(daring baker's) home for the holidays

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




This post is going to be short and sweet. This time of the year is from now on much, much busier. That's because this is the time last year that my little one was born. She's turning one day after tomorrow. So Christmas may be over but I still have a million things to do.

I chose the Good Housekeeping recipe. I doubled it and the kids made gingerbread cookies with the rest. My template is one from Martha Stewart's webpage which I will link to when I get a chance. Oh and I used a Chocolate Buttercream to stick down all the candies as it was left over from making the Little One's Birthday cake. It was my first ever gingerbread house from scratch and it was a lot of fun. I kind of felt like a kid again making this. Thanks Anna & Y for choosing such a fun challenge!

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

If you still have your jack o lantern sitting around and it's not molded or dried out why not cook it. There are about a million pumpkin recipes out there floating around all the blogs.

These are really soft and closer to muffin tops than cookies in my opinion. But that's perfect for us because i didn't feel bad giving my Little One one of these cookies. (we try to avoid sugar in general but every once in a while its nice to give her a treat.) This was the first time she had ever had a chocolate chip and of course she loved it.

this recipe from joythebaker.com (if you haven't been to her site you should go. it's choc full of amazing looking recipes)

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup canned (or fresh cooked & pureed) pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips


Preheat your oven to 325*F.
Stir together the first 7 ingredients (thats the flour through the cloves) in a mixing bowl and set aside.
Using an electric mixer on medium speed mix together the butter and sugar until it is smooth & light yellow in color... for about a minute.
Slowly mix in the oil, pumpkin, and vanilla until blended. Stir in the flour and then the chips.
On an oiled baking sheet scoop (about 1/4 cup batter per cookie) cookies spacing at least 2
1/2 inches apart. This is a very runny dough and it does spread a lot.
Bake each sheet of cookies one at a time on the middle rack of your oven. They cook about 16 minutes each or until the top is firm and an inserted toothpick comes out dry. Cool them on the sheet for at least 5 min before transferring them to a cooling rack.

You can dust them with powdered sugar if you like.

Makes approx 18 cookies.

I have pretty much only been baking for Daring Baker's challenges lately so this was definitely a nice change of pace. It reminded me just how easy baking can be.






be sure to check out a soft place to land for some great diy projects!

french macarons: a daring baker's fail

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.Actual baking time: 12 minutes total, plus a few minutes to get your oven from 200°F to 375°F.

As you can tell my macarons didn't turn out. I've been making a list in my head of all the things that could be the culprit.
1. I did age my eggs... 4 days in a sealed container in the refrigerator... but the eggs themselves were super fresh. As in my husband went outside and pulled them out from underneath the chickens fresh.
2. I did let them sit until room temperature but it was a cold day. Maybe I should have nuked them for 5 - 10 sec to knock the chill off even more.
3. It was also a rainy day. So maybe the humidity played a part.
4. I did a terrible thing and omitted 1/4 cup of powdered sugar... i know that this was very wrong of me but i couldn't get past how sickeningly sweet to dobos torta was and i didn't want these to turn out the same way.
5. I kinda wished that they had puffed up a bit more. Maybe I should have beaten my egg whites stiffer?
6. The outsides were crispy but the insides were goop. I'm thinking that the oven i used cooks way too hot. (This is why I didn't fill them. They were inedible. Hopefully I still get credit for doing this challenge because I did work my a$$ off. And I don't have time to make more right now. I have a baby!)

Those are my best guesses. The sad thing is for a few minutes I actually thought that they were going to turn out. They developed feet and everything. I even danced around the kitchen when I noticed the feet. sigh. oh well. Such is life.

I will tell you that one thing I am learning from the Daring Bakers is that it's okay to try things you don't know how to do. And that it's okay to fail at those things. There is a lot of pressure in this world to be perfect even though no one is. I'm not perfect and I'm learning to be okay with that.

Well had my macarons been edible the plan was to fill them with a faux Devonshire Cream. And Possibly a fresh strawberry slice. So here is the Devonshire Cream recipe:

8 oz cream cheese
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
powdered sugar to taste

Whip cheese until softened. gradually add cream until mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Add powdered sugar to taste.

And here is the macaron recipe copied from the daring baker's website:
Equipment required:
• Electric mixer, preferably a stand mixer with a whisk attachment
• Rubber spatula
• Baking sheets
• Parchment paper or nonstick liners
• Pastry bag (can be disposable)
• Plain half-inch pastry bag tip
• Sifter or sieve
• If you don’t have a pastry bag and/or tips, you can use a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off
• Oven
• Cooling rack
• Thin-bladed spatula for removing the macaroons from the baking sheets
• Food processor or nut grinder, if grinding your own nuts (ouch!)

Ingredients
Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.
7. Cool on a rack before filling.

Yield: 10 dozen. Ami's note: My yield was much smaller than this. I produced about two dozen filled macaroons.



My batter was not going to make 10 dozen either. It was a lot closer to 1 1/2 to 2 dozen.
I do think that I will try this challenge again... one day when I have some time. I would love to learn how to really make these cookies if for no other reason than to try one. (unless anyone knows where you can find them in Fort Worth?)

And last but not least I thought I would share a picture I took of the Little One at the pumpkin patch. She's almost 10 months old now. It's amazing how time flies once you have kids.

Dobos Torta

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful
of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos
Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite
Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.



I'm not going to lie. This has been a rough month. We packed our bags and headed west. We moved from Tennessee to Texas as Husband is going back to school. We are supposed to be living in our own residence on the inlaws many acres (aka the vegetarians have moved onto a cow ranch in texas). But our a/c is not working and almost a month later the movers have yet to actually bring our stuff. Insane right? I'm dying here. I kept waiting and waiting to get my things to make this month's challenge. As you know they never came. I really didn't want to miss the challenge so I spent the entire day yesterday in the Inlaws kitchen while Husband watched the Little One. I finally had the kitchen clean around 10pm last night. I was exhausted. And guess what? I don't even like the Dobos Torta. It's way too sweet to me. And the caramel is too lemony. But here is the recipe anyway. (copied and pasted from the daring bakers website... of course)


Equipment

2 baking sheets
9” (23cm) springform tin and 8” cake tin, for templates
mixing bowls (1 medium, 1 large)
a sieve
a double boiler (a large saucepan plus a large heat-proof mixing bowl which fits snugly over the top of the pan)
a small saucepan
a whisk (you could use a balloon whisk for the entire cake, but an electric hand whisk or stand mixer will make life much easier)
metal offset spatula
sharp knife
a 7 1/2” cardboard cake round, or just build cake on the base of a sprinfrom tin.
piping bag and tip, optional
Prep times

Sponge layers 20 mins prep, 40 mins cooking total if baking each layer individually.
Buttercream: 20 mins cooking. Cooling time for buttercream: about 1 hour plus 10 minutes after this to beat and divide.
Caramel layer: 10-15 minutes.
Assembly of whole cake: 20 minutes
Sponge cake layers

6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups (162g) confectioner's (icing) sugar, divided
1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (112g) sifted cake flour (SUBSTITUTE 95g plain flour + 17g cornflour (cornstarch) sifted together)
pinch of salt
Chocolate Buttercream

4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (200g) caster (ultrafine or superfine white) sugar
4oz (110g) bakers chocolate or your favourite dark chocolate, finely chopped
2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons (250g) unsalted butter, at room temperature.
Caramel topping

1 cup (200g) caster (superfine or ultrafine white) sugar
12 tablespoons (180 ml) water
8 teaspoons (40 ml) lemon juice
1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. grapeseed, rice bran, sunflower)

Caramel topping

1 cup (200g) caster (superfine or ultrafine white) sugar
12 tablespoons (180 ml) water
8 teaspoons (40 ml) lemon juice
1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. grapeseed, rice bran, sunflower)
Finishing touches

a 7” cardboard round
12 whole hazelnuts, peeled and toasted
½ cup (50g) peeled and finely chopped hazelnuts
Directions for the sponge layers:

NB. The sponge layers can be prepared in advance and stored interleaved with parchment and well-wrapped in the fridge overnight.

1.Position the racks in the top and centre thirds of the oven and heat to 400F (200C).
2.Cut six pieces of parchment paper to fit the baking sheets. Using the bottom of a 9" (23cm) springform tin as a template and a dark pencil or a pen, trace a circle on each of the papers, and turn them over (the circle should be visible from the other side, so that the graphite or ink doesn't touch the cake batter.)
3.Beat the egg yolks, 2/3 cup (81g) of the confectioner's (icing) sugar, and the vanilla in a medium bowl with a mixer on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted a few inches above the batter, about 3 minutes. (You can do this step with a balloon whisk if you don't have a mixer.)

4.In another bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 2/3 cup (81g) of confectioner's (icing)sugar until the whites form stiff, shiny peaks. Using a large rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remainder, leaving a few wisps of white visible. Combine the flour and salt. Sift half the flour over the eggs, and fold in; repeat with the remaining flour.
5.Line one of the baking sheets with a circle-marked paper. Using a small offset spatula, spread about 3/4cup of the batter in an even layer, filling in the traced circle on one baking sheet. Bake on the top rack for 5 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the centre and the edges are lightly browned. While this cake bakes, repeat the process on the other baking sheet, placing it on the centre rack. When the first cake is done, move the second cake to the top rack. Invert the first cake onto a flat surface and carefully peel off the paper. Slide the cake layer back onto the paper and let stand until cool. Rinse the baking sheet under cold running water to cool, and dry it before lining with another parchment. Continue with the remaining papers and batter to make a total of six layers. Completely cool the layers. Using an 8" springform pan bottom or plate as a template, trim each cake layer into a neat round. (A small serrated knife is best for this task.)

Directions for the chocolate buttercream:

NB. This can be prepared in advance and kept chilled until required.

1.Prepare a double-boiler: quarter-fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.
2.Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thickened, about five minutes. You can use a balloon whisk or electric hand mixer for this.
3.Fit bowl over the boiling water in the saucepan (water should not touch bowl) and lower the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook the egg mixture, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you see it starting to thicken a bit. Whisk in the finely chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes.
4.Scrape the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. It should be quite thick and sticky in consistency.
5.When cool, beat in the soft butter, a small piece (about 2 tablespoons/30g) at a time. An electric hand mixer is great here, but it is possible to beat the butter in with a spatula if it is soft enough. You should end up with a thick, velvety chocolate buttercream. Chill while you make the caramel topping.

Lorraine's note: If you're in Winter just now your butter might not soften enough at room temperature, which leads to lumps forming in the buttercream. Male sure the butter is of a very soft texture I.e. running a knife through it will provide little resistance, before you try to beat it into the chocolate mixture. Also, if you beat the butter in while the chocolate mixture is hot you'll end up with more of a ganache than a buttercream!

Directions for the caramel topping:

1.Choose the best-looking cake layer for the caramel top. To make the caramel topping: Line a jellyroll pan with parchment paper and butter the paper. Place the reserved cake layer on the paper. Score the cake into 12 equal wedges. Lightly oil a thin, sharp knife and an offset metal spatula.
2.Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved into a smooth syrup, turn the heat up to high and boil without stirring, swirling the pan by the handle occasionally and washing down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet brush until the syrup has turned into an amber-coloured caramel.
3.The top layer is perhaps the hardest part of the whole cake so make sure you have a oiled, hot offset spatula ready. I also find it helps if the cake layer hasn't just been taken out of the refrigerator. I made mine ahead of time and the cake layer was cold and the toffee set very, very quickly—too quickly for me to spread it. Immediately pour all of the hot caramel over the cake layer. You will have some leftover most probably but more is better than less and you can always make nice toffee pattern using the extra to decorate. Using the offset spatula, quickly spread the caramel evenly to the edge of the cake layer. Let cool until beginning to set, about 30 seconds. Using the tip of the hot oiled knife (keep re-oiling this with a pastry brush between cutting), cut through the scored marks to divide the caramel layer into 12 equal wedges. Cool another minute or so, then use the edge of the knife to completely cut and separate the wedges using one firm slice movement (rather than rocking back and forth which may produce toffee strands). Cool completely.

Angela's note: I recommend cutting, rather than scoring, the cake layer into wedges before covering in caramel (reform them into a round). If you have an 8” silicon round form, then I highly recommend placing the wedges in that for easy removal later and it also ensures that the caramel stays on the cake layer. Once set, use a very sharp knife to separate the wedges.

Assembling the Dobos

1.Divide the buttercream into six equal parts.
2.Place a dab of chocolate buttercream on the middle of a 7 1/2” cardboard round and top with one cake layer. Spread the layer with one part of the chocolate icing. Repeat with 4 more cake layers. Spread the remaining icing on the sides of the cake.
3.Optional: press the finely chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake.
4.Propping a hazelnut under each wedge so that it sits at an angle, arrange the wedges on top of the cake in a spoke pattern. If you have any leftover buttercream, you can pipe rosettes under each hazelnut or a large rosette in the centre of the cake. Refrigerate the cake under a cake dome until the icing is set, about 2 hours. Let slices come to room temperature for the best possible flavour.


We were encouraged to make whatever kind of buttercream that our little hearts desired. I decided on a Mocha Buttercream (a nestle recipe) loosely basing the torta off of a popular latte at the coffee shop i spent the last 4 employed by.

MOCHA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, baking bar(s) broken into small pieces
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder or instant coffee granules
3 tablespoons milk
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 cups powdered sugar

Microwave small chocolate pieces in small, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 45 seconds; STIR.
If pieces retain some of their original shape, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until melted.
Cool to room temperature.
Dissolve instant coffee in milk in glass measure.
Beat butter, vanilla extract and salt in large mixer bowl for 3 minutes.
Beat in melted chocolate until blended, scraping occasionally.
Gradually beat in powdered sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in coffee mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired spreading consistency.