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dialecticdreamer has posted Part 1 of "Patchwork Families." This story follows my stories "To Save Those in Peril Upon It" and "Trouble on the Line." Aidan meets his new daughter Saraphina. Lots of fluff with a few bits of chewier plot tension.Nov. 12th, 2014
dialecticdreamer has posted Part 1 of "Patchwork Families." This story follows my stories "To Save Those in Peril Upon It" and "Trouble on the Line." Aidan meets his new daughter Saraphina. Lots of fluff with a few bits of chewier plot tension.
Pears and Bread Pudding
Nov. 12th, 2014 09:52 pmToday we picked pears and half-cooked them to freeze. For flavoring this time, I used two tablespoons of frozen grated ginger root, about a teaspoon of powdered ginger, and most of a can of Gosling's ginger beer.
There was a little of the pear filling left over that I didn't have a container for, so I decided to make bread pudding. The pears went into the middle of the bread pudding, I used 1 1/2 teaspoons of Saigon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon allspice for the batter, and then when I made the topping I threw another tablespoon of frozen ginger root into that.
The flavor turned out excellent. But the pears were still somewhat crunchy. (These are cooking pears, not dessert pears.) I wondered what the heck had happened. Usually when I half-cook them and then bake them, they come out tender but still hold their shape. Then I realized: they hadn't been frozen and thawed. Freezing breaks the cell structure of fruit, releasing flavor and juices while tenderizing the flesh. So bread pudding goes into the category of things like ice cream where you get better results from frozen-and-thawed fruit than from fresh. Bananas don't need to be frozen, though, because bananas ready for cooking are already pretty much pudding textured.
There was a little of the pear filling left over that I didn't have a container for, so I decided to make bread pudding. The pears went into the middle of the bread pudding, I used 1 1/2 teaspoons of Saigon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon allspice for the batter, and then when I made the topping I threw another tablespoon of frozen ginger root into that.
The flavor turned out excellent. But the pears were still somewhat crunchy. (These are cooking pears, not dessert pears.) I wondered what the heck had happened. Usually when I half-cook them and then bake them, they come out tender but still hold their shape. Then I realized: they hadn't been frozen and thawed. Freezing breaks the cell structure of fruit, releasing flavor and juices while tenderizing the flesh. So bread pudding goes into the category of things like ice cream where you get better results from frozen-and-thawed fruit than from fresh. Bananas don't need to be frozen, though, because bananas ready for cooking are already pretty much pudding textured.
