Everyday Dorie: Brown Sugar-Spice Cake
September 22, 2023 at 9:42 pm | Posted in cakes & tortes, everyday dorie, groups, simple cakes, sweet things | 8 CommentsTags: everyday dorie
I found it kinda funny that the title of this recipe, Brown Sugar-Spice Cake, makes no mention of the plums that are its key component. For the past few years, I just flipped by it, thinking it was a “plain” spice cake, until I really took a look at the ingredients list before nominating it for the month. Fortunately, Italian prune plums, which I don’t really like eating out of hand, but are great for baking, are at the greenmarket now.
The batter has a bit of cornmeal, and of course brown sugar and spice. A friend recently brought me a little tin of something called “maple dessert spice” that I asked her to get me from an amazing spice shop in Montreal…the blend has stuff like vanilla, mace and tonka and is like the best thing I’ve ever smelled. I replaced the spices in the recipe with some of that mix, and it was fabulous with the plums. I made a third of the recipe in my six-inch pan, and was only able to squeeze in two plums cut in fourths. I love the way the batter waved and buckled up and around the plums, which basically turned into jammy bloops in the baked cake. So cute! A honey glaze finishes this off and gives it some extra sweetness and moisture.
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: 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!
Everyday Dorie: Sour Cherry (not Mixed Berry) Pie
July 28, 2023 at 3:52 pm | Posted in everyday dorie, general pastry, groups, pies & tarts, sweet things | 5 CommentsTags: everyday dorie
This one was supposed to be a Mixed Berry Pie, but truth is, I make like one pie a summer, and this summer it was gonna be sour cherry. I followed Dorie’s recipe for the crust and her technique of turning a portion of the filling into a jam to hold everything together. And then, of course, I used my new fave pie technique from Baking with Dorie–brushing glaze on the top crust once baked, because I wanted the vibe of those Hostess pies I was never allowed to have as a kid. I know that any pie that bubbles juices up like that is going to be good, and this one certainly was.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see all of our pies this week.
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: Cottage Peach and Strawberry Cobbler
July 11, 2023 at 9:32 pm | Posted in BWD, groups, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 6 CommentsTags: baking, pie
Of course I bake a pie every now and then, but in the summer when I buy too much fruit (if there even is such a thing) at the farmers’ market, what I really like to bake are cobblers, crisps and crumbles. So much easier than pie, IMO, and every bit as good, with whatever fruit you have in abundance. I took Dorie’s Cottage Berry Cobbler and, taking inspo from her “Playing Around” variation, swapped a combo of peaches and strawberries for the mixed berries. If you wonder what a “cottage cobbler” is, the cobbler biscuits here have cottage cheese in the mix…a sweeter take on the Cottage Cheese Biscuits we made last year. Diane pointed out a typo in the cobbler biscuit recipe, which I saw too late, so mine didn’t have quite the amount of flour they should have had. The cobbler was totally delicious anyway, but mine definitely looks like it came out of an old cottage kitchen oven…the biscuits didn’t hold the same modern, cool-looking and well-defined shape the photo in the book shows. There’s plenty of time left his summer to try again, though!
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: Rhubarb-Bottom, Strawberry-Top Tart
June 13, 2023 at 7:13 pm | Posted in BWD, groups, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, pie
Right now is the right time, at least if you live around these parts, to be making this Rhubarb-Bottom, Strawberry-Top Tart. Dorie’s famous Sweet Tart Dough is the base of this springtime tart, with a layer of candied poached rhubarb hiding under a strawberry pastry cream. I halved a bunch more berries, tossed them in the rhubarb poaching liquid and let them land where they wanted to on top of the tart. I probably could have had triple the rhubarb going on in here, I love it so, but this was a delicious beauty.
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!
TWD BWD Rewind: Father’s Day Blueberry-Cherry Pie
May 30, 2023 at 5:12 pm | Posted in BWD, groups, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 5 CommentsTags: baking, pie
Well, I made this Father’s Day Blueberry-Cherry Pie last June, right on schedule with the TWD group, but then I didn’t feel like writing a post. Father’s Day is about to roll around again, so here she is. What I remember most about this pie was how much I loved the glaze on the top crust…that’s a good add to a double crust pie. Blueberry and cherry is a combo that’s hard to beat. I do think I added a little extra thickener to the mix. Pretty sure my dad would like a slice of this one.
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: 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: Cinnamon-Raisin Bread
April 25, 2023 at 10:30 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, groups, sweet things, sweet yeast breads, tuesdays with dorie, yeast breads | 5 CommentsTags: baking, cheese, savory
For the past couple of years, I’ve been playing around with sourdough bread at home. While I enjoy the long process and the suspense of making naturally leavened bread, my results can still be a bit hit-or-miss. Baking a yeast bread, like this Cinnamon-Raisin Bread, every once in a while is kind of nice. I was able to mix this dough up in the morning, give it two quick rises and butter up a nice, thick, squishy slice for my after-lunch snack. Looking to boost the standard white bread flavor of the recipe a bit, I did replace a little of the AP flour with whole wheat (something like 75-100 grams worth) and added in a fat tablespoon of my sourdough discard. Although the black tea idea sounded nice, I soaked my raisins in a combo of hot water, more cinnamon and Combier.
I used my 9″ pullman pan here because I like its straight sides, but it’s a bit smaller than my regular 9″x5″ loaf pan, so this was a seriously high riser. (If I make it in the pullman again, I’ll probably scale the recipe back to 75% of the original.) Nervous that it might explode in the oven, or something like that, I scored the top of the loaf before buttering and cinnamon-sugaring it. My bread came out of the oven sporting a golden brown bouffant. I will definitely be having another slice with breakfast tomorrow, and I’m very much looking forward to it.
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!
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