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!

Alsatian Onion Tart

Not much to say about this recipe except, "yum!"  And surprisingly so.  I am not an onion lover.  I don't add them to pizza.  I don't eat them raw, not even the red ones. They need to well caramelized for me to eat them.  So a whole onion tart sounded like, well, too much onion.  But the onion was well cooked in a light broth and then baked on top of puff pastry.   It is hard to dislike much when it sits on top of puff pastry.

This recipe calls for bacon to be added to the onion, which I am sure helps out the onions tremendously, but being a vegetarian, I replaced it with Kalamata olives and then added some feta after the bake (just because I had some in the fridge).

It was delicious, and I had some as leftovers, cold, the next day and they were delicious.  Go figure with all those onions.

Be sure to check out fellow bloggers results at Tuesdays with Dorie.

Rhiannon- not an onion eater, yet. 

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.