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