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.

Daring Bakers' Challenge for June 2009

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.



Always have wanted to make one. Didn't get to it with the move and the dropping of the bookcase on the foot etc...

Here's the info:

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
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.

Annemarie’s notes:
• Add another five minutes or more if you're grinding your own almonds or if you're mixing by hand (Heaven help you).

Daring Baker Challenge May 2009 Strudel!

I love strudel! I've made it before but never the dough of course. And I've been packing and moving and didn't get to it and today just snuck right up on me. I thought I would do it this weekend but I realized that today is the day! Oh well. I'll do it and post it because I want to and I have to break in my new kitchen somehow right?

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.

Posting date for the May Challenge is May 27th.

And here's the recipe:

Preparation time
Total: 2 hours 15 minutes – 3 hours 30 minutes

15-20 min to make dough
30-90 min to let dough rest/to prepare the filling
20-30 min to roll out and stretch dough
10 min to fill and roll dough
30 min to bake
30 min to cool

Apple strudel
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum
3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs
strudel dough (recipe below)
1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts
2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking)

1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.

3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.

4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Strudel dough
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.
Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.
Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.
Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Tips
- Ingredients are cheap so we would recommend making a double batch of the dough, that way you can practice the pulling and stretching of the dough with the first batch and if it doesn't come out like it should you can use the second batch to give it another try;
- The tablecloth can be cotton or polyster;
- Before pulling and stretching the dough, remove your jewelry from hands and wrists, and wear short-sleeves;
- To make it easier to pull the dough, you can use your hip to secure the dough against the edge of the table;
- Few small holes in the dough is not a problem as the dough will be rolled, making (most of) the holes invisible.

Both Courtney and I did a trial run on making the strudel. Below are our notes:

Courtney's notes
- She could't get it to stretch to 2 feet by 3 feet, it turned out more like 2 feet by 2 feet. But the dough was tissue thin nevertheless;
- She got some serious holes, but after rolling it wasn't noticeable;
- She used a large cheese cloth which helped manipulate and stretch the dough more than a heavier cloth would have.

My notes
- I made the dough by hand, just mixed the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Kneaded it for about 5 min like you would bread dough. This worked as well. Haven't tried using a standmixer so I don't know how it compares.
- Instead of cider vinegar I used red wine vinegar;
- I used bread flour;
- Picking up the dough to let it stretch didn't work well for me, holes appeared pretty much instantly. Instead I stretched the dough while it was lying on the tablecloth by putting my hands underneath and stretching it out further and further;

Daring Bakers April 2009 Cheesecake

Woo Hoo!! Another DB Challenge. Fun. I'm enjoying this.


The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

So I was going to do a Tiramisu Cheesecake and make ladyfingers from scratch and all that but I ran out of time.



I ended up making a chocolate, coffee and vanilla cheesecake with a gingersnap crust and a little ganache decoration on top.



I think it looks pretty good. The vanilla to coffee layer is a little uneven but .... depends on where you look!




Here's a different side view.


I made a 7 inch cake and had batter left over so two little cheesecakes (3 inch) were born.




Here's the whole family. Sadly I have already eaten one of the small ones by myself. I must admit, they are really good.

It's a great, easy recipe and came out just fine. I didn't add any sugar or vanilla to the gingersnap crust. I did add some powdered ginger on top of it before I put down the cheesecake filling so it gave it some extra snap.

The insides.




I made the recipe as instructed then split the batter into thirds and added 4oz of bittersweet chocolate to the chocolate layer. For the coffee layer I dissolved 1TB instant espresso powder in 3TB boiling water, then kept adding to the batter until i got the taste I wanted. I like it strong so it was almost the whole amount. I left the vanilla layer as is per the recipe, then poured each layer in and that was it!

Thanks Jenny Bakes! Now to get rid of the rest of the cheesecake before I eat all of it!!!


Here's the Recipe:

Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake:

crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
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 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

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, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. 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. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil "casserole" shaped pans from the grocery store. They're 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away.

Prep notes: While the actual making of this cheesecake is a minimal time commitment, it does need to bake for almost an hour, cool in the oven for an hour, and chill overnight before it is served. Please plan accordingly!

My FIRST Daring Baker Challenge!!!

My first challenge! I don't cook - I bake, so this was really a challenge. I have never made pasta before so I decided to go ahead with the recipe even though I usually stay off the gluten. Figured it would be best to start with the normal way of making it before I get all modification-y on it.


The beginning of the pasta mixing is a mess.



Finally the dough is in a ball and resting

Rolling it out was very very tough. I was concerned that it did not get silky and the gluten was building it up and I was making something more like kindergarten paste but I kept at it!




Here's the pasta rolled out and cut. I'm pretty sure I'm not doing this right but.... Onward!

So I'm veggie and chose to use an onion ragu for this dish rather than the meat one and because of the bechamel and the parmesan I thought choosing a "white" ragu could be kinda cool.

Here's the recipe found online:

Onion Ragu
(adapted from Scopa)

1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 TB finely chopped garlic
4 Lbs Spanish onions, peeled & thinly sliced
5 to 6 scallions, sliced to make 1 cup
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1/2 cup fnely chopped pickled cherry peppers
1/2 cup liquid from pickled cherry peppers
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley


1. In a large heavy-bottomed pot over low heat, warm olive oil and add garlic. Slowly saute garlic just until light golden brown. Add onions, scallions and leeks, and mix well. Cover and simmer until onions are very soft and beginning to caramelize, about 1 1/2 hours.

2. Add cherry peppers and pickling liquid, and mix well. Cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Season ragu with salt and pepper to taste, and mix in the parsley.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.





Lots of onions to chop! The house smelled pretty good though I must say.



Dried pasta ready to go. It was too thick. I rolled and rolled and I think it was too thick.

So I had the ragu ready, had the bechamel ready and followed the pasta directions for boiling, dipping in cool water, then draining on paper towels. I began the assembly. But then ---



Bechemel a la floor. I got about half of the lasagna put together with the bechemel. Oh well. No counter space in the kitchen. Grrrr. The dog enjoyed it.



Okay so here we are assembled and ready to bake. The pickled peppers seem like a strange addition to an onion ragu but it does add color.

So 40 minutes covered at 350 degrees, then another 10 minutes without the foil, then 10 minutes of resting and voila!


It looks pretty good and smells good too.




It does slip and slide a little but it is actually really good. Hubby went back twice. I had thought about adding a small can of tomato paste to the ragu but since I hadn't made it before I thought I'd just try it per the recipe this time. I think next time I will add the paste. And I might buy the pasta or buy a roller machine if I'm going to this often. Plus you can always use the roller for fondant and gum paste. This is how I'm trying to, in my mind, justify getting the roller thingy.

All in all pretty fun. I look forward to making sweets on the next one. This was definitely outside any kind of baking comfort zone I have. Thanks!!

Blog coming soon...

This blog coming soon. When I DB.