OK this probably seems like a strange question but has anyone never been stung by a bee? I have not. Well, had not. I had started this post a few days ago. I got stung by a bee today. Somehow it got in the garage with me. I felt something on my arm so I went to brush it when it got me again. It stung me 3 times before I beat it. Apparently I had maimed it at first because it was laying on the ground still buzzing and moving a little but not able to get away. I didn't know where it was but I could hear it buzzing and I didn't feel like getting stung again. Then I found it. And I killed it.
Apparently this is unusual. I stay away from the bees. Why would you go near them? Seems to make perfect sense to me. But so far everyone I have asked has been stung at some point in their lives. Someone please tell me they have not been stung and this is not strange.
Now back to your regularly scheduled program. Well, your regularly scheduled program should've come out a few days ago so it's late but whatever.
I actually did make these. And I even started off following the recipe! Key word being started. Errr key words being 'started off'. OK this is clearly not going to be one of my more well thought out posts. Bear with me here. Or don't if you are already confused/bored.
I forgot to put the flavorings in the mousse and then I just never quite got around to making the mascarpone cream. I made the meringues fairly small and put a big scoop of the mousse on top. I still had quite a bit of the mousse left even though I was very liberal with it.
I brought them in to work. We were celebrating H's birthday. It wasn't actually H's birthday. We decided that any time we needed to do a food thing we would say it's H's birthday.
Anyway, that's my really incoherent post. I never bothered taking pics of these. I still have a couple in the fridge so I guess I still could but I won't.
The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard
Showing posts with label daring bakers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label daring bakers. Show all posts
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Daring Bakers: Piece Montee
Well I followed the recipe for the profiteroles, pretty much exactly. Are you impressed? No, I'm not dying. Profiteroles are fairly simple and straight forward. There wasn't all that much for me to mess with.
You notice how some are swirly like they were piped and some are more like blobs? There IS a reason why pastry chefs use piping bags. The edge seals on the bags were not so well done. About halfway through it burst. By it burst, I mean the entire side seal split open. The rest of them were shaped by me frantically trying to keep the batter from ending up on the floor. They're not bad looking when you take that into consideration, eh?
Sorry, I'm not building a sculpture. I can't even pipe the profiteroles, a sculpture was not going to happen. I cut them in half and filled them with vanilla pastry cream and macerated strawberries and then glazed the top with chocolate. And they were good.
The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.
You notice how some are swirly like they were piped and some are more like blobs? There IS a reason why pastry chefs use piping bags. The edge seals on the bags were not so well done. About halfway through it burst. By it burst, I mean the entire side seal split open. The rest of them were shaped by me frantically trying to keep the batter from ending up on the floor. They're not bad looking when you take that into consideration, eh?
Sorry, I'm not building a sculpture. I can't even pipe the profiteroles, a sculpture was not going to happen. I cut them in half and filled them with vanilla pastry cream and macerated strawberries and then glazed the top with chocolate. And they were good.
The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Daring Bakers: Orange Tian
OK so I looked at this recipe right at the start of the month. I thought it looked interesting. Never made anything like it so I didn't really know what to expect. So I started off the month buying all the oranges and making sure I had everything for this recipe.
Well, this wasn't a very good cooking/blogging month. In case you didn't notice by the lack of posts and the lack of content in the posts that did make it up. Even the stuff I made was not really blog worthy. And my threshold for being blog worthy is pretty damn low. In case you hadn't noticed.
I was even home all month. Wasn't travelling. Haven't even planted much in my garden yet. I can't really say I've done much of anything. So no, I don't have anythng exciting to tell you about instead.
I guess I have been busy being pissed off at the world and society in general. Oh well. That's about all I have to say. Wasn't that uplifting?
The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris. Go look somewhere else if you want to see it.
Well, this wasn't a very good cooking/blogging month. In case you didn't notice by the lack of posts and the lack of content in the posts that did make it up. Even the stuff I made was not really blog worthy. And my threshold for being blog worthy is pretty damn low. In case you hadn't noticed.
I was even home all month. Wasn't travelling. Haven't even planted much in my garden yet. I can't really say I've done much of anything. So no, I don't have anythng exciting to tell you about instead.
I guess I have been busy being pissed off at the world and society in general. Oh well. That's about all I have to say. Wasn't that uplifting?
The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris. Go look somewhere else if you want to see it.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Daring Bakers: Tiramisu
OK, ready? I've made tiramisu a bunch of times before. It's pretty easy. So when I first saw what this was I thought piece of cake, no big deal. Then I looked at the recipe. They required us to make the mascarpone and savoiardi. Who does that? The mascarpone is like $8 for the tub and it's only in the cheese section of the fancy grocery store but whatever. That's how it's always been. As the lady fingers, it's not uncommon for christmas gift baskets to have lady fingers in them so those became tiramisu. Why would I do it any other way?
Making the mascarpone was pretty easy. Heat the cream. Add lemon juice. Stir a bunch. Strain. <$1 for ingredients, 10 minutes on the stove and overnight sitting in the fridge instead of paying $5+ for that little tub is definitely worth the effort. I'll definitely do that again next time i want mascarpone.
I am not really sure why we made a pastry cream, zabaglione, whipped cream, and folded them all together. The tiramisu's I've made before were just zabaglione with whipped cream folded in. Ah well. It was pretty good and rich regardless.
Apparently I never took a pic or am too lazy to get it off my camera. Whichever.
The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.
Making the mascarpone was pretty easy. Heat the cream. Add lemon juice. Stir a bunch. Strain. <$1 for ingredients, 10 minutes on the stove and overnight sitting in the fridge instead of paying $5+ for that little tub is definitely worth the effort. I'll definitely do that again next time i want mascarpone.
I am not really sure why we made a pastry cream, zabaglione, whipped cream, and folded them all together. The tiramisu's I've made before were just zabaglione with whipped cream folded in. Ah well. It was pretty good and rich regardless.
Apparently I never took a pic or am too lazy to get it off my camera. Whichever.
The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Daring Bakers: Nanaimo Bars
This month I actually made the recipe early. As in I made it the first weekend I was home. Which is really impressive for me. I knew I was gonna be out of town later in the month so I wouldn't have a whole lot of time to cook and all.
These were very popular at work. VERY popular. As one of my coworkers put it, 'they are better than dope.' And there were requests for more. Immediately. Of course this was also the first thing I brought in after the baking hiatus so that could be part of it. But I'll choose to say it's because I'm such a good baker. Haha. I made a funny. And now I am actually sitting here laughing out loud at myself.
Um anyway....
I found them rather sweet. As in I cut the batch to make 36 about 1x1 squares, ate one and felt kinda sick from all the sugar in it. Or maybe it was all the butter in it. Who knows. But obviously they liked them a lot.
I would probably make these again with some adjustments. I'd cut back the sugar quite a bit. Probably about half. And I'm not sure I'd make the graham crackers again. It was a lot of work and everything textural and fresh about them gets obliterated once you chop them up. They were also rather sweet. I think I'd use a box next time.
PS Although I had them made early, doesn't mean I'm any less lazy about getting the pics off my camera!
The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca
These were very popular at work. VERY popular. As one of my coworkers put it, 'they are better than dope.' And there were requests for more. Immediately. Of course this was also the first thing I brought in after the baking hiatus so that could be part of it. But I'll choose to say it's because I'm such a good baker. Haha. I made a funny. And now I am actually sitting here laughing out loud at myself.
Um anyway....
I found them rather sweet. As in I cut the batch to make 36 about 1x1 squares, ate one and felt kinda sick from all the sugar in it. Or maybe it was all the butter in it. Who knows. But obviously they liked them a lot.
I would probably make these again with some adjustments. I'd cut back the sugar quite a bit. Probably about half. And I'm not sure I'd make the graham crackers again. It was a lot of work and everything textural and fresh about them gets obliterated once you chop them up. They were also rather sweet. I think I'd use a box next time.
PS Although I had them made early, doesn't mean I'm any less lazy about getting the pics off my camera!
The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Daring Bakers: Gingerbread
I knew I'd have an issue with this month's challenge with my whole baking hiatus and all. When I saw what the challenge was, I groaned at the thought of it. There was no way I was gonna make one of those cheesy gingerbread houses
Then I started thinking about it. I read the rules over a couple times trying to think of a way around it. Then it came to me. I decided I was gonna do a gingerbread version of some sort of satanic cult type thing. See, that would be so much cooler. I started looking for assorted satanic symbolism when I found pics of the Jonestown mass suicide. I found gingerbread templates for the church. I figured I could use one of those chalk outlines to make my gingerbread people look dead. I had figured out how to make tubs of purple koolaid. I figured a river of blood would be good too.
However, in the end, my hatred for Christmas won. I didn't actually make anything and stuck with my baking hiatus. It might be my indifference that one. Just think how cool my gingerbread house would be if I had done it.
The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.
Then I started thinking about it. I read the rules over a couple times trying to think of a way around it. Then it came to me. I decided I was gonna do a gingerbread version of some sort of satanic cult type thing. See, that would be so much cooler. I started looking for assorted satanic symbolism when I found pics of the Jonestown mass suicide. I found gingerbread templates for the church. I figured I could use one of those chalk outlines to make my gingerbread people look dead. I had figured out how to make tubs of purple koolaid. I figured a river of blood would be good too.
However, in the end, my hatred for Christmas won. I didn't actually make anything and stuck with my baking hiatus. It might be my indifference that one. Just think how cool my gingerbread house would be if I had done it.
The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Daring Bakers: Cannoli (sorta)
I'm sorry but getting out the deep fryer and dealing with the oil is too much work for me. And besides which, it's the daring bakers so I baked. OK I'm making excuses, so sue me.
Instead I decided to make cannoli cups. I made them in a mini muffin tin. I rolled the dough out really thin, cut circles and pressed them into the mini muffin pan and baked at 450 until they were brown. They did crisp up although they didn't have the bubbly texture that fried ones normally have.
I used some red wine instead of marsala so mine turned out a not so appetizing shade of purple. Oh well. I tried. And they still tasted good. I used the regular cannoli cream recipe and then i fudged my own pumpkin cream. They ended up a bit mushy when I took the rest to work the next day but that was expected. I ate them while they were fresh and that's all that matters.
The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.
Instead I decided to make cannoli cups. I made them in a mini muffin tin. I rolled the dough out really thin, cut circles and pressed them into the mini muffin pan and baked at 450 until they were brown. They did crisp up although they didn't have the bubbly texture that fried ones normally have.
I used some red wine instead of marsala so mine turned out a not so appetizing shade of purple. Oh well. I tried. And they still tasted good. I used the regular cannoli cream recipe and then i fudged my own pumpkin cream. They ended up a bit mushy when I took the rest to work the next day but that was expected. I ate them while they were fresh and that's all that matters.
The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Daring Bakers: Macaroons FAIL
This one did not work out for me. The first weekend that I was planning on making them I ended up at work on Saturday and sick as a dog on Sunday. I ended up making it the next weekend, barely making it in time. The breaking point was when I stupidly decided to do it straight on the pan rather than putting parchment paper down. I was using a nonstick pan so I thought I was OK. Once I took it out of the oven I knew otherwise.
Since I had already used 5 egg whites and had 5 yolks waiting for me to figure out what to do with them, there was no way going to do it again. I used a plastic spatula and scraped them up the best I could, used the yolks to make a lemon curd and made a lemon mixed berry parfait.
Oh well. Not exactly my first failure. At least it was still edible.
The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.
Since I had already used 5 egg whites and had 5 yolks waiting for me to figure out what to do with them, there was no way going to do it again. I used a plastic spatula and scraped them up the best I could, used the yolks to make a lemon curd and made a lemon mixed berry parfait.
Oh well. Not exactly my first failure. At least it was still edible.
The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Daring Bakers: Vols au Vent
So this month's recipe was Vols au Vent. This is pretty much a puff pastry cup for assorted fillings. The real thing for this challenge was the puff pastry.
The way puff pastry works is you have a dough with thin layers of butter in between. The dough needs to stay cool so that the butter stays solid. You start with a layer of dough surrounding a thick layer of butter. Then you roll it out and fold it over so the layers of dough/butter get progressively thinner. Each time you fold it into 3rds. With 6 turns, you get 3^6 or 729 layers of butter. Then when you bake it, the moisture in the butter (butter is about 20% water) evaporates and forms steam, which causes the dough to puff.
I was a little worried how it would come out when I made the dough. I guess I added way too much water so the dough was really sticky. As in almost batter type sticky. So then I had to add flour.
Then the recipe said very cold butter so I took the butter from the freezer. That was a bad idea. When I went to roll it out, the dough was soft and the butter was hard so then the butter tore right through the dough. So I let it warm up a bit to let the butter soften and tried to fold the dough around it.
I managed to get it together but between the wet dough and the over kneading, the dough ended up getting overworked. My puff pastry actually had some chewiness to it. I am not sure how I feel about this. The flavor was decent.
I am not convinced it was worth the effort and all the cleaning of flour off every surface of my kitchen. Oh well. Maybe I will make it again just to say I can do it right.
These were the toppings I chose:
Caramelized Mushrooms and Onions
Smoked salmon cream cheese
caramelized apples
The way puff pastry works is you have a dough with thin layers of butter in between. The dough needs to stay cool so that the butter stays solid. You start with a layer of dough surrounding a thick layer of butter. Then you roll it out and fold it over so the layers of dough/butter get progressively thinner. Each time you fold it into 3rds. With 6 turns, you get 3^6 or 729 layers of butter. Then when you bake it, the moisture in the butter (butter is about 20% water) evaporates and forms steam, which causes the dough to puff.
I was a little worried how it would come out when I made the dough. I guess I added way too much water so the dough was really sticky. As in almost batter type sticky. So then I had to add flour.
Then the recipe said very cold butter so I took the butter from the freezer. That was a bad idea. When I went to roll it out, the dough was soft and the butter was hard so then the butter tore right through the dough. So I let it warm up a bit to let the butter soften and tried to fold the dough around it.
I managed to get it together but between the wet dough and the over kneading, the dough ended up getting overworked. My puff pastry actually had some chewiness to it. I am not sure how I feel about this. The flavor was decent.
I am not convinced it was worth the effort and all the cleaning of flour off every surface of my kitchen. Oh well. Maybe I will make it again just to say I can do it right.
These were the toppings I chose:
Caramelized Mushrooms and Onions
Smoked salmon cream cheese
caramelized apples
The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Daring Bakers: Dobos Torte
I really had the intention of trying to make it pretty at some point. Or least to make it decent looking. But that didn't work out so well.
My buttercream definitely came out more like a ganache. I probably should have chilled it a bit before trying to put it on the cake. That would have helped thicken it up so there wouldn't be a pool of it running off the cake in every possible direction. Oh well.
I poured the extra caramel onto the pan and let it cool with the cake layer. When it was still somewhat warm and sticky I pulled off some of the extra stuff and pulled it around and tried to make some random stringy shaped caramel things. So those went on instead of hazelnuts.
I made it but I don't think I will be making it again. You don't get a good cakey texture because they are so thin and there is so much frosting. I guess it's interesting looking although that's never really been my thing. Oh well. Maybe I'll like next month's pick better.
I have been meaning to upload my pics but so far that hasn't happened yet.
The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful
of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos
Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite
Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.
My buttercream definitely came out more like a ganache. I probably should have chilled it a bit before trying to put it on the cake. That would have helped thicken it up so there wouldn't be a pool of it running off the cake in every possible direction. Oh well.
I poured the extra caramel onto the pan and let it cool with the cake layer. When it was still somewhat warm and sticky I pulled off some of the extra stuff and pulled it around and tried to make some random stringy shaped caramel things. So those went on instead of hazelnuts.
I made it but I don't think I will be making it again. You don't get a good cakey texture because they are so thin and there is so much frosting. I guess it's interesting looking although that's never really been my thing. Oh well. Maybe I'll like next month's pick better.
I have been meaning to upload my pics but so far that hasn't happened yet.
The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful
of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos
Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite
Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Daring Bakers: Cookies!
This months choice was cookies. But very specific cookies. Imitation really common store bought cookies. I started with the Mallows. These are a cookie base with a marshmallow on top and then coated in chocolate.
I live in the South. It is hot. And I am cheap. So I have issues turning on the oven while the A/C is cranking at full blast trying to cool the place down. I held off doing it until the last minute. But I did it for these cookies. And about a half a dozen other things I had prepped a while back and didn't get around to baking because I didn't want to turn the oven on.
I rolled the dough into a log and cut 1/8th inch slices rather than rolling it flat and cutting them out. I don't have a cookie cutter for that so I figured that would work better. I know, who doesn't own a cookie cutter, but that's me. Get over it.
The cookies were a little more puffy and soft than I thought they should be. In my mind they should be crisp shortbready cookies but oh well. Also possible I didn't measure properly.
Chocolate coating didn't go so well for me. After I tried to dip 2 or 3 and just made an absolute mess I decided to go another route. I dipped the bottom and then drizzled the top with chocolate. See?
That's OK. They still tasted good. They went with me to work. I don't need to eat all of these, a cake and a number of other things that I baked all at once.
I ran out of eggs so I didn't get to the Milan cookies though hopefully I will make them one day later.
The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.
I live in the South. It is hot. And I am cheap. So I have issues turning on the oven while the A/C is cranking at full blast trying to cool the place down. I held off doing it until the last minute. But I did it for these cookies. And about a half a dozen other things I had prepped a while back and didn't get around to baking because I didn't want to turn the oven on.
I rolled the dough into a log and cut 1/8th inch slices rather than rolling it flat and cutting them out. I don't have a cookie cutter for that so I figured that would work better. I know, who doesn't own a cookie cutter, but that's me. Get over it.
The cookies were a little more puffy and soft than I thought they should be. In my mind they should be crisp shortbready cookies but oh well. Also possible I didn't measure properly.
Chocolate coating didn't go so well for me. After I tried to dip 2 or 3 and just made an absolute mess I decided to go another route. I dipped the bottom and then drizzled the top with chocolate. See?
That's OK. They still tasted good. They went with me to work. I don't need to eat all of these, a cake and a number of other things that I baked all at once.
I ran out of eggs so I didn't get to the Milan cookies though hopefully I will make them one day later.
The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Daring Bakers: Bakewell Pudding
I guess I'm back from my disinterest last month. When I first read the recipe I had no idea how it would come out, texturewise. It's referred to as a pudding but it doesn't seem very pudding like. But then again there were a lot of wet ingredients in the filling so maybe it would be.
The crust recipe makes a lot of crust. I used a 10" tart pan and didn't even have to roll the dough out really thin or anything.
If you've read my blog much you'll notice I'm pretty bad at following recipes. This was especially the case with the crust. I completely wasn't thinking when I put it together. I combined the dry ingredients and then just started dumping the egg yolks and extract on top. At which point I decided to read the recipe and realized I did it wrong. Well I wasn't going to toss what I had so I just stirred it together really well and broke up the clumps formed and hoped for the best. This crust is pretty forgiving. While I could tell it was a little off, it was still decent and edible.
I used some leftover raspberry jam and orange marmalade for the jam.
I tend not to measure things like vanilla and assorted extracts. I just kinda pour and estimate. You can't be off by much with that small amount. I suspect I went a bit heavy with the almond extract since my whole house smelled like it for a couple days afterwards but it tasted good. I was afraid the ground almonds would leave it grainy textured, like some cakes I have made in the past, but they worked out well. It gave it a bit of textural interest rather than just having something like a cake filling.
Reviews were mixed. One of my coworkers actually said it was one of her favorite things that I have made. I thought it was pretty good too. Maybe not the best thing ever but pretty good. Something I could definitely make again. But then there was still some left at the end of the day. Possibly because I put it out with a not-quite-right-tasting-but-much-more-normal-looking cake that I had tried making but oh well.
The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.
The crust recipe makes a lot of crust. I used a 10" tart pan and didn't even have to roll the dough out really thin or anything.
If you've read my blog much you'll notice I'm pretty bad at following recipes. This was especially the case with the crust. I completely wasn't thinking when I put it together. I combined the dry ingredients and then just started dumping the egg yolks and extract on top. At which point I decided to read the recipe and realized I did it wrong. Well I wasn't going to toss what I had so I just stirred it together really well and broke up the clumps formed and hoped for the best. This crust is pretty forgiving. While I could tell it was a little off, it was still decent and edible.
I used some leftover raspberry jam and orange marmalade for the jam.
I tend not to measure things like vanilla and assorted extracts. I just kinda pour and estimate. You can't be off by much with that small amount. I suspect I went a bit heavy with the almond extract since my whole house smelled like it for a couple days afterwards but it tasted good. I was afraid the ground almonds would leave it grainy textured, like some cakes I have made in the past, but they worked out well. It gave it a bit of textural interest rather than just having something like a cake filling.
Reviews were mixed. One of my coworkers actually said it was one of her favorite things that I have made. I thought it was pretty good too. Maybe not the best thing ever but pretty good. Something I could definitely make again. But then there was still some left at the end of the day. Possibly because I put it out with a not-quite-right-tasting-but-much-more-normal-looking cake that I had tried making but oh well.
The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Daring Bakers: Studel
So this month's recipe was Strudel. It was supposed to be Apple Strudel but apple just didn't seem right at the time.
I don't know why but I wasn't really feeling it this month. I didn't even check the recipe until the 17th. After I read the recipe this seemed tedious, like making phyllo dough. It's 3$ or something for a box of it, totally worth the price rather than trying to stretch out all these thin layers.
I was home for the weekend and that was the only time I had left to make it so I went at it. I didn't have much trouble stretching the dough. I let it rest for probably 2 hours and then just pulled it. I didn't have a clean cloth table cloth so I used a set of sheets. They were clean. And I rubbed a LOT of flour into it, based on other peoples' comments. I ended up taking it outside to shake off the excess flour when I was done. My neighbors are probably wondering what's wrong with the shrubs that they are white and powdery. Oh well.
I made mine with cherry, blueberry and cheese filling. I forgot the breadcrumbs and the shell was a bit tough. I had to bake it for about 20 mins extra because it wasn't browning.
Edit: Pics added
The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.
I don't know why but I wasn't really feeling it this month. I didn't even check the recipe until the 17th. After I read the recipe this seemed tedious, like making phyllo dough. It's 3$ or something for a box of it, totally worth the price rather than trying to stretch out all these thin layers.
I was home for the weekend and that was the only time I had left to make it so I went at it. I didn't have much trouble stretching the dough. I let it rest for probably 2 hours and then just pulled it. I didn't have a clean cloth table cloth so I used a set of sheets. They were clean. And I rubbed a LOT of flour into it, based on other peoples' comments. I ended up taking it outside to shake off the excess flour when I was done. My neighbors are probably wondering what's wrong with the shrubs that they are white and powdery. Oh well.
I made mine with cherry, blueberry and cheese filling. I forgot the breadcrumbs and the shell was a bit tough. I had to bake it for about 20 mins extra because it wasn't browning.
Edit: Pics added
The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Daring Bakers: Cheesecake
I know, I know. I'm a sucky blogger. I can't seem to keep up with this any more. Not really sure why either. Not like I'm doing anything else really.
This was another relatively easy challenge. I've made cheesecake before. Though actually, this is the first time I've done it with my stand mixer. Usually I've done it all by hand in a bowl.
Once again, probably the hardest part was deciding what flavors I wanted to go with. I was thinking about entering a blackberry recipe contest but 1. blackberries were really expensive so I didn't want to spend $5/container and 2. I didnt' really have a recipe worked out.
Well I went to the grocery store and they had blackberries on sale. $1/container. That's so doable. So I bought 5 containers. Which was all the ones they had on sale. Then it was figuring out what I was going to do with them..... Well I had this cheesecake recipe sitting there waiting for me to figure out what I was going to do with it so they went into that.
I used two 8-1/2" round cake pans.
This was probably my most popular creation I've brought to work. And that says something because I bring some form of baked goods usually 2-3 times a week. It's also possible that they liked it because I was out of town and this was the first item I'd brought in in over a week and they were suffering withdrawal. Either way.....
Edit: Here's the pic
This was another relatively easy challenge. I've made cheesecake before. Though actually, this is the first time I've done it with my stand mixer. Usually I've done it all by hand in a bowl.
Once again, probably the hardest part was deciding what flavors I wanted to go with. I was thinking about entering a blackberry recipe contest but 1. blackberries were really expensive so I didn't want to spend $5/container and 2. I didnt' really have a recipe worked out.
Well I went to the grocery store and they had blackberries on sale. $1/container. That's so doable. So I bought 5 containers. Which was all the ones they had on sale. Then it was figuring out what I was going to do with them..... Well I had this cheesecake recipe sitting there waiting for me to figure out what I was going to do with it so they went into that.
I used two 8-1/2" round cake pans.
This was probably my most popular creation I've brought to work. And that says something because I bring some form of baked goods usually 2-3 times a week. It's also possible that they liked it because I was out of town and this was the first item I'd brought in in over a week and they were suffering withdrawal. Either way.....
Edit: Here's the pic
crust:
1 pack graham crackers, crushed
3/4 cup slivered almonds, finely chopped or ground
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 container blackberries, pureed and strained
1 orange, zested and juiced
1/4 cup each, orange marmalade and seedless blackberry jam
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.
2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.
3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream. Split the batter evenly between 2 bowls. Mix the blackberry puree into one and the orange zest and juice into the other.
4. Pour blackberry batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Then pour the orange batter over and tap on the counter again. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.
5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill.
6. When they have chilled, heat the blackberry jam and orange marmalade together and stir until well combined. Pour over the cheesecakes. Sprinkle with toasted almonds.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Daring Bakers: Lasagna
For those of you who know me, this wasn't exactly my first time. I may have had a pan or 2 of lasagna in my time. Let's just say I know my way around the big thick noodles and any type of sauce you can think of. If you are under the age of 18 you should cover your eyes and leave this webpage now.
But if you are old enough and think you can handle it... here's the pic
Hehehe. I amuse myself. And I amuse you too. Admit it.
Anyway, surprisingly, this is my first lasagna post. I actually stuck with the original recipe pretty much, with just a few minor changes here and there, and really it's just more fudging than changes.
So this is how it's gonna go. It took about 4 hours total. You start the ragu. You get it simmering. Then you make the pasta dough. While it is resting you add the tomatoes to the ragu and simmer more. Then you roll out the pasta dough. Then you start the water boiling for the pasta. Then you make the bechamel. Then you cook the pasta in batches while you assemble. Then bake. Eat. Repeat from the top.
So let's start with making the ragu. Start with a carrot, 1 rib celery and a medium onion.
Chop them up fine.
Then get about 2 oz of pancetta and chop that up fine too.
Add the pancetta and veggies to a pan with a couple tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Allow to sweat a bit until they just start to brown.
While those are going, let's get the meat. Where I used to live you could buy meatloaf mix, which was ground beef, pork and veal. Then you could just buy a lb and you'd be good to go. Not the case here. So I ended up buying a lb each of pork and veal and 2 lbs beef. So put those together in a bowl.
And mix them all together. The only way to do it is to stick your hands in and just do it. mmm feel the way the fat coats your hand. And don't even try to deny knowing what I'm talking about.
Since we only need 1 lb for this recipe the other 3 lbs get portioned and frozen. You know how lotsa recipes ask for this mix so just batch it up for later.
Take each 1 lb bag and press them flat so that they fit better in the freezer. Or they can be stacked or whatever. They just handle better this way. Just do it and quit yer whinin'.
And add the 1 lb of the mix to the veggies.
Just let it cook, tossing it and scraping the bottom every once in a while.
Keep going. You want it really dark brown.
There you go. Now you're pretty close. It smells so good and brown right about now. I don't know how else to describe it other than brown. I've never browned meat this way but it was really good. Will definitely keep it in mind when making sauces in the future.
Now you start adding the beef broth, about a half a cup at a time.
Let it cook off between each addition until you get to about 2 cups, give or take.
The sauce looks creamy for a bit but when you let it simmer for about an hour it just ends up a dark brown.
While the ragu is simmering, let's get the pasta started. Combine 6 oz of spinach, thawed and squeezed dry and 2 eggs in a food processor. I don't have a food processor so I used the Magic Bullet. It worked. Though maybe a food processor would have gotten the spinach smaller. I guess we'll never know. Unless you try.
That looks so unappetizing. After you blend it up it looks better, at least a little bit. See?
Make a well with 2 cups of AP flour on your counter. Pour the spinach mix in the center. Scoop might be a better word than pour but you get the idea.
No pics from here until the pasta was done because my hands were covered in flour. Start mixing together the flour into the spinach egg mixture, gradually adding bits of flour. Your hands are going to be a mess. Just accept it. So is your kitchen. Get over it.
Keep kneading until it forms a nice smooth dough. You may need to add more flour depending on the exact amount of spinach, how well you drained it, the weather and your mood. Cover the dough and let it rest for about a half an hour or more.
Back to the ragu. Add a small can of peeled whole tomatoes. Though this sauce isn't very tomatoey so if you want more go for it. You could add tomato paste or sauce if either of those make you happy too. Crush the tomatoes with your spoon and resume simmering. Oh and taste and season to your liking.
You probably have a couple minutes about now to start writing your blog post. But don't plan on finishing the post because otherwise dinner will be really late. I suppose you could do something else but what else could you possibly want to do? Oh I guess you should get your counter reasonably clean so that you can roll out your pasta.
Cut off knobs of dough. Depending on how much counter space you cleared, you decide how big of a knob to cut. Flour your rolling pin and counter and put your knob down and start rolling. You just want to roll, don't push on the dough or it will tear.
Roll out the dough until it's thin. Very thin. You should be able to see light through it thin. See the light? It'll help keep your lasagna lighter (because lasagna is a real light dish, right? hah)
Cut into strips about the length of your pan. Repeat until you have used up all the dough.
Bechamel time. Bechamel is a cream sauce. Pretty standard one for this recipe. Start with half a stick of butter and 4 tbsp flour in a pan. Melt the butter and mix into the flour. Add whatever you need to so it looks about like this.
Add about 2 cups milk (I just finished the carton I had and called it close enough.
And bring it up to a simmer so it thickens. Now add salt, pepper and nutmeg. Taste and see if you are happy with it.
Then I decided to add some ricotta, just for kicks and giggles. About a cup. Or because I had some and figured it would be a good way to use it up. Whatever makes you happy.
Stir it in until smooth. Or at least kinda smooth.
Put a thin layer over a 9"x13" pan.
Now back to the water you boiled for the pasta. You did that didn't you. Make sure it's salted and have an ice bath. Cook the pasta for 2 minutes. Put it in the ice bath to cool it. And into the pan to form your first layer.
Next is a layer of bechamel.
Followed by the ragu.
Followed by some freshly grated parmesan.
Repeat until you run out of stuff. It will all fit in a 9x13" pan. This would make a nice thick lasagna. Or you could do what I did and also make a 9x9" pan and have both be a bit thin. Whatever makes your skirt fly up. Hehe. I copied that from Pioneer Woman. It cracks me up. Yes I am easily amused.
It should end with pasta, bechamel, cheese. I topped mine with some shredded mozzerella. Because I like that stringy brown stuff on top. Bake for about 45 minutes or until browned. Let it rest for at least 15 minutes so that it firms up enough to cut. And dig in.
The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.
But if you are old enough and think you can handle it... here's the pic
Hehehe. I amuse myself. And I amuse you too. Admit it.
Anyway, surprisingly, this is my first lasagna post. I actually stuck with the original recipe pretty much, with just a few minor changes here and there, and really it's just more fudging than changes.
So this is how it's gonna go. It took about 4 hours total. You start the ragu. You get it simmering. Then you make the pasta dough. While it is resting you add the tomatoes to the ragu and simmer more. Then you roll out the pasta dough. Then you start the water boiling for the pasta. Then you make the bechamel. Then you cook the pasta in batches while you assemble. Then bake. Eat. Repeat from the top.
So let's start with making the ragu. Start with a carrot, 1 rib celery and a medium onion.
Chop them up fine.
Then get about 2 oz of pancetta and chop that up fine too.
Add the pancetta and veggies to a pan with a couple tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Allow to sweat a bit until they just start to brown.
While those are going, let's get the meat. Where I used to live you could buy meatloaf mix, which was ground beef, pork and veal. Then you could just buy a lb and you'd be good to go. Not the case here. So I ended up buying a lb each of pork and veal and 2 lbs beef. So put those together in a bowl.
And mix them all together. The only way to do it is to stick your hands in and just do it. mmm feel the way the fat coats your hand. And don't even try to deny knowing what I'm talking about.
Since we only need 1 lb for this recipe the other 3 lbs get portioned and frozen. You know how lotsa recipes ask for this mix so just batch it up for later.
Take each 1 lb bag and press them flat so that they fit better in the freezer. Or they can be stacked or whatever. They just handle better this way. Just do it and quit yer whinin'.
And add the 1 lb of the mix to the veggies.
Just let it cook, tossing it and scraping the bottom every once in a while.
Keep going. You want it really dark brown.
There you go. Now you're pretty close. It smells so good and brown right about now. I don't know how else to describe it other than brown. I've never browned meat this way but it was really good. Will definitely keep it in mind when making sauces in the future.
Now you start adding the beef broth, about a half a cup at a time.
Let it cook off between each addition until you get to about 2 cups, give or take.
The sauce looks creamy for a bit but when you let it simmer for about an hour it just ends up a dark brown.
While the ragu is simmering, let's get the pasta started. Combine 6 oz of spinach, thawed and squeezed dry and 2 eggs in a food processor. I don't have a food processor so I used the Magic Bullet. It worked. Though maybe a food processor would have gotten the spinach smaller. I guess we'll never know. Unless you try.
That looks so unappetizing. After you blend it up it looks better, at least a little bit. See?
Make a well with 2 cups of AP flour on your counter. Pour the spinach mix in the center. Scoop might be a better word than pour but you get the idea.
No pics from here until the pasta was done because my hands were covered in flour. Start mixing together the flour into the spinach egg mixture, gradually adding bits of flour. Your hands are going to be a mess. Just accept it. So is your kitchen. Get over it.Keep kneading until it forms a nice smooth dough. You may need to add more flour depending on the exact amount of spinach, how well you drained it, the weather and your mood. Cover the dough and let it rest for about a half an hour or more.
Back to the ragu. Add a small can of peeled whole tomatoes. Though this sauce isn't very tomatoey so if you want more go for it. You could add tomato paste or sauce if either of those make you happy too. Crush the tomatoes with your spoon and resume simmering. Oh and taste and season to your liking.
You probably have a couple minutes about now to start writing your blog post. But don't plan on finishing the post because otherwise dinner will be really late. I suppose you could do something else but what else could you possibly want to do? Oh I guess you should get your counter reasonably clean so that you can roll out your pasta.
Cut off knobs of dough. Depending on how much counter space you cleared, you decide how big of a knob to cut. Flour your rolling pin and counter and put your knob down and start rolling. You just want to roll, don't push on the dough or it will tear.
Roll out the dough until it's thin. Very thin. You should be able to see light through it thin. See the light? It'll help keep your lasagna lighter (because lasagna is a real light dish, right? hah)
Cut into strips about the length of your pan. Repeat until you have used up all the dough.Bechamel time. Bechamel is a cream sauce. Pretty standard one for this recipe. Start with half a stick of butter and 4 tbsp flour in a pan. Melt the butter and mix into the flour. Add whatever you need to so it looks about like this.
Add about 2 cups milk (I just finished the carton I had and called it close enough.
And bring it up to a simmer so it thickens. Now add salt, pepper and nutmeg. Taste and see if you are happy with it.
Then I decided to add some ricotta, just for kicks and giggles. About a cup. Or because I had some and figured it would be a good way to use it up. Whatever makes you happy.
Stir it in until smooth. Or at least kinda smooth.
Put a thin layer over a 9"x13" pan.
Now back to the water you boiled for the pasta. You did that didn't you. Make sure it's salted and have an ice bath. Cook the pasta for 2 minutes. Put it in the ice bath to cool it. And into the pan to form your first layer.
Next is a layer of bechamel.
Followed by the ragu.
Followed by some freshly grated parmesan.
Repeat until you run out of stuff. It will all fit in a 9x13" pan. This would make a nice thick lasagna. Or you could do what I did and also make a 9x9" pan and have both be a bit thin. Whatever makes your skirt fly up. Hehe. I copied that from Pioneer Woman. It cracks me up. Yes I am easily amused.It should end with pasta, bechamel, cheese. I topped mine with some shredded mozzerella. Because I like that stringy brown stuff on top. Bake for about 45 minutes or until browned. Let it rest for at least 15 minutes so that it firms up enough to cut. And dig in.
The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.
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