TWD BWD Rewind: Father’s Day Blueberry-Cherry Pie
May 30, 2023 at 5:12 pm | Posted in BWD, groups, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 5 CommentsTags: baking, pie
Well, I made this Father’s Day Blueberry-Cherry Pie last June, right on schedule with the TWD group, but then I didn’t feel like writing a post. Father’s Day is about to roll around again, so here she is. What I remember most about this pie was how much I loved the glaze on the top crust…that’s a good add to a double crust pie. Blueberry and cherry is a combo that’s hard to beat. I do think I added a little extra thickener to the mix. Pretty sure my dad would like a slice of this one.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Smoked Salmon Roll-Up
May 23, 2023 at 2:55 pm | Posted in BWD, groups, other savory, savory things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, savory, tarts
Cream cheese and lox on an everything bagel, but make it a cake? Ok, here’s your Smoked Salmon Roll-Up. I do have a bagel shop less than a block from my house, but this is a cool idea and a fun twist on a favorite combo. A thin sponge with everything bagel seasonings gets rolled around a spiral of cream cheese and smoked salmon with dill, capers, chives, scallion and plenty of lemon juice. Everything is salty and zippy.
I’m the only real smoked salmon lover in this house, so I scaled this down to a third of the recipe and baked the sponge in an 8-inch square cake pan. My roll-up is tiny, but cute. I had a little crack in the center of my cake, so I decided to do the cucumber garnish on top to cover it up (a roll-up cover-up). Looking at this photo, I wish I’d shaved my cuke on the mandolin to look like fish scales, instead of just hand-slicing them and having them sit a little funny. A fun and tasty bake, though!
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it twice a month. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Curd, Cream and Berry Cake
May 9, 2023 at 1:37 pm | Posted in BWD, cakes & tortes, groups, layer cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, brekkie, cake
This Curd, Cream and Berry Cake is a showstopper…something to impress mom, and make tons of washing up! It’s kind of an update on the Victoria Sponge, and its many components include: a hot milk sponge cake split into two layers, mounds of mascarpone whipped cream, lemon curd, lemon soaking syrup and lots of fresh berries.
I don’t have much experience with making hot milk sponge, but it’s super light and nice and it cut in half beautifully, so I’m into it. The cream filling was supposed to be a mascarpone-meringue-whipped cream concoction, but I decided to skip the egg white meringue step, figuring it would hold up better without (and hadn’t I dirtied enough bowls already?). Mascarpone-whipped cream is my fave way enjoy whipped cream anyway and it stays pretty stable for a few days, too.
I really debated what to do about the lemon curd component for this. I made just a half size (6-inch) cake and, adjusting the recipe, would need just 2 tablespoons of curd for dotting around the berries. It didn’t seem like enough to really justify making or buying it. I thought about just using jam instead. Then I found a recipe for whole-egg lemon curd that looked quick and easy and wouldn’t leave me stuck with a bunch of whites. I made 1/3 of that to use one egg (and I strained it before I chilled it). I wound up with at least twice what I needed but decided to fold the excess into the middle layer of cream for an extra-lemony filling.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Everyday Dorie: Hot or Cold Beet-Fennel Soup
April 28, 2023 at 6:48 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, savory things, soups | 2 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, savory, soup
Wow, I had to really hunt around for this photo of Hot or Cold Beet-Fennel Soup. I made it a while back, and I thought that meant late fall of this past year. Turns out I made it in February 2021. Time continues to be a fast-moving blur.
This is a puréed soup that begins with cooking down fennel and some other aromatics, moves along to simmering beets in stock, and ends with everything soft and whizzed up in the blender. You can serve this soup hot or chilled and garnished with whatever floats your boat (or floats on top of soup). I went chilled, with shaved fennel, crème fraîche, caviar and pink peppercorn. This was nice for lunch, and apparently it is still fresh in my mind, as I thought I made it just a few months ago, but I’ve made some heartier and more flavorful variations of beet borscht even more recently that I’ve liked better.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see how the group liked this one.
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Cinnamon-Raisin Bread
April 25, 2023 at 10:30 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, groups, sweet things, sweet yeast breads, tuesdays with dorie, yeast breads | 4 CommentsTags: baking, cheese, savory
For the past couple of years, I’ve been playing around with sourdough bread at home. While I enjoy the long process and the suspense of making naturally leavened bread, my results can still be a bit hit-or-miss. Baking a yeast bread, like this Cinnamon-Raisin Bread, every once in a while is kind of nice. I was able to mix this dough up in the morning, give it two quick rises and butter up a nice, thick, squishy slice for my after-lunch snack. Looking to boost the standard white bread flavor of the recipe a bit, I did replace a little of the AP flour with whole wheat (something like 75-100 grams worth) and added in a fat tablespoon of my sourdough discard. Although the black tea idea sounded nice, I soaked my raisins in a combo of hot water, more cinnamon and Combier.
I used my 9″ pullman pan here because I like its straight sides, but it’s a bit smaller than my regular 9″x5″ loaf pan, so this was a seriously high riser. (If I make it in the pullman again, I’ll probably scale the recipe back to 75% of the original.) Nervous that it might explode in the oven, or something like that, I scored the top of the loaf before buttering and cinnamon-sugaring it. My bread came out of the oven sporting a golden brown bouffant. I will definitely be having another slice with breakfast tomorrow, and I’m very much looking forward to it.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Mocha-Walnut Torte
April 11, 2023 at 7:40 pm | Posted in BWD, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 CommentsTags: baking, brekkie, cake
A Mocha-Walnut Torte is the answer to the question of what to make for your GF friends, for Passover, for whenever you need a super-elegant yet super-easy dessert. This slim, flourless chocolate cake is made using the separated egg method, with meringued whites providing the bulk of the lift. A ground chocolate, walnut, coffee and spice mixture gives it flavor. I added a splash of nocino liqueur to the blend. Dorie gives the option of a ganache topping, which I viewed as mandatory, and a sprinkle of walnuts. Delicious cold, it kind of reminded me of a nutty candy bar.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet (you can also find the recipe here), get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Carrot Muffins
March 28, 2023 at 2:59 pm | Posted in biscuits/scones, breakfast things, BWD, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 2 CommentsTags: baking, scones
I’ve spent a good chunk of my pastry career working in bakeries (and making lots of muffins), but I don’t work baker’s hours at home. The only muffin that ever gets served for breakfast here is a leftover one. These Carrot Muffins were made as a coffee break snack.
These are not carrot cake masquerading as muffins. Instead of a dense cake filled with add-ins and warm spices, these are really light and springy and are spiced with sunny flavors like ginger, vanilla and orange zest. They have a surprise ingredient, pomegranate molasses, which (surprise!) I didn’t have. I subbed it with date molasses and then turned the sitch into a double date by using dates as my chopped dried fruit component. They’re not just for brekkie- they’re good anytime of day.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Everyday Dorie: White Beans and Smoked Fish (a pantry-and-fridge salad)
March 24, 2023 at 2:48 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, other savory, salads, savory things, veggies | 5 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, salad, savory
A “pantry-and-fridge” salad is the kind I make for myself most days. Actually, my pantry is non-existent (I live in NYC, and there’s just one food cabinet in my kitchen), so my salads don’t always contain as many yummy things as the White Beans and Smoked Fish version that Dorie makes. Normally I’m just fridge-foraging for leftover veg and cheese scraps and hoping there’s half of an avocado in there somewhere. I had to make a stop at the fancy-pants little neighborhood grocery to get supplies for this one.
Back home and armed with a can of white beans, a tin of smoked rainbow trout (in the coolest packaging), a jar of preserved lemon and some arugula and crunchy veggies, I tossed this together with a mustardy white balsamic vinaigrette and some chopped up homemade pickled red onions (which I am never without). Maybe I should make more space for this stuff at home, because I inhaled this salad post-gym. I will call it my “cabinet-and-fridge” salad.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see what we all thought.
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Lick-the-Pot Chocolate Pudding Pie
March 14, 2023 at 12:01 am | Posted in BWD, groups, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, pie
When I made my Lick-the-Pot Chocolate Pudding Pie, I didn’t realize that our TWD posting date would coincide with Pi Day– what a treat! I haven’t made a pudding pie like this in ages, and it was so simple to do. A crumb crust, pudding and whipped cream…no making pastry, prepping fruit, baking for two hours and then furiously scrubbing goopy bubble-over off your favorite sheet tray or the bottom of your oven.
Crumb crusts are the easiest and tastiest, IMO. I didn’t actually have the spice cookies called for, but I had some Teddy Grahams and a jar of pumpkin spice, so I made do. Watching a bowl full of teddy bears get zipped up in the food processor was highly entertaining. Making a luxe chocolaty tempered egg yolk pudding on the stovetop is the hardest part of this pie, but it really isn’t hard. The pudding is called “lick-the-pot” so sneaking a chef’s treat spoonful before filling the pre-baked crust and chilling the pie in the fridge is a must.
A mascarpone-whipped cream topping finishes the pie off, diner-style. Dorie says to serve the pie as soon as possible after the topping goes on, but I find that mascarpone is great way (and also the tastiest way) to stabilize whipped cream, and that it holds up for a couple of days without issue. I sprinkled some cookie crumbs and chocolate speckles all over the top for some extra pizzaz.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Everyday Dorie: Salmon Brandade
March 13, 2023 at 9:42 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, savory things | 3 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, savory, soup
I’m pretty embarrassed by how late I sometimes write up my posts, but one good thing about being late to the game is getting to read the recipe reviews from other group members before I head into the kitchen. I picked up some tips for the Salmon Brandade I should have posted on Friday, but didn’t make until last night. I am very familiar with brandade as an olive oil-whipped salt cod and potato spread (yum!), but Dorie’s version here is like a mashed potato-topped salmon shepherd’s pie, using both smoked salmon and chunks of salmon fillet.
From Shirley, I got the idea to add some veggies to the filling…really just the last handful of peas I had in a baggie in the freezer. Diane mentioned that her husband doesn’t like smoked salmon, so she only used half of what is called for in the recipe and all was fine. My husband doesn’t like it either, and I didn’t want to hear any complaints, so although I love it, I followed suit. I did save $10 not having to buy a second packet, so I owe Diane a coffee if she’s ever in town. She also noted that the bread crumb topping didn’t get very crispy in the oven, and the dish could have used some more textural contrast. I tossed my panko crumbs in a bit of olive oil and baked them separately until they were nice and toasty brown, then sprinkled them on top of the cooked brandade. So, thank you Shirley and Diane! This came out a nice, cozy dinner for a chilly night.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see how the group liked this one.
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