So, I placed the brick in a Pot, added way too much Water, and watched the brick slowly fall apart. I used 2 Cups of Water. Whereas, I likely only needed to add a ¼ Cup... and merely waited a little bit longer.
Anyhow, so now I had 1 Pound of Brown Sugar dissolved in 2 Cups of Water and I was trying to figure out what to do with the resultant Hyper-Sweet Slurry.
I guess in some ways (as of the writing of this section), I still am.
- 1 Pound (♎) Brown Sugar
- In Brick Form
- Pound → A Measure → Scales → ♎ → Libra → lb
- 2 Cups Water
- Way Too Much
- But the brick is no longer a brick.
- 1 Stick Butter
- I heated The Water, melted the butter, and stuck this in the refrigerator.
- 1 Cup Oatmeal
- What I added to the mixture to soak up some of that Water, because boiling-off said Water seemed tedious... and prone to catastrophic error.
- If boiled too long, the glop will turn solid and that's not what I want.
Now, the next day (after storing the lot in The Refrigerator overnight), I have a bowl containing Sugar Water filled with Semi-Reconstituted Oatmeal and topped with a thin layer of Butter that separated out.
So as to never run out, there is plenty of Butter stored in the freezer around here (3 ♎, at the moment). It was this (a Frozen Stick of Butter) that got placed into The Boiling Water. And I've got to admit, there is something about Frozen Butter that I find pleasing. It certainly unwrapped nicely.
But then, like I said (have I said this), I've got the goop warming (without any heat; I'm just bringing it up to room temperature) on the stove. And a goodly reason for this is to get that Butter back into a workable state.
At this point (after letting The Goop come back-up to room temperature and softening another Stick of Butter for greasing pans), I decided to split The Goop (a technical term, if ever there was one) in half.
Bread Pudding
4 Eggs
½ Cup Whipping Cream
I whisked the Eggs & Cream like mad (which didn't seem to do much at all), dumped in half The Goop (whisking that a little, too; so, the Butter would split evenly), and poured the result into a well (very well) Buttered Bread Pan.
Bar Cookies
1 Egg
½ Cup Whole Wheat Flour
For this half of The Goop, I did things a bit differently, pouring in all of The Remaining Goop, adding The Egg & Flour, and then mixing it together half-heartedly. In truth, I have higher hopes for this half of The Batch, as it looks more like Cookie Dough than the other half looks like much of anything, at all.
I will be cooking both batches together, starting at 1.5 Hours at 275°; after which, I intend to raise the temperature to 350° and baking for another hour.
This stuff really is a watery mess. I need to dry it out a little.
The actual Cooking Time was:
- 1.5 Hours at 275°
- 0.5 Hours at 350°
- At which point, I took the bars out, lest they burn.
- I, also, cut the bars into squares and flipped them over.
- So, they would dry better.
- 0.5 Hours at 275°
- 1.0 Hours at Oven Off
- I don't want anything to burn.
- But I'd also like that Bread Pudding to be cooked fairly well through.
- I poked a knife into it and nothing stuck.
- So, I am calling that done.
- I poked a knife into it and nothing stuck.
- I put The Bar Cookies back in the oven for this last hour...
- For a bit of super-heated drying.
The Oatmeal Bars are chewy... and not overly sweet. In truth, they are a little nondescript. But then, what does one want out of Butter, Sugar, Eggs, Flour, and Oats with nary an ounce of flavouring in sight?
It doesn't make that much difference, as I anticipate eating these to curb a Sugar Craving (as in, feed and completely give into said Sugar Craving) and as an accessory for a larger dish. In fact, one of the reasons I did not add any Spice was so I would have greater freedom at the time of consumption. After all, I can always sprinkle a little Ginger, Cinnamon, or Nutmeg on top... the same with Salt, if I start missing that, as well.
I was (perhaps, more than) a little surprised at how good The Oatmeal Bread Pudding turned-out. Fine, it suffers from the same blandness problem as The Bar Cookies. But as to Type & Texture, I am quite pleased. I'd never made a Bread Pudding before... or in fact, any type of Pudding or Custard (well, mostly not; I guess I've made Instant Pudding and Corn Flour Custard; but do those really count). Certainly, when it comes to a real (honest to goodness) Baked Custard, I've never done anything remotely close. And this turned out great. Seriously, if I added the appropriate Sauce (Caramel, Berry, or Whatever), this would be a Restaurant Grade Dessert.
OK.
Fine.
I am sure The Pastry Chefs at your better restaurants (the world round) might beg to disagree (the beggars). But I'm pretty thrilled with the result... simple man that I am.
I will not be detailing how I trick-out these treats any further. I expect The Oatmeal Squares (for they are more like Squares than Bars) will be eaten voraciously (and en mass) so as to feed a Sugar Craving (got to get my fix, don't you know). Thus, I might sprinkle some Salt on them. And I might thaw them. For, they are all frozen (at the moment). And I might even use them as an add-in for some larger dish (please, call it a Conglomeration of Choice Edibles). Certainly, if there was Ice Cream in the house, I could use them (The Squares) as a filling (food-heavy) accompaniment. So, maybe, I'll eat them with a dab of Peanut Butter or other Value Added Protein (not that I have the slightest clue what other Protein might be considered Value Added in this context). But I doubt I will sprinkle The Squares with any Spice (Nutmeg, Ginger, and Pumpkin Spice all coming rapidly to mind). On the other hand, A Sprinkling of Spice (and maybe, much more than a mere sprinkling) sounds pretty darn tasty (you know, like it would hit the spot) when it comes to The Pudding, for which some kind of Sauce (or other Topping) seems fitting... perhaps a Blueberry or Berry Sauce made with or without a hint of Honey (a topping which seems like it might work all on its own; but really, I can't see how a sprinkling of Spice could hurt).
Anyway, that's (enough with the nested asides; and as such) all for another day and the inspiration of the moment... come what may.
Still, That Pudding!
More Eggs!
More Protein!
It has plenty of potential.
Certainly, in comparison to The Squares, it does.
So perhaps, I will be making another (more specialized) Pudding before too terribly long.
April, 2021