Povitica

The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat!

My parents used to make a lot of cinnamon swirl bread when I was growing up and Povitica brought back fine memories of those steamy sweet loaves. Rolled thinner, folded up twice, and filled with cocoa powder and nuts in addition to the cinnamon and sugar it is just what the doctor ordered for a cold rainy fall day.

Once again my challenge went with me to Bible Study and the ladies all loved it. I ended up making one cinnamon sugar loaf, one traditional loaf, and two Nutella filled loaves. Reviews on the Nutella loaf were mixed but the traditional got rave reviews. I will definitely make Povitica again.

Le Fraisier

Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers' host and she challenges us to make fresh fraisiers inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook Tartine.

This was another elegantly simple dessert to make. It is very pretty to serve and it is a delicious light cake with plenty of fresh summer fruit inside. Everyone who tasted my fraisier loved it! I'll definitely be making it again.

I had never heard of a fraisier before so I wasn't sure what I was in for. Turns out it is simply a chiffon cake filled with pastry cream and fresh fruit and topped with a thin layer of almond paste. I chose to fill mine with fresh blueberries and strawberries.

The only thing that I might do differently is skip the almond paste layer. While it made a beautiful smooth top the flavor was so strong that it completely overwhelmed the light and subtle lemon chiffon cake.

Overall I loved the look and the taste of this Daring Baker's Challenge, Le Fraisier.

To make your own fraisier go to http://www.thedaringkitchen.com/ for the recipe and helpful tips.

My Big Fat Greek Dessert

Erica of Erica's Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker's June Challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make baklava.

Yep, Baklava.

I've never made Baklava before and I generally don't enjoy eating it that much, add that to the fact that I've made my own puff pastry before I wasn't too hip on this challenge at first. However, the homemade phyllo dough was super simple to make and much less time consuming than the puff pastry AND the baklava was DELICIOUS!!

Really, this picture is horrible and doesn't do it justice at all but it was really, really good. There was enough of the honey syrup that it stayed very most and the sugar and nut filling was very sweet and rich. A small bite was plenty.

My first ever attempt at baklava got rave reviews, so if you'd like to try it for yourself you can find the recipe at http://www.thedaringkitchen.com/ . Oooompah!

The Daring Baker's May Challenge

On the eve of the big reveal of the June Daring Baker's Challenge I suddenly realized that I never posted my May challenge.

It's a shame too because it was soooooo delicious.

Our May challenge was a marquis. Yeah, I'd never heard of it either. Basically it is a homemade chocolate mouse that you freeze. After it is frozen you cut it into cubes and then plate it in a bed of fluffy meringue that has been lightly torched. You then drizzle the whole works with some sort of caramel or sweet sauce and sprinkle it with nuts or chocolate nibs or coffee beans or something.

Sounds complicated, I know, but it really wasn't.

We had the freedom to use any flavor combinations we wanted as long as the mousse was chocolate. My first instinct is always to add raspberry but I've been there and done that so I decided to go a different direction.

Since we had to also do a sauce and some sort of nut I decided to do a Bananas Foster Peanut Marquis. Yep, I made bananas foster (bananas sauteed in butter, vanilla and brown sugar) and drizzled it over the top of the marquis and the torched meringue. Then I sprinkled on honey roasted peanuts.

It was a peanut butter banana chocolate extravaganza! The mousse thaws as it sits out but it retains its shape so it is a creamy decadent mousse on top of a crunchy meringue with gooey bananas and crispy nuts. Yummy!

Really, who doesn't like a dessert that requires a blow torch?

Bacon....Again

Last month I shared with you all my Bible Study's obsession with bacon. Well the girls in BS...Bible Study with a Side of Bacon couldn't be happier with this month's challenge. Yep, bacon.

Well technically... The Daring Baker's April 2011 challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make maple mousse in an edible container. And one of the suggested edible containers just happened to be a bowl made entirely of bacon!

So the Bible Study girls were treated to Maple Mousse in a Bacon Bowl. It was absolutely delicious and made a lovely sweet and salty mouthful.

The bacon bowls were slightly messy and tedious to make however, so I opted to make my already famous Pancake Muffins and fill them with a generous dollop of the maple mousse and top them with a crispy strip of bacon. Also delightful!

Prizes are actually being awarded to the person who came up with most original edible container. You can cast your vote now over at The Daring Kitchen. I don't know who I'll vote for but one of my favorites is definitely this "stack of pancakes and pat of butter" by the baker over at The Flirty Blog. Isn't it so cute? The pancakes are hollow and are filled with the maple mousse. And yes, those are bacon curls coming out of the top. I love it!

...w/ a Side of Bacon

So I'm in this Bible study....

We meet every Wednesday morning. We study the Bible. We eat bacon.

I don't know exactly how it happened, but we all came together based on our shared love of Jesus Christ and one of his greatest creations....pork fat.

We've sort of become obsessed with bacon. We've made Bacon Brownies (more than once), Bacon Buttercream Frosting, Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes, Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies and Chocolate Bacon Cookies. There are rumors of Bacon laced Rice Krispie Treats in our future too.

If you don't believe me when I say that we are serious about our bacon just search for our group on Facebook. You'll find us under BS....Bible Study with a Side of Bacon. I'm not even kidding.

So when this month's Daring Baker's Challenge was a Meringue Coffeecake to be made with our own choice of fillings what else could I choose but bacon?

Yep. This is my Bacon Pecan Coffeecake and it is d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s if I do say so myself. The meringue gushing out of the edges looks a little weird, I'll admit, but it doesn't hurt the taste any.

The recipe was super easy and very versatile. I will say that it is much better fresh out of the oven than the next day but a quick nuke in the microwave and it revives pretty well. If you'd like to make your own pork flavored pastry you can find the recipe at http://www.daringkitchen.com/.

If nothing else just go check out the cool pics of all the different coffeecakes that everyone else made this month. And BS girls....I'll see you Wed. I'll be the one with the bacon. :)

Panna Cotta

The February 2011 Daring Bakers' Challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada DeLaurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies. I decided to make two different kinds of panna cotta. I started with a chocolate panna cotta layered with a coffee gelee to create a yummy mocha dessert. My plan was to make them in some fluted individual molds and then turn them out to serve. That didn't work out because the gelee layer wasn't sturdy enough to stand up to being dumped out. Instead we just had to eat them out of the less than beautiful molds...but that didn't hurt the taste any.

I liked the flavor combination but I didn't think the chocolate panna cotta was quite as smooth in texture as the vanilla was; maybe because I used a cheap chocolate instead of buying the good stuff.

The second version I made was a vanilla panna cotta with a blueberry gelee. I got smart and just put them in some pretty little clear dishes instead of trying to unmold them. The vanilla panna cotta was DELICIOUS! It was completely smooth and creamy and WONDEDRFUL. I added real vanilla bean to mine to give it an even richer vanilla taste. The blueberry gelee was ok but it didn't really add anything besides color to the ultra super yummy vanilla panna cotta.

I will definitely be making panna cotta again. It was very easy and took very little time to prepare....aside from all of the time needed for chilling the layers.
The Nestle Florentine cookies were good too, nothing special, but good. They were also very easy to make and tasted particularily good with the mocha pnna cotta dish.

Here are the recipes we used for our challenge for those of you who would like to try it for yourselves.

Nestle Florentine Cookies

Ingredients:
2/3 cup (160 ml) (150 gm) (5.3 oz) unsalted butter
2 cups (480 ml) (160 gm) (5 2/3 oz) quick oats
1 cup (240 ml) (230 gm) (8 oz) granulated sugar
2/3 cup (160 ml) (95 gm) (3⅓ oz) plain (all purpose) flour
1/4 cup (60 ml) dark corn syrup
1/4 cup (60 ml) whole milk
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1½ cups (360 ml) (250 gm) (9 oz) dark or milk chocolate

Directions:
Preheat oven to moderately hot 375°F (190°C) (gas mark 5). Prepare your baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper.

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan, then remove from the heat.

2. To the melted butter add oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla, and salt. Mix well. Drop a tablespoon full, three inches (75 mm) apart, onto your prepared baking sheet. Flatten slightly with the back of your tablespoon, or use a spatula.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes, until cookies are golden brown. Cool completely on the baking sheets.

4. While the cookies are cooling melt your chocolate until smooth either in the microwave (1 1/2 minutes), or stovetop (in a double boiler, or a bowl that fits atop a saucepan filled with a bit of water, being sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl).

6.Spread a tablespoon of chocolate on the bottom/flat side of your cookie, sandwiching another (flat end) cookie atop the chocolate.

This recipe will make about 2 1/2 - 3 dozen sandwiched Florentine cookies. You can also choose not to sandwich yours, in which case, drizzle the tops with chocolate (over your wax paper).

Chocolate Panna Cotta
Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:
1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (7 gm) (¼ oz) unflavored powdered gelatin
2 cups (480 ml) whipping cream (30+% butterfat)
½ cup (115 gm) (4 oz) sugar
¾ cup (145 gm)(5 oz) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
½ teaspoon (2½ ml) vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Pour milk into a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over the top, set aside for 2-5 minutes.

2. Place a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir in cream, sugar and vanilla. Bring to a low boil.

3. Add chocolate and whisk until melted. Whisk the milk/gelatin mixture into chocolate cream mixture. Whisk until gelatin has dissolved.

4. Transfer to ramekins, or nice glasses for serving.

5. Cover and chill at least 8 hours, or overnight

Coffee Gelée
Adapted from a recipe in Gourmet Magazine

Ingredients:
2 cups (480 ml) good quality brewed coffee
1/4 cup (60 ml) hot water + 2 tablespoons (30 ml) cold water
1/2 cup (120 ml) (115 gm) (4 oz) granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons (7½ ml) (3½ gm) (1/8 oz) unflavored powdered gelatin
2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract

Directions:

1.Place granulated sugar and 1/4 c. hot water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stir until the sugar has dissolved.

2.Sprinkle gelatin over 2 Tablespoons cold water and let it soften 2 minutes or so.

3.Stir the coffee, sugar, hot water, and vanilla into a small metal bowl, add gelatin mixture and stir well until gelatin has dissolved. If pouring over Panna Cotta, be sure that this mixture is no longer hot, it will melt Panna Cotta if it is, let it come to room temperature.

Vanilla Panna Cotta

Ingredients
1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
1 tablespoon (one packet) (15 ml) (7 gm) (¼ oz) unflavored powdered gelatin
3 cups (720 ml) whipping cream (30+% butterfat)
1/3 cup (80 ml) honey
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) granulated sugar
pinch of salt
*I added 1 inch of vanilla bean.

Directions:

1. Pour the milk into a bowl or pot and sprinkle gelatin evenly and thinly over the milk (make sure the bowl/pot is cold by placing the bowl/pot in the refrigerator for a few minutes before you start making the Panna Cotta). Let stand for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin.

2. Pour the milk into the saucepan/pot and place over medium heat on the stove. Heat this mixture until it is hot, but not boiling, about five minutes. (I whisk it a few times at this stage. If you let it boil it will develop a very unattractive skin on top as it cools. You don't want that.).

3. Next, add the cream, honey, sugar, and pinch of salt. Making sure the mixture doesn't boil, continue to heat and stir occasionally until the sugar and honey have dissolved 5-7 minutes.

4. Remove from heat, allow it to sit for a few minutes to cool slightly. Then pour into the glass or ramekin.

5. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. Add garnishes and serve.


Fruit Gelée
Recipe by Mallory

Ingredients:
1 cup (240 ml) (230 gm) (8 oz) fruit (strawberries, raspberries, mango, blackberry, etc.)
3 tablespoons (45 ml) water
1/4 cup (60 ml) (60 gm) (2 oz) granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons (7½ ml) (3½ gm) (1/8 oz) unflavored powdered gelatin

Directions:

1.Sprinkle gelatin over water.

2.Place fruit and sugar in a small saucepan and simmer until sugar has dissolved. Now mix the gelatin into the strawberry mixture and stir until gelatin has dissolved.

3.Remove from heat and allow to cool (close to room temp, again, if you're planning on layering on pouring on top of your Panna Cotta, a hot mixture will also heat up your chilled Panna Cotta).



As always you can see pics of all of the panna cotta variations at The Daring Kitchen.

Christmas Stollen

The 2010 Daring Baker's Challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie's Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Baker's to make stollen. She adapted a friend's family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart's book.......and Martha Stewart's demonstration.

I further adapted the recipe by using dried cherries soaked in orange juice in place of the rum soaked raisins and I didn't add any "mixed peel" to my stollen. I did include the orange and lemon zests but not the orange and lemon extracts called for in the original recipe.

Since I make yeast breads all the time I found the Stollen very simple to make but I didn't particularily like the taste or texture of it. I prefer my breads soft and tender and I don't generally like fruity flavored breads either. But this stollen did get pretty good reviews from a few of the diners at our Christmas dinner.

To find the recipe and see all the different stollens made by the Daring Baker's go here.

MMMMMMM....Brown Butter

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

I've been following Elissa's blog for a year or so now and she is one of the most impressive teenagers you'll ever meet. Her writing, her work ethic, her photography and her baking are all way beyond her years. She just headed across the country for college so I'm sure the posts will be even more touching and entertaining...not to mention full of delicious recipes.

I chose to make the Ice Cream Petit Fours because I've made Baked Alaska before and I wanted to try something new. I was very happy with the way they turned out and I especially loved the Brown Butter Pound Cake. I chose to fill my petit fours with coffee flavored ice cream. Yum! Yum!

This was a very simple challenge but I really like it because it introduced me to a new flavor: brown butter. Of course I've browned butter before...usually accidently, but I didn't realize how much flavor it can add to a recipe. It really gave the pound cake a nutty, caramelly flavor that was really, really delicious.

If you'd like to try making Ice Cream Petit Fours with Brown Butter Pound cake you can find the recipe on the Daring Baker's website.

Daring Baker's June Challenge

The June 2010 Daring Bakers' challene was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

The challenge consisted of making chocolate meringues, chocolate mascarpone mousse and a mascarpone/creme anglais cream for drizzling over the top. The final result was VERY tasty but not very visually appealing.

It almost looks like a cheeseburger without the top bun.....or something worse. This is one of those desserts you have to judge with your taste buds and not your eyes. I was supposed to use a piping bag and pipe out perfect meringues and mousse but I chose to just dollop it on....hence the 'pile of poo' look.

However, despite it's somewhat revolting appearance these chocolate pavlovas are super rich and delicious. I could barely eat a whole one. I used very dark, bitter chocolate but the marscarpone cream on top helps to tame the chocolate with a sweet, very vanilla-y flavor.

The recipe was easy and fun and if I ever make it again I think I will follow the directions and use my piping bag. You can go here for the directions on how to make your very own Chocolate Pavlovas with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse.

The May Daring Baker's Challenge

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.

I was very intimidated when I first read what the challenge would be. I mean these things are huge and complicated. Besides that they just made one in a challenge on TopChef Masters. I mean if an award winning chef is making Croquembouche for a nationally televised cooking competition then it is not the PB&J of french desserts.

However, I will say that this was probalby the EASIEST challenge I have done to date. I did it all on one evening using only ingredients I already had in my house. And to top it all off it was sooooo delicious! Now granted, my piece montee wasn't extremely high, or symmetrical or even visually pleasing, but it was indeed a series of filled creme puffs stacked up and drizzled with caramel, which is exactly what a Croquembouche is.

So without further ado.........

There are three main components to this dessert. First I make the pastry cream to fill the cream puffs. I chose to make a coffee flavored filling. (And boy was it good!)

Crème Patissiere du Cafe

1 cup (225 ml.) whole milk

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

6 Tbsp. (100 g.) sugar

1 large egg

2 large egg yolks

2 Tbsp. (30 g.) unsalted butter

1 Tsp. Vanilla

1 T. instant coffee granules

3 T. boiling water

Dissolve coffee in water. Set aside. Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.

Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.

Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.

Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.

Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.

While the creme is chilling go ahead and make the cream puff dough.

Pate a Choux (Yield: About 28)

¾ cup (175 ml.) water

6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter

¼ Tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 cup (125 g.) all-purpose flour

4 large eggs

For Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Preparing batter:Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.

Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly. Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny. As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes. It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.

Piping:Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.

Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.

Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).

Baking:Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.

Filling:When you are ready to assemble your piece montée, using a plain pastry tip, pierce the bottom of each choux. Fill the choux with pastry cream using either the same tip or a star tip, and place on a paper-lined sheet. Choux can be refrigerated briefly at this point while you make your glaze.

Use one of these to top your choux and assemble your piece montée.

Hard Caramel Glaze:

1 cup (225 g.) sugar

½ teaspoon lemon juice

Combine sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan with a metal kitchen spoon stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand. Place on medium heat; heat without stirring until sugar starts to melt around the sides of the pan and the center begins to smoke. Begin to stir sugar. Continue heating, stirring occasionally until the sugar is a clear, amber color. Remove from heat immediately; place bottom of pan in ice water to stop the cooking. Use immediately.

Assembly of your Piece Montée:

You may want to lay out your unfilled, unglazed choux in a practice design to get a feel for how to assemble the final dessert. For example, if making a conical shape, trace a circle (no bigger than 8 inches) on a piece of parchment to use as a pattern. Then take some of the larger choux and assemble them in the circle for the bottom layer. Practice seeing which pieces fit together best.

Once you are ready to assemble your piece montée, dip the top of each choux in your glaze (careful it may be still hot!), and start assembling on your cake board/plate/sheet. Continue dipping and adding choux in levels using the glaze to hold them together as you build up. (You may want to use toothpicks to hold them in place – see video #4 below).

When you have finished the design of your piece montée, you may drizzle with remaining glaze or use ribbons, sugar cookie cut-outs, almonds, flowers, etc. to decorate. Have fun and enjoy! Bon appétit!