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 BCM: Springtime Cookies and Curd with Double-Butter Double-Baked Petit Beurre Cookies
May 22, 2018 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, cookies & bars, groups, other sweet, puddings, custards, mousses, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 CommentsTags: baking, cookies, curd
Here are both of this month’s BCM recipes in one nifty post. I’d say I love the efficiency, but actually, I had to get together a lot of bits and pieces before I could stick a spoon in this Springtime Cookies and Curd dessert and call it done. This is a layered treat…cookies, curd, rhubarb and strawberries…oh my! I began by making Double-Butter Double-Baked Petit Beurre Cookies, which I can assure you are double-good. They’re made in an unusual way, starting with buttery baked streusel-like crumbles, to which even more butter is added to hold them together into a rough dough. I knew this would be tricky to work with, so I skipped the step of rolling out the dough and then cutting and transferring delicate rounds. Instead, I pressed the dough into rings, chilled everything well and baked the cookies right in those rings.
Once the cookies were baked and cooled, I got everything else together. Sometimes the state of my fridge drives me nuts, while other times I am thankful for all the little jars of this and that I have kicking around. Taking shortcuts where you can is nothing to be ashamed of. I had passion fruit curd in the fridge already, as well as stewed rhubarb, so I used those. Rather than make a strawberry compote I just diced up some fresh berries. I put all these together in a coupe, beginning and ending with cookie bits, and it made a beautiful and delicious springtime dessert. And the cookies are fabulous on their own…very buttery, a tiny bit salty and with a texture that can’t be beat.
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: 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!
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Viennese Sablés
April 24, 2018 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 10 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
It’s BCM week, but here I am with another cookie for you. This time I come with Viennese Sablés, which Dorie describes well as being a lot like the butter cookies in the blue tin. Traditionally, these are piped into a “W” shape. I happily went along with that since my last name begins with “W,” but thew in a couple of other random squiggles for good measure. Because even a good vanilla butter cookie can use a little chocolate, I packed a few of these up and brought them to work to dip into the bowl of dark chocolate that I temper everyday. These are perfect for tea or coffee time.
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: Mocha-Ricotta Puffs
April 17, 2018 at 12:01 am | Posted in cookies & bars, DC, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 6 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
I had to go out and get a tub of ricotta to make these Mocha-Ricotta Puffs, but they’re a great way to use up a bit of extra cheese if you already have it. These puffs are like little cakes, flavored with cocoa and espresso. Actually, as Dorie notes, they don’t really taste of coffee…I wouldn’t mind if that flavor was a bit more pronounced. I do like their soft texture a lot, and the way pretty way they dome and crack. I think I’d like to eat one with a big scoop of coffee ice cream!
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 BCM: Apple Matafan
April 10, 2018 at 7:31 am | Posted in BCM, breakfast things, groups, other sweet, pancakes & waffles, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 10 CommentsTags: baking, breakfast, pancakes
I’m pretty sure I nominated Apple Matafan a million times for TWD. Finally it’s getting it’s moment in the spotlight! Of course it helped that only two of us voted this month (and one of us was yours truly). Good things come to those who wait…I think we all agree that it is delicious. A matafan is a pancake cooked in a skillet. Traditionally they are savory, but this one’s sweet and loaded with sliced apple. I made a half-sizer in my little cast iron pan. It took less time to cook through than instructed for the larger size and was probably more manageable to flip, too.
This reminds me of a pancake version of the Custardy Apple Squares we made way back when. It’s a great thing to make if you have a couple of apples that have been hanging out in the fridge a bit too long. There’s no doubt this would be delicious with maple syrup, but I have some apple cider that I boiled down into a syrupy consistency and spooned that over the top. We ate this one for breakfast, but it would also make a fine dessert (with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream, perhaps?).
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: Kamish
April 3, 2018 at 9:19 am | Posted in cookies & bars, DC, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 6 CommentsTags: baking, biscotti, cookies
I had never heard of Kamish before making this recipe. Turns out, it is mandelbrot, a twice-baked almond cookie, and is made just like biscotti. This recipe is full of almonds, and also some cinnamon and coconut. After the first bake, when the dough log is sliced, the individual cookies are even sprinkled with coconut-cinnamon sugar for extra pizzaz before going in for the second time. I let my kamish dry out further overnight in a turned off oven, a suggestion in the recipe’s intro for even crunchier cookies. Of course these are great dipped in coffee. Also, of course, I’ve already eaten up the end bits and all the crumbles.
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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