Tuesdays with Dorie BWJ: Brioche
September 20, 2016 at 12:01 am | Posted in breakfast things, BWJ, groups, sweet things, sweet yeast breads, tuesdays with dorie | 8 CommentsTags: baking, bread, breakfast
We’ve used Nancy Silverton’s brioche recipe left and right by now, but we’ve never just made plain brioche with it. Brioche is one of my favorite breads to make…all eggy and buttery and stuff. It’s easy to mix and to work with, when the temperature is right. I’ve made a different Dorie brioche loaf recipe before, so this time, I tried to make brioche à tête. For some reason I own three of the small fluted molds used for this…why, I don’t remember. My tête shaping skills need a little work. These looked more like brioche à goose egg. No matter, it tasted the same– delicious! Salty butter and plum jam were my toppings of choice here.
For the recipe, see Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Apple Tarte Flambé
September 13, 2016 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, groups, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 6 CommentsTags: baking, fruit, tarts
I guess it’s about to be fall here, although the outside temperature isn’t quite on board with that yet. Maybe I’ll hurry things along by baking up an apple dessert, like this Apple Tarte Flambé. Everyone says that tarte flambé can be thought of as Alsatian pizza, so I’ll repeat it. Usually it’s savory, with onions and bacon (like the Alsatian Onion Tart we made a while back), so this one’s a twist, with a sweet creamy topping and see-through slices of mandolined apple on top of a thin yeasted base.
It’s key to roll the dough on this really thin. It shouldn’t really have much of an outer crust at all. Pricking the dough all over the place also helps keeps it from poofing up in the oven. I used a red apple, and would do so again, if only because the paper-thin slices bake up with such pretty frilly pink edges. Once this tarte is out of the oven, it’s time to slice and eat it straight away, when it’s crispiest and most delicious.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Philadelphia Blueberry-Corn Tart
August 23, 2016 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, groups, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 10 CommentsTags: baking, fruit, tarts
As soon as I saw the picture in the book that accompanies the recipe for Dorie’s Philadelphia Blueberry-Corn Tart, I knew it would make adorable little tartlets. When I’m baking for just the two of us, I often like things that can be assembled “to order.” This tart, with its whipped cream-cream cheese filling and and dark purple blueberry and sweet corn topping, sounded like maybe it wouldn’t take well to four days in the fridge as we whittled down a large version.
Once you have your tart shell(s) made and baked, you can power off the oven because the filling is no-bake and comes together quickly. Even the jam only takes a few minutes on the stovetop. I left the fresh rosemary out of the jam, and rather than using lemon zest and juice, I used a splash of OJ. Also, some of the reports from the last posting date noted that the jam was a little loose, so I put in a touch of cornstarch to make sure it wouldn’t run too much. This is not have the feel of a full-on hefty cheesecake…in fact, the filling is light and delicate and has the right amount of tang for the sweet crust and fruity (corny!) topping. Perfect for exactly this time of the year.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWJ: Swedish Limpa
August 16, 2016 at 3:35 pm | Posted in groups, savory things, tuesdays with dorie, yeast breads | 4 CommentsTags: baking, bread
Baking bread isn’t my typical 90° day activity. I didn’t really have any other choice, though, if I wanted to get Beatrice Ojakangas’s Swedish Limpa made within the first two weeks of this month. Limpa, if you haven’t had it (I hadn’t myself until today), is a rye bread favored with orange zest, fennel, anise and caraway seeds and molasses and brown sugar. It’s often eaten at Christmas time in Sweden…in my house it will be eaten in mid-August.
I don’t have any anise in my spice collection and didn’t really feel like getting any either, since I’m not much of a licorice fan…I just used a bit more caraway and fennel to compensate. The recipe makes two loaves, which is a bit much for us, so I made half. The bread is traditionally baked in round cake pans, but I’ll be putting most of it into the freezer for later. With easy future toasting in mind, I baked my half-recipe in a 9″x5″ loaf pan instead.
This bread is delicious! I’m the one who added the molasses and sugar to the dough, yet somehow I forgot until the first bite that it would be slightly sweet. And the orange zest, seeds and rye–yum! Seriously, heat wave be damned…I’m glad I turned the oven on for this one. The recipe notes say the bread goes well with meat and cheese, and I believe it, but it’s also not bad with just a smear of salty butter.
For the recipe, see Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Esquimaux Pops for Grown-Ups
August 9, 2016 at 5:20 pm | Posted in BCM, groups, ice creams & frozen, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 13 CommentsTags: chocolate, ice cream
Hot summer days call for cold treats, everyone knows that. Esquimaux Pops for Grown-Ups are frozen chocolate mousse on a stick, with booze (I used Cassis) and chopped chocolate bits added for more fun. No ice cream maker– but several bowls!– required. I had my suspicions about these freezing too hard, actually, but they were perfectly airy and delicious. A “make again” for sure.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Cornmeal and Berry Cakes
July 26, 2016 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 6 CommentsTags: baking, cake
If you can handle turning on the oven in the middle of summer, it’s nice to bake with berries. These little golden Cornmeal and Berry Cakes, made with olive oil, are a lovely addition to my standard repertoire. And they’re easy to make, too. The recipe calls for raspberries, but blueberries would be great and blackberries may be even better. I actually used red currants, since I had a pint that I didn’t really have any other plans for. They give a tart little pop to the cakes, so I definitely wanted to add a little powdered sugar and lemon juice glaze to their tops. These can be made as mini loaves or cupcakes…I used a friand tin bought when we lived in Sydney because I like the oval shape.
These don’t make me think of cornbread or corn muffins…they are really cakes. I think actually they’ll make good breakfast treats with coffee, and that’s how we’ll have the ones I’ve wrapped for the freezer.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWJ: Tuiles
July 19, 2016 at 12:01 am | Posted in BWJ, cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 2 CommentsTags: cookies
I don’t usually think of a thin, lacy tuile as a stand-alone cookie, but more as a crispy sidekick to ice cream or custard. David Blom’s Tuiles are the standard little sweet nibble I’m thinking of. The batter comes together with a quick stir, and it spreads out thin and bubbly in the oven. (Mine did take several more minutes than the recipe stated to bake.) I didn’t bother to curve the warm tuiles over a rolling pin (I did that when I made Dorie’s Translucent Maple Tuiles). And I didn’t bother to decorate them with chocolate squiggles either, but it would be a nice touch. These are good– buttery crisp and lightly orange-flavored.
For the recipe, see Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan (there’s also a video here). Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Summer Market Galette
July 12, 2016 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, groups, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 8 CommentsTags: baking, tarts
It’s like– BOOM– all of a sudden there’s so much fruit at the farmers’ market. Perfect time to make a Summer Market Galette. You can toss just about whatever stone fruit or berries you desire into this thing…I used a couple of peaches and apricots, a plum, some cherries and some blueberries. It all bakes up into bubbly sweet goodness.
I had a round of dough in the freezer leftover from Dorie’s Jammer Galette and pulled that out to use here. It wasn’t until I started to fold and pleat the dough over the fruit that I noticed something seemed strange and remembered the Jammer actually used a sablé cookie dough and not the regular flaky galette dough. Oopsies! The galette was still delicious, and the soft cookie-like dough made it seem almost like a cobbler.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll.
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Rice Pudding with Strawberries and Spiced Hibiscus Syrup
June 28, 2016 at 1:30 pm | Posted in BCM, groups, puddings & custards, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 8 CommentsTags: baking, fruit, pudding
Rice pudding isn’t something I make so often. Dorie’s Arborio Rice Pudding from BFMHTY back in ’08 was probably the last time I did (I think the base of this recipe was pretty much the same). I do love it though. Here, I played on the tropical hibiscus flavors by subbing out some of the whole milk for coconut milk. The hibiscus syrup and strawberries were nice compliments to the creamy pudding, and I would think other fruit sauces and berries would be equally tasty.
This is possibly my shortest post ever. For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll.
Tuesdays with Dorie BWJ: Cocoa Nests with Caramel Mousse
June 8, 2016 at 8:50 am | Posted in BWJ, groups, other sweet, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 CommentsTags: baking, dessert
I’ve been on a chocolate tear here for the last few weeks. I guess though that caramel is really the dominate flavor in Charlotte Akoto’s Cocoa Nests with Caramel Mousse. And I guess I should actually call the “mousse” that I made “cream” since I totally dumbed down her mousse recipe and just made a caramel whipped cream.
The nests are decoratively piped cocoa meringues, dried to a crisp in a low oven. I wanted to skip the gelatin and egg yolk bombe-based mousse in the recipe, so I just made a dry caramel (on the dark side) with a bit of sugar, poured in some cream and let it come up to a boil. Then I chilled the mix for several hours before I whipped it like regular cream. This is something I’ve made at the restaurant before, and it’s pretty freakin’ tasty. It’s sweet though, and I knew the meringue nests would be, too, so instead of making the nut praline garnish, I just scattered some chopped toasted hazelnuts over the finished dessert. This was a fun project and reminiscent of a pavlova.
For the recipe, see Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
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