Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Double-Corn Tea Cake
August 8, 2017 at 5:05 pm | Posted in BCM, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, cake
Double-Corn Tea Cake is a simple summer loaf cake that’s easy to put together and is great with fruit. This recipe is made with both corn kernels and corn flour (not to be confused with cornstarch), which is much more fine than cornmeal. I don’t know that I’ve ever noticed corn flour at the grocery store, but I found it from one of the millers at the Union Square Greenmarket. I’ll have to look for some more ways to use up the bag.
I suppose you could serve this cake like cornbread, although it’s a bit sweeter and more buttery than what I’m used to. I liked it with roasted strawberry sauce and whipped cream and I’ll probably try it toasted with cherry jam, too.
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: Lavender Galettes
July 25, 2017 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 5 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
Usually I think of something else when I hear the word galette, but these Lavender Galettes are almost paper-thin crisps, straddling the line between cookie and cracker. I don’t really use lavender much at home, but the bar at work keeps candied lavender on hand for cocktail purposes, and I swiped (after asking, of course- haha) a couple of teaspoons to make these. The dough comes together easily by hand and is flavored with orange zest and olive oil, in addition to the lavender. To get them so thin, each cookie is rolled individually on its own parchment square. This sounds a bit fiddly, but the dough is easy to roll and isn’t too messy when done this way. They bake up flat and light as air, not too sweet and with nice floral notes. We ate them with blackberry ice cream that I sprinkled with a little bit of the candied lavender I had left over. 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: Martine’s Gâteau de Savoie
July 11, 2017 at 8:17 pm | Posted in BCM, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 6 CommentsTags: baking, cake
Martine’s Gâteau de Savoie is the kind of simple cake I’ll want to make all summer long. It’s the perfect thing to go with roasted strawberries, a pile of raspberries, sliced plums, whatever. It’s an easy to make separated egg sponge– no butter, oil or baking powder needed. I baked mine in a mold that’s traditionally used for something I’ve never made called a trois freres cake, but a bundt pan will do nicely here. I have a jar of scented geranium sugar in the cupboard that I made quite a long time ago and always seem to forget about. I made a mental note to bake with it here, thinking that its light floral taste would go nicely with the roasted strawberries I would be serving alongside the cake. I was too embarrassed to photo the extra large blob of whipped cream I also spooned on top, but you can take my word that shortcake-style ain’t a bad thing.
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: Streusel-Topped Rhubarb Lime Tart
June 27, 2017 at 4:20 pm | Posted in BCM, groups, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, fruit, tarts
I look forward to a good rhubarb dessert every spring (now summer!), and this Streusel-Topped Rhubarb Lime Tart fit the bill nicely. Dorie’s sweet tart dough and crisp streusel encase a a kinda tart filling of rhubarb, lime and custard. It all balances out nicely…soft, tart insides and crisp, sweet outsides. I made little individual tartlets and guessed the baking time would probably be less than for a full-sizer. I decided to use some roasted rhubarb compote instead of raw chopped rhubarb in my filling, just in case it wouldn’t have time to cook down fully. That was the only change I made. It was delicious, and I see more of these in my future.
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: Les Whoopies
June 13, 2017 at 3:09 pm | Posted in BCM, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 5 CommentsTags: baking, cake, whoopiepies
It doesn’t matter if they’re called Les Whoopies or whoopie pies, I’m a big fan. I used to work in a bakery where we made heaps of them (the chocolate and the pumpkin ones were my favorites), so I know my whoops. These are great– moist and chocolatey, like little devil’s food sandwiches, with peanut butter filling. I always like how good whoopee pie cakes are a little sticky on my fingers. Is that weird? I made these a few months ago actually, but now that I’m looking at the picture I took, I should go make them again!
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. It’s also here. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
TWD BCM Rewind: Tarte Tropézienne
May 30, 2017 at 4:52 pm | Posted in BCM, cakes & tortes, groups, layer cakes, puddings, custards, mousses, sweet things, sweet yeast breads, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, bread, cake
A year ago, the group made Dorie’s Tarte Tropézienne, a pastry cream-filled, sugar-sprinkled brioche cake. I did not. That’s why rewind week comes in handy. I’d never had a Trop before…now I know what I’ve been missing. I really like pastry cream. And brioche.
Trops come in various sizes. I chose to make individual ones rather than slice up a large one. Mine came out looking a little more like burger buns than like the flatter cakes they should be…I clearly didn’t press the dough out enough. No matter, they were still delicious. I served them with chopped strawberries alongside, but next time I may put the berries inside instead.
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: Pistachio and Summer Fruit Gratins
May 23, 2017 at 4:32 pm | Posted in BCM, cobbler, crisps, shortcakes, general pastry, groups, jams & preserves, other sweet, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 1 CommentTags: baking, fruit
What to say about these Pistachio and Summer Fruit Gratins? Well for one thing, they are pretty tasty. A layer of fruit and berries topped with pistachio frangipane could almost not be a winning dessert. I will fess up that I fudged the frangipane and used the “regular” almond kind, which I have a stash of in the freezer. I sprinkled a bunch of pistachios on top to fool everyone, though! Haha– I have a few tricks up my sleeve now and then. The fruit in this can be pretty much whatever’s in season…I went with a rhubarb/raspberry combo. The ‘barb and ‘berries bubbled up in the oven and turned into a jammy layer that was the most gorgeous shade of hot pink. Hot pink and pistachio green might be my favorite color combo, but I can see myself making this one over and over again this summer as different fruits roll though the farmers’ market.
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: Plain and Simple Almond Cake
May 9, 2017 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 10 CommentsTags: baking, cake, glutenfree
If you think Plain and Simple Almond Cake sounds a little unexciting, just change the “plain and simple” to “light and delicious” and go get to cracking yourself some eggs. While you’re at it, separate those eggs, too, because this easy almond cake is made like a separated egg sponge with almond flour replacing the normal wheat flour. This cake is light and moist, with great flavor. Since it’s plain and simple, you can dress it up however you like…we ate it at home with some fig sauce. I gave a big chunk to a chef friend of mine who is gluten-free and a little cake-deprived. Poor guy! He was so happy and said it was the best cake he’d had in a long time. I’ll make it 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: Laurent’s Slow-Roasted Spiced Pineapple
April 25, 2017 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, general pastry, groups, jams & preserves, other sweet, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 11 CommentsTags: baking, fruit
I’ve had my eye on Laurent’s Slow-Roasted Spied Pineapple for a while. I’ve high-heat roasted pineapple in a vanilla-caramel sauce before, and I can tell you that it is the stuff my ice cream sundae dreams are topped with. Now that I’ve made this slow-roasted version, I can say that if I ever meet Laurent, I will shake his hand. Or maybe give him cheek kisses because la bise seems more French than a handshake. My disappointingly flavorless bodega pineapple was totally transformed after marinating for two hours in a low oven with jam, OJ, Grand Mariner and spices. I was also pretty pleased that the process used up two jars of jam that had been hanging around for longer than I wish to admit…keeping with a tropical theme, one was a jar of passionfruit-orange-gauava jam that I bought in Hawaii a year and a half ago but never opened, and the other was half a jar of homemade tangerine marmalade that had been kicking around since waaaaay before that. This cooked for two hours…I’m sure anything potentially troublesome was taken care of by the heat, right? For my spices, I used vanilla bean, fresh ginger and coriander seed.
I actually wound up keeping my pineapple in the oven for longer than two hours. At that point, the kitchen smelled amazing, but the pineapple still seemed a little firm when I stuck a knife into one of the chunks. I had errands to do, so I just turned the oven off and let the pan sit in there until I got back home from running around. When I pulled it out, everything was syrupy and sticky and candied (including the ginger slices– yum!). I’ve already had this twice with “plain cake” and ice cream and I cannot wait to make pineapple pancakes drizzled with roasting syrup this weekend.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. It’s also here. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: (Meyer) Lemon Meringue Tart a New Way
April 11, 2017 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, groups, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 8 CommentsTags: baking, tarts
A Lemon Meringue Tart is a great classic spring dessert, and you get to burn stuff on purpose– time to break out the blow torch! This one has a little twist though. The “new way” here refers to the lemon filling, which instead of a snappy, eggy curd, is a lemon pastry cream. The result is lighter, in terms of texture and tang. I took it a new way of my own and used some Meyer lemon zest and juice I had in the freezer in place of the regular stuff. The Meyer lemons probably made the filling a little more tame in terms of tartness as well, but it was definitely delicious. Also, I made tartlets instead of a big tart, because I don’t like to share. Just kidding. Not really.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll.
-
Baked Fresh Weekly
Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.
Entries and comments feeds.
