Go Canada Go

This month's DB challenge, Tiramisu, wasn't really a challenge to make because while multi-step and somewhat time consuming, each step was easy itself. But that doesn't detract from how great this month's recipe was. It was quite a revelation on how easy it was to make mascarpone cheese and at a fraction of the cost to buy it from the grocery store. The same thing can be said for the lady fingers and they tasted so much better and fresher than their store bought counterparts. I won't be buying either of these again!

I had always stayed away from Tiramisu because I don't like (hate!) coffee flavoured desserts. But thanks to the many wonderful flavour combinations of other DBers posted on our forum, I realized that of course you could maintain the integrity of the dessert while playing with some of its components and flavours. I've got to get out of my "in the box" thinking....why I didn't think to experiment with flavour before is beyond me!

Although, truth be told, I wasn't that adventurous this time around because I've been determined to use things in my pantry before hitting the grocery store yet again. Since I still had some wonderful strawberry sauce and simple syrup made from last summer's amazing local berries, I had to make yet another strawberry dessert! I'm kind of tired of posting about strawberry challenges but my guests were not disappointed in eating this latest version. And of course it was very patriotic in its colours as we cheered on Canada to many gold medals over the weekend!!!



Since I don't tend to like serving was looks just like pudding to guests (don't want them to think that I didn't make an effort), I decided to layer the Tiramisu as suggested in the challenge. I took the advice of other DBers and froze it until about 1/2 hour before serving, cut it and placed in the fridge until ready to use. The slices came out cleanly, but there really wasn't the amount of cream that I thought and of course the strawberries were frozen and tasteless. Doh!! So, I took a picture of the layered dessert but then cut it up into cubes, added more strawberry sauce, whipcream and berries to fill out the glass bowls and put it in the fridge to defrost. What a huge hit. Bowls were scraped clean.

Thanks to Deeba and Aparna for a fantastic challenge.

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.

Olympic Champion of Squares

There's a new super hero in our house and his name is Muk Muk - official Olympic sidekick. Now don't get me started on why the Olympic organizing committee felt a need to differentiate between Olympic mascots (Sumi, Quatchi and Miga) and their sidekick Muk Muk. It has just resulted, as far as I can see, in less merchandise with Muk Muk on it which was a problem in our house when the top three requests on Santa's list were Muk Muk items! But we were dauntless in our search and in the end there were very happy kids on Christmas day with Muk Muk merchandise/clothing aplenty.

So when making this month's DB challenge, the quintessential Canadian Nanaimo Bars, it was only fitting that Muk Muk figured into the photo session. Here he is on top of his Nanaimo podium enjoying his moment in the sun. Every marmot has his day!

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.

Most members have noted that the bar is decadent and it is, but not sickeningly so. It is the perfect blend of chocolate, creamy custard and fudgy base. Easy to put together and slice, minimal cooking effort and maximum flavour. I did have problems with my chocolate seizing, and I have to admit that I was too lazy to start again to get a better looking result since it tasted fine. So I lost gold medal points for execution but everyone gave it a first place finish for taste. Head over to the DB website for the recipe so you have a batch to eat while enjoying the sportsmanship of the 2010 Olympics. Go Canada Go!

Gummi Party

I had no intentions of making this month's Gingerbread House challenge. While intuitively I knew that making homemade gingerbread should be no harder than rolling out sugar cookies, it just seemed like a lot of work for something that rarely gets eaten. But I had a few eager elves that wanted to try their hands at it and I was more than happy to co-opt their efforts for this month's DB challenge!

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.



My youngest nephew was the head chef and with the help of Grandma prepared the dough. He came up with the idea of a ski chalet which is perfect for our typical wintery Christmas Day except this year we were enjoying an unseasonably mild green Christmas. At least it would be wintery in our gingerbread world. The template was made, the dough cut out and put in the oven with a little trepidation as it seemed a little crumbly and I was worried that it wouldn't hold together. But everything came out well and with help from his oldest brother, the architect in training, the chalet with wrap around porch was constructed solidly.



And once the middle brother came up with the gummi bear party theme, all the kids were pitching together while dinner was cooking to put together the most rocking gummi party ever! Who can resist those little bears with their mugs, lining up for their drinks apres-ski. I couldn't believe how much fun they all had and we all agreed that it was better than the store bought model they used every other year. I may be biased but I think this is the most whimsical ski chalet and I'm glad I could be a part of it - if from a viewer perspective rather than as a baker. What a wonderful Christmas memory and one sure to be repeated.



Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! See you in the new year and here's to another year of fun and challenging recipes with the Daring Bakers.

Kelly

You say Macaron, I say yum!

I can't imagine a better souvenir to bring someone back from Paris than Pierre Herme macarons. And I was the lucky recipient of 6 of these tasty treats last month when my sister thoughtfully brought them back from her anniversary trip. Congrats on your 20th wedding anniversary Michelle and Stewart!

These cookies really did live up to their hype and price. Even after a few days trip to get to me, they were still everything you would expect these cookies to be. While initially skeptical, Ishapan proved to be my favourite followed closely by the salted caramel. I even liked the mint and that's not normally a flavour that I enjoy.

The Daring Bakers were in sync with me this month and the challenge was none other than the macaron. 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.

I have made macarons in the past so luckily I've gotten my failures out of the way. The batch that was overbeaten and came out as flat disks, the batch that stuck to the parchment paper, the batch that cracked...

Here's a picture of the eventual success. And don't think the failures went to waste. I crumbled up those attempts, froze them and pulled them out finally to use as filling in brownie mousse cakes. Thanks to Ami for a great challenge.

Marshmallow cookies

In reading other Daring Baker blogs, I've noticed that those of us in the midst of summer aren't baking as much as we had in the winter and spring. But it's not due on my part to the sunny, warm weather keeping me outdoors. This has been one of the coldest and rainiest summers we've had in recent memory. Nonetheless, I'm enjoying the slower pace of summer, spending time with the kids and generally relaxing. Luckily I've frozen a lot of my baking from the winter and can pull it out when friends come over for a drink (huddled) on our deck!

While campfires this year are being used mainly for warmth, I have enjoyed roasting a few marshmallows. Other than in their toasty form (or in Rice Krispie treats), I can't say I'm a huge fan of marshmallow cookies. I never asked for them as a kid and I still pick out the marshmallow layer from Wagon Wheels and just eat the chocolate top and cookie base. But this month we were challenged with making them.

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.

While I appreciated the simplicity of making cookies, I think the kids enjoyed these ones more than the adults. And I have to admit that I used the "out" provided this month and didn't make homemade marshmallow and simply used store bought. Still, I'm glad that I finished the challenge and look forward to seeing what's next.

Tea time in the garden

This month was a first for me. The posting day dawned today and I hadn't yet made this month's Bakewell Tart. Not for lack of interest in doing it but life sometimes finds away of charging ahead without you sometimes. But I wouldn't let this be the first challenge I would miss in a year and half of being a Daring Baker. And the good thing was that the recipe had few elements and could be put together in the morning before heading out to the enjoy the day picking local strawberries.

I had made my rhubarb-orange jam earlier this month when a friend passed on some of her plentiful rhubarb to me. Never having loved this vegetable as a kid, I've discovered how wonderful it is in baking. The jam is fantastic and probably my favourite part of this challenge.

The rest of the tart is almondy, puffy and a perfect complement to the jam. I couldn't resist taking pictures of it in the garden to show off some of my beautiful flowers. Since it was such a cold spring, I wasn't sure how things were going to fare. I've been pleasantly surprised to see what's survived. Enjoying my tart with tea in the garden was the perfect midmorning break. A few bunny friends thought so too...!

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.

Strudelicious

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.

Coming from a very German community, strudel was ever present during apple season in the Fall. But because I don't like cooked raisins, I was never a huge fan. Thanks to this month's challenge, I was able to make strudel the way I like it. And in a nod to spring, I added strawberry and rhubarb to the requisite (at least in our city) apple filling.

Surprisingly the dough was a treat to work with in terms of stretchability. It was almost too pliable - I found many a time my sides got stuck together when I was done stretching and put it back on the table. I got very few holes but I must not have wrapped it too well because during the baking process it split open on one side and a lot of the strawberry juices came out. So, unfortunately, I didn't give Jason much too work with during shooting (beige on beige!) but he did great with what he had.

I'm glad I had the chance to work with strudel dough but I'm not sure that I'll do it again. I found it lost its crispiness and flakiness pretty soon after baking and I didn't love it so much that I'd want to do it at the last minute for best results. If I'm going to be running around baking right before guests come over, it needs to be an "out of the park" experience and this was maybe a base hit, both in terms of taste and presentation. If you want a similar fruit dessert but with more shelf life, I would recommend the Danish from one of the last summer's DB challenges.

Kelly

Cheesecake

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

I looove cheesecake. And I love how easy it is to make, yet how impressed people are when you serve it. I think people have the mistaken impression that cheesecake is hard to make, or maybe too expensive or maybe too time consuming to make at home. I find it to be a dessert that is a crowd pleaser and great for dinner parties since it can (should) be made in advance.

This time I decided to try a version that I've had recently at one of our high end restaurants. I made the DB recipe using a plain vanilla flavouring and no graham cracker base. After refrigerating overnight, I sliced individual pieces and wrapped each in butter coated layers of phyllo. Baked in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees, the cheesecake came out warm and gooey with a crisp phyllo coating. I finished it off with a simple mango coulis. Absolutely decadent!! I can't recommend this twist on the standard cheesecake enough.

"Cook-up" dessert lasagna

I love a good lasagna. Who doesn't?!? But since my blog focuses on the sweet, I decided to forgo the typical tomato based lasagna and make a sweet variation using a slight modification of the noodle recipe that is part of this month's DB challenge. I removed the spinach and replaced it with a little more egg and water to hold the dough together. All other steps were the same as the posted recipe which can be found here.

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

Why "cook-up" lasagna? In my house growing up, my mom would often make "cook-up" rice which is what she called rice combined with whatever leftovers we had in the fridge. When I looked into my fridge and freezer this month, I saw the remnants of past desserts that needed to be cleared out and I though the lasagna was the perfect recipe for that. I had little bits of lemon curd, whipping cream, and homemade strawberry sauce. Add in a 1/4 pint of strawberries and a small tub of ricotta and the idea was born.

The pasta dough came together quite easily and was nicely smooth and elastic to work with. I enjoyed mixing and kneading the dough but hand rolling it to right thinness was a different story. I'm sure a pasta roller would make this step much easier and efficient but with all of the kitchen gadgets I currently have and the lack of space for more, it's not one that I will be investing in any time soon. Homemade noodles are good, don't get me wrong, but there are other things that I like to take the time to make that give a better return in terms of taste and cost savings over store bought. To me it's like making puff pastry - not necessarily worth the time and effort given some excellent products that you can buy off the shelf for a reasonable price.

Once the noodles had dried and I cooked them for a few minutes in salted, boiling water, I was ready to assemble. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly everything came together and how easy the noodles were to work with. The layers got a little soft while I prepared to photograph them but I thought it gave an a homey feel to the presentation. The taste was awesome and my only complaint was that the softness of the fillings made for a difficult time in cutting precise pieces. It ended up looking a bit like slop on the plate - although very tasty slop!! Not a dessert I would serve to guests but one that was fun to make nonetheless. Thanks to Mary, Melinda and Enza for another great challenge. Come check out the new Daring Kitchen website to see all the great creations and lots of fun and informative forums and articles.

Kelly

I ♥ chocolate

February and chocolate goes together hand in hand. OK, chocolate and anything goes together hand in hand in my book! I couldn't have been happier to make a flourless chocolate cake this month and pair it with homemade vanilla ice cream.

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.

I've never made ice cream before and was a little anxious to see how it would come out without using an ice cream maker. Well, I need not have worried as the ice cream was fabulous and not too difficult to do. In honour of my dear friend Shelly's birthday, I decided to serve the cake and ice cream as part of a grown up version of a sundae bar. Caramel ginger sauce, homemade strawberry preserves, waffle cookies (from a fabulous recipe at King Arthur Flour), vanilla infused whipcream. Wowsers!

Hope you extended the sweetness of Valentine's Day over the entire month and enjoyed lots of chocolate along the way! See you in March.

A spoonful of sugar

After a December of hibernating indoors, eating rich meals and even richer desserts, drinking, talking and too little time spent exercising, January has come and brought with it a renewed energy for getting out and enjoying winter. The snowy weather came very early this year so it felt like the Christmas indulgences extended over a very long period. Not that I'm complaining. Christmas is my favourite time of year and I love all the times we gathered with family and friends to enjoy a great meal and even better company.

But January has made me realize how much I need to get out in the fresh (very fresh!) air and embrace winter. Being a person who loves the sun and is constantly cold, this isn't the easiest thing to do but it does give me the energy to get through the often long, dark days.

So, all this exercise and renewed energy has allowed me to keep up with my baking and avoid making any nasty New Year's resolutions about cutting out yummy indulgences that make life worth living. Not that I didn't appreciate that this month's DB challenge called for making something light. This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Baking Soda and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux. While I can't say that lemon mousse is light in the calorie sense, it sure tastes light and wonderful on the tongue!

Tuiles are made from an easy dough to put together. The ingredient list isn't long or costly. The only tricks I found to making them is to spread the batter evenly so that you get the brown edges and pale center you're looking for and to get them out of the oven and shaped quickly before they are too hard to take the form you want.

Taking inspiration from some pics that I saw on Flickr, I made my tuiles in the shape of spoons to enjoy as a small indulgence with coffee. The lemon mousse recipe was adapted from the December challenge and comes together nicely. I'll admit that I punched up the yellow to give me the sunshine that I've been missing and craving.
Thanks to Christine for her wonderful pictures of the tuiles. She is such a talented photographer - making quick work of the job and letting her exuberance shine forth in whatever she does. Check out her awesome website at www.clickphotography.ca and be prepared to be dazzled by her body of work.

I'm also throwing in a picture of macarons that I finally thought were getting closer to what I see in all of my favourite blogs. These date back to the December challenge when I had extra egg whites to use up. Unfortunately I decided to store them in a ziploc bag in my freezer (all tins being having been filled with Christmas cookies) and many didn't survive my ins/outs of the freezer all holiday season. These were the best of the remaining ones - I'm saving all of the broken pieces to add to some dessert element in the future. Maybe February's challenge will give me just that opportunity...
Kelly

Another year...another log!

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.

The Daring Bakers decided to welcome in this holiday season with another traditional French yule log. This version of the yule log was a multi-step, mousse based version. Instead of the buttercream and genoise cake of last year, this year saw a more traditionally European style dessert. Each version is a wonderful addition to any holiday table and I'm not sure I can pick my favourite. Each had its wow factors.

Last year's log was an almond genoise rolled around a buttercream filling and topped with more mocha and rum flavoured buttercream. The decoration was a rustic and somewhat realistic looking log decorated with almond paste mushrooms. The Italian meringue buttercream was wonderfully silky, subtle and the perfect complement to the airy cake.

This year's log has a dacquoise base and I used a hazelnut version. It made a very light and airy base for the dessert. Then there are layers of chocolate mousse, creme brulee insert, praline feuillette for crunch and chocolate ganache. The whole log is then covered in the most decadent chocolate icing which I ate, in large part, right out of the bowl! The finished dessert is frozen for stability and then when brought back at room temperature for 1/2 hour or so. It tastes wonderfully decadent with each layer bringing its own flavour profile to the table. On the whole it may be a little more work than the buttercream version given the various components that need to be assembled. But many of the layers can be made in advance so the work could be spread out over two days. I also had fun creating a chocolate clay poinsettia for decoration.

Thanks to Hilda and Marion for a wonderful recipe. A big thanks also to my photographer Jason who has, by taking photos each month, by default taken on the monthly DB challenge with me. He patiently listens to my vision for the pictures and how I see the dessert being photographed and then does his own thing! The good thing is that his vision always results in a great shot and I'm very grateful for the time and effort he puts in to taking the pictures, editing, sizing them and sending them to me. A big shout out to Shelly as well who never begrudges the time this process takes. Christmas is the perfect time to count your blessings. We've been so happy this year to find such good friends across the backyard fence which now has a section removed and a well worn (and snowplowed!) path between our back doors.

Happy Holidays everyone!

How Sweet It Is

This month's challenge was a return to sweet. And when I say sweet, I mean really sweet! Thanks to Dolores (http://culinarycuriosity.blogspot.com/), Alex ( http://blondieandbrownie.blogspot.com/), Jenny (http://forayintofood.blogspot.com)/and Natalie (http://glutenagogo.blogspot.com/), this month the Daring Bakers tackled Shuna Fish Lydon's signature Caramel Cake.

While I have developed a sweet tooth in recent years, I still find caramel can be, on the whole, a little too sweet when eaten in large amounts. So I decided to stick to cupcake size portions this month. I also tried to tone down the sweetness of the icing by adding some salt and cutting out some of the sugar. I was happy with the results and with the decision to keep things simple in terms of the quantity (6 small cupcakes), icing and decoration. The photos are another story! I was unable to get to my neighbourhood photographer in time (everyone was clambering for a cupcake) so I had to tackle the pictures myself. Let's just say they don't do justice to the results.

I also decided to try the caramels this month. I've not had good luck with candy making in the past so I looked forward to the challenge. Unfortunately, even with the advice of other DBers, and not letting the caramel get above 240 on the candy thermometer, my caramel came out as hard as a rock. More the consistency 9f a (stale) McIntosh caramel bar than a Kraft caramel!! So working on the philosophy of "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade", I put the tooth breaking caramel into the food processor, ground it up and used it to make Toffee Shortbreads. A much better result! I got the recipe from the Robin Hood flour website and they will be a yummy addition to my Christmas cookie tins and trays.

December marks my 1 year anniversary with the Daring Bakers and I haven't missed a challenge yet!! I've had so much baking with this group, trying new recipes and making friends along the way. Can't wait to see what December brings!

RECIPE SOURCE: Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon (http://eggbeater.typepad.com/), as published on Bay Area Bites (http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2006%20…%20he-recipe/)

Golden Vanilla Bean Caramels from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich, Artisan Press, Copyright 2007, ISBN: 978-1579652111.

Kelly

Pizza Fridays

Friday nights are eagerly anticipated by everyone in our family. Not only is it the start of the weekend, but it generally means pizza and movie night with friends. The kids love to make a large fort with blankets and chairs from which to watch the movie or we all hunker down on a giant "pillow pile" and fight for the best viewing space and comfiest position.

Sometimes the pizza is store bought but more often than not it's homemade and we experiment with different recipes to make the perfect crust. This month's DB challenge fed right into pizza night with Peter Reinhart's pizza dough recipe. The dough came together easily on Thursday night, although I did find it stickier than what I was used to. Apparently there is a higher ratio of water than with the more typical pizza dough recipe. The disks went into the fridge for an overnight rest to be brought out Friday afternoon for tossing, forming, topping and eating.

Well, tossing the dough wasn't a huge success - given its pliability, the dough didn't really need tossing and after a few halfhearted attempts, we decided to simply stretch it out and free form it into circles. Everyone topped their own pizzas from a selection of traditional toppings - mushrooms, black olives, pepperoni, onion, red pepper, and tomato.

The oven was turned up to 500F and the pizza stone was preheated as directed. However, despite being in the oven over 18 minutes (twice as long as the recipe called for), it never got the crispy all over crust that I get from my usual dough recipe. It eventually did come together but I found the recipe more finicky and more work than what I traditionally use and the results not really any different in terms of taste. I was kind of surprised to read how much others really liked their results. Maybe I was missing something?!? Oh well, with the red wine flowing and dominoes out, a good time was had by all.

Thanks again to my resident photography for the great pics and to Rosa of Rosa's Yummy Yums for a great challenge.

You say cracker, I say pita!

This month was a first for me - the Daring Baker's recipe for September was one I had already baked previously. Unfortunately, it was one that I wasn't particularly impressed with the results. A few months ago I had a hankering for lavash crackers and turned to bread baking guru Peter Reinhart in great anticipation of a cracker that surpassed store quality and didn't break the bank. However, the crackers ended up more chewy than crispy and none of my toppings stayed on the cracker when cut.

So while I was excited to try a vegan recipe this month from Shel (Musings from the fishbowl) and Natalie (Gluten a-go-go), I can't say that the recipe was one I was expecting much from. But the good thing though with having a private DB discussion board is that I got to learn from others' experiences and found out that many had rolled the dough thicker and turned the crackers into pita. What a great idea and I had a much better result. The kids asked to take it to school for lunch for 3 days running!

To complement the pita I made my standby bruschetta dip with the end of season tomatos and basil. Throwing in some green onions, garlic, olive oil and balsamic vinegar makes for a quick and tasty topping for just about anything.

I know I say it every month, but what a great challenge! And thanks to Shelly for her usual great pics.

Kelly

Eclairs in August

August was an especially hectic (but fun) month for us. With all of the birthday parties, camping trips, barbecues and day trips to amusement parks, I never really found the perfect time to make this month's challenge. And it wasn't for the lack of a good recipe - Pierre Herme and chocolate is the ultimate combination. Thanks to Meeta of What's for Lunch Honey? and Tony of Tony Tahhan, August's DB challenge was Pierre Herme's chocolate eclair recipe.

But with the deadline looming and not wanting to miss my first challenge in almost a year, I bit the bullet and decided to make the eclairs this past Thursday and Friday. With a birthday party to host at the same time and packing for the last camping trip of the summer on Saturday, let's just say that I had a few early (really early) mornings before work making all the things that I needed to get done. Luckily the eclairs turned out to be the easiest part of the equation. (Don't even get me started on the birthday cake that started out as a princess cake but ended up a crown. Not my finest baking moment but luckily the preschool crowd isn't judgmental - they love anything pink and sparkley and can use their imaginations to see a crown where the rest of us see a lumpy mess of a cake!!)

I started with the pastry cream and other than using quite a few dishes and utensils during the process, the cream was easy to make and tasted fantastic. It went into the fridge while I worked on the choux pastry (and cleaned up the mess!) I have made choux pastry many times before in baking class and this recipe was pretty much the same that I was used to. I did love a tip found on the DB private website of piping long rows of the choux, freezing them then cutting to the size you want. Made things very easy. I had read how many people found that their eclairs fell after baking. So I followed the advice and cooled them slowly after baking by keeping the oven door open. They came out great. I did find, though, that sitting overnight made them a little soft so I reheated them in the morning in the oven to puff them back up.

The morning of the party turned out to be more hectic than expected so I took advantage of homemade caramel that I had in the fridge rather than making a chocolate glaze. I covered the top with the caramel and swirled in a little chocolate that I also had around. I quickly got my very good and understanding friend Shelly to pull out her camera and take some pics before they were in the fridge ready for the party later. They were a big hit and I must say that the chocolate pastry cream was fantastic. Definitely a filling that I would use again. Can't wait to see what September brings!

Kelly

Celebrating marriage and cake!

My in-laws have great timing. Their birthdays fell during the May Daring Bakers challenge and I was able to present them with a stunning opera cake (if I do say so myself!) in celebration of their special days. This month was their 44th wedding anniversary and Daring Bakers didn't disappoint. Chris of Mele Cotte picked a truly decadent and impressive Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream which was a lovely dessert to mark another milestone in their long and wonderful marriage. As much as my husband is supportive of my baking hobby, I think my father-in-law is my most ardent cheerleader as he has an incredible sweet tooth (though he will deny it!) and loves to be the recipient of my many baking creations.

With their anniversary on a patriotic July 4th (although us being Canadians, our holiday was on July 1st), I didn't have much time to preassemble some of the cake components, only having learned of the challenge on July 1st. Added to this, I had already committed to making a cake for a friend's father for the same day. Luckily, I was able to double the buttercream recipe and use it for both cakes, saving a good amount of time in the process. I also had filberts (aka hazelnuts) already in the freezer and lots of eggs and butter in the fridge.

I started out with the genoise and decided to make a 6" diameter cake. I had my usual problem of not being able to grind my nuts in the food processor as fine as I would like. I wanted the consistency of a nut flour (powdery, dry) but instead got more of a grainy texture. I think it's from chopping the nuts rather than grinding (mashing) them but unfortunately none of the other Daring Bakers were able to provide suggestions for a finer texture other than simply pulsing the nuts more. If I can't find a method that I like, I think I will start buying the more expensive nut flour so that I get a finer texture to the genoise.

The buttercream was a delight as usual. The French and Italian meringue methods are so much better than the American method of icing sugar in shortening (what is typically used for Wilton cakes and are too sweet!) The top was a wonderful glassy mirror but the sides showed every lump in the layers. Next time, I would do a second bath in the ganache to smooth out the layers. Luckily I had some gumpaste roses saved from a previous cake job which saved time with the decorating.

Here's a picture of my friend's cake. Since it had to be transported by car an hour away along bumpy roads to a cottage without the luxury of a passenger to make sure it didn't move, I decided to simplify my original plans and use cookies along the side in hopes that it would survive the journey intact. The cake was made using Dorie's Black and White Cake recipe, the praline buttercream, and store bought cookies (I just didn't have the time to make them myself). Apparently it survived the journey very well and was a hit at the party. As usual my neighbour Jason stepped in to take great pictures while his wife Shelly and I relaxed on the back deck enjoying a refreshing glass of white wine. Summertime and the living is easy!!

Danishes in June

When I first read that the Daring Bakers challenge this month was a danish braid, I have to admit that I didn't have my usual feelings of excitement for the challenge to come. In the baking classes that I took last fall, danish dough was probably one of my least favourite doughs to make. I found that it was one of those rare baked goods that wasn't an improvement over the store bought variety.

But as a good Daring Baker knows, there is always something to be learned with a challenge and being part of the forum discussing the highs and lows of a challenge is worth the price of admission! So I forged ahead with the recipe and boy was I glad that I did. This recipe was awesome!!!! I only wish I could transmit the smells coming from my oven as the dough first proofed (I love using the oven light for perfect proofing temp) and then baked.

I know that some DBers found the dough a little difficult to work in terms of having oozing butter or being too elastic to roll out properly. I actually had a good experience on both accounts. I was in no hurry to make the dough so I had lots of time to let the dough rest in the fridge between turns and let the butter firm up before rolling out again. While it took a good 2-3 hours to complete all of the turns, the actual work during that period was quite minimal. If the dough ever got too elastic to roll, I just let it rest for a few minutes and that seemed to do the trick. When I cut the dough in half to freeze one portion for later use, I was thrilled to see all of the distinct layers and had a pretty good idea that I was going to have a good result this time around.

Choosing what to fill the braid with was a daunting task at first. Our private DB website had so many good options from savory to sweet, seasonal strawberries to fall apples, from nutty and crunchy to honey sweet. With our local strawberries coming into season though, the choice was made for me in the end. I started with a base of cream cheese mixed with ricotta and vanilla bean seeds. I then added a strawberry jam made with our local berries. The layers baked up golden, flaky and gave just a hint of the strawberry goodness underneath.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a photographer to take pics early Tuesday morning when I decided to bake the braid. So I ventured outside in the garden myself and did my best with the early summer flowers. I'm hoping that when I get around to baking the second half of the dough (I'm thinking Nutella, dark chocolate and toasted hazelnuts) I'll be able to switch these pictures with more artistic shots from one of my talented photographer friends.

Thanks to Kelly and Ben for this challenge - for being so quick to respond to questions on the DB website and for providing the push necessary to revisit a technique that I vastly underrated. Also thanks to Jasmine who was gracious enough to sit down with me one night to go over the ins and outs of starting up my own blog, patiently answer all of my questions (no matter how silly!) and provide inspiration with her beautifully photographed, informative and well written blog. And her recipe book collection is a wonder to behold - her house was an Aladdin's den of written treasures :-)

Kelly

Not your usual birthday song and cake

Thanks to this month’s DB challenge, brought to us by our fearless founders Lis and Ivonne and newbies Fran and Shea, I was able to make my in-laws a special birthday cake for their double birthday. In the spirit of the Opera cake challenge, we brought the cake to the table while singing “Happy Birthday” in our best operatic voices. The singing was hilarious due to our almost tone-deaf rendition, but the cake was a huge hit!

Like what I imagine a well choreographed opera would be to bring to the stage, there was much preparation in advance of the birthday dinner. I was grateful for a recipe that could be prepped and assembled mostly all in advance and I took advantage of that by spreading out the steps over 2 days. I decided to keep the flavours clean by sticking to an almond and vanilla palette.

The simple syrup was flavoured with almond extract and the buttercream had hints of almond as well.

The jaconde was a pleasure to make. I mistakenly bought whole almonds rather than blanched so the texture was a little “grittier” than I would have liked but it still turned out light and moist. The buttercream was fabulous although I did have my first curdling experience. My mixture cooled down too much before I added all of the butter resulting in a disappointing mess in my mixer. Thanks to past DB challenges, I figured out the problem and solution quickly. I reheated 25% of the mixture and whipped it back in to bring it all together. It was silky, smooth and I would double the amount next time to make sure everyone got a generous helping.

The white chocolate ganache/mousse was a wonderful addition to the cake. The delicate flavour was enhanced by the addition of Baileys. I think this was my favourite layer of the cake. My only disappointment was the white chocolate glaze which I found a little too sweet and overpowering – especially covering the delicate flavour of the underlying mousse. I would either make a thinner layer in the future or try to find a substitute.

Thanks again to my talented neighbourhood photographer Jason who took stunning pictures again this month. The DB experience wouldn’t be so much fun if I had to muddle my way through the photography and food styling process with my little point and shoot camera!

Kelly

More is More

Without an occasion to celebrate this month and no dinner party planned, I have to admit that I procrastinated a bit with April's DB challenge. That's not to say that I don't love cheesecake. I often make cheesecake as I find it's one of those desserts that even the most picky dessert eater will like and it looks impressive without having to put much effort into it. The benefit of my late start was that I was armed with the experience of those early DBers who found that a cooking time of 35-45 minutes didn't fully cook the cheesecake base. This is just one of the reasons I love being part of this group - getting the benefit of everyone's experiences, be they good or bad. I haven't had a challenge yet where I haven't learned something; either a new technique, a new flavour combination or just how to relax and enjoy the baking experience.

I decided to make a half recipe and used an 8" square glass dish in the water bath. I cooked the batter for 50 minutes. The cheesecake came out set, there was no cracking on the top and it had a lovely creamy colour. I refrigerated the pan overnight and then formed the balls the next morning. My friends will tell you that I tend to be an everything at right angles, clean lines kind of person. I don't usually gravitate towards dessert presentations that are more rustic in appearance (unless the rustic presentation looks like it was carefully planned to be that way - totally against the rustic philosophy!!!) So I was a little out of my comfort zone when I started to form the cheesecake balls and they weren't coming together in the perfectly symmetrical, smooth round balls that I envisioned in my mind. My hands became coated with cheesecake and the balls were a little "squatter" than the look I wanted.

I ended up freezing the cheesecake and using cooking spray on my hands so that the process was less messy and I had more time to get the desired shape. But since they still weren't as smooth as I wanted I decided to cut loose and go with the "more is more" philosophy. Inspired by those chocolate coated apples that you see at the mall covered in inches of candy toppings, I decided to dip the pops in chocolate and then roll them in cookie crumbs and then drizzled on more chocolate.

Well the pops were a big hit at my moms' group. The presentation was whimsical and the size perfect for those who might feel guilty about eating a whole piece of cheesecake. Would I make them again? I'm not sure to be honest. At the rolling stage I was definitely thinking no - it was just too much work for something that wasn't too impressive. The cheesecake wasn't as firm as I like and they didn't weather well for too long out of the fridge - it's not one of those desserts that you can have out for a long period of time while people talk and snack. But the coating process was fun and it was an unexpected way to have cheesecake. In the end, I think I'll stick with a tried and true classic cheesecake but I'm glad I had the experience of making the pops. Thanks Deborah and Elle for challenging me to try a presentation that I would have never done on my own! Well the pops were a big hit at my moms' group. The presentation was whimsical and the size perfect for those who might feel guilty about eating a whole piece of cheesecake.

Would I make them again? I'm not sure to be honest. At the rolling stage I was definitely thinking no - it was just too much work for something that wasn't too impressive. The cheesecake wasn't as firm as I like and they didn't weather well for too long out of the fridge - it's not one of those desserts that you can have out for a long period of time while people talk and snack. But the coating process was fun and it was an unexpected way to have cheesecake. In the end, I think I'll stick with a tried and true classic cheesecake but I'm glad I had the experience of making the pops. Thanks Deborah and Elle for challenging me to try a presentation that I would have never done on my own!

Kelly