June 2008

Jun

29

Daring Bakers Challenge #4 – Danish Braids

baked goods / Challenges  Posted by / 12 comments

Brie oozing out

When I first saw this challenge posted, my first thought was, “oh holy crap no, there’s no way I can make that, I’m skipping this month,” but then I shook myself off and started thinking about fillings. The fillings got me going and as I read through the recipe, it actually didn’t seem that hard. Watching the video helped immensely (thanks to our hosts for providing that link) and I found other videos on Youtube that helped as well. I was starting to get excited about this recipe.

I ran into a few small snags. One was the weather here in Los Angeles. It was so hot I was calling in it Hell A instead of L.A. I worried that my dough wouldn’t hold the butter so I kept putting it off, hoping for cooler weather. One morning I woke up and decided to head off to Silverlake for ingredients. I neglected to check the weather and only when I was there did I find it was 110 degrees! Still I was dressed for the weather and determined to get what I needed. It turned out to be quite the odyssey.

For my fillings I wanted one to have something to do with these amazing glazed, roasted figs I had found a few months ago at The Cheesestore in Silverlake. I was lucky and found the one package they had left which caused a bit of consternation. Would it be enough? I quickly decided that chopped Fuji apples would be great with the figs and Brie and would augment my small quantity of the figs. The second braid would be filled with brandied cherries and dark chocolate, a little homage to someone I care deeply about whose favorite cake is Black Forest. To find out more about my crazy day hunting ingredients in 100-degree weather, check out my L.A. Journal.

I also sweet-talked my brother into taking me on a separate day to the Indian store I love in Los Feliz. They have a huge selection of spices and I was happy to find several varieties of cardamom. The proprietress let me snap away pictures at will in the store and seemed to be amused by my desire to do so. I have to go back, I completely forgot rosewater to try my hand at macarons ala Pierre Hermes.

Finally, a cooler day arrived and I was eagerly anticipating my baking. I gathered up my ingredients and three teenagers (my niece Arielle, my nephew Jesse and their friend Debbie who are out on summer break) and set off for last minute ingredients. We put off the dough for one more day and hung out a bit until they went off to the movies. The next day my brother Jesse dropped three sleepy teenagers off at my house and left whistling. I dubbed them Daring Baker Dude and Bakerettes and put them to work. Arielle grated orange rind, Debbie handed me flour and Jesse did a last minute store run for more flour. They all got to sniff the cardamom that I had found in cheaply at an Indian store in Los Feliz and I got to give a little impromptu class on spices, dough, yeast proofing and other fun tidbits. I found I really like teaching teenagers to bake! It helps that they were into it, interested and eager to learn. (If my brother is reading this, it does not mean your kids can hang at my house all summer long).

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Jun

17

Another Party & Peach Trifle

baked goods / desserts  Posted by / 3 comments

Rachel and I throw one hell of a party. She is the event organizer extraordinaire, full of ideas, creativity and excitement. I am the cook and baker who takes her party ideas and gives them the voice of taste, aroma and color from the kitchen. I keep telling her we should go into business designing parties for people.
Rachel B as Carrie Bradshaw

Last Saturday we threw another one of our parties (the last one we say). This one was for the Sex and the City movie. We gathered up a group of girls, dressed up and headed for the movie then came back here for laughter, conversation and desserts. We had New York style pizza delivered as well.

We wanted to do desserts and have fun with them and have one fancy thing. Rachel wanted to use the new trifle bowl she bought so I came up with a fun dessert menu that paid a little homage to Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha as well as the fabulous city of New York that I love so much.

We chose Mini Paris Cupcakes (recipe at Epicurious.com) for Carrie’s time in Paris, Alpineberry’s fabulous Meyer lemon bars for a taste of the sweet and the sour the girls experienced on the show and in the movie, double chocolate espresso brownies for those dark Manhattan nights and a decadent peach trifle because the show was so over the top with fashion that we figured an over the top dessert was in order.

Pretty pink Paris Cupcakes

Alpineberry\'s Meyer Lemon Bars

Cheesecake pops re-visited
I adapted the BBC’s recipe for the Madeira cake, adding more butter and more sugar for a sweeter, richer cake, then used their custard recipe, adding a little lemon zest to it along with the vanilla. I used Montbisou Pêches, an intensely flavored liqueur, I bought at Trader Joe’s a while back to soak my finished slices of Madiera cake in and slathered them with a homemade tart pomegranate jelly instead of raspberry jam. I blanched peaches in white wine and peeled the skins, then sliced them and added them to the third layer. Homemade whipped cream, lightly flavored with Pêches topped the dessert and, as a flourish, I added shaved chocolate and hand poured dark chocolate butterflies. It was as sexy, decadent and hedonistic as Samantha Jones and everyone loved it.

Sexy Sex & the City Peach Trifle

    Madeira Cake (adapted from the Traditional Trifle Recipe, BBC)
    My changes were to add an ounce more butter, an ounce more sugar and the zest of one whole lemon rather than a half. I wanted something a little more intensely flavored and it turned out beautifully.

    Whipping batter
    That\'s a nice thick batter going into the oven
    For the custard, i used the BBC’s recipe to the letter with the exception of the bit of lemon zest I added (about 1/4 of a lemon).
    Mmmm custard is getting custardy
    I brought a mixture of white wine and the Pêches to a soft boil, then quickly blanched whole peaches in it until the skins were easily removed. I let them cool, saving the white wine, mixture in the freezer. I figure it can use it later for a simple syrup or maybe even a peachy vinaigrette. Once cooled, the peaches were peeled and sliced and set aside.

    Peaches happily blanching in Peches
    The skin of the peach slides off easily after its been blanched
    I sliced the Madeira cake into chunks slathered on the pomegranate jelly, then drizzled them with the Pêches to form the first layer in the bowl. That layer was then topped with the cooled custard.

    Finished Madeira cake soaked in Peches and topped with the pomegranate jelly

    The second layer of Pêches soaked cake topped with pom jelly was also covered with the custard and then topped with the sliced peaches to completely cover the custard. Another layer of cake and the last bit of custard and peaches formed the third layer. I then covered it and put it into the fridge to chill for a few hours.

    Almost ready for the cream
    For the whipped topping, I took heavy cream and beat it till stiff, slowly adding drips of the Pêches, crossing my fingers and hoping it wouldn’t curdle the cream. I managed to get about a 1/4 cup of the liqueur into the cream, giving it a nice peachy flavor with a kick. A half cup of caster sugar poured in a bit at a time gave it sweetness.

    The trifle is coming together

    I scooped out the cream and filled the rest of the bowl with it. Topped it with grated dark chocolate and hand poured (a little sloppily but I couldn’t find my piping bag, I think Jasmine or Aiden made it disappear) two fat chocolate butterflies. Back into the fridge it went to chill until the party. This trifle is intensely flavored, extremely rich and a little goes a long way. I’d say it serves about 20-25 people in small servings.
    Now that\'s a trifle sexy

Lots of fun desserts