Daring Bakers- Apple Strudel

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.

Sorry this is a couple of days late.  The 3 hours needed to make this just weren’t happening for me either before my holiday to Vietnam or for the week of my return.  That said I am so glad I made this!

The paper thin pastry was really quite simple to make.  I made the dough and then had to attend a work meeting- after 90 minutes rest this almost stretched itself out.  You do have to be very careful around the edges though.  Just like stockings once you get a run you musn’t touch it all, otherwise you just make it worse and worse!

I flambed the raisins (in the rum called for) and they smelt so good tossed with the granny smiths and cinamon sugar.  The fresh bread crumbs toasted in butter are lovely and absorbed any of the juice from the apples.

The only thing I would change is more of the pastry.  Most of the studels I had when I lived in Austria 10 years ago had many, many crispy layers.

All in all, a winner.

TWD- Chipster-Topped Brownies

For this weeks TWD Beth of Supplicious decided on Chipster-Topped Brownies on pages 94 and 95 of Baking From My Home To Yours By Dorie Greenspan.

After the (culinary) excesses of my recent holiday to Vietnam I though about making a half batch of this but the 1 egg and 1 egg yolk for the chipster component pushed me over the line towards the whole enchilada.

This is a classic brownie with no leavening except for well whipped up sugar and eggs topped with a chocolate chip cookie dough.

I followed the recipe with only one small tweak to method.  I whipped up my eggs and sugar for the brownie in the KitchenAid and then while the bowl was not covered in chocolate I turned that mixture into a mixing bowl and folded in the chocolate and dry ingredients.  Then I just got on with the chipster dough with no washing up in between.

This was very yummy and was the perfect treat for the nice man who came to replace my car battery this evening.  Thanks Troy!

Now go and check out the TWD blogroll for all the double decker goodness.

Please excuse Andrea for this weeks TWD

I am really keen to try the Mango Bread from this weeks TWD but I am in Vietnam.

Sadly, I am not baking here but the pastry shops are good enough to keep me happy for the time being.  The tuiles shown have a peanut brittle baked in.  Oh so good.

Vietnam is a country where they may be even more food (and coffee) obsessed than me!

The internet connection at the hotel is so slow I will have to make due with only one photo for now.  Now go and check out the TWD blogroll and see how everyones mango bread turned out.

Daring Cooks- Ricotta Gnocchi

At about the time the Daring Cooks was announced my good husband had asked me if I could possibly make a few more savoury things, very auspicious.

The first recipe chosen is Ricotta Gnocchi (recipe from the Zuni Cookbook by Judy Rogers).

In the Daring Cooks forum it was mentioned making your own ricotta was a snap- here is the recipe I used.   It was really eay and very tasty.  The dog got all the whey and fully endorsed the homemade cheese endevour.

The Ricotta Gnocci was quick and easy to make. My homemade ricotta was so much less wet than the commercial varieties available here.  I kept the butter sauce simple and clean, so the ricotta flavour showed through.

I served this with a pear, blue cheese and rocket salad.  It needed something to give texture to this otherwise silky smooth dish.

All in all a success and something to keep in mind for vego friends.

TWD- Tartest Lemon Tart

For this weeks TWD Babette of Babette Feasts picked Tartest Lemon Tart on page 336 of Dorie Greenspans, Baking From My Home To Yours.

This is a ‘pucker up and kiss me I’m yours’ lemon tart nestled in an crisp almond crust.

This is a great tart.  Thus far, I think my favourite thing I have baked with the TWD crew in over a year.  Yep, it is that good.   Not too much more to say without making me think I should stop writing and get busy making another one of these tarts!  

Now go and check out the TWD blogroll and see how many other tarts make you want to pucker up!

TWD- Tiramisu Cake

For this weeks TWD Megan of My Baking Adventures chose Tiramisu Cake on pages 266-268.

Dories take on this is a butter cake (rather than sponge finger biscuits) soaked in coffee syrup, filled with marscopone cream and topped with more of that cream spiked with coffee extract.  If you needed anything more to sweeten the deal there are shards of dark chocolate hidden between the layers.

This is a nice cake.  I like the marscopone cream, in most recipes I have tried there is raw egg.  Usually I don’t worry about this too much but it means I feel less comfortable letting it sit and meld for a while.

I have never managed to get a smooth marscopone cream.  The curd shows through. This happens with minimal mixing as well as going hell bent for leather with the kitchen aid.

I like this cake, I am a big coffee fan.  And I think it is an interesting tweak of a modern classic.

I used unbleached cake flour and think that affected the texture of the cake a bit.  The soaking syrup helped quite a lot and I don’t think I would fancy the cake as much without that bit of TLC.

Now go and check out the TWD blogroll for all the other yummy cakes out there.