The July DB Challenge

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

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.

This is something I can get into. I wasn't interested in last month's pudding fest.

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.

Didn't do it. Haven't been able to get to it.

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.


I just completely forgot to bake this to tell you the truth.
I want to. They look good.

THE DARING COOKS OCTOBER 2009 CHALLENGE: MACAROONS

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.


So I'm only gonna show you the second batch 'cause the first one didn't come out right. It was an egg whipping problem. But the second batch started out getting piped like this -




They look good right? I did leave them for a half hour or so to get a skin. Then into the oven they went and by gum, they got feet!!!




I did have some cracked ones. I've made a few more batches since and find that it was the high oven temp that caused more cracking than not.

These were standard almond macs and I used almond meal, grinding it briefly in the mini-chop with the powdered sugar. You can see the little flecks of almond. I used the Trader Joe's almond meal. I sandwiched them with a chocolate ganache and they were a hit. I've already got orders.




I'm trying a different recipe than the Claudia Fleming's. I too started with the Tartlette recipe but I think I may switch to the Pierre Herme. The sugar content is lower. Thanks for this challenge. I'm glad to have these macs in my repertoire now.

August Daring Bakers Challenge!

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.


So I have people coming over for tea on Sunday and they expect baked goods! I decided to make two squares rather than the round so I could taste it before they come over lest it be bad.




So here's my tip to you. Rather than do all the whipping then clean the bowl and beaters in order to do the whites, just do the whites first, set them aside, then do the rest. The whites will deflate of course so you can only do it with a recipe that'll be quick.


Here's an action shot of the yolks!




So I made the caramel. It's been incredibly hot here so I don't think it ever fully set. I was hoping I could "snap" the edges off but no - too soft.




So I made a little art for the photo ...





But really here there are in the fridge. One waiting for tea and one checked by me!







Yummy!

July 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge


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.


So again I spaced it before the deadline to post so I think this next month I'll do it right away when the challenge is revealed then hope to remember to post on the 27th! Sheesh.

I did have a client last week and here's what I made them. Strawberry shortcake cake. It was the whipped cream that held it all together.