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.

Tropical Napoleons

How does one go about eating this…  layers of crisp meringue with whipped cream and sliced tropical fruit…?  There is no graceful way, really. (But I would love to learn a way if it exists.)   Thank goodness each messy bite is delicious.

The meringue wafers were easy to whip up but a little tricky to shape and bake.  We were instructed to make circular molds of meringue with a cut out plastic ring, which worked surprisingly well.  But I didn't know how thin to make the wafers, so I experimented a bit and learned the thinner they are, the harder they are to pull off the tray.  And I baked them for about 10 minutes  (recipe calls for 5-7 minutes) and they never seemed to stiffen up enough;  I could have baked them longer.  But being that they are whipped egg whites, sugar and coconut, they still tasted excellent even if a bit chewy.

The whipped cream was a treat in and of itself.  The recipe asks for a small amount of dark rum to be added which makes it irresistible by my tastes.  It compliments the coconut of the meringues well.

For the fruit I used kiwi and strawberries, relying on the kiwi to make it tropical.

Check out Tuesdays with Dorie baking group to see how my fellow bakers fared with this recipe.

And Rhiannon...

(Scallop) Asparagus & Pesto Purses

It took me until two days ago to read the recipe for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie baking group.  I think I was intimidated by the title of this recipe.  Any food item that was supposed to look like or function like a purse, sounded difficult and perhaps impossible for my novice skills.

And then I read the recipe.  Simple.  One page recipe.  Six ingredients.  Never mind that one of those ingredients was phyllo dough, I could do this.

The idea is to make a purse of phyllo dough filled with scallops and pesto.  The enclosure traps the steam as it bakes and cooks the scallop.  Since I am a vegetarian, I substituted fresh (yea!) asparagus for the scallops and added a sprinkle of goat cheese and lemon zest.   I also ignored the step in the recipe instructing us to tie each little purse with string prior to baking.   (That would have made this recipe not-so-simple.  Phyllo dough and I are not such great friends and tying it up string sounds like a battle I would have lost.  Furthermore, it brings back a memory as a child, watching my mom come to tears over a phyllo dough recipe she was baking for a 'gourmet club'.  Maybe that is the origin of our animosity.)

They turned out surprisingly amazing.  We ate them within 3 minutes.  Seriously.

These purses are meant to be served as appetizers.  They can be made earlier in the day, chilled in the fridge and baked immediately prior to serving.  Brilliant for entertaining.

Check out my fellow bloggers account of this recipe at Tuesday with Dorie.

And Rhiannon...

Cantuccini

= biscotti
"twice baked cookie"

I discovered biscotti/ cantuccini a while back and have treasured them as a guilt free breakfast treat (or-anytime-of-day-treat).  Since they have no butter or other fat and are baked twice they are relatively dry, fat free, and delicious (somehow that is possible without butter).  They are a snap to make; if you have never made them, go for it, as they are even easier than regular  drop cookies.  And if that isn't enough, they store up to a month in a sealed container or tin.

This recipe is a very basic, standard recipe without a lot of thrills or additions as you might see in coffee shops.  Check out the book,  Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan, for the whole recipe and hop on over to our Tuesdays with Dorie baking group to see others' experiences with this cookie.

Potato Lefse

Lefse?  I did not know such a thing existed or even such a word.   A thin tortilla- crepe- swedish pancake type thing but made with potatoes?  Eaten with hot dogs or with cinnamon and sugar?   And I can make these at home?

Yes, yes, and yes. But it is actually Norwegian in origin and technically requires some pretty fancy specialized equipment (none of which I had).

The dough sounded intimidating to work with but wasn't.  It rolled out easily with plenty of flour and the use of a silpat mat.  And cooking them on a hot griddle was quick and clean.

A surprising success in this household.  All made in 15 minutes (with exception to the dough prep and chill time (8 hours)).  All eaten within 15 minutes.

This recipe represents many reasons why I love the Tuesdays with Dorie baking group:  I make things I never have heard of, never would have thought possible in my kitchen, and never would have the gumption to try.

Rhiannon enjoying the lefse.

Mocha Brownie Cake

This sounded like my kind of cake… a brownie cake.  As previously mentioned in this blog (with every cake recipe), I am not a cake fan.  I am a huge brownie fan however.  So, if there is a cake out there I might like, a brownie cake just might be it.  (I am slightly exaggerating as there are a few cakes out there I have enjoyed and would even eat again (Rhubarb Upside Down cake is one of them).  This cake, however, was more cake and less brownie.  A great one for cake lovers.  A tolerable one for brownie lovers.

It has some redeemable qualities worth mentioning:

- the ganache frosting/ filling is delicious and super easy to work with (I will dog-ear the recipe for this alone.)

- the recipe comes together easily

- the ganache has coffee in it

- the recipe outlines a simple and effective way to assemble a layer cake which was new to me, utilizing the spring form pan used to bake it

- there is never a bite without the ganache

I must confess that this may have been a bit more brownie-like had I baked the cake for less than the stated time.  As it was, the first time I checked it, the cake was already done and possibly a bit dry, but this was hard to tell given all that delicious ganache which lent moisture to every bite.  I will be curious to see how my fellow bakers baked this one up.  Check theirs out at Tuesdays with Dorie.

Rhiannon- a cake eater