Daring Bakers: Milan Cookies

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gail Gand of the Food Network.

Last month I completely spaced out and missed the Daring Bakers challenge. I didn't mean to skip it, and I actually thought the recipe for a traditional English tart/pudding sounded pretty tasty. But the deadline came and went before I even thought about making the recipe, and I decided to just skip it completely and do the July challenge instead. Then, today, July 27th, I realized I'd once again blown off the challenge! But this time it wasn't too late... the reveal date is today, and I had absolutely nothing planned to do all day. So I headed to the grocery store, and got to work on the Milano cookie recipe from Gail Gand. I would have loved to try the marshmallow cookies as well, but with the tight deadline I figured I'd just do one of the two recipes.

The ingredients were easy to come by, and the procedure was pretty straightforward. I had a basic piping tip from when I made eclairs, so piping them onto the silpat was no problem. I don't see why a ziplock bag with the corner snipped wouldn't work either. The recipe seemed to make a decent yield, so I did a half recipe. There were still plenty of cute cookies to go around. Overall, I enjoyed these cookies. I liked how crisp they were, and the orange and lemon flavors were really elegant. I would have liked if the cookies were just a bit thicker, but then they might not have been quite as crisp. Thanks, Nicole, for this fun and very manageable cookie recipe!

Milan Cookies

from Gail Gand on foodnetwork.com

12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened

2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar

7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons lemon extract

1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour

Cookie filling, recipe follows

Cookie filling:

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 orange, zested

1. In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.

2. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.

3. Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.

4. With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.

5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.

6. While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream.

7. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.

8. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).

9. Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.

10. Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.

Makes about 3 dozen sandwich cookies

Daring Bakers: Apple Strudel

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

Ok, I might be a few days late... but I managed to make the Daring Bakers challenge for May this afternoon. Even thought the posting date was May 27, I think if I'm posting before the end of May it should still count, right? :)

This challenge was exactly the type of recipe that I joined the Daring Bakers for. It was a classic recipe that I would never pick out on my own. I was completely intimidated by the initial reports from other Daring Bakers, and I thought there was no way I would be able to get the dough spread as thin as I was supposed to. Yet I gathered the ingredients, followed the directions carefully, and made the most beautiful strudel I've ever seen! I didn't get as creative as some other bakers with the flavors, but I was so pleased with the classic apple strudel I produced. And the taste... slightly sweet, flakey and buttery... Yeah, it was pretty darn good!


If you're interested in the Daring Bakers or Cooks, check out the website!

Apple strudel
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum
3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs
strudel dough (recipe below)
1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts
2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (I used Golden Delicious)

1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.

3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.

4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Strudel dough
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary. Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally. Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can. Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Daring Bakers: Creative Cheesecakes!

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

This challenge was so fun! I have always enjoyed cheesecake, but it seemed like something that was hard to make at home. I'd seen stories about cracked cheesecakes, soggy crusts, or weird textures, so I had previously decided to leave cheesecake to the pros. This is exactly why I love the Daring Bakers, because they challenge me to try recipes I'd never pick out on my own. And now there are Daring Cooks, too! If you're interested in joining either group, click on the link on the right side of my blog.

I enjoyed this challenge for many reasons. First, it really wasn't too hard! It was one of those recipes that sounds a lot harder than it actually is, and once I started baking I was plesantly surprised. Thank goodness the Daring Bakers got me to try baking cheesecake, because now I've discovered the best dessert to bring to any party where I want to impress the crowd! :) This challenge was pretty basic to start off, and then Jenny pushed us to add our own creative flavors. I feel comfortable being more creative with my cooking, because it doesn't need to be precise in the first place. My cooking style is along the lines of "a little of this, a little of that... play around until it's right". I am much more cautious with baking, because the exact measurements are what makes it work. But I threw caution to the wind this time, and did the crust I wanted with the flavors I wanted... and it all turned out great!

I'm posting the original recipe below, so you can start there and then play around like I did. My cheesecake was inspired by chocolate covered strawberries. I couldn't find chocolate grahams at my grocery store (really! Weird, huh?! I live in the heart of American, and my Jewel didn't have chocolate grahams!), so I did an oreo crust. I crushed about 2/3 of the package of oreos in my food processor, to equal 2 cups. Then I mixed in 4 Tbsp of melted butter, and pressed the mix into the bottom of my springform pan.

For my cheesecake, I left out the lemon juice and liquor. I mixed the batter, and put half of it in a separate bowl. Then I added about 1/2 cup of melted chocolate chips to the batter that was left, and mixed it until the chocolate was incorporated. I was using the wisk on my Kitchen Aid, so it did whip the chocolate batter to be thicker than the vanilla batter. I scooped spoonfulls of chocolate batter into the pan, then poured the vanilla around it. Then I swirled a knife through the batter to get a marbled effect.

I wrapped my springform pan in multiple layers of plastic wrap and foil, yet some water still leaked in. The crust was not crisp or firm, but it still tasted like Oreos, so I wasn't really too upset! I think the water bath was the key to a crack-free top of the cheesecake, so I will play around with other ways to make the water bath work.

If you ever thought cheesecake was hard to make, I urge you to try this recipe. I was so proud of my results, and I bet you would have the same success. Thanks Jenny for a great challenge!

Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake
crust:

2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs

1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted

2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

cheesecake:

3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature

1 cup / 210 g sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)

1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil "casserole" shaped pans from the grocery store. They're 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away.

Prep notes: While the actual making of this cheesecake is a minimal time commitment, it does need to bake for almost an hour, cool in the oven for an hour, and chill overnight before it is served. Please plan accordingly!

Daring Bakers: Emilia-Romagna Lasagne

I joined the Daring Bakers last summer because I felt the need for a challenge. I've always been more of a cook than a baker, and I thought this group would be the perfect opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. I have gained a lot of confidence in my baking since joining the group, and look forward to each new monthly challenge. Baking does still intimidate me some times, but I love the experience of trying a new recipe or technique and finding success at the end. Edible results are always the best!

I still would call myself a cook more than a baker, though, so I was quite excited when I saw the Daring Bakers challenge for March. Authentic Italian lasange was the perfect middle ground between cooking and baking. I've been wanting to make homemade pasta for months now, but have had some major frustrations with the Kitchen Aid pasta attachment I own. The Daring Bakers lasagne suggested hand rolling your pasta, and I was eager to see if the old fashioned way would be more successful than my pasta attachment.

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

I was plesantly surprised that this recipe was not as complicated as I anticipated. It took a couple hours to make the pasta, but it didn't feel too hectic or demanding. A perfect Sunday afternoon activity. The bechamel was simple and came together perfectly, and I made a vegetable ragu to layer in between bechamel and pasta. The end result was elegant and delicious, and I wished I'd had the foresight to invite friends over to join us. It was rich from the bechamel, but the vegetable sauce kept it from being too heavy. Overall, I had a great time making this authentic lasagne, and can't wait to try more homemade pasta recipes!

Since the recipe is a bit extensive, I'm not going to post the whole thing here. Check out Mary's blog, Beans and Caviar, for detailed recipes. Below is my vegetable tomato sauce recipe, since it was my own creation.

Chunky Vegetable Tomato Sauce

3 carrots

1 zucchini

1 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

2 cans (14.5 oz ) diced tomatoes--I cheated a little and got the Hunts brand tomatoes that were already flavored with basil, garlic, and oregano

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp onion powder

Peel the carrots, and dice into 1/4 inch cubes. Dice the zucchini into similar sized cubes. Heat the oil in a skillet on medium, then add the carrots. Turn the heat to medium low, and let the carrots saute for about 15 minutes, until tender. Add the zucchini, and cook about 5 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper.

When zucchini and carrots are tender, add the tomatoes. Season to taste with extra oregano and onion powder. Simmer on medium for 30 minutes, until sauce has thickend. This vegetarian sauce was perfect with the lasagne, and would also be tasty with a short pasta like penne or fusilli.

Daring Bakers Chocolate Overload

This month's challenge for the Daring Bakers was a mixed bag for me. There were some major benefits-- minimal ingredients, simple one day project, multiple tasty elements. But it wasn't my favorite challenge, because the main recipe was just not something I would ever really crave. I mean, I like chocolate, don't get me wrong. But a super rich flourless chocolate cake is just a little more chocolate than I can handle. It's not a type of dessert I would ever order at a restaurant or pick out of a cookbook, so while it was fun to try out, it was not a recipe I would likely make again. See the bottom of this post for my favorite part, which I WILL repeat... making my own carmel sauce!

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

Weighing the chocolate was a good excuse to use the kitchen scale I got for a Christmas gift.

Chocolate Valentino

16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped

½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter

5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.

2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.

3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.

4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).

5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.

6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.

7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}

8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C

9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C. Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.

10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

I was excited to see ice cream as part of this challenge, because we got an Ice Cream Ball for a housewarming gift last year and have yet to use it. We brought the whole dessert to our friends house for Valentine's Day, and had fun tossing the ball around to make the dessert! Thanks Stephen and Haley for such an awesome gift! Joe and I agreed that once the weather warms up again we'll have to make some ice cream at the park, just because that's what you do with an ice cream ball :)

Vanilla Philadelphia Style Ice Cream

by Wendy

2 cups (473 ml) of half and half (1 cup of heavy cream and 1 cup of whole, full fat milk)

1 cup (237 ml) heavy cream

2/3 (128 grams) cup sugar

Dash of salt1 (12 grams)

tablespoon of vanilla

Mix all ingredients together (we do this in a plastic pitcher and mix with an emulsifier hand blender-whisking works too). Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer. Mix in your ice cream maker as directed.

And now for my favorite part... homemade carmel sauce! I was so intimidated by the thought of making carmel sauce, but once I got the idea I couldn't stop thinking about it. I searched my cookbooks and online, and picked out the carmel sauce recipe from the blog Simply Recipes. The recipe worked perfectly, and I was so proud of the final product! It tasted fantastic, too!

Caramel Sauce Recipe
From http://www.elise.com/recipes/

Ingredients
1 cup of sugar
6 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1. First, before you begin, make sure you have everything ready to go - the cream and the butter next to the pan, ready to put in. Making caramel is a fast process that cannot wait for hunting around for ingredients. If you don't work fast, the sugar will burn. Safety first - make sure there are no children under foot and you may want to wear oven mitts; the caramelized sugar will be much hotter than boiling water.

2. Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan. As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want, from this point on. Note that this recipe works best if you are using a thick-bottomed pan. If you find that you end up burning some of the sugar before the rest of it is melted, the next time you attempt it, add a half cup of water to the sugar at the beginning of the process, this will help the sugar to cook more evenly, though it will take longer as the water will need to evaporate before the sugar will caramelize.

3. As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.

4. Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Count to three, then slowly add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Note than when you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up considerably. This is why you must use a pan that is at least 2-quarts (preferably 3-quarts) big.

5. Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass mason jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. (Remember to use pot holders when handling the jar filled with hot caramel sauce.) Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving.

Makes a little over one cup of sauce.

Daring Bakers: Savory Tuiles

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux. After two busy months of holidays and adjusting to my new job, I finally made time to get back to my Daring Bakers for January. And I was so glad I did, because it was a recipe I'd attempted before but had yet to master!

This month's hosts gave us a lot of flexibility with the recipes, and I chose an alternative savory tuiles from Thomas Keller. The French Laundry version is shaped into cone-like cornets, but since I didn't have molds I used a little creativity to shape mine. For a light topping I made a smoked salmon mouse with creme fraiche, lemon, dill, and smoked salmon. I sprinkled minced shallots on top for extra flavor. The tuiles were buttery and delicious, with some sweetness to balance out the salty salmon. I would love to experiment more with shaping the final produce, but the taste was spot-on! My only regret was making them for just Joe and myself, because then we were forced to eat them all!

Below is the original recipe, but feel free to shape the tuiles however you want. Also, check out all the other Daring Bakers to see how they were inspired!

Savory Tuile/Cornet Recipe

From Thomas Keller's French Laundry Cookbook

1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons (65 grams/2.1/4 ounces) all purpose flour

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt (= 2/3 teaspoon table salt)

8 tablespoons (114 grams/4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened but still cool to the touch

2 large egg whites, cold

2 tablespoons black sesame seeds

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk the softened butter until it is completely smooth and mayonnaise-like in texture. Using a stiff spatula or spoon, beat the egg whites into the dry ingredients until completely incorporated and smooth. Whisk in the softened butter by thirds, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary and whisking until the batter is creamy and without any lumps. Transfer the batter to a smaller container, as it will be easier to work with.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Make a 4-inch hollow circular stencil. Place Silpat on the counter (it is easier to work on the Silpat before it is put on the sheet pan). Place the stencil in one corner of the sheet and, holding the stencil flat against the Silpat, scoop some of the batter onto the back of an offset spatula and spread it in an even layer over the stencil. Then run the spatula over the entire stencil to remove any excess batter. After baking the first batch of cornets, you will be able to judge the correct thickness. You may need a little more or less batter to adjust the thickness of the cornets.

There should not be any holes in the batter. Lift the stencil and repeat the process to make as many rounds as you have molds or to fill the Silpat, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between the cornets. Sprinkle each cornet with a pinch of black sesame seeds.

Place the Silpat on a heavy baking sheet and bake for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the batter is set and you see it rippling from the heat. The cornets may have browned in some areas, but they will not be evenly browned at this point. Open the oven door and place the baking sheet on the door.

(At this point I did my own thing. I cooked them about 3 minutes longer, then took them out and shaped them into little cups using ramekins as my mold. Then I just let them cool, and filled them up!)

This will help keep the cornets warm as you roll them and prevent them from becoming too stiff to roll. Flip a cornet over on the sheet pan, sesame seed side down and place 4-1/2 inch cornet mold at the bottom of the round. If you are right-handed, you will want the pointed end on your left and the open end on your right. The tip of the mold should touch the lower left edge (at about 7 o'clock on a clock face) of the cornet. Fold the bottom of the cornet and around the mold; it should remain on the sheet pan as you roll. Leave the cornet wrapped around the mold and continue to roll the cornets around molds; as you proceed, arrange the rolled cornets, seams side down, on the sheet pan so they lean against each other, to prevent from rolling.

When all the cornets are rolled, return them to the oven shelf, close the door, and bake for an additional 3 to 4 minutes to set the seams and color the cornets a golden brown. If the color is uneven, stand the cornets on end for a minute or so more, until the color is even. Remove the cornets from the oven and allow to cool just slightly, 30 seconds or so. Gently remove the cornets from the molds and cool for several minutes on paper towels. Remove the Silpat from the baking sheet, wipe the excess butter from it, and allow it to cool down before spreading the next batch.

Store the cornets for up to 2 days (for maximum flavor) in an airtight container.

My stencil was a file folder that I cut a circle out of. Quick, cheap, and totally disposable.

It was hard to get the dough spread evenly! I used a spoon to spread it, then a

spatula to smooth it out.

I only had four ramekins to shape the tuiles, so I did the rest as flat crackers, which were just as tasty and much easier to make!

Not quitting yet

As you might have noticed, I have not completed a Daring Bakers challenge the last two months. I hated to skip both challenges, but I knew with the demands of work that I would make myself crazy if I added these challenges to my schedule. But the rules of the group allow you to miss two challenges in a row, so I thought I would take advantage of that for my own sanity. I do love the exciting baking opportunities I get from this group, though, so I'm not giving up on it yet. Check back at the end of this month, and I should have this month's challenge on display. And who knows, maybe there will be some interesting baking going on here in the meantime!

Daring Bakers: Pizza Dough

This is the second time in my short Daring Bakers career that I'm out of town at the end of the month, so I'm once again going to give you an abbreviated Daring Bakers post, since I'm headed to Mexico in the morning and still have way too much to do before I leave! I think I've finally masted Blogger... I've finally figured out how to post this in advance, so I can write this post today, Tuesday, and it will automatically publish next Wednesday when the Daring Bakers all reveal their posts. Wish me luck ;)


This month's challenge was not much of a challenge to me, since I'm married to a former pizza making college kid. Joe worked at our local pizza place in Columbia, Missouri when we were in school, and he's carried on his pizza making skills since we got married. Our Kitchen Aid mixer has been a great help in past pizza making pursuits, since it does the kneading for us. This challenge did involve a different dough recipe than we usually use, though, so there was some challenge in trying a recipe that was very different from our usual one.

This month's recipe was chosen by Rosa at Rosa's Yummy Yums. She had originally been planning this challenge with Sher of What Did You Eat, but Sher unexpectedly passed away after suffering from a heart attack this summer. Since Sher had suggested the idea of making some kind of authentic pizza dough, Rosa chose to go on with that idea to honor Sher. So as you look around at various Daring Baker's pizzas this month, think of Sher and all the bakers she inspired!


I tried to keep an open mind about the dough recipe we chose, even though it was soooo different from my usual recipe. This dough has yeast but stays cold and doesn't actually rise, and it ends up as a pretty wet dough. I followed the directions completely, but the dough I ended with was too soft to be tossted. I did hold it on my hands to spread it out, but it was so soft it would have torn through if I'd tried to toss it in the air. That was a bummer, because I really wanted to try tossing my pizza dough. Here's a couple previous pictures of Joe doing it with our usual pizza recipe, just to show off his skills...

First at our old apartment...

Continuing the tradition at our new condo...

There was no way I could have even attempted to throw the dough from this recipe, but I did like how easy it was to shape it into a thin circle for baking.

I also had a bone to pick with the two day process. Since it still needs two hours out of the fridge before you can prep it, this isn't a very weeknight friendly meal. We could prep dough Friday and bake pizza Saturday, or prep Saturday to bake Sunday, but with my commute home we wouldn't eat dinner until at least 8:30 if I attempted to use this dough on a weeknight.

I did really like the thin crust that resulted from this dough, and for that I would call this recipe almost worth it. I would have to say, though, with the time and energy it took to make this recipe, I would rather go to one of the many "wood oven pizza" type places all over Chicago. I love making pizza at home, but I think I'll continue making it in my less authentic way. Oh, and the smoke alarm kept going off when my oven was turned all the way up to 500 degrees, which was a hassle during cooking :( This was a good recipe to try, and I wouldn't blame people for liking it, but for me I think I'll go with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality and just keep my usual pizza dough recipe.


I will post my usual dough recipe another time, since it's mostly just stored in Joe's head and I'll have to make him type it out! So stay tuned for another pizza recipe in the near future.

~ BASIC PIZZA DOUGH ~
Original recipe taken from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.

Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter).

Ingredients:
4 1/2 Cups (20 1/4 ounces/607.5 g) Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled
1 3/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Instant yeast
1/4 Cup (2 ounces/60g) Olive oil or vegetable oil (both optional, but it’s better with)
1 3/4 Cups (14 ounces/420g or 420ml) Water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C)
1 Tb sugar - FOR GF use agave syrup
Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting

DAY ONE

Method:
1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time.The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.
The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.

3. Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.

4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).

NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.

NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.

NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespooons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

DAY TWO

8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).

NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

NOTE: Make only one pizza at a time.
During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping.
In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully,then try again.
You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.

11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

NOTE: Remember that the best pizzas are topped not too generously. No more than 3 or 4 toppings (including sauce and cheese) are sufficient.

13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for abour 5-8 minutes.

NOTE: After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.

If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly pane to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly.

14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

Daring Bakers: Lavash Crackers with Hummus

The Daring Bakers challenge this month was quite different from the last two challenges I participated in. It was a savory recipe, and it was something that was relatively simple. Yet the challenge in this recipe was that it was something I would never think to bake. The challenge was to make Lavash Crackers, with some kind of dip or spread to have with them. Both elements needed to be vegan, and the spread had to be both gluten-free and vegan.

The hosts were two alternative Daring Bakers, Natalie and Shelly. They did a great job picking a recipe that was different from our past challenges. Thanks ladies, for this fun challenge!

I tried to make a version of everything crackers, with onion flakes, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and sea salt. The toppings did not stick as much as I would like, but were still a good flavor combination. I did as our hosts suggested, and rolled out the dough into two different sheets, and tried to get it as think as possible. When they first came out of the oven the crackers were still pretty soft, and I was disappointed in the texture. But I let them cool, but them in a tuperware, and left the house for the evening. When I got home the next day, I just had to taste my crackers again. To my delight, they had become perfectly crisp, and actually seemed like real crackers! At that point I could not stop eating them, and they were gone quicker than I expected! I would LOVE to make this again, maybe next time we're having friends over for dinner. The crackers would be a great part of an appetizer platter, and who isn't going to be impressed if you make your own crackers?!

Lavash Crackers from Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice

The key to a crisp lavash,…is to roll out the dough paper-thin. The sheet can be cut into crackers in advance or snapped into shards after baking. The shards make a nice presentation when arranged in baskets.

Makes 1 sheet pan of crackers (I did mine as two batches, to make sure they were thin)

* 1 1/2 cups (6.75 oz) unbleached bread flour
* 1/2 tsp (.13 oz) salt
* 1/2 tsp (.055 oz) instant yeast
* 1 Tb (.75 oz) sugar
* 1 Tb (.5 oz) vegetable oil
* 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 Tb (3 to 4 oz) water, at room temperature
* Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, or kosher salt for toppings

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt yeast, sugar, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup + 2 Tb of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.

2. Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should pass the windowpane test (see http://www.wikihow.com/Determine-if-Bre … ong-Enough for a description of this) and register 77 degrees to 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

3. Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading or mixing).

4. Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax. At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes. When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment. Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment. If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough (such as alternating rows of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, kosher or pretzel salt, etc.) Be careful with spices and salt - a little goes a long way. If you want to pre-cut the cracker, use a pizza cutter (rolling blade) and cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough. You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking. If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first.

5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).

6. When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.

And the Hummus...
I decided to once again try to make my own hummus. I just can't hit on an exact combination that makes me happy. There is a Middle Eastern grocery store near my gym that has amazing flavors on hummus, and I really don't know how I can top it! The hummus I made was ok, but nothing I'd really recommend. If you have a suggestion on the perfect hummus recipe, let me know! Thanks!

Daring Bakers: Eclairs

Look what I made! They were delicious, but my dough did not stay puffed after baking, even with two attempts. I did Julia Child's pastry creme, and it was the highlight. Chocolate glaze on top. YUM. I'm visiting friends and family in Kansas City this weekend, so this is a quick post :)

Go here to check out more baking treats!

See how flat they got?! Bummer :(

Daring Bakers: Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream

After months of drooling over other people's Daring Bakers challenges, I decided last month that it was time for me to join this amazing baking group. If you're not familiar, this is a group of food bloggers who bake a challenging recipe once a month, and then all post them on the same day. I've seen them make pastries, cakes, and breads, and I decided this would be the perfect opportunity for me to bake more in my own kitchen.

Testing out my new piping kit.

The first challenge was a rich, nutty layer cake, and it had six different components that came together in the final cake. It was a challenge, but I learned a lot as I put together my masterpiece. I had a chance to try piping, which was a lot of fun. I didn't have any real skills to show off, but I enjoyed playing around with the different tips to see what I could design. I made a ganache for the first time. And, most important to me, I managed to make a cake with three layers that looked pretty darn decent.


I had trouble getting the sugar to melt for my praline paste, so I had to leave that out of the icing. I did add ground up hazelnuts, though, to keep that flavor going throughout the cake. I used dark rum where ever liquor was called for, and I made a different buttercream recipe after reading about other bakers' struggles with the Swiss Buttercream.

I did what Chris, the host, suggested, and made buttercream with 12 oz softened cream cheese, 2 sticks softened butter, about 4 cups of powdered sugar, and 1 tsp of vanilla. Once it was blended smoothly, I added about 4 Tbsp of ground hazelnuts.


Some Daring Bakers complained about having to make yet another layered cake with buttercream, but as this was my first challenge I did not have a problem with the chosen recipe. I had a lot of fun putting this cake together! My only complaint-- I only made this for us to eat at home, when I should have planned a reason to share it with others!

For the original recipe, check Chris's blog here.

To see what other Daring Bakers did with the recipe, click here.