Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Caramel-Apple Crisp
October 11, 2022 at 1:39 pm | Posted in BWD, cobbler/crisp/shorties, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 6 CommentsTags: apples, baking, crisp
I’ve never liked those caramel apples on sticks that seem to show up this time of year (or their bright red candied cousins, either). Low quality apples, covered in low quality caramel is usually how they go. Thankfully, this Caramel-Apple Crisp has nothing to do with those things. Here, we have luxurious homemade caramel sauce coating whatever apples we like best, baked soft and saucy under a brown sugar and oat topping. I used Cameos, which I love as an eating apple and I know can bake juicy, so I did add a small sprinkling of cornstarch to the caramel-apple filling, just so it wouldn’t be too loose. I’m a big fan of fruit crisps in general (so much easier than pie!), and I have a feeling I’ll be making this one again.
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: Scones Pudding
September 27, 2022 at 4:36 pm | Posted in biscuits/scones, breakfast things, BWD, groups, pudding/mousse, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, pudding, scones
You can give all sorts of baked goods the bread pudding treatment…doughnuts, croissants, cake scrap, bagels, and even scones. All you have to do is chunk them up and bake them in a custard bath. This Scones Pudding is made from leftover Buttermilk Scones, a recipe we baked last month. I tucked two of them into the freezer so I’d be able to do a half batch of pudding with them later. Technically, I was half a scone short for a half batch, but went ahead with 50% of the custard recipe anyway. I sliced my scones as instructed and layered them into a little dish. I did have some gaps because of the missing half scone, but liked the thought of having pockets of straight-up baked custard here and there, since the scones are so dense.
Dorie suggests spreading the scone slices with lemon curd as you layer them in your baking dish and then arranging apple slices on top of the pudding, but she also says you can play around with that. I gave mine a “summer’s last hurrah” combo of raspberry jam, fresh razzies and nectarine slices. I will not eat an apple if there are still stone fruits to be had. I liked this, and I enjoyed the slightly higher custard to scone ratio I had going on. I wish I’d taken a slice shot, because it was actually kind of pretty with a ripple of red jam running through the center.
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: 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.
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Buttermilk Scones
August 23, 2022 at 8:06 pm | Posted in biscuits/scones, breakfast things, BWD, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, scones
A quick search tells me we made a Buttermilk Scone recipe before, back in 2014. I have no memory of those (a BWJ recipe), or really of 2014 in general, but apparently I liked them and even said I’d make them again. Well, of course I didn’t, but now I have made these BWD Buttermilk Scones instead.
With only 2 teaspoons of sugar (could that be a typo??), other TWDers said these were more like buttermilk biscuits than sweet pastries. I bumped that up to 2 tablespoons of sugar and also sprinkled the tops with turbinado before baking. They were a sticky-but-easy mix and they got a pretty decent rise in the oven, but they still registered as only very lightly sweetened. While some butter and honey or jam (or 2 or 3 more tablespoons of sugar) would probably give them what they’re missing, they certainly did make me think of a biscuit or a cobbler topping. Since buttermilk is so lean, they also don’t have the same delicate, rich texture as a cream scone. I decided to turn a couple of my scones into strawberry shortcakes with sweetened mascarpone whipped cream and macerated berries and mint. The rest headed into the freezer for Scones Pudding next month.
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: S’mores Ice Cream Cake
August 7, 2022 at 3:17 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, groups, muffins/quick breads, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, brekkie, cake
I live in a house with no central air, so I’m always looking for a way to keep cool in the summer. S’mores Ice Cream Cake is possibly the best way I’ve found yet to get my core temp down. Think: peanut-graham crust, layers of ice cream, fluffernutter goo, fudge sauce and a mountain of toastie marshies. I scaled it down to fit in my six-inch springform, and also only used two layers of ice cream (coffee was my flavor choice) separated by the peanut fluff instead of the original three. It still weighted a ton…this is a substantial treat. The cake takes a bit of time to put together, as it needs freezing after every step, but it is so good! Seriously, my childhood dreams all came true in one fabulous sugar high.
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 DC: Fortune Cookies
August 1, 2022 at 11:11 pm | Posted in cookies & bars, DC, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
We (TWD) started baking through Dorie’s Cookies back in 2016 with Peanut Butter Change-Ups, and now, almost six years later, here we are finishing off the book off with these Fortune Cookies! It feels weird to put a book that’s lived on my kitchen table for so long up on the shelf, but I’m excited for my baking schedule free up a bit for other stuff I haven’t had the chance to make. While it’s a bit bittersweet to finish cooking though this book, I’ll bake on with my group of friends from Baking with Dorie, so I’m very happy for that!
Back to the fortune cookies…they’re made from a standard tuile batter, flavored with vanilla and almond extracts. The trick to shaping these cookies is to work quickly, and while they are hot from the oven and pliable. Dorie recommends baking just a few cookie circles at a time, so you can fill and fold them without cracking. I have asbestos fingers and kept the cookies on the hot sheet tray to do the first fold over the fortune (rather than transferring them to the countertop, where I think they basically cool immediately, and then it becomes difficult to do the next bend). I managed to bake five at a time that way, and since I just made a half recipe, it only took me two rounds in the oven. These are thin and crisp and tasty, and reveal your fortune with just a delicate snap.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the final DC TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Gozinaki
July 19, 2022 at 7:22 pm | Posted in cookies & bars, DC, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
I have sort of a Christmas in July thing going on here with these Gozinaki. Made simply of chopped, toasted walnuts bound together in a honey syrup, these are traditional holiday cookies from the country of Georgia. I didn’t have enough walnuts on hand for the recipe, so I added what pecans I had in the fridge, but I didn’t have enough pecans either, so I added flax and sunflower seeds, too. I guess I made a mash-up of both the mixed-nut and multi-seed Playing Around variations. Since I was playing around already, I added a pinch each of fine sea salt and cinnamon. The sticky nut mix is rolled out and typically cut into diamond shapes, but I just did squares for summertime ease (I guess you can rotate them a turn and they are diamond-ish??). I liked these a lot. Even though these cookies were sticky to the touch (as in, I had to pick bits of stuck-on parchment off their backsides), my birdseed blend stayed really crunchy for several days.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Crumb-Topped Ricotta Coffee Cake
July 12, 2022 at 4:45 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, groups, muffins/quick breads, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 8 CommentsTags: baking, brekkie, cake
This Crumb-Topped Ricotta Coffee Cake is one of my recent baking standouts. With a heap of super-crispy (thanks to a secret ingredient…shhhh, it’s cornmeal) crumbs on top and a dense but tender cake (thanks to a not-so-secret ingredient…ricotta), it doesn’t get much better. Oh wait– what about adding a layer of fruit? Well, that would make it better, but not to worry, as this cake has that, too. I used sweet dark cherries in mine, but you could use any berry. Hiding just under the layer of crumbs, the fruit turns soft and jammy. It’s good for a breakfast, snack or dessert treat. Really, this cake hits all the notes.
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: Cornmeal-Buttermilk Skillet Cake
July 8, 2022 at 3:29 pm | Posted in breakfast things, cakes & tortes, everyday dorie, groups, muffins/quick breads, simple cakes, sweet things | 3 CommentsTags: cake, everyday dorie
This Cornmeal-Buttermilk Skillet Cake with Strawberries is one I actually whipped up a couple of years ago. With the pandemic in full swing, summer 2020 was all around good times. I, like most you, was cooking with whatever I could get my hands on or had already. Saturdays were my shopping days, masked up at the farmers’ market and wondering what would be left after waiting in block-long socially distanced lines, and then going to the grocery store for the other stuff and finding the shelves half empty. But if you know how to cook, you can make some pretty good stuff in all kinds of different circumstances…you can even have cake.
This was an easy, dump-and-stir type of cake that can be baked off as a loaf or a round (I went with the cast iron skillet option). It’s made similar to cornbread, but a little sweeter. I stirred in some strawberries, but you can use whatever berries you have, or none at all. Maybe I should make it again this summer, while the blackberries are around and more readily available.
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.
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