Daring Bakers: Cheesecake Pops

I woke up this morning and the first things I thought were 1- Why is my bed so comfortable? and 2- Why does my room smell like daffodils? After those first few seconds of foggy confusion passed I remembered that I was home for the weekend and that means a queen sized bed and fresh flowers from the garden by my bedside. It also means access to an ice cream maker and waffle iron and that sounds like a winning breakfast combination to me. I've already made two ice creams and a sorbet, (which will be revealed at a later date) so I set about making some wonderful cornmeal waffles (a Dorie recipe) with maple blueberry sauce and orange segments for breakfast. However, my waffle maker is not the most efficient machine ever, it only makes two waffles at a time and takes about 8 minutes to make those two. That means that once the batter is made, there's a lot of in between time while waiting for a whole batch of waffles to cook.

So I popped open the laptop and clicked over to Tastespotting, (an addictions of mine) and one of the first pictures I saw was a Daring Baker cheesecake pop. Uh oh, who posted April's challenge early? I checked the link to see who it was from and was surprised when it was none other than Tartelette. At this point I started to wonder if I had misread the posting date. Helene wouldn't do something stupid like posting a challenge early but I was sure that this month's challenge wasn't supposed to be up until the 30th. I clicked onto a few other Daring Baker websites and quickly realized that I was in the wrong and that if I didn't start typing, my post would be one of the late ones. Luckily I had already completed the challenge weeks ago, (which is somewhat shocking in and of itself as I'm generally the queen of procrastination) so all that was left to do was to slap together a post and do a little photo editing. But then I had to finish making waffles and once that was done I realized it was a gorgeous sunny day and I needed to go on a morel hunt, (more on that later too) so here I am, finally getting around to writing something about those adorable little treats on sticks.

So about the cheesecake pops: I made mine orange scented by mixing the zest of two oranges into the sugar before proceeding with the rest of the recipe. I used Wilton wafers to dip my cheesecake pops and they were really easy to work with. Speaking of the Wilton wafers, have to thank a certain Cream Puff for doing some of my shopping and bringing me the Wilton wafers as well as the lollypop sticks. Shortly after the challenge was announced I had emailed Ivonne, asking her if she knew where I could find both of those items and she told me about a place called Golda's Kitchen, a kitchen supply store in Toronto that I can't believe I had never heard of before. As luck would have it, Ivonne was also planning a visit to Golda's and asked me if I wanted her to pick anything up for me while she was there. I browsed the website and found way more goodies than I could afford. I decided to stick with what I needed for the challenge and just got the wafers and lollypop sticks, (and maybe some silver dragees for an as yet undetermined use).

Thanks Ivonne, they were much appreciated! I brought my completed pops to a potluck lunch and didn't return home with any, which is always a good sign. Cheesecake pops certainly make for a fun and whimsical display, but I'm not itching to make them again, they were messy and took forever! That's not a comment on the recipe, but just on the nature of cheesecake pops. They require multiple steps and quite a bit of time and don't fall under my usual slogan of "Go Big or Go Home." They were tasty and pretty though and something I had wanted to make ever since I saw Bakerella's Cake Pops so I'm glad I got a chance to make them. Big thanks to our hosts this month Deborah of Taste & Tell and Elle of Feeding My Enthusiasms, I was very happy that they chose this recipe. (which can be found in Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor). As per usual, you can check out a multitude of cheesecakes on sticks by visiting the Daring Bakers Blogroll.

The Daring Baker Challenge That Almost Wasn't

The end of the month means another Daring Baker challenge and this time our host is Morven of Food Art and Random Thoughts. Morven hails all the way from New Zealand, a place I’ve had on the brain lately to visit. Morven chose a recipe from my favourite book that needs no introduction: Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours.

You might be surprised then to know that for a while I considered not making this recipe and bowing out of a Daring Baker Challenge for the first time. Shocking, I know. It’s not that I didn’t want to make this cake but that I couldn’t foresee any occasion that would warrant making it. And as much as I love cake, I didn’t think I could reasonably make it if I was the only one eating it.

As the due date for this month’s DB challenge drew closer I started to think that I could cheat and throw up a picture that I had taken last year on my blog’s birthday when I made a version of this cake that incorporated three different Dorie recipes. For that particular cake, (pictured at the bottom of this post) I used the white cake, raspberry and white buttercream from The Perfect Party Cake, incorporated a chocolate layer made of Dorie’s Nutty Chocolaty Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake and spread both of them with Dorie’s Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache. It was an epic cake and certainly one worthy of being shown again. With that in mind I had resigned myself to the fact that I would not be baking The Perfect Party cake when Kmac, (you should all know her by now, she’s been around here a few times) said that she needed a birthday cake made. I told her I would do it, but only if I got to choose the cake.

Instead of making The Perfect Party cake as written, I decided to tackle another Dorie recipe that I hadn’t made yet to go with it: Lemon Curd. I’ve been thinking of making lemon curd for a while now, which was fueled by seeing a St Patrick’s Day post by Tanna of My Kitchen in Half Cups where she made Lime Curd as a variation of Dorie’s Lemon Curd, (which she had also made previously). So my Perfect Party Cake was made with the lemon white cake, (as per the recipe) but it was layered with Lemon Curd and Whipped Cream and topped with Coconut Scented Whipped Cream and Toasted Coconut.

The birthday boy in question loves Lemon Meringue Pie, (and was actually the recipient of a couple of the mini Lemon Meringue Pies I made for the January DB challenge) and I figured he would also enjoy this lemon cake with coconut. So with a few hours to spare before the deadline, I made The Perfect Party cake, with a few variations and an extra Dorie recipe. The birthday boy was happy with his cake, (and was willing to share, as noted in photos…) and I didn’t have to miss a DB challenge.

As always, if you want to see a million other versions of The Perfect Party Cake, check out the Daring Bakers Blogroll.

Technorati Tags:

Daring Bakers + Dorie Greenspan + Blogging Event + Baking + Lemon + Cake

Daring Bakers: Double Time

I’m so hardcore, I’ve been a part of the Daring Bakers since before we were called the Daring Bakers. Yet despite this apparent hardcoreness, I had never made the original Daring Baker challenge of pretzels. All that has now changed. You’ll notice that today the blogs are overrun with Julia Child’s French Bread, and mine is too, but I also have DB pretzels. I somehow feel more complete as a person now… or at least as a Daring Baker.

First up, the actual challenge of the month, Julia Child’s million page recipe for French Bread: This bread is time consuming, (just reading the recipe will take up a good chunk of your time) but not hard to make. I’ve been making a lot of bread lately, especially since I received the wonderful Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day and although the Julia Child recipe produced nice bread, I wouldn’t say it was necessarily any better than the uber popular No Knead Bread or any of the rustic loaves I’ve been making from Artisan Bread. That being said, both of the later loaves also take a fraction of the effort and are a lot more convenient to make for the average home baker. They also don’t require kneading, which is a good or bad thing depending on which side of the fence you’re on. Some people find kneading very therapeutic, for others it’s torture. I had no problem kneading to make the Julia Child recipe, but I don’t think I’ll do it again as I’ve fallen in love with speedier ways of making similar bread. That doesn’t mean I’m against kneading, I kinda think it’s fun, but not always necessary.

Up second: Hot Buttered Pretzels from the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion. This recipe took considerably less time, which was good for my impatient self. I was surprised to see that the pretzels were only dipped in water before being baked as opposed to boiled, but maybe I’m thinking of bagels and thought they would be done the same. I liked these best hot out of the oven and dripping with butter, just how everything should be enjoyed. The only thing missing was a strip of bacon…

To check out hundreds of other attempts at Julia Child’s French Bread, check out the Daring Bakers blogroll. You’ll get more info from these blogs that you ever knew could possibly exist for one recipe. Thanks to Mary and Sara for hosting this month and choosing another challenging recipe!

Technorati Tags:

Daring Bakers + Bread> + Baguette> + Pretzels

All Challenges Should Involve A Torch

Jen, The Canadian Baker chose Lemon Meringue Pie as this month’s Daring Baker Challenge. I’ve been getting quite a few requests for lemon meringue pie lately so it seemed only fitting that I make mini pies so that I could dole them out to everyone who had asked for some. For late comers though, there was nothing. I had two people ask me a week later for lemon meringue pie, completely unaware that I had just made some. I told them to blame Kmac for stealing them all and to pick something else, I don’t like repeats.

Kmac, (previously of Happy Random Pie Day fame) got most of the pies, but that’s only fair as she helped make them. And by ‘help make them’, I mean she came over and brought butter, eggs, lemons and sour keys, (hey, we needed some snacks) and then sat on the couch and read a trashy gossip magazine, while I made the pies. She provided valuable entertainment and as far as I’m concerned, that’s the best kind of help. And the groceries. If anyone buys me groceries I’ll make whatever they want, repeat or no. So Kmac bought the groceries and I made the pie and we were both happy with that until the end of the pie making process when Kmac’s interest perked up. You see, that’s when I brought out my pretty blue torch and then she wanted to play in the kitchen too. Luckily, I had extra meringue so I let Kmac torch the meringue that was not going to leave my house and be seen by the world at large. It’s a good thing I had leftovers because unlike myself who was trying to make pretty designs on the meringue, Kmac’s goal seemed to be to create black lumps of coal. She had lots of fun doing it too.

When I was done making the pies, I gave them to Kmac in a plastic dome topped tray and sent her off into a cold and wintry night. I told her to message me when she got home to make sure that the tarts survived the trip. The message that I got was priceless:

“The pies made it fine, however... the pie top flew off around Bloor St and Bathurst St, damn wind tunnel. So I put the pies on the sidewalk and ran after the lid. I retrieved it and no one ate the pies :)”

I love that she just set a tray of lemon meringue pies down on the slushy sidewalk and ran off to fetch the flyaway lid. I almost wish someone had stolen her pies, just because it would have made for a better story. I guess this way I got to hear about what everyone thought of their pie. I’ve become convinced though that most people are simply happy to receive something homemade so it doesn’t really matter if it’s all that great. I’m much more critical. The pies were well received by all who had them but I had some reservations about the filling. It was tasty, but if the pie sat for any length of time, a layer of water developed on top of the lemon. I suppose if you ate them immediately after assembling, that wouldn’t be a problem. I ate my pie in stages though and every time I went back to have some more there was another layer of watery stuff on top of the lemon. I’ve heard that I’m not the only person who had this problem and that extra cornstarch might be a possible solution. I probably won’t ever know, cause like I said, I don’t like repeats.

Hopefully you don’t mind seeing repeats as much as I mind making them because there’s going to be a whole lot of Lemon Meringue Pie out there. If you want to know exactly where to find it, check the Daring Bakers Blogroll.

Technorati Tags:

Daring Bakers + Pie + Lemon Meringue + Lemon

Daring Bakers Holiday Edition

A yule log is not something I’ve ever eaten before as it was never part of my Christmas as a child but apparently it symbolizes the holidays for a lot of people. I remember hearing somewhere that one company starts making their Yule logs in July in order to have enough ready for Christmas. That makes me question what they’re putting in their Yule log to make it last so long while simultaneously making me cringe and shudder in repulsion. But this isn’t July and the Yule log is this month’s Daring Baker challenge, set out for us by the DB creators themselves, Ivonne and Lis so I was going to make it regardless.

I had decided to make the Yule log on the day after Toronto got its big snowstorm but when I got up I realized I was short a few ingredients so I put on my coat and mitts and trudged out into the snow. After a few steps I realized that besides the blanket of snow that was covering the streets, there was something else that was different. It took me a minute to figure out that the usually bustling city was quiet. There were hardly any cars on the road, (as they were all stuck somewhere) and in contrast to the often congested sidewalks, those too were empty of people, (but filled with snow). So despite a nippy wind licking at my face and my pants becoming wet and soggy with every step, I enjoyed a leisurely walk to the store along oddly quiet city streets. I was then amazed at how quickly I made my way through the too narrow aisles of the grocery store without being jostled and bumped, got to a cashier that didn’t have a line up and was back out in the snow in a matter of minutes. That particular grocery store is often a 20 minute event even if all I want is a few sticks of butter.

When I got back to my apartment, (and still dark kitchen) I was feeling pretty relaxed and looking forward to the challenge. I had read about the other DB’s experience with the Yule log and icing and had hopefully learned how to avoid their mistakes. Oddly enough, it seems like I had. This challenge went relatively smoothly, but maybe it was just the calm mood I was in. The most difficult part of the whole thing was carrying my Yule log over to my Aunt and Uncle’s house for dinner that night as the sidewalks still hadn’t been cleared and the snow was much less friendly in the dark as I struggled with my cake. Of course the walk there is uphill so that didn’t help. But I arrived, was handed a glass of wine and went in to sit by the fire to warm up. We had beef bourguignon for dinner and Yule log for dessert. And I got bonus points for the SuperMario inspired mushrooms. Challenge completed. Now I’m off to brave the sidewalks that are once again being overrun by Slow Walkers, and with only three days left until Christmas, these are particularly crazy Slow Walkers. Good luck to anyone who is not done their shopping, “yule” need it… (Sorry, that was bad.) Be sure to check out the other Yule Logs from the Daring Bakers Blog Roll, (now somewhere in the millions...).

Riddles and Bread

Some people are afraid of working with yeast. The problem is that they don’t understand how it works. The more you know about yeast, the less scary and easier it is to work with. I will liken yeast to a riddle. When you don’t know the solution to the riddle, it can be extremely frustrating, especially if you’ve made many attempts at an answer, but to no avail. Once you've figured out the riddle though, it seems easy and you can't help but see the solution immediately if you hear it again. Bread works in a similar manner. Once you've got it figured out, it's smooth sailing. This month’s Daring Baker Challenge was Tender Potato Bread as chosen by our host for this round, Tanna of My Kitchen In Half Cups.

To check out hundreds of other attempts at Tender Potato Bread, check out the Daring Bakers blogroll. There you will learn all you need to know about taming yeast in your kitchen. If you need to crack a few riddles to get your problem solving skills going, give these a try:

What runs all day but never walks,

Often murmurs never talks,

Has a bed but doesn’t sleep,

Has a mouth but doesn’t eat?

I am no sooner spoken, than broken. What am I?

I am always hungry, I must always be fed,

The finger I touch, Will soon turn red.

I can sizzle like bacon, I am made with an egg,

I have plenty of backbone, but lack a good leg.

I peel layers like onions, but still remain whole,

I can be long, like a flagpole, yet fit in a hole.

What am I?

Technorati Tags:

Daring Bakers + Bread

The Pie That Eats Like a Cake

Feast your eyes on the Bostini Cream Pie, it’s just like its namesake the Boston Cream Pie, in that there’s nothing pie-like about it. It’s cake all the way. I happen to like cake better than pie anyways so I’m quite alright with this misnamed dessert. It wasn’t something I discovered on my own though, up until a month ago I had never heard of it. But then Mary of Alpineberry announced that this would be the challenge for the October edition of the Daring Bakers. It was then that I learned that the Bostini is a dessert composed of a layer of vanilla custard topped with orange chiffon cake and draped in a chocolate glaze.

This was the first time that I’ve made a chiffon cake that has turned out the way it’s supposed to and that would be thanks to the advice of some of my fellow Daring Bakers. Chiffon cakes call for whipped egg whites to be folded into the batter of the cake and egg whites are traditionally my downfall, (I blame them for my inability to make macarons). I either over whip them or under whip them or fold them too much or not enough… there’s always something wrong with the final product when I have to deal with whipped egg whites. But not this time and that’s because I took the advice of the Daring Bakers, (this was not in the recipe) regarding the process of combing egg whites and batter. Under their direction, I sacrificed some of my whipped egg whites and mixed them into the batter with reckless abandonment, before gently folding in the remaining whites and I think that’s what made the difference. My chiffon cakes, (which I baked in muffin cups) came out light and airy, just the way they should be. Who knows, after this success I might try my hand at macarons again.

To see hundreds of other Bostini Cream Pies, check out the Daring Bakers Blog Roll which is boiling over with members faster than an unwatched pot of cream on the stove. If you want to undertake this challenge yourself, visit Mary’s blog for the recipe.

Technorati Tags:

Daring Bakers + Cake + Blogging Event + Custard

Baking Requires Attention

As much as I love to cook and bake, sometimes it’s simply not a good idea. The day I decided to make these cinnamon buns was one of those times. My concentration was particularly low, and for me to be saying that is not good news. My mind was wondering to all sorts of things but baking didn't seem to be one of those things. When I'm that inattentive, mistakes are bound to be made, and they were. And that's too bad because I’ve wanted to make cinnamon buns for a long time so when Marce of Pip in the City announced Cinnamon and/or Sticky Buns as the recipe for this month’s Daring Baker Challenge, I was looking forward to it. Marce selected a recipe from Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker´s Apprentice and allowed us to make quite a few modifications, including whether or not we wanted to make cinnamon buns, sticky buns or both. I decided to start with the cinnamon buns and the only thing I changed was to use maple sugar along with the cinnamon for the filling. This recipe was really easy to work with, the dough came together easily, (even in my sketchy state) and the buns went into the oven without too much difficulty. I had to reread all the directions five times because I forgot what I had read by the time I walked from the recipe to the mixer, but other than that, it went alright.

Once the buns were in the oven, that's when my problems started. You see, I was making the cinnabuns for Mom to take to a meeting the next morning and so I was starting them late at night. I was also supposed to make some muffins and scones for the meeting as well, so that meant that I had been multitasking, which apparently, I may not be overly good at. To start with, I should have only baked one tray at a time, but oven space was at a premium because I still had to bake scones and muffins, so I shoved both trays in at once. Once I had them all in there, I should have rotated the trays part way through because I know that my oven runs hot and cold and in spots and if I don’t rotate trays, something always gets burnt before the rest is done. I could have gotten away with this if not for the fact that I forgot about my poor cinnabuns and they ended up in the oven much longer than they should have been. You’d think the wonderful smell of baking cinnabuns would have alerted me to their completion, but no, it was the smell of burning that made me jump out of my chair and rush to the oven in a panic. I pulled the buns from the oven and really should have taken a picture at that point so that you could have seen the outer ring of burnt buns with two pretty ones in the middle of each tray. Those four buns you see in the pictures are the only four that I managed to save. If this had of happened at another time, it wouldn’t have been such a big deal, but it was already the wee hours of the morning and the lack of buns meant that I had to bake something else for the meeting.

It wasn’t the recipe that I was angry at, just myself for making a stupid mistake. It seems to be a trend as of late. I also managed to stick my hand into the oven a couple days ago to retrieve a hot pan, sans oven mitt. Ouch. Another stupid decision was not to remake the cinnamon buns or attempt the sticky buns when I was in a more sane state of mind. I suppose I haven’t quite reached that point yet, but when I do, these buns are on my “to-make” list. Thanks for passing along a great recipe Marce! Which, by the way, can be found on Marce’s post about this month’s challenge. Also, make sure to check out how all the other Daring Bakers fared by checking out the Daring Bakers Blogroll, which is growing larger every month and thus requires its own site.

Technorati Tags:

Daring Bakers + Cinnamon Buns + Blogging Event + Baking

More Proof that Going Big is the Only Way to Go

When Veron of Veronica’s Test Kitchen and Patricia of Technicolor Kitchen announced that the recipe for this month’s Daring Baker challenge was a Milk Chocolate and Caramel Tart, my thoughts went something like this: Yay, there’s chocolate! Boo, it’s milk chocolate, no dark. Yay, there’s caramel, I love the taste of caramel! Boo, I hate making caramel, it always tries to attack me and my kitchen. Yay, I have a family reunion coming up that I can bake this tart for! Boo, I have to work that day so I’m going to have to send the tart with my parents for everyone to devour but me. Yay, it’s sunny outside! Boo, there’s something sticky on the bottom of my foot, ew, what is that? Yay, I like the colour blue. Boo, I distract easily and have no clue where I was going with this.

Anyways, I made this tart without too much sweat and without dropping any curse words either, which generally isn’t the case with a Daring Baker Challenge. I had no trouble rolling out the crust, but I heard the crust drove some of the other Bakers to the brink of insanity, or as close to the brink as a failed crust can drive someone. The caramel process went smoothly, quite the opposite of most of my caramel making ventures, I didn’t even scald myself with the hot sugar like normal. The chocolate mousse was apparently without incident because all I can remember about making it was licking the bowl. And yet, despite the relative ease with which it was made, I wasn’t overly impressed with the end result. I made two tarts, one regular sized that was shipped off to my family reunion and one baby tart that I kept for myself. I only tasted the baby and I don’t think this tart worked well in the mini version. There was too much crust and not enough filling. And the filling was what this tart was all about. It claimed to have a chocolate crust, but with a measly 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder in the crust, it was hardly chocolately. With such an uninspired crust I should have known all along not to make a little tart that was dominated by crust.

This just proves my ‘Go Big or Go Home’ theory because from what I’ve been told by those who sampled it, the results of the large tart were quite fantastic. Although I didn’t get to witness this myself, Mom tells me they were lined up for a slice of tart and there wasn’t a crumb left on the plate. You’ll have to take this with a grain of salt though as Mom has a tendency to exaggerate, and by exaggerate, I mean she makes stuff up. I often tell her I’d rather be criticized than receive false praise, but I don’t think she believes me because even when I make something I don’t like, she still tries to tell me it’s great. And then I feel like bashing my head into a wall out of frustration. I almost want to feed her something that’s purposefully bad, that’s simultaneously too salty, sour, sweet and hot all at once just to hear how she’ll try to describe what she thought of it without offending me...

Don't forget to check out all of the other Daring Bakers' posts, links can be found from the DB Blogroll and the original recipe will be posted on either Veronica's or Patricia's blogs.

Technorati Tags:

Daring Bakers + Caramel + Blogging Event + Baking + Chocolate

Strawberry Mirror Cake... Ice Cream

If you’re a Daring Baker, then you’re probably looking at that top picture and thinking to yourself “Um, Brilynn, did you realize your mirror cake is upside down? And why does it look like it’s frozen?” If you’re not a Daring Baker, you’re probably thinking “What the heck is a mirror cake and what does it have to do with ice cream?” There’s a perfectly logical explanation to both sets of questions, I swear. 1- Just because it was supposed to be a mirror cake, doesn’t mean that’s what I ended up with. 2- If it were a mirror cake, you’re right, it would be upside down. 3- It is most certainly frozen.

I tried to follow the rules, I really did, but I was experiencing some seriously negative kitchen karma that day because somehow, everything I did was wrong. Let’s rewind a little bit, shall we? I was trying to make a Strawberry Mirror Cake because that was the recipe that Peabody had selected for this month’s Daring Baker Challenge. It was no surprise that Peabody selected such an elegant dessert for our challenge, everything she makes is spectacular. It really should have come as no surprise either that I managed to goof it up. I’m very good at that. What I was supposed to create was 2 layers of sponge cake surrounded by a strawberry Bavarian cream and topped with a glossy strawberry gelatin layer. What I ended up with was Strawberry Cake ice cream.

I didn’t immediately jump to making ice cream, it began innocently enough with me assembling all of the ingredients and making only one substitution; I set to making the cake as directed. The agar-agar was my one substitution and it was in place of gelatin. It came from a random Chinatown shopping trip where I decided that I needed it without really knowing what it was or how it was used except that it sounded like something I’d need for a molecular gastronomy type dish. Of course I’ve never put it to use and it’s languished in my cupboard until the mirror cake came along. I read about one of the other Daring Bakers who couldn’t use gelatin and was replacing it with agar-agar so I figured I was safe to do so as well since I had no intentions of going into town to pick up the forgotten gelatin, (I shake my fist in the general direction of town).

After making the cake and the Bavarian cream and putting the two together, I left the cake in the fridge, (sans mirror) for a while, hoping it would do as it was supposed to and firm up. After hours of fridge time and no sign of solidification I decided I would just pour the mirror on top of my floating cake island and hope for the best. At first, I was pleasantly surprised. Oooh look at the pretty mirror! It’s all nice and glossy and red. Maybe my cake can be saved after all. Wait, what’s happening? What’s that hole? Where is the mirror going? Noooooooooooo! A sink hole had opened up and I watched as the mirror portion drained down to the bottom of the cake pan, never to be seen again. It was actually pretty cool to watch, I just wish I hadn’t been the only to witness it.

After watching the last few drops of mirror disappear underneath my floating cake island I accepted the fact that my cake was going to be ‘different’ and I got out the ice cream machine. Part way through the churning process Dad walked into the kitchen, looked from the empty cake pan to the ice cream machine and back to the empty cake pan before saying “Uh, were you supposed to do that?” No, no I wasn’t, but after 4 hours in the fridge and not even a hint of becoming firm, short of starting over again, this was all I could do. That’s when Dad’s kitchen smarts kicked in and he suggested that when the ice cream machine was done doing its job, that I pour the frozen cake ice cream into my new silicone bundt pan before putting it in the freezer so that it would still look like a cake, even if it was a frozen one. Genius! This got the wheels in my head turning a little and I decided to also create a mini version in a ramekin which I topped with leftover strawberry juice to create the illusion of a mirror. For a while I debated whether or not my faux strawberry mirror cake could pass as the real thing, but then I wouldn’t have a story to tell you. It’s more fun to read a post about my disasters than if everything had been smooth sailing. Plus, this will make you more impressed with me when I do something and it turns out right.

To check out all of the other Daring Bakers, it’s now easier than ever, just click here to be taken to the Daring Bakers Blogroll. I promise you, they can show you what a real mirror cake should look like. Check out Peabody's post for the original recipe and an example of a gorgeous cake.

Technorati Tags:

Daring Bakers + Cake + Blogging Event + Baking + Strawberries

Daring Bakers: Where'd the Sweet Stuff Go?

This month’s co-hosts for the Daring Bakers challenge are none other than Jenny of All Things Edible and Freya of Writing at the Kitchen Table. To switch things up a little they chose Real Honest Jewish Purist’s Bagels as the recipe with which to torture, er, challenge us with. It was a departure from all things sweet, far away from the land of searing hot caramel and I for one was looking forward to the change. I’ve made bagels once before and they were a success so I was fairly confident that I could master this challenge. I’m rather delusional that way; one success makes me an expert and one failure makes me the worst baker in the world. I’m not even going to try to pretend that makes sense.

In any case, my lack of logic means that I threw the dough together and then decided that instead of waiting for it to rise and continuing on with the recipe, I would go play tennis. Perhaps you’re thinking that sounds like a great idea since there’s no point sitting around, twiddling my thumbs and waiting for the dough to rise as that could take forever. If that’s what you’re thinking, you’re wrong. Some dough takes a long time to rise but not this one and not when it’s 30 degrees and humid. Given that heat, I was crazy to leave my dough alone for hours on end and even crazier to think I could play tennis in that heat. By the time I returned, (completely exhausted, but still the reigning tennis champion) my dough was threatening to push the roof off my house. I cautiously deflated it and watched as it slowly shrunk back down to a somewhat manageable size. The recipe stated that it made 15 bagels but I could tell from the start that my monster dough was going to make more. I shrugged and started into the bagel shaping. The last time I made bagels I used the method that requires you to roll the dough into a snake and then pinch the ends together to make your ring. As soon as those bagels hit the simmering water, they separated into horseshoes. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. This time around I rolled my dough into balls and poked a hole in the middle. I have no idea why I ever tried it the other way, this was a much better approach.

As per the challenge rules set out by Jenny and Freya, I was not allowed to alter the inside of the bagels whatsoever. Outer toppings were permitted but that was it. I dutifully followed the rules and topped some of my bagels with sesame seeds and some of them with fleur de sel and then popped them into the oven. The problem I had is that my oven is not overly big and all of those monster bagels wouldn’t fit at once. Given the heat situation, I didn’t want the bagels to sit on the counter and quadruple in size so I improvised with one of my favourite contraptions… the bbq. That’s right folks, I bbq’d the bagels. Those lovely lines you see on my bagels are grill marks and they’re awesome! My bbq bagels took a little longer to “bake” but the end result was a slightly smoky exterior with a plain bagel interior. But those grill marks, oh the grills marks! They’re worth the price of admission alone.

You’ll also notice the sleek and sexy dome that some of my bagels are hiding under. It was purchased this past week while shopping with Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice and Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict! The three of us enjoyed a stellar lunch and then a leisurely afternoon of chocolate shopping. I’ve been wanting a cake dome for quite some time now and when I started to stare longingly at this one, Ivonne and Jasmine insisted that I buy it. I’m glad they did because I’m currently using it for everything! Like bagels, lots and lots of bagels.

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Daring Bakers + Bagels + Blogging Event + Baking + BBQ

Daring Bakers: May Edition

Following last month’s disaster of a crepe cake, chosen by yours truly, I think some of the Daring Bakers were expecting a simpler recipe this month. Ha! Not with Helen having the honour of choosing the May recipe. This is the same woman who barely batted an eyelash at my crepe cake and who routinely produces masterpieces in pastry decorated with spectacular sugar art. I knew Helen would have quite the challenge for us indeed. Then I found out that Helen had chosen to take on Anita as her co-host. Anita also has a way with all things intricate and mouth wateringly beautiful. When the two of them teamed up I knew that the crepe cake would be nothing compared to whatever they chose for us. I wasn’t disappointed. Helen and Anita decided that we would all be making our own puff pastry. Not daring enough? We’d also be making chiboust cream. Still not daring enough? Add cream puff making to that list. You want more? Top that with a caramel creation. When you put all of that together you end up with a Gateau St Honoré and a little piece of Paris right in your very own kitchen.

Had you have challenged me to make the Gateau St Honoré a year ago I think I would have hidden in a corner. But since that time I’ve conquered croissants, and pasta making, hell, I can even make my own sausage and bacon! Macarons aside, I can make anything! And honestly, this cake wasn’t that difficult. It was a two days process that involved lots of steps, but when it was broken down, no single area was hard to complete. The end result really does look like it could come from a bakery. I was impressed, but then again, I was also impressed by the process of filling the cream puffs, call me a simpleton. Actually, I think filling the cream puffs was my favourite part of the whole operation. I took a syringe meant for injected meat with, (cleaned it) stuffed it full of chiboust cream and squirted it into the bottom of the cream puffs. I loved watching them become firm and plump as the chiboust cream pushed out the cream puff walls. Sometimes I got a little overzealous and chiboust cream would explode everywhere. That was the best part.

The other thing I enjoyed about this challenge was the leftovers! Don’t ever, EVER throw out extra chiboust cream, (especially if you flavour it with rum like I did, mmmm). I used mine as filling for mille feuille and macarons and there was still some leftover so I stuck it in the freezer. It didn’t stay there longer than a day because I ate it like ice cream and it was D-licious! Leftover puff pastry was excellent for making mille feuille and I still have a block of it in the freezer for another adventure. Believe it or not there were extra cream puffs too which are now hanging out with the puff pastry in the freezer as I recently found out they can be filled and then frozen with no ill effects. There would have been many more cream puffs in the freezer, but my mouth got in the way. They were just so easy to devour in one bite, I couldn’t help myself.

The only part of this challenge that may have caused a bit of cursing in my kitchen was the caramel. I’ve fought many battles with caramel and it has almost always won. This most recent battle ended in a tie. The first pot of caramel had to be thrown out. The second one, though still difficult to work with, produced the half decent results the you see before you. I have fellow Daring Bakers to thank for that too. Last month we were supposed to top our crepe cakes with caramel dipped hazelnuts. I chickened out and stuck strawberries on top. After reading all of the other bakers posts however, I learned a much more efficient way of making spun sugar that doesn’t involved coating your kitchen in sticky stuff. You simply open the dishwasher, tape some skewers to the top rack and wave your caramel over top. All of the excess falls into the dishwasher and when you’re finished you just close the door and turn it on. No mess! That’s smart thinking and I take no credit for it. I’m simply passing it along so that others can benefit from this gem of wisdom. Don't ever let the sugar get the best of you!

The recipe can be found in its entirety over at Tartelette and Dessert First where you will also find links to the other Daring Bakers’ creations, (you can also find all 48 of them in my sidebar, in the Daring Bakers drop down menu). Many thanks to Helen and Anita for their wonderful selection, I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge.

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Daring Bakers + Gateau + Blogging Event + Baking + Cream Puffs + Cake