Edit: Ugh! I set this to automatically post while I was in Europe and it didn’t. Wordpress must hate me.

It’s the end of the month and what does that mean for baker blog world!? The Daring Bakers challenge is due of course and for once I remembered to get it done on time! Since I lost track of time and missed the last two challenges I MADE SURE I had this one done early! Oh and it doesn’t stop there! Not only did I finish this challenge within the first week of July, but I also made it THREE times! I would have made these bad boys a fourth if I hadn’t run out of gelatin because the recipe is just that amazing. My family went through these so fast that they would be completely gone by day two. It was insane.

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.

Oh and I have decided that I’m going to try and start this new thing. You see, my favorite types of food blogs are the ones that try to capture as many steps as possible. I’m a very visual person so I love being able to see how everything is supposed to look as you go along. As fantastic as a final picture looks, I really love being able to tell if my mix looks correct and to see what kind of techniques others use so I want to try and do this as well. Beware, this blog is about to get rather picture heavy!

Begin by blending all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, then add the butter.

At a low speed, mix until it has a sandy look!

Add the eggs and mix until well combined!

Mold the dough into a disk-like shape (it really doesn’t matter), wrap in clingform, and chill for 1 hour up to 3 days.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease or line a cookie sheet. Lightly flour your surface and roll out the dough to around a 1/8th inch thickness.

Find a cookie cutter that’s about 1 to 1-21/2 inches and cut away! I actually found that I liked the cookies more when I used a 1 inch cookie cutter. They felt really big when I used a larger one, but whatever works for you!

Place you’re lovely little dough pieces on your prepared sheet and bake for ten minutes (or until golden brown).

Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature. On my second and third batch I spread a layer of peanut butter on each cookie. It made them taste even better!

Anyway, begin to prepare your marshmallow! I’d like to note that I found THIS video very helpful when making marshmallows if it’s your first time.

Now, in a saucepan combine water, corn syrup, and sugar. Allow to boil to the soft ball stage or until it’s around 235 degrees.

Dissolve gelatin in cold water. Remove your syrup from the heat and mix in the gelatin.

Whip the egg whites into soft peaks form! This should take a couple minutes.

Pour the syrup mixture into the egg whites and add vanilla extract.

Continue whipping until stiff and when it gets that fantastic shine. It’ll be slightly runny, but not too runny. It should be able to hold some sort of shape without turning back into a blob. Transfer to a piping bag.

Pipe a kiss on top of each cookie.

If you want a more uniform look there was another method suggested by Audax Artifex, which I tried on my second batch.

You can fill a tray with flour, icing sugar, or even cornstarch and loosely stamp your marshmallow shape into it. Then fill the holes with marshmallow and allow to sit for up to 2 hours or until stiff enough to move.

I found this method helpful to get a perfect dome shape, but I sort of sucked at getting the bottom flat so my second batch was still kind of funky. On my third try I used an open star piping tip and piped the marshmallows in a swirl.

Create your chocolate glaze. Line a cookie sheet with parchment and begin to dip your marshmallow cookies into the glaze one at a time. Use a fork to scoop them out and to allow any excess chocolate to fall off. The marshmallow shouldn’t melt. I did find that when I accidentally burned the chocolate the marshmallows melted almost instantly, but when done correctly they were fine.

Let set until the coating is firm (about 1-2 hours). I put mine in the fridge overnight because I happened to finish mine at around midnight each time. It was also insanely humid where I live so there was no way the chocolate would ever fully set at room temperature.

All done and boy were they delicious! I swear to you, that layer of peanut butter did wonders. Somehow marshmallow, cinnamon cookie, peanut butter, and chocolate all go so well together. I would never have known! I really want to try other combinations now!

Here’s the inside of the first batch without that fantastic peanut butter layer. I also made the mistake of making my cookies too thick. Woops! Still very delicious though.

In all, this challenge was fantastic. It’s not too hard, but surprisingly incredibly delicious and addictive. Your family won’t be able to keep their hands off these little cookies! Oh and don’t forget about the Milan cookies too! I never got a chance to make them, but from everyone elses pictures they looked amaazzzinnggg. Mmm. God I love cookies.

Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies

• 3 cups (375 grams/13.23 oz) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cups (112.5 grams/3.97 oz) granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 Tablespoons (170 grams/6 oz) unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, whisked together
• Homemade marshmallows (recipe follows)
• Chocolate glaze (recipe follows)

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.
2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.
3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.
4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.
8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.
10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.
11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.
12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.
13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: If you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Homemade Marshmallow

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate Glaze

• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

Milan Cookies

• • 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar
• 7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon extract
• 1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour
• Cookie filling, recipe follows

Cookie filling:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 orange, zested

1. In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.
2. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.
3. Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.
4. With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.
6. While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream.
7. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.
8. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).
9. Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.
10. Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.

I just can’t win when it comes to this blog! I’m awful at updating. I love taking the pictures, editing them, and getting them just right, but I hate actually writing up these entries. That was always my problem with making websites. I could spend hours on the web design, but dreaded actually making content. Anyway, I actually completed this challenge at the very beginning the month. I was so proud of myself! For once I would write up my post early and wait for it to automatically post on the magic Daring Baker’s posting day. For once I would be ahead and not scrambling to get this entry done near midnight the night before. However, April also happened to the month of final exams so my early procrastination only left me the last two weeks of April, which were completely dedicated to studying till I died. Of course the need to relax for a bit and finally a summer job got in a the way and well… you know the rest!

The April 2009 challenge was hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

I was relieved the moment I saw April’s Daring Baker’s Challenge. I love the great and beautiful people at DB, but sometimes they choose recipes that are complicated and include so many ingredients that I just can’t afford to participate. April’s choice was perfect! A cheesecake! How simple, right? We were given a basic recipe and allowed to get as creative as we wanted with it. Not only was it cheap because I all I had to buy was cream cheese and then use whatever I had on hand, but it also granted everyone so much freedom to make a billion types of variations.

I made two cheesecakes for this challenge (I actually had planned on another, but never had time for it)! One was a Bailey’s Irish Cream cheesecake with a dulce de leche swirl and devil’s food cake base and the other was Tiramisu because I’m obsessed with that amazing dessert.

Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake

Crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.
2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too – baker’s choice. Set crust aside.
3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.
4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.
5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done – this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won’t crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil “casserole” shaped pans from the grocery store. They’re 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away. I actually used a normal 6 inch cake pan, but buttered the sides of the pan and then lined it with parchment paper. I wanted to make small cheesecakes, but didn’t want to waste money on a new springform pan. Luckily this trick worked perfectly and the cheesecake came out easily!

Prep notes: While the actual making of this cheesecake is a minimal time commitment, it does need to bake for almost an hour, cool in the oven for an hour, and chill overnight before it is served. Please plan accordingly!

Bailey's Irish Cream cheesecake with dulce de leche swirl

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake

Components:

• Devil’s food cake crust
• Bailey’s Irish Cream cheesecake
• Dulce de Leche swirl
• Optional whip cream for decoration

The Steps I Took:
Assembling this cake is fairly easy and all needed recipes have been provided below.

1. Make the devil’s food cake with the recipe provided below. Follow the baking directions exactly and set aside while it cools. I actually think I made the cakes the night before.
2. To make the dulce de leche, instead of doing that silly can boiling method, I instead poured all of the unsweetened condensed milk into a saucepan and allowed it to cook at around medium to medium-high heat for at least an hour. This way is much faster, safer, and easier do because you can actually see how dark and thick it’s become over time.
3. In order to make the cheesecake I simply followed the provided cheesecake recipe (skipping the crust of course), excluded the lemon juice, and added about 2 tbsp of Bailey’s Irish Cream. You can decide how much you want to use. I merely did it based on how it tasted.
4. Now that you have your cheesecake items ready, pour the cheesecake mixture into your pan, then spoon some of dulce de leche on top and use a knife to cut through it and make a marbled effect.
5. Bake the cheesecake as directed, then let it cool on a wire rack. Once at room temperature you can begin to assemble everything! Take your devil’s food cake base (you can cut it down a bit if it looks too big) and cover it with a layer of dulce de leche. Place the cheesecake on top, then slather another layer of ducle de leche on top of that.
6. For the finishing touches I took my other small devil’s food cake, made crumbs, and sprinkled them on top of the dulce de leche, being careful to push them down a bit at the end in order to make sure they stuck. I had already placed my remaining dulce de leche in a squeeze bottle (much like those red and yellow ketchup and mustard ones you get at restaurants) and striped the top with dulce de leche.
7. I felt that it looked a little plain still and whipped up some whip cream with 1 cup heavy cream, 1/4 cup sugar, and a bit of vanilla extract. You can add some gelatin if you want to make a more stabliized whip cream, but I don’t have a recipe for that. You can look that up!
8. Once fully put together, I put the cheesecake in the fridge to completely chill. Serve as you like.

Devil’s Food Cake

Recipe from the Devil’s Food White-Out Cake in Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

• 1-1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/4 sticks (10 tbs) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• 1/2 cup buttermilk or whole milk, room temperature
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 4 oz semisweet or milk chocolate, finely chopped or 2/3 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8×2 round cake pans (I used two 6×3 inch cake pans) .
2. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy.
4. Add the sugars and continue to beat for another 3 minutes. Add the eggs one by one, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Don’t be concerned if it looks curdled!
5. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in melted chocolate. When it is fully incorporated, add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, adding the dry in 3 additions and the milk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients). Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix only until the ingredients disappear into the batter.
6. At this point, the batter will be thick, like frosting. Still working on a low speed, mix in the boiling water, which will thin the batter considerably.
7. Switch to a rubber spatula, scrape down the bowl, and stir in chopped chocolate.
8. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and smooth the tops with the rubber spatula.
9. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating pans at the midway point. When fully baked they will be springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the center will come out clean. Don’t worry if tops have small cracks.
10. Transfer to a rack to cool for about 5 minutes, then take it out of the pan and let cool to room temperature.

The remaining slice of the Bailey's cheesecake. Notice the bottom layer of dulce de leche oozing out!

Tiramisu Cheesecake

Components:

• Chocolate Teddy Graham crust
• Kahlua Cheesecake
• Lady Fingers
• Espresso syrup to dip the ladyfingers in
• Cocoa powder
• Tiramisu Cream
• Optional whip cream for decoration

The Steps I Took:
I wnated this cheesecake to resemble tiramisu so the steps are very similar to that. All needed recipes have been provided below.

1. To make the Teddy Graham crust use the crust recipe provided, but substitute chocolate Teddy Grahams for the graham crackers.
2. Follow the cheesecake recipe and set the cheesecake mixture aside. You’re going to put all of the components together before baking.
3. If you haven’t done it already, line the pan you want to use with the crust and bake as directed.
4. Once done dip each side of the ladyfingers in espresso syrup and arrange in a single layer on top the crust. Break up pieces as needed to make it fit.
5. Pour half of the cheesecake mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then dust with a layer of cocoa powder.
6. Repeat the process by making another layer of  dipped lady fingers, cheesecake, and cocoa powder.
7. Bake as directed, then set on wire rack to cool. Once at room temperature remove from pan and chill.
8. If desired, decorate with whip cream and sprinkle cocoa powder on top. Enjoy!

Inside view of the tiramisu cheesecake to show off the layering.

Both recipes came from the Cook’s Illustrated Tiramisu recipe.

Espresso Syrup

• 1 cup brewed espresso, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons dark rum

Tiramisu Cream

• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 pound mascarpone (I used cream cheese)
• 3/8 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons dark rum

I halfed this recipe, That’s why it ended up with 3/8 cup heavy cream. Double it if you want the regular amount.

1. For the espresso syrup: combine both ingredients and set aside.
2. For the Tiramisu Cream: In bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat yolks at low speed until just combined.
3. Add sugar and salt and beat at medium-high speed until pale yellow, 1-1/2 to 2 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula once or twice.
4. Add 2 tablespoons rum and beat at medium speed until just combined, 20 to 30 seconds; scrape bowl.
5. Add mascarpone and beat at medium speed until no lumps remain, 30 to 45 seconds, scraping down bowl once or twice. Transfer mixture to large bowl and set aside.
6. In now-empty mixer bowl (no need to clean bowl), beat cream at medium speed until frothy, 1 to 1-1/2 minutes.
7. Increase speed to high and continue to beat until cream holds stiff peaks, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes longer. Using rubber spatula, fold one-third of whipped cream into mascarpone mixture to lighten, then gently fold in remaining whipped cream until no white streaks remain. Set mascarpone mixture aside.

Tiramisu slice. Notice the custard like Tiramisu cream on top!

Sadly, I didn't realize my memory card wasn't in my camera when I took photos of the Bailey's cheesecake. When I finally realized only this small piece was left.

It’s the end of the month and time for a Daring Baker’s post again! In the spirit of Valentine’s Day we were instructed to make a flourless chocolate cake and accompany it with an ice cream of our choice. Having missed the last two challenges cause I’m a total lame-o, I was mega excited about doing this challenge. In fact, I actually didn’t procrastinate like I usually do and made it ahead of time! High five, Rebecca!

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. They have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

This cake is extremelyyy chocolatey, which is perfect for all you chocolate lovers out there. I used a huge block of dark chocolate so the ice cream was definitely needed to tone down the extreme richness of this cake. Seriously, it’s so rich that it’s hard to eat it plain, but I’m sure there are some chocolate loving people out there that would have no problem with it. I also covered my cake in brown sugar whip cream to assist in toning down the chocolateyness.

Some of the things that they told us to keep in mind while making this cake is that you should use your favorite chocolate. This cake will taste EXACTLY like the chocolate you use. This cake also has a high cocoa percentage, which increases the bitterness of a cake. If you want a sweeter cake, then use milk chocolate. Also, some people were able to make this cake with white chocolate, but it isn’t the easiest thing to accomplish because white chocolate is not the same as real chocolate. If you do produce a cake with white chocolate it won’t be the prettiest thing in the world, but I’m sure it’ll taste great.

Note on recipe – the recipe consists of 3 simple
ingredients and how you interpret them is part of the challenge. The
simplicity of this recipe gives credit to the ingredients much in the
same way of French baguette.
-This recipe comes together very quickly with a hand mixer.
-This is a very decadent cake that will sink a little as it cools but will still hold its shape.
-Very dense and fudgy cake that tastes divine.
-The top forms a light crust kind of like a brownie

Chocolate Valentino

(Recipe from Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy)
I used a 6 inch pan and got two cakes out of this recipe.

• 16 oz/1 pound/454 grams of chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) + 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 5 large eggs, separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.  Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. 10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

As seen in my previous post, Brown Sugar Toffee Ice Cream with a Dulce de Leche Swirl is my current ice cream obsession so it was obvious that I’d choose to make that to go along with this cake. I decided to follow the theme of my ice cream and made brown sugar whip cream to cover the cake. I felt like a frosting would have been too much so a light whip cream was perfect. I also sprinkled toffee bits along the top and covered the sides of one of the cakes completely in toffee bits. I also added dark chocolate curls for decoration and tried to make white chocolate curls, but they turned more into flakes so I just scattered them on top too. 

This cake was good, but again not quite my tastes. I’m not a major chocolate lover and I also only like my cakes chilled, but that sort of hardened the cake too much. I think I might have also baked it too long (considering it’s hard to tell when it’s done) because my cake came out pretty dry. It was still good for a new treat to enjoy, but I think my cakes actually got thrown out in the end because no one wanted to eat them. Oh well!

I don’t know why I made this ice cream the first time. Maybe I always wanted to learn how to make dulce de leche or maybe I was so mesmerized by this recipe that I didn’t care that it would be more work. I guess it really doesn’t matter because all I know now is that this ice cream is the best I’ve ever had. I love is so much that I’ve made it multiple times and would be more than happy to eat nothing, but this ice cream for the rest of my life. Brown sugar toffee ice cream by itself sounds really good, but having the gooey, delicious dulce de leche swirled throughout this ice cold custard from heaven makes it almost orgasmic.

If you’ve been dying to buy that fancy shmancy ice cream maker, then this should be your reason to go for it. Just the thought of living without this ice cream seems almost pointless. You must make it! Okay, that’s a bit overdramatic, but seriously, you get the idea. This ice cream is pretty damn good. Make it already!

Brown Sugar Toffee Ice Cream with Dulce de Leche Swirl

(Recipe from Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy)

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 pinch sea salt
• 1 vanilla bean, split with the seeds scraped out
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Toffee bits (as many as you want)
• 1 cup dulce de leche (recipe below)

1. Heat the milk, 1 cup heavy cream, salt, and both sugars in a saucepan. Add the vanilla bean seeds and pod to the mixture. Cover the saucepan and let steep for 30 minutes.
2. Pour the remaining heavy cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, then slowly pour in the warm milk mixture, whisking constantly. Pour the contents back into the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a heat-resistant spatula until the custard thickens. Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Put the vanilla bean back into the custard and chill thoroughly.
4. When chilled, remove the vanilla bean and freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions.
5. During the last few minutes add the toffee bits to the ice cream so that they are evenly distributed.
6. Whisk the dulce de leche. When the ice cream is finished churning, pour it into a freezable container, alternating between scoops of ice cream and scoops of dulce de leche. Freeze to desire consistency.
   

I’m a total newbie when it comes to making dulce de leche. I’m sure there are plenty of other ways to make it, maybe even ones from scratch that taste better, but until I can find a store that sells it, then this one will work for me. It’s really simple and the only hard part is adding more water to the pot when it starts to get low. Also, there is a very helpful video here that you can watch.

Dulce de Leche

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk

1. Remove label from can. With a can opener or even a nail and hammer, poke a few holes into the top of the can so that it can’t explode.
2. Fill a saucepan with water and place can inside. You’ll want enough water so that 2/3 of the can is submerged. Adding too much will cause the water to splash onto the top of the can and go inside your holes.
3. Boil the water for 3-5 hours depending on the thickness desired. (I usually cook mine for 4 hours and it ends up pretty thick). Be sure to refill the water every now and then as well.
4. Once you think it’s ready, remove the can from the water and carefully open it up. Pour all of the contents into a bowl and whisk to get the clumps out. Enjoy!

Note: When you open up the can do not be alarmed if the top of it still looks really liquidy. The bottom cooks the most so although you may have really thick dulce de leche at the bottom, you may still have a light color liquid at the top. I panicked and thought mine wasn’t done, but it will be.

Valentines Day has come and gone and I was more than happy to spend it at home with my family. Who needs a significant other to enjoy Valentines Day anyways? Of course holidays, to me, are excuses to bake and I took that opportunity to finally start my Ben and Jerry’s themed cupcakes. You see, a few months ago I went through the list of ice cream on the Ben and Jerry’s website and made up cupcakes for all of the ones that sounded good to me. With Valentines Day approaching I looked back over that list and saw one that had Valentines like colors. Neapolitan Dynamite! How perfect!

Neapolitan Dynamite ice cream consists of Cherry Garcia (cherry ice cream with cherries and fudge flakes) and Chocolate Fudge Brownie (chocolate ice cream with fudge brownies) ice creams, side by side.  I decided to replicate this by making a cupcake that was half cherry and half chocolate, filled with cherry chocolate ganache, and topped with some sort of cherry frosting. In the final moments I actually forgot to mix the cherry preserves into the chocolate ganache, but it was fine anyway.

My sister and I, luckily, each have our own Kitchen Aid stand mixer so I was able to prepare the ingredients and make both of these batters simultaneously. Don’t worry too much if you can’t do that, but I’d still suggest having all of your ingredients prepared before you start. It sure makes life easier! Also note that it doesn’t matter if you make them in the order that I listed. I listed each batter’s directions separately even though in the end you’ll bring them together.

To Start: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cherry Cupcakes

(Recipe from Jacki’s Bento Blog)

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs, room temperature and separated
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2/3 cup maraschino cherry juice
• 1 10oz jar of maraschino cherries, finely chopped

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy (about 4 or 5 minutes). Add two egg yolks and mix for an additional minute. Add remaining egg yolks and mix for an additional minute.
2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, combine milk and cherry juice.
3. Alternate between adding dry ingredients and liquid ingredients to the butter mixture, a little bit at a time.
4. Fold in chopped cherries.
5. In small bowl, beat egg whites on high until stiff peaks form. With a rubber spatula, add about 1/2 cup of the egg whites to the mixture and fold in gently, to separate and lighten the batter. Add remaining egg whites and fold in gently until no white streaks are present.

Chocolate Cupcakes

(Recipe from Crazy about Cupcakes)

• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup boiling water
• 4 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 + 4 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plain yogurt, room temperature

1. Place the cocoa in a small bowl. Pour the boiling water over cocoa and whisk until all lumps are dissolved. Add the bittersweet chocolate to the cocoa paste, and stir until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.
2. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on a medium speed until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and beat 1 minute after each addition. Add the vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix at low speed until well integrated. Add the yogurt and mix well. Add the remainder of the dry ingredients. Mix until combined. Add the chocolate. Mix until blended. Do not overmix.

Time to put them in the pan! Fill cupcake tins half way with equal amounts of chocolate and cherry batter, side by side. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool in the pan for five minutes before removing to a wire wrack. Allow to cool completely before decorating.

Chocolate Ganache

• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 2 or 3 tablespoons of cherry preserves (I forgot to do this part)

1. Place chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the heavy cream until simmering, then pour over chocolate.
2. Stir for about a minute until chocolate has completely melted.
3. Add the butter and preserves and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.

This was my first time making swiss meringue buttercream. I had always been too afraid to bother with it, but now that I have I’m definitely sticking to it. American buttercream tastes more like powdered sugar mush, but swiss meringue buttercream is silky, rich, and just plain amazing. Then again, if you have swiss meringue fears like I had, then I’d recommend watching this video. It’s incredibly helpful and makes the frosting seem less intimidating. The woman in the video also explains the curdling effect that happens when making swiss meringue and assures you that it’s supposed to look like that. When mine looked like a curdled soupy mess I decided to take her word for it and continue to let it mix for a few more minutes. Right before my eyes my frosting transformed from the soupy mess to beautiful, thick, and silky buttercream frosting. It was amazing!

Cherry Swiss Meringue Buttercream

(Recipe from Tofu and Cupcakes)

• 5 large egg whites
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, cut into tablespoons
• 3 tablespoons cherry preserves
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• Pink or Red food coloring (optional)

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk egg whites gently with a pinch of salt.
2. Add sugar and stir.
3. Place the bowl over a small pot of simmering watering so the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water and whisk vigorously until the sugar is melted about 4-5 minutes. The mixture will become thick and white. Test by rubbing mixture between your thumb and index finger; if you can feel the grains of sugar it’s not ready. It should feel completely smooth. At the this point the eggs are pasteurized and safe to eat.
4. With the whisk attachment of the electric miser, beat on high for about 7 minutes until shiny, stiff peaks form.
5. Lower to medium speed add in softened butter one or two tablespoons at a time until butter is completely incorporated.
6. Switch to paddle attachment and set the speed to low. Add in Cherry Preserves, almond extract and food coloring. Mix for about 5 minutes to eliminate any air bubbles.

I didn’t feel like going all the way out to Michael’s to get some Valentines Day sprinkles so instead I used red jimmies from my Christmas set, the pink sanding sugar from my Easter one, and some white nonpareils that I had on hand. Those themed sets come in handy when you least expect them to!

Assembly Time!

1. Once your cupcakes have fully cooled, then it’s time to use the cone method (see cupcakeblog for visual reference) to cut out the center.
2. With a knife, cut out a cone from the center of the cupcake and cut the tip off of it. Set cone piece aside.
3. Spoon the cooled chocolate ganache into the center of the cupcake and replace the cone piece on top.
4. Fill a piping bag with frosting and pipe frosting on top of the cupcake.
5. Decorate however you desire, eat, and enjoy!

These cupcakes were definitely a change from the usual types I make. I’ve never really been fond of fruit flavored foods and these surely didn’t win me over. I’m more of a chocolate, coffee, caramel dessert loving type of girl, but to each their own. I would like to note that I did, however, have one real problem with this recipe. The cherry batter rose higher than the chocolate and I think the chocolate side was also done before the cherry. If I was ever to do this again I’d probably just create a recipe myself that starts with a base so that I could add cherries or cocoa to it and still attain the same results from both sides. Oh well! At least I learned something from this experience.

I actually made THREE different things this weekend, but none were post worthy. The cookies I made were another experiment to find the best peanut butter cookie recipe and they weren’t anything spectacular, I messed up on the crust AND the ganache on my cheesecake, and my cupcakes (despite what my dad says) were a complete disaster. It’s so frustrating!

I do at least have an ice cream recipe to post sometime in the near future so look forward to that! I’ve already made it twice, probably a third time this weekend, and if it wasn’t unhealthy I would absolutely consider living off of it. Mmm, it’s so unbelievably good.

Anyways, that’s all. Just wanted to make a quick update and explain what’s going on with me. Adios for now!~

Every good baker knows that you have to experiment with many different recipes, be willing to tweak ingredients here and there, and be open minded to new ideas when it comes to finding “the one”. That basic cake that you can proudly call the best, the one that we all dream to someday discover, fall in love with, and live happily ever after. For me, those dreams have yet to come true and I ultimately blame it on the fact that I rarely ever focus on vanilla or chocolate cake.

I’ve had many baking experiments in my life and it wasn’t until recently that I realized I haven’t actually made a real attempt to find my go to vanilla or chocolate cake recipe. I’ve definitely had over a dozen experiments with peanut butter cookies (still with no real breakthrough), but never any with cake and I find that surprising. I’m always too eager to jump into a recipe that requires something more unique, more out of the ordinary, and more complex than plain vanilla or chocolate. Maybe it’s simply because I always want to amaze people with something they aren’t used to or maybe I just enjoy a less common flavor, but either way I surely need to find my “one” and David Lebovitz’s recipe for devil’s food cake is a step in that direction.

I love David Lebovtiz, I truly do. His creations are terrific and his books (especially The Perfect Scoop) are a true inspiration. When I discovered that he had a recipe for devil’s food cake I knew I had to try it and boy was I glad that I did. This cake (and even the batter) tastes absolutely sinful and it remains nice and moist for quite some time.

After finding the cake my next mission was to figure out exactly what kind of cupcakes I wanted to make with it. Perhaps I could have another go at the peanut butter cupcakes or keep things simple for once and compliment it with a cream cheese frosting. I did my usual precupcake baking research and came across a recipe for devil’s food cake with raspberry jam buttercream and raspberry truffles at the always sensational Culinary Concoctions by Peabody and at first site I instantly knew this was the recipe I wanted to make!

Devil’s Food Cupcake

(Recipe from David Lebovitz)

• 9 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1-1/2 cups cake flour (Not self-rising. All-purpose flour works too.)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup strong coffee (or water)
• 1/2 cup whole or low-fat milk

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
   
2. Sift together cocoa powder, cake flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl.
3. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, or by hand, beat together the butter and sugar about 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. (If using a standing electric mixer, stop the mixer as necessary to scrape down the sides to be sure everything is getting mixed in.)
4. Mix together the coffee and milk. Stir half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, the add the coffee and milk. Finally stir in the other half of the dry ingredients.
5. Pour into lined cupcake pans, about 3/4 of the way full, and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Raspberry Jam Buttercream

(Recipe from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody)

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 6-8 cups powdered sugar (Any more than 6 was too much for me.)
• 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

1. Place butter and jam in a mixing bowl or an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream until well incorporated, about 2 mintues.
2. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until you reach desired consistency. If frosting gets too thick you can add a little milk to thin it out.

Raspberry Truffles

(Recipe from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody)

• 2 pints fresh raspberries, cleaned and dried
• 5 oz semisweet chocolate
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

1. Place chocolate and raspberry jam in a heat proof bowl.
2. Bring cream to a boil. Pour over chocolate and jam and let sit for about 3 minutes.
3. Whisk together chocolate mixture. If it is still a little lumpy, put in microwave for a few seconds and whisk again.
   
4. Put ganache into a piping bag and pipe chocolate into fresh raspberries, then let sit in fridge for about 15 minutes.
   

Assembly

1. Using the cone method, cut out the center of each cupcake and fill with raspberry jam.
2. Replace the top  and pipe on raspberry buttercream frosting.
   
3. Top each cupcake with a raspberry truffle and enjoy!

]]> http://hellobaker.net/2009/01/the-devil-loves-his-berries/feed/ 18 http://hellobaker.net/2009/01/how-an-engineer-solves-a-craving-problem/ http://hellobaker.net/2009/01/how-an-engineer-solves-a-craving-problem/#comments Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:22:28 +0000 Rebecca http://hellobaker.net/?p=276

I am such a nerd it’s almost unbelievable. Despite being a really healthy eater I tend to crave ice cream on a regular basis. I don’t know what it is, but there’s just something about the delicious freezing cold sugary custard like goodness that is ice cream. If it was realistic, I’d gladly live off ice cream for the rest of my life.

So anyway, I was back at home and discovered that we had no ice cream. Oh no! What was I going to do!? I didn’t even have ingredients to make my own! Of course, being a chemical engineering major, my first thought was to make ice cream in a bag. Duh! It’s like the one and only science experiment you should even know how to do! Who needs to know chromatography, crystallization, or any of that other silly chemistry stuff! It’s all useless if you can’t eat it! The best part about making ice cream in a bag is that it only requires everyday items like milk, sugar, and salt. The one downfall it does have is that it melts really fast, but who cares if you’re going to eat it right away.

Ice cream in a bag is great because it’s a fun blast from the past for adults, but also something neat for kids to do at home. Kids will love this so much that they won’t even realize they’re doing science and they get a delicious cold reward at the end! Waht’s even better is that you can make easy variations with such a simple recipe like this. For example, instead of milk I used eggnog because I wanted something other than boring old vanilla. You can also add chocolate syrup for chocolate ice cream or maybe even peppermint or strawberry extract for a more interesting flavor. But hey, if you like plain old vanilla, then definitely go for it!

What you will need:

• 1/2 cup milk (I used eggnog for this one)
• 2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 ziploc sandwich bag
• 1 gallon size freezer bag
• Lots and lots of ice
• 1/4 cup rock salt (I didn’t really measure this)

Place the first three ingredients in the ziploc sandwich bag and then make sure you seal it tight! You don’t want any spills! Put enough ice in the gallon size bag to fill it up about halfway, then add the salt.

Place the sandwich bag in the gallon size bag and make sure the gallon size bag is sealed tight. After that shake, shake, shake the bag like crazy until the mixture thickens (about 5 to 10 minutes). I found it helpful to wear oven mitts while doing this because the bag can get VERY cold.

Finally, remove the sandwich bag from the gallon size bag and wipe it off a bit (you don’t want to end up eating the salt)! Now you can either eat straight out of the bag or you could do what I did and cut off the tip and pipe the ice cream into a dish. After that you’re all done. Now eat it fast or it’ll melt!

I know, I know, I’m an incredible slacker, but it’s finally time for an update! I have a few things that I need to address and then I’ll get down to business with my Daring Bakers stuff (because that’s really all anyone cares about)!

First off, I know I was super excited about joining Tuesdays with Dorie. I know I bought the book as an excuse to bake more. I know that I got lucky because they closed off membership. I know, I know that I should really be more active with it, but I’m just so busy with school that if I actually do want to bake on the weekends, then it’ll be something I’m craving and not a TwD recipe that I have to make.

I did, however, attempt the Thanksgiving Twofer Pie over break, thinking it’d be my amazing contribution to Thanksgiving dinner, but I failed miserably at it. I’ve never had a fancy for any type of pie so it was my first time every bothering to make one. The recipe sounded so simple; the hardest part was making the crust, which really wasn’t all that complicated (it tasted amazing by the way). However, when I took my pies out of the oven they weren’t, let’s just say, the most appealing things I’ve ever seen. Frankly, at least to me, they looked kind of disgusting, but my dad assured me that it was just funky because the sugar crystallized a bit on the top. No biggy, right!? Not quite.

I thought it’d be smart to have a taste test and although they tasted alright (the vanilla was a bit overpowering), they just weren’t worth it. My pies lacked the nice smooth, silkiness of a pumpkin pie and were strange and crumbly. Oh well! At least I can say I’ve made pie before!

Now, does this explanation mean I’ll make an effort to attempt more TwD recipes? Probably not. The recipes chosen for this month are actually appealing to me, but who knows how many I’ll get around to. (Plus my sister makes like thirty bazillion sugar cookies in December so I doubt I’ll be trying any cookie recipes)!

Secondly, I have a lot of recipes I’ve tried, taken amazing pictures of, and started posts on. I’ve just been too lazy to actually complete them. I’m not going to make any promises, but I’m going to try and them up because I’ve made lots of yummy things should definitely be shared with the world!

Okay, now for the only thing people probably care about, my cake for November’s Daring Bakers!

The fantastic hosts of this month, Dolores, Alex, and Jenny, chose Shuna Fish Lydon’s signature Caramel Cake, which was published in Bay Area Bites! Shuna, of Eggbeater, is a pastry chef that has been baking and cooking professionally for over 15 years. Along with this cake challenge, they also gave us the option to attempt Golden Vanilla Bean Caramels, which I would have loved to try, but I wasn’t about to buy golden syrup because I’d probably never use it again.

Now I must admit that I was a little intimidated by this challenge because I had never been successful with caramel in the past and am still not after making this cake. I actually almost didn’t even make this cake because I was so frustrated after failing FOUR TIMES at making the caramel syrup that I didn’t want to bother with it anymore. My first attempt became hard as a rock when it cooled. On my second try I was overly cautious and didn’t use enough heat, which caused all of the water to evaporate, leaving me with crystallized, white sugar. For my third try I turned the heat back up, but this time I cooked it for too long and it ended up being burnt. Sadly, after burning it, I foolishly repeated the mistake from my second attempt again.

After wasting eight cups of sugar I was ready to give up, but figured, “Hey I’ve come this far! What’s two more cups?” and decided to give it another go. This time I needed to be ready! I needed to have a clear vision of what I was supposed to be looking for while making the caramel syrup. I am a very visual person when it comes to baking and the recipe provided obviously didn’t include any pictures so I took it upon myself to watch multiple caramel tutorials on youtube. Let me tell you, they were incredibly helpful! I’d definitely suggest watching some for anyone that has trouble with caramel.

Most people seemed to stick to the basics when it came to this cake and didn’t get too fancy, but since I’m not much of a light frosting on light cake type of person I felt that my cake needed some chocolate. Between my cake layers I added dark chocolate mousse covered in a blanket of caramel syrup and then cheated by frosting the cake with a different caramel buttercream. The frosting we were required to use was more like a brown butter frosting and I absolutely hate how that tastes so I wasn’t about to use that. Finally, I poured a dark chocolate ganache over the cake and also piped it around the top and bottom.

In the end was this cake everything I hoped for? Not quite. I obviously have not yet mastered caramel and I think my syrup was a bit underdone because it didn’t have that amazing sugary goodness that caramel usually has. However, I wasn’t about to try again and my lame caramel syrup definitely caused the cake to lack flavor. Between you and me, the beautiful caramel syrup you see dripping down the sides of the cake in my pictures was secretly the kind you get at the store. I felt like the cake needed it added because it had absolutely no caramel flavor to it at all.

Overall my sad little cake was nothing to write home about and less than a fourth of it was eaten before being thrown out. From reading everyone else’s posts about how amazing this cake was I’m sure it was meant to be great, but it frustrated me so much that I doubt I’ll ever try it again. I’m so bitter towards this recipe that I’m not even going to post it. Instead you can go to Shuna’s post on Bay Area Bites or visit the DB blogroll and read the many posts about it.