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.

Pebble bread

My not-so-flat, flat bread. 

I kind of liked it not-so-flat.  It reminded me of pizza dough: chewy and light, a little tangy from the long rise.  And since it was flat bread I could eat it all by itself without any guilt.   But I did serve it with some optional dips: an olive spread (delicious) and a tofu tahini spread (not so delicious).

And, wow, did this recipe make a lot.  I halved the recipe and wound up making eight rounds of dough. (It should have been four.)  This leads me to believe that maybe I did not halve the water in the beginning and accidentally made a full recipe anyway.

Overall, it's a fairly simple recipe that I may make again in the future when I feel like having pizza dough but no pizza.  Check out other bakers' takes at Tuesdays with Dorie.  

And Rhiannon….

Not Your Usual Lemon Meringue Pie

Definitely unusual but unusually good.  The unusual part being the "crust".  It is constructed here with a few sheets of phyllo dough baked with butter and sugar to create crispy triangle pie slices.  The good part being the lemon curd, of course.  (There is a little one in my house that has eaten lemon curd toast for 7 days straight now.)

The proportions were a bit off in this recipe.  The lemon curd made an ample amount which is obviously not a problem and the meringue was overwhelming (I even halved it!). The phyllo amounts seemed about right.

And due to my continued lack of a blow torch, I used the broiler method (to brown the meringue) and skipped the two tiered option of this dessert.  

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

Rhiannon making flower soup.  Yes, it is spring here. 

Creme Brûléed Chocolate Bundt Cake

This recipe sounded amazing: chocolate chiffon cake, liqueur soaked raspberries and a creme brûlée topping.  And it did turn out quite amazing.   The cake turned out moist and chocolaty despite it sinking a bit while cooling. The raspberries were soaked with a thick blackberry vodka (but they probably could have used the liqueur).  And the creme brûlée sauce was just fantastic made with rich egg yolks and cream and vanilla beans for that true, strong vanilla flavor.  I am currently trying to figure out how else I can use that sauce; what other recipes need that extra love?

I borrowed a blow torch (and a bundt pan and the liqueur- thanks Sorrel!) for this one but was bit low on butane so it was only partially properly creme bruleed.  It did not seem to add too much to the overall flavor and was not missed on those parts that escaped the blow torch.

I would make this one again, if I only liked cake.

Please check out my fellow bloggers creations this week. 

And here's Rhiannon…

Salsa Quitza

Oh, sometimes things do not turn out they way I expect they will.

So excited about this one.  It sounded so promising.  I even watched the video.

Easy pizza with a twist.  Great for Super Bowl Sunday.

But then came the translation from bread machine to normal bread making.  My translation was incorrect.  My read was wrong.

(Kind of like throwing an interception on the goal line.)

Oh well.  And there are no pictures to confirm this confusion.  You'll just have to take my word for it.


Some questions I have lingering for my fellow bloggers (in case I ever attempt it again):  Should we let this one rise twice like normal bread or just once like the recipe states?  Is it supposed to be quite doughy/ bread-y rather than chewy/ crusty?

And Rhiannon...

Eastern European Rye

I am currently reading Cooked by Michael Pollan, and I just started the chapter titled "Air", in which he goes into great detail about baking and the use of "air" in creating cooked food for ourselves.  Although I have more than half of the chapter yet to read, I find it fascinating.  So when I realized this coincided with the Easter European Rye recipe (in the Baking with Julia baking group), I became quite excited to use some "air" to make this delicious bread.

Luckily for me,  it did turn out delicious.  It appears to be a pretty forgiving bread as I left it to rise much longer than required for all of its rises.  In addition to this, it was quite workable.  I decided to hand knead it and give my mixer a break and was surprised at the ease of this process.  (Maybe this had something to do with the shortening used in the mix.)

I am now looking forward to some Reubens either tonight or later this week.  And of course, breakfast toast will be amazing.

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...