Puff Pastry Pizzettes

Simple.  Simple.  Simple.  

Perfect hors d'oeuvre.

Perfect after school snack.

Perfect midnight snack. 

Easy elegance. 

That is, if you have already made the puff pastry dough or have bought some from the store/ bakery. 

Besides the above combination I also made a sweet cherry one with a plum glaze  which turned out tasty but not too pretty (thus no picture).   But the possibilities seem endless with this one too.  I can see pesto, olives, compotes…

See the posts at Tuesdays with Dorie to see how others' fared with this recipe. 

Rhiannon running...

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...

Classic French Bread

Now here in Portland we have about a dozen "real deal" french bakeries where I can pick up a fresh afternoon baked baguette.   To make one at home seems a little pointless.  But then I watched the video and I was intrigued; could I really make an airy, crusty baguette in my humble kitchen?  I had to try, much like I had to try croissants last year despite their similar rampant availability here.  

It turns out, I was much better at replicating the croissants than the baguette.  The baguette had a nice crusty crust but the inside turned out like normal bread, which was tasty but not airy and light at all.  I think it had to do with my first rise which lasted too long and the dough formed a skin which then made rolling it for the final rise a challenge due to the inelasticity of that skin.  But it may have been a result of the old frozen, fresh yeast I used; it probably would have had more oomph with really fresh yeast.

We had no trouble eating the loaves all in one meal (I halved the recipe), but I am sure they would not have met any French bakery standard except for the fact we did wait 20 minutes to eat them after they came out of the oven.  And despite all our good bakeries in Portland and the fact that I can kind of make them at home (with more practice),  I still can't wait to get to France someday and eat a real baguette. 

Be sure to visit others' posts on this recipe in the Baking with Julia baking group at Tuesdays with Dorie. 

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.

Baking Powder Biscuits AND Savory Wheat Crackers

I'll start with the recipe that was due this week for Tuesdays with Dorie.   And let's just say I do not have a biscuit hand as Julia speaks about in the opening paragraph of this recipe.  The height of the above biscuit is the primary proof of my non-biscuit hands.  (I do not fault the recipe at all.)  That's not to say I don't make biscuits.  I make them frequently, but I cheat and make drop biscuits which requires a bit more liquid and no handling of the dough.  The biscuits come out lumpy and crazy looking, but rarely do I have a leaden, tough biscuit like the above.  I think I will stick to my drop biscuits.

Back in June there was a recipe for Savory Wheat Crackers that I missed and then completed for a rewind week but then missed blogging about it, so I will sneak it in here.  (I have 2 recipes (fougasse and poppy seed torte) already lined up for September's rewind week.)  At first I was not motivated to complete this recipe.  All the rolling and maneuvering of a thin dough intimidated me, plus it called for a food processor, a kitchen tool that I lack.   But then I read everyone's posts about it, and my fears quickly dissipated.  It turned out to be simple and easy indeed even without a food processor.   I made a 1/4 of the recipe and made one batch sweet with cinnamon and sugar and the other savory with sesame seeds, salt and anise seeds.  The kiddos devoured the sweet versions and we enjoyed the savory.   All in all, a success.

And Rhiannon as of late…

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