July Daring Bakers Challenge-Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake

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.

This challenge was a lot of fun, challenging but not too challenging.  I had no idea you could make ice cream without an ice cream maker and I had never even thought of making my own hot fudge!  I decided to mix things up a little and do different flavors of ice cream than the traditional chocolate and vanilla that Sunita did.  I chose to do mint chocolate chip and cherry, coconut ice cream.

For the mint chocolate chip, I used Sunita's recipe below but added a couple drops of mint extract before freezing. I finished the ice cream completely before adding the chips.  When I thawed the ice cream a little to put in the bombe, I mixed in some Andes baking chips.

The vanilla ice cream-
Preparation time-5 minutes+freezing
I have made the ice cream without an ice cream maker.
Ingredients-
2 and ½ C / 625 ml / 20 fl oz of whipping cream
1 vanilla bean, minced or 1 tsp/ 5 ml/ .15 fl oz vanilla extract
½ C / 115gms/ 4 oz of granulated sugar
Method-
Grind together the sugar and vanilla in a food processor. In a mixing bowl, add the cream and vanilla –sugar mixture and whisk lightly till everything is mixed together. If you are using the vanilla extract, grind the sugar on its own and then and the sugar along with the vanilla extract to the cream.
Pour into a freezer friendly container and freeze till firm around the edges. Remove from the freezer, beat till smooth and return to the freezer. Do this 3-4 times and then set completely.

I got the idea and the recipe for the Cherry Coconut ice cream from Tartlette.  Her recipe calls for rose infused cherry coconut ice cream, but for convenience I omitted the rose.  For this recipe too I waited to mix in the cherries and their juice until I had thawed the ice cream a little to put it in the bombe.

After I finished making the two ice creams I worked on the Swiss Roll.  That was the most challenging part for me.  My first attempt cracked, and stuck.  But, after some wonderfully helpful tips from Audax (see black italics added to recipe) my second attempt was a success!

Swiss roll ice cream cake (inspired by the recipe of the same name from the Taste of Home website)
The Swiss rolls-
Preparation time- 10 minutes
Baking time- 10-12 minutes
Rolling and cooling time- at least 30 minutes
Filling-5-8 minutes
Filling and rolling- 5-10 minutes
Ingredients-
6 medium sized eggs (I separated the eggs, let them come to room temperature for 20 minutes, then whipped the eggs separately)
1 C / 225 gms caster sugar /8 oz+ extra for rolling
6 tblsp / 45gms/ a pinch over 1.5 oz of all purpose (plain) flour (I used cake flour) + 5 tblsp/40gm /a pinch under 1.5 oz of natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted together
2 tblsp /30ml / 1 fl oz of boiling water
a little oil for brushing the pans
For the filling-
2C / 500 mls/ 16 fl oz of whipping cream
1 vanilla pod, cut into small pieces of about ½ cm (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
5 tblsp / 70gms/2.5oz of caster sugar
Method-

1. Pre heat the oven at 200 deg C /400 deg F approximately. Brush the 2 baking pans ( 11 inches by 9 inches) (I used 1 12x15 cookie pan with high sides, cooking all the dough in one pan at the same time) with a little oil and line with greaseproof baking paper. If you have just one pan, bake one cake and then let the pan cool completely before using it for the next cake.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add the egg yolks and sugar and beat till very thick; when the beaters are lifted, it should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds.  Whip the egg whites in a separate bowl, then mix the two egg mixtures together.

      3. Add the flour mixture, in three batches and fold in gently with a spatula. Fold in the water.
      4. Divide the mixture among the two baking pans and spread it out evenly, into the corners of the pans.
      5. Place a pan in the centre of the pre heated oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the centre is springy to the touch.
      6. Spread a kitchen towel on the counter and sprinkle a little lot of caster sugar over it.
      7. Turn the cake on to the towel and peel away the baking paper. Trim any crisp edges.
      8. Starting from one of the shorter sides, start to make a roll with the towel going inside. Cool the wrapped roll on a rack, seam side down (about 20 minutes).

      9. Repeat the same for the next cake as well. 

      Filling

1. Grind together the vanilla pieces and sugar in a food processer till nicely mixed together. If you are using vanilla extract, just grind the sugar on its own and then add the sugar and extract to the cream.

2. In a large bowl, add the cream and vanilla-sugar mixture and beat till very thick.

3. Divide the cream mixture between the completely cooled cakes.

4. Open the rolls and spread the cream mixture, making sure it does not go right to the edges (a border of ½ an inch should be fine).
5.Roll the cakes up again, this time without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge till needed, seam side down.
 
The Hot fudge sauce- I made this just after adding the first layer of ice cream.
Preparation time-2 minutes
Cooking time-10 minutes
Ingredients-
1 C / 230gms/ 8 oz of caster sugar
3 tblsp / 24gms/1.5 oz of natural unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tblsp /15gms/ 1 oz of cornflour/cornstarch
1 and ½ C /355ml /12 fl oz of water
1 tblsp /14gms/ 1 oz butter
1 tsp/5 ml / .15 fl oz vanilla extract
Method-

1. In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornflour and water.
2. Place the pan over heat, and stir constantly, till it begins to thicken and is smooth (for about 2 minutes).
3. Remove from heat and mix in the butter and vanilla. Keep aside to cool .

Assembly
1. Cut the swiss roll into slices as thin as possible (~2 cms--20 slices).
2. Line the inside of your bowl with plastic wrap.
3. Line the bowl with the swiss roll slices.
4.Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, soften one of the ice creams. Take the bowl out of the freezer, remove the cling film cover and add the ice cream on top of the cake slices. Spread it out to cover the bottom and sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze till firm (at least 1 hour). I would suggest at least 2 hours
6.  Add the fudge sauce over the vanilla ice cream, cover and freeze till firm. (at least an hour)
7. Soften the second ice cream and spread it over the fudge sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4-5 hours till completely set.  Mine took more like 8 hours.
8. Remove the plastic cover, and place the serving plate on top of the bowl. Turn it upside down and remove the bowl and the plastic lining. If the bowl does not come away easily, wipe the outsides of the bowl with a kitchen towel dampened with hot water. The bowl will come away easily. put serving dish and plates in freezer for at least 5 minutes before so bottom ice cream layer doesn't melt too quickly.
9. Keep the cake out of the freezer for at least 10 minutes before slicing, depending on how hot your region is. Slice with a sharp knife, dipped in hot water. 

Yum!  This cake was definitely delicious, it was another successful Daring Bakers challenge that I learned a lot from.
The dish was definitely a success!  The Cherry, coconut and mint flavors went together quite nicely!

May Daring Bakers Challenge -- Piece Montee

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.

I was a little intimidated by this challenge at first.  But after thoroughly reading and re-reading the recipe, I was pretty confident.  However, after making the Pate a Choux dough and piping it onto the pans I was a little concerned given that the dough didn't seem to be very thick.

Then, when I peeked through the oven window at the end of the first 10 minutes of baking I was even more nervous, they hadn't puffed very well.  So, I just left them in there for another 5 minutes at the higher temp before turning it down and they puffed PERFECTLY!!

Golden brown and PERFECT!  I went traditional by making vanilla creme, but I have a very, very terrible track record with melted sugar/caramel in past challenges.  So, I opted to go the less-traditional, easier route and glued my piece montee with milk chocolate.  At first it just tumbled down until my sharp husband quickly pointed out that I needed to wait a second or two for the chocolate to set up a little more.  And wala, it came together wonderfully!  I decorated with some sliced strawberries and got a beautiful croquembouche!  And I might say that it tasted delicious too!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this challenge.  How cool is it that I can make cream puffs now?  I thought I was so cool that I decided to make some for my co-workers, but this time I tried coloring the puffs.  But I failed!!!  They did not puff up at all, the dough was super runny.  So, I tried again without coloring the puffs...same thing.  So, either it was a first time luck kind of a deal or it was because my kitchen was so humid from cooking dinner when I tried the 2nd and 3rd time that it didn't work.  Who knows, but I'm about to try again today!  So, wish me luck.

Daring Bakers March Challenge--Orange Tian

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.

You can find the full recipe on the Daring Kitchen website.

This challenge involved making Pate Sablee, whipped cream, orange marmalade, orange segments, and caramel. Everything was pretty easy to make except I had trouble with the caramel--always do.  In fact, I still have scars from the burns from 2 weeks ago!  Thanks to the message board though, I had a tip to add a little bit of the orange juice to the sugar to start with and that worked much better.  Although I'm not sure it got as thick as it should.

We had the option of doing a family style or individual-sized Tians.  I went with family style in a 9" spring form pan, which was just easier for me. My oranges were a little tart, I can just imagine how heavenly it would be to pick fresh oranges from Florida, especially honeybells!!!  Next time we go pick some I'll definitely have to make this again.

We were so excited to try it that I forgot to drizzle the caramel on top.

Daring Bakers February Challenge--Tiramisu

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. 

When I took my tiramisu to work to share, I discovered that not everyone knows what it is (like I expected).  So, for a little description, tiramisu is an Italian dessert which translates to mean ‘pick me up’, supposedly referring to the ‘kick’ provided by the strong coffee, sugar and alcohol in it!

That presents my first problem, I don't drink coffee or alcohol.  So, I read some suggestions posted by others and read over the recipe to see how much of and how the coffee and alcohol are used.  And then came my substitute, Hot Chocolate!  Then, to add a little more chocolatyness I decided to add a layer of ganache (I think I may have a ganache addiction). 


This was quite the challenge, not only did we make Tiramisu, we made all the ingredients from scratch, the Marscarpone cheese, zabaglione and savoiardi biscuits (ladyfingers).  Plus, I made whipped cream from scratch.  I've never done that before, which is sort of funny because it's SO easy.  In fact, a friend of mine teases me for making everything from scratch, but yet she makes whipped cream from scratch and I don't.  She has told me once I tried it I'd never go back--and she is SO RIGHT!  

Speaking of whipped cream, that brings me to the many problems this challenge brought me.  First of all, don't mistake whipped cream with whipping cream--I did.  I made the whipped cream than used that in the next recipe that called for whipping cream.  When I discovered my mistake, I remade the whipped cream using some old heavy cream I still had in the fridge and which wasn't supposed to expire for a few more days.  I ran to the store for some whipping cream, and then when I got back and tasted the whipped cream I discovered that the heavy cream must've been bad.  Urgh!!!  So, rather than making another dash to the store I used store bought whipping cream.  I know, I'm bad....but I did make it once successfully, just didn't get to use it in the Tiramisu.

On to the next problem.  My lady fingers did not rise like they should've.

  And the recipe was supposed to make a lot more than I came up with, so my Tiramisu was a little shy on biscuits.  Although I don't think I would make this again (it was good just not quite worth all the effort), next time I would use a sifter to sprinkle the powdered sugar.

It was pretty fun getting to make my own cheese, how cool is that?  And it was pretty easy too.  I had trouble mixing the pastry cream and the zabaglione.  The recipe ought to say to stir fast--I was just stirring like you do making coconut cream pie (just enough to keep it from burning) and it was taking FOREVER.  After 30 minutes, my husband took over stirring while I went to read on the daring kitchen forums to see if anyone else was having this problem.  And within a couple of minutes he was calling out to me, letting me know they were thick--stirring quickly made all the difference.


To assemble the Tiramisu, I dipped my ladyfingers in hot chocolate (instead of espresso) and alternated a layer of those with the cream.  And in the middle I added some milk chocolate ganache to kick up the chocolate flavor.  



 

I used a springform pan.  It is a pretty loose dessert and doesn't really get firm.  But I was able to quickly take a snapshot of the entire Tiramisu before quickly putting the side of the pan back on.

  We each took a slice, drizzled with more ganache. 
And then I took the rest to work to share.

Daring Bakers January Challenge--Graham Crackers & Nanaimo Bars

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.

Nanaimo Bars are a classic Canadian dessert created in none other than Nanaimo, British Colombia. In case you were wondering, it’s pronounced Nah-nye-Moh. These bars have 3 layers: a base containing graham crackers, cocoa, coconut and nuts, a middle custard/butter cream frosting layer, and a topping of chocolate. They are extremely rich and available almost everywhere across the country.

You can find the full recipe on the daring kitchen website.

I was SO excited to see this posting!  Al is allergic to many things including eggs, dairy, wheat, yeast... which always makes baking allergen free a challenge. Not to mention I'm allergic to soy so that easy milk replacement is not so easy if we both want to eat it. I've been wanting to experiment with some alternative ingredients for a long time and this challenge (and Marika's food talk article "baking with alternative ingredients") was just the kick I needed! So, thank you thank you thank you to Lauren!

I made my graham crackers with the 3 flours that were listed in the recipe. The sweet rice four was actually the most difficult to find, but thanks to the tip of purchasing it at an Asian grocery store I was able to track it down. I then replaced the butter with coconut oil and the whole milk with coconut milk to make them dairy free. Next time I think I'll roll them out a little thinner, but even though they weren't that crispy they were delicious and most importantly Al likes them!! YEAH!

I then made the Nanaimo bars which were pretty good, I expected the center layer to be more custard-like and not so frosting-like but it was still good.

Then I made a second batch of Nanaimo bars but this time I made them completely allergen free. I replaced the egg with flax meal and water, the butter with coconut oil, and the heavy cream with coconut milk, and the semi-sweet chocolate with some dairy & soy free chocolate chips I found at the local health food store. It had a stronger coconut flavor but otherwise you couldn't really tell a difference.
Although I'm not a big fan of the Nanaimo bars I now have a delicious allergen free graham cracker recipe and some totally allergen-free baking experience under my belt--so again, THANK YOU Lauren for the great challenge!

Daring Baker's November Challenge--Cannoli

he 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.
 
Cannoli are known as Italian-American pastries, although the origin of cannoli dates back to Sicily, specifically Palermo, where it was prepared during Carnevale season, and according to lore, as a symbol of fertility. The cannoli is a fried, tube-shaped pastry shell (usually containing wine) filled with a creamy amalgamation of sweetened ricotta cheese, chocolate, candied fruit or zest, and sometimes nuts. Although not traditional, mascarpone cheese is also widely used, and in fact, makes for an even creamier filling when substituted for part of the ricotta, or by itself. However, cannoli can also be filled with pastry creams, mousses, whipped cream, ice cream etc. You could also add your choice of herbs, zests or spices to the dough, if desired. Marsala is the traditional wine used in cannoli dough, but any red or white wine will work fine, as it’s not only added for flavor or color, but to relax the gluten in the dough since it can be a stiff dough to work with.

You can find the full recipe on the daring kitchen website.

 I don't think my cannoli turned out quite right. They didn't bubble very much. Not sure if I didn't put in enough vinegar (I used apple juice instead of wine) or if I didn't roll it thin enough or if it was because the forms I used where not as thick as they should be (only 1/2" thick) so the dough wrapped around a few too many times. I might be fiddling with these again after Thanksgiving, but for now life is too complicated and busy to try again.
Many people commented that the dough was tough to roll out and they weren't kidding!
Here's my dough

Here are my cannoli shells with the forms I used

I couldn't find marscapone cheese (not that I looked too hard) so I just used ricotta and made the traditional filling. Not quite sure if it turned out right, I whipped that ricotta for what seemed like an eternity but it was still not "smooth" so I'm afraid it was a little too grainy. I'm not a fan of pistachios, so I didn't add that. Also, I wasn't sure if you were supposed to add the chocolate pieces and zest or pick one or the other. So, I made the traditional filling and added citrus to 1/3, and chocolate pieces to the other 1/3.
I also used some semi-sweet ganache, added some whipped cream to make a chocolate filling. So here you have from left to right, ganache, traditional, traditional with chocolate pieces, and traditional with orange zest.

I dipped some in ganache as well (not pictured) and used some homemade no-sugar-added apple pie filling to make a dairy-free option for a co-worker (also not pictured).
Although decorating a cake for the cake competition, and experimenting with cannoli and my husband making chili for a chili cook-off may have been too much for one weekend and one small galley kitchen--we survived...we just had to schedule the kitchen!!! And I did really enjoy trying something new, especially something I had never eaten before! Thanks for the great challenge Lisa!

Fall Cake Competition

The Daring Kitchen that I am a member of posted this cake competition about a month ago.  I really debated about whether or not I should enter because I hate making something I enjoy doing become a stressful challenge.  But when I decided to just do it for fun and gave myself ample room to back out even at the last minute, I went for it.

The Daring Kitchen, in conjunction with the U.S. Confection Connection, is offering one lucky person the chance to attend the New York Cake Convention from January 2 to January 5 on an all-expenses paid trip.

In addition to that all-expenses paid trip you also get to assist pastry chef Michelle Bonmarito

 I didn't really know who that was until I looked up her Bio and read that she had worked for Martha Stewart Omni-media and debuted on television when she helped Martha make the “Spring Garden Cake” in 2000.  When I read that I googled that cake and my suspicions were confirmed, in high school me and a friend got together one Saturday and replicated that cake--that was my first experience with cake decorating.  Wouldn't that be such a great story to tell if I won the cake competition?!?!?  Unfortunately, I am 100% confident that there are so many other cakes that were entered that were better than mine.  But at least my co-workers were amazed by it and it was a great hit!

  The cakes are judged on originality; execution; and best representation of Autumn but not on taste.  I made a chocolate cake, trimmed it up and layered the middle with mango jam.  I then strained the remaining mango jam and heated it up and poured it over the top and sides of the cake for a crumb coating.  Then I poured chocolate ganache on top of that.  I lined the edges of the cake with pecans (my Southern accent) and topped it off with a pile of chocolate leaves I had made.  I melted white chocolate, added some oil and food coloring and painted the back of washed leaves.  They then cool in the fridge for a few hours before I peeled off the leaves.  I named my entry "Fall Flare".  So, what do you think?

Daring Bakers October Challenge--French Macarons

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.

THE DARING COOKS OCTOBER 2009 CHALLENGE: MACAROONS

Before the challenge reveal date I had never eaten nor heard of a French Macaron.  To me, a macaroon was one of those chewy cookies made mostly of coconut.  I was a little intimidated by the challenge after reading so many posts about how these cookies are so hard, how successful macarons have large feet and you have to "age" your eggs, yada yada yada.  In my research I found that macarons come in every color possible and every flavor you can think of.  I was a little overwhelmed about the possibilities but decided that I needed to stick to as traditional of a version as I could get so I could experience a true macaron.  I posted on the forum and was informed that the most "traditional" would be to not flavor the cookie and to use nutella or ganache for the filling.  So, I decided on a semi-sweet and a white chocolate ganache.  

My next hurdle was finding almond flour.  After calling 4 stores I was about to give up and borrow a food processor to make my own, then I thought of one other option and I was in luck!  I did age my eggs as was suggested, but I wanted to make them over the weekend and the revel date was Thursday, so I only aged my eggs 2.5 days instead of the 3 days that were recommended.  I set the container of aged eggs out to come to room temperature (I probably should've taken the lid off the container) and it seemed like they were taking FOREVER!  So, I cheated a little on that, (I think they were still a good 45 minutes away from "room temperature") and off I went baking away.  Here is the recipe from Daring Bakers.


Ingredients
Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.
7. Cool on a rack before filling.
Yield: 10 dozen. Ami's note: My yield was much smaller than this. I produced about two dozen filled macaroons.

I didn't have any trouble mixing things up.  I only have one silicon pad, so I used some parchment paper too.   I went back and forth a little on small macaroons and larger ones.  But here are my beauties all piped out.

The next hurdle was my annoying oven. I really can't wait to buy a house and an awesome, reliable oven.  I swear our oven is off by 50 degrees, but because every time I count on it being off 50 degrees, I burn things.  So, I usually turn it up about 25 degrees.  But it turned out 25 was not enough.  Not knowing what they should look or taste like I was a little unsure if they were cooked completely, but after we each tasted a couple we decided that the first pan was indeed under-baked.  But, I just threw the pan back in the oven for a few minutes and it all worked out.

The recipe details weren't very clear if you should cool completely on the pan or on cooling racks.  But I quickly learned when the inner half of the cookies stayed on the pan that I needed to let them cool completely on the pan.   

One of the measures of successful macarons is that you have large "feet" (the airy looking bottom half).  I think I was successful on that measure :)

Here is a close up of the feet on my first pan.

Another measure of successful macarons is that they are not golden brown on top, you're supposed to pull them out just before they start browning.  But I was a little worried about under-baking the 2nd pan too so they got probably a little too brown, but still not bad.  And I think this second pan had even better feet than the first!

I made semi-sweet ganache and white chocolate ganache.  But we both found the semi-sweet to be a little too dark for our liking.  So, I ended up mixing some of the white chocolate with the semi-sweet to make a "milk" chocolate ganache.  

I think white chocolate was our favorite but both were absolute DELICIOUS!!!!  And the next day I came to realize that cooled macarons are even better because the ganache sets up enough that it doesn't squish out the sides of the sandwich---yum yum I'm craving them now!  I absolutely fell in love with French Macarons!  I have found a new favorite treat!  Just another reason why being a Daring Baker is so great, you're "pushed" to try something new that you probably wouldn't have ever even thought of trying and you end up finding something you love! 

And a pat on the back:  The non-procrastinating type Daring Bakers (like me) post our challenge pictures early on a forum only DB members can view.  I posted mine the first week of October (after making them on the 4th of October).  One of the two Daring Baker "Macaron experts", Tartelette, commented on mine saying "They turned out perfect! Great job!"  How cool is that?

Baking Overload--Whoopie Pies

Okay, I seriously need to take a baking vacation!  Not because I don't love it, but because I'm worried that that 5lbs I lost a couple months ago is going to come back in no time (it may already be back but I'm refusing to weigh).  I just noticed this picture on my camera and realized I never posted about it!  I made these about a month ago (I really did not realize how much I've been baking lately).  I often get in trouble food blog surfing on my lunch break, because then I just can't shake the urge to bake!  Al sent me a link to this news article about Whoopie Pies, which links you to this recipe.  I cheated a little and used store bought cream cheese frosting mixed with whipped topping (my favorite semi-homemade frosting).  But they were SO good!

At least every time I bake I'm sure to invite my friend/neighbor/co-worker Lisa over for some taste-testing.  She gave it an "amazing" rating :) The cheesecake with pecan pie in the center was given a "party in my mouth" rating :)

Martha Stewart Cupcakes--Boston Cream Pie

This was like 2 months ago, but this summer my sister bought me Martha Stewart's Cupcake cookbook.   And because I wanted to swear off baking for awhile (that didn't happen) to loose weight (that did happen), but also really wanted to try one of the cupcakes, I made these yummy and cute little Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes! 

They were very delicious but a bit messy to eat.  Al's convinced they should be filled with the cream instead of cut in half.  But I learned with these as I seem to be learning with any ganache, cream, ooey gooey centered dessert, that they taste even better and are way easier to eat when you let them cool in the fridge for a few hours.  Definitely making a mental note of that!

I also made the peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes for a work party earlier this month.  However, I overcooked 2 of the 3 dozen and didn't think the 1 salvaged dozen was that great (too dense for our liking).  But, everyone at worked RAVED about them, and for a good week!  I was even asked for the recipe!  I probably could've passed off the overcooked ones and they still would've loved them!  Didn't take a pic of those, didn't think they were picture worthy, but I guess I was wrong.

Pecan Pie inside of a Cheesecake

When Al and I were at our first BBQ judging event we heard that the previous night, at the "anything butt" contest, a cheesecake with a pecan pie inside was submitted!  Al was bound and determined from then on that we needed to make one ourselves.  So, after finding this recipe online and talking it up for a couple of weeks, Al finally convinced me to make it.  Saturday morning I happened to wake up early and by 8am I had 3 homemade pie crusts in the freezer and a pecan pie cooking in the oven!  On Sunday I made the candied pecans and the cheesecake (with the pie inside).

Then Monday we eagerly came home, hurried to eat dinner and then dove into this heavenly dessert!

Al's mom was waiting on the phone while I took pictures and cut into it, she was so impatient waiting to live vicariously through us while we took the first bites and reported how heavenly it was!

And if you were one of the 8 lucky ones that we work with and got a piece to try--yeah for you! 

Daring Bakers September Challenge--Vols Au Vent

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.

I was so excited when I heard about this challenge, a little nervous that it wouldn't work out but how fun to be able to say I made puff pastry!  I took advantage of the Labor Day 3-day weekend and made my puff pastry early in the month.  Everything went well, I didn't have any trouble with the butter melting and it was so convenient to be able to throw it in the fridge, run an errand or two, and then come back to it!  

The advantage of being a daring baker is that you end up trying recipes you wouldn't normally try.  And the host of the month has already tried the recipe and provides very helpful tips you don't normally find with a recipe.  This month I found those tips to be especially helpful and all worked well!  Here's my dough between turns. So pretty!

I happened to have 2 sizes of this scalloped heart cookie cutter, so I used that to form the vols au vents and I got a pretty good rise.  It took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to put in them, but I knew I wanted to make a dessert for sure.  I ended up making white chocolate mousse (receipe from The Joy of Cooking) and combined that with some slightly too runny vanilla-peach freezer jam.  They were SO delicious that I'm craving it now as I write this!

  One of those tips from the host suggested using the scraps to make something that doesn't need a lot of rise like cheese straws. That gave me the idea of making cinnamon & sugar straws, sticks, twists, whatever you want to call them.  So, that same weekend I made these beauties that also tasted pretty good.

The next weekend I finished using up my puff pastry by making more vols au vents.  This time I used a couple different sized cups and didn't seem to get as good of a rise, maybe because the dough was a little old?  This time I made a savory filling.  I filled them with cucumber dill sauce and hickory smoked chicken!  It was pretty good.  

Then, I used the scraps and made another item suggested by the host, Napoleons!  For some reason I've been wanting to make these and using my own homemade puff pastry made it even more fun.  I made the custard from scratch and just dusted the top with powdered sugar (recipe from The Joy of Cooking), rather than making the frosting you typically find on them at bakeries.  They were SO good!

 

Daring Bakers August Challenge--Dobos Torte

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.

The Dobos Torta is a five-layer sponge cake, filled with a rich chocolate buttercream and topped with thin wedges of caramel. (You may come across recipes which have anywhere between six and 12 layers of cake; there are numerous family variations!) It was invented in 1885 by József C. Dobos, a Hungarian baker, and it rapidly became famous throughout Europe for both its extraordinary taste and its keeping properties. The recipe was a secret until Dobos retired in 1906 and gave the recipe to the Budapest Confectioners' and Gingerbread Makers' Chamber of Industry, providing that every member of the chamber can use it freely.

Well, this was my first Challenge as a newbie Daring Baker and I semi-succeeded and semi-failed. I used the opportunity of being on vacation for a week at my in-laws house to attempt this intimidating challenge and I'm glad I did because it took me many, many hours over two days to only semi-succeed!

It was pretty cool making the sponge layers, I've never made a sponge cake before or a cake without using a cake pan. First you spread the pancake-like batter on parchment paper and bake for just a few minutes and you get this perfectly thin sponge cake layer!











Day One I made 6 of these sponge cake layers and the buttercream frosting. We were given the option of varying the flavor of the buttercream, being inspired by my husband and living in peach capital (not GA) I chose peach buttercream. I planned on doubling the frosting but I doubled every ingredient except for the butter! But it was too late once I discovered my mistake. I tried to fix it but ended up ruining it--too late to start a new batch. So, I wrapped up my layers of sponge cake and ended for the day.

Day two, I remade the peach buttercream better than ever and also made some white chocolate buttercream for the top (a mistake, should've just stuck with the one kind). I assembled the cake alternating sponge with peach buttercream.
Then, I poured the kind of runny white chocolate buttercream that I hoped would thicken up--but didn't. So I ended up with this runny layer on top.

Next I made the caramel, which I luckily tasted before putting on the cake and discovered it had an extra strong lemon flavor and was burnt! This was at about 9:30pm on day two, and I was not in the mood to try again. I also opted not to add the decorative, optional nuts to the side due to allergies of family members that would be eating it.

So, this was my final product, runny white chocolate buttercream frosting and all.And to top it all off, I discovered that I don't like sponge cake ;)
But I did learn some new techniques--hopefully next month I'll be more successful.