Dear Baking Friends,
Welcome to the October Issue of Betterbaking.com!
I confess: it wasn’t easy putting this issue together because of the recent holidays which implies a lot of extra kitchen time. Mostly it was a challenge because October is all about bountiful acres of recipes that I want to create, test and share and my head spins. I honestly get baker’s block and seize up with indecision. Do I go the caramel route, or celebrate apples and pumpkin, stick in the spice lane, return to home-style breads or make things simple by offering a collection of muffins and scones because I’m never sure if we’re baking little things (for a few people) or large (your home is the drop-in place for family and friends and/or you never leave your house empty-handed). If some issues of BB (like this one) seem all over the map it’s generally because I’m in a near-constant whirl of so many inspirations. One foodie thought leads to another and what began as idle recipe curiosity becomes an all-out obsession. Such is the case with the Roly Poly recipe. I don’t even know why I got started on a Roly Poly revival but I did. Don’t know what Roly Poly is or you do and miss it? Then read all about it here https://medium.com/betterbaking/rockin-roly-poly-the-come-back-kid-in-pastry-b6a2f60b17d6 along with the free Roly Poly recipe on Medium.com. I tested this recipe until I didn’t trust myself to be around another batch.
The Pumpkin Challah is another choice this month because I’ve never published a challah recipe that didn’t create a fuss which says how much we love this silken, easy bread and making it pumpkin-esque is a no brainer. Bake it, serve with churned butter and Earl Gray tea and sit back and watch the leaves turn.  Contrast that offering with the spring-like Strawberry Cream Cheese Buns. I recently saw a Food Network show wherein they made these absolutely incredible buns that I just had to replicate. This recipe is so good and the proof is everyone who tasted it swooned. Bear in mind that my tasters were all very different people with different tastes and palates and each person texted, emailed or called to rave. In fact, you can even forget the strawberries and just make the dough, bake it with a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar and you’ll still have a hit. The final offering is a wonderful company cake, Vanilla Cake with Caramel Glaze. It’s not quite a pound cake (it’s lighter and more moist) but it is a big beauty of a cake.
I’d usually say something philosophical or warm and chatty but I’m baked out.
Please enjoy the recipes and October itself which has just started but I fear will be over far too soon.
Warm wishes from my floury kitchen to yours,
Marcy Goldman
Author and Master Baker
Recipes October 2019
Vanilla Bundt Buttermilk Cake with Caramel GlazeÂ
