JAS_OH1
Forum GOD!
I could see it transformed into a saffron French toast with saffron butter and maple syrup...or honey, LOL.
The CookingBites recipe challenge: saffron
- Thread starter Morning Glory
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Ok, at long last:
Recipe - Saffron Cake
Where to begin? Well, very excited to try this, because it’s a colonial America recipe, and that made it interesting. Reading the ingredients, I liked the idea that I could use my mace (not a lot of call for that in my day-to-day cooking) and I liked the surprise of the caraway seed.
Mixed up very quick and easy, though it was somewhat underwhelming, as you can see a few posts up. Very…drab.
Into the oven, then back to the office to do a little work.
When the timer went off and I came back out…oh, but didn’t the front of the house smell amazing! Very promising…
After letting it cool, I cut off a sliver for MrsT, and she instantly said it was delicious, so with that endorsement from the official taster, I had a bit myself.
First thing, immediately…that metally-mediciney taste from the saffron. I don’t think I overdid it, as I felt I went a little lower on the amount than what the recipe called for, I just think I’m extremely sensitive to it. I have to hold my breath when working with it, because the smell makes me dry heave, for example. Should I make this again, I’ll fully halve the saffron amount.
After that, though…very light spice cake flavors came through. Very nice.
The texture of the cake was excellent - that’s three cakes in a row I’ve nailed down. Encouraging!
I think that by reducing the saffron, this could easily be a cake that reappears around the holidays.
Recipe - Saffron Cake
Where to begin? Well, very excited to try this, because it’s a colonial America recipe, and that made it interesting. Reading the ingredients, I liked the idea that I could use my mace (not a lot of call for that in my day-to-day cooking) and I liked the surprise of the caraway seed.
Mixed up very quick and easy, though it was somewhat underwhelming, as you can see a few posts up. Very…drab.
Into the oven, then back to the office to do a little work.
When the timer went off and I came back out…oh, but didn’t the front of the house smell amazing! Very promising…
After letting it cool, I cut off a sliver for MrsT, and she instantly said it was delicious, so with that endorsement from the official taster, I had a bit myself.
First thing, immediately…that metally-mediciney taste from the saffron. I don’t think I overdid it, as I felt I went a little lower on the amount than what the recipe called for, I just think I’m extremely sensitive to it. I have to hold my breath when working with it, because the smell makes me dry heave, for example. Should I make this again, I’ll fully halve the saffron amount.
After that, though…very light spice cake flavors came through. Very nice.
The texture of the cake was excellent - that’s three cakes in a row I’ve nailed down. Encouraging!
I think that by reducing the saffron, this could easily be a cake that reappears around the holidays.
AgileMJOLNIR
Well-Known Member
Very nice! I actually have one planned as well. I should be cooking that Sat and should be able to get it up then. Good job!Ok, at long last:
Recipe - Saffron Cake
Where to begin? Well, very excited to try this, because it’s a colonial America recipe, and that made it interesting. Reading the ingredients, I liked the idea that I could use my mace (not a lot of call for that in my day-to-day cooking) and I liked the surprise of the caraway seed.
Mixed up very quick and easy, though it was somewhat underwhelming, as you can see a few posts up. Very…drab.
Into the oven, then back to the office to do a little work.
When the timer went off and I came back out…oh, but didn’t the front of the house smell amazing! Very promising…
After letting it cool, I cut off a sliver for MrsT, and she instantly said it was delicious, so with that endorsement from the official taster, I had a bit myself.
First thing, immediately…that metally-mediciney taste from the saffron. I don’t think I overdid it, as I felt I went a little lower on the amount than what the recipe called for, I just think I’m extremely sensitive to it. I have to hold my breath when working with it, because the smell makes me dry heave, for example. Should I make this again, I’ll fully halve the saffron amount.
After that, though…very light spice cake flavors came through. Very nice.
The texture of the cake was excellent - that’s three cakes in a row I’ve nailed down. Encouraging!
I think that by reducing the saffron, this could easily be a cake that reappears around the holidays.
AgileMJOLNIR
Well-Known Member
Okie dokie artichokeeeeees
Entry numero uno is Meygoo Dopiyazeh (Persian shrimp, pepper, onion & saffron curry)
I haven’t had shrimp in a bit so I opted for this saffron dish. I served it with some fresh made lavash which was perfect for mopping up the curry. I made a few subtle tweaks but overall this was pretty good right out of the gate.
Original Posting
Entry numero uno is Meygoo Dopiyazeh (Persian shrimp, pepper, onion & saffron curry)
I haven’t had shrimp in a bit so I opted for this saffron dish. I served it with some fresh made lavash which was perfect for mopping up the curry. I made a few subtle tweaks but overall this was pretty good right out of the gate.
Original Posting
Timenspace
Legendary Member
I saw your question, but left it to the moderators to answer.
As a humble homecook, though, I'd say, if you liked the dish, post it!
Have not checked all posts yet, has anyone replied?
Have you decided?
Timenspace
Legendary Member
Is the pic showing the cake in its baked state?
Timenspace
Legendary Member
It looks very good!
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I'm not sure if I understand.
It is entirely up to you if you want to post the recipe or not, and if you want to enter it here or not, irrespective of if it worked or not.
You're not restricted to posting it only here. The only requirement is that the recipe wasn't on CookingBites before the start of this challenge.
JAS_OH1
Forum GOD!
I think she was just wondering if she should, not if she was allowed.
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OK. Like I said, I wasn't sure I understood, but then I saw this so was scratching my head.
The earlier pic was pre-bake, where it looked rather wet and sloppy.
badjak
Über Member
It could be.
I used what I had but I think it was just too old.
I "rescued" it by adding a lot of sumac so it was tasty anyway.
Won't post it here as in the end it was more of a sumac than saffron recipe.
Can anyone describe what safron should smell like?
Mine was a bit like old cold tea.....
JAS_OH1
Forum GOD!
I'm not good at describing things I reckon. It's very unique in smell and taste. TastyReuben did describe it but I'm not sure that my senses perceived it the same way.
JAS_OH1
Forum GOD!
I promised to detail my first known saffron encounter, so here goes (though it was 24 hours ago, so I’ve forgotten a lot of it).
First of all, opening the jar (and then the little packet inside), I don’t know why, but I held my breath - I think it was because of all the reading I’ve done, and how so many sources mention saffron smells somewhat like honey…and I don’t like the smell of honey all all. Turns my stomach.
MrsT was grabbing a bottle of water, and she instantly caught a whiff of it - “What’s that?! It smells really strong.”
I asked her what it smelled like, and she said, ”Flowers and honey…but kind of sour or tangy or something like that.”
I timidly gave a little sniff, picked up that honey-like note, and stopped. Enough for me, but MrsT said she thought it had a beautifully floral perfume.
Different strokes, I s’pose.
Moving on to actually using it, I needed a little less than half a teaspoon of it crushed, so I pulled out a little pinch, heeding the warnings that a little goes a long way, crushed it up between my thumb and forefinger, looked at it and said, “That’s like…maybe a sixteenth of a teaspoon!”
It took forever, and I think I’ve used most of the saffron I bought (it was a very small packet in that jar), but I finally got what felt close to what was required, but it was…frustrating getting up to the right amount.
Another thing was that the color, when I was working with it, reminded me a lot of when I was a kid and would get a scrape and Mom would break out the iodine dropper. They seem to share a similar color profile, and for some reason, I was very concerned about staining anything I touched or got it on.
Last comment - the final results were excellent and I was quite excited when that soup came together and looked so much more vibrant and rich, compared to what I’d made before, and the taste followed through.
In that way, it’s much like honey is for me - rather disgusting by itself in its raw form, but a stellar part of a larger cast of ingredients.
Picking up some more on Thursday.
I don’t know if it’s how it should smell, and this has been my first experience with it, but to me, it’s part floral, part fruity, part honey, and (for lack of a better phrase), part sharp metallic wang. Some people say medicine-like, which I can understand - if you’ve ever had one of those zinc lozenges for cutting a cold short (Cold-Eze brand here)…there’s some of that to it.
With the two bottle I’ve bought, they filled the kitchen the moment I opened them, and that’s something, considering the actual threads were contained in an unopened little black baggie tucked inside.
The stuff I have is potent. I can smell it everywhere when I’m using it, and I don’t like it, it makes me retch a bit, so I have to work with it quickly.
Here’s a funny thing: the trash right now contains, among other things, a couple of banana peels, some onion ends, and several pucks of spent coffee grounds (from the Aeropress). You can imagine what that smells like when the lid is opened.
Yesterday, after making that cake, I wiped out the last little bit of batter from the bowl before putting the bowl in the dishwasher, less than a tablespoon, and that went into the trash.
Since then, when I open the lid…no old coffee smell, no rotting banana smell, no harsh onion, just this tangy, sour, wangy, sort of metallic, sort of sweet odor, all coming from a tiny, tiny bit of saffron that was stuck in that little bit of batter residue.
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