|
|
July 27, 2009
The July Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.
When I saw that this month’s Daring Bakers offered TWO challenges, I knew that I was definitely going to try both of them. I couldn’t resist the Mallomars! I’d been wanting to try making homemade marshmallow for awhile now and here was my chance!
And seriously, Mallomars in JULY??!? Hallelujah! Mallomars, made by Nabisco, are typically only available October through April. Apparently the chocolate they use can’t handle the heat of the summer months. Or so they say. But here it is, JULY, and we have Mallomars! And they’re every bit as good, if not better than the Nabisco version!
I have to admit, I was a little nervous about the marshmallow. Ok, so I was really nervous about the marshmallow. The Kraft Jet-Puffed versions seem so delicate and airy and impossible, how could this ever work out at home? I was pleasantly surprised though, as homemade marshmallows are very easy, very quick, and very yummy. The perfectly soft consistency set my brain a’wandering in search of new recipes I could try - Smores Pie, Rocky Road Ice Cream, and Fudge top the list so far.
The original recipe called for 2 ounces of vegetable oil in the chocolate coating. TWO OUNCES! Surely this must be a typo, I thought, It’ll never set - I shouldn’t put any vegetable oil in. I determined that it must have meant 2 tablespoons and thought I”d give it a try. After leaving them out overnight, the chocolate still didn’t set. Next time I’ll follow my gut and not add in any vegetable oil. I’ve tweaked the recipe on here to not include any vegetable oil in the chocolate coating.
Continue reading Mallomars - Daring Bakers >>
July 27, 2009
Ahh, Milanos. Could there be any sandwich cookie more perfect? Better than Oreos. Even better than Nutter Butters (and I’m peanutbutterholic). Made famous by Pepperidge Farm, they are a rare treat in our household. That is, until it was revealed that Milanos would be this month’s challenge over at Daring Bakers.
The July Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.
The Milanos were actually relatively painless. They didn’t use any exotic ingredients that I didn’t already have in my arsenal, and were thrown together pretty quickly. This was my first time to actually pipe cookies though, and it took a little bit of trial and error to try to get the cookies of similar size and shape. I actually found it helpful to try to match up the 2 sides of the cookie before I spread the filling in between, instead of searching for a mate while getting chocolate all over everything.
Final result? Absolutely delicious! I was a little worried about the texture since they were very chewy after coming out of the oven (Hubby likened it to chewing on orange peel) but either the chocolate or the refrigeration afterwards perfected the cookie. Either way, they were absolutely delicious and deceptively simple! Definitely a keeper in the recipe box.
Continue reading Milano Cookies - Daring Bakers >>
July 19, 2009
No, this is not me. And it’s not my car either. What it is, though, is the inspiration for my latest creation - a Piet Mondrian cake. It was a real work of art! Pun intended.
My sister, Vikki, celebrated her 21st birthday recently (actually, in June). She called me in FEBRUARY and left me a voicemail that went something like this: “Hey Stef, I was trying to think of what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday and I was trying to think of something challenging for you but I still wanted to kind of let you come up with something creative and all, so I thought that maybe you could do like a work of art, like the Eiffel Tower or Mona Lisa or something. Or maybe something 3D. But, whatever you want to do, I don’t care, just maybe a work of art.” Work of art. Ok. Gotcha. Um, help anyone?
So I’ve been mulling over works of art for the past 4 months. Eiffel Tower? Yeah, right. Mona Lisa? Maybe if I could do a stick-figure version. It needed to be something simple, but easily recognizable. I briefly considered Van Gogh’s Starry Night, but then remembered a red, blue, and yellow gridded painting that looked so simple, a kindergartener could have made it. Or, at least someone who could color in the lines!
After a little bit of research, I found out that the artist, Piet Mondrian, actually had painted quite a few of these red, yellow, and blue grid paintings. I ended up choosing this one, called “Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow” painted in 1930, not to be confused with his “Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue” from 1927.
Continue reading Mondrian Anyone? >>
July 7, 2009
I made these mini cupcakes for a friend’s business function that they were having. I spent half the day working on these little guys. Which, wouldn’t have been so bad, except for that it’s been so stinkin’ hot here in Georgia that the heat actually killed our air conditioner. No kidding. So there I was, trapped in a tiny 90-degree 3rd floor apartment all day in a kitchen that’s had its oven running at 350 degrees for FOUR HOURS STRAIGHT making over 200 tiny cupcakes! It’s a wonder these little babies even made it!
I brought it on myself though. It was my idea. I could have just made a layer cake and been done, but, no, I had grandiose dreams of tiny cupcakes with delicious fillings and delectable frostings. After weeks of deliberating, I finally decided on the flavors for the party - chocolate, strawberry, and lemon. Surely everyone could find a flavor they liked with choices like these!
The strawberry cupcakes had little flecks of strawberry all throughout, and were filled with a strawberry glaze that I made from some leftover strawberry puree. Topped with strawberry frosting, a strawberry slice, and garnished with a mint leaf, these were decidedly the most summery of the bunch.
The lemon cupcakes were my favorite. I used my favorite cake recipe - Greek Lemon Cake - and filled it with fresh lemon curd. The curd was extremely lemony, so a little went a long way. I topped the whole thing off with a lemon cream cheese frosting. A nice, light way to end a delicious meal.
The chocolate cupcakes were a hit. I added just a hint of coffee to the chocolate cupcake to sharpen the chocolate flavor even more. I filled the cupcakes with fresh chocolate whipped cream and piped a cute swirl of chocolate fudge buttercream frosting as the finishing touch.
Continue reading 200 Cute, Little, Gem-Filled Treasures >>
June 27, 2009
I’ve been eyeing the Daring Bakers for a couple of months now. I actually joined last month, but this was the first challenge I’ve had the opportunity to participate in. I had a blast! Even though I ended up procrastinating (surprise, surprise) and stressed myself out at the last minute, it was still a ton of fun. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you can find it at thedaringkitchen.com. If baking isn’t your thing, they have a monthly cooking challenge too!
The June Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart… er… pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800’s in England.
 I’d never even heard of a Bakewell Tart before now. Of course, I dived right into the history of it all, figuring out where it came from and how long it’s been around. Apparently, it was invented by accident at the White Horse Inn (now the Rutland Arms Hotel) in the little town of Bakewell. And believe it or not, the hotel’s website only had one quick reference to the tart: “Bakewell is most famous for the Bakewell pudding, which originated here in the kitchens of the Rutland Arms.” That’s it!! This little unassuming tart is so good, it at least deserves it’s own page!
I chose to use strawberry jam in my tart - apparently that’s pretty traditional so I felt I couldn’t go wrong! It was extremely sweet though, so next time I think I’ll try it with lemon or orange curd and cut back on the almond flavoring. The tart did get a tad bit overbaked - the recipe called for 30 minutes of baking at 400 degrees, but it easily could have been done by 22 minutes at least (I took it out at 25 minutes and the top is still pretty dark). You will also need a scale for this recipe - the measurements are given in grams and ounces. I think the only thing that I changed was to use the whole 12-ounce jar of strawberry jam instead of just 8-ounces.
Continue reading Bakewell Tart - Daring Bakers >>
|
Recent Comments