Great Big Birthday Cake!
May 7, 2009 at 4:33 pm | Posted in cakes & tortes, layer cakes, sweet things | 20 Comments
I spent most of this rainy afternoon decorating a birthday cake for a friend’s little guy. A fun project, but glad it’s behind me. Doing something like this just seems so much harder at home than at the bakery…not enough space, not enough bowls and, most importantly, no one to wash the dishes for me!
It’s a simple vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream, but I’ll post recipes when I assemble a small cake I plan to make with the leftovers. The tiger face was made with white chocolate, and was by far the part that made me most anxious!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Tiramisu Cake
May 5, 2009 at 3:21 am | Posted in cakes & tortes, groups, layer cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 48 Comments
Tiramisu may mean “pick-me-up,” but to me it’s more like “give-me-some,” so I had a smile on my face and a fork in my hand when I saw that Megan of My Baking Adventures chose Tiramisu Cake as this week’s TWD recipe. I’ve made plenty of tiramisu at home– in fact, my version of it is the very first recipe that appeared on this little blog (although I don’t think anyone actually read it!). This one’s a bit different, though…a re-interpretation of the classic dessert into a layer cake.
Rather than ladyfingers, a yellow cake acts as the sponge for an espresso-liqueur syrup (Myer’s rum, in my case). I like my tiramisu full of coffee and full of booze, and while this cake did have great flavor, I do think the layers could have been a bit more saturated with the syrup. (If it looks fully soaked in the top photo that’s only because, when I put the cake away the night before, I brushed the exposed sides with a little extra syrup to keep them from drying out.) I’ll try and figure that out if I make it again (which I probably will)…maybe poking the layers with a skewer before brushing on the syrup, or pouring the syrup into a pie plate and quickly dunking the layers would work?
The frosting, part mascarpone and part whipped cream, was silky smooth and light as a feather. Truly delicious, and easy to work with, too. That smile on my face is still there, just thinking about it.
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read My Baking Adventures. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Chocolate Cream Tart
April 28, 2009 at 3:22 am | Posted in groups, pies & tarts, pudding/mousse, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 49 Comments
TWD started April with a Banana Cream Pie, moved on to two intense chocolate desserts and, thanks to Kim of Scrumptious Photography, we ended April with a Chocolate Cream Tart. It’s as if we’ve come full circle, really. Okay, maybe that’s pushing it, but sometimes I think it’s funny how the choices each month shake out.
Chocolate pastry cream with whipped cream on top, all in a chocolate crust– oh my word! I went halvsies with this week’s recipe, and had plenty for six individual-sized tarts. These little guys are super-chocolaty and super-good! R and I ate them in contented silence…then neither of us could move to do the dishes afterward! Some thought that all that chocolate was a bit too much, and opted for a plain tart crust instead. Personally, I wouldn’t change a thing. I was quite happy to try out Dorie’s chocolate shortbread crust recipe, and liked it a lot. I did find, though, that when making the dough, it was a little dry. I had to add a couple teaspoons of milk to get it to come together, but then it was pretty easy to work with.
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Kim’s post. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Daring Bakers in April: Goat Cheesecake
April 27, 2009 at 2:16 am | Posted in cakes & tortes, cheesecakes, daring bakers, groups, sweet things | 48 Comments
I was this close (picture me squinting while holding my thumb and index finger about a milimeter apart), this close to skipping this month’s Daring Bakers’ challenge. See, I have done cheesecake one, two, three, four times here already. One of those was even with the DBs last year. I thought about it for awhile, and then I decided that since Jenny from Jenny Bakes basically gave us free reign to modify her chosen cheesecake recipe, I may as well make some tweaks and play along.
I’ve had goat cheesecake in restaurants before, but never at home, so I thought I’d give it a shot. Fresh goat cheese is pretty similar in consistency to cream cheese, and I figured I could do a straight-out swap with the two. I settled on a combo of half goat cheese and half cream cheese…that way it wouldn’t taste too barnyardy.
R and I are just a family of two, so we didn’t need a several pound cheesecake on our hands (or our hips). I scaled back the recipe to a third of its original size, and decided to bake off little individual cakes. I used 4-ounce aluminium foil cups, and got four servings from the batter.
I think cheesecake is quite a heavy, rich dessert, and I don’t like it further bogged down with too many add-ins. A little fruit sauce spooned on top suits me just fine. Here, I made an easy spiced cherry compote. I simply took a jar of tart cherries in light syrup, stained the syrup into a pot and reduced it a bit with half a cinnamon stick and a couple of cardamom pods. Once off the heat, I fished out the spices and stirred the cherries back in.
This was quite a nice change of pace. The cheesecakes had what I would call a “delicate goatiness.” Not too overpowering, and nice with the cherry sauce. Check out Jenny Bakes for the original recipe, and visit the new Daring Kitchen site to see what everyone else is up to!
Goat Cheesecake- makes 4 individual-size cheesecakes
modified from Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake
Note: I used Anna’s Almond Cinnamon Thins in the crust and 1/3 less fat cream cheese (that “Neufchâtel” stuff) in the cheesecake base.
for the crust:
2 oz graham cracker or wafer cookie crumbs
1/2 oz butter, melted
1/2 t sugar
pinch of saltfor the cheesecake:
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
4 oz fresh (not aged) goat cheese, room temperature
1/3 c sugar
pinch of salt
1 egg
1 t lemon juice
1/3 c heavy cream
1 t vanilla extract (or small amount of vanilla bean seeds)
-Preheat oven to 350°F (Gas Mark 4 = 180°C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.
-Spray four 4-ounce ramekins or aluminum foil cups with non-stick cooking spray. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into the bottom of the cups. Place cups on a sheet tray and bake for about 8 minutes, just to set the crusts. Remove sheet from oven and set crusts aside.
-Process the cream cheese and goat cheese in a food processor until smooth (don’t forget to scrape!). Add the sugar and pinch of salt; mix and scrape again. Do the same with the egg, then add the lemon juice, heavy cream and vanilla bean seeds or extract and process until smooth and fully combined.
-Spoon batter into prepared crusts and gently tap the sheet tray on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Remove the cups from the sheet tray and place them in a small roasting pan or a baking dish. Pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake cups.
-Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until they are almost done – this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cakes to hold together, but still jiggle in the center. You don’t want them to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for another 20 minutes. This lets the cakes finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that they won’t crack on the top.
-After 20 minutes, remove pan from oven and lift the cups carefully out of water bath. Let them finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, they are ready to serve.
The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.
Tuesdays with Dorie: Four-Star Chocolate Bread Pudding
April 21, 2009 at 2:03 am | Posted in groups, pudding/mousse, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 46 Comments
I’m just back from seriously stuffing myself all over London (I’ll try and tell you more later…you will be either impressed or disgusted by what I was able to pack away in only five short days!), but I still say, “more chocolate, please!” My pal Lauren from A Baking Blog (aka Upper East Side Chronicle) has thankfully obliged by choosing Four-Star Chocolate Bread Pudding for TWD this week.
All the restaurants I’ve worked for have had some version of bread pudding on the menu at some point in time, so it should be old hat. Really, though, I’ve had limited success with making bread pudding at home. It’s my own fault…I usually cut corners with the cream and yolks in an effort to make it a little less fattening, but the end result is a tough, dry let-down. This go-around, I stuck to the recipe…my compromise here was to make just a third. Only a few portions, but each one would have the full effect.
Dorie recommends brioche or challah as the base for this bread pudding. Both yummy, but I happen to have a stash old croissants in the freezer (leftovers from work), so I just used a couple of those. Talk about cutting out that fat– ha! That picture up top may not look too appetizing (it’s just so darn brown), but let me assure you that this is good, squidgy stuff…even with the dried cherries, which I wouldn’t normally go for in a chocolate dessert.
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan (it is also here on Leite’s), or read Lauren’s post. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
The Cake Slice: Chai Cake with Honey-Ginger Cream
April 20, 2009 at 2:23 am | Posted in cakes & tortes, groups, layer cakes, sweet things, the cake slice | 32 Comments
Oh my gosh– I made this cake weeks ago, but my heart still skips a beat looking at these pictures. It’s not from sugar shock, either…it’s from love…true love! Really, this cake will make you (and by “you” I mean me) forget that silly obsession with those achingly sweet iced chai latte thingies from Starbucks.
I am so glad that The Cake Slice group voted to make this cake. I’ve had my eye on it since I got my copy of Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes, and the only disappointing thing about it was that I only made half a recipe! The cake itself is made with chai tea-infused milk. The flavor is delicate, and reminded me more of a well-balanced spice cake than of tea.
And the frosting…oh, the gloriously thick, honey-sweetened cream cheese frosting, dripping it’s way down the side of the cake. Does it get much better? Add a little Bollywood-inspired sparkle on top, and I think not.
Look for a printable link to the recipe, courtesy of Gigi Cakes. Better yet, get your hands on a copy of Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes by Alicia Huntsman and Peter Wynne. Don’t forget to cruise through the list of The Cake Slice Bakers— I guarantee that I’m not the only one who loved this cake!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Chocolate Amaretti Torte
April 14, 2009 at 2:55 am | Posted in cakes & tortes, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 40 Comments
Much like the Chocolate Armagnac Cake from last month, I actually made this Chocolate Amaretti Torte while we were still living in Sydney, and I’d been keeping it in my pocket ever since. Hmmm…do we see a pattern here with me jumping the gun on the luxurious chocolate cakes?? I am so glad that Holly chose it for TWD this week, because now I can say out loud that this is one of the best Dorie recipes we’ve made (thank you!)!
Since I was in London last week, I was pretty pleased to have the TWD recipe be one that I’d already made. On the other hand, if I had been home, I would definitely have baked this torte again. It is seriously…soooo…good. And so easy, too, that Dorie dubbed it “fifteen minute magic.” All the ingredients need is a quick whiz in the food processor, and the batter’s done. The cake that comes out of the oven is a low-rider…not very high, but really intensely flavored with chocolate and almonds. (And, by the way, I just used cheapo grocery store armaretti cookies with no problems.) Don’t skip the bittersweet chocolate glaze or the almond whipped cream– with very little effort, you’ll have a dessert that’s fit for a swanky dinner party!
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan (she also has a take on it here on Epicurious), or read Phe/MOM/enon. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Banana Cream Pie
April 7, 2009 at 2:45 am | Posted in groups, pies & tarts, pudding/mousse, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 45 Comments
I’ve had such a busy week, running all over the city after work and on my days off to get errands done for a trip to the UK. I’ll actually be there by the time you read this (so I might not be able to do much commenting on cream pies, unfortunately). I’m Godmother to a friend’s baby boy. His name is Ian, he lives in London and I had lots of bits and pieces to pick up for the Baptism ceremony, which will be at the end of the week. Not to mention that Friday was my birthday, and on Saturday my husband and I went to see a live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion, which is currently taping in New York. I’ve listened to the show since I was a kid, so it was fun to see goofy Garrison Keillor do his thing live. And Wynton Marsalis was a guest, so that was a pretty good present, I think.
Of course I still made the time to put together this Banana Cream Pie, Amy’s choice for TWD this week. I’ve said many times before that I don’t like raw bananas, but I like to keep an open mind about trying new things. I’ve never made or even had banana cream pie before, so why not give it a go? I had some homemade pie dough in the freezer anyway (it had been there forever, and I was actually itching to use it up), so the hardest part was already taken care of.
Hey, guess what– I thought this was good (and my husband loved it)! I do have a fondness for cream pies…they are tasty and squidgy, especially fresh, homemade ones. I’m not a banana convert, or anything, so I probably won’t make this one again…raw bananas still are a bit slimy in my book. I did really like the way Dorie uses brown sugar in the custard recipe and sour cream in the whipped cream topping. Yum on both counts there! My personal twist was using a little vanilla bean to flavor both.
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Sing for Your Supper. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll, and happy spring holidays to everyone!
Tuesdays with Dorie: Coconut Butter Thins
March 31, 2009 at 2:11 am | Posted in cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 53 Comments
If Jayne of The Barefoot Kitchen Witch hadn’t chosen Coconut Butter Thins for TWD, I probably never would have baked them. Even though they’re made with some of my favorite things– coconut, coriander and macadamias– they just didn’t sound “substantial” enough for me to have paid them real consideration. I would have missed out, because although they aren’t too fancy, they were just right in so many ways. Just right with lemon curd sandwiched between them; just right with a little bowl of ice cream; just right all on their own. They were golden, crispy, buttery and a little crumbly. Mine didn’t turn lacy like Dorie said they would in her intro description, but that could have been because I parked them in the freezer before baking so they’d hold their square shape.
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read The Barefoot Kitchen Witch. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
Daring Bakers in March: Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna
March 27, 2009 at 2:00 am | Posted in daring bakers, groups, pasta, savory things | 47 Comments
The Daring Bakers did something a bit unusual this month– we baked lasange! Our hosts Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande chose Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s (from The Splendid Table) Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna. This rich lasagna has layers of homemade spinach pasta, country-style meat ragù, béchamel and Parmigiano-Reggiano. OK, I know that photo is of my unbaked lasagna, but I confess to only having assembled it this afternoon. By the time we sat down for dinner, it was too dark for pictures, so this will have to do.
I make lasagne frequently, and I’ve made my own pasta on occasion, but I’ve never made spinach pasta (what makes this a “lasagne verdi”) before. Since I’ve already confessed to procrastination, I may as well get it all out in the open and also confess to laziness– I used some shortcuts when making the pasta. First, I used frozen spinach (thawed and squeezed well). Next, I made my dough in the food processor and then finished the kneading by hand. Finally, I rolled it with my pasta machine (taken to the thinnest setting) rather than with a rolling pin. Hey–it’s still handmade, if you ask me. The dough came together nicely in the processor. The egg alone wasn’t quite enough liquid to bind it, so I added a couple spoonfuls of the spinach-squeeze water. Let me tell you, the dough was a gorgeous green!
I went with four layers of pasta in total, but I still had several sheets left over. There are so many things that can be done with extra pasta sheets (and I’m sure you’ll see that other DBers have made raviloi, manicotti, etc with their leftovers), but I’m lazy, ya know, so I just took a knife and cut them into thick “rags.” I’ll cook them up like regular fresh noodles and toss them with sauce later in the week.
I’ve made béchamel (white sauce) a thousand times, and can probably do it in my sleep. It’s my go-sauce for things like mac and cheese and pot pies, so I had no problems there. I’m not one for making meat ragù, though, so this was new to me. I don’t eat red meat, and usually go vegetarian with pasta sauces. Here, I decided to swap out the veal, pork and beef in the recipe for a combination of spicy Italian chicken sausage (the raw kind for the butcher) and mushrooms (crimini and reconstituted dried porchini). I minced my onion, carrot and celery base in the food processor, and then did the same with the mushrooms. It made a delicious, thick ragù, and my husband, who certainly is a carnivore, thought it tasted great.
This was such a fun challenge. Silky fresh pasta layered with béchamel, cheese and a tender ragù cooked down in milk, made for a very decadent, lush lasagna. Even though I made just a half-recipe (in an 8″ x 8″ baking dish), between the lasagna and the leftover pasta, I have a few nights’ worth of dinners for my efforts. That’s not bad at all! Visit Beans and Caviar, Melbourne Larder or Io Da Grande for the recipe. And check out the brand spankin’ new Daring Kitchen site– it’s gorgeous, and has lots of fun features to keep you entertained for hours! Thank you, Lisa and Ivonne!!
The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.
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