BWJ- Hazelnut Biscotti

July 3, 2012- Hazelnut Biscotti, recipe from Baking With Julia p. 315 hosted by Jodi of Homemade and Wholesome and Katrina of Baking and Boys.

Wow the time has flown. I have been baking but just got busy .  I actually made this last week- but hadn’t gotten around to downloading the photos.

Hazelnut Biscotti was quick and easy way to get me back into the TWD groove.

My dough was not particularly thick and I had issues with my log flattening out. I actually preferred the biscotti before the second bake.  However it all turned out ok in the end.

These were super popular at work.  I really liked the subtle Frangelico through the biscotti.

These are on the make again list.

BWJ- Lemon Loaf Cake- Catch Up

Lemon Loaf Cake was the pick on April 17 – hosted by Truc of Treats and Michelle of The Beauty of Life.

I made this in a bundt pan and in doing so may have over baked it.  Looked pretty this way though…  Matt was happy as it was just perfect to be doused in custard.  The lemon flavour was subtle and nice.

Not on my make again list but nice enough.

BWJ- Irish Soda Bread

Back on March 20, 2012- Irish Soda Bread- was hosted by Carla of Chocolate Moosey and Cathleen of My Culinary Mission.

This is a lovely and tasty quick bread.  Came together like a dream.  This is on the make again list.

BWJ- Hungarian Shortbread

May 1, 2012 the very yummy pick for this week is Hungarian Shortbread hosted by Lynette of 1smallkitchen and Cher of The Not So Exciting Adventures of a Dabbler…

 I am glad I checked out the posts on this one.  I took the advice of the learned panel and baked the base on it’s own for 20 minutes before giving it a few minutes to cool before adding the rhubarb jam, then the rest of the shortbread crumble.

I also used the food processor to grate the frozen dough.  No way I could have worked fast enough with the box grater.

So all up I baked this for 20 min.  Cooled for 20 min added the toppings and then baked again for 35 min.  Even then my shortbread is only crisp on the very edges.

I liked this a lot.  So much so I brought it into the children’s after school care after me eating 4 pieces in rapid succession.  This needed to be shared or greed would get the better of me.  It does remind me of an Australian slice-  similar shortbread base topped with raspberry jam and a coconut chewy macaroon.  I might have to make both again soon.

BWJ- Pizza Rustica

Hi, my name is Andrea, I have fallen off the blogsphere for a little while.

No need to worry, I just got busy doing stuff.  I remember a line I thought very witty when I was a teen- “Only good girls keep diaries, bad girls don’t have the time”.  I haven’t been bad but time and head space has been in short supply just of late.

Anyway, here I am writing about my pizza rustica.  The pastry went together well and I gave it a rest in the fridge just to make sure the butter and I got on with the rolling out.

I used bacon as I forgot the proscuito when I went shopping.  I haven’t ever tried pecorino cheese (knowingly) before and I have to say it was tasty.

Now I have baked this tonight but it will need to cool before it is cut.  I will add my thoughts tomorrow once we tuck in.  I just really wanted to get back into the habit of posting on a Tuesday.

 

BWJ- Chocolate Truffle Tartlets

February 21, 2012- Chocolate Truffle Tartlets was the fine pick, recipe found on pages 382-383 of Baking With Julia. (Hosted by Steph, Spike, Jaime and Jessica).

This is a seriously over the top chocolate truffle tart.  It was nice- but even though I cut my tart in half was almost too much  for me.  I didn’t have any home made biscotti, and my local store had stopped stocking it so I used almond bread, a very thinly sliced form of biscotti.  Sadly- too thin as it turns out.  It went soggy in the truffle mixture.  Not terrible but not fantastic.

So there you go.  A few days late but you get that.  I just got a new camera a Cannon G12.  Decided I wasn’t quite ready for a D-SLR but wanted to have a bit more control.  We shall see how it goes.

 

TWD- Peppermint Cream Puff Ring

June 17, 2008 – Peppermint Crem Puff Ring, recipe found on pages 290-292 of BFMHTY.  This is my final recipe from the Baking From My Home To Yours bake along.

I have no fear of choux pastry.  I made 20 croquembouche for a friend wedding a couple of years ago.  After that I was a little choux-ed out I think.

Anyway, I am making the desserts for another friends birthday party which is coming up soon.  I had made her rum custard filled cream puffs a few years ago and they are still remembered fondly.  However this time out of the 25 or so guests coming 4 are gluten intolerant.  Could I tweak the recipe to work for gluten free.  Well the puffy little darlings above are gluten free baby!

I did quite a bit of reading on how to best go about the substitution.  Not sure how successful I would be I made a half batch.   I used White Wings GF flour and 1 extra egg white (for the half batch that was perfect).

To keep with the theme I filled them with Jeni’s Spendid Ice Cream recipe for Savanah Buttermint.  Yum Yum.  What a nice way to finish up!

BWJ- White Loaves

February 7, 2012- Our very first recipe for the new book was- White Loaves, recipe found on pages 81-82 of Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan. (Hosted by Laurie and Jules)

So I made a basic white loaf and then had a play with the other half of the dough.  Cheese and bacon scrolls and caramel chocolate scrolls.  I thought since Easter Eggs are starting to show up in the stores I should finish off the last couple that were languishing in the fridge from last year.

This made a nice white loaf- not the best in my opinion but nice all the same.  The dough was easy to shape.  However, this bread dough worked better with a savoury filling I think.  I like a more enriched eggy, buttery dough for my sweets I think.

Nice to get back on the TWD wagon again.

TWD- Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart- Catch Up

For my second to last TWD post I did the catch up for- September 29 (I think 2009)- Carla of Chocolate Moosey chose Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart, pages 355-357 of BFMHTY.

I made this for our Christmas dinner dessert.  In terms of finishing strong this one will be hard to beat.  After my sadness with the soggy Normandy Tart pastry I melted some white chocolate in the base to seal it.  Probably not technically required but the tart kept an amazingly crisp crust.

I also found some cinnamon sugared nuts that were just lovely nestled in the caramel.  Everyone except my dad liked the dark chocolate ganache – too dark for dad- but for me anything else would have been sickly.

I will make this again when I have an adequate number of people coming around so I can share it.  Great recipe.

Now, I only have one recipe to go.  I am thinking I may try to make it gluten free (as practice for a friends upcoming birthday party).  I don’t have a lot of gluten free experience, but that is the great thing about cooking- always something new to learn.   Soon I will start with the Baking With Julia Bake along.   Wonder who will be baking along?

TWD- Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits- Catch Up

Way back on February 26, 2008 – Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits, recipe found on  page 25 of BFMHTY was the pick.

I made these on Christmas morning.  Given the kids were keen to get into their presents I shaped these into a scone style presentation.  I also topped them with some cinnamon sugar.

These were simple and easy enough to make on Christmas morning.  They were nice but I like a simple unadorned biscuit best.  At least I have tried a few variations.  All part of the learning that we all got to do as part of the TWD experience.