Ack!  I’ve done it again.  With all of the craziness of Thanksgiving and my life in general, I completely forgot that Saturday was the reveal date for the November Daring Bakers challenge.  It wasn’t until I opened my reader last night and saw all of the DB posts that I realized it.  The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well. So, I frantically rooted around in my kitchen to see what I could find to throw my crostata together.  Better late than never, I guess.

A crostata is basically an Italian tart.  The base of a crostata is made with pasta frolla, a sweet short crust pastry or sweet tart dough.   The filling is traditionally made with either jam, fruit preserves, pastry cream or any combination of them, but you can use anything your little heart desires.   Since I was flying by the seat of my pants, I used what most might probably consider a very unorthodox filling – my leftover cranberry chutney from Thanksgiving.  Yes, you read that right.  I spread a thick layer of cranberry chutney over that short crust dough and tossed it right in my oven.  The chutney was full of fresh cranberries, dried cherries, raisins, jam and sugar.  It looked like thick fruit preserves and it tasted delicious, so why not use it!   Actually, I think the choice totally embodies the spirit of the Daring Bakers, don’t you?  Just call me Kitchen Ninja!

The recipe for this crostata is a bit different from what I’m used to.  My Aunt Giuseppina makes the best darn crostata I ever tasted.  It’s one of her signature dishes and everyone loves it.  The crust in the DB recipe is a lot like a shortbread.  My aunt’s crostata crust is much more cake-like.  While both are good, I’d have to say I like Aunt Giuseppina’s version better.

And, in case you were wondering how my crostata experiment turned out – it was fantastic!  Seriously, if I hadn’t told anyone that the filling was leftover cranberry chutney, no one would have ever guessed.  It just goes to show that a little imagination and ingenuity goes a long way.

Buon Appetito!

Crostata di Marmellata

Ingredients:

1 batch Pasta Frolla (recipe follows)
1 and 3/4 cups [415ml, 600 gm, 21 oz] of jam or fruit preserves of your choosing

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 375ºF [190ºC/gas mark 5].

2. Take the pasta frolla out of the fridge, unwrap it and cut away ¼ of the dough. Reserve this dough to make the lattice top of the crostata. Refrigerate this dough while you work on the tart base.

3. To help roll the crostata dough, keep the dough on top of the plastic wrap that you had it wrapped in. This can help rolling the dough and can also help when transferring the dough to your pan. You can also use parchment paper for this. However, you can also roll the dough directly on a work surface if you prefer.

4. Lightly dust the top of the dough and your work surface (if you’re rolling directly on a work surface) with flour. Keep some flour handy to dust the dough as you go along.

5. If the dough is very firm, start by pressing the dough with the rolling pin from the middle to each end, moving the rolling pin by a pin’s width each time; turn the dough 180 degrees and repeat; when it softens, start rolling. Roll the dough into a circle about 1/8th inch (3 mm) thick. If you used the plastic wrap or parchment paper as rolling surface, flip dough over the pan, centering it, and delicately press it all around so the corners are well covered. Peel away the plastic wrap. Trim the excess dough hanging over the edges of the pan. Press the remaining dough around the border into the sides of the pan making sure the border is an even thickness all the way around.  Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork in several places.

6. Take out of the fridge the reserved pasta frolla you had cut away earlier. Roll it with your pin and cut into strips or use cookie cutters to make small shapes (this is not traditional, but it looks cute); or roll with your hands into ropes.

7. Spread the jam or fruit preserves evenly over the bottom of the crostata.

8. Use the prepared strips or rolls of dough to make a lattice over the surface, or decorate with the cut shapes.

9. Brush the border and strips of dough with the reserved beaten eggs. You can add a drop or two of water to the beaten eggs if you don’t have enough liquid.

10. Put the tart in the oven and bake for 25-35 minutes.   After 25 minutes, check the tart and continue baking until the tart is of a nice golden hue.

11. When done, remove the tart from the oven and let cool. If you have used a tart pan with a removable bottom, then release the tart base from the fluted tart ring. Make sure the tart is completely cool before slicing and serving.

Pasta Frolla

Ingredients:

1/2 cup minus 1 tablespoon [105 ml, 100 g, 3 ½ oz] superfine sugar (see Note 1) or a scant 3/4 cup [180ml, 90g, 3 oz] of powdered sugar
1 3/4 cup [420 ml, 235 g, 8 1/4 oz.] unbleached all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1 stick [8 tablespoons / 4 oz. / 115 g] cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Grated zest of half a lemon (you could also use vanilla sugar as an option, see Note 2)
1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl

Note 1: Superfine sugar is often also referred to as ultrafine, baker’s sugar or caster sugar. It’s available in most supermarkets. If you cannot find “superfine” sugar, you can make your own by putting some regular granulated sugar in a food processor or blender and letting it run until the sugar is finely ground.

Note 2: There are different ways of making vanilla sugar. I keep vanilla beans in a jar half-filled with sugar until I need to use them, for example, to make vanilla ice cream. After I remove the split bean from the custard that will go into the ice cream maker, I rinse it, dry it and put it back in the jar with sugar.

Making pasta frolla by hand:

1. Whisk together sugar, flour and salt in a bowl.

2. Rub or cut the butter into the flour until the mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs. You can do this in the bowl or on your work surface, using your fingertips or an implement of choice.

3. Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten eggs into it (reserve about a teaspoon of the egg mixture for glazing purposes later on – place in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to use).

4. Add the lemon zest to your flour/butter/egg mixture.

5. Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, and then use your fingertips.

6. Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.

7. Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.

Making pasta frolla with a food processor:

1. Put sugar, flour, salt, and lemon zest in the food processor and pulse a few times to mix.

2. Add butter and pulse a few times, until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal.

3. Empty food processor’s bowl onto your work surface

4. See step 3 above and continue as explained in the following steps (minus the lemon zest, which you have already added).

Hello, my lovelies!  It’s time again for another droolworthy creation from the Daring Bakers.  This month it’s all about the perfect summertime treat – cool and creamy ice cream.  The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s World – Life and Food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

The bombe or ice cream cake begins with a light and thin sponge cake which is slathered with a whipped cream filling and rolled up to make a Swiss roll.  Slices of the Swiss roll are used to line a bowl and are then filled with alternating layers of softened ice cream and fudge topping.   Then, the whole thing is frozen solid, unmolded and served.  Don’t let your eyes roll back into your head just yet.  You’ll need them to read how to make this dreamy dessert. 

In Sunita’s original recipe the sponge cake is flavored with cocoa and vanilla and chocolate ice creams are used for the layers. One of my all time favorite ice cream desserts is a Mississippi Mud Pie that I first had while on a cruise.  It’s a decadent concoction consisting of a chocolate cookie crust filled with coffee and chocolate ice creams separated by a layer of thick ribbons of hot fudge.  Absolutely sublime!  When figuring out what kind of twist I wanted to try with this bombe, I decided to use the same flavors that are in the pie, hence the name Mississippi Mud Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake. I know it’s a mouthful, but so is this cake! I stayed with the chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream and fudge, but swapped out the vanilla ice cream for a rich and luscious java chip ice cream made with coffee beans, espresso powder and dark chocolate bits.  I flavored my cream Swiss roll cream filling with coffee as well.  It was brilliant!  The chocolate cake rolls took the place of the cookie crust, and the rest….. homemade coffee and chocolate ice creams, dark chocolate bits, hot fudge….. Need I say more?

Although, this recipe is pretty lengthy and does take quite a while to put together, none of the steps are the least bit difficult.  In fact, you could skip making your own ice cream and just use a good quality store-bought product. That would save you the better part of a day.  Hell, you could even buy the hot fudge sauce too, and save even more time.

If you’d like to see lots more beautiful and creative variations of this Swiss Roll Ice Cream Cake, grab a fork and stop by the Daring Bakers blogroll.

Mississippi Mud Swiss Roll Ice Cream Cake
inspired by the recipe of the same name from the Taste of Home website

Swiss Cake Rolls

Preparation time- 10 minutes
Baking time- 10-12 minutes
Rolling and cooling time- at least 30 minutes
Filling-5-8 minutes
Filling and rolling- 5-10 minutes

Ingredients

For the cake:

6 medium sized eggs
1 C / 225 gms caster sugar /8 oz+ extra for rolling
6 tblsp / 45gms/ a pinch over 1.5 oz of all purpose (plain) flour + 5 tblsp/40gm /a pinch under 1.5 oz of natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted together
2 tblsp /30ml / 1 fl oz of boiling water
Oil for brushing the pans

For the filling:

2C / 500 mls/ 16 fl oz of whipping cream
1 vanilla pod, cut into small pieces of about ½ cm (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
5 tblsp / 70gms/2.5oz of caster sugar
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder*

Directions

Preheat the oven to 200 deg C /400 deg F.  Brush to 11×9-inch baking pans with a little flavorless oil and line with parchment paper. If you have just one pan, bake one cake and then let the pan cool completely before using it for the next cake.

In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and beat till very thick; when the beaters are lifted, it should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds. Add the flour mixture, in three batches and fold in gently with a spatula. Fold in the water.

Divide the mixture among the two baking pans and spread it out evenly, into the corners of the pans. Place a pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the centre is springy to the touch.  When done, bake the second cake.

Spread a kitchen towel on the counter and sprinkle a little caster sugar over it.  Turn the cake on to the towel and peel away the baking paper. Trim any crisp edges.  Starting from one of the shorter sides, start to make a roll with the towel going inside. Cool the wrapped roll on a rack, seam side down.  Repeat the same for the next cake as well.

Grind together the vanilla pieces and sugar in a food processer till nicely mixed together. If you are using vanilla extract, just grind the sugar on its own and then add the sugar and extract to the cream.

In a large bowl, add the cream, vanilla-sugar mixture and espresso powder.  Beat until stiff peaks form.

Open the cake rolls and spread half of the cream filling on each cake, leaving a 1/2-inch border.  Roll the cakes up again, this time without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge till needed, seam side down.

Java Chip Ice Cream
liberally adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups whole coffee beans (Use decaf if you don’t want the caffeine in your ice cream)
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 teaspoons instant espresso powder, according to taste
1 tablespoon coffee liqueur
1/2 cup good quality semisweet chocolate chopped into small bits

Directions:

Heat the milk, sugar, whole coffee beans, salt, and 1/2 cup of the cream in a medium saucepan until it is hot and steamy, but not boiling. Cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a medium size metal bowl, set over a larger bowl filled with ice.  Set a mesh strainer on top of the bowls. Set aside.

Reheat the milk and coffee mixture, on medium heat, again, until hot and steamy, but not boiling.  In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Slowly pour the heated milk and coffee mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so that the egg yolks are tempered by the warm milk, but not cooked by it. Scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula or spoon.

Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Press on the coffee beans in the strainer to extract as much of the coffee flavor as possible. Discard the beans. Mix in the vanilla, espresso powder and liqueur, and stir a few minutes to release the steam.

Chill the mixture for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator.  Freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  When the ice cream is finished churning, mix in the chocolate bits and freeze until firm.

Makes 1 quart.

Chocolate Ice Cream
adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz.

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream, divided
3 Tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (I used Valhrona)
5 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Place a medium saucepan over low heat. Add 1 cup of the cream and the cocoa powder into the pan. Whisk mixture briskly to combine, and bring to a boil. Once liquid is boiling immediately reduce the heat to a simmer, and whisk constantly for about 30 seconds. Turn off the heat and remove pan from the burner. Add the chopped chocolate into the liquid and stir until it is melted and smooth. Next, add in the remaining 1 cup of cream and stir to combine. Transfer all of the liquid into a medium bowl, and place a fine mesh strainer on top of the bowl. Set bowl aside and make the custard.

Return the medium saucepan to the stove over low heat. Add the milk, sugar, and salt into the saucepan. Heat gently until the mixture begins to steam but not bubble. While the liquid is warming, in a separate medium bowl whisk the egg yolks together. Once the liquid is warmed, slowly pour it into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from scrambling. Once the liquid and eggs are well combined, scrape the mixture back into the pan. Place the pan over a medium heat, and stir constantly. Be sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pan while you stir. Once the custard has thickened to the point that it coats the back of your spoon, remove it from the heat.

Pour the custard through the strainer into the medium bowl of chocolate liquid. When fully combined, stir well and add in the vanilla. Place the medium bowl of liquid in a larger bowl partially filled with ice water to cool quickly. Stir occasionally until the mixture has cooled enough to be transferred into the fridge. Press a layer of plastic wrap on top of the liquid to cover and prevent a skin from forming on the top of the custard.

Place the bowl in the fridge and chill for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. Once the mixture is chilled, transfer to your ice cream maker and freeze according the manufacturer’s instructions. If you find that the custard is too thick to pour, give it a stiff whisk or two to thin it out and then place it in the ice cream maker.

Hot Fudge Sauce

Ingredients:

1 C / 230gms/ 8 oz of caster sugar
3 tblsp / 24gms/1.5 oz of natural unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tblsp /15gms/ 1 oz of cornstarch
1 and ½ C /355ml /12 fl oz of water
1 tblsp /14gms/ 1 oz butter
1 tsp/5 ml / .15 fl oz vanilla extract

Directions:

In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch and water.

Place the pan over medium heat, and stir constantly, until it begins to thicken and is smooth (for about 2 minutes).  Remove from heat and mix in the butter and vanilla. Set aside to cool .

Assembly:

Cut the Swiss rolls into 10-20 equal slices, depending on the size of your mold. Meanwhile, take the ice cream out of the freezer to soften.

Cover the bottom and sides of the mold/bowl in which you are going to set the dessert with plastic wrap.

Arrange two slices at the bottom of the pan, with their seam sides facing each other. Arrange the Swiss roll slices up the bowl, with the seam sides facing away from the bottom, to cover the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze until the slices are firm (at least 30 minutes).

Take the mold/bowl out of the freezer, remove the cling film cover and spread the java chip ice cream on top of the cake slices and up the sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze until firm.

Pour the cooled fudge sauce over the ice cream, cover and freeze until firm .

Remove from freezer and spread softened chocolate ice cream over the fudge sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4-5 hours till completely set .

Remove the plastic cover, and place a serving plate on top of the mold/bowl. Turn it upside down and remove the bowl and the plastic lining. If the bowl does not come away easily, wipe the outsides of the bowl with a kitchen towel dampened with hot water. The bowl will come away easily.

Keep the cake out of the freezer for at least 10 minutes before slicing, depending on how hot your region is. Slice with a sharp knife, dipped in hot water.

Enjoy!

Why, oh why do these Daring Bakers challenges always sneak up on me? It happens every time!  I woke up at 4:00 this morning in the kind of cold sweat that could only mean that today was the “reveal date”.  And, I had nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  Again.  So, I dragged myself out of bed, put on a pot of coffee and (very quietly) got to work.  Let me tell you, it’s not easy to create a culinary masterpiece in the dead of night with few night lights and a sleeping puppy in the corner of the room! But, I did my best.  Unfortunately, the situation wasn’t conducive to taking photos, so I didn’t get any “process shots”.  But, I did get a few nice ones of the finished product once the sun came up.  C’est la vie!

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri. A classic piece montée is a high cone made of profiteroles (cream-puffs) sometimes dipped in chocolate, bound with caramel, and usually decorated with threads of caramel, sugared almonds, chocolate, flowers, or ribbons.  Piece Montée, literally means “mounted piece” in French.  You may know this dessert by its other name – Croquembouche (“crunch in the mouth”).

I had grand plans for this one too. I originally wanted to make it as my birthday cake last week, but since I couldn’t manage to get my whole family together to celebrate, it seemed pointless.  And then, I got busy with other things and forgot about it.

Since I was so pressed for time, I decided not to try to get too creative with my piece montée, and stuck to the recipe provided by Cat.  It was just as well, because plain creampuffs are one of my all time favorite treats.  Fortunately, I had made both pate a choux and crème patissiere  a few times before and kind of knew how what I was doing.  The caramel part kind of scared me a little, but I have made that before too, so I knew the pitfalls I might face.  I guess the angels were smiling on me (or else they just felt sorry for me), because I didn’t run into any significant problems along the way.  (Hmmm. Maybe I should make all of my fancy desserts when I’m half asleep!)

I didn’t use a form for my tower of creampuffs. That was an extra step I didn’t need to deal with.  I just piled my “pieces” on top of each other and “glued” them together with the (extremely hot and treacherous) caramel.  Then, I decorated it with some pink tea roses and a few swirls of leftover caramel.

We haven’t torn into my piece montée yet, but I did sneak one of those creampuffs while I was assembling it.  Tres délicieux!

If you’d like to try your hand at making a piece montée, I have provided the recipe below.  Don’t forget to also check out the rest of the groups creations at the Daring Bakers Blogroll.

Bon appétit!

Piece Montée

Note: This recipe has 3 main components: the pate a choux, the crème patissiere, and the glaze used to mount/decorate it. While you can purchase or make a cardboard conical structure to build your piece montée or use toothpicks as an aid, it is relatively easy to assemble it using just the baked pate a choux as the main building blocks and the glaze as the glue.

While a piece montée may be a bit time-consuming to assemble, the various components are relatively easy to make and don’t require any special ingredients. The best part about them is that once you have mastered them, you will be able to go on and make many beloved French French pastries such as éclairs, profiteroles, Paris-Brest, etc. all of which are made with this pate a choux recipe, a filling and glaze.

Preparation time: You will want to use your puff pastry batter and chocolate glaze or caramel as soon as it has been prepared and as close to serving time as possible. This is not a dessert that stores well and it may be a bit temperamental in humid areas as the glaze needs to harden to hold the choux together. The crème patissiere can be made a couple of days in advance and stored in the fridge until ready to use.

You will need approximately 10 minutes to prepare the puff pastry, 10 minutes to pipe and about 30 minutes to bake each batch. The crème patissiere should take about 10 minutes to cook and then will need to be cooled for at least 6 hours or overnight. The glazes take about 10 minutes to prepare.

Equipment required:
• several baking sheets
• parchment paper
• a whisk
• a pastry brush (for the egg wash)
• a pastry bag and tip (a plain tip or no tip is best for piping the puff pastry; you can use a plain or star tip to fill the puff pastry with the cream)
• a flat surface such as a baking sheet or cake board/stand on which to assemble your piece montée
• some of the items you may want to use to decorate your piece montée include ribbons, Jordan almonds, fresh flowers, sugar cookie cut-outs, chocolates, etc.

Ingredients:

For the Vanilla Crème Patissiere (Half Batch)
1 cup (225 ml.) whole milk
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
6 Tbsp. (100 g.) sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp. (30 g.) unsalted butter
1 Tsp. Vanilla

Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.

Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.

Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.

Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.

Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.

For the Pate a Choux (Yield: About 28)
¾ cup (175 ml.) water
6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter
¼ Tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup (125 g.) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

For the Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Preparing batter:

Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.

Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.

Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny. As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes.  Add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.

Piping:

Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.

Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.

Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).

Baking:

Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.

Can be stored in a airtight box overnight.

Filling:
When you are ready to assemble your piece montée, using a plain pastry tip, pierce the bottom of each choux. Fill the choux with pastry cream using either the same tip or a star tip, and place on a paper-lined sheet. Choux can be refrigerated briefly at this point while you make your glaze.

Use one of these to top your choux and assemble your piece montée.

Chocolate Glaze:
8 ounces/200 g. finely chopped chocolate (use the finest quality you can afford as the taste will be quite pronounced; I recommend semi-sweet)

Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Stir at regular intervals to avoid burning. Use the best quality chocolate you can afford. Use immediately.

Hard Caramel Glaze:

1 cup (225 g.) sugar
½ teaspoon lemon juice

Combine sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan with a metal kitchen spoon stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand. Place on medium heat; heat without stirring until sugar starts to melt around the sides of the pan and the center begins to smoke. Begin to stir sugar. Continue heating, stirring occasionally until the sugar is a clear, amber color. Remove from heat immediately; place bottom of pan in ice water to stop the cooking. Use immediately.

Assembly of your Piece Montée:

You may want to lay out your unfilled, unglazed choux in a practice design to get a feel for how to assemble the final dessert. For example, if making a conical shape, trace a circle (no bigger than 8 inches) on a piece of parchment to use as a pattern. Then take some of the larger choux and assemble them in the circle for the bottom layer. Practice seeing which pieces fit together best.

Once you are ready to assemble your piece montée, dip the top of each choux in your glaze (careful it may be still hot!), and start assembling on your cake board/plate/sheet. Continue dipping and adding choux in levels using the glaze to hold them together as you build up. (You may want to use toothpicks to hold them in place – see video #4 below).

When you have finished the design of your piece montée, you may drizzle with remaining glaze or use ribbons, sugar cookie cut-outs, almonds, flowers, etc. to decorate.

When I first learned that this month’s Daring Bakers challenge was Tiramisu, I thought “Woo Hoo!”.  At last, an easy one!  I’m Italian.  I can make tiramisu in my sleep!   Then I read something about making our own savoiardi, which are the “lady fingers” that act as the base of the dish.  WHA….? And then, there was something about making a zabaglione, a Marsala wine based type of custard, as well as a pastry cream.  HUH? This didn’t sound like any kind of tiramisu that I’d ever seen, eaten or even heard of.  And, I’ve been intimately acquainted with tiramisu for most of my life.  But, I am a good sport, so I went along.  However, when I got to the part about making our own homemade mascarpone cheese, I began to sweat (and it was 45 degrees here). Make our own mascarpone?!?!  WTF? But, I did it. And, though it took a reallllly long time, it wasn’t hard.  And, even though it wasn’t like any tiramisu I ever knew, it still tasted pretty darn good.

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

Tiramisu is a classic Italian dessert made of alternate layers of ladyfinger cookies infused with coffee and liqueur and a cream made primarily from mascarpone cheese, egg yolks and sugar.   The name “tiramisu” literally means “pick me up”.  If you think about what’s in it –  strong espresso and sugar – it makes sense.

While we had to make all of the components for our tiramisu from scratch, we did have the freedom to flavor and decorate our creations any way we liked.  I decided to make one with the traditional coffee flavorings.  However, instead of mixing my espresso with rum extract, as the recipe indicates, I used coffee liqueur.  This is how I usually make my tiramisu, and I like the sweetness and intense coffee flavor that the liqueur adds.  I also made it in a round mold, like you would a Charlotte.  Then, I dusted it with a little cocoa powder and garnished it with some edible dried rosebuds.  The rosebuds really don’t have anything to do with the dessert.  I just thought that they looked pretty.

I also made some “spoonable” orange flavored tiramisu parfaits in pretty little jars.  For this, I dipped my savoiardi in a mixture of an orange flavored simple syrup and Grand Marnier.  I flavored the mascarpone cream with orange oil and grand Marnier as well.  These were my favorites because you could keep the jars in the fridge with their lids on until you were ready to eat them.  They stayed nice and fresh that way.  Plus, they were cute little self-contained packages that were perfect to give as gifts.

This recipe had several individual components that had to be made in order to put the whole dessert together, including the savoiardi, mascarpone, zabaglione, pastry cream and sweetened whipped cream.  From start to finish, this tiramisu takes a minimum of two days to complete.  And let me tell you, there’s a whole lot of whisking, whipping and beating going on!

I wouldn’t say that I like this version of tiramisu better than the one I normally make, but I liked it a lot.  This recipe is also a lot more complicated than mine, and for all that extra work, it doesn’t really taste any better.  I am pretty psyched that I learned how to make homemade mascarpone, though.  The texture of the homemade stuff isn’t quite as creamy as a good quality imported Italian mascarpone, and it lacks that sweet “edge” too.  But, it’s actually very good and makes a great spread for bagels, muffins or scones.

If you’d like to see lots more beautiful and tantalizing versions of tiramisu, stop by and visit the Daring Bakers web site.  I guarantee you’ll be inspired!

TIRAMISU

(Recipe source: Carminantonio’s Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007 )
This recipe makes 6 servings

Ingredients:
For the zabaglione:
2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar/50gms
1/4 cup/60ml Marsala wine (or port or coffee)
1/4 teaspoon/ 1.25ml vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

For the vanilla pastry cream:
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1 tablespoon/8gms all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup/175ml whole milk

For the whipped cream:
1 cup/235ml chilled heavy cream (we used 25%)
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract

To assemble the tiramisu:
2 cups/470ml brewed espresso, warmed
1 teaspoon/5ml rum extract (optional)
1/2 cup/110gms sugar
1/3 cup/75gms mascarpone cheese
36 savoiardi/ ladyfinger biscuits (you may use less)
2 tablespoons/30gms unsweetened cocoa powder

Method:
For the zabaglione:
Heat water in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, place a pot with about an inch of water in it on the stove. Place a heat-proof bowl in the pot making sure the bottom does not touch the water.

In a large mixing bowl (or stainless steel mixing bowl), mix together the egg yolks, sugar, the Marsala (or espresso/ coffee), vanilla extract and lemon zest. Whisk together until the yolks are fully blended and the mixture looks smooth.

Transfer the mixture to the top of a double boiler or place your bowl over the pan/ pot with simmering water. Cook the egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes or until it resembles thick custard. It may bubble a bit as it reaches that consistency.

Let cool to room temperature and transfer the zabaglione to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the pastry cream:
Mix together the sugar, flour, lemon zest and vanilla extract in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. To this add the egg yolk and half the milk. Whisk until smooth.

Place the saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from curdling.

Add the remaining milk a little at a time, still stirring constantly. After about 12 minutes the mixture will be thick, free of lumps and beginning to bubble. (If you have a few lumps, don’t worry. You can push the cream through a fine-mesh strainer.)

Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the whipped cream:
Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer or immersion blender until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Set aside.

To assemble the tiramisu:
Have ready a rectangular serving dish (about 8″ by 8″ should do) or one of your choice.

Mix together the warm espresso, rum extract and sugar in a shallow dish, whisking to mix well. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold. Add the prepared and chilled zabaglione and pastry cream, blending until just combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Set this cream mixture aside.

To assemble the tiramisu:
Working quickly, dip 12 of the ladyfingers in the sweetened espresso, about 1 second per side. They should be moist but not soggy. Immediately transfer each ladyfinger to the platter, placing them side by side in a single row. You may break a lady finger into two, if necessary, to ensure the base of your dish is completely covered.

Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges.

Repeat to create 2 more layers, using 12 ladyfingers and the cream mixture for each layer. Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the tiramisu overnight.

To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the tiramisu with cocoa powder using a fine-mesh strainer or decorate as you please. Cut into individual portions and serve.

MASCARPONE CHEESE

(Source: Vera’s Recipe for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese)
This recipe makes 12oz/ 340gm of mascarpone cheese

Ingredients:
474ml (approx. 500ml)/ 2 cups whipping (36 %) pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized), preferably organic cream (between 25% to 36% cream will do)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Method:

Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering. Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the skillet. Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 F. If you do not have a thermometer, wait until small bubbles keep trying to push up to the surface.

It will take about 15 minutes of delicate heating. Add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. Do not expect the same action as you see during ricotta cheese making. All that the whipping cream will do is become thicker, like a well-done crème anglaise. It will cover a back of your wooden spoon thickly. You will see just a few clear whey streaks when you stir. Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Transfer the mixture into the lined sieve. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheesecloth or press on its surface (be patient, it will firm up after refrigeration time). Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (in the sieve) overnight or up to 24 hours.

Vera’s notes: The first time I made mascarpone I had all doubts if it’d been cooked enough, because of its custard-like texture. Have no fear, it will firm up beautifully in the fridge, and will yet remain lusciously creamy.
Keep refrigerated and use within 3 to 4 days.

LADYFINGERS/ SAVOIARDI BISCUITS
(Source: Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home)
This recipe makes approximately 24 big ladyfingers or 45 small (2 1/2″ to 3″ long) ladyfingers.

Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons /75gms granulated sugar
3/4 cup/95gms cake flour, sifted (or 3/4 cup all purpose flour + 2 tbsp corn starch)
6 tablespoons /50gms confectioner’s sugar,

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees, then lightly brush 2 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon. Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy.

Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter. Pipe the batter into 5″ long and 3/4″ wide strips leaving about 1″ space in between the strips.

Sprinkle half the confectioner’s sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.

Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar.

Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until the puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft.

Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack.

Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.

LINKS & ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Site Links:
Step by step pictures for Tiramisu including zabaglione & pastry cream –
Gluten Free Ladyfingers: 1000 gluten-free recipes by Carol Fenster (ladyfingers pg 436, Tiramisu pg 651)
Gluten free Ladyfingers and Tiramisu
Diary Free Tiramisu: Levana Cooks Diary-Free by Lévana Kirschenbaum, Menachem Adelman, Meir Pliskin (pg 86)

Video links for making tiramisu:
These are not for the recipe given for this challenge, but the procedure in the video would be a helpful guide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TEJXgjId8w
Gordon Ramsay – Video for dipping savoiardi – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HlqQqP6Mcw

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

The Nanaimo bar is a dessert of Canadian origin popular across North America. It’s a type of layered no-bake bar named after the city of Nanaimo, British Columbia. It consists of a chocolate and graham cracker crumb layer, topped by a layer of light vanilla or custard flavored buttercream, which is covered in yet more chocolate.  The bar is thought to have originated south of Nanaimo in Ladysmith in the early 1950s by a local housewife from Cowichan Bay, by the name of Mabel Jenkins.  Mabel submitted the recipe for publication in the Cowichan Women’s Institute Cookbook.  The bars became quite popular and were soon being sold in many of the coffee shops in and around Nanaimo.  They were originally called Mabel Bars, but area tourists came to refer to them as “Nanaimo Bars”, and the name caught on.  They have since come to be known as one of Canada’s favorite confections.

Okay, I’m just going to say it and get it over with. While I love my neighbors north of the border, I did not like these bars.  Not even a little bit.  I really wanted to. I mean, what’s not to like about chocolate, coconut and custard?  The recipe and the pictures I saw looked so good!  And, I’m pretty sure that I made them correctly, because mine looked just like the ones in the pictures.  I used really good quality ingredients too.  But, when it came right down to it, I just didn’t like the way they tasted.  They were just waaaaay too rich and sweet for me.  Almost sickeningly sweet!  And, they had a weird mouth feel too.  It was like biting into a hunk of really sweet, chocolate-flavored butter. It was kind of sad, really.  Other people liked them, though.  Mini SGCC ate several. And, the folks at the office enjoyed them. Then again, if they didn’t like them, they probably wouldn’t have said so for fear that I would stop bringing them treats.

On the bright side, I really did like the gluten free graham crackers that we had to make for the crust layer of the Nanaimo Bars.  In fact, I liked them so much that I made a second batch using regular flour, even though that dough was a b%&#@ to work with!  They were crunchy and deeply permeated with the flavors of honey and dark brown sugar.  They were so delicious that even Mr. SGCC indulged!  I will definitely make them again.  I’ll bet they would make awesome s’mores!

If you’d like to see how the rest of the Daring Bakers fared with this challenge, stop by the Daring Kitchen and check out the blogroll.   If you’d like to try making Nanaimo Bars for yourself, the recipe follows.

Nanaimo Bars

Ingredients:

For Nanaimo Bars — Bottom Layer
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup (50 g) (1.8 ounces) Granulated Sugar
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Unsweetened Cocoa
1 Large Egg, Beaten
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) (160 g) (5.6 ounces) Gluten Free Graham Wafer Crumbs (recipe follows)
1/2 cup (55 g) (1.9 ounces) Almonds (Any type, finely chopped)
1 cup (130 g) (4.5 ounces) Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened)

For Nanaimo Bars — Middle Layer
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (40 mL) Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted.)
2 cups (254 g) (8.9 ounces) Icing Sugar

For Nanaimo Bars — Top Layer
4 ounces (115 g) Semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons (28 g) (1 ounce) Unsalted Butter

Directions:

1. For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.

2. For Middle Layer: Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light in color. Spread over bottom layer.

3. For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.

Notes:

• These bars freeze very well, so don’t be afraid to pop some into the freezer.
• The graham wafers may be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
• If making the graham crackers with wheat, replace the gluten-free flours (tapioca starch, sweet rice flour, and sorghum flour) with 2 ½ cups plus 2 tbsp of all-purpose wheat flour, or wheat pastry flour. Watch the wheat-based graham wafers very closely in the oven, as they bake faster than the gluten-free ones, sometimes only 12 minutes.
• For the Nanaimo Bars, if making with wheat, replace the gluten-free graham wafer crumbs with equal parts wheat graham wafer crumbs!

Gluten-Free Graham Wafers

Ingredients:

1 cup (138 g) (4.9 ounces) Sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour)
3/4 cup (100 g) (3.5 ounces) Tapioca Starch/Flour
1/2 cup (65 g) (2.3 ounces) Sorghum Flour
1 cup (200 g) (7.1 ounces) Dark Brown Sugar, Lightly packed
1 teaspoon (5 mL) Baking soda
3/4 teaspoon (4 mL ) Kosher Salt
7 tablespoons (100 g) (3 ½ ounces) Unsalted Butter (Cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen)
1/3 cup (80 mL) Honey, Mild-flavored such as clover.
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Whole Milk
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pulse on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal. If making by hand, combine aforementioned dry ingredients with a whisk, then cut in butter until you have a coarse meal. No chunks of butter should be visible.

2. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky.

3. Turn the dough onto a surface well-floured with sweet rice flour and pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours, or overnight.

4. Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of sweet rice flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be quite sticky, so flour as necessary. Cut into 4 by 4 inch squares. Gather the scraps together and set aside. Place wafers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough.

5. Adjust the rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).

6. Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more sweet rice flour and roll out the dough to get a couple more wafers.

7. Prick the wafers with toothpick or fork, not all the way through, in two or more rows.

8. Bake for 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Might take less, and the starting location of each sheet may determine its required time. The ones that started on the bottom browned faster.

9. When cooled completely, place enough wafers in food processor to make 1 ¼ cups (300 mL) of crumbs. Another way to do this is to place in a large zip lock bag, force all air out and smash with a rolling pin until wafers are crumbs.

Enjoy!

When I was a little girl, one of my family’s weekly rituals was going to Mass at St. Clare’s on Sunday mornings and then stopping at Enrico’s Bakery on Morris Park Avenue afterwards for pastries.  We did this every Sunday without fail.  We’d get a big box filled with assorted treats like chocolate éclairs, napoleons and sflogliatelle.  The selection would change from week to week, depending on what looked good.  My brother and I each got to choose a few of our favorites.  I don’t remember what he chose, but I always picked the cannoli.  I adored those  crunchy, cookie-like tubes stuffed with an incredibly rich and luscious cream filling. I could barely survive the car ride home bursting with the anticipation of taking that first crispy, creamy bite!

After we moved to Florida, cannoli became nothing but a fond and wistful memory.  No one here had ever heard of a cannolo, much less knew how to make one.  So once in a while, my mother would make her own – and I would help.  They weren’t exactly the same as the ones from my beloved Enrico’s, but I loved them just the same.  Eventually, some Italians from New Jersey moved to town and opened up a little pastry shop right next door to our new church.  My parents were delighted and our Sunday morning tradition was reborn.  Unfortunately, Italians from New Jersey were better bakers than they were businesspeople.  After a few years they went out of business.  Sigh…  Since then, other pastry shops have come and gone…and come and gone.  But, I’ve always enjoyed them, and their cannoli, while they were here. 

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

I was pretty excited to see cannoli as this month’s Daring Bakers challenge.  This recipe was new to me though, and is a bit different from the one I’ve used in the past. My recipe has egg yolk in the shells and the DB recipe does not.  I made a batch of mini-cannoli using it and some larger-sized ones using my regular recipe.  While the shells using my recipe look much prettier, both batches of shells tasted very much the same, which was pretty darn good.  I should mention, however, that this could be because I used a pasta maker for the larger ones and thus, was able to get the dough much thinner.  To be honest, just rolling out this dough with a rolling pin is pretty easy to do and doesn’t require you to haul out your pasta maker, set it up and then have to clean it afterwards.

Once you have all of your dough cut out and are ready to fry is where things get a little tricky, unless you have an extra set of hands to help you, which I didn’t.   I only had one set of one set of four cannoli forms, so I could only make four shells at a time.  Then, after frying each batch, I’d have to unmold the shells and set the burning hot forms aside to cool for several minutes before I could use them again.  Trust me, after you’ve made two or three dozen of those shells that way, the thrill is gone!

Here are what the cannoli shells looks right out of the fryer…

But, be careful!  Make sure you seal the edges of the dough around the forms really well before you dunk them into the insanely hot oil.  If you don’t, they will explode and you’ll end up with some that look like these…

Although making your own cannoli shells from scratch is time consuming and a bit tedious, making the cannoli cream filling is very simple.  You basically just have to whizz all of the ingredients up in a food processor or stand mixer.  I like to use a food processor because I think the ricotta comes out smoother that way.  You definitely don’t want grainy cannoli cream!

I filled half of my cannoli with the traditional ricotta filling spiked with cinnamon and a few drops of pure orange oil.  I also mixed in some mini chocolate chips.  These are the cannoli I grew up on and as far as I’m concerned, nothing can beat them.  I filled the rest with a pumpkin cream filling made with ricotta, mascarpone, cinnamon, a little pumpkin puree and just a kiss of spiced rum.  I also dusted the ends with crushed pistachios.  I thought they were surprisingly good, but not as good as the original.

Lidisano’s Cannoli
Makes 22-24 4-inch cannoli

Prep time:

Dough – 2 hours and 10-20 minutes, including resting time, and depending on whether you do it by hand or machine.
Filling – 5-10 minutes plus chilling time (about 2 hours or more)
Frying – 1-2 minutes per cannoli
Assemble – 20–30 minutes

RECIPE NOTE: THE EQUIVALENTS FROM THIS RECIPE WERE PREPARED USING THIS CONVERSION SITE: http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/index.asp.

CANNOLI SHELLS

2 cups (250 grams/16 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons(28 grams/1 ounce) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.06 ounces) unsweetened baking cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (approx. 3 grams/0.11 ounces) salt
3 tablespoons (42 grams/1.5 ounces) vegetable or olive oil
1 teaspoon (5 grams/0.18 ounces) white wine vinegar
Approximately 1/2 cup (approx. 59 grams/approx. 4 fluid ounces/approx. 125 ml) sweet Marsala or any white or red wine you have on hand
1 large egg, separated (you will need the egg white but not the yolk)
Vegetable or any neutral oil for frying – about 2 quarts (8 cups/approx. 2 litres)
1/2 cup (approx. 62 grams/2 ounces) toasted, chopped pistachio nuts, mini chocolate chips/grated chocolate and/or candied or plain zests, fruits etc.. for garnish
Confectioners’ sugar

Note – If you want a chocolate cannoli dough, substitute a few tablespoons of the flour (about 25%) with a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch process) and a little more wine until you have a workable dough (Thanks to Audax).

CANNOLI FILLING

2 lbs (approx. 3.5 cups/approx. 1 kg/32 ounces) ricotta cheese, drained
1 2/3 cups cup (160 grams/6 ounces) confectioner’s sugar, (more or less, depending on how sweet you want it), sifted
1/2 teaspoon (1.15 grams/0.04 ounces) ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon (4 grams/0.15 ounces) pure vanilla extract or the beans from one vanilla bean
3 tablespoons (approx. 28 grams/approx. 1 ounce) finely chopped good quality chocolate of your choice
2 tablespoons (12 grams/0.42 ounces) of finely chopped, candied orange peel, or the grated zest of one small to medium orange
3 tablespoons (23 grams/0.81 ounce) toasted, finely chopped pistachios

Note – If you want chocolate ricotta filling, add a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder to the above recipe, and thin it out with a few drops of warm water if too thick to pipe.

DIRECTIONS FOR SHELLS:

1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer or food processor, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the oil, vinegar, and enough of the wine to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and well blended, about 2 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge from 2 hours to overnight.

2 Cut the dough into two pieces. Keep the remaining dough covered while you work. Lightly flour a large cutting or pastry board and roll the dough until super thin, about 1/16 to 1/8” thick (An area of about 13 inches by 18 inches should give you that). Cut out 3 to 5-inch circles (3-inch – small/medium; 4-inch – medium/large; 5-inch;- large. Your choice). Roll the cut out circle into an oval, rolling it larger and thinner if it’s shrunk a little.

3 Oil the outside of the cannoli tubes (You only have to do this once, as the oil from the deep fry will keep them well, uhh, oiled..lol). Roll a dough oval from the long side (If square, position like a diamond, and place tube/form on the corner closest to you, then roll) around each tube/form and dab a little egg white on the dough where the edges overlap. (Avoid getting egg white on the tube, or the pastry will stick to it.) Press well to seal. Set aside to let the egg white seal dry a little.

4. In a deep heavy saucepan, pour enough oil to reach a depth of 3 inches, or if using an electric deep-fryer, follow the manufacturer’s directions. Heat the oil to 375°F (190 °C) on a deep fry thermometer, or until a small piece of the dough or bread cube placed in the oil sizzles and browns in 1 minute. Have ready a tray or sheet pan lined with paper towels or paper bags.

5. Carefully lower a few of the cannoli tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.

8. Lift a cannoli tube with a wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, out of the oil. Using tongs, grasp the cannoli tube at one end. Very carefully remove the cannoli tube with the open sides straight up and down so that the oil flows back into the pan. Place the tube on paper towels or bags to drain. Repeat with the remaining tubes. While they are still hot, grasp the tubes with a potholder and pull the cannoli shells off the tubes with a pair of tongs, or with your hand protected by an oven mitt or towel. Let the shells cool completely on the paper towels. Place shells on cooling rack until ready to fill.

9. Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the cannoli tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough.

Pasta Machine method:

1. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Starting at the middle setting, run one of the pieces of dough through the rollers of a pasta machine. Lightly dust the dough with flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Pass the dough through the machine repeatedly, until you reach the highest or second highest setting. The dough should be about 4 inches wide and thin enough to see your hand through

2. Continue rolling out the remaining dough. If you do not have enough cannoli tubes for all of the dough, lay the pieces of dough on sheets of plastic wrap and keep them covered until you are ready to use them.

3, Roll, cut out and fry the cannoli shells as according to the directions above.

For stacked cannoli:

1. Heat 2-inches of oil in a saucepan or deep sauté pan, to 350-375°F (176 – 190 °C).

2. Cut out desired shapes with cutters or a sharp knife. Deep fry until golden brown and blistered on each side, about 1 – 2 minutes. Remove from oil with wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, then place on paper towels or bags until dry and grease free. If they balloon up in the hot oil, dock them lightly prior to frying. Place on cooling rack until ready to stack with filling.

DIRECTIONS FOR FILLING:

1. Line a strainer with cheesecloth. Place the ricotta in the strainer over a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Weight it down with a heavy can, and let the ricotta drain in the refrigerator for several hours to overnight.

2. In a bowl with electric mixer, beat ricotta until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioner’s sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and blend until smooth. Transfer to another bowl and stir in chocolate, zest and nuts. Chill until firm.(The filling can be made up to 24 hours prior to filling the shells. Just cover and keep refrigerated).

ASSEMBLE THE CANNOLI:

1. When ready to serve..fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain or star tip, or a ziplock bag, with the ricotta cream. If using a ziplock bag, cut about 1/2 inch off one corner. Insert the tip in the cannoli shell and squeeze gently until the shell is half filled. Turn the shell and fill the other side. You can also use a teaspoon to do this, although it’s messier and will take longer.

2. Press or dip cannoli in chopped pistachios, grated chocolate/mini chocolate chips, candied fruit or zest into the cream at each end. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and/or drizzles of melted chocolate if desired.

PUMPKIN FILLING

1/2 cup (123 grams/4.34 ounces) ricotta cheese, drained
1/2 cup (113 grams/4.04 ounces) mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup (122.5 grams/4.32 ounces) canned pumpkin, drained like ricotta
3/4 cup (75 grams/2.65 ounces) confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1/2 to 1 teaspoon (approx. 1.7 grams/approx. 0.06 ounces) pumpkin pie spice (taste)
1/2 teaspoon (approx. 2 grams/approx. 0.08 ounces) pure vanilla extract
6-8 cannoli shells

1. In a bowl with electric mixer, beat ricotta and mascarpone until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioner’s sugar, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and blend until smooth. Transfer to another bowl, cover and chill until it firms up a bit. (The filling can be made up to 24 hours prior to filling the shells. Just cover and keep refrigerated).

2. Fill the shells as directed above.

(Matcha Macarons with White Chocolate-Passion Fruit Ganache and Blackberry Swiss Buttercream)

For years, I’ve been absolutely mad about French macarons.  Something about biting into one of those delicate little round disks with their frilly “feet” and crispy outer shells yielding to soft, almost chewy, centers beneath and filled with luscious, creamy fillings, could literally make me swoon with delight. When I was in Paris, I ate them by the dozen!  However, after baking eleven batches ( yes, eleven) of them using three different recipes over the past 5 days, I think I must be just plain mad!

Oh, the trials and tribulations I endured trying to make these macarons!  I used curse words that I didn’t even know I knew – some even in French!  The whole ordeal started out simply enough.  The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe. When I first learned of the challenge, I was both excited and terrified at the same time.  I had often wanted to try my hand at making macarons, but had always held back.  From reading many of my favorite blogs like Helen’s and Jen’s, I knew that macarons are among the divas of French pastries – temperamental and exacting.  Successful macarons require undivided attention and a certain finesse. They are finicky and unforgiving.  One careless slip of the wrist and it’s all over!  But yet, I couldn’t help but be intrigued.  Prepared properly, macarons are sweet little packages of perfection.  If I could pull it off, the rewards would be great! 

(Raspberry Macarons with Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache)

I carefully planned my foray into the world of macarons.  For days, I researched and compared recipes, studied technique, and looked at lots and lots of pictures.  I made a list of all the various flavors I wanted to try.  The list got longer and longer, until I finally had to be brutal and limit myself to just five.  I gathered together all of my ingredients and set aside an afternoon for my macaron-making marathon.

Pursuant to the rules of the challenge, I had to make at least one batch of macarons using the recipe provided as well as make at least one filling from scratch.  I decided to start with raspberry macarons filled with a dark chocolate ganache.  To flavor them, I used freeze-dried raspberries that I pulverized into a fine powder.  I scrupulously followed the recipe and was rewarded with a gorgeous rosy pink batter that indeed appeared to “flow like magma”.   When I popped them in the oven to bake, I was psyched!   When I removed them from the oven, my spirits were as deflated as those flat, footless, gummy macaroon pancakes they had turned into! In plain English, dear readers, they sucked!

(Big flops using the challenge recipe.  UGH!)

I threw them in the trash and tried again…and again…and again, all with the same result. Four batches – all disasters!   By this time my trash bin was getting full and so I had to alter my strategy.  I went online to the DB forum and was a tiny bit relieved to find that many others had had the same experience with this recipe.  Yay!  It wasn’t just me!  I then decided to try a different recipe.

For my next attempt, I used the basic macaron recipe from Syrup and Tang. Several others had been having luck with it and I hoped that I would too.  This recipe was a bit different than Claudia Fleming’s, in both the ratio of ingredients and method.  I made more raspberry macarons as well as some lemon and chocolate-hazelnut ones.  These turned out much better.  I got crispy shells and tiny ballerina slipper feet, and I was thrilled.  But they were an absolute bitch to peel off the baking sheets!  I lost probably half of my macarons that way.

(Cute, little ballerina slipper feet using Syrup and Tang’s recipe.)

Okay.  Moderate success.  Now I was ready to try yet a third recipe, this time from the Macaron Goddess, herself – the lovely Helen of Tartelette.   Helen’s macaron recipe was also different.  She uses a higher ratio of powdered sugar to ground almonds than the other two.  I made more chocolate-hazelnut macarons using Helen’s recipe, plus some lemon, matcha and lavender macaroons too.  Honestly, of the three recipes, these were the ones that turned out the best.  I’m not just saying that because Helen is my friend and I love her.  It’s the truth!  My macarons using Helen’s recipe weren’t perfect, but that was mostly because of me. Even with her recipe, I still had a few batches that flopped.  I think I’ll need a lot more practice before I can start boasting about my macaron-making skills.  But, they were the ones that had the frilliest feet and the nicest texture of all.

(Much better “feet” with Helen’s recipe.  Though still not as smooth as they should be.)

With my five flavors of macarons safely tucked away in my freezer, it was time to begin working on the fillings.  This was another hair-pulling exercise in futility!  I had to consider flavor, texture and color.  Should I make ganache?  Curd?  Buttercream?  The stress was killing me!   I finally decided to do a little of each.

Here’s the 411 on my macaron menu:

Raspberry Macarons with Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache (adapted from one of Dorie’s recipes)

Lemon Macarons with Raspberry Cream (based on Dorie’s recipe for Extraordinary Lemon Cream)

Chocolate-Hazelnut Macarons with Fleur de Sel Caramel and Nutella

Matcha Macarons with White-Chocolate-Passion Fruit Ganache

Lavender Macarons with Blackberry and Vanilla Bean Buttercream

(Oooh!  I really like this shot! Since I rarely drink tea, I’m glad I could use that teapot for something!)

Out of all of the fillings I used, the ones that worked the best were the ganaches and the buttercreams.  The caramel and the raspberry cream didn’t hold their shape once piped into the macarons and dribbled down the sides a little.  It was a shame because that raspberry cream was hands down the best tasting filling of the lot, although the passion fruit ganache was a very close second.

(dribbly Raspberry Cream filling oozing out of a lemon macaron)

Even though my macarons won’t win any beauty contests, I am very pleased with the way both the flavors and the colors turned out.  They really tasted delicious!  I’m also pretty proud of myself for completing this challenge with not one, but five different kinds of macarons.

I can’t say that I’ll be making macarons again anytime soon.  I was so frazzled and aggravated and MAD during the whole several day process, that I barely had the energy to photograph them and write this post!  As a matter of fact, out of the eleven batches I made, I was really only happy with four.   I think that for the time being I should just restrict myself to eating them!

(These were my two very favorite macarons.  Get a load of those feet!!!)

I am not going to waste my time typing out the challenge recipe.  It didn’t work at all for me and I can’t, in good conscience, recommend it.  Maybe a more seasoned baker could have pulled it off.   If you really want to try it, you can certainly find it on any one of the hundreds of sites of other DBers.  Visit The Daring Kitchen for the blogroll of members.

As for the fillings, I made both of the ganaches and buttercreams myself.  I also made the raspberry cream (on a wing and a prayer).   I’ve provided the recipes for each below.  The caramel and the Nutella were store bought.

If you’d like to try Syrup and Tang’s macaron recipe, you can find it here.  He has very detailed step-by-step instructions along with lots and lots of pictures.  Helen has numerous macaron recipes in all kinds of interesting flavors on her site as well.  She has also written a comprehensive tutorial on making macarons for Desserts Magazine.  I downloaded a copy of it when it first came out.  Unfortunately, I think now you have to pay for it. Here is a link to the recipe that should still work.  I do think it’s worth a look if you are serious about learning the correct way to make macarons.

(Lavender Macarons with Vanilla Bean and Blackberry Swiss Buttercream)

Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions:

Place the chocolate in a medium-sized bowl and set aside. Bring the cream to a full boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. While the cream is coming to the boil, work the butter with a rubber spatula until it is very soft and creamy. Set the butter aside.

When the cream begins to boil, remove the pan from the heat and, working with the rubber spatula, gently stir the cream into the chocolate. Start stirring in the center of the mixture and work your way out in widening concentric circles. Continue to stir—without creating bubbles—until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Leave the bowl on the counter for a few minutes to cool.

Add the butter to the mixture in two additions, mixing with the spatula from the center of the mixture out in widening concentric circles. When the butter is fully incorporated, the ganache should be smooth and glossy.

You can use the ganache now, leave it on the counter to set to a spreadable or pipeable consistency or chill it in the refrigerator. If the ganache chills too much and becomes too firm, you can give it a very quick zap in the microwave to bring it back to the desired consistency, or just let it stand at room temperature.

White Chocolate-Passion Fruit Ganache

Ingredients:

8 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped (Do not use white chocolate chips.)
1/2 cup passion fruit puree
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions:

Place the passion fruit puree and white chocolate in a medium-sized bowl and set aside. Bring the cream to a full boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. While the cream is coming to the boil, work the butter with a rubber spatula until it is very soft and creamy. Set the butter aside.

When the mixture begins to boil, remove the pan from the heat and, working with the rubber spatula, gently stir the passion fruit/cream into the chocolate. Start stirring in the center of the mixture and work your way out in widening concentric circles. Continue to stir—without creating bubbles—until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Leave the bowl on the counter for a few minutes to cool.

Add the butter to the mixture in two additions, mixing with the spatula from the center of the mixture out in widening concentric circles. When the butter is fully incorporated, the ganache should be smooth and glossy.

Chill the ganache until it is the desired consistency for piping.

Blackberry Swiss Buttercream

Ingredients:

4 ounces egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/3 to 1/2 cup blackberry puree depending on your taste

Directions:

Place a medium sized pan with about 3 inches of water over high heat and bring to a boil.  When boiling, adjust the heat down so that the water keeps at a simmer.

Combine egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a medium-sized heat proof bowl and place it over the simmering water, whisking vigorously until white and foamy or until mixture reaches 160 degrees F. This should take about 5-7 minutes.

Pour the contents of the bowl into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a wire whisk attachment.  Whip the egg white mixture on high speed until it reaches stiff peaks, about 6-8 minutes.

Switch to the paddle attachment and turn the mixer to medium. Beat in the butter a piece at a time. As you are adding the last chunks of butter, the buttercream may start to look curdled.  Don’t worry, just keep beating and add the remaining butter, it will all come together.

Once all of the butter has been incorporated, add the blackberry puree and continue to beat until thoroughly combined.  You should have a lovely, silky, purply buttercream.  If your mixture curdles again, turn the mixer up to high and beat the hell out of it!

Use immediately or chill.

Vanilla Bean Swiss Buttercream

Ingredients:

4 ounces egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

Directions:

Place a medium sized pan with about 3 inches of water over high heat and bring to a boil.  When boiling, adjust the heat down so that the water keeps at a simmer.

Combine egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a medium-sized heat proof bowl and place it over the simmering water, whisking vigorously until white and foamy or until mixture reaches 160 degrees F. This should take about 5-7 minutes.

Pour the contents of the bowl into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a wire whisk attachment.  Whip the egg white mixture on high speed until it reaches stiff peaks, about 6-8 minutes.

Switch to the paddle attachment and turn the mixer to medium. Beat in the butter a piece at a time. As you are adding the last chunks of butter, the buttercream may start to look curdled.  Don’t worry, just keep beating and add the remaining butter, it will all come together.

Once all of the butter has been incorporated, add the vanilla paste and continue to beat until thoroughly combined.  You should have a lovely, silky, vanilla-specked buttercream.  If your mixture curdles again, turn the mixer up to high and beat the hell out of it!

Use immediately or chill.

Raspberry Cream

I used this recipe for Raspberry Curd from Recipezaar.  When the curd was still warm, I whizzed it in the blender while adding 14 tablespoons of softened butter to it, 1 tablespoon at a time.  Then, I kept whizzing it in the blender for another 3 minutes.  After that, I put the mixture in a jar and chilled it until it was thickened.

Enjoy!

I had planned to have this post ready to go earlier this morning. But, as it often happens, life got in my way!  Mini SGCC has been under the weather for several days. She informed me late last night that two of her good friends had been diagnosed with mono, and that she had recently shared her Chapstick with one of them, and a drink with the other.  Will they never learn!?!? So, instead of editing my photographs and writing up my post first thing this morning, I spent several hours with my daughter at the pediatrician’s office and at the lab getting her blood work done.  (Don’t even ASK me how THAT went!  Guess who is phobic about needles?)  Oy!

The August 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers’ cookbook, Kaffeehaus:  Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

The Dobos Torte is a five-layer sponge cake, filled with a rich chocolate buttercream and topped with thin wedges of caramel.  It was invented in 1885 by József C. Dobos, a Hungarian baker, and it rapidly became famous throughout Europe for both its extraordinary taste and its keeping properties. The recipe was a  secret until Dobos retired in 1906 and gave the recipe to the Budapest Confectioners’ and Gingerbread Makers’ Chamber of Industry, providing that every member of the chamber was allowed to use it freely.

Instead of using an eight inch pan,  I downsized my torte a little and made it about six inches in diameter. I also did not follow the directions exactly for making the sponge cake.  It made no sense to me to go to all the hassle of cutting out parchment rounds, then spreading batter on them, only to have to trim them anyway after baking.  Instead, I spread all of my batter in a thin layer on a large baking sheet.  After the cake was baked and cooled, I just cut out the rounds from there.  With the scraps, I cut out little cake flowers to use for the caramel top.

When making the buttercream, I added some instant espresso powder to give it a slight suggestion of mocha.  I thought the sponge layers were a little dry, so I  brushed them with Chambord, a lovely black raspberry liqueur. I spread a thin coating of raspberry jam on top of each layer as well.

I had also planned to mix it up a little and make a  miniature  lemon, raspberry and white chocolate version of the torte.  The lemon and white chocolate buttercream was to die for!   The fresh raspberries were pretty awesome too.  Unfortunately, something went terribly wrong while it was setting up in the fridge, and…Well, you can see what happened for yourself…

Mr. SGCC is half-Hungarian, so I’ve learned to make many different Hungarian dishes over the years, including Dobos Torte.  I have never used this particular recipe before, and I’m sorry to say, I probably won’t again.  I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either.  It was just okay for me.  The only component of this torte that I really enjoyed was the chocolate buttercream.  But even dreamy, creamy, chocolate buttercream couldn’t disguise the tasteless, rubbery sponge cake and that odd, lemon-tainted caramel.   Who knows?  Maybe I royally screwed up the recipe?  It certainly has happened before (see above)!

Now, I understand that many of my fellow Daring Bakers really loved this Dobos Torte.  If you’d like to see their interpretations, check out the blogroll at The Daring Kitchen.

Dobos Torte
adapted from Exquisite Desserts by Rick Rodgers

Equipment

2 baking sheets
9” (23cm) springform tin and 8” cake tin, for templates
mixing bowls (1 medium, 1 large)
a sieve
a double boiler (a large saucepan plus a large heat-proof mixing bowl which fits snugly over the top of the pan)
a small saucepan
a whisk (you could use a balloon whisk for the entire cake, but an electric hand whisk or stand mixer will make life much easier)
metal offset spatula
sharp knife
1  7 1/2” cardboard cake round, or just build cake on the base of a springform tin.
piping bag and tip, optional

Prep times

Sponge layers:  20 mins prep, 40 mins cooking total if baking each layer individually.
Buttercream:  20 mins cooking. Cooling time for buttercream: about 1 hour plus 10 minutes after this to beat and divide.
Caramel layer:  10-15 minutes.
Assembly of whole cake:  20 minutes

Sponge cake layers

6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups (162g) confectioner’s (icing) sugar, divided
1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (112g) sifted cake flour (SUBSTITUTE 95g plain flour + 17g cornflour (cornstarch) sifted together)
Pinch of salt

Chocolate Buttercream

4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (200g) caster (ultrafine or superfine white) sugar
4 oz (110g) bakers chocolate or your favorite dark chocolate, finely chopped
2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons (250g) unsalted butter, at room temperature.

Caramel topping

1 cup (200g) caster (superfine or ultrafine white) sugar
12 tablespoons (180 ml) water
8 teaspoons (40 ml) lemon juice
1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. grapeseed, rice bran, sunflower)

Finishing touches

1 7” cardboard round
12 whole hazelnuts, peeled and toasted
1/2 cup (50g) peeled and finely chopped hazelnuts

Directions for the sponge layers:

The sponge layers can be prepared in advance and stored interleaved with parchment and well-wrapped in the fridge overnight.

Position the racks in the top and centre thirds of the oven and heat to 400F (200C).

Cut six pieces of parchment paper to fit the baking sheets. Using the bottom of a 9″ (23cm) springform tin as a template and a dark pencil or a pen, trace a circle on each of the papers, and turn them over (the circle should be visible from the other side, so that the graphite or ink doesn’t touch the cake batter.)

Beat the egg yolks, 2/3 cup (81g) of the confectioner’s (icing) sugar, and the vanilla in a medium bowl with a mixer on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted a few inches above the batter, about 3 minutes. (You can do this step with a balloon whisk if you don’t have a mixer.)

In another bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 2/3 cup (81g) of confectioner’s (icing)sugar until the whites form stiff, shiny peaks. Using a large rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remainder, leaving a few wisps of white visible. Combine the flour and salt. Sift half the flour over the eggs, and fold in; repeat with the remaining flour.

Line one of the baking sheets with a circle-marked paper. Using a small offset spatula, spread about 3/4 cup of the batter in an even layer, filling in the traced circle on one baking sheet. Bake on the top rack for 5 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the centre and the edges are lightly browned.

While this cake bakes, repeat the process on the other baking sheet, placing it on the centre rack. When the first cake is done, move the second cake to the top rack. Invert the first cake onto a flat surface and carefully peel off the paper. Slide the cake layer back onto the paper and let stand until cool. Rinse the baking sheet under cold running water to cool, and dry it before lining with another parchment. Continue with the remaining papers and batter to make a total of six layers. Completely cool the layers. Using an 8″ springform pan bottom or plate as a template, trim each cake layer into a neat round. (A small serrated knife is best for this task.)

Directions for the chocolate buttercream:

This can be prepared in advance and kept chilled until required.

Prepare a double-boiler: quarter-fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thickened, about five minutes. You can use a balloon whisk or electric hand mixer for this.

Fit bowl over the boiling water in the saucepan (water should not touch bowl) and lower the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook the egg mixture, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you see it starting to thicken a bit. Whisk in the finely chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes.

Scrape the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. It should be quite thick and sticky in consistency.

When cool, beat in the soft butter, a small piece (about 2 tablespoons/30g) at a time. An electric hand mixer is great here, but it is possible to beat the butter in with a spatula if it is soft enough. You should end up with a thick, velvety chocolate buttercream. Chill while you make the caramel topping.

Directions for the caramel topping:

Choose the best-looking cake layer for the caramel top. To make the caramel topping: Line a jellyroll pan with parchment paper and butter the paper. Place the reserved cake layer on the paper. Score the cake into 12 equal wedges. Lightly oil a thin, sharp knife and an offset metal spatula.

Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved into a smooth syrup, turn the heat up to high and boil without stirring, swirling the pan by the handle occasionally and washing down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet brush until the syrup has turned into an amber-colored caramel.

The top layer is perhaps the hardest part of the whole cake so make sure you have a oiled, hot offset spatula ready. I also find it helps if the cake layer hasn’t just been taken out of the refrigerator.  Immediately pour all of the hot caramel over the cake layer. You will have some leftover most probably but more is better than less and you can always make nice toffee pattern using the extra to decorate. Using the offset spatula, quickly spread the caramel evenly to the edge of the cake layer. Let cool until beginning to set, about 30 seconds. Using the tip of the hot oiled knife (keep re-oiling this with a pastry brush between cutting), cut through the scored marks to divide the caramel layer into 12 equal wedges. Cool another minute or so, then use the edge of the knife to completely cut and separate the wedges using one firm slice movement (rather than rocking back and forth which may produce toffee strands). Cool completely.

Assembling the Dobos Torte

Divide the buttercream into six equal parts.  Place a dab of chocolate buttercream on the middle of a 7 1/2” cardboard round and top with one cake layer. Spread the layer with one part of the chocolate icing. Repeat with 4 more cake layers. Spread the remaining icing on the sides of the cake.

Optional: press the finely chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake. Propping a hazelnut under each wedge so that it sits at an angle, arrange the wedges on top of the cake in a spoke pattern. If you have any leftover buttercream, you can pipe rosettes under each hazelnut or a large rosette in the centre of the cake. Refrigerate the cake under a cake dome until the icing is set, about 2 hours. Let slices come to room temperature for the best possible flavor.

Enjoy!

It seems like only yesterday that I was posting about Bakewell Tarts, and yet here I am, getting ready to tell you about  some chocolate-covered marshmallow cookies.  I can’t believe that a whole month has already flown by!  Whatever happened to the “lazy days of Summer”?

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.

I was pretty excited when I learned what this month’s challenge was. Mallows have a plain cookie base which is topped with a marshmallow”kiss” and enrobed in a dark chocolate shell.  I’d never made homemade marshmallows before, but had always wanted to.  This recipe looked like a great place to start.

Each component of these cookies is very basic, but can be tweaked in many different ways.  I decided to keep it pretty simple, and made the recipe as written with the addition of a little raspberry jam in the middle of each cookie.  I also made a second version using the same cookie base, but instead, added a layer of  dulce de leche  in between the cookies and the marshmallow.  These were covered in milk chocolate instead of dark.  They reminded me of those Russell Stover Marshmallow & Caramel eggs that you find in the grocery stores around Easter time.  Pretty good stuff!

While a little time consuming, the recipe for these Mallows is really not difficult at all.  What it is, though, is very messy!  By the time I was finished with this challenge, I was one big sticky, gooey, chocolate-covered mess!

I decided to skip the Milano cookies because no one here really likes them enough to justify all the extra work (and clean up).

If you’d like to see how the rest of the Daring Bakers fared with this challenge, check out the blogroll at The Daring Kitchen. I’m sure you’ll be impressed!

Mallows (Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 10 min
Inactive Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Serves: about 2 dozen cookies

• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, whisked together
• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.
2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.
3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.
4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.
8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.
10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.
11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.
12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.
13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Homemade marshmallows:
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

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.

What exactly is a Bakewell Tart (or Pudding, if you prefer)? Based on my research, it’s a pastry consisting of a shortcrust pastry shell, spread with jam and covered with a sponge-like filling enriched with ground almonds, known as frangipane. It may also be covered with chopped or sliced nuts, such as almonds.

According to Wikipedia, “The origins of the Bakewell Tart are not clear, however the generally accepted story is that it was first made by accident in 1820 when the landlady of the White Horse Inn, left instructions for her cook to make a jam tart. The cook, instead of stirring the eggs and almond paste mixture into the pastry, spread it on top of the jam. When cooked the jam rose through the paste. The result was successful enough for it to become a popular dish at the inn. The name is believed to have come from a customer who decided that the tart was “baked well” thus the inn called it their “Bakewell” tart.”

Like many regional dishes there’s no “one way” to make a Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding, but most of today’s versions fall within one of two types. The first is a pudding, where a layer of jam is covered by an almond pastry cream and baked in puff pastry. The second is an actual tart, which the DBers are presenting today, where a rich shortbread-like pastry is filled with jam and an almondy sponge cake-like filling.

The core of this challenge was to make the actual Bakewell Tart. An optional component was to make your own jam filling from scratch. I decided to forgo the jam making process because I already had a jar of lovely Cherry Amaretto preserves that I brought back from Seattle. I love the flavor combination of cherry and almond, and I couldn’t think of a more perfect filling for my frangipane-topped tart! I was right. My cherry preserves with just a kiss of almond flavor were a perfect match for the buttery shortbread crust and fluffy almondy frangipane. It was a really lovely dessert that was enjoyed by all who tasted it- including me!

I also brought back a bag of toasted hazelnut flour from Seattle that I’d been dying to use. So, I also made a batch of tartlets using that in place of the almond meal called for in the recipe. To make my shortcrust, I decreased the AP flour by 1/4 cup and added the same amount of the hazelnut meal. I also used some vanilla bean paste instead of almond extract. The crust had a slightly rougher, more rustic texture than the almond version, but it was really nice. I used the hazelnut meal to make the frangipane topping with the same result. A little rustic, but delicious nonetheless! The tartlets were filled with Nutella, the chocolate-hazelnut spread, instead of jam, and topped with toasted, chopped hazelnuts. OMG! You haven’t lived until you’ve had a gooey, chocolatey Nutella-filled Bakewell tartlet! Absolutely divine!

I thought that this challenge was a perfect one for any time of year. The Bakewell Tart is a deliciously rich and nutty confection that can be served warm or cooled. Yet, despite its substantial nature, it can be prepared with a minimum of time and fuss in the kitchen. It can also be adapted to use whatever seasonal fruits are available in your area. It also keeps well. I put half in the freezer, and several days later it tasted just as scrumptious as the day I made it.

If you’d like to see how the rest of the Daring Bakers fared with this challenge, visit the Daring Kitchen web site.

Bakewell Tart…er…pudding

Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart:

Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it’s overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking. The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter.

Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Jasmine’s notes:
• If you cannot have nuts, you can try substituting Victoria sponge for the frangipane. It’s a pretty popular popular cake, so you shouldn’t have any troubles finding one in one of your cookbooks or through a Google search. That said, our dear Natalie at Gluten a Go Go has sourced some recipes and linked to them in the related alt.db thread.

• You can use whichever jam you wish, but if you choose something with a lot of seeds, such as raspberry or blackberry, you should sieve them out.

• The jam quantity can be anywhere from 60ml (1/4 cup) to 250ml (1cup), depending upon how “damp” and strongly flavoured your preserves are. I made it with the lesser quantity of home made strawberry jam, while Annemarie made it with the greater quantity of cherry jam; we both had fabulous results. If in doubt, just split the difference and spread 150ml (2/3cup) on the crust.

Annemarie’s notes:
• The excess shortcrust can be rolled out and cut into cookie-shapes (heck, it’s pretty darned close to a shortbread dough).

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Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Jasmine’s notes:
• I make this using vanilla salt and vanilla sugar.
• If you wish, you can substitute the seeds of one vanilla bean, one teaspoon of vanilla paste or one teaspoon of vanilla extract for the almond extract.

Frangipane

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well.

The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Annemarie’s notes:
• Add another five minutes or more if you’re grinding your own almonds or if you’re mixing by hand (Heaven help you).