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!