I won’t ever forget the day that I made these pavlovas. [...]]]> The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard

I won’t ever forget the day that I made these pavlovas. I got laid off from my job, and they were there to greet me when I got home. Chocolate certainly has a soothing quality, and this double chocolate dessert (with cream on top) definitely eased my pain. The meringue cookies are soft and chocolatey inside, the chocolate mousse is bittersweet, and the crème anglaise adds the perfect touch of sweetness.

I’ll be taking a hiatus from blogging for a few weeks. When I return, I will most likely have a lot more time to spend baking and visiting everyone’s lovely blogs! So I leave you with this doozy of a dessert for chocolate lovers.

The pavlova dessert was named after ballerina Anna Pavlova. She is most recognized for her role as The Dying Swan. And rightly so, as her performance is enthralling. I attempted to honor Miss Pavlova by fashioning a tutu out of the dessert ingredients.

Not quite as fabulous as I had hoped, but if you squint really hard you might see the resemblance! The meringue pictured below decided to grow a swan neck of its own.

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

There were four components to make for this challenge: chocolate meringue cookies, mascarpone cheese, chocolate mascarpone mousse, and crème anglaise. It sounds daunting, but all the pieces came together easily and relatively quickly. They’re all delicious on their own and the crème anglaise makes an excellent ice cream base!

The changes I made are as follows: omitting alcohol and citrus. I don’t like the combination of citrus and chocolate. So for the sake of edibility, I omitted the lemon zest and orange juice from the original recipe.

Chocolate Meringue Cookies (Pavlovas)
Yield: 12 cookies (more or less, depending on size and shape)

3 egg whites
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 200° F. Make sure that the rack(s) you will be baking the cookies on are as close to the center of the oven as possible. Line two baking sheets with parchment and set aside.

Add the egg whites to the bowl of your mixer and mix on medium speed with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form. This will take a few minutes, so be patient!

Increase the mixer speed to high and begin to add the granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, while the mixer is going. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Again, this may take a while. This whole process took about 15 minutes for me. The egg whites should be firm but still moist. If you rub some of the meringue between your fingers, it should be smooth. If you can still feel the grainy sugar, continue to beat until all the sugar dissolves.

Sift the confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder over the egg whites. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the dry ingredients. It will seem too dry at first, but as you continue to fold everything will come together.

Fill a pastry bag with the meringue and pipe it onto the cookie sheets, or free form it in any shape you desire.

Bake the meringues for about 2 hours, or until they are dry and crisp. The outside of the cookies will form a hard shell. When the meringues are done, turn off the oven and crack the door. Let them sit inside until cool. This should prevent the meringues from cracking.

Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse
This recipe makes far more mousse than you will need for the pavlovas, but it’s delicious by the spoonful!

1 1/2 cups heavy cream (I used organic whipping cream)
9 ounces dark chocolate (preferably 72%), chopped
1 2/3 cups mascarpone
pinch of nutmeg

In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup of the cream over medium high heat. When it comes to a boil, add the chocolate and stir constantly until the chocolate has melted. Remove from the heat, pour into a bowl, and let cool to room temperature.

In the bowl of your mixer, combine the mascarpone, nutmeg, and the remaining cup of cream. Beat with the whisk attachment on low speed until well combined, then increase the speed to medium and beat until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Do not overbeat, as the cream may break (and you’ll have butter, but that’s not what we’re after here)!

Add about 1/4 of the mascarpone whipped cream into the melted chocolate and stir until combined. Fold in the remaining cream mixture until well incorporated. You can use a pastry bag to apply the mousse to the pavlovas, or just dollop it on top with a spoon.

Mascarpone Cream
Yield: Lots! This is half of the recipe provided, and still makes enough to drizzle over all the pavlovas plus make some delicious ice cream.

1 recipe crème anglaise (see below)
1/4 cup mascarpone
1/4 cup heavy cream (I used organic whipping cream)

Prepare the crème anglaise as directed below. After passing the cream through the sieve, allow it to cool on the counter for about 15 minutes. Gently whisk in the mascarpone, and allow the mixture to cool completely. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.

Whip the heavy cream with a mixer until it forms soft peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the chilled crème anglaise.

Crème Anglaise

1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

In a heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns a pale yellow.

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, cream, and vanilla extract until it comes to a boil. Remove from the heat. Pour about 1/2 cup of the hot liquid into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to avoid cooking the eggs. Pour the yolk mixture back into the pan, and place the pan back over medium heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon as the mixture heats.

When it is thick enough to lightly coat the back of your spoon, remove it from the heat and pour it through a fine mesh sieve. If you are continuing with the recipe, follow the mascarpone cream instructions above. If not, cover and refrigerate the crème anglaise until chilled.

To assemble the dessert: use your creativity to pipe or spoon the mousse on top of the pavlovas. Drizzle mascarpone cream over the top and enjoy!

Assembling this pièce montée made me feel just a bit like a French pastry chef. Part [...]]]> 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.

Assembling this pièce montée made me feel just a bit like a French pastry chef. Part of the fun of the Daring Bakers group is that we get to make many different recipes that some of us have only dreamed of making (or never dreamed of being able to complete)! A pièce montée is a dessert that I’ve admired on other blogs and in cookbooks, but never would have attempted under my own pretenses. Yet here it is, my latest masterpiece!

A pièce montée, also referred to as a croquembouche, is an architectural feat of pastry. Cream puffs are built into a cone shape, cemented together with chocolate or hard caramel. They can reach great heights and serve as a backdrop for some astoundingly beautiful sugar art. Mine, however, is more humble.

I was excited to try spun sugar. Admiring many a croquembouche wrapped in delicate strands like spiderwebs inspired me to try it myself. To my surprise (and relief), it was remarkably simple! The trick is letting the caramel cool to just the right temperature. Then you have a small window of time before the caramel gets too hard.

Use a skewer, a fork, chopsticks, or any other utensil to scoop the caramel out of the pan. As it drizzles off the utensil it will start to form delicate tendrils of sugar. Move the utensil in the desired pattern around the croquembouche to wrap it in sugar. This simple method produces a stunning result.

While melting the butter for the pâte à choux, I discovered a new galaxy. I’m sure that there are all kinds of delicious creatures living in this butter galaxy. In fact, I know they’re delicious, because I ate quite a few of the resulting cream puffs!

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a pièce montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

This challenge consisted of three components: pâte à choux (cream puff pastry dough), crème pâtissière (pastry cream), and caramel glaze used to hold the structure together. We were encouraged to be creative with the pastry cream flavors, so I chose to incorporate raspberries.

I made the full batch of pastry cream, and a half batch of pâte à choux. This yielded 8 puffs, generously filled with cream.

Raspberry Crème Pâtissière
Yield: enough to fill 8-10 cream puffs

1 cup whole milk (I used half & half)
2 tablespoons corn starch
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 egg
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup raspberries (fresh or thawed frozen), mashed

Dissolve the corn starch in 1/4 cup of the milk. Add the remaining 3/4 cup of milk along with the sugar to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat.

Beat the whole egg, then the egg yolks, into the corn starch mixture. Pour about 1/3 of the heated milk into the corn starch mixture, whisking constantly to avoid cooking the eggs.

Return the remaining milk mixture to a boil. Whisking constantly, pour the hot egg mixture into the saucepan in a slow stream. Continue to whisk until the cream has thickened and come to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the butter, vanilla extract, and raspberries.

Pour the cream into a metal/glass/ceramic bowl and press some plastic wrap directly onto the surface. This will avoid having a skin form over the cream. Place in the refrigerator immediately and chill until ready to use. I chilled mine overnight before continuing.

Pâte à Choux
Yield: approximately 28 puffs

3/4 cup water
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs

Egg wash: 1 egg, lightly beaten with a pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 425°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a saucepan, combine water, butter, salt, and sugar. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the flour until completely incorporated.

Return the pan to the heat and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the batter dries slightly and starts to pull apart. There will be a thin layer of dough coating the bottom of the pan. Don’t scrape the dough off the bottom of the pan.

Transfer the mixture to a heatproof bowl and stir for about a minute to cool the mixture slightly. Add one egg. I added a cool egg straight from the fridge so that it wouldn’t cook when adding to the hot mixture. The batter will be loose and rather chunky. It may look like the egg won’t blend in, but keep stirring.

It will magically become a smooth batter soon enough.

Add the remaining eggs, one at a time, incorporating each one completely before adding the next. You may not need the last egg if the batter seems to be getting too liquidy.

Transfer the batter to a pastry bag with a large opening or plain tip. Pipe mounds 1 inch high, 1 inch wide, and 1 inch apart on the baking sheet. Use your fingertip dipped in water to gently flatten any “hats” that formed while piping the choux. The tops should be gently rounded.

Brush the choux with egg wash and place the baking sheets into the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, or until puffy and just starting to brown.

Lower the oven temperature to 350° and continue to bake for 20-25 minutes. They should be deep brown in color and dried out. If they are underbaked, they may collapse after being removed from the oven. When the choux are finished baking, remove them from the baking sheet and cool them directly on a cooling rack.

For best results, use the choux right away. However, they may be stored overnight in an airtight container.

Just before you assemble the pièce montée, fill the choux with pastry cream. Transfer the cream to a pastry bag with a circle or star tip. Pierce the bottom of each choux with the pastry tip and squeeze in the cream.

Prepare all of your ingredients and tools to assemble the pièce montée: filled choux, serving plate, bowl of ice water (hot sugar burns!), and utensils to spin the sugar (I used a double-pronged skewer). It may help to practice stacking your choux (before filling them) to figure out which pieces fit together best.

Hard Caramel Glaze

1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine the sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan, stirring until the mixture resembles wet sand. Heat over medium heat without stirring until the sugar melts in the middle and starts to bubble and smoke. Stir the sugar and continue heating, stirring occasionally, until all the sugar has liquefied and is amber in color. Remove from heat and use immediately.

Keeping a bowl of ice water nearby, carefully dip each choux into the sugar mixture and begin to build the pièce montée. I found it easiest and safest to just dip the bottom of the choux in caramel and place it on the tower. Drizzle a tad more caramel on top of the choux, using a metal spoon. Continue building until the desired height and shape are achieved. If the sugar hardens or gets difficult to work with, return it to the stove over medium heat for a minute or two.

To spin sugar around the outside, I used a double-pronged skewer. The sugar should be slightly cooler than the temperature used for dipping the choux. You’ll be able to tell when the sugar has cooled to the point of “spiderwebbing” – that’s my technical term for it. If you dip the skewer in the pan of sugar and pull it back out, a glob of sugar will fall off and thin strands of sugar will dangle from the skewer. Circle the pièce montée with the skewer, pulling the sugar strands around in circles to wrap the tower.

Serve immediately. It won’t last long, anyway.

This challenge put me out of my comfort zone not only with a new technique, but with a new ingredient as [...]]]> The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

This challenge put me out of my comfort zone not only with a new technique, but with a new ingredient as well: suet. I rarely eat meat, so my first thought was to forge ahead with the vegetarian suet version or to just make a sweet sponge pudding.

But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to attempt the traditional version of the challenge. I put aside my objections so that I could try an authentic dish from another culture. And then I decided to try the sweet sponge pudding as well!

Both puddings were delicious! The bacon leek filling was out of this world. I thought that the suet crust was a bit thick, and it was very rich. Perhaps the measurements were a little off due to my conversions. I don’t have a scale so I had to convert all the measurements to cups, tablespoons, etc. It seemed like I had too much dough, but I used it all anyway as I thought it would make the pudding sturdier.

The suet was actually pretty easy to work with, since it is a solid at room temperature. Most instructions recommend rendering the suet to remove the membrane and then shredding it. I didn’t choose this method, for a couple of reasons. The challenge hostess, Esther, explained that she simply crumbles it off the membrane when it’s frozen. Since I generally take the lazy way out, and a pan of hot beef fat doesn’t sound too safe to me, I decided to skip the rendering step. I peeled off as much of the membrane as I could and crumbled the frozen suet into small chunks.

Setting up the steaming apparatus was also a challenge. In order to steam the pudding, the bowl must be placed inside a large pot without touching the bottom or sides. There should be enough water in the bottom of the pot that it doesn’t boil dry, but not so much that it boils up and into the pudding bowl. Thanks to a recommendation from a fellow Daring Baker, Audax, I set up my Crock Pot to steam the pudding.

I placed a folded kitchen towel underneath the bowl to keep it off the bottom of the pot. I had plenty of room to put an inch of water in the bottom without it coming up too far on the sides of the bowl. Using the Crock Pot was a great method, since virtually no water escapes during cooking. I didn’t have to top off the water at all during steaming.

The chocolate raspberry pudding batter reminded me of cake batter. The steaming process introduced a unique texture. It was spongy and rather dense, but very tasty! Guess what it tasted like? Banana bread. Weird, I know. There were no bananas in sight, that could have snuck into this pudding. But The Boyfriend and I both got a banana bread flavor from this pudding. Very interesting.

I’ll definitely be making pudding again, as it’s a relatively simple cooking method with an infinite amount of adaptable recipes. I recommend visiting the blogs of my fellow Daring Bakers to see all the beautiful adaptations of this traditional British dish!

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

Bacon and Leek Pudding
Adapted from Farmers Weekly
Yield: 4-6 servings

Filling:
6 strips bacon, cooked
1 tablespoon butter
1 leek
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup vegetable broth, warmed
2 sprigs fresh thyme, stripped from stalks
1/3 cup cream, room temperature
salt and pepper to taste

Suet crust:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded suet
salt and pepper to taste
scant 1 cup of milk

To prepare the filling:

Slice the cooked bacon into pieces. Trim the roots and the tips off of the leek and slice it into small pieces. Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan and saute the leeks until tender. Sprinkle the flour over the leeks and stir it in.

Slowly pour in the vegetable broth while whisking to prevent lumps. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until it thickens. Turn the heat down to a simmer, and add the thyme, cream, and bacon. Stir well and simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

To prepare the crust:

Grease a 1 liter pudding basin or heatproof bowl (I used a Pyrex bowl) with butter. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the flour and suet together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Work in the milk, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough is elastic and cleans the sides of the bowl. I needed a scant cup of milk, but you may need more or less liquid. Try not to handle or knead the pastry as it will get tough.

Reserve 1/4 of the dough for the lid. Roll out the rest of the dough and line the bowl with it. Pour the filling into the crust. Roll out the lid and attach it by moistening the edges of the bottom crust with water. Press the edges together, using a fork to crimp.

Cover the pudding with foil or other greaseproof paper, pleated in the middle to allow for expansion of the pudding. Press the foil tightly under the lip of the bowl. Wrap a length of kitchen twine around the bowl to secure the lid and prevent any water from leaking into the pudding. Fashion the twine into a handle over the top of the bowl if desired (this will facilitate easier removal from the steamer).

Steam the pudding for about 5 hours. Carefully remove the twine and foil, and turn the pudding out onto a plate.

Chocolate Raspberry Steamed Pudding
Adapted from Telegraph
Yield: 6-8 servings

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen
1 cup bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2-3 tablespoons milk or water

Grease a 1 liter pudding basin or heatproof bowl (I used a Pyrex bowl). Line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.

Cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla extract, and beat well. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture.

Add 2-3 tablespoons of milk or water, enough to produce a “dropping consistency” (I assumed this meant that the batter should drop back into the bowl when lifted out on the back of a spoon). Stir in the raspberries and chocolate.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pudding basin or bowl. Cover with foil or parchment paper, leaving a crease in the middle for the pudding to expand while cooking. Tie the cover on with string, leaving a handle on top if desired (recommended for easy removal of basin from steaming container). Steam for 2 hours.

Turn the pudding out onto a plate, and serve with fresh raspberries.

Orange what? That was my first thought as well. Every Daring Bakers challenge introduces me to a [...]]]> The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

Orange what? That was my first thought as well. Every Daring Bakers challenge introduces me to a new treat. Whether it’s a treat that I know well but have never made from scratch, or a treat like this month’s orange tian that I’ve never even heard of before.

Here in southern California, it’s not difficult to find fresh oranges. I can smell the fragrant orange blossoms when I walk by the small grove of orange trees downtown. The small citrus tree in my backyard is blooming and it smells heavenly. I suspect that it’s a lemon tree, but since this is my first year in my new house I have yet to find out. The farmer’s markets are stocked with crates and crates of fresh citrus. I was thrilled to be able to use some of the local bounty for this month’s challenge!

But back to my first question. As you can see above, a tian is a dish prepared with layered ingredients. It can be made hot or cold, small or large, sweet or savory. It’s all about a beautiful and fun way to showcase the ingredients.

The orange tian consists of four layers: pate sablee (another “what the heck is that?” moment for me), orange marmalade, stabilized whipped cream, and segmented oranges. I was worried after reading the challenge because the only item on the list that sounded familiar to me was whipped cream. But, hey, it’s something. I knew about segmenting an orange, but due to fears of slicing my fingers off I had never attempted it.

The best way to conquer these challenges is always to jump right in (after a week or two of nervous anticipation). I started out with the orange marmalade. The recipe called for pectin, but some of the other daring bakers mentioned that it’s not actually necessary to include pectin in the marmalade. I figured that I’d test this theory. I learned that the seeds of the oranges are rich in natural pectin, so I decided to put some orange seeds into a tea ball and boil it with the marmalade. I also substituted blood oranges for half of the oranges, since I just love the color.

After 30 minutes of boiling, the jam seemed like it was thick enough to set. Having never made jam before, this was just a guess. But it sure did set up beautifully in the fridge overnight!

The rest of the prep work went pretty smoothly, until I attempted the stabilized whipped cream. The whipped cream needs to be stabilized so that it won’t separate and become runny in the final dessert. In most cases, gelatin is used to stabilize the cream. I prefer not to use gelatin, so I decided to use agar powder.

I failed at my first attempt. I had tried to heat and dissolve the agar according to package directions, but it became lumpy when it cooled, and made the whipped cream lumpy. I did a bit more research and decided to just add the agar powder straight to the whipped cream along with the powdered sugar. This method worked better. The whipped cream came out perfectly smooth, and it seemed to hold up very well.

The epic recipe is below, including my substitutions. Give it a try if you’re looking for a challenge!

The 2010 March Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

Orange Marmalade:

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 large orange, for orange slices
cold water to blanch orange slices
granulated sugar: use the same volume as the orange slices after they have been blanched

Slice the orange as thin as possible. Place the slices in a medium pot filled with cold water. Simmer the orange slices for 10 minutes. Discard the water, refill the pot, and simmer the orange slices for another 10 minutes. Repeat once more, for a total of three times.

Drain the slices and let them cool. Mince the slices by hand, or use a food processor. Measure the volume of orange slices, and use the same amount of granulated sugar. I had approximately 1 cup of minced orange.

Add the minced orange, granulated sugar, and orange juice to a medium pot. If you’d like to use pectin, add it as well. I used some of the seeds from the oranges, placed inside a tea ball, in hopes of emulating pectin.

Cook the mixture until it thickens. The recipe isn’t very specific, so I cooked mine for about 30 minutes. Let the mixture cool a bit, transfer it to a covered jar, and place in the fridge.

Pate Sablee:

2 egg yolks, room temperature
6 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut the cold butter into cubes, and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, vanilla extract, and granulated sugar. Beat until the mixture turns pale.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the flour mixture, blending just until the dough comes together. If the dough is too crumbly to form a ball, mix in a few drops of water.

Shape the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°. After the dough has chilled, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it is 1/4″ thick. Cut the dough into the shape of the pan you will be using to assemble the dessert. Place dough pieces on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, or until the dough begins to turn golden.

Orange Segments:

Cut 8 oranges into segments over a bowl, making sure to save the juice. Soak the oranges in their juice together with the caramel (recipe below) overnight.

Here’s an excellent video showing how to segment an orange:

Caramel:

1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

Warning: boiling sugar is extremely hot! Make sure you have a bowl of ice water ready in case you get a burn.

Place the sugar and 1/4 cup of the orange juice in a pan and heat over medium heat. Once the mixture starts to bubble and foam, slowly add the remainder of the orange juice. Continue heating until the mixture just starts to boil.

Remove from heat and pour half of the mixture over the orange segments. Place the other half in a small bowl and refrigerate until the tian has been prepared.

Heat the sauce over low heat until it thickens and just coats the back of a spoon. Drizzle it over the tian just before serving.

Stabilized Whipped Cream:

1 cup organic heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon agar powder
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 tablespoon orange marmalade

Place your mixing bowl and beater in the fridge for about 20 minutes before whipping the cream.

Whip the cream with an electric mixer until the cream starts to thicken. Add the agar and powdered sugar and continue to beat until the cream is light and fluffy, forming soft peaks. Fold in the orange marmalade.

Assembling the tian:

You’ll need enough space in your freezer to fit the pan that you’ll be using for the tian.

Line your pan with waxed paper, making the paper as smooth as possible. Leave some extra paper hanging over the edges to facilitate easier removal from the pan later.

Place the orange segments on a kitchen towel to drain. Get out the marmalade, whipped cream, and pate sablee. Trim the pate sablee to match the size of the pan, in case it grew during baking.

Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of the pan. Place them close together, overlapping slightly, and make sure there are no gaps. This will be the top of your dessert, so arrange them as you would like the top to look.

Spoon the whipped cream over the orange slices, and gently spread it to form an even layer.

Spread a thin layer of marmalade over the pate sablee, and carefully invert it over the whipped cream so that the marmalade-covered side touches the whipped cream. Gently press to make sure the dessert is compact.

Place the dessert in the freezer to set for at least 10 minutes. I let mine set for a few hours before serving, and it firmed up nicely.

When ready to serve, invert the pan over a serving plate. Hold down the waxed paper and gently remove the pan. Peel off the waxed paper and drizzle the caramel sauce over the tian.

Tiramisù translates from Italian to mean [...]]]> 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.

Tiramisù translates from Italian to mean “pull me up” or “pick me up”. And it is certainly true to its name! Layers of spongy savoiardi (ladyfingers) dipped in sweetened espresso, separated by layers of rich custard. Definitely a heavenly dessert!

Just like the tiramisù itself, this challenge was multi-layered. Everything was made from scratch over a span of 2 days. Savoiardi, mascarpone, zabaglione, pastry cream, whipped cream, and finally tiramisù! It’s really not as much work as it sounds, and it all culminates in a wonderful and well-deserved treat!

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

I do love the classic coffee-chocolate tiramisù and I always like to try out the original recipe first, just to make sure I can replicate it. Then I let my imagination run wild! Since blood oranges are currently in season, I decided to make a blood orange variation.

The blood orange tiramisù shown above was chilled in the fridge overnight. It’s more custard-like in texture than the traditional flavored tiramisù below, which I chilled in the freezer overnight.

The first part of the challenge was to make our own mascarpone cheese, one of the ingredients in the final tiramisù. It took a long time for the cream to reach the desired temperature on the stove, so I was nervous about the results. When I placed the cream in the fridge to drain overnight, it became rock hard and only a few drops of liquid had drained. But after sitting at room temperature for a little while, it was soft enough to stir.

Mascarpone Cheese
Yield: about 1 1/2 cups

1 pint organic whipping cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Bring 1 inch of water to boil in a small pot. Reduce the heat to medium so that the water is simmering. Place the cream in a metal bowl and place the bowl over the pot of simmering water. Heat the cream, gently stirring, until it reaches at least 180°. If you don’t have a thermometer, look for small bubbles pushing their way to the surface.

Add the lemon juice and continue to stir gently until the mixture curdles. The cream will become thick and you will see streaks of clear whey where the spoon moves through the cream. Remove the bowl from the water and let it cool for 20 minutes.

Line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth. Transfer the mixture into the sieve. Do not press or squeeze the mixture through the cheesecloth, just let it set there until completely cool. Then cover the entire thing with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight. The next day it will be wonderfully creamy!

The next part of the challenge was to make the savoiardi/ladyfinger biscuits. These biscuits get soaked in sweetened coffee or fruit juice to create a cake-like layer in the tiramisù.

Savoiardi/Ladyfinger biscuits
Yield: about 25 biscuits (depending on size)

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

Preheat oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.

Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Add the granulated sugar, gradually, continuing to beat until the egg whites become stiff, glossy, and smooth.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork. Then gently fold them into the whipped egg whites, using a wooden spoon. Sprinkle the flour (and corn starch, if using) over this mixture, and fold it in gently, just until combined. If the batter is folded too much, it will deflate. Try to avoid this!

Using a plain circular pastry tip, or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off, pipe the batter into strips 5″ long and 3/4″ wide. Leave about 1″ in between the strips on the baking sheet.

Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of the confectioner’s sugar over the piped batter and let sit for 5 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining sugar, then carefully tap the excess sugar off of the baking sheet. No need to get it all off, in my experience it doesn’t burn in the oven.

Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden brown and still soft. Place the baking sheets on a cooling rack for about 5 minutes, then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet and cool directly on the rack.

If making the biscuits ahead, store them in an airtight container until ready to use.

And now, the main event!

Tiramisù
Yield: 8 servings

Zabaglione:
2 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup Marsala wine
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Vanilla pastry cream:
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup whole milk

Whipped cream:
1 cup chilled organic whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

To assemble the tiramisù:
2 cups brewed espresso, warmed (I used double strength instant coffee)
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
36 savoiardi/ladyfinger biscuits (depending on size and shape of your dish)
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

To make the zabaglione:
Heat water in a double boiler, or place a few inches of water in a pot to boil. Make sure you will be able to place a metal mixing bowl over the water without it touching the surface.

In a large metal bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, marsala, vanilla extract and lemon zest. Beat until the yolks are fully blended and the mixture looks smooth.

Place the bowl over the pot of simmering water, or pour the mixture into a double boiler. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes or until it resembles thick custard. It may bubble a bit while it cooks.

Cool the mixture to room temperature and transfer it to a small bowl. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

To make the pastry cream:
Combine the sugar, flour, lemon zest and vanilla extract in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the egg yolk and half the milk, whisk until smooth.

Place the pan on the stove and cook on low heat, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from curdling. Pour in the rest of the milk, a little bit at a time, still stirring constantly. Continue to cook the mixture until it becomes thick and begins to bubble, about 12 minutes. Ideally, it will have no lumps, but if it does you can just put it through a strainer.

Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and let it cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, preferably overnight.

To make the whipped cream:
Place your empty mixer bowl and beater into the fridge for about 30 minutes before whipping the cream. Add the cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat with a mixer until it holds stiff peaks. Set aside.

Now you’ve got all the pieces, and you’re ready to put it together!

To assemble the tiramisù:
In a small bowl, whisk together the warm coffee and sugar. Set aside to cool.

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

Get your serving dish ready. An 8″ square dish will work, but feel free to use any other size or shape you’d like.

Dip the ladyfingers into the coffee mixture for about 1 second per side. They will be moist but not soggy. Immediately place the lady finger into the serving dish. Repeat this process, placing the ladyfingers as close to each other as possible, until the bottom of the dish is covered by a single layer of ladyfingers. If necessary, break the ladyfingers to ensure that the dish is completely covered.

Spoon half of the cream mixture (or 1/3 of the mixture if you want three layers) on top of the ladyfingers. Carefully spread the cream over the ladyfingers and all the way to the edges of the dish. Dip another layer of ladyfingers, line them up, then cover with a layer of cream. Repeat this process for as many layers as you desire (or until you run out of ingredients!).

Cover the tiramisù with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The tiramisu will be more flavorful if it sits in the fridge for two or three days. It can also be frozen, which will facilitate neater slices.

Just before serving, garnish your tiramisu with cocoa powder sifted through a fine mesh strainer, or any other garnish of your choice.

For the blood orange variation:

Whisk together 1 cup warmed blood orange juice and 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Set this mixture aside to cool while you prepare the cream layer. Use this mixture to dip the ladyfingers, instead of the coffee mixture.

Make the zabaglione and pastry cream as above. Make the whipped cream, and then fold in 1/4 cup blood orange syrup (see recipe below) before mixing it with the zabaglione and pastry cream.

Blood Orange Syrup
Juice of 5 blood oranges
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Combine orange juice and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until syrup has reached desired consistency.

Assemble tiramisù according to the instructions above, garnishing with extra syrup and orange slices.

Check this out: I made gluten-free Nanaimo bars!  This was my first attempt at [...]]]> 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.

Check this out: I made gluten-free Nanaimo bars!  This was my first attempt at gluten-free baking, and I’m very pleased with the results.  So pleased that I ate the whole batch (with a little help, of course).

I had never even heard of Nanaimo bars, but now I’m a huge fan.  Curious about these unique dessert bars?  Read on.

Canada is hosting the Olympics in just a couple of weeks, so the Daring Bakers were challenged to make this traditional Canadian dessert to celebrate.  I always love to sample a new regional food.  Since I’m a cartographer, I always begin by locating the area on a map.

Then I read up on the history a bit.  According to the city of Nanaimo, a local woman submitted her dessert bar recipe to a magazine contest.  She called the recipe “Nanaimo bars”.  The recipe won, making the city as popular as the bars.

I made a few adjustments to the recipe that was given.  Since these bars come from Canada, I just couldn’t resist adding pure maple syrup to the middle layer (and a maple sugar candy on top!).  I also couldn’t find the custard powder that is called for in the middle layer, so I substituted cornstarch.

We were able to choose whether to make the graham crackers gluten-free.  I took the challenge because I had never baked gluten-free before.  I couldn’t find the sorghum flour but I did find brown rice flour, which Lauren had listed as a substitution.  The crackers came out delicious!  I’m now in love with sweet rice flour.  It has such a smooth, silky feel when using it to shape the dough.  The flours that I used are shown below.

Blending the butter in by hand is tough but rewarding work!  Who needs a food processor when you’ve got a pastry blender?

I used local orange blossom honey to sweeten the graham crackers.

Rolling out the graham crackers was no problem at all with a lot of sweet rice flour and some parchment paper!

The graham crackers came out sweet and crunchy.  Just perfect for crumbling!  Or for eating right away.  I was so happy to have lots of leftovers after making the Nanaimo bars!

I was too busy worrying about the chocolate and egg in the double boiler (see my notes in the recipe below) that I didn’t get any photos of the process, but you can see the finished bars below.

So rich and chocolatey!  I’m ready to take a trip to Nanaimo to try the original!

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.

Gluten-Free Graham Wafers

1 cup sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour)
3/4 cup tapioca starch/flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch cubes, cold
1/3 cup honey
5 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt.  Using a pastry blender, cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.  You should not be able to see any butter chunks.

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, cream, and vanilla extract.  Pour into the flour mixture and stir gently until the mixture comes together.  It will be very sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface floured generously with sweet rice flour.  Pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick.  Wrap well with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (3 hours to overnight).

Divide the dough in half, and keep one half wrapped up and refrigerated.  Roll the first half between two pieces of floured parchment paper, until it is approximately 1/8 inch thick.  Cut into squares and transfer dough, still in parchment, to a baking sheet.  Refrigerate for 30-45 minutes, until firm.  Repeat with the second half of dough.

Preheat the oven to 350° with the rack on the upper position.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and peel off the top sheet of parchment.  Prick the wafers lightly with a fork in two or three rows.  Bake the dough for 25 minutes or until the edges start to brown.  Place the baking sheet on a cooling rack to cool completely.

To make crumbs for Nanaimo bars, crush about 1/3 of the wafers.  Use a food processor, or place wafers in a large ziploc bag and smash with a rolling pin (the latter method is more fun, in my opinion!).

Nanaimo Bars

Bottom Layer:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cup graham wafer crumbs, recipe above
1/2 cup almonds, finely chopped
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Prepare an 8 inch x 8 inch pan by lining with two 8 inch wide strips of waxed paper in opposite directions, making sure that the paper reaches over the top edge of the pan.

Using a double boiler or a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of water, melt the butter, sugar, and cocoa powder over low heat.  Add the egg and stir until thickened (see note below).  Remove from heat and stir in graham wafer crumbs, almonds, and coconut.  Press mixture firmly into pan, and place in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the middle layer.

A note about the egg: when I added the egg to the heated mixture, it separated and started to curdle.  I am assuming that this happened because the mixture was too hot, or the egg was too cold when I added it.  I removed the mixture from the heat at this point and stirred it, hoping that it would come together.  It didn’t, but I soldiered on.  The bars still turned out delicious.

Middle Layer:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 cups powdered sugar

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft.  Add the cream, maple syrup, and vanilla and beat until combined.  With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the cornstarch and powdered sugar.  Beat for about 5 minutes, or until smooth.  Remove the pan from the fridge, spread maple mixture evenly over the bottom layer, and return to fridge to chill while you prepare the top layer.

Top Layer:

4 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Using a double boiler or a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of water, melt the chocolate and butter over low heat.  Cool the mixture, then pour over the middle layer and spread to coat.

Chill the bars overnight before slicing.  To facilitate clean slices, use a knife dipped in hot water and dried off to cut the bars.

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

This month, the Daring Bakers were challenged to build a gingerbread house.  I knew instantly that I wanted to do something a little bit different than the typical holiday house.  It only took me a few moments to decide what I wanted to build.

During a recent trip to Big Sur we took a tour of the Point Sur lighthouse.  I am fascinated with lighthouses, as they all have unique and interesting stories.  The Point Sur Lighthouse is no exception.

My favorite piece of history about the Point Sur Lighthouse is the story of the USS Macon airship, which sank just off Point Sur.  To read more about this lighthouse, visit Lighthousefriends.com.

Image copyright Kraig Anderson, used with permission.

With this photo as inspiration, my first task was to create patterns for the gingerbread pieces.  But where to start?  I had no idea where to start and what scale to use.  So I just jumped in and started drawing shapes on cardstock, cutting them out to ensure that they would fit together to resemble the lighthouse.

I used these patterns to cut out the gingerbread pieces after rolling out the dough.  During baking, the pieces shrank.  So I trimmed them as best I could to make the edges straight and hoped that they would still fit together.

Once the gingerbread pieces had cooled I made the windows and lighthouse lens out of hard candy.  The recipe I used is included at the end of this post.  For the windows, I placed the gingerbread pieces onto a foil-lined baking sheet.  I used a small amount of butter to grease the foil directly under the window cavities.

I molded the lighthouse lens pieces in small ramekins.  I would recommend using something flexible, such as silicon, because I had a difficult time removing the candy from the ramekins once it had hardened.

Next, it was time to start assembly!  I whipped up some royal icing to use as cement.  I was surprised at how quickly the icing dried.  I had been expecting to use all kinds of props and a huge amount of patience to hold the pieces together.  After all the trouble I had baking the gingerbread, I found that assembling the lighthouse was the easy part!

You can see how unevenly the pieces baked.  This was because I had a huge amount of trouble rolling out the dough and getting it to hold its shape.  But the lighthouse is holding together!

The roofs were the hardest part.  I really had to hold each piece in place until it dried.  My patience paid off, and the roof stayed put!

I needed a light source to light the windows from within.  I found some of those squeeze LED lights around the house and taped them up in such a way that they stayed lit.  I placed them inside each area of the lighthouse.  The tower light needed to be raised up so that it would shine through the window.

One of the lights went out after a few minutes, but the other two remained on long enough to get a few pictures.

For the lighthouse lens I stacked the two hard candy pieces from the ramekins.  Thankfully the lighthouse tower did not give out under the weight, since they’re a little heavy.

The lighthouse tower features Andes mint walkways, a roof made of orange slice candy, and a white chocolate truffle to top it off.

And, the back view:

All in all, a very fun challenge!

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

I used the Scandinavian gingerbread recipe chosen by Y. Below is the recipe that she posted, followed by the method that I used to create the gingerbread pieces.

Scandinavian Gingerbread (Pepparkakstuga)
From The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar, well packed
2 tablespoons cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda (I omitted this to avoid having puffy pieces that wouldn’t fit together)
1/2 cup boiling water
5 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cinnamon, ginger and cloves and mix well. Add the flour and boiling water and mix to make a stiff dough. At this point, my dough was the consistency of dry crumbs. I added three more tablespoons of hot water, mixing after each addition, to get the dough to come together.

Roll the dough out in between two pieces of plastic wrap. This is somewhat difficult, but it’s the only way I could get the dough to mostly stay together. I rolled the dough to about 1/4″ in thickness, but I think it would be better to get it thinner if you can. Place the dough, still in the plastic wrap, on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until firm.

Remove the dough from the fridge and peel off the top sheet of plastic wrap. Cover the dough with a piece of parchment paper and flip it over onto the cookie sheet so that the parchment side is facing down. Peel off the other sheet of plastic wrap.

Use your templates and a sharp paring knife to cut out the shapes. If you’re making windows and doors, remember to cut them out at this point!  Remove the scraps from in between the shapes and set aside to reroll for the next batch.

Preheat the oven to 375°.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the dough appears dry and firm.  After baking, place the templates over the pieces while they are still warm, and trim to size again if necessary.  Mine actually shrank slightly during baking, so I just made sure that the sides were (relatively) straight.  Let the pieces cool on the baking sheet.

Hard Candy
From Baking 911

2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
3/4 cup light corn syrup

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup.  Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves.

Continue to cook without stirring until the liquid reaches the hard crack stage (300°F).  Keep an eye on the candy thermometer, and lower the heat as the temperature gets close to 300°.  Turn off the heat and pour (very carefully – it’s hot!) into window cavities or other molds.  Allow to cool until hard (about 30 minutes to one hour).