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’ve been wanting to make my own graham crackers for a while , and these were fun to make.  At the moment I am probably on an airplane somewhere, so I don’t have a picture to upload (yet).  At any rate, these were very tasty, indeed, even though I had to tweak and “deconstruct” them.

Believe it or not, I had a number of the gluten free ingredients, except for the sorghum flour, which I could not find anywhere, not even my local Whole Foods. So, I substituted whole wheat flour, thereby completely defeating the whole “gluten free” concept.  Despite this deviation, I survived and continued on with my project . . . .

. . . which include another detour:  the custard filling with all the powdered sugar was not working for me – I knew my family would not eat this.  Instead, I “deconstructed” the Nanaimo bars, serving the graham crackers with pudding that I sprinkled with almonds and chocolate.  And it turned out pretty darn good!  Thanks to Lauren for picking these!

Also known as “Da Bug.”  Guarding her loot – a pair of my husband’s socks!

I’m out of town checking in on my auntie, and didn’t get a chance to make the cherry-fudge brownie torte, but take a look at the TWD blogroll to see the results other bakers had with it.  And be sure pop in on Short + Rose by April for the recipe.

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.

This month, the Daring Bakers made macarons, a first for me.  Because I’m a macaron neophyte, I stuck with vanilla macarons.  Where I had fun was with the filling:  lemon curd, one of my favorites!  I am not a big fan of buttercream, and I’m tired of chocolate at the moment (you’ll see why in a couple days – a post that involves over 2 pounds of chocolate!).

Most of my macarons had “feet,” which made me happy.  I took one lousy blurred photo before I left, but I have the macarons and filling stashed in the freezer (frozen separately).  We will see how well the little meringues thaw! I’ll re-take photos and post again.

Be sure to check out the Daring Bakers blogroll!

My washer blew up.  Then my dishwasher died on Friday.  And now, this.  There goes my 3 4 year subscription.

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.

It’s time for true confessions:  with all the baking I do, I had never before made puff pastry from scratch.  Oh, I’ve made laminated doughs for Danishes, but never just plain old puff pastry.  And it had been on my to-do list for a long, long time.  And that is one of the reasons I stick with the Daring Bakers (or they stick with me is more like it!) despite my hectic schedule – I get to challenge myself and bake things I’ve been putting off.  So, thank you, Steph!  I love your blog, and I’m so grateful that you chose this . . .

. . . because it exceeded my wildest expectations.  The pastry was delicious and the rise was fantastic, much better than what I’ve been able to achieve with commercial pastry.  This could be due to the fact that I used Kerrygold Irish butter, which has the consistency of a thick fudge, and a higher fat content than American butter.

And making the puff pastry and vols-au-vent (the little cup you see in the photos) was sooooo easy.  Now I’m asking myself why I waited so long!  Most of all, though, it confirmed for me that my two favorite things to work with are pastry and bread.  Turning and rolling out the dough, patting it like a baby’s bottom . . . very peaceful and meditative for me.  Now baking cakes, not so much.  Or cookies.  But pastry and bread . . . .

First things first, though.  I cut the salt in half because I knew it would be too salty for me (most things are).  All went well in my 80 F kitchen until the fourth turn, when all the butter started to come through the dough.  At that point, I thought my goose was cooked and that I would be posting about my gigantic failure.  So, I popped the dough in the refrigerator overnight, then got to work the following day.  I worked quickly before the butter had time to melt, and I kept putting the pastry back in the refrigerator whenever I had the faintest inkling that it was getting too soft.  I decided to make square vols au vent, not because I am particularly creative, but because I couldn’t find my round pastry cutters.

AND IT PUFFED!  Magically, beautiful, IT PUFFED! I filled the vols au vent with some soft scrambled eggs with chives which turned out to be a great choice.  I loved it, my husband loved it, and Gus loved licking the plate.

The one thing that I will do differently in the future is bake the puff pastry at a higher temperature – I had a lot of butter pooling on the baking sheet, but that did not seem to affect the rise at all.  And be sure to check out the Julia Child and Michel Richard video demonstrating how to make puff pastry. (Please be aware that the oral ingredients Richard gives out are a little different than the recipe, because he used pastry flour. I used the recipe.)

I’m so proud of myself. And it’s amazing how often our barriers are purely mental or emotional.  One barrier down, many more to go!

Recipe at this link, but check out Steph’s blog and the Daring Bakers blogroll!

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.

According to our hostesses, the tart is  made up of several layers.  “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-flavored shortcrust pastry, frangipane and jam.”

I decided to bake this in my square tart pan, and I used one of my favorite jams, Blenheim apricot, from We Love Jam.  Folks, if you haven’t tried their jams and barbecue sauce, you are seriously missing out on something.  I discovered them via David Lebovitz’s blog, and I’ve been a loyal customer.

The tart was easy to put together, and I didn’t bother rolling the crust to try to fit it into the pan – I just flattened it out, and pressed the dough, bit by bit, into the tart tin.  I’ve found that when I’m dealing with shortbread crusts, this technique saves my sanity.  After that, it was a matter of layering in the jam (2/3 cup – I will use a full cup next time) and the frangipane cream.  After it cooled a bit, I dusted it with powdered sugar.  I think my husband had three pieces, he loved it so much.  Definitely a winner, and something I plan on making again.

Thank you Jasmine and Annemarie for a great pick.  Check out the DB blogroll to see what other bakers made this month. You can find the recipe here.
continue reading "The Daring Bakers and a Traditional Bakewell Tart. Or Pudding."

And I am a bit behind, as has been the case so often this year!  Post will be up by this weekend.  Post not going up at all, because of a too-busy schedule.  But I did make homemade cherry strudel last year!

Awesome, if I do say so myself. I have to start giving myself a bit more credit for creativity.  Not decorating, mind you, but for making recipes my own. Pay no heed to the lousy picture – I am out of town at the moment, and I made this and froze it before I left.  Of course, I had to taste a bit and it was phenomenal.

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

Jenny gave us a basic cheesecake recipe, and set us loose, telling us to make it our own.  I did just that by (1) eliminating the crust – yes, I made this without a crust!; and (2) flavoring it like a creamsicle, that outstanding orange and vanilla frozen concoction hustled by our local Good Humor Man.  Those were the days.  I also used low fat cream cheese, and a mixture of cream and low fat sour cream because that’s what I had on hand.

I made this in a heart-shaped springform pan, which is the only pan I have that will allow me to use a water bath.  I also lowered the temperature to 325 F on convection bake, and the cake turned out creamy, smooth, and perfect, right on schedule.  It did not crack.  It did not burn.  No water leaked into the pan (I double wrapped in heavy duty foil). A shockingly successful endeavor, all around.

Be sure to check Jenny’s blog for the original recipe, and the BRAND NEW Daring Baker’s website!  I am without the internet at the moment, but when I get back in town, I’m looking forward to seeing what everybody made!  My adaptation after the jump.
continue reading "The Daring Bakers, and an Awesome Creamsicle Cheesecake"

Unless you act now. Meet Congress’s latest nightmare.

If you don’t think this will apply to your small backyard garden (Factcheck.org is dead wrong on this issue), then check out this provision in the bill:

Here is how this bill defines who is included in “Food Production”:

(14) FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITY- The term ‘food production facility’ means any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation.

The summer roadside vegetable stand appears to be both a Category 3 and 5 “food establishment” since it sells “fresh produce in ready-to-eat raw form” and “stores, holds, or transports food products prior to delivery for retail sale”. The explicit exclusions in Section 3 (13)(B) do not exclude roadside vegetable stands.

Think it stops there?  Another bill, provides for the creation of the National Animal Identification System:

The USDA’s proposed National Animal Identification System (NAIS) was originally designed to give the big beef producers help in getting export markets which required disease controls. The idea is that every single livestock animal in the United States will be identified and tagged. All livestock animal movements will be tracked, logged and reported to the government. The benefit is to the big factory farms who probably do need this type of regulation. They get to do single ID’s for large groups of animals. Small farmers, pet owners and homesteaders will have to tag and track every single animal.

There are no exceptions – even small farms that sell direct to local consumers will be required to pay the fees and file all the paper work on all their animals. Even horse, llama and other pet owners will be required to participate in NAIS. Homesteaders who raise their own meat and grandma with her one egg hen will also have to register their homes as ‘farm premises’ and obtain a Premise ID, tag all their animals and submit all the paperwork and fees. Absurd? Yes – There are no exceptions under the current NAIS plan. The USDA has slipped this plan in the back door without any legislation. This is going to be very expensive and guess who is going to pay for it in higher food prices… You!

Get on the phone.  Check out this link and this link for other ways to stop this legislation.  Time is of the essence. Email your senators and congressmen.   BLOG ABOUT IT.  The right to grown our own food is one of the few rights we have left.

***Remember to enter the cookbook giveaway!*** *** UPDATE ON MARCH 11, 2009 – WE HAVE A WINNER!!! ikkinlala from Canada!****

A bit late, but better late than never! The official challenge:

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

The cake is flourless, and calls for one full pound of chocolate.  I cut that in half, baked the whole thing in a small sheet pan, then cut out the heart shape that you see above. You can find the recipe on Wendy and Dharm’s blogs.

Our hosts were quite generous this month, and allowed us to make any ice cream or topping that we liked.  In a further effort to reduce the fat in our diets (is that crazy or what?  I’m a member of Tuesdays with Dorie AND the Daring Bakers!), I went with a homemade passion fruit sorbet.  Basically, I made a loose passion fruit curd then froze it in my freezer.  The tart, refreshing sorbet provided a great contrast to the intense chocolate flavor of the cake.  If you make this, be sure to pick a chocolate that you love because the flavor really comes through (I used Valrhona 70% cacao that I bought at Trader Joe’s).  This cake is intense.  And delicious!

To see what the other Daring Bakers made, be sure to check out the blogroll!

This month’s challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux. They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand.  Taking on an 18-page recipe like this (just before Christmas) is what puts the “daring” in the moniker “The Daring Bakers.”  And it is exactly the reason why I joined the DBs, as I doubt I would have tackled this if left to my own devices.  I will have more photos up tomorrow, but for now, I present you with my lumpy log, resting in the freezer:

Please note:  You WILL dirty a lot of pots and pans.  You WILL need copious amounts of gelatin, cream, egg yolks, more cream, various kinds of chocolate . . . and did I mention cream?  Do NOT attempt to make this dessert in one day.  Do NOT attempt to make it if the kiddies are under foot.  Most of all, READ, RE-READ, and then RE-RE-READ the recipe.

All that being said, is it tasty?  Oh, Lordie, . . . YES.  Despite the work, I would make this again.  I am not usually a spoon licker, but I licked everything when I made this – spoons, bowls, beaters, you name it.  I think I ingested several thousand calories worth of cream and chocolate just from licking cooking utensils.  Luckily, I logged in 45 minutes on the elliptical machine, which should at least maintain the weight status quo.

This type of French Yule Log is not the jelly-roll style of log that we think of in this country (made with genoise and buttercream), and that the Daring Bakers made last year.  It is a frozen dessert made up of 6 components, all of which we were required to make.  My flavorings were: Almond Dacquoise Biscuit, White Chocolate Mousse, Dark Chocolate-Caramel Ganache Insert, Nocciolata Praline (Crisp) Insert, Vanilla Creme Brulee Insert, and Dark Chocolate Icing.  I thought that some of the instructions were a bit confusing, but the wonderful Tartelette provided helpful commentary.  In fact, before you even attempt the dessert, I suggest you check out a lot of blogs for excellent tips and insight into the problems that many of the Daring Bakers confronted.  Some suggestions:  Apple Pie, Patis & Pate, Tartelette, Judy’s Gross Eats (listen to her problem with the 5-qt. KitchenAid bowl-I had the same issues), Baking Obsession, and Canelle et Vanille, just to name a few.  If you want to see how 2,000 + other DBs did, check out the blogroll.

The creme brulee:

I was swamped this month, so I had little time or energy for creativity.  I stuck to the basic flavor parameters, and made a vanilla creme brulee (which never even got close to solidifying after two hours in the oven, but I froze it anyway). And I even used a water bath!  All that aside, I think that I should write an ode to the vanilla bean one day.  It does amazing things to dairy products, I must say.

The dastardly mousse, which required the preparation of the accursed pate a bombe:

For the dastardly mousse, I used El Rey white chocolate disks, and cursed the size of my 5-qt. KitchenAid bowl.  The beater couldn’t reach the ingredients in the bottom, so I was forced into a series of culinary gymnastics to get things to work, NOT a good idea when you are working with hot liquid sugar.  I created a mess of spun sugar, said “eff it,” and carefully scooped out the pate a bombe so I wouldn’t pick up all the solidified sugar.  “Pate a Bombe” describes egg yolks beaten with a hot sugar syrup which has been heated to the soft ball stage. The mixture is the base for many mousse and buttercream recipes because it makes them more stable, particularly if they are to be frozen, so that they do not melt as quickly or collapse under the weight of heavier items.  Personally, I think all of that is a bunch of baloney, and that a pate a bombe is part of a nefarious plot to drive Daring Bakers round the bend.

In the end it all worked out.  Of course, I licked the bowl, the piping tip, the beaters, etc. . . .

The crisp:

I’m not sure what happened here, but I ended up with an enormous amount of rice krispies, scantily clad in a whisper of chocolate.  So naked were they, I think they were embarrassed.  So, this whole “roll out the crisp between two sheets of wax paper” never happened.  There was nothing rollable.  My advice:  cut the amount of cereal that the recipe calls for in half.

I think things worked out here, too, because a lot of other Daring Bakers said that the crisp layer was too hard to cut through.  I sprinkled my bronzed rice crispies on top of the mousse layer, and found that it was easy to cut later on.  I have a LOT of chocolate rice crispies left, and will have to find a way to feed them to Master Chow.  Chocolate rice krispie treats, anyone?

The Caramel-Chocolate Ganache:

I used my favorite baking chocolate for this, Valrhona 71%, which I get at Trader Joe’s.  I love that stuff.  To my utter shock, my caramel turned the perfect shade of amber on my first try.  When I added the boiling cream to the caramel, however, a chunk of it refused to melt into the cream, so I did what any sensible baker would do – I fished it out with a spoon (people, hot caramel is dangerous stuff so don’t take any chances), let it cool, and ate it.  Mmm, there is nothing like homemade caramel.  And lest you think I was slacking, I licked all the bowls and spatulas and beaters used to produce this confectionary marvel.

The Almond Dacquoise and an Amaretto Simple Syrup:

Nothing too difficult here, although I had never before made a dacquoise that had as much sugar added to the egg whites.  I ended up with almost a marshmallow-like egg white mixture, which I incorporated into the almond flour/confectioner’s sugar concoction, and then baked it.

I did add a little something when I was putting the dessert together:  I made an amaretto simple syrup and brushed both sides of the dacquoise with it.  Recipe:  Mix 1/4 cup sugar with 1/4 cup water in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil until sugar dissolves.  Shut flame off and add 2 Tbsp. of amaretto liqueur to the mixture.  Let cool, and brush on both sides of the cake layer.  You will have some extra left over, which you can use in your coffee or hot toddy.  Come to think of it, you may need a bit of caffeine and/or alcohol to get through this challenge.

The Icing:

The directions for the dark chocolate icing were very confusing, but I managed to muddle my way through.  I followed Tartellete’s advice and made a double batch of the stuff because she said it would make it easier to coat the log.  Boy, was she right.  My cocoa clumped, even though I sifted it, and I had to strain the whole thing through a fine mesh sieve.  Then I didn’t let it cool enough, even though the icing coated the back of a spoon, and it started to melt my log.  And, and, and . . . .  I think you get the picture.

This whole darn presentation thing is why I will not be a professional pastry chef.  Decorating is NOT my strong suit, and if anyone can tell me how to get the icing to encase the entire log, I’m all ears.  My log is naked and icing-less all around its bottom edge.  By the way, as the icing cools, it develops the texture of chocolate pudding.  Really, really good chocolate pudding.  I know because I ate a lot of it, and I have a stomach ache.  Sigh.  Back to the gym.

This was a fabulous dessert, and most definitely a challenge.  Thanks again, Hilda of Saffron and Blueberry and Marion of Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux!