Nate-Alyssa said Scotcharoos are a sure fire treat. Listener Jessica recommends her mother’s recipe for mini cheese tarts; they’re not quite a cheesecake, having a more crumbly, drier texture, but still boast that tangy, cream cheese flavor, and are set into a loose graham cracker crust. You can read all of the Listener bake sale suggestions in the Preheated Facebook Listeners Group. And if you want to try those Puppy Chow variations Stefin mentioned, here’s the link.

Previously on Preheated …

Two Years Ago: Episode 45: Citrus Success

One Year Ago: Episode 93: How to Eat an Apricot, Peach and Blackberry Crumble

——————————————————————————————————————– If  you’re intrigued by our podcast, make it easy on yourself and subscribe on Apple Podcasts. That way you can listen to more than one episode, and have them download automatically on your phone or tablet. You can also bake along with us and share photos in our Facebook group, Preheated Baking Podcast Listeners. Finally, if you’d like a weekly email when our episode drops with the complete show notes and recipes, sign up for our weekly newsletter.

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