Category: Pastry

Daring Bakers…Tiramisu with Balsamic Cherries

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 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.
RECIPE SOURCE:
Mascarpone Cheese – Vera’s Recipe (Baking Obsession) for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese.


Savoiardi/ Ladyfinger Biscuits – Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home


Tiramisu – Carminantonio’s Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007
Tiramisu is said to have its origins in Treviso (Italy), and there are quite a few stories about how it came to be created.



One story traces the tiramisu as far back as the Renaissance claiming that it was first made in honour of the visit of Grand Duke Cosimo di Medici to Tuscany. Yet another one points to the tiramisu being an adaptation of the “Zuppa Inglese” referring to the sponge cake and cream layered English Trifle.


However, experts in this area generally agree that the tiramisu as we know it today, was born in the ‘70s.


Some believe that the Tiramisu was created in the the Le Beccherie (a restaurant in Treviso). Ohters suggest that Tiramisu was first made in 1971 by an Italian baker named Carminantonio Iannaccone in a small bakery in Treviso, Italy.
I’m a few days late with this post. Never have I really felt that February was the shortest day of the month than now. There never seems to be enough time. And what little free time there is, I don’t feel compelled to fill it up with another activity. Coco Cooks kitchen has been a little slow on the baking activity this month. My kitchen still is not right from Certain Someone repainting of the condo, and until I get my new shelves and get organized, it will be hard to focus.

I did the components on separate days. I found my cream while making Mascarpone did not reach 190 degrees, but it set nevertheless. I ran out of sugar and used confectioners in the whipped cream. To sweeten the coffee brew I took the remaining few tablespoons of sugar and added Kahlúa as it was sweet and coffee flavored. I used little mini loaf pans to make 2 full Tiramisu and 1 with the left over odds and ends. They froze beautifully and will be excellent to take out when and if we need a dessert in a jam. All in all it was very good and not too sweet. My only issue with the recipe was the Zabaglione. Maybe it was to wordy with all the components and I lost something. But my Zabaglione did not double in volume, nor did he recipe state it should. This is not a dessert I normally am a big fan of, but I would make this again. I decided to garnish my dessert with some beautiful fresh cherries that I saw in the store from Argentina. I know they aren’t local or seasonal, but I wanted them. I roasted them in Balsamic and Brown Sugar. A great a zingy addition to this dessert especially with the cocoa powder.

Thanks to Aparna and Deeba for a true challenge. Be sure to check out the other Daring Bakers. Cherries

Daring Bakers Make Gingerbread Houses… Home For The Holidays

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.


For someone who’s into cake decorating , I can say Ive never made a Gingerbread house. It was always on my list. I’m amazed I even got it done with the craziness of December, I can think of no challenge more apropos than this.Linda of Make Life Sweeter, who I meet in Vienna last week insisted I do it as we dined over Wiener Schnitzel in the Nachtsmarket.

Certain Someone is finally home and the holidays will be as they should, warm and comfy in the confines of our home. I don’t want much for Christmas , really….

I remember last Christmas in Germany and hearing the news the late great Eartha Kitt had died. They don’t make stars like that anymore.
Back to the Gingerbread. I had the same issues as everyone else with a very dry dough. I used Ana’s Good Housekeeping recipe and added more cream. After chilling overnight, the moisture expanded and the dough became manageable. Still a dry one compared to to other recipes, but it worked. I m glad I used cheap Flour for this as 9 1/2 cups of flour were used. I still have plenty to make another house if I wish! Here is the template I used.
I had wanted to shingle the roof with some sliced black licorice fudge I had from Denmark. Unfortunately when I was satisfied and turned my back to wash my hands, the roof caved in. I had to scrape the roof and rebuild. Thankfully I had enough powdered sugar to make more royal icing to salvage a messy situation.
My decorations are just piped and painted royal icing (food color gels), pecan pralines I made, some coconut flakes for snow, and edible glitter. I broke some cinnamon sticks to make a wood pile. Certain Someone was impressed and we are bringing this to his bosses house for Christmas later. Although next year he challenged me to make a house like the White House’s Gingerbread House.

Please Check out my fellow bakers. You can find the hostesses recipes and instructions on their sites which I have linked at the beginning.

Certain Someone and I wish you Happy Holidays, Peace, Health and Prosperity.

We Bake Bon Appetit… Day 4 : Pecan Lace Sandwich Cookies with Orange Buttercream

So far in day four of the 12 days of cookies, I have to say Pecan Lace Sandwich Cookies are a leading favorite. Another lace cookie like the Orange – Almond Lace Cookies I made earlier on Day 1, these have a richer, deeper flavor with use of fatty Pecans. As an extra added bonus is an orange butter cream is sandwiched between the layers. These cookies can stand alone with out the butter cream in my opinion as well. No egg is used in this cookie. Just the butter, sugar, corn syrup and flavors cookies on the stove stop before being dropped on the parchment baking sheet. This cookie can be made ahead and assembled. They keep very well once assembled.

You can find the recipe here. This has to one of the easiest, yet most refined cookies I have ever made.

Be sure to visit the other bakers:


Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes (honorary member and our founder but not participating this year)Claire of The Barefoot Kitchen
Courtney of Coco Cooks
Michelle of Big Black Dog

We Bake Bon Appetit…Day 2: Hazelnut – Butter Cookies With Chocolate Chips


Who doesn’t love a good Chocolate Chip Cookie? When I saw this recipe for Hazlenut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips on Bon Appetit’s Holiday Slide Show I was sold. Certain Someone even had a few of these. I have never been a fan of nuts in my baking. But Hazelnuts, Almonds, and pecans are the exception. Oh and Pistachios! OK , maybe I need to revise this. What I haven’t been a fan of in baking is peanuts, And I have seen many a good cookie ruined with Peanut Butter, But a Hazelnut Butter? Now we are talking!
Baking cookies over 12 days is costly, and I was not trying to add any more expense than I had to. Rather than but Hazlenut butter, I decided to make my own with the scant amount of hazlenuts I had in my cupboard. I added a few almonds too and blended it up with a drizzle of vegetable oil to form a paste( like making a hazelnut praline). I confess I threw in a tablespoon of Nutella too to make up the difference! Nutella is not hazelnut butter , but a spread of hazelnut chcolate, and milk. It couldn’t hurt. I also did not have mini chocolate chips , and used regular dark chocolate chips.
These cookies baked up to perfection! Really buttery and crips. The nut oils with the butter yielded a excellent crisp texture. Be sure to follow the directions and chill the dough for the 2 hours required before baking. You can find the recipe here.

Be sure to visit the other bakers:

We Bake Bon Appetit … Day 1: Orange-Almond Lace Cookies

Last year a group of intrepid bakers, including myself decided to bake 12 Days of Cookies for the Holidays. Our inspiration was a great spread on Gourmet.com chronicling decades worth of cookies .With the demise of Gourmet ( may she rest in peace) we turned to another Conde Nast publication. I must admit Bon Appetit has never really captured my interest, but their holiday slide show provided just the ticket our growing group needed.
I must be insane to do this again. Last year the cookies built up and overtook my house. I ended up giving them away at a few friends Holiday parties. Certain Someone , at first indulgent, was not amused after a while. He will be away while I bake this year. I knocked out three recipes with him here and he liked one in particular, which is rare as he does not like sweets so much.
The first cookie Im posting is similar to another one I will post a little later. I worried about this, but the taste are way different and each cookie stands apart. What I love about these challenges is I am introduced to new recipe , I might not otherwise bake. So indulge me over these next 12 days. I will be posting a lot this December, as Tis the Season! Bon Appetit!

My first Cookie is the Orange – Almond Lace cookie. I love these butter and sugar based cookies that are mixed on the stove before baking to a deep golden color. If you are scared of butter, back away. The recipe called for finely chopped almonds, but I ran mine more into a coarse almond meal with some sliver chunks remaining. Don’t be alarmed at the batter, it it runny and you drop it by the spoonful inches apart to bake . They spread into a delicate lacy pattern as they crisp up. Addition of a little egg makes then stronger. Dont be afraid that these are turning too brown while baking. The more golden and dark, the more the flavor comes through, as the sugars caramelize. You can find the recipe here.

Be sure to visit my other fellow bakers:

Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes (honorary member and our founder but not participating this year)

Claire of The Barefoot Kitchen

Courtney of Coco Cooks

Di of Di’s Kitchen Notebook

Judy of No Fear Entertaining

Kelly of Sass & Veracity

Michelle of Big Black Dog

RJ of Flamingo Musings

Sandy of At the Baker’s Bench

Tiffany of The Nesting Project

Last Years 12 Days of Cookies from Gourmet.com
if you need further inspiration.

Brandy Snaps
Galettes De Noel
Old Fashioned Christmas Butter Cookies
Rugelach
Maida Heatters Chocolate Cookies With Gin Soaked Raisins
Chocolate Wafers
Viennese Vanilla Cresents
Bizcochitos
Brown Butter Cookies
Chocolate Meringue Biscuits
Benne Wafers
Navettes Sucres (Sugar Shuttles)