2007 and the Daring Bakers

By 2007 I'd gotten my feet wet by participating in a number of events and blog parties. I'd figured out how to use natural lighting to get better photos and I began to develop my photography and writing styles. I didn't bother with analytics, but I was getting more comments so I knew that there were readers who were looking at my posts...always exciting by the way...and I suspected from comments from friends and family members that there were even more 'lurkers' who never commented. I love the lurkers, too.

In late 2006 or early 2007 I noticed that some of the blog I visited on a regular basis were buzzing about making Hot Buttered Pretzels on the same day at the same time, with emails whizzing around as they group baked. The next month the same women (it was all women at first), plus a few more, baked Chocolate Biscotti, also as a group bake. In January it was Croissants! I was interested and asked one of the the bloggers about it. She told me who to contact, so I asked to join the group. There was one more bake, of a decadent flourless chocolate cake, before I joined. By then the group had grown to something like 14 bakers. My first month we baked Red Velvet Cake. I was amazed that you could put a whole bottle of red food coloring in one cake! The group was the Daring Bakers. It grew like a wildfire and eventually had at least a thousand people in the blog roll, although I'm not sure that all of them baked any one month. It also grew so that there were Daring Cooks, rules, organized ways to take turns selecting the recipe or the month, etc. The guiding light for all of this organization was Lis of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice. At first it was really exciting...all those blogs and variations of the recipe. Eventually it really became too large so that there was no way to visit even a fraction of the blogs participating, so you tended to go to those you already knew about, which was sad for the newbies.

One of the best things about the Daring Bakers, beyond Lis's hilarious posts, was that it really, really expanded my horizons and forced me to grow as a baker. As I have watched the Great British Baking show it always amazes me to see recipes that we baked as Daring Bakers which are new to the bakers in the tent. Nothing was too difficult for us to try including Gateau St. Honore' which is one of the bakes that are given to students finishing culinary baking programs because you have to create puff pastry, choux pastry, pastry cream as part of Chibost cream, caramelized sugar work and whipped cream. You have to use a pastry bag, fill cream puffs with pastry cream and then dip filled cream puffs in caramel (while making sure to attach them to the base while the caramel is still hot enough for them to stick to the base), know how to make puff pastry stay flat but still baked, and how much or little to whip cream for decoration. As I go through the years I'll point out some of the Daring Bakers recipes so that you can see what an education it was in the pastry arts to participate. One of my favorites was made in the summer, Strawberry Mirror Cake. When those bakers in Britain get overheated in their tent, it makes me think of making this gelatin based dessert in summer heat, too. Still, it was very delicious and gorgeous!

Another new experience for me in 2007 was participating in memes. One happened right before the Gateau St. Honore' post. Peabody, who blogged at Culinary Concoctions by Peabody (now Sweet ReciPEAs)was interviewed on her blog and then she had to interview other bloggers, and I was one. She gave me five questions to answer. Here is what I wrote about the reason I joined the Daring Bakers: I was inspired by the croissant three-day marathon. Not only was the challenge daunting and exciting, but it was clear that a lot of fun happened among the bakers, too. Each one of the participants except one had blogs that I regularly visited, too, which made it even more fun to read about. Guess I wanted to have some fun with the girls and see if I could meet the challenges. Not only has it been fun and forced me to try things outside of my comfort zone, but I’ve started to bake more and have ‘met’ a wonderful group of very supportive, generous people.

Another thing I did in 2007, which I did variations of later, was to post every day for a period of time on a theme. In February I posted for 14 days...until Valentine's Day and each day's post was based on that day's number. Some of my favorite recipes are here, including Maida Heatter's 86 Proof Chocolate Cake on day 9 with 9 kinds of chocolate displayed, and Lemon Curd on day 11, with a photo of eleven tea pots...I often serve lemon curd when I serve scones for tea time.

My garden has always been a big part of my life and the advantage of blogging is that I was now able to share not only recipes made with garden fresh ingredients, but I could share my photography of the garden and the produce from it. In August not only did I have a recipe called 'Walk Through The Garden Pie", but the same post showed other ways I prepared fresh tomatoes from the garden, with photos. Photos in March showed the early garden and later in the year showed the mature plants and produce.

The blog sparked my creativity in a number of ways. I used my Illustrator skills to create elements of October's Bostini Mini-Cakes. I used my graphic arts skills to make a nutrition graphic for chard in early December. Perhaps the most lasting was my creation of the Land of St. Honore', where baking is a birthright. Posts about that imaginary Land include a short story that I made up and many of the posts were also Daring Bakers posts...as a matter of fact I started the short story idea because there were by then so many Daring Bakers posts all over the blogosphere and I wanted mine to be a bit different. HERE is the first one. Note that is is only seven months since I joined the Daring Bakers...the growth really was explosive.

Sometimes my posts were sort of educational like the one on making Quince Jelly. It is still a popular post and it uses photos and text to walk you through making quince jelly and shows the lovely shining results. Too bad it can't capture the almost floral fragrance. I also did a post at Easter on how to color hard cooked eggs the old fashioned way with food coloring, vinegar and boiling water. That post still gets hits around Easter time all these years later.

On occasion the blog becomes a travel journal, usually food-centric. A good example is a trip Sweetie and I took to Virginia to visit family and install a pedestal sink for my Mom.  These Lemon Bars are outstanding.

If you find these glimpses of the 2007 posts interesting, do check out that year. In web version you will see a list of years and if you change the arrow next to the year to point down, you can go through the months and discover your own treasures.

Another Year

Looks like this blog's birthday passed by while I was traveling. Heading into the seventh year...what an exhilerating time it's been!

The early years included more community with other bloggers, especially when I was part of the Daring Bakers enormous group. At that time I went through a heavy sweets phase, learned lots of new techniques and tried new recipes, for fancy desserts especially.

Once I discovered sourdough the bread phase began and it is still going, but not as strongly. The Bread Bakers Dog is gone and so is the dog it was named for. Our new dog, Pi, isn't given 'people food' so there is no begging when we sit down to eat...a nice change.

These days I spend less time visiting other blogs or even surfing the Internet. Since starting my page layout and design for books business I seem to have less time for other forms of computer fun. My cookbook, Classic Comfort Food, continues to sell on Blurb's site. It would be a great Christmas gift for friends who love to cook! If you want to order a copy or two, just click on the photo of the cover at the top right of this blog...you will go right to the sales page and in no time could have your own copy!

The Bread Baking Babes posts are still a monthly source of fun and learning, but I'm also experimenting more with savory dishes, especially ones that have healthy ingredients. It's a whole new world with things I haven't tried like Isreal couscous, dinosaur kale, quinoa and more.

Hope you'll keep stopping by to see what's new on the journey. Here's to another six or seven years! Cheers!

A Tower of Sweetness in the Land of St. Honore'

Whoops! Missed the posting date for the Daring Bakers, even though the challenge was done and the post mostly finished...just blame it on the bathroom remodel. Things progress, although slowly. Will post a photo when all is finished...at this moment it seems like that will be Christmas, but actually will be much sooner.

So, return with me now to the Land of St. Honore' for the delayed, but still delicious Daring Bakers challenge for June, 2010....

Once upon a time in the land of St. Honore’, the duchess had guests coming for dessert. First she said, “I think I’ll make a lovely, light, luscious, delectable cake.” But the thought about it and decided she was tired of cake. “There must be some other treat that I could bake” she thought. Since she had a nice new bottle of dessert port and a yen for chocolate, plus a sturdy stand mixer, she decided to focus on eggs, cream and chocolate.

“Well given those things, I think I will try, a lovely, light, luscious, delectable pie.” She found a recipe for Angel Pie with a meringue crust and chocolate mousse filling. Still, it somehow still didn’t sound like what she wanted to make.

“I think I’ll make something without any flour; a lovely, light, luscious, delectable tower…with strawberries since it’s Spring.” Now she had the idea for the perfect dessert…and a showstopper, too.

First she made pavlovas, crisp discs of cocoa infused meringue. Three egg whites worth made four good sized discs. Her stand mixer got a good workout. The chocolate being folded into the whipped egg whites and sugar looked so pretty!

Then she made a luscious chocolate mousse, giving her stand mixer a good workout again with all the whipping she did.

There was some heavy cream in the fridge, so some of that got the stand mixer whipping treatment for embellishment.

Most important of all were the two pints of glorious freshly picked strawberries, sweet, juicy, fragrant, the soul of spring. She hulled them and sliced them into a bowl and let them sit and release their juices.

Now the fun began! On a footed cake plate she placed a chocolate pavlova disc. On top she spread chocolate mousse quickly covered with a generous amount of the fresh strawberries. The same process was repeated three times which gave her an impressive stacked tower of chocolate-strawberry goodness. A dollop of whipped cream on top finished it off.

She had invited friends over for dessert. The port wine perfectly complimented the decadent dessert and there was coffee, too, to ward off the evening chill that began at sunset. With the garden setting and half moon rising in the sky it was hard to imagine a better way to end the day, cheered by stories and laughter, warmed by wine and friendship, and delighted by chocolate pavlovas and strawberries.

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. You can find the recipe at Dawn's blog. You can check out the Daring Baker's blogroll to see all the amazing pavlovas created this month!

I had a great time making this dessert, although I wasn’t entirely faithful to the challenge. I made the pavolova discs exactly as described in the recipe. In case you were wondering, it doesn’t help to have added the confectioners sugar to the regular sugar and then try to whip the egg whites with added sugar mixture. I didn’t read the recipe well and that was my first batch…the egg whites never did rise or get firm. Second time worked like a charm.

Amazing how using the recipe helps with the results!

Where I went off track was the mousse. Not a big fan of mascarpone and since I already had a go at making it with the Daring Bakers, I decided to do a different chocolate mousse. Unfortunately time got away from me and the duchess’s guests were going to arrive and expected a dessert toot sweet. I was feeling frantic, so I threw together some ingredients I thought would produce a mousse like texture, although I had never made whipped ganache before now.

The ‘save’ consisted of chocolate ganache which I chilled in the freezer, then whipped. Whipping cream was whipped as well. Another egg white was whipped until stiff. (So glad I have a stand mixer!) The whipped cream and egg white were folded into the whipped ganache and that mixture was used as mousse to fill the layers of chocolate meringue discs. It was wonderful!...light but intensely flavored…a perfect foil for those berries and crispy pavlovas. There was absolutely no time for a sauce of any kind, but turns out it didn’t need one.

The biggest challenge was cutting the dessert into servings. A serrated knife worked pretty well, but most servings were still pretty messy. No one seemed to care…every morsel was eaten. Of course it could have been the result of sipping port with the pavlovas.

Many thanks to Dawn for a lovely, light, luscious, delicious, decadent, drool-worthy dessert! Yay for chocolate!

Check out the other Daring Bakers’ versions of Chocolate Pavlovas, with links found on the Blogroll.. You don’t have to be a duchess to make Chocolate Pavlovas with Chocoalte Mascarpone (or my) Mousse and Crème Anglaise sauce.

Au revoir from the Land of St. Honore’! xoxo Elle

“Quick” Chocolate “Mousse”
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups heavy cream, divided
1 egg white

Place the chocolate in the bottom of a stand mixer bowl. In another small, microwave-safe bowl place 1 cup heavy cream. Heat in the microwave until very hot, about 1 minute on full power. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit 2 minutes. Stir with a spatula, to mix the melted chocolate with the cream. Make sure mixture is smooth. Place mixture in a bowl and put into the freezer for 10 minutes.

Clean the stand mixer bowl. Beat the egg white with the whisk attachment in place until the egg whites are stiff but still moist. Set aside in another bowl. Beat the remaining 1 cup heavy cream until soft peaks form. Set aside in another bowl.

Return the chilled ganache to the mixing bowl. Whip at high speed with the whisk attachment in place until the ganache is whipped, lightened and holds soft peaks. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in the whipped heavy cream and the egg white. Use as filling at once for the Pavlovas.

Cream Puff Dreams in the Land of St. Honore'

Return with me now to the land of St. Honore’ where a graduation party for a princess is taking place at the palace. Princess Rosebud’s fairy godmothers are here, contentious as usual.

“Arabelle, you know that giving her a trip to the Enchanted Forest is so passe’”, said Eleanora.

“Well, at least I was invited to be here…unlike you”, protested Arabella.

Caramona observed,”Who would invite someone who always brings bad spells along and never fails to insult everyone at a party?”

Eleanora was incensed and decided that a bad spell was just what the party needed. With a wicked smile she said, “I haven’t given dear Rosebud my gift yet, so my gift is a spell…she will fall asleep and everything she dreams of will come true, just for tonight.”

Princess Rosebud thought that was a nifty gift, even though she promptly fell asleep and missed the rest of the party.

“Couldn’t you at least have given her a spell that ended with being kissed and woken by a handsome Prince?” asked Caramona?

“Maybe if I’d been invited I would have, but now I’m off to a party where I was invited”, sniffed Eleanora, and she left with a swirl of her cape, in a puff of smoke.

Nothing interesting happened at first (other than the fact that the princess was smiling a lot) but after about 40 minutes someone noticed that the dessert table suddenly held a beautiful new dessert.

Small cream puffs had been dipped in caramel and stacked up on a pretty plate. The guest broke off pieces and popped them in their mouths. Delicious!

When Princess Rosebud woke at midnight Caramona and Arabella asked her what she had dreamed. She was very excited.

“I’m never allowed in the palace kitchens, but in my dream I was a pastry chef and I created the most wonderful dessert! It’s called a piece montee’ and is a ‘mounted piece’ so I made a pyramid of pastry cream filled cream puffs, hooked together with caramelized sugar and decorated with spun sugar. I had so much fun making it!

The cream puffs were made with a cooked paste that was piped on baking sheets and baked…that’s when they puffed up.

The pastry cream was thickened with eggs and took a long time to cook over low heat.

Making the caramelized sugar was a little scary because it got so hot and you had to work quickly once it was set in the pan of cold water to stop the cooking process. It looked so pretty once it was all put together. I wonder what happened to it?”

Her fairy godmothers had the good grace to look abashed as they admitted that the guests had finished off every last cream puff. The princess wasn’t upset, however, because in her dream the one that appeared in real life was her practice version and not nearly as nice as the one she made next. Once she finished making the second one she had eaten her fill, wearing a white chef’s coat and a big smile. Sometimes dreams are better than reality.

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.

If you want to practice your pastry chef skills and make this decadent dessert, you can find the recipe at Cat’s blog Little Miss Cupcake and probably at many Daring Baker sites across the blogosphere.

I had a good time making this, almost as good time as Princess Rosebud. I had never made the caramelized sugar with lemon juice but it worked well. I ended up with a nice dark amber color.

The cream puffs were similar to those I made for the Gateau St. Honore’ for the first Daring Baker's May challenge, but I made these very small.

I think I should have made them a bit bigger so they would hold more of the luscious pastry cream. I flavored the cream with vanilla and rum. Although the sweetness level was higher than I like, Sweetie and I managed to polish off this piece montee with great enjoyment. No need to dream when you have the real thing.

Thank you Cat for selecting such an inspiring challenge for this month!

Daring Baker Pud in the Land of St. Honore'

The dark haired lad had noticed the red haired girl hanging around the school entrance, but he was observant by nature, plus she was pretty.

She had noticed him in the shop one day when a group of boys came over from the school to buy treats. He had been the quiet one and easy on the eye, too.

Her mum was puzzled when she came back from the green grocers a week later with rhubarb as well as the strawberries she had been sent to buy. “I used my own money” she explained so her mum let it go and turned back to the till to make change.

That afternoon she was alone in the kitchen and she went to work with a will, cutting the washed rhubarb into chunks and hulling, then slicing the berries. She prepared the pudding bowl by rubbing it with a thin layer of butter. The berries, rhubarb, sugar and almond extract smelled wonderful as they gently cooked on the stove top while she mixed together the sponge.


The berry mixture went in the bottom of the bowl, then she carefully placed sliced almonds higher up the bowl sides, smiling as they stuck to the butter. After putting in the sponge mixture and evening the top as best she could…there was a lot of fruit juice that wanted to seep through the batter…

she secured parchment and foil over the bowl with twine,

then set it all in a pot partially filled with simmering water.

While the pudding steamed, she helped her mum stock the shelves and sweep the floor. She even washed the front windows of the shop so she could try and see if the students were still in class.
Soon after the pudding was done and looking wonderful on its flowered plate the bell on the front door started ringing repeatedly…the lads were back!

She looked for the dark haired boy and soon saw him quietly observing the slight mayhem of his mates choosing their weekly sweets, some giggling like six year olds, some with their voice changing and looking all knees and elbows with adolescence. When she noticed that the one she was sweet on was alone she made her move. Coming to stand next to him she said, “I noticed that you don’t buy any sweets…don’t you like them?” He shrugged and replied that he was short of funds. She tugged on his sleeve and said, “Come try my pudding then” so he followed her to the back and couldn’t refuse a serving of the warm and fragrant pudding.

It was better than any pudding he’d ever had and he told her that. Her smile was even better. Then he heard everyone leaving the shop. “Have to go” he said. “Wait” she said, “I don’t even know your name.” Turning back he gave her a heartwarming smile and said “Bond, James Bond. What’s yours?”

As we leave the Land of St. Honore' you may want to know what it is that the young James Bond was enjoying. It was a steamed pudding, and it was a spring-time steamed pudding with spring fruits and none of the strong spices of winter to be seen. Often the charming Dharm at this blog also does a Daring Baker's post about James Bond.

The sponge is light and buttery with a hint of almond and the sliced almonds were added as a nice garnish, plus a bit of added texture.

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet. We really enjoyed this pudding and I want to thank Esther for getting the Daring Bakers to try the traditional British dessert of steamed pudding. I was hoping to make some with suet but my butcher only gets partially dressed meat with no suet to be seen. I think this version with butter is delightful with the fruit. If I ever find a place with suet I'll be sure to try some of the other recipes.


Rhubarb-Strawberry Steamed Pudding

Ingredients:
• 175g fresh rhubarb , cut into 4cm lengths
• 175 g fresh strawberries, hulled and cut into quarters
• 200g caster sugar, divided
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 125g unsalted butter
• few drops natural vanilla extract
• 2 medium eggs , beaten
• 175g self-raising flour
• 50 g sliced almonds (optional)

Method:
1. Cook the rhubarb and strawberries with 75g/2¾oz of the sugar and the almond extract over a gentle heat for 2-3 minutes until just starting to soften. Remove from heat.
2. Butter a 900ml pudding basin. Put butter and remaining sugar in a bowl and cream together. Stir in vanilla extract, then beat in eggs, a little at a time. Sift in flour and carefully fold into the mixture.
3. Spoon rhubarb- strawberry into the bottom of the basin. If using, place individual sliced almonds around the sides of the basin above the fruit mixture, using the butter to help them adhere to the sides. Spoon the sponge mixture on top of the fruit mixture and level off surface.
4. Butter a piece of greaseproof paper slightly bigger than the top of the pudding basin. Make a pleat in the centre and secure over the top of basin. Repeat with a piece of foil, then secure the whole thing with string. Place in a pan half filled with simmering water. Cover and cook for 1½ hrs, checking regularly that the pan does not boil dry. Remove cover, invert the pudding onto a plate, then carefully lift off the pudding basin. Serve with crème fraîche, single cream, ice cream, or garnish with fresh strawberries.

Serves 6
Recipe: BBC Good Food: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3157/rhubarb-steamed-pudding

Esther from The Lilac Kitchen : http://lilackitchen.blogspot.com/

September 2009- Vol au Vents

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. Before we get to the recipe, let us return to the Land of St. Honore’ to see what they are up to this month.

Once upon a time in the Land of St. Honore’, the Princess of Hearts was bored. Her father was off playing cards, her mother was baking tarts and her brother was up to some mischief or other. She looked through the toys on the shelf and had an idea.

Years ago she had been given a solid gold apple by a visiting dignitary. Now she was much too old to enjoy such a plaything, so she would offer it as a prize. The heralds were sent far and wide announcing that a prize would be given to the person who could make the princess laugh.

Many tried and the princess grew tired of those who made funny faces, juggled melons, and tried with Punch and Judy antics to make her laugh. At length a squire approached with a plate he had been asked to deliver to her. On the plate were small rounds of flaky pastry, filled with whipped cream and topped with berries.

She was so annoyed with the man telling jokes that she barely looked at the pastries.

The squire, hoping to catch her attention, in a rounded voice asked her. “Would you like a vol au vent?”

The princess turned toward him and giggled a bit. “Put one of those in your mouth and then ask me” she said. He did just that and this time it came out sounding like ‘wowel awe went” and his cheeks were distended like a chipmunks as he tried to talk and not show the food in his mouth, all the while enjoying the full buttery flavor of the pastry, complimented by the sweet cream and juicy berries.

The princess couldn’t help herself…she laughed out loud, and then continued to laugh as tears streamed down her cheeks. Once she stopped laughing she popped one of the vol au vents into her own mouth and the squire was rewarded with a charming smile as she enjoyed the treat and the fact that she was no longer bored.

She presented the squire with the golden apple and then asked, “Do you know any more strange and funny words?”

Find all the charming vol au vents around the blogosphere today as the Daring Bakers make these cunning puff pastry cases and fill them with all sorts of delicious things. The Blogroll is here and the recipe is here at Steph's blog. Thank you Steph for a great challenge!

I enjoyed making these little morsels of butter and was surprised at how much my puff pastry puffed. I guess all that rolling and turning and rolling and turning works! Fortunately the day I made the pastry it was cold in the kitchen so I was able to do four turns before chilling the dough for the last turns. The day I baked the vol au vents was much warmer and that may have led to the somewhat wobbly sides on some of them…the dough may have been too warm.

These vol au vents were enjoyed with whipped cream and late harvest blackberries. The photos just below are of the ones that sort of slumped over. I'm filling the pretty ones today to eat after Sunday dinner, so the pretty photos will be added (have been added - see top and below). The ones we ate, misshapen though they were, were a hit at my house and likely would be enjoyed at yours, too. Straight Shooter liked that they weren't too sweet.

It is worth the effort and life is always good when you have an excuse to beat some dough with a rolling pin! The little circles that you cut out of the pieces that become the sides can also be baked and become these cute pastries:

They make a fun snack as Sweetie will be happy to tell you.

Speaking of Sweetie, he has been working for quite a while now on ship models, most of them from the World War II era. He recently made a beautiful display case so that we can better admire them and all the detail work. I promised my Mom that I would include a photo of that on the blog. Here it is, Mom. As you can see it really did come out beautifully. The lower two sections have plexiglas over the opening to keep the ships from being hit by the baker's dog's tail. :)

The Three Bakers - July Daring Bakers Challenge

Once Upon a Time...

In the Land of St. Honore', in the town where coffee is king, but chocolate isn't too far behind, the Three Bakers decided to leave the packing to Goldilocks and to check out some food goodies.

First they had some Bread Salad, heavily punctuated by laughter, at Essential Bakery Cafe', but it was tooo bready (even if the bread was good bread).

Then they sampled some freshly handmade truffles at Suess Chocolates which were very, very good, but took a bite out the the wallet. They are still a baby, being three months old, but have already won the Best Truffle award at the recent Chocolate Salon, delightfully reported on by Lynn of Cookie Baker Lynn.

Next they enjoyed the upscale splendor and lively flavor combinations of chocolates at Oh Chocolate marveling at the buttery caramels and rich truffles, but, alas Goldilocks needed help so off they went.

Later one of the Three Bakers took the Daring Bakers Milano recipe and picked up on the coffee and chocolate flavors so recently enjoyed, adding cocoa to the cookie batter and some Kahlua liquor, too, instead of lemon extract.

The filling is almost pure chocolate, thinned with a bit of whipping cream. The cookies were tender and delicious and JUST RIGHT!

The other two of the Three Bakers will surely agree once they get a taste (soon)!

If you have not already done so, do wend your way around the blogosphere to see all of the wonderful Milano cookies created by the very talented Daring Bakers.

Here is a link to the Blogroll. A big 'thank you' to Nicole of Sweet Tooth, our sweet hostess this month, for giving us a challenge that allowed creativity and produced such a great cookie. The original recipe can be found at her blog. Another 'thank you' to Lis and Ivonne for creating the Daring Bakers and for all the effort that goes in to making it a premier baking group.

My changes? Oh, almost forgot that. I used a half recipe, reduced the powdered sugar to 1 cup, added 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa with the powdered sugar, added 1/2 tablespoon Kahlua instead of the lemon extract, and added an extra 2 tablespoons of flour. Otherwise it is just as written on Nicole's blog.

Happy Daring Baking!

Daring Cookies...Soon

The July Daring Baker's challenge has taken over a good sized portion of the food blogosphere today
.

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.

We could choose to bake both cookie of just one of the two. Due to poor planning, a kinda last minute trip to Seattle, and an amazing heat wave once we reached Seattle, plus the move taking longer than expected (uh, and the dog ate my recipe??) no cookies were baked by this Daring Baker, but I think I have a day or two of grace to catch up now that I am home to the WONDERFUL cooler weather here in No. CA.

Won't tell you which kind to expect. Cookie Baker Lynn and Tanna of My Kitchen In Half Cups, who were also in Seattle and whom I met and had lunch with....they are wickedly fun!... are the only ones who know.

BTW, if you ever get an opportunity to meet-in-person any other bloggers whose blogs you read and enjoy, DO IT! There are few things as enjoyable as finding out that, yes, others do obsess about flours and do collect amazing amounts of cookbooks, too, and have lots more to talk about than just food. Chocolate tasting was an unexpected and wonderful part of the afternoon.

Tanna and Lynn are so generous and were even more fun and funnier than their blogs which are plenty funny and well written. We also talked about why we blog and our answers might surprise some who have come to blogging with different perspectives. It was a GREAT afternoon and I only wish that there had been more time. Who knows, the stars might align again and find all three of us in Seattle at the same time again...or they (or one or the other of them) might be visiting the Bay Area and have time to get togther closer to my home.

Lynn, I would love the recipe for the muffins. Tanna, the bread made it to a picnic that got rained on...crazy Seattle weather!...and was great! Thank you, thank you!

Oh, the cookies? Check back tomorrow.

Daring Bakers June Tarts

Imagine having a strong memory of a treat that you had once, many, many years ago, but not having any idea what it was called or how to make it. That's why this challenge is a personal favorite...my remembered treat turns out to be a Bakewell Tart...er pudding...although it was called something Italian when I first had it.

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.
Bakewell tarts…er…puddings combine a number of dessert elements but still let you show off your area’s seasonal fruits.

Like many regional dishes there’s no “one way” to make a Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding, but most of today’s versions fall within one of two types. The first is the “pudding” where a layer of jam is covered by an almondy pastry cream and baked in puff pastry. The second is the “tart” where a rich shortcrust pastry holds jam and an almondy sponge cake-like filling.

The version we’re daring you to make is a combination of the two: a sweet almond-flavoured shortcrust pastry, frangipane and jam.

The combination of textures is awesome! Crisp but tender buttery shortbread on the bottom, sweet tart strawberry-raspberry jam (in my version) giving just a bit of oozyness, and a light baked topping which is enriched with the finely ground almonds so it has a delightful almond flavor in a moist dense cake. All in all a delightful summer treat.

I followed the recipe given HERE, using a purchased jam. It is called A Red Duet and made by Mountain Fruit Company in Chico, CA. It is like the essence of summer with tangy strawberry and bright raspberry flavors in 'a natural fruit spread'. It went so well with the almond flavors.

Of all the Daring Bakers challenges, this one seemed to be one of the easier...the pastry was easy to make and held its shape well and baked up crisp but tender and the frangipane was simple to mix together and easy to spread over the jam, plus there was no trouble with the baking or removing it from the tart pan. It is perhaps my favorite because I have longed for this tart for such a long time...never suspecting that it was a Bakewell Tart...er pudding. Thank you Jasmine and Annemarie for choosing this memorable tart.

Bakewell Tart…er…pudding
Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability (here's the strawberry jam I used)
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.
The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Jasmine’s notes:
• If you cannot have nuts, you can try substituting Victoria sponge for the frangipane. It's a pretty popular popular cake, so you shouldn't have any troubles finding one in one of your cookbooks or through a Google search. That said, our dear Natalie at Gluten a Go Go has sourced some recipes and linked to them in the related alt.db thread.
• You can use whichever jam you wish, but if you choose something with a lot of seeds, such as raspberry or blackberry, you should sieve them out.
• The jam quantity can be anywhere from 60ml (1/4 cup) to 250ml (1cup), depending upon how “damp” and strongly flavoured your preserves are. I made it with the lesser quantity of home made strawberry jam, while Annemarie made it with the greater quantity of cherry jam; we both had fabulous results. If in doubt, just split the difference and spread 150ml (2/3cup) on the crust.
Annemarie’s notes:
• The excess shortcrust can be rolled out and cut into cookie-shapes (heck, it’s pretty darned close to a shortbread dough).

Sweet shortcrust pastry
Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Jasmine’s notes:
• I make this using vanilla salt and vanilla sugar.
• If you wish, you can substitute the seeds of one vanilla bean, one teaspoon of vanilla paste or one teaspoon of vanilla extract for the almond extract

Frangipane
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

For those few of you who enjoy the tales from the Land of St. Honore', return there with me now...

Sitting in a cafe on a little side street, she sipped her tea and used her fork to pick up the last crumbs of the dessert. There was something special about the combination of a red, fruity jam and an almondy topping all inside a short, sweet crust. She was just about to ask the server what it was called when she realized that she was late for her bus, so she quickly gathered her things and sprinted down the block to the bus stop.

Many years passed and her life did, too. She became a busy professional and had no time to sit in cafes drinking tea.

Eventually she decided that she needed a creative outlet...pushing papers all day is a very low form of creativity...so she started painting still life compositions. Her favorites included some food in the arrangements. Seasonal fruits in a painting seemed to bring an extra depth to the works.

One day she was passing a bakery and she saw a golden brown tart scattered on top with sliced almonds. It was so beautiful that she decided to paint it. She bought a small one and a larger seven inch one. She tried an arrangement with just the small tart, one with a few berries added, and one with some ice cream.too. Eventually she finished her painting and sat down to eat a piece of the tart. Imagine her astonishment to find that it was the same dessert she had enjoyed all those years ago!

The next day she left on a business trip and when she returned, the bakery selling the tart had gone out of business, another victim of the recession. It may be a while before she has another tart like that one, but the sweet memory will carry her far.

As is often the case, there are many, many talented and gutsy Daring Bakers who have baked dozens and dozens and dozens of creative and beautiful Bakewell Tarts...er puddings. You can find them using the Blogroll.