Meringue Cookies (& Chocolate Ruffle Cake)

Meringue and I go well together (unlike genoise).  Maybe its beginner's luck, but I tend to have success with meringue-based things, thus far.  Despite this luck,  these meringue cookies,  look no where near professional, but then again, a 4 and a 7 year old piped up most of them.  (But even mine lacked a professional air.)  I think, the only thing easier than whipping these up, is eating them.

On the other end of the difficulty spectrum was the chocolate ruffle cake (or the chocolate roll cake in my case).   This recipe had 5 recipes within it; not your after-dinner-whip-up-dessert dessert.   And not a recipe to be repeated anytime soon or anytime, period.  That being said, I am glad I did it.

I have always wondered how cakes were wrapped in a thin sheet of chocolate; I had absolutely no idea how it could be done.  Making that sheet and wrapping my little cake was far and away my favorite part.

My favorite part to eat was the chocolate creme fraiche filling.

And wow, those ruffles have to be made with impeccable timing.

I will leave this one up to the professional bakeries from here on out, but I have a much deeper respect for the 5-7 recipes and the subtleties that go into a slice of cake like this.

Rhiannon!

Brie in Brioche, Babas and Buttermilk Bread (Not in a Bread Machine)

Better late than never. 

I sat down to post tonight on the delightful buttermilk bread (2 days late), but realized I had two more recipes in my queue (> 2 weeks late).

Brie in brioche (above) felt a bit quirky and a bit indulgent: butter, egg rich dough surrounding a wheel of brie topped with slow cooked onions.   So odd yet so delicious, as is everything with brioche dough. 

Babas were my second go at this type of sweet yeasted dough, the first being savarin.  I recall not being a fan of the savarin; I was not excited to give this one a shot (leading me to be late). But it turned out better than all expectations, especially the vanilla pastry cream tucked up inside. 

And finally, buttermilk bread, not made in a bread machine.  It has been some time in our baking that we have baked bread, and it felt homey and reassuring to do so.  This recipe is one I will hang onto for quick dinner rolls/ bread. Simple, simple, simple. 

Check out other bloggers here:  Tuesdays with Dorie.

And Rhiannon at the coast.

Cornmeal Currant Biscotti

Not your traditional twice-baked biscotti but nice, fat, plump diamond shaped tea cookies.  These will only last a week on your shelf, but given all the leftover holiday treats lying around, I could have used the one month shelf life of regular biscotti. (Truth be told these can be molded and baked like regular biscotti but I wanted to sample these not-so-traditional ones.)

These are tasty little tea cookies with a higher butter content and a nice crackly corneal texture.  I used raisins instead of currants, and I like the contrast of the soft raisins and the crunch of the cornmeal.  Despite these attributes, I don't think I will make these again; I have too many other biscotti recipes that I favor.  But then again maybe I will, as Rhiannon loved them.

And Rhiannon… she loved these cookies!

Vanilla Hazelnut Cheesecake- Rewind

I don't normally like cheesecake but I did like this one.  I don't even normally crave hazelnuts in my desserts, but this one won me over.   Amidst the holiday sweet craze, this could have been lost, but it wasn't.  And cottage cheese in a cheesecake, not a deterrent.

The advantage of doing this one as a rewind, I was able to heed the advice of a fellow Baking with Julia blogger: I did not attempt the flip.  This cake was intended to be made in a round cake pan and upon cooling, flipped out and then re-flipped onto a serving pan.   I have a history with flipping and decided to go with a spring form pan and a regular graham cracker crust (with butter).   I did forget to wrap the pan in foil so the crust was a little water logged; this still did not ruin this cake.

I also did not cook/ burn the caramel for the hazelnut paste quite enough so the coloring of the cake is unremarkable.  But the taste is there.

As for another rewind recipe, I have my eyes on the Brie in Brioche recipe in the coming weeks but, I may need to save some calories for that one.

Rhiannon in the line-up.

Parmesan Puffs…. and Hazelnut Loaves and Raspberry Swirls

Yet another catch up post.   I have been baking all along, but the posting dates have not been corresponding to my baking dates.   I have no life changing excuse like a move or a new job or newborn baby, just regular life with all its irregularities and oddities.  It resembles this set of recipes.  When put all together they seem a bit odd and mismatched and overwhelming.  But individually they were all quite delicious and not too taxing.

From most recent to the not so recent:

Parmesan Puffs: an exercise in deep frying (deep frying puff pastry nonetheless).  Yum.

Hazelnut baby loaves: obviously not a baby loaf, but one big one, delicately flavored.

Raspberry Swirls: genoise rolled and layered, my only successful genoise yet.  (It doesn't hurt that it is dipped in chocolate.)

Rhiannon: my faithful taster.

Please check others' posts at the blogroll: Tuesdays with Dorie. 

Brioche x 2

It took brioche to bring me back (after the chaotic summer that was just starting during my last post).

I swear there is nothing better for me to make, bake, eat and eat again, than brioche.

I think its the texture.  And the chewiness.  And the slight sweetness.

For the first brioche recipe, the brioche served as the base of a custard tart, topped with a sabayon and poached plums.

For the second, the brioche was twice baked, to use up those stale leftovers of brioche laying around (as if).  The stale bread is dunked in orange vanilla syrup and topped with an almond cream.  Brioche plus almond cream might just be better than brioche itself.

For the rest of the book, I will try to keep up and make up what I have missed from the Baking with Julia cooking group.  But there are no guarantees without brioche.


Rhiannon eating her favorite: honey toast.

Cardinal Slice

This was an intimidating recipe: genoise/ sponge batter piped with meringue, sandwiched with whipped cream flavored with an espresso coleur.  The latter two ingredients were not so intimidating but the former two made me nervous.  I have yet to make a successful genoise or sponge cake batter (maybe it knows I don't like eating it) and well, meringues, I haven't had too much experience with.

I started successfully with the whipped cream and the coleur (a caramelized sugar with added espresso).   I thought the coleur was burnt and almost tossed it, but when mixed with the whipped cream, the next day, all I could taste was espresso.  Perfect.

The meringue also turned out just fine and was simple to make. (I have recipe for Eton Mes that I have been wanting to try and now I think I will.)  I may have piped the meringue  a bit thin but it was suitable.   Then  came the sponge batter which was initiated with the leftover meringue batter.  I followed the directions as well as I could, timing the mixing and everything, but I believe I whipped it too much.  It piped out well but seemed a bit airy and when baked just collapsed on itself.  (The ladyfingers I made after that suffered a worse fate- flat as flat.)

Assembling was quite fun: layering the cakes and the whipped cream.    Even if mine turned out with half the height of the one shown in the recipe book, it still looked somewhat grand.  Accompanied with a raspberry filled caramel basket, it looked delicious.  And it tasted delicious too.

Unfortunately not delicious enough to make again.  I will look for it when and if I find myself in Austria and will savor it, knowing how hard it is to make and master.

This blog participates in Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll.

Rhiannon!

Sweet Ricotta Pie

This recipe calls for a dough (pasta frolla) we have used in the past but with a savory dish, Pizza Rustica.  I remember loving the crust and the sweetness of it matched to the salty innards of the pizza.  This time it was to be used with a simple, sweet ricotta filling.

The filling traditionally is flavored with anisette (a licorice liquor).  Since I do not have anisette, I used one of the alternatives mentioned in the recipe book, almond extract.  Because I was using extract instead of liquor, I reasoned erroneously that I should use a bit less than the recipe called for.  The almond flavoring was there but not enough for a true almond flavor to come through on each bite.  And the crust was decent but did not stand out as it did previously probably due to its match with a sweet filling.

Overall the dessert was a nice Easter brunch addition, and I would try it again but with another flavor (and I would certainly use the whole amount of flavoring).

Be sure to check out other feet ricotta pie experiences at Tuesdays with Dorie.

Chocolate Mint Nightcaps

These sounded so delightful!  Mint… chocolate… nightcap.  All things I love.  But I did not love all these things together in this cookie.

The ganache, despite being ganache and otherwise awesome, needed more mint flavor, certainly more than what was imbued with fresh mint and cream coming to a boil together.

The chocolate cookies came out soft and rather bland.  I was expecting some crispness to lend contrast to the rather soft and forgiving ganache.

And the "nightcap" looked like something I might find on my lawn from a neighboring dog.

Not my type of cookie, but I was excited to be back baking after missing the walnut loaves earlier in the month.

For others' experience with this cookie, be sure to check out the blogroll Tuesdays with Dorie.

And Rhiannon...

Amaretti

These little cookies have been brought up multiple times during our nomination process at the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll, so I was excited to finally make them, plus I love almond paste when used in baking.  Let's clarify this.  I love to eat things made with almond paste.  This is the first time I have made something with almond paste.   

I decided to make this already easy recipe easier by not making my own almond paste.  As instructed in the recipe, I searched high and low for a can of paste instead of a tube, but had to settle for a tube.  To make up for this,  I wound up using a wee bit less sugar than the recipe called for.  

I think they turned out well.  Nice and chewy but a bit crispy on the edges and outside in general.   I believe they could have been a bit crispier; maybe this was due to the paste coming from a tube or maybe because they turned out a bit larger than I think they should have been.  Regardless, I am looking forward to them hardening up over the next couple of days… and eating more of them.

Rhiannon approved!

Sunny-Side Up Apricot (Plum) Pastries

These became plum pastries for me,  as apricots will not be found in our grocery store or markets for another nine months.  And oddly enough it has been warm enough here to keep the plum and peach season lasting a bit longer than normal. No complaints here.   Although I do lose the effect of sunny side up "eggs" as intended.  

This recipe was the first in our puff pastry month with Tuesdays with Dorie.  I had all intentions of making the puff pastry myself, especially after reading the recipe as it seemed no harder and less fussy than croissant dough.  But I decided to take it easy, stay on schedule and use some of the local, awesome puff pastry dough from Grand Central Bakery.  

Overall, this turned out well, and with a few minor changes I might make these again.  I would cut the circles larger and roll the dough out less as I feel these were rolled too thin.  I would use a smaller fruit to help the ends puff up more.  I would continue using the pastry cream recipe with vanilla beans and maybe double it as it was so tasty.  I would pull the skins off the poached  fruit to help with appearances (no effect on taste).  And I would heavily sugar the rolling surface; I only lightly dusted mine, and the pastry could have stood up to more. 

I am looking forward to the second puff pastry recipe in a few weeks.  My dough scraps are in the freezer, waiting. 

Rhiannon

Poppy Seed Torte

About a month ago, I missed the recipe for Poppy Seed Torte.  I have to admit I was blocked by the requirement to buy 2 cups of poppy seeds.  Seriously, 2 cups.  But then one day, about two weeks ago,while busily hustling around a part of town I usually do not visit,  I spied a spice store.  I immediately thought about those poppy seeds.  I compromised with myself and bought one cup, planning to half the recipe.  (And by the way, this spice store sold white and blue poppy seeds which apparently the only difference is a bleaching or whitening of the seeds.  They naturally are all blue.)

And I must say the only reason I kept thinking about poppy seeds was due to the rave reviews I had read on the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll; everyone seemed to like this one.  I was intrigued despite my usual indifference for most cakes.

The recipe originally calls for apricots to be poached.  Since apricots have since fallen out of season, I chose pears as a substitute.  No problem there except maybe a little less appealing to the eye.  The poppy seeds were ground up and mixed with cake crumbs and then this combination was mixed with alternating cake batter and meringue.  No problems there either (just a lot of dishes).

I can't say that I liked this one, despite my heightened anticipation of it.   It wasn't too sweet, which I liked, but the flavor seemed off or lacking.  Maybe it was the pear substitution or maybe my poppy seeds had turned without me realizing it.  The texture was terrific, so maybe it needs a second trial but then again, I would have to find more poppy seeds.

This blog participates in Tuesday with Dorie.  This week was a rewind week; check it out.

And Rhiannon...

Oven-Roasted Plum Cakes

This recipe was a trial in following directions.   It started with prepping the pans/ ramekins.  I rubbed them with butter, not melted butter.  I used muffin tins and 1/2 cup ramekins, instead of full cup ramekins (I don't have any).  I must have put 3-4 TB of batter in each container because 2 TB seemed like a ridiculously small amount of batter especially with a half of a plum on top. And I squished that half plum down a bit in the batter because I felt like it, even though the recipe warned to keep the plum afloat so as not to sink.  

I think I should just follow instructions.  

The cakes were difficult to remove (the pans could have used melted butter).   I was not sure how long to bake them due to the size difference.  And those plums sunk bringing the extra batter down with it.

But then again, they were quite tasty despite my lack of obedience. 

So next time, I would follow the directions more closely except for the sugar sprinkled on top. I would use regular sugar on top and less of it.  The recipe calls for brown sugar, and I felt the molasses flavor came through too much and masked some of the plum flavor, which was delicious.  There is always room for some intelligent disobedience.  Rhiannon knows this.

Vanilla Poundcake

This was super simple and super delicious.  We recently traveled north to Alaska to spend time with family, and I brought this recipe along.  It turned out to be a good idea as it was perfect for feeding a crowd and there was no harm in turning the oven on (temperatures in the 60's).   I wound up making two loaves of a more traditional poundcake shape as I did not have a tube pan.   We ate the first round with raspberries in syrup and ice cream and munched on the leftovers all by themselves the next night.  And the picture below shows the small piece left two days later that I wound up toasting.  The best?  The final toasted one, three days old. 

Rhiannon on the 4th of July

Phylloccine Ice Cream Sandwiches

The pictures of this one intimidated me and then the recipe assuaged me. It was basically an assembly recipe with very little baking.  I had to only bake the phyllo strips mounded into little nests,  after dousing them with some butter and sugar.  Simple.

The other assembly parts were some whipped cream, ice cream ( I used store bought frozen yogurt), skewered fruit and a chunky fruit puree with mint.  Simple.

The ironic part of this recipe was that it called for raspberries.  The kiddos and I had just picked pounds of the season's first raspberries but froze them or sauced them all.  No fresh ones left.  But we did have strawberries and blueberries so we subbed those in.  Simple.

Although difficult to eat, much like the recent tropical napoleons, they were delicious. They tasted like summer on a plate.  

Check out the other bloggers take on this recipe at Tuesdays with Dorie.