Category Archives: Dessert

Frasiers is something that I came across the first time at the DBC forum. And I was quite thrilled to bake one. But I must say this wasn’t the best cake I have ever baked. I wasn’t quite happy the way my Frasier looked, no doubt it tasted excellent but the look wasn’t quite appealing. My cake shrunk after baking…I wonder why.. did I bake longer??? ,no idea!

I loved all my fellow bloggers post and have decided to make a beautiful looking Frasier again. It tasted great too,so why will I not bake it again:). Thanks Jana for the wonderful recipe! Anyways coming to my post…

Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to make Fresh Frasiers inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook Tartine.

FRESH FRASIERS

Basic Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt, preferably kosher
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large egg yolks
⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon lemon zest, grated
5 large egg whites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to moderate 325 F. Line the bottom of an 8-inch spring form pan with parchment paper. Do not grease the sides of the pan.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder. Add in all but 3 tablespoons of sugar, and all of the salt. Stir to combine.In a small bowl combine the oil, egg yolks, water, vanilla and lemon zest. Whisk thoroughly.Combine with the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly for about one minute, or until very smooth.

Put the egg whites into a stand mixer, and beat on medium speed using a whisk attachment on a medium speed, until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat on a medium speed until the whites hold soft peaks. Slowly add the remaining sugar and beat on a medium-high speed until the whites hold firm and form shiny peaks.
Using a grease free rubber spatula, scoop about ⅓ of the whites into the yolk mixture and fold in gently. Gently fold in the remaining whites just until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Removed the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack.
To unmold, run a knife around the sides to loosen the cake from the pan and remove the spring form sides. Invert the cake and peel off the parchment paper. Refrigerate for up to four days.

Pastry Cream

Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt, preferably kosher
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 teaspoon gelatin
1/2 tablespoon water
1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Pour the milk, vanilla, and salt into a heavy sauce pan. Place over medium-high heat and scald, bringing it to a near boiling point. Stir occasionally.Meanwhile, in a stand mixer add the cornstarch and sugar. Whisk to combine. Add the eggs to the sugar and cornstarch and whisk until smooth.When the milk is ready, gently and slowly while the stand mixer is whisking, pour the heated milk down the side of the bowl into the egg mixture.
Pour the mixture back into the warm pot and continue to cook over a medium heat until the custard is thick, just about to boil and coats the back of a spoon.

Remove from heat and pass through a fine mesh sieve into a large mixing bowl. Allow to cool for ten minutes stirring occasionally. Cut the butter into four pieces and whisk into the pastry cream a piece at a time until smooth. Cover the cream with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap onto the top of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Chill in the refrigerator for up to five days.

In a small dish, sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let stand for a few minutes to soften.
Put two inches of water into a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat.
Measure 1/4 cup of the chilled pastry cream into a small stainless steel bowl that will sit across the sauce pan with the simmering water, without touching the water.Heat the cream until it is 120 F. Add the gelatin and whisk until smooth. Remove from the water bath, and whisk the remaining cold pastry cream in to incorporate in two batches.

In a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream until it holds medium-stiff peaks. Immediately fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream with a rubber spatula.

Simple Syrup

You may choose to flavor the syrup. One way is to use flavored sugar (for example: apple cider sugar, orange sugar, or vanilla sugar) or to stir in 1-2 teaspoons of flavored extract. You may also infuse with herbs or spices, if desired or add four tablespoons (60 ml) of fruit juice or liqueur while the syrup is cooling.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup sugar, flavored or white
1/3 cup of water

Directions:

Combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and let the sugar dissolve. Stirring is not necessary, but will not harm the syrup.Remove the syrup from the heat and cool slightly.
Transfer syrup to a lidded container or jar that can be stored in the refrigerator. Simple syrup can be stored for up to one month.

Fraisier Assembly:

Components:

1 baked 8 inch chiffon cake
1 recipe pastry cream filling
⅓ cup simple syrup or flavored syrup
2 lbs strawberries
confectioners’ sugar for dusting
½ cup almond paste

Directions:

Line the sides of a 8-inch spring form pan with plastic wrap. Do not line the bottom of the pan. Cut the cake in half horizontally to form two layers.Fit the bottom layer into the prepared spring form pan. Moisten the layer evenly with the simple syrup. When the cake has absorbed enough syrup to resemble a squishy sponge, you have enough. Hull and slice in half enough strawberries to arrange around the sides of the cake pan. Place the cut side of the strawberry against the sides of the pan, point side up forming a ring.
Pipe cream in-between strawberries and a thin layer across the top of the cake.

Hull and quarter your remaining strawberries and place them in the middle of the cake. Cover the strawberries and entirely with the all but 1 tbsp of the pastry cream. Place the second cake layer on top and moisten with the simple syrup.Lightly dust a work surface with confectioners’ sugar and roll out the almond paste to a 10-inch round 1/16 inch thick. Spread the remaining 1 tablespoon of pastry cream on the top of the cake and cover with the round of almond paste.

(This is how my Frasier looked…could be better the next time I bake this…hmmm)

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.To serve release the sides of the spring form pan and peel away the plastic wrap. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Better late than Never – I didn’t want to miss out on this month’s challenge too. Somehow managed to work on it today. My site was hacked,took some time to figure it out. Its up now and here is my post.

Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make Baklava.

Phyllo Dough Mixing/Kneading: 15-25 minutes
Resting time: 30-90 minutes (longer is better)
Rolling Phyllo: varies, approx. 2 minutes per sheet

Syrup: 15 minutes plus cooling
Baklava: 30 minutes
Resting: Overnight

BAKLAVA

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups unbleached all purpose (plain) flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup less 1 tablespoon water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar, (could substitute white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar, but could affect the taste)

Directions:
1. In the bowl of your stand mixer combine flour and salt.
2. Mix with paddle attachment
3. Combine water, oil and vinegar in a small bowl.
4. Add water & oil mixture with mixer on low speed, mix until you get a soft dough, if it appears dry add a little more water (I had to add a tablespoon more)
5. Change to the dough hook and let knead approximately 10 minutes. You will end up with beautiful smooth dough. If you are kneading by hand, knead approx. 20 minutes
6. Remove the dough from mixer and continue to knead for 2 more minutes. Pick up the dough and through it down hard on the counter a few times during the kneading process.
7. Shape the dough into a ball and lightly cover with oil
8. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let rest 30-90 minutes, longer is best ( I let mine rest 2 hours and it was perfect)

Rolling your Phyllo

Roll the dough as thin as you can.
1. Unwrap the dough and cut off a chunk slightly larger then a golf ball. While rolling be sure to keep the other dough covered so it doesn’t dry out.
2. Be sure to flour your hands, rolling pin and counter. As you roll you will need to keep adding, don’t worry, you can’t over-flour.
3. Roll out the dough a bit to flatten it out.
4. Wrap the dough around your rolling pin/dowel
5. Roll back and forth quickly with the dough remaining on the dowel.
7. Rotate and repeat until it is as thin as you can it. Don’t worry if you get rips in the dough, as long as you have one perfect one for the top you will never notice
8. When you get it as thin as you can with the rolling pin, carefully pick it up with well floured hands and stretch it on the backs of your hands as you would a pizza dough, just helps make it that much thinner. Roll out your dough until it is transparent. NOTE: you will not get it as thin as the frozen phyllo dough you purchase at the store, it is made by machine
9. Set aside on a well-floured surface. Repeat the process until your dough is used up. Between each sheet again flower well. You will not need to cover your dough with a wet cloth, as you do with boxed dough, it is moist enough that it will not try out.

Baklava Recipe

Adapted from Alton Brown, The Food Network
30 servings

Ingredients
For the syrup:
· 1 1/4 cups honey
· 1 1/4 cups water
· 1 1/4 cups sugar
· 1 cinnamon stick
· 1 (2-inch/50 mm) piece fresh citrus peel (lemon or orange work best)
· a few cloves or a pinch or ground clove

When you put your baklava in the oven start making your syrup. When you combine the two, one of them needs to be hot, I find it better when the baklava is hot and the syrup has cooled

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium pot over medium high heat. Stir occasionally until sugar has dissolved
2.Boil for 10 minutes, stir occasionally.
3. Once boiled for 10 minutes remove from heat and strain cinnamon stick and lemon, allow to cool as baklava cooks

Ingredients for the Filling:
1 (5-inch/125 mm piece) cinnamon stick, broken into 2 to 3 pieces or 2 teaspoons (10 ml) (8 gm) ground cinnamon
15 to 20 whole allspice berries ( I just used a few pinches)
3/4 cup blanched almonds
3/4 cup raw or roasted walnuts
3/4 cup raw or roasted pistachios
2/3 cup sugar
phyllo dough (see recipe above)
1 cup (2 sticks) melted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4.
2. Combine nuts, sugar and spices in a food processor and pulse on high until finely chopped. If you do not have a food processor chop with a sharp knife as fine as you can. Set aside
3. Trim your phyllo sheets to fit in your pan
4. Brush bottom of pan with butter and place first phyllo sheet
5. Brush the first phyllo sheet with butter and repeat approximately 5 times ending with butter. (Most recipes say more, but homemade phyllo is thicker so it’s not needed)
6. Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top
7. Continue layering phyllo and buttering repeating 4 times
8. Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top
9. Continue layering phyllo and buttering repeating 4 times
10. Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top
11. Continue layering and buttering phyllo 5 more times. On the top layer, make sure you have a piece of phyllo with no holes if possible, just looks better.
12. Once you have applied the top layer tuck in all the edges to give a nice appearance
7. Continue layering phyllo and buttering repeating 4 times
8. Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top
9. Continue layering phyllo and buttering repeating 4 times
10. Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top
11. Continue layering and buttering phyllo 5 more times. On the top layer, make sure you have a piece of phyllo with no holes if possible, just looks better.
12. Once you have applied the top layer tuck in all the edges to give a nice appearance
13. Bake for approximately 30 minutes; remove from oven and cut again this time all the way through. Continue baking for another 30 minutes. (Oven temperatures will vary, you are looking for the top to be a golden brown, take close watch yours may need more or less time in the oven
14. When baklava is cooked remove from oven and pour the cooled (will still be warmish) syrup evenly over the top, taking care to cover all surfaces when pouring. It looks like it is a lot but over night the syrup will soak into the baklava creating a beautifully sweet and wonderfully textured baklava!
15. Allow to cool to room temperature. Once cooled cover and store at room temperature. Allow the baklava to sit overnight to absorb the syrup.
16. Serve at room temperature.

Freezing/Storage Instructions/Tips: There are a few ways to store your Baklava. It is recommended that you store your baklava at room temperature in an airtight container. Stored at room temperature your baklava will last for up to 2 weeks. You will notice as the days pass it will get a little juicier and chewier. You may choose to store it in the fridge; this will make it a little harder and chewy, but does increase the shelf life. You can also freeze your baklava and then just set it out at room temperature to thaw.

They say “time is what prevents everything from happening”.Well I blame it to “time” too.Of late I have been taking too many breaks,have been too very busy with things. Cooking,Baking,Reading,Blogging and everything interesting has taken a back seat. I somehow managed to force myself and participate in most of the Daring Baker’s Challenges. Now that I am back ,I hope to stick on for long this time onwards.

“Baking” just happened to me. I have spent several years cooking,but when I did bake I saw it as a diversion,a good change ,something I enjoyed the most,a great way to experiment and create new things. I love to cook but very soon discovered that I loved baking more:). And to write and share all my experiences……….. happened this blog!.

To get started on a sweet note,I baked a Zuchini – Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Crunch Glaze yesterday.Olive oil is something I have never used for baking pastries. I always felt that the smell of EVOO might over power any recipe. But this one proved me wrong, this cake was one of the most moistest ( if this word even exists:-D) cake I have had,doesn’t need much preparation and can be baked in no time. These days its my goal to create/bake things in smaller quantities just enough to please the two of us at home. Hence,I reduced the original recipe into half. I am particularly very fond of almond flour as it gives a lovely aroma and density to the cake. This is arguably one of the best cakes I’ve ever baked!

Adapted from “Dolce Italiano” by Gina Palma

ZUCHINI – OLIVE OIL CAKE WITH LEON CRUNCH GLAZE

Makes 1 small cake ( approximately 4-5 servings).The original recipe called in for a 10 cup Bundt cake,I used a small one( I am guessing its a 5 cup bundt pan)

FOR THE CAKE

½ cup walnut pieces

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 large eggs

¾ cup + 2 tablespoon sugar

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 ¼ cup grated zucchini(finely grated)

FOR THE LEMON GLAZE:

1/8 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice( about ½ of a large lemon)

1/6 cup granulated sugar

½ cup confectioner’s sugar

TO MAKE THE CAKE: Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease the Bundt pan using a nonstick cooking spray. Place walnuts in a baking sheet and toast them until golden brown,7-9 minutes. Cool the and finely ground them in a food processor. Set aside.

Sift the flour,baking powder,baking soda,salt and all the spices into a medium bowl.In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat the eggs,sugar,olive oil on medium speed until light and fluffy about 3 minutes,beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the dry ingredients all at once on low speed until they are thoroughly combined,then switch the mixer to medium speed and mix for 30 seconds. Beat in the zucchini and walnuts on low speed until they are completely incorporated,scraping the sides of the bowl. Pour the batter onto the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes,rotating the pan half way through baking to ensure even baking. The cake is done when an skewer inserted comes out clean and the cake has begun to pull away from the sides of the pan.

While the cake is baking ,prepare the glaze. In a medium bowl, whisk together all the three ingredients and whisk together until the glaze is completely smooth.

Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes and then invert onto a wire rack. Using the pastry brish brush the glaze over the entire surface of the warm cake..Allow the cake to cool completely and the glaze to dry completely. Transfer to a serving plate and if desired lightly dust confectioner’s sugar. Any left over cake can be wrapped in a plastic wrap and served the following day. We wiped it the same day:)

Verdict : As mentioned earlier this is one of the finest cakes ,very moist and flavorful. No one can eat just once. I will surely bake this whenever I have zucchini in my pantry. Loved it!

I think this one is one of the very few DBC’s which has taken me very less time to make. I made both the challenges today and everyone loved it.

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

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First batch of cookies – I wanted to reduce the sweetness so reduced sugar and corn syrup. Since the mixture was too dry, I added little more milk which inturn made the oats soften resulting in a thick/fat cookies without no crunchiness:(.Boo hoo!So I baked fresh ones today,following the exact recipe given by Mallory. And here it is:)

NESTLE FLORENTINE COOKIES AND CHOCOLATE PANA COTTA
Ingredients:

2/3 cup unsalted butter
2 cups quick oats
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup plain (all purpose) flour
1/4 cup dark corn syrup ( I used light syrup)
1/4 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1½ cups dark or milk chocolate (for decoration)

Directions:

Preheat oven to moderately hot 375°F. Prepare your baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper. Melt butter in a medium saucepan, then remove from the heat. To the melted butter add oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla, and salt. Mix well. Drop a teaspoon full, three inches (75 mm) apart, onto your prepared baking sheet. Flatten slightly with the back of your teaspoon, or use a spatula.

Bake in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes( mine actually took only 4 minutes), until cookies are golden brown. Cool completely on the baking sheets.

While the cookies are cooling melt your chocolate until smooth either in the microwave (1 1/2 minutes). Peel the cookies from the silpat or parchment and place face down on a wire rack set over a sheet of wax/parchment paper.Spread a tablespoon of chocolate on the bottom/flat side of your cookie, sandwiching another (flat end) cookie atop the chocolate. (I drizzled the chocolate only in the first batch of cookies).

CHOCOLATE PANA COTTA

Recipe adapted fro Bon Appetit

Ingredients:
1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (7 gm) (¼ oz) unflavored powdered gelatin
2 cups (480 ml) whipping cream (30+% butterfat)
½ cup (115 gm) (4 oz) sugar
¾ cup (145 gm)(5 oz) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
½ teaspoon (2½ ml) vanilla extract

Directions:

Pour milk into a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over the top, set aside for 2-5 minutes . Place a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir in cream, sugar and vanilla. Bring to a low boil. Add chocolate and whisk until melted( this took a very long time for me). Whisk the milk/gelatin mixture into chocolate cream mixture. Whisk until gelatin has dissolved.Transfer to ramekins, or nice glasses for serving. Cover and chill at least 8 hours, or overnight.

Verdict : Easy Breezy Challenge. The cookies were crunchy munchy and very easy to bake. On the other hand the Pana Cotta was soft,creamy and chocolaty:). Not to forget both tasted very great:).

Loved it!. Now I plan to try and make some Vanilla Pana Cotta.