Rolling in Dough

Buche de Noel - December Daring Baker's Challenge

When we were in France for Christmas a few years ago, I noticed the Buche de Noel phenomenon. They were simply everywhere. Besides being in the window of every pastry shop we passed, I saw them at the grocers, in department stores and at restaurants. Pretty log shaped cakes, decorated with mushrooms and snow. I began to wonder if the Buche de Noel was to the French what Fruitcake was to Americans - found everywhere, but really eaten and enjoyed by no one. I (being the ambitious and over promising baker that I am), of course vowed to try to make a Buche de Noel of my own for the next Christmas. And the one after that. And the one after that one. Making the promise was easy, but somehow actually beginning the rather daunting challenge of filling and rolling the cake, frosting the stumpy part and making mushrooms had always been pushed off of top of the priority list in the rush of Christmas preparations. Until this year. The monthly Daring Bakers challenge, chosen by the lovely Lis of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice, was of course the Buche de Noel, the perfect challenge for Christmastime. I was excited, but a little apprehensive. Could I roll the cake? Can I make meringue mushrooms? Will anyone want to eat it? Well, now that I have a Yule Log under my belt, the answers to those questions are yes, no and yes. I have learned to roll a cake (Hooray!), my meringue mushrooms looked like bird droppings (Ick), and I'm serving it tonight at the huge Christmas Eve Fish Fest with Mike's family. With 20 people here for dinner and dessert, surely someone will try a piece.

                               

Many thanks to the Daring Bakers, now over 300 strong, whose constant challenges and support have greatly enhanced my baking this year. Can't wait to see what's ahead for the new year. Merry Christmas! 

Frangelico Bostini Cream Pie

It is a sad state of affairs when this is the only post I’ve managed to get done this month. Because you know that if I’m not posting, it can only mean that I’m also not cooking. Alas, it’s true. I’ve been so wrapped up in a project that my poor family is subsisting on cereal and sandwiches, the latter being made with store bought bread. (At least I’ve been buying nice bread, it’s not like we are eating Wonder Bread. I may be busy, but I’ve still got standards.) But thanks to my friends, the Daring Bakers, I was lured back into the kitchen this weekend to tackle the monthly challenge, Bostini Cream Pie. I had read the recipe early in the month, a mouth wateringly elegant and delicious take on Boston Cream Pie – a pretty great dessert in its own right, and have spent many hours anticipating its creamy wonderfulness. I’m happy to tell you that when I finally set aside some time to make it for myself, it is as wonderful as it sounds.

For starters, anything that involves pastry cream is a winner in my book and this is a  particularly tasty one. It’s heavy on the heavy cream, but has none of the usual mouth coating heaviness that often accompanies cream. The vanilla bean gives it a soft, complex and fragrant flavor that melts in your mouth. But the real winner here is the chiffon cake. I took the opportunity to elaborate on the cake recipe, eliminating the orange juice and zest and replacing it with Frangelico liquor. Frangelico is one of my favorite flavors, and pairing it with chocolate is always a wonderful idea. Adding the pastry cream was a concept that seemed too delicious not to try. The batter was a little scary, the alcohol in the Frangelico was overwhelming, but after it was baked, it mellowed into a wonderfully moist and hazelnutty sponge, a perfect base to play off the cream and ganache.

Oh and the ganache! I had never made one that was simply equal parts butter and bittersweet chocolate. The most usual thing about it was when I took my first bite of the Bostini, I got such a nice whiff of butter, it almost made my mouth water.

I was enjoying my second helping of Bostini with tea Sunday afternoon, when Lovie trooped several of the neighborhood kids into my kitchen. When she saw what I was indulging in, she promptly sat down and began asking me to provide Bostinis for what seemed like the entire block. By the way, I am a generous soul, I love to cook for people and it warms my heart when I can watch someone enjoying something I’ve baked, but it’s not like I was eating animal crackers and I was not about to part with my treasured Bostini Cream Pie for a bunch of 5 year olds who could never appreciate the complexity of the flavor combination, the richness of the pastry cream or the subtle flavor of the chiffon cake. I mumbled something about peanut allergies and hustled them all out the door. Wicked witch I may be, but I did again get to enjoy Bostini Cream Pie with tea today and didn’t feel even a little bit guilty about it.

This wonderful confection was suggested by Mary of Alpineberry. Thanks so much for this month’s contribution to the Daring Bakers, a fun and intrepid group of adventurous cooks. Please check out the blogroll and discover a few new inspired variations on the Bostini Cream Pie.

Cinnamon Rolls - Comfort Food Compliments of the Daring Bakers

  I can't be too busy. It stresses me out. I need a certain amount of home time to putter about, bake and regroup. But life doesn't always share my affection for doing nothing and work forces me out into the world. Last weekend was our semi-annual trade show. Three long "fun" filled days that begin with pallet jacks and lugging boxes and conclude with high heels and schmoozing clients. I work in the hair industry so this is a wonderful opportunity for people watching, as there is something about a hair show that combines the freaky, the unusually dressed and the people who apparently don't own mirrors into one venue. As I drug myself home late Sunday evening, I imagined my Monday, a day that would be spent sleeping late, hanging with Lovie and indulging in September's Daring Bakers Challenge - Cinnamon Rolls/Sticky Buns. Comfort food. Just the thing to rejuvenate my lagging spirit and tired body.

I poured a steaming, spicy cup of Chai Tea and put in a Mozart CD. There is something about kneading bread dough to classical music that makes me feel wholly in the moment - I can hardly think of a better  way to spend the afternoon. This was good because I was feeling a little fuzzy - not quite firing on all cylinders. I set out my first round Mise-en-place, and started the dough. Easy enough - it is a lovely consistency, sweet, soft, satiny and firm, a joy to work with. As I set the dough to rise, I contemplated my plan of attack. The recipe has both a Cinnamon roll and a Sticky Bun variation - I was going to take on the Sticky Buns. I don't usually like Sticky Buns, they always seem blah and tasteless, like someone just dumped something sweet over dough that always seems too dry and stuck a few raisins to it like flies. But I'm always up for trying something new - maybe this would be the recipe that would change my mind forever about Sticky Buns. Plus, it has a Caramel layer - a challenge! Just what I need on this day after the Fall show when I can't quite even remember my name.

Have you ever heard that the first lesson of cooking is that you are supposed to read all the way through the recipe before you get started? In the future when I am starting a new recipe, I think I shall actually do this, because when I got to the part of the recipe where the Caramel layer is made, it called for corn syrup. Guess what is not in my baking cabinet? The recipe did allow for the use of cane or gold syrup in place of the corn syrup, but since I appeared to be missing this very basic cooking ingredient, what are the odds that I was going to find a forgotten bottle of cane syrup in the recesses of my cupboard? Not to mention the raisins. I have a five year old - aren't raisins mandatory eating for five year olds? Apparently not in my kitchen. I did locate 6 petrified figs from last Christmas that I was going to use to make Sugarplums, but decided that they were not going to work as a substitution. So I guess I was going to make Cinnamon Rolls instead, which is really no problem, since I and everyone else here loves them. I rolled them up, set them to rise, popped them in the oven and reveled in the delicious aroma of cinnamon and bread that was filling my kitchen.

As I iced the rolls, I thought about how lucky I was to be baking Cinnamon Rolls, they really are the most perfect comfort food, but I really will have to try Sticky Buns one of these days. As I licked the last bits of icing out of the pan, I wondered what the next challenge would be. I can hardly wait!

Be sure to check out all of the Daring Bakers Cinnamon Roll/Sticky Bun creations at the many wonderful and daring baking blogs listed in the blogroll on the sidebar. You will amazed at how different each of rolls turns out - all delicious and mouth watering and unique in their own way.         

Daring Bakers Challenge - Milk Chocolate & Caramel Tart

I had heard they existed. I saw bits about them on other blogs that I admired. A collection of the coolest food bloggers on the web gathering together to bake something that you would not typically undertake on a rainy Saturday afternoon at home. They even have a patron saint, St. Honore, keeper of bakers and pastry chefs. I aspired to join them, to bake as I have never baked before. But I was apprehensive. Would my baking measure up? What if there was a secret handshake? I persevered and decided to undertake the first monthly challenge, the Milk Chocolate and Caramel Tart. This is a daunting recipe that includes a crisp chocolate shortbread crust topped by a smooth caramely base, followed by a layer of milk chocolate mousse and finished with crunchy caramel candy bits.

I was leery about starting this. It sounded really sweet and I am not super confident about my caramel making skills. But after three weeks of procrastination, I finally got to work and discovered that my unease was mostly for naught. As I ground nuts and assembled my mise-en-place for the crust, Lovie commented that my set-up looked just "like Alton Brown's". Fortified by this wonderful compliment, I forged ahead. The crust went together easily and while it chilled overnight, I dreamed of the masterpiece I would create come morning.

Ever notice how reality always steps in to make sure that you don't get too cocky? Well, Reality paid me a visit early the next morning. Remember the kitchen gadget that was all the rage a couple of Christmases ago? That cookie sheet-like piece of metal that could thaw frozen meat in 10 minutes flat by magically sucking the cold out of it? Well, this same law of thermodynamics exists in my kitchen. The top of my island baking center is powder coated sheet metal. Great for kneading bread, not so great for pie crusts, sugar cookies or in this case, Chocolate Shortbread Tart Crust. The crust went from chilled to squishy in about three minutes. The more I rolled, the softer it got. I even scraped it off and rechilled it, but to no avail. In the end, after all of the patching, my crust looked more like a puzzle than a tart. But once it was finally in the oven, things began looking up. My caramel melted and darken up beautifully, even using the tricky dry method. I added warm Cream Fraiche, eggs and some flour and my caramel layer was done. The mousse layer went well too, with melted milk chocolate and whipped egg whites. I finished up by making hard caramel candy bits to sprinkle over the top. Finally assembled, I was pretty proud of my tart. It looked great and the tastes I had indulged in during the process were fabulous. I had made a small tart for Lovie and a larger one that was going to be my contribution at a pot luck that evening. I cut Lovie's tart open and had a bite, and another, and another and another. She almost didn't get to try it. It was so good. 

Later at the pot-luck, my tart was a raving success! Set right next to the Velveeta-green bean casserole and the Stouffer's Lasagna, everybody loved it. I got nearly as many compliments as the gal who brought the Velveeta casserole, although no one asked for my recipe. Good thing they didn't - not everybody can  be a DARING BAKER! Bwahahahahahah.....   

And so now that I can proudly claim to be a member of the loving and talented baking community known as the Daring Bakers, I would like to encourage you to check out the blogroll on the sidebar and visit some of my comrades de cuisine. I think you will find some fun and creative cooks to brighten your day and enlighten your cooking.

I shall close with this famous fraternal quote -

"Thank you Sir, may I have another?