October Daring Bakers Challenge - Macarons

Ah yes, the macaron. I love them so.

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. of Baking Without Fear. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

It took a few trials and errors before I became comfortable making the oh-so-finicky macaron. I know which recipes work for me and most of the time end up with a final product that is every thing I set out for it to be.



Was I alarmed when I saw this month's Daring Bakers challenge involved a new, never before used (by moi) recipe for macarons? No. I felt fairly confident that I know what I'm doing and wouldn't have much of a problem with this new recipe. I thought, "Oh, hey, I'll just whip these up really quickly, no problem. I'm such a rock star macaron maker! I'll conquer this recipe too! Yeah!"

Cockiness is so unbecoming, isn't it?

<

I'll be straight with you: I was TOTALLY wrong! I most certainly did not conquer this recipe. Nope. Not at all. This recipe gave me a good bitch slapping, a la Rick James to Charlie Murphy. Not only once, but TWICE! Yeah, didn't learn my lesson the first time apparently. I thought maybe the first time was a fluke, or perhaps it was just one of those macaron....things. You know, they don't work out sometimes. However, I like to think I've surpassed the days of not really knowing what I'm doing when it comes to making macarons. I can usually tell if something is not quite right before they're baked, and I tend to be correct.


I love this part

Such was the case with this recipe. There seemed to be a lot of egg white to powdered sugar/almond flour ratio going on - 5 egg whites to roughly around the same weight of powdered sugar/almond flour that is used in recipes that tend to call for about 3 egg whites. Okay...I thought, how could more egg whites be a bad thing? Well, it was. I could tell the batter was different than usual after the macaronage stage. I persevered anyway and ended up with...well, not macarons. No feet. Undercooked. Sticky. Bleh. Not good.


I could tell something just wasn't quite right with this batter...

For some silly reason, I gave the recipe a second chance, despite being very pressed for time. What a waste that was! The second go-round was just as much of a failure as the first.


whaaaaaat the effffff?!?!

Of course, having a bit of a perfectionistic nature, I had to bake them again...only this time using a tried and true recipe that doesn't fail me.

Success.

So in the end, I (finally) got what I set out to achieve and that pleases me. It pleases me greatly.

Rather than post the Daring Bakers recipe (which you can find here, if you're so inclined) I'm going to include the recipe that worked for me. If there's one thing I've learned about making macarons, it is this: not every recipe works for every one. Find what works for you and by all means, stick to it! Whatever tickles your fancy and gives you the results you set out to achieve is the best recipe to use.

Coffee Vanilla Bean Macarons
adapted from the always inspirational Helen of Tartelette

For the shells:
90 gr egg whites (about 3)
30 gr granulated vanilla sugar
200 gr powdered sugar
110 gr almonds
1 teaspoon espresso powder

method:
In a stand mixer, whip egg whites until foamy. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue to beat until you have a glossy meringue with nice peaks (you can test if they're stiff enough by turning the bowl upside down - if the meringue stays put, you're good to go.)
Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine the powdered sugar, almonds and espresso powder and pulverize until the almonds are ground very fine.
Gently fold in the almond mixture into the meringue (I do this 1/3 at a time) being careful not to over mix. You want the batter to "flow like magma".
Place the batter into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip and pipe onto silpat or parchment lined baking sheets. Allow the shells to dry for at least 30 minutes (I usually let them sit for an hour).
Bake at 280° F for approximately 15-20 minutes.

To paint the shells:
Take approximately 1 teaspoon of instant espresso or coffee powder and add enough water to make a thick paint-like texture. Use a clean paint brush to add brush strokes to the top of the baked shell. Allow the tops of the shells to dry before filling.

Better late than never....September Daring Bakers Challenge - Vols-au-Vent

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Yeah...so I'm massively late on this challenge, but in all fairness, I really wanted to try this one out and not skip the challenge despite being extremely busy last month (not to mention on the other side of the country for part of it as well!).

I have wanted to try making my own puff pastry so I was happy to give this challenge a go. In all honesty, it's not as difficult as it sounds or as one would think. It really just involves a lot of rolling and cooling. I'm really not a huge fan of rolling out dough - I think it's because I can never get a perfect square/rectangle/circle and that fact just kind of drives me a bit nuts. Hell, I can hardly get any shape other than 'uneven circular blob' most of the time! I think I manged to do pretty well this time around though.


dough ball, before butter is added


wrapping the butter


I used this Irish butter that has a better flavor than regular American butter


roll it baby! yes, I did use a tape measure because I am just that way


'turning' the dough as it's called


cuting the shapes for the vols-au-vent


ready to bake


the filling - figs, feta and honey

I really had to rush through this challenge, but it was a great experience and I'm glad I can now say I've made my own puff pastry. What's even better is I now have two sheets of homemade puff pastry stashed away in the freezer for future use.

Thank you Steph for a wonderful challenge!

Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough

From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan
Yield: 2-1/2 pounds dough

Steph’s note: This recipe makes more than you will need for the quantity of vols-au-vent stated above. While I encourage you to make the full recipe of puff pastry, as extra dough freezes well, you can halve it successfully if you’d rather not have much leftover.

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups (12.2 oz/ 354 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups (5.0 oz/ 142 g) cake flour
1 tbsp. salt (you can cut this by half for a less salty dough or for sweet preparations)
1-1/4 cups (10 fl oz/ 300 ml) ice water
1 pound (16 oz/ 454 g) very cold unsalted butter

plus extra flour for dusting work surface

Mixing the Dough:

Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.

Put the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. (Actually, it will feel like Play-Doh.)

Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Incorporating the Butter:

Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with all-purpose flour (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with "ears," or flaps.

Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. (If you have to stretch the dough, stretch it from all over; don't just pull the ends) you should now have a package that is 8" square.

To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it . You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled.

Making the Turns:

Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" (don't worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24", everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength!).

With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn.

Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.

Chilling the Dough:

If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you've completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.

The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.

Steph’s extra tips:

-While this is not included in the original recipe we are using (and I did not do this in my own trials), many puff pastry recipes use a teaspoon or two of white vinegar or lemon juice, added to the ice water, in the détrempe dough. This adds acidity, which relaxes the gluten in the dough by breaking down the proteins, making rolling easier. You are welcome to try this if you wish.

-Keep things cool by using the refrigerator as your friend! If you see any butter starting to leak through the dough during the turning process, rub a little flour on the exposed dough and chill straight away. Although you should certainly chill the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns, if you feel the dough getting to soft or hard to work with at any point, pop in the fridge for a rest.

-Not to sound contradictory, but if you chill your paton longer than the recommended time between turns, the butter can firm up too much. If this seems to be the case, I advise letting it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to give it a chance to soften before proceeding to roll. You don't want the hard butter to separate into chuncks or break through the dough...you want it to roll evenly, in a continuous layer.

-Roll the puff pastry gently but firmly, and don’t roll your pin over the edges, which will prevent them from rising properly. Don't roll your puff thinner than about about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick, or you will not get the rise you are looking for.

-Try to keep “neat” edges and corners during the rolling and turning process, so the layers are properly aligned. Give the edges of the paton a scooch with your rolling pin or a bench scraper to keep straight edges and 90-degree corners.

-Brush off excess flour before turning dough and after rolling.

-Make clean cuts. Don’t drag your knife through the puff or twist your cutters too much, which can inhibit rise.

-When egg washing puff pastry, try not to let extra egg wash drip down the cut edges, which can also inhibit rise.

-Extra puff pastry dough freezes beautifully. It’s best to roll it into a sheet about 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick (similar to store-bought puff) and freeze firm on a lined baking sheet. Then you can easily wrap the sheet in plastic, then foil (and if you have a sealable plastic bag big enough, place the wrapped dough inside) and return to the freezer for up to a few months. Defrost in the refrigerator when ready to use.

-You can also freeze well-wrapped, unbaked cut and shaped puff pastry (i.e., unbaked vols-au-vent shells). Bake from frozen, without thawing first.

-Homemade puff pastry is precious stuff, so save any clean scraps. Stack or overlap them, rather than balling them up, to help keep the integrity of the layers. Then give them a singe “turn” and gently re-roll. Scrap puff can be used for applications where a super-high rise is not necessary (such as palmiers, cheese straws, napoleons, or even the bottom bases for your vols-au-vent).

Forming and Baking the Vols-au-Vent

Yield: 1/3 of the puff pastry recipe below will yield about 8-10 1.5” vols-au-vent or 4 4” vols-au-vent

In addition to the equipment listed above, you will need:
-well-chilled puff pastry dough (recipe below)
-egg wash (1 egg or yolk beaten with a small amount of water)
-your filling of choice

Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.

Using a knife or metal bench scraper, divided your chilled puff pastry dough into three equal pieces. Work with one piece of the dough, and leave the rest wrapped and chilled. (If you are looking to make more vols-au-vent than the yield stated above, you can roll and cut the remaining two pieces of dough as well…if not, then leave refrigerated for the time being or prepare it for longer-term freezer storage. See the “Tips” section below for more storage info.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll the piece of dough into a rectangle about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick. Transfer it to the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the cutting.

(This assumes you will be using round cutters, but if you do not have them, it is possible to cut square vols-au-vents using a sharp chef’s knife.) For smaller, hors d'oeuvre sized vols-au-vent, use a 1.5” round cutter to cut out 8-10 circles. For larger sized vols-au-vent, fit for a main course or dessert, use a 4” cutter to cut out about 4 circles. Make clean, sharp cuts and try not to twist your cutters back and forth or drag your knife through the dough. Half of these rounds will be for the bases, and the other half will be for the sides. (Save any scrap by stacking—not wadding up—the pieces…they can be re-rolled and used if you need extra dough. If you do need to re-roll scrap to get enough disks, be sure to use any rounds cut from it for the bases, not the ring-shaped sides.)

Using a ¾-inch cutter for small vols-au-vent, or a 2- to 2.5-inch round cutter for large, cut centers from half of the rounds to make rings. These rings will become the sides of the vols-au-vent, while the solid disks will be the bottoms. You can either save the center cut-outs to bake off as little “caps” for you vols-au-vent, or put them in the scrap pile.

Dock the solid bottom rounds with a fork (prick them lightly, making sure not to go all the way through the pastry) and lightly brush them with egg wash. Place the rings directly on top of the bottom rounds and very lightly press them to adhere. Brush the top rings lightly with egg wash, trying not to drip any down the sides (which may inhibit rise). If you are using the little “caps,” dock and egg wash them as well.

Refrigerate the assembled vols-au-vent on the lined baking sheet while you pre-heat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). (You could also cover and refrigerate them for a few hours at this point.)

Once the oven is heated, remove the sheet from the refrigerator and place a silicon baking mat (preferred because of its weight) or another sheet of parchment over top of the shells. This will help them rise evenly. Bake the shells until they have risen and begin to brown, about 10-15 minutes depending on their size. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF (180ºC), and remove the silicon mat or parchment sheet from the top of the vols-au-vent. If the centers have risen up inside the vols-au-vent, you can gently press them down. Continue baking (with no sheet on top) until the layers are golden, about 15-20 minutes more. (If you are baking the center “caps” they will likely be finished well ahead of the shells, so keep an eye on them and remove them from the oven when browned.)

Remove to a rack to cool. Cool to room temperature for cold fillings or to warm for hot fillings.

Fill and serve.

*For additional rise on the larger-sized vols-au-vents, you can stack one or two additional ring layers on top of each other (using egg wash to "glue"). This will give higher sides to larger vols-au-vents, but is not advisable for the smaller ones, whose bases may not be large enough to support the extra weight.

*Although they are at their best filled and eaten soon after baking, baked vols-au-vent shells can be stored airtight for a day.

*Shaped, unbaked vols-au-vent can be wrapped and frozen for up to a month (bake from frozen, egg-washing them first).

Simple and Delicious Yellow Cake

My son recently had a birthday, which meant a cake was in order! My mind initially drifted off into thoughts of what wonderful and new recipes I could try out for this special occasion. Then I came back to reality and remembered that this was a soon-to-be four year old that I would be baking for. A rather picky, soon-to-be four year old, to be exact.

So I brought my head back out of the clouds and found something simple. Rather than bake another chocolate cake (not that there's anything wrong with good 'ol chocolate!) I remembered a basic yellow cake recipe I'd seen on Smitten Kitchen not too long ago. Deb had declared it the "best birthday cake" so I knew this had to be a winner.

My son's only request was that it have stars all over it. Ah, he is *so* my son!



The cake turned out fabulously! It rose beautifully in the cake pans and had a nice very light yellow color. The taste and texture were superb! It stayed moist even in an airtight container on the counter 3 days later (same goes for in the fridge too!).



The frosting was equally as good and was a dream to work with. This stuff spreads so well and wants to be nice and smooth for you. It's super easy to make and has a very strong chocolate flavor, so be sure to use a good quality chocolate.


finally broke into this 10 pound bar of Guittard chocolate


making the frosting - no mixer required


the birthday boy


sometimes he gets momentarily shy





Best Yellow Layer Cake
via Smitten Kitchen

Yield: Two 9-inch round, 2-inch tall cake layers

4 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk, well-shaken

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans (Alternately, you can use a cooking spray, either with just butter or butter and flour to speed this process up.)

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes), then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.

Spread batter evenly in cake pan, then rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then run a knife around edge of pan. Invert onto rack and discard parchment, then cool completely, about 1 hour.

Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting
via Smitten Kitchen

Makes 5 cups of frosting, or enough to generously frost and fill a two layer 9-inch cake (with some left over)

15 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (use milk chocolate if you like it sweeter)
1 1/4 teaspoons instant espresso
2 1/4 cups sour cream, at room temperature (very important!)
1/4 to 1/2 cup light corn syrup
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the chocolate and espresso powder,in the top of a double-boiler or in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is melted. (Alternately, you can melt the chocolate in a microwave for 30 seconds, stirring well, and then heating in 15 second increments, stirring between each, until the chocolate is melted.) Remove from heat and let chocolate cool until tepid.

Whisk together the sour cream, 1/4 cup of the corn syrup and vanilla extract until combined. Add the tepid chocolate slowly and stir quickly until the mixture is uniform. Taste for sweetness, and if needed, add additional corn syrup in one tablespoon increments until desired level of sweetness is achieved.

Let cool in the refrigerator until the frosting is a spreadable consistency. This should not take more than 30 minutes. Should the frosting become too thick or stiff, just leave it out until it softens again.

My favorite place

Don't you hate it when you finally find time to sit down and write a post only to find that everything you type is complete and utter drivel? Things come out as half thoughts and in short, halting sentences? Bleh. yeah, that's me today.

Rather than give up and wait for a seemingly better time that I know will not arise, I will continue on. I didn't really want to do much blabbering anyway; what I really wanted was to show some photos from my recent trip to New York.



I love NYC. Well, that's an understatement. I lurrrrve it. Not just the city itself, but also Brooklyn, which happens to be where my oldest and dearest friend has lived for the past decade. We've known each other since we were both eight years old, which, we realized, means we've known each other for 20 years! Yeah, twenty years. Wow.



I don't have a recipe today, but a review of sorts. It's food related.

If you ever find yourself in Brooklyn (Clinton Hill, to be exact), needing a little coffee, or something to eat, I know of a place you should go.

It's this place, right here. Outpost.



Okay, I might be just a tiny bit biased (aforementioned long time dearest friend is co-owner) BUT - I would still love this place even if that weren't a factor.

How could you not? Just look around...

I love the decor, but I'm not quite sure how to describe it. No need though, as I think it really speaks for itself.

The coffee here is amazing (better than anything I've had here in Seattle and that is absolute truth) and the food is great too. They have sandwiches, chili (both vegetarian and turkey), soup, mac and cheese, freshly made juices, pastries and even beer and wine if you're so inclined.

They throw events and parties every once in a while. Sometimes there's a DJ.

The garden out back is wonderful in the warm weather. (it's a lot bigger than this)

Next to it is the most beautiful wall I've ever seen. They didn't even make it this way, this is just how it was when they moved in. This picture doesn't do it justice.

Anyway, if you're in the neighborhood, you should really stop in.

1014 Fulton Street, between Grand and Classon.

Here are some other random photos from my trip. I didn't take as many pictures as I thought I would - I've already done all the touristy things, so I felt a bit of 'been there, done that' as far as those types of pics go. I did however, discover this super awesome iphone app called ShakeItPhoto that I couldn't stop using. I never would've thought some of my favorite pictures would come from using my craptastic iphone camera! But this app is gold and totally worth $0.99 (and is the only app I've ever paid for).

can you tell I love front stoops?



because I'm a bit nutty for Anthony Bourdain




I could squeeze myself into this tiny soho apartment....I'd just have to get rid of 90% of my personal possessions


soho is one of my favorite neighborhoods




west village


maggie brown- awesome brunch and the wallpaper is like velvet


until next time...

Spontaneous Nectarine Tart

I love when simple things turn out spectacular. What's even better is when you use things you have on hand and put together something really great; something you wouldn't have found in a cook book or in a recipe online. I did pull ideas from both a cook book and a couple of recipes online to make this nectarine tart, but the idea really came from things I already had made that needed to be used.


I recently bought the book Tartine and am absolutely in love with it. Each and every recipe sounds divine and I can honestly say I want to make every single one of them! It's not often I feel that way while flipping through the pages of a new cook book. At first I was a little disappointed because the book features a relatively small number of recipes, but came to realize that they are all so appealing to me that I'm happy to have fewer, more appetizing recipes than a massive book that only contains a handful.


you can see the butter chunks that make this dough so flaky...if you squint a little!

One thing I love about the Tartine cook book is the basic recipes that are located in the back of the book for things like chiffon cake, pastry cream, sweet tart dough and flaky tart dough to name a few.


The first thing I made out of the bookwas the flaky tart dough. It was simple to make and resulted in the flakiest pie crust I have ever made, and it was absolutely delicious! It's so flaky, it's borderline puff pastry-esque. The recipe makes enough for two 9-inch pie crusts, so I had an extra pie crust just aching to be used for something.


pre and post bake
I'd recently seen a nectarine galette featured on Smitten Kitchen, which, along with
a family get together, a box of perfectly ripe nectarines, and left over cheese danish filling gave way to inspiration.


This nectarine tart was an absolute hit at the party and was even proclaimed to be, "the best thing I have ever eaten in my life!" by my future brother-in-law. Wow! That is the greatest compliment I have ever received and absolutely made my day :)

I hope you make this tart and enjoy it as much as we did.

Flaky Tart Dough
adapted from Tartine

1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup very cold water
3 cups + 2 tablespoons flour (or 1 pound/455g by weight, which is the method I prefer)
1 cup + 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (mine was frozen)

1. In a small bowl, add the salt to the water and keep in fridge until ready to use.

2. Using a food processor, add the flour to the work bowl. Cut butter into 1" chunks and scatter across the top of the flour. Pulse briefly until you have large crumbs. Add the cold water/salt mixture and pulse until the dough begins to come together in a ball but is not completely smooth. You should still see chunks of butter (about pea size).

3. On a floured surface, divide the dough into two balls, shape into disks 1" thick (work the dough as little as possible). Wrap well in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Makes 2 9-10" pie crusts.

Cream Cheese Filling
adapted from David Lebovitz's Black Bottom Cupcake recipe found in The Great Book of Chocolate

(If you're using a standard tart pan, you can probably get away with halving this recipe.)

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature

1. Beat the cream cheese in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes.

2. Add the eggs and sugar, beating well until creamy. Store in the refrigerator until ready for use.

You will also need:

Approximately 1 1/2 pounds of nectarines (4-6)
1/4 cup sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 egg, beaten (to use as an egg wash)

*OPTIONAL:
4 tablespoons ground almonds (or almond meal/flour)
1 tablespoon flour
4 teaspoons sugar (I used vanilla sugar)

Assembling the tart:

1. Slice about 5-6 nectarines as thick or thin as you'd like (I cut each half into 4 slices).

2. Roll out your tart dough and fit into your tart pan.

3. If using the *optional method, mix the ground almonds, flour and 4 teaspoons sugar. Spread this mixture over the bottom of the tart dough.

*I say this step is optional because I don't think you will miss it if you don't use it. Deb's recipe used this but she didn't use a cream cheese filling, so I assume you'd taste this a lot more if you only had nectarines and no other filling.

4. Pour your cream cheese mixture into your tart crust. I used a very deep dish tart pan that took almost all my cream cheese mixture. If you're using a standard tart pan, you will have a lot of the cream cheese mixture left over.

5. Arrange your nectarine slices however you wish and brush the edges of your tart dough with the egg wash. Sprinkle the top of your tart and crust edge with 1/4 cup of sugar.

6. Bake at 375 F for approximately 45 minutes, or until the center is no longer jiggly. During the last 10 minutes of baking, sprinkle the top with the 1/4 cup of sliced almonds. You may have to cover the outer edge of crust with foil to prevent over browning.

Serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream.

August Daring Bakers Challenge - Dobos Torte

Time again for another Daring Bakers challenge!

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful
of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos
Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite
Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.



Okay so I'm quite late in posting, however, I did manage to complete the challenge ahead of time. I've just been so busy lately that the little free time I have had has been spent very much away from a computer. The weather around here has been absolutely gorgeous and I have spent every moment possible enjoying it!

This torte was a very straight forward challenge and fairly easy in it's entirety. I chose to halve the recipe and make a small cake (4" round) which I mistakenly thought would mean a bit less work overall. Wrong! I probably got away with less time as far as baking the cake layers go, since I was able to bake 3 at a time, but other than that I'm pretty sure it took almost the same amount of time as it would have if I'd gone with the full size cake. Oh well! It was still fun and the end result was just as pretty as a full sized cake.

Whipping the egg yolks and sugar

Whipped egg whites for the sponge cake

Folding the whites into the yolks

Cake layers ready to bake

Chopped chocolate for the buttercream frosting

Candied hazelnuts drying

When I saw this recipe called for working with caramel, I remembered a decorating technique I had seen in my Martha Stewart Cupcakes book. These lovely candied hazelnuts excited me when I saw them in her book and I knew I wanted to try making them someday. This challenge seemed like the perfect fit since it called for hazelnuts and already had some fancy presentation going on with the caramelized cake layers as the decorative top.

Instead of using the caramel recipe from Martha's book, I chose to just go with the caramel from the challenge which was a little softer than what I needed. Of course I didn't know that at the time, but I still ended up with some decorative hazelnuts to use on my finished cake.

Assembling the layers

Caramelized layer of cake

Unfortunately, the caramel cake layer didn't end up tasting very good. In fact, it was met with a grimace of displeasure! It might've looked nice, but the taste was...less than desirable. I'm not sure if I overcooked the caramel or if that's just the way it is.

I love how nuts look pressed into the sides of a cake.

Dobos Torte

Sponge cake layers

• 6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups (162g) confectioner's (icing) sugar, divided
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (112g) sifted cake flour (SUBSTITUTE 95g plain flour + 17g cornflour (cornstarch) sifted together)
• pinch of salt

Chocolate Buttercream

• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup (200g) caster (ultrafine or superfine white) sugar
• 4oz (110g) bakers chocolate or your favourite dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons (250g) unsalted butter, at room temperature.

Caramel topping

• 1 cup (200g) caster (superfine or ultrafine white) sugar
• 12 tablespoons (180 ml) water
• 8 teaspoons (40 ml) lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. grapeseed, rice bran, sunflower)

Finishing touches

• a 7” cardboard round
• 12 whole hazelnuts, peeled and toasted
• ½ cup (50g) peeled and finely chopped hazelnuts

Directions for the sponge layers:

The sponge layers can be prepared in advance and stored interleaved with parchment and well-wrapped in the fridge overnight.

1. Position the racks in the top and center thirds of the oven and heat to 400F (200C).

2. Cut six pieces of parchment paper to fit the baking sheets. Using the bottom of a 9" (23cm) springform tin as a template and a dark pencil or a pen, trace a circle on each of the papers, and turn them over (the circle should be visible from the other side, so that the graphite or ink doesn't touch the cake batter.)

3. Beat the egg yolks, 2/3 cup (81g) of the confectioner's (icing) sugar, and the vanilla in a medium bowl with a mixer on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted a few inches above the batter, about 3 minutes. (You can do this step with a balloon whisk if you don't have a mixer.)

4. In another bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 2/3 cup (81g) of confectioner's (icing)sugar until the whites form stiff, shiny peaks. Using a large rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remainder, leaving a few wisps of white visible. Combine the flour and salt. Sift half the flour over the eggs, and fold in; repeat with the remaining flour.

5. Line one of the baking sheets with a circle-marked paper. Using a small offset spatula, spread about 3/4cup of the batter in an even layer, filling in the traced circle on one baking sheet. Bake on the top rack for 5 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the center and the edges are lightly browned. While this cake bakes, repeat the process on the other baking sheet, placing it on the center rack. When the first cake is done, move the second cake to the top rack. Invert the first cake onto a flat surface and carefully peel off the paper. Slide the cake layer back onto the paper and let stand until cool. Rinse the baking sheet under cold running water to cool, and dry it before lining with another parchment. Continue with the remaining papers and batter to make a total of six layers. Completely cool the layers. Using an 8" springform pan bottom or plate as a template, trim each cake layer into a neat round. (A small serrated knife is best for this task.)

Directions for the chocolate buttercream:

This can be prepared in advance and kept chilled until required.

1. Prepare a double-boiler: quarter-fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.

2. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thickened, about five minutes. You can use a balloon whisk or electric hand mixer for this.

3. Fit bowl over the boiling water in the saucepan (water should not touch bowl) and lower the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook the egg mixture, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you see it starting to thicken a bit. Whisk in the finely chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes.

4. Scrape the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. It should be quite thick and sticky in consistency.

5. When cool, beat in the soft butter, a small piece (about 2 tablespoons/30g) at a time. An electric hand mixer is great here, but it is possible to beat the butter in with a spatula if it is soft enough. You should end up with a thick, velvety chocolate buttercream. Chill while you make the caramel topping.

Lorraine's note: If you're in Winter just now your butter might not soften enough at room temperature, which leads to lumps forming in the buttercream. Male sure the butter is of a very soft texture I.e. running a knife through it will provide little resistance, before you try to beat it into the chocolate mixture. Also, if you beat the butter in while the chocolate mixture is hot you'll end up with more of a ganache than a buttercream!

Directions for the caramel topping:

1. Choose the best-looking cake layer for the caramel top. To make the caramel topping: Line a jellyroll pan with parchment paper and butter the paper. Place the reserved cake layer on the paper. Score the cake into 12 equal wedges. Lightly oil a thin, sharp knife and an offset metal spatula.

2. Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved into a smooth syrup, turn the heat up to high and boil without stirring, swirling the pan by the handle occasionally and washing down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet brush until the syrup has turned into an amber-colored caramel.

3. The top layer is perhaps the hardest part of the whole cake so make sure you have a oiled, hot offset spatula ready. I also find it helps if the cake layer hasn't just been taken out of the refrigerator. I made mine ahead of time and the cake layer was cold and the toffee set very, very quickly—too quickly for me to spread it. Immediately pour all of the hot caramel over the cake layer. You will have some leftover most probably but more is better than less and you can always make nice toffee pattern using the extra to decorate. Using the offset spatula, quickly spread the caramel evenly to the edge of the cake layer. Let cool until beginning to set, about 30 seconds. Using the tip of the hot oiled knife (keep re-oiling this with a pastry brush between cutting), cut through the scored marks to divide the caramel layer into 12 equal wedges. Cool another minute or so, then use the edge of the knife to completely cut and separate the wedges using one firm slice movement (rather than rocking back and forth which may produce toffee strands). Cool completely.

Angela's note: I recommend cutting, rather than scoring, the cake layer into wedges before covering in caramel (reform them into a round). If you have an 8” silicon round form, then I highly recommend placing the wedges in that for easy removal later and it also ensures that the caramel stays on the cake layer. Once set, use a very sharp knife to separate the wedges.

Assembling the Dobos

1. Divide the buttercream into six equal parts.

2. Place a dab of chocolate buttercream on the middle of a 7 1/2” cardboard round and top with one cake layer. Spread the layer with one part of the chocolate icing. Repeat with 4 more cake layers. Spread the remaining icing on the sides of the cake.

3. Optional: press the finely chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake.

4. Propping a hazelnut under each wedge so that it sits at an angle, arrange the wedges on top of the cake in a spoke pattern. If you have any leftover buttercream, you can pipe rosettes under each hazelnut or a large rosette in the centre of the cake. Refrigerate the cake under a cake dome until the icing is set, about 2 hours. Let slices come to room temperature for the best possible flavor.

Coconut Cherry Petits Gateaux

Mmm cherries. Not just any cherries, mind you. Those, up there, see em? Yeah, those. They look good, don't they? I know. Rainier cherries quite simply are the best cherries around, if you ask me. They're so pretty too, don't cha think? I really intended on taking a picture of the light yellow flesh inside, but...well...I ate them all. Every bite I took I thought, "Ooh, I should really take a picture of the inside of one of these." *munch* "Meh. I'll do it later." and later turned out to be....well, never as you can gather I'm sure!

What's so special about Rainier cherries anyway? I mean, besides how gosh darn pretty they are. I know you are just curious as a kitten to know why, aren't you? Yes! You are! And because I know you are SO enthralled with this entry that you don't want to scurry off to wikipedia to find out why, I'll just tell you right here, okay?

Rainier cherries were created here in Washington state, at WSU in the early 1950's (ok, so they're a cross breed of two different cherry varieties). They are very finicky and according to my research, the best ones come out of Washington state, as they seem to love the rainy climate here. They're also grown in California, but the ones from here are bigger and basically kick the California one's asses (no offense, California, you know I luv u). Any hoo. They're also kind of spendy - usually about $4.99 a pound (!) and up. Since they were at the peak of their season when I got them, I scored mine at a mere $0.98 a pound! (btw, can I just say it reallly bothers me there is no 'cents' symbol on a standard keyboard?!) Steal of a deal, I tell you.

Which is why I bought a good 4 pounds (give or take). I had just gone through a few pounds of regular, boring old Bing cherries and made these really awesome cherry muffins. Since still had some of the coconut milk left from the recipe, I thought I would make another batch using some of my Rainier cherries. But...again, like with the taking pictures of the luscious and lovely yellow flesh inside, the making of these muffins never happened. On account of my eating all the cherries. Oops. They were good though, I can tell you that much. So are these muffins. You should really make them! I'm sure any type of fruit would be great to add, or even just chocolate chips and some nuts. The muffin base is a good start to add anything that might strike your heart's fancy.

pretend those are Rainier cherries you see in there, ok?

Coconut Cherry Petits Gateaux
adapted from the always inspiring and amazing Tartelette

One thing I love about these is how wonderfully they rise and have such a poufy top. I used a mini muffin pan and got 24 and also 1 large muffin out of this recipe. Makes 8-10 regular sized muffins.

1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup (125ml) coconut milk
2 tablespoons (30gr) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 teaspoon coconut extract
1 3/4 cups (220gr) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup cherries, pitted and halved (I quartered mine for the mini muffin pan)
3 tablespoons raw pumpkin seeds, chopped (I used pistachios as that's all I had)

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and position a rack in the center. Lightly spray or butter muffin tins or cupcake molds. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment (or with hand held beaters) whisk together the sugar and the eggs on medium speed for 5 minutes.

3. With the machine running on low speed, add the coconut milk, melted butter and coconut extract. Beat for a minute to incorporate all the ingredients thoroughly.

4. Add the flour and baking powder and mix until smooth. Stop the machine and fold in the cherries with a spatula.

5. Divide the batter between the prepared muffin tins and sprinkle with the chopped pumpkin seeds (or pistachios).

6. Bake 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.