Nanaimo Bars: Daring Bakers Challenge for January

Yes, I know I am way late for a January Challenge. DH and I are trying to eat less sweets, you see, and our business is closed, you see, and there is no hungry group of staffers to help us eat them. So I waited to make them until I had a hungry group of friends that I could share them with, at a get-together that happens the first Friday of each month. Foiled again! It snowed 8 inches by the time I was supposed to leave to go to the meeting (and an additional 10 inches since then) and I didn't get to go after all. So now I have 12 more yummy nanaimo bars calling to me from my refrigerator. (Sigh...)

Anyway, to get to the Challenge...

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 http://www.nanaimo.ca/.

The nanaimo bar (pronounced nuh-ny-moh) is a traditional Canadian cookie. (The Daring Bakers chose this bar in honor of the Winter Olympics slated to begin soon in Vancouver.) It is a 3-layer bar cookie built on the first layer which is a combination of butter, sugar, cocoa, egg, graham cracker crumbs, almonds and coconut. But the Daring Bakers never do anything the "easy" way, so the first step is to make the graham crackers. You can find the recipe for the graham crackers here. The recipe called for making gluten free graham crackers, but gave us the option of making them with wheat flour if we wanted. Since unusual flours are hard to come by in my area, I chose to do them with wheat.

For Gluten-Free Graham Wafers

Ingredients

1 cup (138 g) (4.9 ounces) Sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour)

3/4 cup (100 g) (3.5 ounces) Tapioca Starch/Flour

1/2 cup (65 g) (2.3 ounces) Sorghum Flour

1 cup (200 g) (7.1 ounces) Dark Brown Sugar, Lightly packed

1 teaspoon (5 mL) Baking soda

3/4 teaspoon (4 mL ) Kosher Salt

7 tablespoons (100 g) (3 ½ ounces) Unsalted Butter (Cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen)

1/3 cup (80 mL) Honey, Mild-flavoured such as clover.

5 tablespoons (75 mL) Whole Milk

2 tablespoons (30 mL) Pure Vanilla Extract

If making the graham crackers with wheat, replace the gluten-free flours (tapioca starch, sweet rice flour, and sorghum flour) with 2 ½ cups plus 2 tbsp of all-purpose wheat flour, or wheat pastry flour. Watch the wheat-based graham wafers very closely in the oven, as they bake faster than the gluten-free ones, sometimes only 12 minutes.

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pulse on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal. If making by hand, combine aforementioned dry ingredients with a whisk, then cut in butter until you have a coarse meal. No chunks of butter should be visible.

2. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky.

3. Turn the dough onto a surface well-floured with sweet rice flour and pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours, or overnight.

4. Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of sweet rice flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be quite sticky, so flour as necessary. Cut into 4 by 4 inch squares. Gather the scraps together and set aside. Place wafers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough.

5. Adjust the rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).

6. Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more sweet rice flour and roll out the dough to get a couple more wafers.

7. Prick the wafers with toothpick or fork, not all the way through, in two or more rows.

8. Bake for 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Might take less, and the starting location of each sheet may determine its required time. The ones that started on the bottom browned faster.

9. When cooled completely, place enough wafers in food processor to make 1 ¼ cups (300 mL) of crumbs. Another way to do this is to place in a large ziplock bag, force all air out and smash with a rolling pin until wafers are crumbs.

I put them a little close together on the baking sheet, and ended up with one giant graham cracker, but I was able to cut them apart where they were "scored" and since I was going to use the crumbs anyway, the shape wasn't really that critical. If you decide to make the graham crackers to eat as cookies, though, you need to put them an inch or so apart on the baking sheets.

After they cooled, I put them in my food processor and ground them into crumbs. Then I proceeded with the nanaimo bar recipe, which you can find here.

For Nanaimo Bars — Bottom Layer

1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter

1/4 cup (50 g) (1.8 ounces) Granulated Sugar

5 tablespoons (75 mL) Unsweetened Cocoa

1 Large Egg, Beaten

1 1/4 cups (300 mL) (160 g) (5.6 ounces) Gluten Free Graham Wafer Crumbs (See previous recipe)

1/2 cup (55 g) (1.9 ounces) Almonds (Any type, Finely chopped)

1 cup (130 g) (4.5 ounces) Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened)

For Nanaimo Bars — Middle Layer

1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter

2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (40 mL) Heavy Cream

2 tablespoons (30 mL) Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted.)

2 cups (254 g) (8.9 ounces) Confectioners Sugar

For Nanaimo Bars — Top Layer

4 ounces (115 g) Semi-sweet chocolate

2 tablespoons (28 g) (1 ounce) Unsalted Butter

Directions:

1. For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.

2. For Middle Layer: Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer.

3. For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.

They turned out to be really good, sweet and rich, as much like a candy as a cookie. Make them as a Winter Olympics Party treat. (You can start with store-bought graham crackers to make it simpler, of course, but where's the "challenge" in that?)

Daring Bakers French Macaroons

The October Daring Bakers Challenge was French Macarons or Macaroons. French macaroons are very different from what Americans think of as macaroons-- a chewy, mostly coconut cookie. These are a combination of ground almonds, egg whites, sugar and flavorings, sandwiched with a filling of our choice. They are light, like angel kisses.

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 ground the almonds in my food processor, then added the confectioners sugar and ground them again, to get the "almond flour" as fine as I could. The cookies are baked in two stages-- once at a low temperature for just a few minutes to dry the bottom of the cookie, then at a higher temperature for the remaining time. This results in a "foot" that doesn't rise as much as the rest of the cookie, which creates the distinctive macaroon shape.

I made the cookie recipe with no added flavors (flavors or zests were optional) and filled them with a chocolate almond ganache. The cookies at first were a contrast in textures-- a crispy cookie and a creamy chocolate filling. But as they sat, the cookie softened to a texture that just dissolved in my mouth. Yum!

You can find the recipe and directions for the cookies here.

Ingredients

Confectioners’ sugar: 2 ¼ cups

Almond flour: 2 cups

Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons

Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°F.

Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl.

If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.

2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.

3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.

4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip. You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.

5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).

6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F. Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.

7. Cool on a rack before filling.

The ganache recipe follows:

5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 Cup heavy cream, scalded

1/4 tsp almond extract

Put the chopped chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Pour the hot scalded cream over the chocolate and mix until blended. Add the almond extract, and mix to blend. Chill until the ganache is thick enough to spread, then put a liberal amount between each pair of macaroons.

The recipe made about 2 dozen filled cookies for me-- I must have made them larger than the directions called for. But they were delicious nonetheless!

Cream Colored Ponies and Crisp Apple Streudels

The May Daring Bakers Challenge is apple streudel! This was a tasty challenge, and not as complicated as the recipe/directions made it seem like it would be. It actually went together quite smoothly for me.

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

The dough was a simple mixture of flour, salt, water, oil and a touch of cider vinegar. I mixed it in my Kitchenaid mixer and then kneaded it for a while by hand. The directions say to knead it on an unfloured surface, but I needed a little flour to keep it from sticking. (Otherwise the only way to knead it on the second stroke was to scrape it off the counter with my dough scraper. )

After the dough rested, covered, for 90 minutes, I rolled it out on a floured tablecloth until it was very large and thin. The dough was soft and elastic, and rolled pretty well without tearing. I couldn't get it to be quite as large as the directions called for, so my strudle was a little shorter and fatter than it should have been. I covered it first with melted butter, then a layer of toasted bread crumbs. These act as a separator to keep the layers of dough from sticking together, allowing air to get between them to make them flaky.
I covered the crumb layer with a layer of walnuts, then the mixture of apples, rum-soaked raisins, cinnamon and sugar. The filling isn't heavily sweetened, and this results in a lighter, fresher taste than a pie would have.

The dough stretched over the filling easily without tearing. Then I used the tablecloth to roll the streudel over itself, maying layers of pastry as it rolled. I rolled it right onto the parchment-lined baking pan. No muss, no fuss.
I brushed melted butter on the outside of the roll and popped it into the oven.

It came out crusty and golden. I brushed it with a glaze of confectioners sugar, water and vanilla to make it shiny.

When it was still warm, I had a bite. Very good, light and flaky.

The recipe says it is best eaten right away, and that is my only complaint about the resulting streudel. It was very good immediately after I took it from the oven and it cooled to just warm. Later that night when we actually ate some for dessert, it had begun to get soggy, and the next day it was very soggy! But the flavor was still wonderful! So if you are making it for guests, don't make this one ahead. An hour or two before you serve it would be my suggestion.

Here is the recipe:

Apple strudel from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum

3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) unsalted butter, melted, divided

1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs

strudel dough (recipe below)

1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts

2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking-- I used Granny Smiths)

1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.

3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.

4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Strudel doughfrom “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed

2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough

1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Daring Bakers April Challenge: Cheesecake!

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

I love cheesecake! I've made it before, but always the baked in a pie pan shortcut version. I love that cheesecake, too. But the Daring Bakers never do anything the short-cut way. This was the bake-in-a-springform pan with a water bath, honest-to-god cheesecake. We had to follow the recipe for the cake, but we could add our own touch with the flavorings in the cake and with the topping.

I wanted to take it as a dessert for my friends in my garden club this past weekend, and I wanted the dessert to have a fresh spring flavor, so I made a blueberry/orange sauce and added orange liqueur to the cake as a flavoring. The result was yummy and light for a cheesecake. My friends said I would have won the prize for best dessert-- if there was a prize.

Here is the recipe:

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 (I used Triple Sec)

DIRECTIONS:

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.

Blueberry/Orange Sauce

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups water

3 Tbsp cornstarch

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

2T Triple Sec (or Grand Marnier)

1 Tbsp orange zest

2 cups blueberries, washed and checked for stems

1 1/2 Tbsp butter (optional)

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together the sugar, cornstarch, water, orange juice, liqueur and zest. Cook, stirring often, until thickened (about 5 minutes).

2. Stir in the blueberries and cook mixture until the berries burst, about 5 minutes more. Remove from heat and add the butter if using. Let cool, then spread over the cheesecake, or serve as a sauce on the side.

Chocolate Valentino-- The Daring Bakers Challenge for February

The Daring Bakers came up with a fairly easy challenge for us this month. It is called a Chocolate Valentino-- a dessert unlike any I've ever made before. It looks like a cake. It feels like a brownie when you touch the top and sides. It has the texture of a chocolate souffle. And the flavor? Heaven! The recipe comes from Chef Wan's Sweet Treats. (I don't think the book is available in the US-- sorry!)

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We 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.

Along with the Valentino, I made Wendy's Philadelphia Style Vanilla homemade ice cream to serve with it. I followed a recipe that was a lot easier than the vanilla ice cream recipe I usually use. Find the recipe at the end of the post.

Chocolate Valentino

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped

½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter

5 large eggs separated

The Valentino was quick to make. I used Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate bars (the kind of chocolate we used was up to us.) The cake basically tastes like whatever chocolate you use, so the better the quality of the chocolate, the better the cake. Ghirardelli was the best I could find. (I live in an area where there are no good food stores like Whole Foods.) Next time I'll order Scharffen Berger on line.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

First you coarsely chop the chocolate and combine it with the unsalted butter in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. (Don't let the water boil or touch the bottom of the bowl.) Mix the butter and chocolate together as they melt, and when they are all melted and blended, remove the bowl from the pan of water and let cool.

Next I buttered a deep 8 inch cake pan, lined it with a round of parchment and buttered that.

I separated the 5 room temperature eggs, and beat the whites in an oil-free bowl until stiff peaks formed. (Don't let them get dry, or your cake will be dry.)

Next I beat the yolks until smooth and creamy and blended them into the cooled butter/chocolate mixture. Then I folded in 1/3 of the egg whites gently, then the remainder, folding only until no white remained. (Don't overmix or you'll deflate the whites-- the egg whites are what makes the cake light and airy.)

Then I baked the cake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. The cake is ready when an instant-read thermometer reads 140 degrees in the center of the cake. (It will still be wet in the middle.) I let it cool for 10 minutes and then removed it from the pan onto my serving plate. I let it cool completely and then served it with the homemade vanilla ice cream. Gooood!

The ice cream recipe is below. Thanks, Wendy! Check out her blog here.

Wendy's Ice Cream Recipe

Vanilla Philadelphia Style Recipe

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

2 cups (473 ml) of half and half

1 cup (237 ml) heavy cream

2/3 (128 grams) cup sugar

Dash of salt

1 (12 grams) tablespoon of vanilla

Mix all ingredients together (we do this in a plastic pitcher and mix with an emulsifier hand blender-whisking works too).

Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer.

Mix in your ice cream maker as directed.

Daring Bakers Caramel Cake

This month's Daring Bakers' Challenge is a caramel cake from Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater ( http://eggbeater.typepad.com ). You can find the recipe here http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2006/12/24/caramel-cake-the-recipe/ . Hosting this month are Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity (http://culinarycuriosity.blogspot.com/) Alex (Brownie of Blondie and Brownie) (http://blondieandbrownie.blogspot.com/, and Jenny of Foray into Food (http://forayintofood.blogspot.com/).


As you can see from the recipe, before you can begin to make the cake or the frosting, you need to make the caramel syrup. Making caramel syrup is so simple (though a little nerve-wracking with a lot of splattering going on) that I wonder that I've never tried it before. I will definitely make that part of the recipe again.





I made the caramel syrup and let it cool. Then I used a little bit of the caramel syrup (1/3 cup) to make the cake. If you check out the accompanying picture from Shuna's recipe you'll see that she used the cake as one layer and the frosting just on the top. I sliced the cake in half and used the frosting in the middle and all around-- I had just enough to finish it.




The cake was a little dry at first and stuck a little to the baking pan, but once it was frosted and sat overnight covered, it absorbed a little moisture from the frosting and was great!

The frosting was tasty, very sweet but not really smooth-- a little sugary for me. But definitely delicious.



The remaining caramel syrup (1/3 cup was used for the cake and 4 Tbsp for the frosting, leaving 1 cup of syrup for another use) could be used if we wanted to make caramels or caramel topping. Instead, I used it to flavor a batch of homemade caramel pecan ice cream.


Caramel Pecan Ice Cream

2 cups half and half
2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup caramel syrup
a pinch of kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans

Combine the half and half, cream, sugar, caramel syrup and salt. Add the vanilla extract. Chill the mixture 3 hours or overnight. Freeze according to your ice cream freezer directions, adding the toasted pecans about 2 minutes before the machine is done. Makes about 5 cups.

Pizza!

OK, now, boys and girls...

Are we ready for the latest Daring Bakers Challenge?

Pizza!

Hand tossed pizza! Or, if you are like me, hand flung/twisted pizza. (I was a little tentative on the tossing part.)

The resulting pizzas, while quite tasty, were a little free-form, kind of like an amoeba. Not pretty. Definitely yummy, though. Not pretty. Yummy.

Here is the recipe and the directions:

Basic Pizza Dough-- Original recipe taken from "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" by Peter Reinhart.

Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter.

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups (20 1/4 ounces/607.5 g) unbleached high gluten bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled.

1 3/4 tsp salt

1 Tsp instant yeast

1/4 cup (2 ounces/60 g) olive oil or vegetable oil

1 3/4 cups (14 ounces/420g or 420ml) water, ice cold

1 Tbsp sugar

Semolina durum flour or corn meal for dusting pan or stone

Day 1

Method:

1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough.

On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

NOTE:

If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time.The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.

The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.

3. Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.

4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).

NOTE:

To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.

NOTE:

If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly roll pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.

NOTE:

You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespooons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

DAY TWO

8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).

NOTE:

If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly roll pan. Do not preheat the pan.

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly roll pan or a pizza peel with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

NOTE:

Make only one pizza at a time.During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping. In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully,then try again.You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.

11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly roll pan or on the pizza peel making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

NOTE:

Remember that the best pizzas are topped not too generously. No more than 3 or 4 toppings (including sauce and cheese) are sufficient.

13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly roll pan. Close the door and bake for abour 5-8 minutes.

NOTE:

After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly roll pan to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly roll pan.

14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

The choices of fillings were up to us. I baked two out of the 6 pizzas the recipe made (I froze the rest.) I topped one with pepperoni, Italian sausage, sauteed red peppers and mushrooms, and mozzarella cheese. The other one, which hubby wasn't too sure about until he had a bite, I covered with homemade pesto, sliced artichoke hearts, sliced cooked chicken breasts, and feta cheese. Both were really good!

The dough was very easy to make. The forming/tossing/flinging though, not so much. Since I made two of the six pizzas and froze the other 4 balls of dough, I'll have another try or two at it. I hope I can get the spin of it. Maybe a glass or two of wine before tossing...?

I am actually a day late in posting this. (I could have sworn it said the 30th!)

Daring Bakers' Challenge Opera Cake

This month's Daring Bakers' Challenge was truly a challenge. A thin layer cake (or jaconde) made from ground almonds and a little flour, brushed with a flavored syrup (I used raspberry liqueur as my flavoring), then frosted with lemon flavored buttercream, covered with a white chocolate mousse and a white chocolate glaze. Wow! Talk about over the top flavor and richness!

I used the buttercream from Dorie Greenspan's celebration cake that we made in March rather than the cooked sugar version that was included with this recipe (because I just loved it!). Everything worked out well, with very little frustration. The entire recipe took me about three hours to complete and everyone who tasted it really liked it.

Daring Bakers and Tuesdays with Dorie

Well, I baked the Tuesdays with Dorie fluted polenta and ricotta cake (yum!) and didn't bake the Daring Bakers cheesecake pops. I did learn that I should have measured my pan to make sure it was the right size-- it went over the top and down the side. What a mess! But it had a wonderful texture-- moist from the ricotta cheese and figs, crunchy from the polenta and the tiny fig seeds. The honey made it just sweet enough. (I used regular clover honey, which is what I had on hand.) My husband (and official dessert taster) said he didn't like the "dates" but he liked the cake. I think it would have been useless to tell him they were figs, not dates.

The cheesecake pops, though, just didn't get done. My other life got a little spastic there for a while, and the time just slipped away. But next month's challenge looks great, and I'll make it earlier in the month. (It's a surprise-- you'll have to wait to find out what it is.)

Julia Child's French Bread

First of all, my apologies to Julia.

The Daring Bakers Challenge this month was to make French bread using Julia Child’s original recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume II. The ingredients were pretty much the same as any other French bread recipe, but the method was the challenge. No sponge, no poolish, no baguette pan. Rising on a cloth, baking on a flat baking sheet. The results? Good, but wow, it certainly was a “challenge” for me!

The risen dough stuck to the couche (the flour encrusted rising cloth) and deflated as it was placed onto the pan to bake. My sharpest knife would not cut neatly through the loaf to make the decorative slashes. It stuck to the dough, further deflating it. And between the mixing, the resting, the kneading, and the rising, it took forever!

The flavor? A little salty, I thought, but my husband disagreed. He asked, “Was it all worth it?” Truthfully, I would have to answer, “No, not really.” I am glad I did it, of course, as I am ever up for a baking challenge, but I’ll probably never do it again. There is definitely an easier way to make good French bread.


Thanks to Breadchick Mary for the recipe and the challenge. You certainly made me push my limits! Visit Breadchick Mary's site for the complete recipe for Julia Child's French bread.

Oops, I Forgot to Give You the Recipe!

I guess it would help if I posted the recipe for the lemon meringue pie from the Daring Bakers Challenge, wouldn't it? I'll get the hang of this, please be patient with me.

(from "Wanda's Pie in the Sky" by Wanda Beaver)
Daring Bakers Challenge #15: January 2008

Lemon Meringue Pie

Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie

For the Crust:
3/4 cup (180 mL) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces
2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
1/4 tsp (1.2 mL) salt
1/3 cup (80 mL) ice water

For the Filling:
2 cups (475 mL) water
1 cup (240 mL) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (120 mL) cornstarch
5 egg yolks, beaten
1/4 cup (60 mL) butter
3/4 cup (180 mL) fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract

For the Meringue:
5 egg whites, room temperature
1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) cream of tartar
1/4 tsp (1.2 mL) salt
1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract
3/4 cup (180 mL) granulated sugar

To Make the Crust:
Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt.Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of 1/8 inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about 1/2 inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.

To Make the Filling:
Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated. Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

To Make the Meringue:
Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.