For a variety of reasons, not the least of which is an increased sensitivity to certain additives (soy, corn sweeteners, sulfates, etc) as well as necessary dietary restrictions; I have been “experimenting” with making down sized recipes – not an easy task for someone who spent time after college in banquet kitchens, so more comfortable prepping for 20 to 2000 than for 2.

Freezing is the easy answer for entrees often an answer when it is just too complicated to really down size a recipe and desserts are a rather different set of challenges.

As a life long fan of breaking down a task so that it can be done in small bits – I have always “pre-measured” and then stored dry ingredients of many “basic” recipes. Some, like pie crumb & Pastry shells, even lend themselves itself to freezing. (by the way, I highly recommend the use of Vanilla powder over extract for just this reason.)

Some ingredients do not lend themselves to freezing and so can’t be included in the assembly line plan. “fillings” are often there and I doubt Marie Calendar is going to share her tricks with us.

That just leaves the filling and good as my desserts might be – no one really want the same one for a week straight so it does not ‘go bad’. AND sometimes one wants more variety to satisfy “everyone” (cheese cake flavoring would be an example)

So I was happy to see apparently the writers of the King Arthur blog have been getting signals from my brain – so not exactly what I “need” lots of helpful ideas in their blog today Freeze & Bake Tips and the little added gem about what freezes well or less weel was “hidden” in the comments so there may be more freshly baked bread and calzones in the monthly menu –

Enjoy The Making

Wheat