Special occasions....celebrations....children.... summer days and smiles....There is something always wonderful about ice cream. When Sunita, one of my fellow Daring Bakers, announced the challenge this month, I was thrilled!
I love ice Cream cake. Mine didn't come out as pretty as I would have liked because, after making the swiss rolls (you could buy them - to make it easier), I filled them with a little too much cream. We had to also make the vanilla ice cream, the chocolate ice cream and the hot fudge....deeeeeelicious! I added some orange zest to the vanilla ice cream and it tasted like a creamsicle. I almost stopped there - contemplating just eating all the ice cream - but I continued on with the challenge - and it was worth it.
The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream
filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. The recipe for this month’s challenge has been adapted from the Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake from the Taste of Home. Slices of Swiss roll are used to line a bowl and then filled with vanilla ice-cream, hot fudge ice cream topping and chocolate ice cream.
This cake is a favourite of mine and definitely a crowd pleaser - for those who like lemon of course. It is very lemony and has lemon zest in the batter, lemon syrup added after baking and lemon glaze for a finishing touch....how is that for lemony? The recipe is adapted from the Barefoot Contessa Parties cookbook. (I own all her cookbooks!) The recipe makes two loaves and when Fern, my mother-in-law and Dan's brother Bob were visiting us in Toronto, I served it to them...and yes they loved it. I brought a piece to my dad in Montreal this past week too, but, I think he loves everything I bake because I am his daughter! I did put some aside for Leslie but sorry Les...didn't see you... and it got eaten up! I promise I will make it for you again! Isn't it pretty?
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (Divided - 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup)
3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the glaze:
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
3 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 (8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch) loaf pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Cream the butter and 2 cups granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, and the lemon zest.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, the buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.
Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. When the cakes are done, allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans and set them on a rack set over a tray or sheet pan; Poke holes in bottoms with a wooden skewer or whatever you think would work and spoon the lemon syrup over the loaves. Allow the cakes to cool completely.
For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and the lemon juice in a bowl, mixing with a wire whisk until smooth. Pour over the tops of the cakes and allow the glaze to drizzle down the sides.
As many of you know by now, I am a devoted member of the Daring Bakers , and this month's challenge recipe was a piece monté, which literally means "mounted piece". Many of us know it as a "Croquembouche" (crunch in the mouth). Here is a picture of my Croquembouche. It was a little lopsided but I think I have got the hang of it now.
The classic piece montée is a high pyramid/cone made of profiteroles (cream-filled puff pastries) sometimes dipped in chocolate, bound with caramel, and usually decorated with threads of caramel, sugared almonds, chocolate, flowers, or ribbons....sounds wonderful doesn't it?
I was thrilled to make this but who would I serve it to? This is
kind of BIG!!! I was going to take it to a friend's BBQ, but then it
seemed a little awkward to be walking down the street balancing a tower
of cream puffs. So I put it off and put it off...until I ran out of time (since I was leaving on a trip to Winnipeg) and had to make it to meet the deadline of the challenge. The only one around to try it was
Dan. He was sitting there watching the hockey game when I placed it in
front of him (and blocked his view, with my tower of creampuffs) . He had a strange look on his face....a "what the heck was
this thing" kind of look!!!! I told him the story...and he tried
one... then another...and another. I actually got a little concerned as
he ate his way halfway down the tower occasionally commenting how good
it was.
And so my croquembouche was a success...he said he ate most of it while I was away :)
The May 2010, Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri. Thank you Cat for hosting the challenge!
When I first heard about this month's Daring Baker's Challenge, I raced to call my friend Meredith, who would know more about traditional British puddings because of her British background. First I needed to know if it was really necessary for me to use Suet, the secret ingredient, because I really wasn't into baking with it. She assured me that her family no longer used it and I would be fine with a substitute....Although I am sure it tasted wonderful with Suet, I used Crisco instead. Then I invited Meredith over for the taste test (see the end of this post)
Some of you will know the meaning of the word "pudding" but I wasn't that familiar with it. The British use the word for many things:
1) Black pudding and white pudding a sort of meat and grain sausage. Black pudding uses blood as well as meat.
2) Pudding — a generic word for dessert
3) Pudding — any dish cooked in a pudding bowl or pudding cloth normally steamed, boiled but sometimes baked.
4) An endearment i.e., "How are you today my pudding?" sooo cute!
For the Daring Baker's Challenge this month ....number two and three apply, a dish cooked in a pudding bowl or cloth, plus I am making it sweet which is why the dessert meaning applies too!
The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet, (As I said before, I used Crisco instead)
The Recipe
(100 grams/4 ounces) All-purpose flour
(1/4 teaspoon) salt
(1.5 teaspoons) Baking powder
(100 grams/4 ounces) breadcrumbs
(75 grams/3 ounces) sugar
Finely grated rind of 1 medium orange (or lemon)
(75 grams/ 3 ounces) Crisco (Shredded suet or suet substitute, Vegetable Suet, Lard)
(1) large egg
(6 to 8 tablespoons) Cold milk Caramel Sauce
Custard (See video below)
1. Sift flour, salt and baking powder into bowl.
2. Add breadcrumbs, sugar, finely grated rind of 1 medium orange, ( or lemon) and Crisco
3. Mix to a soft batter with beaten egg and milk
4. (Optional) I added a few tablespoons of caramel sauce from the Orange Tian, to the bottom of a buttered 1 litre/2 pint pudding basin
5. Add the batter and cover securely with buttered greaseproof paper or aluminum foil. I tied a string around to secure it.
5. Steam steadily for 2.5 to 5 hours. I used my slow cooker like my fellow Daring Baker, Audax Artifax suggested and it worked perfectly. I crunched up some foil so the pudding mold wouldn't sit on the bottom and added water until it was about 1/3 up the sides, then just left it TO STEAM for FIVE HOURS!!!!
6. Turn out onto warm plate and serve with a sweet sauce to taste such as custard, caramel or a sweetened fruit sauce.
I made a custard just like the video below!
for a variation... Spotted Dick - Add 75g/ 3oz currants and 25g/1 oz of mixed chopped peel with the sugar. Syrup or Treacle or Marmalade Pudding – put 2 Tablespoons of golden syrup, treacle or marmalade at the bottom of the bowl before adding pudding mix. Ginger Pudding – replace the sugar with 100g/4oz of treacle, and add 1/2 tsp ground ginger.
The moment finally arrived and I served Meredith, on my Royal Doulton china of course...very British......and I was thrilled when she said it tasted ...like England!!!
It brought back memories of when she was younger and was quite impressed when I used Birds to make the custard sauce.
She kept on insisting that skin forming on the custard was not good so I made sure to keep stirring...I must say she kept on tasting and tasting the custard sauce...I think she liked the custard sauce a lot.
Thanks for support on this challenge Meredith ....now get away from the custard!
Cheerio!
Until we bake again...
Penny
It may be difficult to say, but it is not difficult to love....
I think, correct me if I am wrong, it is pronounced tee-ann ...but don't hold me to it. Anyhow the language of food is taste...isn't it? And this is yummy!
I have had a vegetable tian before - layers of various types of vegetables, each successive layer complimenting the taste of the previous layer, but this month's challenge was a dessert tian.
The layers in this recipe are orange segments in a caramel sauce, then whipped cream, then marmalade then a cookie dough. You flip it over and un-mold it so the orange segments are on the top and of course add some caramel sauce on top for the last touch!
I made enough marmalade so we could have some with toast. Dan loved the marmalade! Especially when I served it with with toasted homemade Anadama bread....nothing like it.
The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.
There are quite a few steps to making this dessert; however a lot of them can be made in advance. The orange marmalade can be made several days ahead of time and the caramel sauce and orange segments preparation should be made the day before you make the dessert. Also, if you have a scale, try and use the weighed measurements as they will be the most accurate.
Preparation time:
- Pate Sablee: 20 minutes to make, 30 minutes to rest, 15 minutes to roll out, 20 minutes to bake
- Marmalade: 20 minutes to make, 30 minutes to blanch
Put the flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.
In a separate bowl, add the eggs yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and beat with a whisk until the mixture is pale. Pour the egg mixture in the food processor.
Process until the dough just comes together. If you find that the dough is still a little too crumbly to come together, add a couple drops of water and process again to form a homogenous ball of dough. Form into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.
Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain a ¼ inch thick circle.
You can use a round cookie cutter, but I used individual cheesecake pans - without the bottom. Using your cookie cutter or cheescake pan, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. I actually left the cheescake form around it while baking. Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.
Marmalade:
Freshly pressed orange juice ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams
1 large orange used to make orange slices
cold water to cook the orange slices
pectin 5 grams
granulated sugar: use the same weight as the weight of orange slices once they are cooked.
Finely slice the orange. Place the orange slices in a medium-sized pot filled with cold water. First time - Simmer for about 10 minutes, discard the water, Second time -re-fill with cold water and blanch the oranges for another 10 minutes. Third time - re-fill with cold water and blanch the oranges for another 10 minutes.
This process removes the bitterness from the orange peel, so it is essential to use a new batch of cold water every time when you blanch the slices. Once blanched 3 times, drain the slices and let them cool.
Once they are cool enough to handle, finely mince them (using a knife or a food processor).
Weigh the slices and use the same amount of granulated sugar . If you don’t have a scale, you can place the slices in a cup measurer and use the same amount of sugar.
In a pot over medium heat, add the minced orange slices, the sugar you just weighed, the orange juice and the pectin. Cook until the mixture reaches a jam consistency (10-15 minutes).
Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.
Orange Segments:
For this step you will need 8 oranges.
Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl and make sure to keep the juice. Add the segments to the bowl with the juice.
Place the sugar in a pan on medium heat and begin heating it.
Once the sugar starts to bubble and foam, slowly add the orange juice. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, remove from the heat and pour half of the mixture over the orange segments.
Reserve the other half of the caramel mixture in a small bowl — you will use this later to spoon over the finished dessert. When the dessert is assembled and setting in the freezer, heat the kept caramel sauce in a small saucepan over low heat until it thickens and just coats the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes). You can then spoon it over the orange tians.
[Tip: Be very careful when making the caramel — if you have never made caramel before, I would suggest making this step while you don’t have to worry about anything else. Bubbling sugar is extremely, extremely hot, so make sure you have a bowl of ice cold water in the kitchen in case anyone gets burnt!]
And now ...the Whipped Cream:
heavy whipping cream 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
3 tablespoons of hot water
1 tsp Gelatine
1 tablespoon of confectioner's sugar
orange marmalade (see recipe above) 1 tablespoon
In a small bowl, add the gelatine and hot water, stirring well until the gelatine dissolves. Let the gelatine cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream. Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute. Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatine slowly while beating continuously. Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in the orange marmalade.
[Tip: Use an ice cold bowl to make the whipped cream in. You can do this by putting your mixing bowl, cream and beater in the fridge for 20 minutes prior to whipping the cream.]
Assembling the Dessert:
Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer.
Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone.
Drain the orange segments on a kitchen towel.
Have the marmalade, whipped cream and baked circles of dough ready to use.
Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter. Make sure the segments all touch either and that there are no gaps. Make sure they fit snuggly and look pretty as they will end up being the top of the dessert. Arrange them as you would sliced apples when making an apple tart.
Once you have neatly arranged one layer of orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter, add a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream and gently spread it so that it fills the cookie cutter in an even layer. Leave about 1/4 inch at the top so there is room for dough circle.
Using a butter knife or small spoon, spread a small even layer of orange marmalade on each circle of dough.
Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring (the side of dough covered in marmalade should be the side touching the whipping cream). Gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact.
Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10 minutes.
Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the cookie cutter to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold. Gently place your serving plate on top of a dessert (on top of the circle of dough) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the cookie cutter, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately.
It is time to confess. My romance began years ago..... so beautiful...so complex and full of potential...soft and light...my heart goes a flutter and I know I am in love. Sorry Dan, there is another love in my life...it is flour.
It seems there are actually quite a few of us around who have this affection for it. Baking bread has been my biggest baking challenge. So basic to our lives...important to so many people around the world... represented in art, in religion...it always has a presence. When you open the door to a house where bread is baking in the oven...there is nothing like that very comforting aroma.
"Bread deals with living things, with giving life, with growth, with the seed, the grain that nurtures. It's not coincidence that we say bread is the staff of life."
- Lionel Poilâne, French baker (1945-2002)
When I listen to Peter Reinhart talk about the chemistry of bread and the drama that takes place in the oven, I am in awe...waiting for him to continue on with this fascinating story of caramelization and yeast feeding off of sugars and just when the oven reaches a certain temperature ...wow....the events that occur....
I know this is love...
Good bread is such a fine balance between ingredients, temperature, humidity, caring hands and understanding minds. Yes, you can add all kinds of ingredients to bread - eggs, herbs, cheese, garlic and so much more....but the challenge is to take the basic ingredients and coax the most flavour from the wheat. I plan on sharing more of my bread baking adventures even though I feel like such a beginner with so much to learn. I sometimes flip to the last pages of Peter Reinhart's book Artisan Breads Every Day and see my name as one of the testers (in the sea of hundreds) and get a thrill...I made so many of the delicious breads in this book and proudly watched my friends and family savouring the results.
I know this love affair with baking will continue for many years. So Dan, when I am covered in flour, don't be jealous...
This month has been so busy and I completely forgot about the Daring Baker's Challenge until today when I was checking my email etc. and I noticed the date and realized the Daring Baker's Challenge had to be posted! I didn't want to miss the deadline, so I scrambled.... and raced into the kitchen to get started. After reading comments from my fellow Daring Bakers like " Allow 3 days to create this" I panicked .... YIKES!!!!! Needless to say, I completed it. When the instructions said to leave it in the refrigerator overnight, I left it in for only for a few hours, so I am sure that the Mascarpone cheese would have firmed up more, although I must say I thought it was fine. It IS possible to make this in one day! I did have help from my step-daughter Meredith ....Thank you Meredith!!!!!!
I am going to send you over to Aparna or Deeba for all the details of the recipe because it is midnight and I'm tired....Tomorrow we will taste it...
By the way, I had a stencil of a snowflake so I sprinkled the Cocoa on it and voila! It worked out quite well.
The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna ofMy 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.
Thanks Aparna and Deeba!
The challenge involved making all the following: A. Tiramisu (includes zabaglione & vanilla pastry cream)
B. Mascarpone Cheese and
C. Ladyfinger/ Savoiardi Biscuits
