Still here!

On the off chance anyone is wondering if I'm still here, I am! But with moving, herb school, and everything, I haven't had a chance to bake. And I don't really anticipate baking much over the next little while. But in the mean time, check out my herb school blog, oldsongresung.blogspot.com!

Daring Bakers: Tiramisu

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.
Tiramisu is a traditional Italian dessert, but in all my years studying Italian and going to department dinners, I don't think this dessert ever came up. I think I first learned about it only by accident a few years ago. So I suspect it's not really that big of a deal in Italy, but maybe I'm wrong. I've never actually been to Italy. Someday when I've made my millions as a farmer (hah hah), Florence is at the very top of my list of places to visit (I might have a mild obsession and crush on Dante).Whatever the case, this was so much fun to make. It's a good thing I took a day off of work to make the tiramisu, it's another one of those projects. We had to make from scratch our own custards (zabaglione and pastry cream), our own lady fingers, and even our own mascarpone cheese. I think the mascarpone is the best part: it's really expensive at the grocery store, but super cheap and easy to make on your own. (Note: I found out, like others did, that the cream never did get to a high enough temperature in the water bath, so I just put the pot of cream straight on the burner, and it turned out fine.) Great challenge!

Meyer Lemon Mania!

I wasn't even supposed to be buying anything. I was just there for moral support. But then there they were. A bag of perfect little meyer lemons. How could I say no?

In case you didn't know (and I didn't): Meyer lemon = regular lemon + mandarin orange

You can see why they would be so popular; recipes with meyer lemons are all over the place. They're lemon-y, but sweet and less harsh than a regular lemon. And they're so cute and little! See Rule #7

Meyer Lemon Souffles

(adapted from America’s Test Kitchen)

5 T flour

¼ c sugar

Pinch salt

½ c milk

2 T butter

5 eggs, separated

2 Meyer lemons, zested and juiced

Pinch cream of tartar

Another ¼ c sugar

Combine flour, sugar, salt and milk in medium sauce pan, off heat.

Cook until it starts to come together, constantly stirring, until the mixture pulls away from pot.

Transfer to bowl. Add 2 T butter and egg yolks. Add lemon juice and zest. Whip egg whites with cream of tartar, until foamy, add ¼ c sugar, beat until shiny. Whisk whites into milk mixture.

Pour into small ramekins (makes ~10). Break surface tension by running finger in circle through top in dish. Bake at 400 F for 12 minutes.

Meyer Lemon Blondie Bars

Mousse

3 egg yolks

3 Meyer lemons, zested and juiced

¾ c sugar

¼ c butter, cold and cut into pieces

½ c whipping cream, cold

Combine egg yolks, ½ lemon juice, zest, and sugar in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking continuously. Cook for about 7 min, or until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and strain. Add the butter and stir until combined. Cover with plastic and refrigerate until cold.

Whip the cream. Fold into the lemon curd. Refrigerate until brownie base is ready.

Brownie Base

1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour, sifted
1/3 cup butter (melted)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix brown sugar and melted butter. Add egg and mix well. Add dry ingredients, a little at a time, until mixed well.

Line a 9-inch pan with parchment and spray with cooking spray. Spread out dough in pan.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Use a toothpick or fork to test if it is cooked in the center. Let cool. Remove from pan and spread mousse on top. Freeze and then cut.

Meyer Lemon Baked Alaska

Ice Cream

(Adapted from Half Baked)

1 T Meyer lemon zest
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Meyer lemon juice
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 pinch salt

One (or two if they're short) round layer white cake with lavender in it.

Meringue

3 egg whites

1/2 c sugar

Zest lemons directly into food processor. Pour in sugar and process until the sugar is faintly lemon-colored and the zest is finely ground. Pour the measured juice into the sugar/zest mixture. Blend until the sugar dissolves. Add milk and cream and blend. Chill for about an hour; the product may break up, but just stir it back together. Freeze in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer's directions.

Line a bowl with plastic wrap; press the ice cream into the bowl, and freeze.

Preheat the oven to 500 F. Beat the egg whites until foamy; add the sugar and continue beating until shiny and stiff. Cut the cake layer to the same diameter as the bowl; place the cake on top of the ice cream and invert onto a cardboard cake round. Spread the meringue on top. Bake for about 90 seconds, until just browned. (The meringue and short baking time will allow the ice cream to remain frozen.)

Random Fruit Gallette

Yes, blueberry, blackberry, pear, and pomelo. That's what was available at the market in the middle of winter. Fortunately, they make a pretty good combo!

Daring Bakers: Nanaimo Bars

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

These ought to have been easy, right? Believe it or not, I messed up every layer! First, I didn't make my own graham crackers. We were supposed to make them gluten free, and I really wanted to do it, but as I don't bake gluten free at all, I couldn't justify buy expensive flours I would never use again. And I'm lazy, it was easier to just use graham crackers from the cupboard.

Second, I followed the recipe exactly for the second layer, but the texture was like sand. I had to add more cream, but when the mixture was finally soft, it was also starting to separate.

Third, I ruined two batches of chocolate (death by seizing) before giving in and making a cream ganache topping (instead of mixing the chocolate with butter.)

See, all these things should not have been so difficult. This is why I make souffle, not chocolate chip cookies.

They are pretty sweet, lots of sugar, but I took them to work the next day and all my students and professors loved them! Great challenge!

Cherry Chocolate Cake

When you're a kid you don't get tragedy. Personal pain, yes, but the stuff on the news, the stuff that makes your mom cry, it doesn't really inspire emotion. Or maybe that was just me. But I think I'm only just starting to feel other tragedies, instead of just see them.
And then I was thinking,what are the statistical probabilities that I would be born in poverty, live through a natural disaster/war, or both? I imagine the're pretty high. I remember hearing once that if you make more than $25,000/year, you're richer than 95% of the world. It blows my mind, I'm so used to seeing just one way of living. All this around me seems normal. But in reality, only 5% of the world's population understands "living" the same way I do. It's a little overwhelming. Just do the best we can, I guess, and send what I can to Haiti.

Winter Tea Party

Well, now I know. Apparently by January it's no longer apple cider season. I was pretty disappointed in the only cider I could find, but better than nothing. And hopefully the cider was overshadowed by the meringue mushrooms, my favorite part ;) Buon anno! (Two month count down!)



Mulled Cider
1 gallon cider (not apple juice)
3 T orange juice concentrate
1/4 c brown sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
1 T cloves

Steep the cider with the other ingredients for an hour, or to taste.


Caramel Panna Cotta
Panna Cotta (from David Lebovitz)
4 cups (1l) heavy cream (or half-and-half)
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 packets powdered gelatin (about 4 1/2 teaspoons)
6 tablespoons (90ml) cold water

1. Heat the heavy cream and sugar in a saucepan or microwave. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

2.Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a medium-sized bowl and let stand 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Pour the very warm Panna Cotta mixture over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.

4. Divide the Panna Cotta mixture into the prepared cups, then chill them until firm, which will take at least two hours but I let them stand at least four hours.

Caramel
180 grams heavy cream
1/2 t vanilla
45 grams sugar
60 grams egg yolks

Bring the cream and the vanilla to a boil. Reserve.

In the meantime, make a dry caramel with the sugar. Deglaze the cooked sugar with the heated cream. Be careful because it will bubble over if all the cream is added at once. Whisk so all crystalized sugar has dissolved. Pour this caramel over the egg yolks and whisk. Return this to the pan and cook for 1 minute.

Meringue Mushrooms from Martha Stewart

Daring Bakers: Gingerbread House

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

So maybe I went a little overboard making a gingerbread farm (upwards of 15 hours over the last four days :p ), but I couldn't help it. I'm not really a decorator, I'm a baker. Flavors, ingredients, recipes, that's what I can do. Artistry? Not really. But I thought if there was anything I could pull off, it would be a project that's more architecture and engineering that happens to look like art.

And everyone around my house appreciated that I spent four days baking something that wouldn't expand their waistlines in the end (cause ain't nobody eatin' this baby).

I used Anna's recipe, but was cautious about adding all the flour since so many people noted the dough gets very dry. I ended up about one cup of flour short of what the recipe called for. I used a box inside the farm house to hold it up (I know, I know, but the green house is holding itself up!), and I use a lollipop recipe for the glue. I used cake crumbs for the dirt, and the "glass" (more lollipop syrup) is lightly colored greed, but it's hard to tell against the board. The herbs are actually herbs: lavender, mint, sage, rosemary, chamomile. And if you look closely on the porch, there's a tea pot on the table, made by my sister!

Great challenge! Watch for it, this'll be my farm for real in a couple years!

Gingerbread Cakebites

For the neighborhood Christmas party everyone is supposed to bring candy for the dessert. That means no cake, no cookies, no brownies! I love candy, granted. But not just candy. So I used Bakerella for inspiration, and will bring candy looking gingerbread cakebites, and shortbread.

Gingerbread

1/4 c butter
1/2 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c molasses
1 1/2 c flour
1 t powdered ginger
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t cloves
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t allspice
1 t baking powder
1/2 c milk

Cream butter with the brown sugar. Add the molasses and eggs. Combine the dry ingredients. Alternate adding in the dry ingredients and milk in thirds until all combined. Bake at 350 F for 30 min.

To make cake balls, see Bakerella.

Shortbread
1 c butter
1/2 c confectioners sugar
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c corn starch

Cream the butter until very light, about 2 min. Add the sugar, cream for another 2 min. Stir in the flours and salt until combined. Roll the dough into balls, and bake at 300 F for 20 min.

Look what finally bloomed! And it's only been two years...

Oatmeal Cookies and Gingerbread Custard

I've been wanting to make a simple oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recently. You probably haven't noticed, but I tend toward more "complicated" desserts. Complicated for you, maybe. But let me tell you, I've made more bad batches of chocolate chip and sugar cookies that I really like to admit. There's just so much leeway. In any case, they just don't come out the way I want them. (I'm still on the hunt for a sugar cookie like from Schmidt's and chocolate chip cookies like from Paradise.) But today I found the perfect oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe. Warning, it has molasses in it. But I'm here to promise that it's a really interesting/good addition.

Aran made an inspiring bisque the other day, and I just had to have some pudding with the cookies. I thought I might try a gingerbread flavor, just to add to my mild autumn obsession.


Aran's pictures reminded me of these little bowls I bought a few years ago at Ten Thousand Villages. TTV is a non-profit fair trade organization that sells handicrafts from poor artisans all around the world. I volunteered at one of their stores in high school and college; someday when I retire, (yeah, right) I think I'll spend almost all my time there (the rest here); they'll get sick of me, but too bad, this place is awesome.

They're from Nepal. One step closer to actually going to Nepal.

Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
(adapted from Memories in the Baking)
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup molasses
1 ½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks
½ cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line sheet pans with parchment paper. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
Using a mixer, cream the butter and both sugars, until light and fluffy. Add in the egg and the molasses. Beat until blended.
With mixer on low, add the flour mixture, and beat just until blended. Stir in the oats, chocolate chunks, and pecans until evenly distributed.
Drop the dough by tablespoons onto prepared sheet pans, about 2" apart. Bake about 10 to 12 minutes. Yield: 5 dozen cookies.

Gingerbread Custard
(adapted from Cannelle et Vanille)

500 g heavy cream
200 g whole milk
100 g sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
1 T cloves
1/2 t shredded ginger
6 egg yolk
1/4 c molasses (or to taste)
30 g chocolate

In a medium saucepan heat the cream, milk, sugar, and spices until the flavor has steeped through the milk (maybe 20 min.).
Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks and molasses in a medium bowl. After the cream mixture has steeped, temper the milk mixture into them while whisking. Return this mixture to the sauce pan and cook for a couple of minutes while constantly stirring until lightly thickens.
Place the finely chopped chocolate in a large bowl. Place a fine sieve over the bowl and pour the custard over the chocolate. Mix until all the chocolate is melted and you have a smooth cream.

Botanical Gardens (part 3)

I just can't get enough of how beautiful it is this time of year. Hope you don't mind one last set of Red Butte pictures!

Scary spider! At least it's not a rattler.

I love all of the next three - which do you like best?