By Jeanne, on October 27th, 2011
The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat!
There’s always something special about bread with a spiral inside. Its unassuming exterior renders it almost indistinguishable from any other loaf of bread. But far from being just any other loaf of bread, it has something special to offer. Perhaps it’s a savory, herby filling that, when surrounded by dense bread, could just about pass itself off as an entire meal. Or that classic cinnamon swirl that so many of us loved as a child. Or just maybe, an autumn treat filled with spiced pumpkin butter. No matter your filling of choice, this Povitica recipe will have you racking your brain for new flavor combinations to pair with the slightly sweet, dreamy dough.
Continue reading “Daring Bakers Challenge: Povitica” »
By Jeanne, on October 16th, 2011
It’s impossible to deny that things are crazy in our world right now. People are without jobs, homes, paychecks, and food. We are ever more attached to our jobs, computers, and phones; but disconnected from our families and neighbors. It is more important than ever for us to strengthen our local communities and take care of each other. Of course, none of us can effect major change on our own, but together we can build momentum to create a healthier society. World Bread Day and World Food Day seek to heighten awareness of global food issues and the struggle to provide secure food systems for the most vulnerable citizens of our planet. The bread that emerges from hundreds of food bloggers’ ovens today may not feed the world, but hopefully it inspires us and our readers to take a larger action for good.
Continue reading “Honey-Glazed Maple Cinnamon Rolls for World Bread Day” »
By Jeanne, on August 27th, 2011
The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!
You win some, you lose some. The old adage holds just as true in the kitchen as it does on the sports field. In a two-part challenge this month, my record was 1-1. That may not be a winning record but as batting averages go, .500 is nothing to sniff at. And in the kitchen, there’s always the luxury of going back for a do-over. At least I now know what DOESN’T work.
Continue reading “Daring Bakers Challenge: Peanut Butter Cups” »
By Jeanne, on May 27th, 2011
The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.
I love a good baking challenge, but my favorites are the challenges that lend themselves to creative shapes. For these challenges, my mind is able to wander through mathematical equations, searching for an appropriate symbol or pattern to re-create in edible form. This month it’s one of my favorites: Pi.
As excited as I was to mold the marquise into a shape of mathematical significance, when the dishes had piled up and the dessert was finally plated, I discovered an irrationally fabulous combination of flavors.
Continue reading “Daring Bakers Challenge: Marquise On Meringue” »
By Jeanne, on January 27th, 2011
The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.
The purpose of this challenge was to create a beautifully molded dessert with a pattern baked into the side – which it is, in this picture. So, technically, I completed the challenge. However, upon cutting the cake it all fell apart – literally.
Continue reading “Daring Bakers Challenge: Biscuit Joconde Imprime/Entremet” »
By Jeanne, on December 27th, 2010
The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book………and Martha Stewart’s demonstration.
Welcome to the Daring Bakers challenge, Monochrome Monday edition! Capturing the challenge on black and white film was a bit daunting at first but I am pleased to present the results of this month’s challenge in the context of my weekly photography project.
Developing film is not that much different from baking. The ingredients must be carefully measured, then mixed in the correct proportions. The mixture goes into a tank with the roll of film. Developing time is dependent on temperature, among other factors. And if the film is left in the tank for too long, it will be ruined! Much like a loaf of bread.
Continue reading “Monochrome Monday & Daring Bakers Challenge: Stollen” »
By Jeanne, on November 27th, 2010
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.
There are still apples for sale at the local orchards, which means that they are still working their way into many of my baked goods. For this month’s challenge we were given the opportunity to choose the flavor of our crostata so I used one of my old favorite flavor combinations: apples and cranberries. I’ve always loved cranberry juice and all its varieties (straight-up cranberry, cran-raspberry, cran-grape, cran-apple, etc), though I don’t seem to drink it as often anymore. Cranberries just aren’t as popular in California as they are in Massachusetts, with all its cranberry bogs. But I can still find fresh cranberries at the store so there’s nothing to stop me from baking with them!
Continue reading “Daring Bakers Challenge: Cranberry Apple Crostata” »
By Jeanne, on November 26th, 2010
What would life be like if we measured our nation’s success based on Gross National Happiness instead of Gross National Product? If we valued health, education, and sustainable communities above cash and consumer goods? Or, at the very least, broke our addiction to material goods?
These are some of the questions that I have been pondering over the last few months. An ever increasing number of people are changing their perspective on our consumer culture, and today we celebrate that shift in thinking. Buy Nothing Day seeks to inspire consumers to break the habit of spending and avoid the stress of shopping. Let’s do things differently today. Go for a hike, read a book, create art and music, bake a cake. To kick off Buy Nothing Day, I’ll be cutting up this credit card.
Continue reading “In Celebration of Buy Nothing Day” »
By Jeanne, on October 17th, 2010
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987…
Have you deciphered the pattern? Each term is the sum of the previous two terms, creating the Fibonacci sequence. I find the graphical representation of this sequence beautiful and intriguing. Using squares whose sides correspond to the numbers in the sequence, each consecutive square is placed in an outwardly spiraling manner. There is something satisfying about the way that each square nestles against the previous squares, and the pattern seems to contribute equally to the fields of mathematics and art. Since baking is a bit of both, I used this pattern as the inspiration for my berry dessert pizza.
Continue reading “Fi-berry-nacci Pizza” »
By Jeanne, on October 9th, 2010
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