Tuesdays with Dorie: Banana-Coconut Ice Cream Pie
May 25, 2010 at 1:10 am | Posted in groups, ice creams & frozen, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 21 Comments
I know I’ve told you before that I’ve been turning my nose up at raw bananas since I was a kid. But I try to keep an open mind, and I want to bake along with everyone, so I always give banana recipes a go anyway. Well, guess what. I think I’m starting to accept them…maybe even like them a little. I didn’t at all poo-poo Spike’s choice of Banana-Coconut Ice Cream Pie for TWD this week. In fact, I enjoyed it! What’s happening to me?? 🙂
An ice cream pie is what it sounds like– a crust (cookie-coconut in this case) topped with ice cream. I made mine in a springform rather than a pie plate, but that’s a nitpicky detail. Dorie uses chocolate ice cream as the base in her recipe…I assembled this pie at the same time I made that burnt sugar ice cream, so I used it instead. I didn’t want to miss out entirely on the chocolate, though, and made a cocoa fudge sauce to go on top.
Raw bananas make three different appearances here. There’s a layer of them between the crust and the ice cream, there’s a rum-banana smoosh stirred into the ice cream, and there are a few decorative slices for the top. Further proof that I am beginning to appreciate bananas: I thought the burnt sugar ice cream with rum and bananas stirred in was just killer!
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Spike Bakes. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Apple-Apple Bread Pudding
May 18, 2010 at 1:01 am | Posted in groups, pudding/mousse, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 23 Comments
Elizabeth of Cake or Death? chose Apple-Apple Bread Pudding for TWD this week, but I actually baked this baby back in October. I’m not really sure anymore why I made it then…probably some combination of warm apple desserts sounding good to me at the time and having a couple of orphaned yolks to use up. Whatever…what’s important is that I remember how good it was. Caramelized apples and custard-soaked bread (or…umm…croissant). So squidgy and good. A little caramel sauce might have been gilding the lily, but I recommend it anyway.
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Cake or Death?. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Quick Classic Fruit Tart
May 11, 2010 at 1:01 am | Posted in groups, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 36 Comments
My “extended spring break” from work is absolutely lovely, but, to tell the truth, my life is losing a bit of structure. All those things that I had planned to do (spring clean the apartment, organize my digital photos into folders that make some sense, finally get a recipe archive on this blog…just to name a few) are just not getting done. I’ll tell you what is getting done, though…catching up on the DVR list (is anyone else addicted to Sarah’s House??), walking around Tribeca (with a stop for something caffeinated at either Kaffe 1668 or RBC Coffee) and taking afternoon catnaps (yes, even after the coffee). Well, I am enjoying it, because I know it won’t last forever, and I do thank the weekly TWD deadline for keeping my baking in check.
What’s up this week? Cristine of Cooking with Cristine chose a Quick Classic Berry (or Fruit) Tart. This is certainly a classic…I think it was the first tart we learned how to put together in cooking school. I’ve made a couple of these custard–type tarts at home in the recent past. The combination of the crisp cookie-ish crust and the cool pastry cream is killer. Really, I hardly need anything more than that, but a little fruit makes it even better. I fiddled with the traditional glazed berry topping a little bit (since berries are still a tad expensive here) and topped it with some vanilla-caramel roasted pineapple. I am going to tell you how I made this pineapple stuff, because it is easy, it is fab and it could dress up a zillion different things…maybe after my afternoon nap!
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Cooking with Cristine. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Burnt Sugar Ice Cream
May 4, 2010 at 1:01 am | Posted in groups, ice creams & frozen, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 37 Comments
I suppose because I work in the pastry biz, I’m often put on the spot about my favorite desserts. If I’m asked to name my favorite to eat, that’s such a tough question…often the answer that comes to mind is just the last thing I’ve tried! But if I have to name my favorite to make, that’s easy…ice cream! I love the way one simple base recipe can be switched up a million different ways. I love tempering the eggs and watching as they magically thicken the custard (geeky, right?). And I especially love that first taste of soft-serve right out of the machine! Yeah, so, needless to say, Becky’s pick of Burnt Sugar Ice Cream for TWD made me pretty jazzed up.
What is “burnt sugar?” It’s caramel taken half a step further…deep dark and just smoking. Don’t be afraid to take it to this stage for the best flavor. But do be prepared to move fast with your milk and cream when you reach it, or instead of getting the complex sweetness with a bitter edge that you are after, you will wind up with something that is just plain burned (and a pot that’s hard to clean!). Stand back when you add the milk and cream to the hot caramel…it will bubble and spit (you can minimize that by heating the liquids first), but the fury dies down quickly.
If you’ve given up on making ice cream at home because it turns rock hard as it sits in the freezer, give this one a shot. Because of the caramel, it stays luxuriously soft, creamy and easy to scoop. And the taste– oh momma! It’s perfect in an affogato, prefect for leftover DdL cookie sandwiches and perfect on its own, with just a sprinkling of pink salt.
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Project Domestication. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Chockablock Cookies
April 27, 2010 at 1:01 am | Posted in cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 23 Comments
Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet decided on Chockablock Cookies for TWD this week. Why “chockablock?” Because they are loaded with good stuff– dark chocolate, dried fruit (I used cherries) and nuts (cashews here). Oops, I almost forgot to mention the oats, coconut and molasses. Don’t worry, the molasses doesn’t make then seem like spice cookies…it gives them a lovely chew and a brown sugary sweetness.
Usually extra cookie dough winds up in my deep-freeze, and is pulled out when I have nothing else prepped for dessert. But not this time…these guys were gone in a blink. Yeah, they are that good.
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Popsicles and Sandy Feet. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Sweet Cream Biscuits
April 20, 2010 at 1:01 am | Posted in biscuits/scones, breakfast things, groups, tuesdays with dorie | 25 Comments
If I’ve learned anything from this week’s TWD, it’s that I make lousy biscuits. Well, let me clear that up…these Sweet Cream Biscuits (chosen by Melissa of Love At First Bite for TWD) tasted good, especially topped with some homemade strawberry-vanilla bean smoosh, but they were not the high, flaky biscuits of my dreams. Overworking must have been the culprit, although after seven years of baking professionally, I like to think that I know when to stop.
But I won’t let you get me down, biscuits. No, no…I will master you yet. You just wait and see.
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Love At First Bite. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Swedish Visiting Cake
April 13, 2010 at 8:47 am | Posted in cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 27 Comments
A couple of years before I got married (when going on vacation with friends was still “allowed”), my friend Fani and I visited Denmark and Norway. We had a great time, but I probably would have added Sweden to the list if I’d known there would be cake!
Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs picked Swedish Visiting Cake for TWD this week. This cake has been calling my name since I got BFMHTY. It comes together so easily by hand…I probably should have just gone ahead and made it ages ago, but no, I waited.
I followed Julia’s lead and swapped out the almond extract for a sprinkling of cardamom. The cardamom, the lemon zest and the almonds on top gave it great flavor. It’s a sturdy little cake but not at all heavy. I was fascinated by the instruction to remove it from the oven while it’s still “damp.” My cake tester was noticeably wet, but the cake really did finish cooking as it cooled.
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan (she also has an apple version here on Serious Eats) or read The Dogs Eat the Crumbs. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Mocha-Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake
April 6, 2010 at 1:13 am | Posted in bundt cakes, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 29 Comments
Two bundts in a row– I am a lucky girl! I made this Mocha-Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake for our Easter dinner. Last week’s Coconut Tea Cake went unadorned, but for this one, I stirred up a quick chocolate sour cream frosting (thinned out with a little coffee leftover from making the cake batter), so my springtime pastel hundreds and thousands would have something to stick to.
Chocolate, coffee and ground walnuts all in one moist cake– what’s not to like? It’s tasty, it’s easy, and I’m glad that Erin of When in Doubt…Leave it at 350 picked it for TWD.
I have jury duty today. Perhaps a little snack-sized piece of this will find its way into my tote…
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read When in Doubt…Leave it at 350. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Coconut Black Sesame Tea Cake
March 30, 2010 at 5:54 pm | Posted in bundt cakes, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 29 Comments
Between the time I wrote this and now, I’ve left my job, gone to Florida and back and gone to Seattle and back. Whew! I just got home last night, hence the delay in posting (and my poor showing in the comments department over the last couple weeks).
I’m really glad that Carmen of Carmen Cooks picked this Coconut Tea cake for TWD— it’s been on my “would someone hurry up and choose it?” list like forever! I couldn’t resist doing one of Dorie’s “playing around” variations, so I added black sesame seeds to mine…I just know that when my husband sees it, he is going to ask me if I baked a cake with fleas!
I also used rum, in addition to vanilla, and toasted, unsweetened coconut (I get this at the healthfood store, and I think it helped to temper the sweetness of the cake…there’s a lot of sugar in the batter, afterall!). I made half the recipe in a six-cup bundt pan, and it was done in 35-40 minutes. This is just the type of cake I love: easy-peasy to make, in bundt form, moist and tastes like coconut! I haven’t tried it with tea yet…that’ll be tomorrow, when I sit down with a cuppa to watch episodes of The Ricky Gervais show on HBO On demand. Yes, I have a lot going on now that I’m not working…
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Carmen Cooks. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Dulce de Leche Duos
March 23, 2010 at 1:01 am | Posted in cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 27 Comments
So, I was standing in an aisle at the store, staring crossly at a $7 jar of DdL, wondering if these Dulce de Leche Duos, chosen by Jodie of Beansy Loves Cake for TWD, would be worth it. Then I suddenly remembered I had an opened can of condensed milk in the fridge. Score! I went home and put David Lebovitz’s oven-baked method to the test. It worked like a charm, and I think I will go with this technique (rather than boil-in-the-can) in the future.
With dulce de leche both in the cookie batter and acting as the filling, these cookies are sweet, to be sure. I imagine, though, that the chewy cookies could hold their own as-is, no sandwiching required. But gilding the lily a little doesn’t hurt either…these are tasty!
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Beansy Loves Cake. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
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