Daring Bakers June Challenge- Danish Braid!!!

Delicious flaky savory meal

This months challenge ...drum roll please...

da da da da da da dum psh!
is hosted by our lovely friends
Kelly of Sass & Veracity, and Ben of What’s Cookin’?
I was sad to miss last months challenge with the opera cake, and thought that this month I wouldn't be able to participate either. I'm getting married in two weeks and still have tons to plan, and on top of that dealing with some major health problems. So needless to say I though there was no energy or time for this months challenge no matter how enticing or exciting.
Then a few weeks ago I was resting at home and realized that it was probably the only weekend in the whole month I had nothing planned. Perfect time to try the challenge. So I pushed up my sleeves, brought out my daring and decided to try what I have never tried before. Yes my friend the Danish braid. I've never made danish dough and was a bit nervous reading the recipe. It talks about folding the dough with butter. I mean folding dough that's so foreign. I'm used to giving it a vigorous kneading, not a gentle fold and roll. Definitely was shivering in my apron strings.

The rules for this month were as follows:
• Use the recipe as written to make Danish dough and create at least one Danish Braid. The recipe will allow you to make two full braids unless you choose to make only half the dough.
• Fill the Danish Braid with the apple filling provided and/or any other filling as long as it is something you make yourself from scratch.
After reading some of the others attempts I decided to use the recipe as written and make three smaller braids since there is only me and my sweetheart to feed.
I made two dessert and one savory braids. I was most nervous that I would somehow braid it wrong and that it would unwind and look like the rib cage of a zombie. (some people had this problem and though it looked kind of monster movie cool, I wanted to impress my honey.) Unfortunately due to my hands being covered in flour and butter I didn't get any pictures of just the danish dough process. I did watch the YouTube video posted with the recipe and it helped me immensely. Here is my pictures for assembling and baking the braids.

1. Savory Braid with pizza sauce, fresh sliced mushrooms, and country sausage, all sprinkled with some parsley and basil.

I cut the dough rectangle into equal thirds. Then rolled one out and sliced in upward diagonals. Those became my braid. Then down the center put my filling and sprinkled the herbs all over the inside.
I think the mushrooms looks so tasty laid out like that. I stole a few to munch on raw while assembling the braid.

I tucked in the top and then criss crossing braiding the sides. I made sure they reached all the way across and tucked them in a bit into the opposite side. I think this made it more secure, and helped it not unravel during baking.

Isn't it a cute little braid?

Here is the first one (savory) out of the oven. I was so excited because it was a nice golden color, and the entire house smelled so amazingly delicious. My honey came home and the first thing he said was "wow hun it smells so tasty in here, I can't wait to try it"
That always makes me want to bake more and more!

Another because I just can't get enough of seeing this braid.

Next came the two dessert braids. I put these together while the savory one was raising and then baking. The recipe called for an apple filling which I thought sounded nice and traditional. David requested a strawberry cream cheese one too. I decided to do both and please us both.

2. Sweet Strawberry with sweetened cream cheese.

The cream cheese I mixed with a tablespoon of lemon juice and a cup of powdered sugar. I also added some vanilla extract and orange extract for flavoring.

David helped out by slicing the strawberries super thin. I sprinkled them with some cinnamon and sugar and layered them on top of the spread of sweetened cream cheese.

Here you can see I brought the bottom up so the filling won't fall out. Then started braiding down from the top, alternating bringing each strip across.

Fresh out of the oven you could see a bit of the sweet strawberry oozing at the top. It looked so tempting.

Also before baking it I sprinkled a little of the powdered sugar on top so it would bake into the dough. It added a nice sweetness to the outside of each bite as well.

3. Sweet Apple and Oats filling, over sweetened Ricotta cheese.

The apple mixture I simmered together. I decided I wanted to add something different. So I added a cup of raw oats to the mix. The apples are called "pink" apples which have a really nice tart flavor without the after taste that many of the tart green apples have. I highly recommend them.

It thickened up nice like a toffee. I think I might make the mixture just with the oats sometime and lay it out in a pan to harden. Me and David snacked on the oat taffy chunks while waiting for the pizza braid to finish baking.

after letting the mixture completely cool in the fridge I took pieces of the very sticky mix and put them down the center for filling.

The apple mixture is on top of some ricotta cheese that i added lemon juice and powdered sugar to. I also added a bit of the vanilla extract, and some corn starch to thicken it.
Tucked in the top and bottom of the braid.

And began to braid down from the top. You'll also notice I've sprinkled cinnamon sugar all over the inside of the braid.

I had a little extra dough I cut off from one of the lopsided pieces. I made a cute little croissant with it. The apple braid smelled like fresh apple pie.
It was very tempting.

I love the golden color that the dough turns after it is baked.
All the braids had such a moist flakiness to them, and the fillings were super tasty.

Here was our dinner that night. The tasty pizza sausage braid, some fresh grapes, and a salad topped with cottage and mozzarella cheese with a tad of ranch.
When all is said and done I would say that this recipe is absolutely worth trying. I very much plan to do it again and experiment with different fillings and perhaps shapes too. Try making some traditional danishes. One of the great things about the danish dough is that you can make extra and freeze it for up to a month. It does take quite a bit of time to make the danish dough, but is not hard at all.
I thought mine tasted even better then what you get at the grocery bakery. David loved it and said it's probably his new second favorite dinner right below the stuffed acorn squash.

TADA!
and here is the recipe for your enjoyment

Danish Braid:

For Your Consideration:
• This recipe calls for a standing mixer with fitted attachments, but it can easily be made without one. Ben says, "Do not fear if you don't own a standing mixer. I have been making puff pastry by hand for many years and the technique for Danish pastry is very similar and not too difficult." Look for the alternate directions in the recipe as appropriate.
Yard recommends the following:
• Use well-chilled ingredients. This includes flour if your kitchen temperature is above 70 degrees F (~ 21 degrees C).
• It is recommended that long, continuous strokes be used to roll the dough rather than short, jerky strokes to make sure the butter block is evenly distributed.
• The 30-minute rest/cooling period for the dough between turns is crucial to re-chill the butter and allow the gluten in the dough to relax.
• Excess flour accumulated on the surface of the dough after turns should be brushed off as pockets of flour can interfere with the rise.
• Yard calls for a "controlled 90 degree F environment" for proofing the constructed braid. Please refer to this chart to assist you in this stage of the challenge:

Proofing Temperature For Fresh Dough
(room temp) For Refrigerated Dough
Degrees F Degrees C
70 ~ 21 1-1/2 to 2 hrs. 2-1/2 to 3 hrs.
75 ~ 24 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hrs. 2 to 2-1/2 hrs.
80 ~ 27 1 to 1-1/4 hrs. 1-1/2 to 2 hrs.
85 ~ 29 45 min. to 1 hr. 1 to 1-1/2 hrs.
90 ~ 32 45 min. 1 hr.

• When making cuts in the dough for the braid, make sure they are not too long and provide a solid base for the filling.
• Ben on Cardamom: It can be very expensive as some stores, but if you have an Indian store nearby, it can be considerably less expensive than at your local grocery store. If you can't find it or it is still cost prohibitive, then you can use a substitute. Many people would say that there is no substitute for the unique flavor of cardamom and it is better to leave it out. But I've found out that combining cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in equal portions words pretty well. Of course, it doesn't come close to the cardamom taste, but it worked just fine for one of my test batches.
• Kelly's Two Cents: I had some green cardamom pods on hand and used 16, cracking and emptying the contents into a grinder to get the quantity called for in the recipe for the dough. The quantity barely put a dent in my 1 oz. bottle. If you don't have an Indian store near by, you may consider on-line spice retailers like http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/car … -and-black or http://spicebarn.com/cardamom_seed.
Yes, there's postage involved, but you'll have cardamom for many other
recipes for a fraction of the cost, even with postage.


Additional Resources:

Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. There are a variety of filling recipes that work quite well for Danish Braid.

Danish Pastry technique on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg-zXn_Y … re=related Interesting general information on laminated dough (not specific to our recipe or Danish Braids).

PBS.org – Julia Child: Lessons with Master Chefs
http://www.pbs.org/juliachild/meet/ojakangas.html#
Video cut for a Danish Pastry Braid by Beatrice Ojakangas who is the featured baker of the Danish Braid recipe in Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. Great information.

Flickr.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/basmatiheather/935273632/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/haniela/2381828293/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanverus/2112201250/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14537151@N06/2141409184/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64143414@N00/2414102571/
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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.

APPLE FILLING
Makes enough for two braids

Ingredients
4 Fuji or other apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Toss all ingredients except butter in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat until slightly nutty in color, about 6 - 8 minutes. Then add the apple mixture and sauté until apples are softened and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. If you've chosen Fujis, the apples will be caramelized, but have still retained their shape. Pour the cooked apples onto a baking sheet to cool completely before forming the braid. (If making ahead, cool to room temperature, seal, and refrigerate.) They will cool faster when spread in a thin layer over the surface of the sheet. After they have cooled, the filling can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Left over filling can be used as an ice cream topping, for muffins, cheesecake, or other pastries.

DANISH BRAID
Makes enough for 2 large braids

Ingredients
1 recipe Danish Dough (see below)
2 cups apple filling, jam, or preserves (see below)

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.

Daring Bakers Challenge- Cheese Cake Pops Ahoy!

Pirates rum pops!

Okay maybe not, but what else would you think of when you have so much delicious rum flavor in such a small treat.

Even Jack sparrow would be satisfied with these treats.

Okay well lets start over then shall we.

Daring Bakers Present the Daring CheeseCake Pop!!!

“and the crowd goes wild” wooooooo!

Okay gorgeous people out there this month once again it's daring baker time, and the lovely

Elle from Feeding my Enthusiasms
&
Deborah from Taste and Tell

brought us the fantastic challenge of cute little cheesecake pops.

Aren't they darling. This month was a nice fun break from the many time consuming rough challenges, and definitely one worth showing off.

The most challenging part for me was dealing with the chocolate coating. Never having made candy before and it seemed a bit temperamental. I did buy the kind from Michaels for candy though instead of doing the recipe one so it would have just the perfect texture with the cheesecake.

First I made the cheesecake. It was a straight forward recipe although mine cooked for about 50 minutes to an hour (much longer then the recipe asked for). I also added to it a very generous amount of rum flavoring. Hmmmm rum cheesecake sooo tasty!

Here is the lovely cheesecake half scooped already.

Then I got tablespoon scoops of cheesecake and rolled them into balls putting them on my nice nonstick mat, and adding the lollypop sticks.

Little Balls

And with lollypop sticks.

Then these I put in the freezer for three hours to get nice and hard.

After getting nice and firm I brought them out for a little swim in some milk chocolate. I added a bit of rum flavoring to the chocolate too. I mean seriously you can't have too much rum flavoring!

I did end up making the first batch with lollypop sticks and took them to work. I found them to be more of a pain then a help. So the second batch I made without the sticks as little bon bons. Those were much easier to eat and to wrap.

Here are my pirate lollypops, full of yummy rum ye mateys!

Here are my cute pirate rum bon bons. Shiver me timbers!

So when making the cheesecake there was some extra batter so I decided to make a few cute heart shaped cheesecakes with the remaining batter. I then doused them in melted milk chocolate, and chopped almond roca finely to put on top. My fiancee almost had a mouthgasm eating them. The almond roca with the cheesecake was amazing.

Very Pretty too. He loved the romantic surprise.

Tasty!!!

Here is the recipe for those of you who wants it.

Cheesecake Pops

Makes 30 – 40 Pops

5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

5 large eggs

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

¼ cup heavy cream

Boiling water as needed

Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks

1 pound chocolate, finely chopped – you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionery coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)

2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)

Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) - Optional

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a spring form pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it's shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.

Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionery chocolate pieces) as needed.

Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

Yar, Here's a bite for ye too.

March Daring Bakers Challenge- Dories Perfect Cake

This months awesome challenge was hosted by Morven at Food Art and Random Thoughts.
She gave us the awesome recipe for cake. I was very excited because both me and my sweet heart love vanilla, and her cake was the base for what looked like a phenomenal white fluffy layered cake.

Here I have my dry ingredients, eggs, and buttermilk. I loved whisking this and did it all by hand. I'm a bit of an old fashioned girl.
It became this nice thick consistency almost more like pancake batter then normal cake batter.
It tasted good (yes i did taste the batter & no i'm not going to die from it)

I put them in their respective pans to bake.
This is where Sudden Doom occured.
I wanted to do something different and try out my rose pan that I've never used before.
I'd never made a layered cake before but thought it looked like well..... a piece of cake.
I also tried to adjust for our elevation but it didn't work.

The round cake turned out fluffy golden and perfect.

I turned it over on the rack to completely cool. Getting ready to see what my beautiful rose tin and created for me.

Behold the burnt umber rose, also known as Peice of CRAP!
The inside was a beautiful white fluffy cake, and the outside a brown hard burned flower.
poor little ugly duckling.

Things got worse, and I mean waaaaaaaaaaaay worse.
I tried making a whipped cream frosting with a bit of the filling flavoring added.
I was packing up to go out of town the very next day and I knew I wouldn't have time to make the buttercream.
I stirred it too long or maybe it was too warm or maybe it was possessed who knows?
but It turned out seperated and weird colored and wouldn't spread.
I ended up in my messy kitchen in tears worried that the beautiful vanilla cake was done for.

At least I got a chance to use my very cute new cake plate. It's a heart from Kitten my special friend.
Luckily my beloved he tried to make it look ok while i was in being quite morose.
He sliced it and even ate a huge peice.
I tried a bit thinking it would taste as bad as it looks.
Well my friends Dorie knew what she was doing even if I surely didn't because it was possibly the tastiest, fluffiest, moistest white cake I'd ever eaten.

So here is to my ugly duckling which tasted better then a swan.
(lol doesn't that sound a bit creepy)

Here is the recipe for those who wants it
Note: I made mine with no lemon. Everything was vanilla, and the filling was champagne peach and berry jam. With some raspberry jam on top of that too.

Dorie's Perfect Cake Recipe

PERFECT PARTY CAKE
Courtesy of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from My Home to Yours (page 250).
Posting date Sunday 30 March.

IMPORTANT NOTICE - RECIPE EDITED MARCH 10TH
(sorry I'm still a bit of a blogger "dummy" so don't know how to highlight in red). For those of you who don't read all the comments or don't have Dorie's book, there were a couple of omissions which some diligent Daring Bakers picked up. If these contributed to a "floppity flops" - my sincere apologies. Please note the changes in bold below - one is the reference to a 1/4 cup of lemon juice and the second is in relation to whisking together the egg whites and milk in the 2nd line of making the cake. I've also expanded on the Update on Playing Around.

Introduction from Morven
I wanted to pick something that had potential for putting your personal stamp on. Although this is essentially a white cake I know there are some lemon haters among us so feel free to use your imagination. If you inner chef tells you that you need to make a chocolate layer cake then by all means do so. See Dorie’s words on playing around below for some flavour combination ideas.

Update on playing around. Yes you can do what ever you want with this cake as long as you promise to use the basic cake recipe and the basic butter cream recipe (if you are doing the butter cream that is) . The filling/frosting flavors are completely up to you. If you don't feel like using Dorie's butter cream recipe (flavored as you wish) she says whipped cream will do for the filling and finishing and I say... go for it. If you want to use fondant or something else - it's your cake. Bake a square one, a heart shaped one or any other shape you like but please make it a layer cake.

I can't wait to see what combinations people come up with. You can leave out the lemon, put different flavors of preserves in the middle, leave off the coconut - have some fun with it.

Words from Dorie
Stick a bright-colored Post-it to this page, so you’ll always know where to turn for a just-right cake for any celebration. The original recipe was given to me by my great dear friend Nick Malgieri, of baking fame, and since getting it, I’ve found endless opportunities to make it – you will too. The cake is snow white, with an elegant tight crumb and an easygoing nature: it always bakes up perfectly; it is delicate on the tongue but sturdy in the kitchen – no fussing when it comes to slicing the layers in half or cutting tall, beautiful wedges for serving; and, it tastes just as you’d want a party cake to taste – special. The base recipe is for a cake flavoured with lemon, layered with a little raspberry jam and filled and frosted with a classic (and so simple) pure white lemony hot-meringue buttercream but, because the elements are so fundamental, they lend themselves to variation (see Playing Around), making the cake not just perfect, but also versatile.

For the Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour (updated 25 March)
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Butter cream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut

Getting Ready
Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean
Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.
Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Butter cream
Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.
The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.
Once all the butter is in, beat in the butter cream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
During this time the butter cream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.
On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.
You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white butter cream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the butter cream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake
Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.
Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.
Spread it with one third of the preserves.
Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the butter cream.
Top with another layer, spread with preserves and butter cream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have butter cream leftover).
Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining butter cream to frost the sides and top.
Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

Serving
The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing
The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

Playing Around
Since lemon is such a friendly flavor, feel free to make changes in the preserves: other red preserves – cherry or strawberry – look especially nice, but you can even use plum or blueberry jam.

Fresh Berry Cake
If you will be serving the cake the day it is made, cover each layer of butter cream with fresh berries – use whole raspberries, sliced or halved strawberries or whole blackberries, and match the preserves to the fruit. You can replace the coconut on top of the cake with a crown of berries, or use both coconut and berries. You can also replace the butter cream between the layers with fairly firmly whipped sweetened cream and then either frost the cake with butter cream (the contrast between the lighter whipped cream and the firmer butter cream is nice) or finish it with more whipped cream. If you use whipped cream, you’ll have to store the cake the in the refrigerator – let it sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature before serving.

Daring Bakers February Challenge

Daring Bakers:
Bakers who dare to do recipes that are outside of our comfort zones.

Bakers that live on the wild side whether it is melting mixing bowls by accident, or setting off smoke alarms.

Bakers that share each others successes and defeats, holding each other up giving advice and encouragement.

Most of all Daring Bakers HAVE FUN!!!

Well I certainly strive to be a daring Baker!

Well this month I was going to cop out, but the Daring baker in me just wouldn't have it.
It was so hard to find time, for this marathon recipe and I wanted to do it justice.
So here with out much ado, is my attempts at our February challenge provided by the beautiful and talented Mary and Sara
They chose an epic piece by Julia Child's. Her amazing French Bread. Here is the Recipe.

I started with kneading the dough by hand. I don't have a kitchen aid so it was the good old fashioned way like my Grandmother and Mother both do.
This cute little dough ball I named "Doughy" and I spent much of the kneading time singing and humming to doughy and begging him to grow up into a nice set of bread.

Doughy was kind of tired after so much kneading so I laid him to rest in a nicely greased bowl for a nap. He even has a little blanket to keep him warm.
What a spoiled dough!

Doughy slept for a very long time, but it was time to get him up again.
He was kind of gaseous and needed to be burped.
So I flattened out all the gases in him and kneaded him a bit more for good measure.

Then I placed him back in his bowl to finish his nap.

Doughty liked his nap soooo much he grew three sizes bigger.
What a big boy!!

Don't you think he's cute? I thought so.
but then something went horribly wrong ....dun ... dun ... dun

Then came the time to cut and shape him. He tried really hard, I really can't think that it's his fault. So it must have been me. I think I either didn't shape them right, or perhaps I didn't cut the pieces evenly. Either way poor Doughy was kind of small and skinny and looked a bit weird.
I think he was probably the geeky kid in dough school.

Well after all that time spent I wasn't going to just give up, although a fit of hysterics did feel pretty close to the surface. I sprayed them with some cold water and put them in the oven.
I even added the tray of water in the bottom of the oven hoping to help.
They looked a bit burned to me when they came out of the oven.

Yet they had a nice golden color to them.
I once again brushed cold water on the crusts and left them on my cooling racks for the two hours.
This was hard because I wanted to see if the insides were all hard or not.

Two hours later we checked them ... and.......

Much to my delight even though not the best shapes the crust was the perfect crusty texture somewhat hard, and the inside was nice and soft and fluffy.
The taste of it was phenomenal.

Good Job Little Doughy You've grown into some beautiful breads in spite of my mistakes!

We celebrated this wonderful turn out by slicing up one of the thinner ones into little crackers and having them with some polish sausage and sharp cheddar cheese.

This was a truly delightful and European meal to finish off the baking marathon.
I think next time though I will cut it into two portions instead of three, and make two nicely sized baguettes instead.

Late

If you've come here looking for the awesome DB challenge, I'm sorry but I'm going to be a bit late.
This month is a fantastic challenge, but due to having absolutely no 9 hours to spare this month I was going tot have to pass on it.
Yet seeing everyone's breads has made me yearn to do my own. So do not fear my loving readers, I will be making mine this weekend on Sunday and promise to post then too.
Better late then never.
&
Two loaves are better then one.
Please check back again on Sunday March 2nd

Daring Bakers January Challenge

Daring Bakers, who are we?

we're an online community of bakers who, once a month, receive a recipe chosen by that month's host, make the recipe without modifications (unless allowed by the host), and then blog about the experience on the same day. By following the same recipe, we have a good basis for comparing our results and we get to flex our baking muscles.
We have a separate blog with the links to the participants' blogs!

Lemon Meringue Pie Challenge

So this month we rolled back our sleeves and dived in to some Lemon Meringue Pie. Pie happens to be my favorite kind of dessert; so as you could guess I was very excited. On top of that Jen at The Canadian Baker

Chose a fantastic Lemon Meringue Pie recipe for us. Thankyou Jen it was FANTASTIC!

So I've never made Meringue before or lemon meringue pie it was something new, something daring, something absolutely delicious. The great part was even though this took a lot of arm power and coordination the recipe steps themselves are very simple. The lemon curd though is stirred forever in a pot gradually adding ingredients. I stirred mine a lot and felt like my arms were going to fall off. Wicked though gave me some advice to make sure i cook the curd and bring it to bubbling where it says in the recipe. Many people had mentioned that theres were turning out watery and she thought they might not have cooked it long enough.
I don't know if she was right, but her advice seems to have worked because my pie turned out perfect. The curd stood up to perfect consistency the meringue was delicious and the only problem was its soo good there just isn't enough to satisfy everyone.
Also this recipe would be easy to modify and use for other styles of pie. Definitely a keeper in my book.

Here is the Recipe for those of you who DARE!
Lemon Meringue Pie

Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie

For the Crust:

¾ cup (180 mL) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces

2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour

¼ cup (60 mL) granulated sugar

¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt

⅓ cup (80 mL) ice water

For the Filling:

2 cups (475 mL) water

1 cup (240 mL) granulated sugar

½ cup (120 mL) cornstarch

5 egg yolks, beaten

¼ cup (60 mL) butter

¾ cup (180 mL) fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest

1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract

For the Meringue:

5 egg whites, room temperature

½ tsp (2.5 mL) cream of tartar

¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt

½ tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract

¾ cup (180 mL) granulated sugar

For the Crust: Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.

Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of ⅛ inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about ½ inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.

For the Filling: Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated.

Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

For the Meringue: Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.

Daring Bakers Extra Challenge
Free-Style Lemon Tartlets

Prepare the recipe as above but complete the following steps:

To roll out tartlet dough, slice the dough into 6 pieces. On lightly floured surface, roll each circle of dough into a 5 inch disk. Stack the disks, separated by pieces of plastic wrap, on a plate, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To bake the dough, position rack in oven to the centre of oven and preheat to 350ºF (180ºC). Place the disks of dough, evenly spaced, on a baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Cool completely.

To finish tartlets, first place oven rack in the upper third of the oven and increase heat to 425ºF.

Divide the lemon filling equally among the disks, mounding it in the centre and leaving a 1-inch border all the way around.

Spoon the meringue decoratively over each tartlet, right to the edges, in dramatic swirling peaks. Return tartlets to oven and bake for about 5 minutes, until the meringue is golden brown.

Additions:

You can make one pie or tartlets (in a tin or free-form)

You can compliment your pie with a sauce. For example, you can serve it with raspberry or white chocolate sauce.

You can use a piping bag to apply the meringue if you like.

Decoration is up to you - lemon zest or fruit are totally acceptable.

Pie recipe courtesy of Wanda’s Pie in the Sky by Wanda Beaver, 2002
Tartlet recipe courtesy of Ripe for Dessert by David Lebovitz, 2003

Daring Bakers November Challenge

Can we say Noobs ARE US

So this is my first challenge as a daring baker, and yes challenge it was.
We were given the recipe for a wonderful homemade potato bread.

We all had to follow the same recipe, and the only changes you could make was how you shaped your bread, and seasoned it.
All seasonings had to be savory, no dessert.
I decided to make one loaf, a foccaccia loaf, and some mini pizzas.
I used Yukon Gold potato's and boiled them the night before to save on time.

The dough was incredibly sticky. Much more then I expected and I had lots of problems kneading it. The real disaster came though when I put it in my large mixing bowl to rise. Me thinking oh the heat from the oven will help the yeast rise better sat the bowl on top of the stove above the oven.
Yes this is the part where you all yell at the screen "no don't do that" or "what in the world were you thinking"
Apparently I wasn't thinking very well, because my plastic bowl melted. It cooked the bottom of the dough rising in the bowl, and I almost set my kitchen on fire.
So i cut off the bottom of the dough that had cooked, and put the rest back into the steel bowl it originally was mixed in.

It looked like disaster though had been averted and I continued on in spite of the melted plastic smoke in my kitchen. Above is the mini pizza's. I managed to burn the cheese on them, and peeled it off. Luckily the bread part was fine, so i just seasoned it and used them in bento's i made for my family that was coming to visit for Thanksgiving.

This is the wonderfully incredibly sticky potato dough i like the potato mushed chunks in it.



























My Foccaccia bread was drizzled with an egg wash and Hazelnut oil. (I wanted to try something different) I put dried rosemary, ground salt, and Fresh chopped garlic on it. It turned out beautiful smelled good, and no one in my family would eat it. Most of it got thrown away.










My potato loaf was a bit overcooked on the top. It also didn't rise as much as I had hoped but over all was pretty good.











Oh my poor sweet potato bread.
I was very excited about this challenge and felt like it was definitely a growing experience. I'm pretty sure though I will never ever make this recipe for potato bread again.
Which is kind of sad since I'm a very strong lover of potatoes.