Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Alsatian Christmas Bread
December 11, 2018 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, cakes & tortes, groups, other sweet, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 CommentsTags: baking, cake
Alstatian Christmas Bread (aka baerewecke) is a bit of a project, but it also couldn’t be easier. It’s not a bread that needs flour or yeast, just dried fruit and nuts. Instead of rising time, it needs chopping and mascaerating time…also some shopping time to gather ingredients. This uses all sorts of yummy dried fruit- figs, apples, pears, raisins, apricots and prunes- plus walnuts and almond flour. The fruit is cut and soaked in juice until it’s very soft and makes a sticky paste when mixed with the nuts. Form the paste into logs, bake them until they hold together, and you’re done! This is one of those things that, like fruitcake, lasts a long time and probably even gets better with age. I made mine a few days before I first cut into it, and I still have the second log sitting in my chilly kitchen. I’m thinking of mailing it to my mom in Seattle, because I think she’d like it.
By itself, it’s gluten free, dairy free and vegan. You can nibble on this like a snack or energy bar, but I think it’s also great with cheese. If I make a cheese plate I always like to have some sort of jam or fruit paste on the side, and this is a perfect accompaniment.
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 DC: Sweet Potato Pie Bars
November 20, 2018 at 12:01 am | Posted in cakes & tortes, cookies & bars, DC, groups, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 5 CommentsTags: baking, cookies, pie
In my family, you cannot get away without having pumpkin pie on the Thanksgiving dinner table. Specifically Grandma W’s pumpkin pie recipe. But it is not yet Thanksgiving (and in reality I’m not going to my parent’s house this year, and therefore I can do whatever I want without my father losing his sh_t), so I’m going to play around a bit. These Sweet Potato Pie Bars are just a little bit of a deviation from my family’s Thanksgiving norm. They are flavored pretty similarly to pumpkin pie, and I added a pinch of cloves to the recipe’s cinnamon and nutmeg, making them even more alike. I used a whole roasted sweet potato and puréed it (like lovielou did) because I think it’s more tasty than the canned stuff, and it made a nice thick filling because it’s also less watery.
The sweet potato filling gets baked over a base of sweet tart dough. You can serve these as is, or add toasty marshmallows on top. Truth be told, I’ve never been crazy about marshmallows, so I made a mascarpone-whipped cream concoction, spiked with rum because I know my father would approve of that, to swirl on top. I liked these cold from the fridge. Although Dorie says they’re best the day they’re made, I thought they held up really well for the three days it took us to eat them.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and please join us if you haven’t already. Happy Thanksgiving!
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Le Cheesecake Round Trip
October 23, 2018 at 7:57 pm | Posted in BCM, cakes & tortes, cheesecakes, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, cake, cheesecake
Le Cheesecake Round Trip is a cheesecake Dorie makes in both in New York and in Paris. In fact, she’s been known to smuggle ingredients in her suitcase from one continent to another to make it. With a filling of all-American cream cheese and a Paris-ized crust of spice cookies and almond flour, it contains a bit of both worlds.
We actually make a crispy little spice cookie at work, and there is always scrap, so I just took some of that home to bake and grind into crumbs for this. A portion of the crumbs gets reserved to mix into the filling, giving it little freckle-speckles. I always whiz my cheesecake fillings together in the food processor. It’s easy, fast and lump-free. I made a half-sized cheesecake in a six-inch pan, but I only used a quarter of the filling (one block of cream cheese). So mine was a low-rider, but still very rich and satisfying. Dorie says that during baking the top of the cheesecake will brown and may even crack. Mine didn’t do either of these things, but I think that’s because it had so much less filling that it didn’t need enough time in the to get brown before I declared it c’est fini.
While a drizzle of salted caramel on top of Le Cheesecake is very good indeed, so is fruit sauce or jam or chocolate sauce. Cheesecake lasts a few days, so you can play around with options.
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: Hazelnut, Ginger and Olive Oil Cake
August 28, 2018 at 9:26 pm | Posted in BCM, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 CommentsTags: baking, cake
This Hazelnut, Ginger and Olive Oil Cake is an easy little loaf cake to whip up by hand, but as you can tell from the name, it has a lot going on flavor-wise (and there isn’t even mention of the cornmeal and butter that are in the mix, too). This is a recipe that I’ve breezed past many times in the book without really noticing it. Turns out, it’s the perfect cake to go with summer fruit. Here, I had it with nectarines (my very favorite!) and blueberries, last night, with red plums and the final bit tonight went with leftover wine-poached cherries. I made my own hazelnut flour for this by grinding whole nuts in the food processor, along with the regular flour and cornmeal to keep them from turning into a paste, and I used a nice, flavorful olive oil. It’s a rich and moist cake that feels special. I’ll make it again for sure…I even noted on the recipe page, “very good!”
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: Black-and-White Baked Alaska
June 26, 2018 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, cakes & tortes, groups, ice creams & frozen, layer cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 CommentsTags: baking, cake, ice cream
What do I have to say about Baked Alaska? Cake & ice cream & meringue…really, do I need to say more? I think not, but I will say just enough to tell you that the cake here is a flourless chocolate souffléd brownie-type thing, and while the ice cream could have been any kind, I chose coffee. Those two flavors are a match that can only be made better with swirls of sticky meringue. I made individual-sized Alaskas, rather than a large one, so I was a little concerned about browning the meringue in the oven. I thought they might be too delicate for that, so I used my blowtorch instead…which is more fun anyway…maybe next time I’ll try setting it on fire.
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: Cowgirl Cornmeal-Pecan Financiers
June 12, 2018 at 10:48 pm | Posted in BCM, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 8 CommentsTags: baking, cake
I like the little nutty, buttery French cakes called financiers. These Cowgirl Cornmeal-Pecan Financiers are a perfect Franco-American take on the classic. An easy melt-and-mix batter flavored with cornmeal, ground toasted pecans and plenty of browned butter bakes into a decadent treat. I have a silicone mold that’s in the traditional financier bar shape and used it here instead of my mini muffin tin. To avoid eating too many of these tasty butter bars, I decided to cut just one into bite-sized pieces and kind of extend it into a larger dessert with some berries, dulce de leche whipped cream and candied pecans. I plated it up pretty for a picture before giving it to my husband. Then I took the same components and just tossed them together in a little bowl for myself. Equally delicious, although maybe less photogenic.
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 DC: Swedish Visiting Cake Bars
June 5, 2018 at 12:01 am | Posted in cakes & tortes, cookies & bars, DC, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 8 CommentsTags: baking, cake, cookies
If you’re as on-trend as I am (hahaha), you’ll have heard of fika, which is not at all a trend in Sweden, but a ritual. It’s a proper sit-down, slow-down coffee break, complete with treats. Of course I am hopeful that something this delightful will turn from Scandi trend to full-on tradition on this side of the Atlantic, too, and I’m willing to do my part to enable it. If I’m ever visiting someone, or having someone visit me, for fika, I’m making Swedish Visiting Cake Bars for treat-time. These bars contain no leavening agent and are thin and dense, but they’re not heavy. They have that almond paste cake taste and feel but are actually flavored with extract. They aren’t too sweet and are an ideal coffee or tea companion.
I made Dorie’s original cake version of these bars something like eight years ago (whelp!). I think the main difference between the two, besides the shape, is that the cake just had a scattering of sliced almonds on top, while the bars have an upgraded topping of crackly sugar-glazed almonds. Making that topping gave me a déjà vu feeling, too…then I looked back and realized I’d used it before on a pear tart. I like this kind of mix-and-match, taking good parts from one thing to improve another.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and please join us if you haven’t already!
TWD BCM Rewind: Rose-Scented (Loaf) Cake
May 29, 2018 at 7:48 am | Posted in BCM, breakfast things, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, cake
A couple of summers ago the group made the Rose Fraisier cake from BCM. I’m not exactly sure why I sat that recipe out, but it most likely had something to do with not wanting to make pastry cream. Flash forward two years and I still don’t feel like making pastry cream (some things don’t change), so I decided for this rewind to make Dorie’s Bonne Idée take on the recipe. Instead of being a multi-component layer cake, it’s a simple Rose-Sented Loaf Cake. When I say simple, I mean simple. It’s a yogurt and oil-based cake you can stir up in about five minutes with just a bowl and a whisk. I’m pretty sure Dorie uses the base recipe for several other flavor variations because, not only is it a very good cake, making it felt very familiar to me.
I made a half-recipe of the cake batter and rather than baking it in a loaf pan, I put it into my baked donut pan. That pan had gotten zero use because I’ve decided that I like my donuts fried (and also purchased at a donut shop so I don’t have to do the frying). But a baked donut pan is really just an individual cakelette pan, and one that gives a nice little divot in the middle for piling on yogurt whipped cream and roasted strawberries to boot. Even though I was too lazy for pastry cream, I still wanted the flavors of the Rose Fraisier, and the rose-strawberry-cream combination is a lovely and elegant one.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll to see other rewinds!
Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
May 15, 2018 at 9:11 pm | Posted in cakes & tortes, cookies & bars, DC, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 5 CommentsTags: baking, cake, cookies
Let’s get one thing straight about these Strawberry Shortcake Cookies– they are cakes. If we are calling them cookies, it’s only because they are little two-bite babies. This is about the easiest sponge cake in the world to make, though, and the batter bakes up into nice little rounds in a muffin tin. Each round is a self-contained shortcake, with a small blob of strawberry compote (I used some roasted strawberries I made for something else a while back, although you could also just use jam) topped with some sweetened whipped cream and sliced berries. I made the sour cream whipped cream because I like the tang alongside the sweetness of everything else. These weren’t hard to make, but they are tasty and pretty. You can make the little sponges ahead of time (I have some in the freezer now) and top them as you need them. As the summer moves along, other berries will work just as beautifully.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and please join us if you haven’t already!
Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Vanilla-Brown Butter Madeleines
May 1, 2018 at 12:01 am | Posted in cakes & tortes, cookies & bars, DC, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
Oh, madeleines…are you really cookies, or are you cakes disguised as seashells? Personally, I think these Vanilla-Brown Butter Madeleines are little cakes, but however classified, they are delicious. Vanilla and brown butter are two things that make everything better. I’d be happy with just one in a sweet, but both– wow! (Another great treat with this flavor combo is the Brown-Butter-and-Vanilla-Bean Weekend Cake from BCM.) Madeleines are easy to make by hand, but you do need to allow for some chill time in the mold before baking, especially if you want to get the prized hump on the back. I got nice, gentle bumps on the backsides of these. I was pretty pleased with that, because the hump’s been hit-or-miss for me in the past. These have great flavor and texture, and I tossed them in some vanilla sugar while they were still warm.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and please join us if you haven’t already!
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