OMG, I need to bake! I'm so stressed right now, and would love to bake, but money is so tight and groceries so expensive, I feel like I can't really use up all the eggs or butter or milk. What's a baking girl to do?

Where's the pudding??

So it occurs to me that the subtitle of this blog proclaims my search for the perfect bread pudding....and yet....I have not posted about bread pudding. Not even an imperfect one. Well, don't get too excited...I won't be posting about it tonight either. At least not about a particular recipe or the results of a particular recipe. I never really thought about it before, but I guess I think of bread pudding as a fall/winter/cooler weather type of dessert. So, I haven't had any inclination to make it. But as summer comes to a close and we start barreling toward fall, I'm starting to think about it again. And I'm excited!

My interest in bread pudding has as much to do with it's yummy, comforting goodness as it does with the whole challenge of it. Yep, I said challenge. I know, it's eggs and sugar and cream and bread....virtually any day old bread will do....what's the challenge?? The challenge is in the quantity and ratio of ingredients.....do you want gooey or firm? Raisins or no? Chewy artisan bread? Soft, sweet challah? Wonder Bread anyone? The challenge is also in bringing all those different choices of ingredients together to make something your audience will swoon over. Because bread pudding, like a lot of other dishes, is very personal and cultural and everyone has an idea of what it should taste like and feel like. To my Puerto Rican father, it's firm with raisins. (Although he'll eat all types of bread pudding!) Mark remembers a bread pudding brought in by a co-worker when he worked at Jackson Park Hospital, oh...about 15 - 20 years ago. I have yet to recreate that experience for him...CHALLENGE! And more importantly, I haven't yet tried or made a bread pudding that knocks my own socks off. Thus, the quest.

So stay tuned....as the weather turns cool, I'll start posting bread pudding. I welcome tips, comments, recipes you think I should try. Just post it in the comment section. Do you suppose there's a warm weather bread pudding that's light -- maybe fruity somehow?? I'm on the hunt!

Daring Eclairs and then some.....

It's reveal day for the August DB Challenge! This month's challenge was chosen by Tony Tahhan and MeetaK and it was a great one. They chose Chocolate Éclairs by Pierre Herme from his book Chocolate Desserts. The recipe was for éclairs with a chocolate pastry cream filling and a chocolate glaze. But with this challenge were were only required to use the given recipe for the pate a choux and keep at least one chocolate element....either the glaze or the filling. I kept the glaze and went for a vanilla pastry cream filling. Yum!

Let me start by saying that I loved....LOVED....the glaze and the pastry cream. The éclairs....eh. I must admit, I've never had real French éclairs. I wasn't expecting the large 'long john' donuts you get at the bakery, but I also didn't know exactly what to expect as far as taste and texture and size go. The actual dough part of the éclair didn't have much flavor, but maybe that's the way it's supposed to be. Everything together tasted wonderful, but overall it didn't knock my socks off. (Recipes can be found at our hosts' sites)

So let's start with the pate a choux. It came together very easily. If I had ever thought about it, I guess I kinda had the impression that cream puffs were difficult. And they are tempermental, but with patience and a bit of trial and error, cream puffs aren't terribly difficult. So, I was happy to try my hand at a recipe that gives some a bit of trouble, but a recipe that's nice to have in your repertoire if you can master it. So, after saying all of that, my pate a choux didn't turn out perfectly. So, I haven't mastered it, but I am determined! The dough was a bit runny and although they puffed up, they weren't nearly as big or crispy as I thought they should be. I think part of it was the recipe and part of it was my fault. Listen to me....finding fault with a recipe from Pierre Herme! For my part, I don't think I cooked the dough long enough once I added the flour. I was supposed to add the flour to the boiling water/milk mixture and stir for 2 minutes or more....until it came together and was smooth. Well, it came together in 15 seconds flat and I took it off the heat in well under a minute. I think that was a mistake. I don't know why it was a mistake, but I'm on the hunt to find out. I kinda like the science behind baking....the reactions that take place. As far as the recipe goes, I agree with other DBers that five eggs is too much. Mine didn't taste 'eggy', but I tried a different recipe this morning to make zeppole and it only had 4 eggs, with virtually everything else the same, and based on how it performed I'm excited to try using it to make these eclairs. More on the zeppole in a bit. I also had some trouble with the eclairs defating. I had read the tips about poking a slit in them and letting them cool in the oven. So, I slit one pan and left the other pan of eclairs whole. The eclairs without the slit didn't deflate and weren't soggy in the middle. So, that tip just didn't work for me. When I make these again, I'm going to try baking them longer. Hopefully they'll come out crispier and none of them will deflate.

So the glaze....the glaze....divine. Simply yummy. The glaze as Pierre Herme makes it is a two-parter. You make a chocolate sauce first, then add that as an ingredient in the glaze, which had more chocolate. It's two recipes that are definitely going into the keeper file. The leftover sauce has been used on ice cream and although I haven't tried it, I hear from other DBers that it's great in making chocolate milk. I haven't done anything with the leftover glaze, but it was a great topping for éclairs and will be for other desserts as well I'm sure.

So, zeppole....it's essentially fried cream puffs. At least as Giada DeLaurentis from Food Network makes them. This morning Mark sees another Food Network show with fried dough and asked me to make donuts. I've seen Giada make the zeppole before and always thought about trying it. So I looked up the recipe and since I had done the August DB Challenge, I immediately recognized it as a recipe for pate a choux. This one, as I said above, had only 4 eggs and it had more sugar, but everything else was the same as far as measurements. Instead of half milk, half water, Giada's recipe had all water. But I'm sure you could use half milk. Anyway, this time when it came together in seconds, I continued to cook the dough for 3 minutes and although I'm not sure if that made the difference, I can say the dough was a better consistency. And although these were fried and not baked, they puffed up beautifully. It was quite a fun recipe. I tossed the fried dough in a sugar/cinnamon mixture, then, for some, I drizzled with a vanilla glaze. Others I just glazed without the cinnamon/sugar. I'm excited to try baking the dough and seeing how it turns out. When I do I'll let you know how it turned out and if I've finally mastered cream puffs!

A Very Daring Gateau

So here it is, the July Daring Bakers Challenge, a Filbert Gateau! Sounds fancy, huh?! Well, it kinda is, I guess. For the amount of work that went into making the cake, it's definitely not something you just whip up any given Sunday. So, it will have to go into the 'Special Occasion' file. Although, I'm not sure I'd make it again....at least not without some changes. The recipe was chosen by Chris at Mele Cotte and can be found at her site. It's from Great Cakes by Carole Walter. I appreciated the challenge of the recipe. It required me to make hazelnut (filbert) praline; which if you don't know, means making caramel. And me and caramel don't really like each other all that well. Don't get me wrong....I LOVE caramel. It just doesn't particularly like when I try to make it. And true to form, it took me two tries to get it right, but I did it...thanks to some great tips by fellow DBers. Also, in this challenge, I had to overcome my fear of chocolate ganache. Another love of mine that just doesn't love me back. This time the ganache worked well, so score one for me!
After all is said and done, the cake turned out well...I just didn't love it. It was very rich and too nutty for my taste. So, like I said...I'd make it again, but with changes. So, here it is (sorry the photos are a bit blurry):

I had four layers....three I used for the big gateau and the 4th I used to make this mini-cake for Karen & Smiley.

FINALLY.......Danish! (June DB Challenge)

Okay finally I not only have my kitchen back, but I have time to bake. The past few weekends have been so busy with outside work to do, I haven't had any chance to bake anything. But I was determined to bake this weekend. And what did I bake? DANISH! Yes, actual homemade danish.
Crazy right? Danish falls into the laminated dough category. Laminated doughs contain 'butter blocks' and require turns and rests and are generally thought to be labor intensive. Well not so much. At least not to me. I guess labor intensive is relative. Anyway...time consuming? Yes, absolutely. Two days time consuming. So, why danish? Because it was the June challenge from the Daring Bakers. The Daring Bakers is the group I told you about when I made the Cheesecake Pops. Well, I'm finally a member. (Yea!) I actually signed up for the May challenge, but that's when the unexpected renovation in the kitchen occurred and I wasn't able to complete the challenge. And post date for the challenge is today, so I had to bake this weekend. This month's challenge was hosted by Kelly of Sass & Veracity and Ben of What's Cookin'? The recipe is "Danish Braid" from Sherry Yard's The Secrets of Baking. I made an Almond Peach Danish and a Tart Cherry Cream Cheese Danish.

First up, the Almond Peach. I used the Almond Cream from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours. Lovely. There's no other way to describe it. It's super easy and super quick to put together. And you can use it in so many different desserts. The peaches...I used frozen. The fresh peaches at the grocery weren't ripe enough. I sauteed them, straight from the freezer, in a bit of butter. I added a sprinkle of cinnamon and drizzled honey to sweeten them a bit. And a little bit of cornstarch to thicken the juices. I'd give you measurements, but I didn't measure. I just winged it. Try it, it's fun. Anyway, I cooked all of that until it reduced and put it in a container to cool. I gotta say, the peach danish was my favorite. The almond with the peach was wonderful. And I drizzled more honey over the sliced almonds right before baking. Yum! My favorite primarily because I'm not a cherry lover. But also because it came off without a hitch....I wouldn't change a thing.


Next up, the Tart Cherry Cream Cheese. More winging it....which may have been the problem. Hey, I just said it was fun, I didn't say it always worked out. So, I saw a basic cream cheese filling recipe on the DB site and I checked out more from various other sites. All were basically the same: cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla. Well, I only used one package of cream cheese, which wasn't nearly enough I don't think. The filling never really thickened up even after sitting in the fridge overnight. So, it was a bit runny and I couldn't use a bunch of it or it would've just oozed out. As you can see from the picture you can't really see any cream cheese. I think it soaked into the dough, or just mixed with the cherry filling. Live and learn. For the cherry filling I used a bag of frozen, unsweetened tart cherries. I threw those into a saucepan with a splash of orange juice (lots of pulp, mmm), about a half cup of sugar, a sprinkle of cornstarch and a bit of almond extract. After that cooked down over medium heat and thickened I added a bit more sugar at the suggestion of Mark. I could've added more, given the final product. The idea was that we wanted to keep the cherries tart, because we would have a cream cheese layer that was sweetened as well. And we didn't want it all to be too sweet. But since the cream cheese layer all but disappeared, the tart cherries seemed a bit too tart. But that's where the icing comes in. After cutting into the danish and tasting, I added a simple powdered sugar icing to get that sweetness to balance the tart. I know I nitpicked this one, but after all is said and done, it was very tasty. It's dough, and cherries and icing.....you can't really go wrong with that.

This has been a very long post, but I'm not done yet. There's just so much to talk about this challenge. So, I've been yammering on about the fillings. But the star of this challenge is the dough. As I said earlier, danish is a laminated dough. This is my first time trying a laminated dough. Like others, I think I stayed away because I thought it would be too much work. And again, it was time consuming, but I didn't think it was too difficult. I did have the help of a standing mixer, but others did it by hand. Now, could be that this Sherry Yard recipe is just a winner and other recipes are kinda difficult. When I get another two days to spend on something like this, maybe I'll try another recipe and compare. But until then, I will enjoy the fact that I just made danish y'all! And it was layered and flaky and tender and just all around yummy. It smelled like a real bakery in here. I imagine if I had used the cardamom the recipe called for (I didn't) it would've smelled even more heavenly. But what can I say, cardamom is very expensive and I'm not too sure what it even tastes like. But Mark gave me the impression that I wouldn't like it, so I left it out, which was allowed in the challenge. Again, after all is said and done, it was tasty, even without cardamom. So, here are the recipes and a few more pictures. Don't let the lengthy instructions scare you away. Read through it and you'll realize it's not that daunting. Just take it all step by step and you'll soon have homemade danish too!

DANISH DOUGH

Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

Ingredients
For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

DOUGH
Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Without a standing mixer: Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

BUTTER BLOCK
1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.
2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.


DANISH BRAID
Makes enough for 2 large braids

Ingredients
1 recipe Danish Dough
2 cups filling, jam, or preserves

For the egg wash: 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.
2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.
3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Egg Wash
Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.

Proofing and Baking
1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.
2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

Still here....really

I have not fallen off the face of the earth, I swear. I've sadly been absent, not only from this blog, but from my kitchen as well. I haven't baked in weeks and I think I'm going through withdrawal. I fully intended to bake something....anything this weekend. But we had gorgeous weather. And a mass invasion of prickly weeds and creeping charlie that wasn't just threatening to take over our gardens....they already had. So, the outdoors were calling. Now, if I were in better shape, which I'm not, I would've worked outside for 6 hours and come back in and baked a cake or something. But, again, I'm not in better shape. So, I came in, took a shower and had a mango margarita. And I gotta say, I'm not too upset about ending my day that way. I'm actually rather happy with the weekend I had. But I did put everyone, meaning Mark, on notice that next weekend, weeds be damned, I am baking!

So, see you then. Have a great week!

So close....

Here it is.....another Sunday.....and I still have nothing to post. We are close though. (Yea!!) The dishwasher is in and so is the microwave. We've put most of the dishes, pots & pans back in the cabinets. One plus to all this -- since we put the dishwasher in we're down one cabinet, so we were forced to purge all the stuff we don't need/use/or have two of. What's so funny is we were always complaining about not having enough storage. Well, now that we've gotten rid of some items and bought a couple of cabinet organizers/shelves, we have plenty of room. Maybe not plenty, but enough. We also set up shelves in the basement and we're storing the rarely used items there (ie. stock pot, big caldero, indoor grill).

So here's hoping we are all set by next weekend and I'll get to make something really yummy next weekend!