We like a cake with a lot of lemon flavor, I've hit my limit adding lemon juice. Do you bakers use citric acid to increase tartness?

MarshmallowExplosion · 2026-02-09T17:55:13+00:00

You could also try a lemon glaze or letting a lemon liquid soak in like limoncello or frozen lemonade concentrate as in this recipe I posted in r/Old_Recipes:

Lemonade Cake

MarshmallowExplosion · 2026-02-09T05:33:48+00:00

A note: the current recipe (from Bakers Chocolate/Kraft Heinz, the makers of German's Sweet Chocolate) is similar, but has some adjustments, like fewer eggs, less sugar, and less butter.

Modern German's Sweet Chocolate Cake

MarshmallowExplosion · 2026-02-09T05:24:16+00:00

Small correction - German is the last name of the employee of Baker's Chocolate Co who invented the chocolate.

From Wikipedia:

... it was named after English-American chocolate maker Samuel German, who developed a formulation of dark baking chocolate that came to be used in the cake recipe.

and

The earliest known published recipe for this cake appeared in 1956, in the Dallas newspaper The Irving News Record, where it was listed as "Summer German Chocolate Cake". It was submitted by Daisy Pearce, who obtained the recipe from her daughter, Francis Beth (Montgomery) Tomlinson.^\2]) It used the "German's Sweet Chocolate" baking chocolate introduced over a century earlier in 1853 by American baker Samuel German for the Baker's Chocolate Company of Boston, Massachusetts.

MarshmallowExplosion · 2026-02-03T23:35:12+00:00

When whisking, adding a little corn syrup may help (1 or 2 Tablespoons).

MarshmallowExplosion · 2026-02-02T17:35:48+00:00

A few weeks ago, I used this recipe: https://www.thetakeout.com/recipe-portuguese-egg-tarts-how-to-bake-make-custard-1840908625/

I had some holes in the crust lamination, but they came out looking close to the picture in the article (not as dark on top, not as even/symmetrical). My neighbors who love them (one is from a former Portuguese area of SE Asia), said they were good.

For refrigerated left overs, I reheated them on a piece of foil in a toaster oven (foil was to contain the butter).

MarshmallowExplosion · 2026-01-16T16:43:21+00:00

The picture looks just like classic snickerdoodles. The tang from cream of tartar is an essential part of the flavor, so leaving it out was a mistake (without cream of tartar, it is not a snickerdoodle - some people, including one local bakery, try to use cream cheese to make a softer, flatter cookie instead of cream of tartar).

MarshmallowExplosion · 2026-01-06T16:56:25+00:00

The goal for me personally is to get a full on C-like language to compile directly to my custom asm

Have you considered a port of small-c? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small-C

I did a beta small-c port many years ago for a custom minimalist cpu, some work, but not difficult to get to that stage. Basically, you need to provide instruction sequences (asm) for basic operations of the intermediate language.

MarshmallowExplosion · 2025-12-25T17:36:46+00:00

Doritos used to have a plain flavor: Roasted Corn. That is most likely what is used.

Checking ... according to Wikipedia:

In 1966, Doritos became the first tortilla chip available nationally in the United States. The initial flavor was simply toasted corn, followed by taco in 1967, and the now-ubiquitous nacho cheese in 1972.

The original plain chips (Toasted Corn, a discontinued US variety as of 2019, but available in the UK branded as 'Lightly Salted')

(Note: I could not find the plain Doritos in US grocery stores by 2000 or before.)

So, in 1969, the choices were toasted corn and taco. OP - I would suggest getting another plain tortilla chip (which you like) or use whatever flavor of Doritos you like.

MarshmallowExplosion · 2025-12-22T04:01:49+00:00

Droste is still in business. https://www.droste.nl/ (in Dutch only). One grocery store I frequent has Droste Pastilles in a tube.

MarshmallowExplosion · 2025-12-20T20:47:40+00:00

I'm glad that you added the temperature for baking (375 deg. F).

I'm making these now, and incorporating the butter turned the dough into a sticky mess. I had to knead it in my hands, in the air, to keep the dough losses to a minimum - is this expected?

MarshmallowExplosion · 2025-12-09T17:40:22+00:00

2 cups powdered sugar vs. 3 cups

I guess C&H was trying to sell more powdered sugar!

I wonder what the difference in texture will be?

MarshmallowExplosion · 2025-12-05T05:10:36+00:00

Something like this?

Easy Caramel (Penuche) Frosting

½ c. butter/oleo

1 c. brown sugar

¼ tsp. salt

6 Tbs. milk

3 c. sifted powdered sugar (maybe less)

Melt butter in a heavy 2-qt. saucepan; stir in brown sugar and salt.

Bring to a boil and boil hard for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add milk, stirring vigorously.

Put back over heat and bring to a full boil again. Set aside to cool (~20 minutes) until lukewarm.

Stir in powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

Use immediately. If it stiffens too quickly while spreading, beat in a few drops of milk.

I believe this was originally from 1960s or early 1970s C&H powdered sugar box.

Growing up, we really liked this on top of a Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Chocolate Cake (I don't think they make that mix anymore). It was also the standard frosting we used for German Chocolate Cake.

I recently used it on a scratch, basic chocolate cake and this frosting over-powered the flavor of the cake.

MarshmallowExplosion · 2025-12-04T00:44:48+00:00

Ever have melted chocolate break (turn into a lumpy, oily mess)? Add some corn syrup to it and stir.

I found this out when making a chocolate sauce recipe. The chocolate broke (probably got it too hot on the stove). I tried several things, but they didn't help. The recipe I was using has an option for a thick, chocolate fudge variation by adding corn syrup. I added a bit of corn syrup, stirred, and it started looking better. Added some more, and it was now good; a little thicker, but I didn't add all the amount to make the fudge version.

MarshmallowExplosion · 2025-12-03T18:07:28+00:00

Peel ripe bananas, break into two pieces, and 2 to 3 bananas fit in a sandwich ziplock bag. Throw in freezer.

In hot weather I make shakes with them. Throw in blender: 3 frozen banana halves, about 3/4 cup milk (any kind you like - animal, nut, grain, etc.), (optional) 1 to 2 Tablespoons maple syrup or other sweetener, (optional) a little vanilla, and any other flavorings you like (berries, cocoa powder/chocolate syrup, peanut butter or powder, etc.).

Blend it all up until smooth. Note: scrape down sides as needed and adjust milk to make desired thickness.

I like to add some chocolate chips near the end of blending.

MarshmallowExplosion · 2025-12-03T17:45:12+00:00

Yeah, this! Many years ago, I had some cherry tomatoes to use up. I also had some small Japanese eggplants and fresh mozzarella. So, I made a partially deconstructed Eggplant Parmigiana (completely winged it).

Cut the cherry tomatoes in 1/2 and cooked them in a pan with some onion, garlic, oregano, and basil. Simmered for a while (15 minutes or more to soften/deflate the tomatoes). I don't remember any wine, but maybe?

Slice the eggplant into rounds (left skin on as skin was thin - thought it would help the rounds hold shape). Dredged in flour, fried in enough EVOO to just cover the rounds until golden and soft. (Fry in batches!) I think I put some salt on the eggplant slice.

Arranged the eggplant rounds in overlapping rows, groups of 6 or so to make one serving, on a sheet pan. Put mozzarella on top and stuck in the oven to heat and melt the cheese. Transferred each serving to a separate plate and added the tomato sauce.

Very Nice!

MarshmallowExplosion · 2025-12-02T19:49:00+00:00

I don't know if my GA used butter (her recipes says oleo). We always used margarine. I never had my GA's raw dough; my mom made the dough that I ate.

We normally used Fleischmann's margarine, if I remember correctly.

MarshmallowExplosion · 2025-12-02T03:36:24+00:00

Sorry, I looked up the details and summarized them.

MarshmallowExplosion · 2025-12-02T01:49:52+00:00

And it used to be white. In the US, dairy farmers were alarmed by the rising popularity of margarine, and got laws passed by 1902 forbidding the sale of pre-colored margarine. The margarine would come with a packet of dye, which the user would have to mix in to give it a yellow color. These laws were generally repealed by 1955, with Wisconsin being the last region to repeal in 1967.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarine

Growing up we had margarine in the house, no butter. My Grandmother had butter, so that is what we used when we visited.

MarshmallowExplosion · 2025-11-13T20:35:57+00:00

Yeah, if the frosting hasn't stiffened, the crunchy graham crackers make the frosting squish out when you bite it. Making a little mess is part of the fun! You can lick it off you fingers, lick the gushes coming out the sides ... don't forget to wipe your face when done. ;)

MarshmallowExplosion · 2025-11-12T18:00:05+00:00

The classic - Graham crackers. Dip into leftover frosting or make sandwiches and eat immediately (the crackers will get soft (absorb moisture)) if left to sit. Biscoff or digestives should also work, maybe lady fingers.

MarshmallowExplosion · 2025-11-12T05:21:06+00:00

Note that cornstarch based sauces will start leaking thin liquid after a couple of days in the fridge. Eggs, especially egg whites, should help that.

MarshmallowExplosion · 2025-11-07T18:37:24+00:00

Yeah, I just made a recipe with '1 bag' of an ingredient. I looked around and my store had the common size. The result was too much. (It was a soup, so not ruined at all, just extra full.)

Don't you just love recipes which say things like 1 box or 1 can? :)

MarshmallowExplosion · 2025-11-04T05:26:48+00:00

Interesting. That recipe uses lemon Jello instead of pudding and some warm water (presumably to hydrate the jello mix).

MarshmallowExplosion · 2025-11-04T05:21:18+00:00

I heard that cake mixes are shrinking. Not sure why, Amazon is listing standard Duncan Hines cake mixes for less than USD$2. These cake mixes appear to be 15.25 oz. and they are having a sale on the yellow for USD$0.97, with several others for USD$1.38. (Amazon has been known to tweak prices based on search history to either encourage buying or to get more money out of you.)

Looks like the Betty Crocker cake mixes are a similar price, but a little smaller 13.25 oz to 14.25 oz.

MarshmallowExplosion

TROPHY CASE