The perfect party cake (truly!)

A wonderful occasion deserves a special cake and Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake delivers and delivers consistently. I've used this recipe many times in the past with great results every time. The cake is moist which I've found is not the case with most other white cake recipes that I've tried. The layers don't bake up very high in a 9" cake pan so I've taken to using my 8" by 3" high pan (the standard cake size in Canada) which results in 3 perfect layers. There's not much more that I need to say about this great recipe so I've simply attached my pictures.

I keep forgetting to take pictures though after we've cut into the cakes - too busy enjoying (hoovering it back!) to remember to pick up the camera! You'll have to trust me that the buttercream and raspberry curd layers are the perfect complement to the sponge layers and pop against the snowy white background of the cake. The chocolate decorations are also fun to make and I think make for a whimsical cake. Thanks Morven for another fun-filled challenge.

9 hours, 4 ingredients, 1 great bread!

I've been intimidated by yeast for a long time and I had resigned myself to never having homemade bread. Well, when I started baking yeast breads this fall in my baking classes I was amazed at how easy it actually was. I had such fun making white pan bread, sourdough buns, raisin bread, rye bread, breadsticks etc. Over Christmas I also made the most delicious asiago cheese bread using a recipe created by our very own Breadchick, Mary, co-host of this month's Daring Baker challenge.

So when I saw this month's challenge was French bread, I thought noooo problem. Even after I saw the seventeen page printed recipe, I thought how hard can it be? I mean just because it takes 17 pages to instruct you how to put together four ingredients in a 7-9 hour timeframe to make a loaf of bread, that doesn't mean it's difficult, does it?!? So off I went in my blissfully ignorant state of mind to make the most perfect French bread ever. Let's just say that my first attempt ended up hanging off both ends of the pizza stone and was a misshapen mess!!!I got up at 7am on a Saturday morning and hummed to music as my trusty KitchenAid mixed the ingredients together. I used instant yeast since I had it on hand and have been happy with its consistent results in the past. The dough kneaded in the mixer for around 7 minutes and required a little more flour than called for in the recipe. I finished the kneading process with a minute or two of hand kneading and the dough felt wonderfully elastic. I placed the dough ball back in the cleaned KitchenAid mixing bowl, covered it and put it into the oven for the first rise. I was thrilled with Mary and Sara's tip to put the oven light on to get the oven to the right temperature for the fermentation process.

Three hours later the dough had tripled in bulk and was ready for a punch down and second rising. It felt wonderfully warm and smelled fantastic. Then back into the oven for its second rise. My first inkling of problems to come started during the shaping stage. I had decided to make 2 batards and divided the dough accordingly. I felt reasonably comfortable shaping the dough after watching the recommended PBS episode of Baking with Julia (It was great to find out that you could watch these old episodes online - what a treat!) I unfortunately used a floured cotton tea towel to place the shaped bread on since I didn't have linen. I also put the loaves on the towel seam side down, opposite of what I should have done. This meant that I had to really manhandle the dough onto the board and then try to get it off the board onto the pizza stone in the oven. Good luck!!! That darn dough wouldn't budge. I finally rolled it off by hand and it fell upside down on the stone, with both ends dripping off. Urgghhh!!!

After 10 minutes of naively thinking "it can still work out", I decided to cut my losses and try again with the second loaf. This time I used a baking sheet lined with parchment and then manhandled the second loaf onto it. The result was much better (there was no place to go but up!) especially since I had ice cubes at the bottom of the oven for steam and misted the loaf 3 times with water. The loaf was a little misshapen due to manhandling and using a knife for slashes rather than a razor blade but it still was presentable. But the fight in me came out and I decided I would tackle the recipe again the following weekend, armed with the knowledge gained from this experience. (And as a sidenote, when I returned from my dinner party a few hours later, I put the first loaf back in the oven, baked it for the remaining 10 minutes and ate it the next day. Surprisingly, it tasted great - better than anything you can get at the supermarket. It just looked like a big, drippy breadstick!!!!)

Second time was a charm and I baked a French bread that not only tasted great but looked good. It had the distinctive flavour, crispy crust and large holes throughout that you want to see with a French bread. Thanks to Jason for wonderful pictures again this month and to Mary and Sara for hosting. It wasn't the gooey, chocolatey February dessert that I was expecting but it was a recipe that both challenged and delighted. Just what you want from a DB challenge!

Kelly

Sunshine on a Wintery Day

After a December of making and eating rich desserts and lavish dinners, it was refreshing to be baking a lemon pie for this month's challenge. As far as my favourite flavours go, I'm hands down a chocolate girl! I love, love, love anything chocolate. I didn't think there was anyone in the world who didn't share my passion until I met my husband. He dislikes chocolate... a lot. To the extent of not liking chocolate chip cookies and who doesn't like chocolate chip cookies!?!. I know, weird!
This is a roundabout way of getting to my point which is that his dislike of chocolate forced me to go outside of my comfort zone into the world of baking with other flavours such as citrus, caramel, vanilla, and ginger. I've loved experimenting more with flavour and along the way have discovered that lemon is pretty amazing in desserts (not as good as chocolate, mind you, but great when you want something that tastes a little lighter or more refreshing.) Lemon tastes like spring to me and lemon meringue pie is a hint of spring to come during these long, grey days of winter following Christmas.

I decided to make mini lemon tarts since they looked so cute and I didn't have a particular occasion that called for a whole pie. I used the food processor method since I normally make the dough with my pastry cutter and I wanted to try something new. I know that Dorie Greenspan uses this method for her tart dough and I had marked that as one of the recipes on my list to try. It all came together quite nicely and very fast too. I formed the shells in medium sized muffin tins. I cut circles so that the dough, when shaped in the muffin cup, came up about halfway on the sides. They baked in about 35 minutes and after cooling to room temperature they came out very easily. The texture was a little sturdier than I like but taste testers compared it favourable to shortbread. I've tried many lemon curd recipes in the past and this one was as good as others I've tried. I was going to have fun with the meringue and experiment with many styles of topping the tarts, but time got away from me and I had to top them quickly before heading to work.
All in all, another successful and satisfying challenge. Thanks to Jenn for a great recipe, to fellow DBers for their tips, tricks and insights on our private blog and to my wonderfully talented friend Christine (www.clickphotography.ca) for taking such droolworthy pictures. She is a fabulous photographer and an even better friend! I'm still new to the world of blogging and do more "lurking" around other DBers blogs, enjoying their yummy pics and heartwarming stories, than I do commenting and giving back some of the support that I've been getting by being part of this wonderful group. I'm making a conscious effort to put more of myself out there so I look forward to seeing everyone's beautiful creations this month and Ietting you know how great they are! See you next month - I'm crossing my fingers for a gooey, triple-chocolately Valentine's dessert!

Kelly

Mmmm...Donuts!

When the call went out for a baking event from two of the Daring Bakers whose blog I read on an almost daily basis, Helene and Peabody, I had to yes. It didn't hurt that the challenge was to bake donuts. Mmmmm, donuts... You almost can't be a Canadian without loving donuts. With a Tim Hortons around every corner and colleagues who bring donuts and, of course, Timbits (donut holes for non-Canadians!) as a matter of course to meetings, you can't escape the donut. And who would want to!?!

I have never made donuts before so I welcomed the opportunity. But what to make? My involvement in the Daring Bakers group made the decision easy - it was just one of those weeks where everything connected and came together like I had planned it. I made a christening cake earlier in the week using the mocha buttercream from the December yule log challenge as the filling. Since that recipe just called for egg whites, I had egg yolks in the refrigerator to use up in another recipe. Hunting around for something yummy to make, I came across an old post of Helene's for white chocolate pots de creme. Perfect. That made a quick and easy dessert for Sunday dinner when neighbours came over. Even after everyone had their fill of the custard, I had some leftovers to use up. Now what? Back to Helene's site and the call to make donuts. What better than to use Helene's recipe in a Boston creme filled donut for her blogging event. The circle was complete! From egg yolks from a Daring Baker recipe to Boston creme donuts for an event hosted by two Daring Bakers.

I found a good recipe on the Food Network site. Other than the donuts taking such a short time to fry and coming out darker than I would have liked, the result was what I had wanted. The cream filling was rich and flavourful, the chocolate glaze was silky and not too sweet and the yeast dough had such a light texture. Really, a wonderful donut.
Unfortunately I was unable to get good pictures as I finished the donuts first thing in the morning and my usual photographers had already left for work. To take advantage of the great light outside and white backdrop of the snow, I shovelled a path with my feet on the back deck and propped the plate up on a table that had been left outside to brave the winter cold. I'm sure I could feel the eyes of neighbours peering through their windows wondering what the crazy lady was doing without her jacket on, in 2 feet of snow, taking pictures of donuts! Oh well, I enjoyed seeing the snowflakes melt on the warm donuts.

With pictures done, I packed them all up to take to my moms group. Unfortunately, I hadn't planned on icy road conditions and ended up stranded at home with 20 fresh donuts. I figured I could at least brave the icy sidewalks and made my way around the neighbourhood delivering donuts on a sled to those that were also stuck at home. It not only made their day but saved me from the temptation of eating them all! Thanks Helene and Peabody for a great challenge.

Kelly

Daring Non-blogger

I'm very excited to finish my first Daring Bakers challenge!!! I was hoping that the challenge would be a yule log this month, so thanks to Lis and Ivonne for reading my mind and picking a wonderful recipe, perfect for the holiday season. It was a joy to make and a joy for my family to eat at our annual Christmas gift exchange and dinner held at my house this year.

The genoise was light and airy - although I think I would bake it one or two minutes less next time. I rolled it in a tea towel to cool (excellent tip fellow DBers!) but still ended up with some cracks when rolling. The log was filled with chocolate hazelnut spread, toasted hazelnuts and some of the coffee buttercream (and maybe a splash or two or three of rum!!). Everyone raved about the buttercream and I was quite proud of its lush, silky texture. It hid the cracks amazingly well and tasted incredible - definitely one I would use again. Everyone was fooled by the mushrooms and they were passed around to make sure that they were in fact made of marzipan and weren't just from my vegetable crisper.I have to admit that the daring part of the challenge for me wasn't the baking. I had so much fun making components of the recipe that I had never made before and putting the log together.

The challenge for me, I found, was more in the blogging itself and the picture taking. I spend a lot of time at work on technical writing that I find it hard to sit down and write like I am talking to a friend. But I realized that being daring means really participating in the group, trying to find my voice and giving all aspects of the challenge a try. And I really did try with the photos. My hubby can attest to that -we had every light on in the house at 11pm moving the cake from room to room to find good lighting and a workable background. I took picture after picture trying to find a shot that could convey how good the cake actually looked in person rather just than a shadowy lump on the plate. Well...I came to the conclusion that photography really isn't my thing and I need more than a point and shoot camera if I want nice pictures. Since my frustration with the camera was starting to colour, what had been up to that point, a really stress-free, successful baking session, I decided to call it a night.

My good friend and neighbour Shelly came to my rescue the next day by offering the photography services of her husband Jason. He did a wonderful job with the pictures and even brought some props (the cute birch trees) to enhance the look. While the rest of drank some wine and relaxed, he was an artiste with the log and came up with some wonderful pictures. Thanks Jason for your help (and now you know what the pictures are for!) Luckily I've since found out that I have many friends with photography skills who would like the chance to practice their skills in the food styling arena. So while I can be daring in the kitchen and with my writing, for now I can leave behind the stress of photography to those who find it their daring challenge. Happy holidays to all!

Kelly