Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Banana Breakfast Squares
September 12, 2023 at 8:30 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, cakes & tortes, groups, muffins/quick breads, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 CommentsTags: baking, scones
This Banana Breakfast Squares recipe is banana bread with all the healthy, hearty, sweet-but-not-too-sweet things you need for a morning boost. In addition to bananas, there’s whole wheat flour, oats, pecans, dates, flax seeds and the most essential thing for brekkie– espresso powder. I made just a third of the recipe in my six-inch square pan and still got nine soft and chubby squares out it. TBH, I’m never up early enough to actually make breakfast treats for breakfast. When I make muffins or scones, I usually just wind up having breakfast for dessert, which these squares are fine for, too, but they’re such good keepers that I actually have been able to enjoy them with my morning coffee for the last couple of days.
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: Raspberry Cheesecake-Chocolate No-Bake Pie
August 22, 2023 at 7:23 pm | Posted in BWD, cheesecakes, groups, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 6 CommentsTags: baking, pie
Ok, well, there was a little bit of baking that went on to create this Raspberry Cheesecake-Chocolate No-Bake Pie. I opted to crank the oven for a few to make a homemade Chocolate Tart Dough crust, because even though there is a layer of dark ganache hiding inside this tart, more is more if chocolate is involved. Dorie goes with strawberries as the fruit component in her tart, but I found some black raspberries at the market and couldn’t resist swapping them here (also, I am not the biggest fruit and chocolate fan, but razzies I can do). I didn’t have quite enough to also use them as the second surprise layer hiding beneath the filling, so I just spread raspberry jam on top of the ganache and saved my black raspberries to tumble on top of the finished tart.
I am often suspicious of no-bake cheesecakes, because sometimes “no-bake” means the filling is set with gelatin, which I don’t like. This one thankfully skips that, and is kind of mousse-like, with whipped cream and melted white chocolate folded into cream cheese and sour cream. It is really a very sophisticated and lighter cheesecake for Summer 2023.
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: Lamingtons
July 25, 2023 at 8:34 pm | Posted in BWD, cakes & tortes, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 6 CommentsTags: baking, brekkie, cake
Lamingtons are a treat I became well-acquainted with during the two years I lived in Sydney. Cake, chocolate and coconut…all my favorite things in one delicious square, and I could find them everywhere I sat down to a flat white. Back in this hemisphere, I have made lamingtons myself several times, although they are easier to buy in NYC now than they used to be, since a few Bourke Street Bakery locations have opened in the last few years and Aussie cafes continue to be all the rage. Lamington Day was on July 21, so I decided it was time to make a celebratory batch!
Dorie’s version of lamingtons uses a genoise sponge, made the day before, so the cake is less crumbly when cubing and coating in chocolate glaze. Sometimes, before getting dipped in glaze and rolled in coconut, the cake cubes are cut in half and sandwiched together with jam or cream (or jam and cream), but these ones are straight-up cake. The process of dipping and coconutting is a bit messy, but the set-up and procedure is not too dissimilar to a breading station for chicken cutlets. You have to wash your hands a few times along the way… it’s worth it. Desiccated coconut shreds are the usual shaggy covering for these treats, but I added a few larger chips to my mix as well, and for a friend who doesn’t like coconut, I coated a couple in chocolate flake sprinkles instead (an idea I took straight from MaddiCakes). These were so tasty, and I think that rather than getting drier over the next day or two, they got softer as the cake absorbed moisture from the liquidy glaze.
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! You can also find this recipe here. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll (be sure to visit our friend Mardi for lots more info on lamingtons!) and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie.
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 | 8 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!
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: Swedish Fika Cake
February 14, 2023 at 10:31 pm | Posted in BWD, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, brekkie, cake
I do a solo coffee break most afternoons, but wouldn’t it be fun to fika with friends, with a big pot of coffee and slices of Swedish Fika Cake? We’ve already done a related recipe for Swedish Visiting Cake Bars, but this one is a full-on butter-ball of a cake, crowned with a crisp, sugared almond topping. In the recipe, the cake part is just flavored with vanilla, but I added a splash of almond extract along with that to make it a bit more marzipany. I also tossed an extra handful of sliced almonds into the topping to take in more of the buttery sugar syrup that forms a baked-on shell on top of the cake. This was a good one, and I enjoyed more than one sliver of this moist cake in the weekday quiet of my kitchen.
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: Cranberry Spice Squares
November 20, 2022 at 11:36 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, cake, holiday
Here we are, a couple of days out from Thanksgiving, and I still don’t really know what I’ll be making for dessert (although I have a few ideas). If I hadn’t already baked, frosted and polished off these Cranberry Spice Squares, they’d be contender. Think spiced molasses gingerbread with pops of fresh cranberries and swoops of cream cheese frosting. Good, right? This is a great snacking cake for the holiday season, and if you have leftover crannies after the big dinner, think about putting them towards this. Toasted or candied nuts make a good sprinkle.
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!
Everyday Dorie: Caramel-Pear and Five-Spice Upside-Down Cake
October 28, 2022 at 3:40 pm | Posted in cakes & tortes, everyday dorie, groups, simple cakes, sweet things | 5 CommentsTags: cake, everyday dorie
I do appreciate a good upside-down cake, and have made several here, using all different kinds of fruit. The bulk of them Dorie’s, of course, since this blog has for many years been basically a DG stan account (I think I used that term correctly). This Caramel-Pear and Five-Spice Upside-Down Cake uses a technique I don’t remember doing before with any of them– making the batter in the food processor– and it worked brilliantly!
Everything about this was good, from the soft texture of the blitzed cake, to the caramelized pear topping (no sticking!), to the flavorings. I did make a citrus switch. As I didn’t have a lemon, I used orange instead, which I think of as a natural partner to five-spice anyway. I made half a recipe of the cake and baked it my 7″ cake pan, which had space for a nice pinwheel of pears on top.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see all of our cakes this week.
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Java Mini Mads
September 13, 2022 at 4:17 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, cakes & tortes, cookies & bars, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, madeleines
When I say that I like to have a little coffee treat on-hand, I mean a little treat to go with my coffee…but when my coffee treat is also a coffee-flavored treat, like these Java Mini Mads, that’s even better! I’ve made lots of Dorie madeleines over the years, and even have both large and small shell-shaped molds for them. Here, though, she has us bake these buttery, espresso-infused bites in a mini muffin tin, which shows you really don’t need that extra stuff cluttering your kitchen.
These are easy to put together, as the batter is mixed by hand. The hardest part of making it is having patience…it needs a long rest in the fridge, a recommended five hours minimum before baking, if you want to achieve the signature “madeleine hump” in the oven. Dorie says the batter will last refrigerated for up to three days, so I baked these off over the course of a couple of days. The photo above is from round one, but for round two, I decided to dunk their humps in cinnamon sugar while they were hot from the oven. Spicy.
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!
Everyday Dorie: Peach Flognarde
September 9, 2022 at 12:09 am | Posted in breakfast things, cakes & tortes, everyday dorie, groups, muffins/quick breads, pudding/mousse, simple cakes, sweet things | 6 CommentsTags: custard, everyday dorie
If you’re wondering what a flognarde, join the club. Well, I do know what one is, but only because I just made one. Flognarde is what you call the classic French country dessert clafoutis when it’s made with fruit other than cherries. Here I did a spin on Dorie’s recipe with plums and made a Peach Flognarde.
To make this, a simple crêpe-like batter is poured over sliced fruit. As the batter bakes, it soufflés around the fruit and, as it cools, it settles into something that’s more like a sliceable custard. This one baked really beautifully, truly custardy inside and not rubbery, and I love the edging. I swapped the spices in the recipe for a splash of almond extract and the cognac for a glug of Combier, both of which I thought would pair well with the peaches. Now I want to try this out with all the fruits!
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see all of our cakes this week.
Baked Fresh Weekly
Blog at WordPress.com.
Entries and comments feeds.
a whisk and a spoon 