Halloween treats... no tricks...!

Spiderweb cup cakes with cup cake truffle spiders... cupcake truffle bloody eyeballs and chocolate coating dipped witch fingers.

Macarons

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

I made pumpkin pie spiced macarons... look...! I got feet!!! I was a bit worried and as you can see from the picture below, I had some issues with piping. It is not my strong suit... and after a blow out with the disposable bag I was using, well, I just put some blobs down on the parchment but those turned out rather well actually... (the small ones were actually piped...)

I filled mine with an Apple Butter Cream Cheese icing... they taste really good... nice crunch on the bite, chewy in the middle... As yummy as they are, I think I will have to defer to my favorite place to get them in Seattle... Honore Artisan Bakery, 1413 NW 70th StSeattle, WA 98117... they make much better Macaron's than I do... I love their lavander ones - they're filled with a lavander chocolate ganache...!

Vols-au-Vent.... say what?

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.


I had some camera issues.... um... who remembered to get new batteries...? *blushes* So no pictures of the process other than baking...

My larger Vols-au-Vent were filled with BBQ Beef and topped with shredded cheese...

My smaller ones... which were fab... were filled with Key Lime flavored no bake Cheesecake and served with Whipped cream and Lime Zest...

Fun challenge... my arms have never been so sore but I will happily make them again...

July daring bakers... better late than never...

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

I swapped out sugar free chocolate chips in the filling and dipped the edges of a few in sprinkles...

And then shared them with Stitch... LOL He liked them a lot...

Vacation...

So I'm currently in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada... on vacation visiting my best friend. ;o)

So far, it's been quite the adventure.

The day I arrived... was nice... not too hot... not too cool... but just as night fell, the wind picked up and sent trees rolling through parking lots... brought down the canopy of one of the big downtown towers on someone... and the next day, lots and lots of trees were looking very worse for the wear.

But since then, it's been nice... got a sunburn yesterday... Rode the Mindbender at the West Ed Mall on Tuesday... Ate poutine for the first time on Sunday... Donair for the first time yesterday... and have discovered that dipping fries in gravy isn't really that strange of a thing after all.

I have been eating my way from Tim Horton's to the next Tim Hortons... it was the easiest thing to locate and program into my GPS for the way here. LOL I don't eat at all of them... seriously. But each and every A&W has become a running joke because that is my choice of on the road restroom and drink stop. At home, the only A&W's really left are a combo with KFC... and they put ice in the root beer! gasp... the horror... .I've long since forgotten the taste of an A&W in a frosty mug and I will happily admit to drinking regular root beer in these stops instead of Diet... but I guess that just helps because at least it's root beer so no caffiene.

I have had Ketchup flavored chips... caved in and purchased cookies by george... yummo! And have introduced my friend to Crystal light in tubs. Apparently they only come in big packets here. I have walked the entire mall at West Edmonton... up down and all around. LOL

It's been a great time and when I can reuinte with my computer and camera then I will make sure to post some pictures.

Oh... but for what I forgot to take pictures of... was my dinner at the Unheardof restaurant.

OHHHH!!!!

But more of that soon... I have a dish or two to try and recreate... ;o)

Well... it dawned on me that I've been very slow in posting what I've been up to... ;o)

How in the world could I have forgotten about my bread pudding? Sourdough Bread, dried cranberries, dark chocolate chips and almonds... it was yummy!

Then, recently... there were the sugar cookie beachballs for a beach themed work party...



and the lemon cake, lemon frosting cupcake bites for a friend's wedding - matching her wedding colors....

And... coming soon... what did I manage to do with these luscious Oregon Strawberries? mmmm... just like home, fresh picked, sun warmed... ?

Daring Bakers: Bakewell Tart/Pudding...

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.




Sweet shortcrust pastry
Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film
225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.
Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.
Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Frangipane

Prep time: 10-15 minutes

Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula
125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened

125g (4.5oz) icing sugar

3 (3) eggs2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract

125g (4.5oz) ground almonds

30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Assembling the tart

Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

My changes... I have a decided lack of almond extract around here so in both parts that needed it, I subbed coconut extract. Hence the coconut that was placed on top of the Tart... pudding instead. I also used coconut flour in the fragipane instead of the regular flour. I used a seedless organic blackberry preserve from Trader Joes...

My observation - 400 was too hot for this at least in my oven, it is a lot darker than I would think it should be. So therefore, sometime when I'm not rushing so much, I'll make it and lower the temperature a tad...

In conclusion... I must try harder to not leave this to last minute. As my kitchen aid would have been too big to do this in, and between you and me... is not available to go right now anyway as it's still swamped in behind dirty dishes from other projects. LOL ... So I bought a hand mixer today.

Only...

Hand mixers are supposed to have beaters, right? Well... straight from the box, the one I picked didn't have any... so it's off to the store again for me to exchange it tomorrow. **rolls eyes** I'd laugh, but now after baking at 400 for 30 minutes, it's too dang hot in here. Will share my thoughts about taste tomorrow after I have a chance to try it.