The Barefoot Kitchen Witch

TWD - Black-and-White Banana Loaf

This week's recipe was chosen by Ashlee of A Year in the Kitchen and can be found on page 232 of Dorie Greenspan's lovely Baking:  From My Home to Yours. 

It's funny - I wasn't even sure I was going to participate this week.  It's been so all about blueberries here that baking a loaf of banana bread (no matter how pretty or chocolatey) just didn't seem to fit.  But then there were these 3 bananas on the counter, past their prime, that the kids were no longer interested in...and so I took it as a sign and decided - last night - to definitely make this loaf. 

So I started measuring out sugar and flour and so forth, and then, just out of curiosity, I took a peek at how long this would need to bake.  Ah.  An hour and twenty to an hour and thirty minutes.  Okay.  Change in plans.  I'd get everything ready to go and then put it all together and bake it first thing in the morning, so we could have some with our coffee.

And yes, I admit it, the other reason I waited to bake was so I'd have better (natural) lighting for my pictures.

Anyway, I didn't get up as early as I'd planned.  I blame the MLB schedule for part of it (Sox played the Royals IN Kansas City, so the game started an hour later than an East Coast game, and I had to watch the whole thing, frustrating as it was.  Or at least listen to it while I typed and read email and edited photos from yesterday.  And then there was Blur, who woke me up around 3:30 or so, meowing and meowing and meowing and licking my feet (ick) or my arm or whatever.  I finally figured she was hungry so I got her some of her food.  She doesn't like the kittens' food, but the kittens DO like her food and if they eat it, well, let's just say their little digestive systems can't quite handle it yet.  So I don't leave the adult food out.  Anyway, after some nice grown-up kibble, Blur settled down and let me do the same.  (My husband sleeps - or "sleeps" - through all this excitement.)

Excuses over - here's what was waiting for me when I entered the kitchen this morning:

Okay, except for the half cup of milk.  I poured that this morning.  It didn't sit out overnight.  And the blender has nothing to do with this recipe.  It was just...there.  Doing the equivalent of waving wildly from the seats behind home plate and talking excitedly to friends on its' cell phone because it knows it's on camera. 

But anyway - it was so nice to start the morning like that.  I turned the oven on, greased and floured my loaf pan, and I was ready to go.

While my butter and sugars were whirring around in the mixing bowl, I melted my chocolate and stirred in the butter.

I added my eggs and vanilla into the butter/sugars mixture and yep, just like Dorie promised, the mixture looked curdled.  I added half the flour mixture, then the milk, and finally the rest of the flour mixture.

And then the banana/citrus/rum mixture.  And then I divided the batter into two nearly equal portions, and mixed the melted chocolate into the smaller portion.

Now, in the "Playing Around" section for this recipe, Dorie suggests adding some toasted pecans to either portion of batter.  Sounded good to me, only I didn't have any pecans in the house, so I toasted some sliced almonds instead.  And I portioned out come shredded coconut, too.

Why?  For balance.  Symmetry.  If one portion of batter was going to have added texture, the other side had to as well.  Because I'm just like that.  And - I thought all these flavors would play nicely together.

So I stirred the almonds into the chocolate...

and the coconut into the plain portion...

and then I poured small alternating amounts of the batters into my loaf pan...

until the bowls were scraped clean.

I swirled a knife through the batter just once -

and then put it in the oven to bake. 

On top of an insulated baking sheet.

Which, I should know by now, is something I should NOT do, even though Dorie's got it in the directions.  Because whenever I do, my bread or other baked item doesn't cook through as well as it should.  And I KNOW this, and yet...and yet...I put my loaf pan on the insulated baking sheet anyway.

Ah well.

I baked the loaf for an hour and a half, and it smelled wonderful.  An hour and a half was a long wait.

But finally the knife came out clean and the pan came out of the oven.

Gorgeous.  A little while after this picture was taken, the loaf had a permanent dent in the center from my nose as I inhaled and inhaled repeatedly while it cooled.  Okay, not really.  But it smelled SO good.

After fifteen minutes, I ran a knife along the sides of the pan and inverted the bread onto a cooling rack.

And this is what it looked like at that point:

Yeah.  Not so pretty any more, huh?

Perhaps I should have baked it longer, but it didn't seem necessary at the time.  Or maybe I could have cooled it longer.  Or - I could (and should) have left my insulated baking sheet in the drawer where it belonged.

Oh well.  It still looked good from the top, so I flipped it back over to cool some more while Bill made coffee.

Much better.

Dorie's instructions say to let the loaf cool to room temperature before slicing, but when the coffee was ready, I got my big serrated knife and started slicing. 

The bread was still hot inside and very moist, but it all held together well and looked nicely marbled (to me, anyway).  I sliced a couple of pieces and put them on a plate so I could take my finished product photos and then allow Bill to eat.

And of course, I had to sample the goods as well.

 

Yum.  All the flavors, as I'd hoped, worked well together, and I liked the little bits of crunch from the almonds and the slight chewiness of the coconut.  Now, when I make banana bread, I like to mix in chocolate chips, so I knew I'd like the blend of banana and chocolate.  And I did - the chocolate portion was deep and dark and more "grown up" than chocolate chips.  Coffee was a perfect accompaniment.

So thank you to Ashlee for choosing this recipe - it's definitely a keeper.  And to see more fine examples of this delicious Black and White Banana Loaf, head over to the Tuesdays With Dorie website and start clicking - there are over oh, eighty bazillion members now, so maybe you should first MAKE a loaf of this bread, brew a big pot of coffee, and settle back in your seat.  It's going to take some time to check out so many sites.  But, like waiting for this cake to bake, it'll be well worth it.

TWD (Tuesdays With Dorie)...WWJ (Wednesdays With Jayne)...Summer Fruit Galette

You know, this recipe, found on pages 366 and 367 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours, calls for fruits like apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums...that sort of thing.  And I would have loved to use any one of them.  But.  I'm drowning in blueberries.  I really am.  We've been picking blueberries over at my nephew's place, pounds of berries at a time, really.  And there are tons more that are still white-green.  So I'll be picking berries for a while longer. 

And so that's why my galette is full of blueberries. 

There are a few raspberries in there, too. 

I had a half pint left from my last trip to the farmers' market, and I thought this would be a nice use for them.  But mostly, it's all about the blueberries lately.  Which you may have noticed if you visit this site on any kind of regular basis.

Anyway - this week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was the Summer Fruit Galette, chosen by Michelle of Michelle in Colorado Springs, and it's scrumptios.  Especially for breakfast.  Which is how we ate ours.

The crust is Dorie's fabulous "Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough" - it's the blend of butter and shortening that gives this crust the tenderness AND flakiness we all (in TWD, at least) know and love by this point.  The filling is simply a smear of jam, a sprinkle of graham cracker grumbs, and fruit.  And the little extra something is the drizzle of custard on fruit called for about fifteen minutes before the galette is finished.

My son was drooling so much before I served this (and yes, we really did have this for breakfast this morning) that we had to lay bath towels on the floor.  He loves blueberries.  He loves pie.  When he saw this before it went into the oven, he wanted to eat it then and there.  I made him wait.

But I'm getting ahead of things.  The dough, as usual, was very cooperative when I rolled it out and marked a 9" diameter circle in the center and trimmed the rough edges.

And then smeared some blueberry jam (farmers's market) and sprinkled some graham crackers crumbs...

And then piled on the raspberries and as many blueberries as I could.

And then folded up the edges...

And finally brushed the dough with water and sprinkled on some sparkling sugar before I put the whole thing into the oven.

While the galette baked, I made the custard.  Very simple - just sugar, eggs, vanilla, and melted butter.

All whisked together...

...and drizzled in and around the fruit inside the galette about half an hour into the baking.

Fifteen more minutes...

During this time you can amuse yourself taking pictures of the melted bits of sugar on the parchment paper...

and taking macro shots of the berries.

Finally the galette emerges...golden brown on the edges, bubbly and sweet in the middle.  And scalding hot, so you'll need to let it cool a bit before serving.

Try to be patient.

Like I said, we had this for breakfast. 

Dorie's recipe serves 6, and my son at not only his, (and no, it wasn't his birthday or anything.  I have no explanation for the paper crown) but his sister's leftovers as well. 

She wasn't all that hungry, apparently.

You've probably already done this, but if you haven't, go check out the variations concocted by all the other eight and a half million (or so) TWD members posted (on time, on Tuesday.  Like we're supposed to do.).  And then go buy the book and make your own galette.  For breakfast!  Why not?  It's fruit!

TWD: Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler

 

This week's Tuesdays With Dorie selection, "Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler," was chosen by Amanda of Like Sprinkles on a Cupcake.  The recipe can be found on page 415 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking:  From My Home to Yours or over on Amanda's site.

Before I made this, I skimmed through the instructions and the "Serving" and "Playing Around" sections  on the right side of the page.  For serving, Dorie wrote "It goes without saying that the cobbler is great with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.  Cherry vanilla would be even better."

Well.  Cherry vanilla.  I could make that!  I had more than enough cherries for the cobbler, so why not make the ice cream, too?  Actually, I made that first, after I went through and pitted all the cherries, because the ice cream base was going to need time to chill and then the ice cream itself would need time to firm up later.

If you want to read all about the ice cream making part, you can head over here.

But for now, it's cobbler time.

I don't have one of those cherry pitting gizmos.  I've found it's easy enough to just put some cherries on a cutting board and press down on them with the flat side of a large knife. 

Once the blade makes contact with the pit, the cherry will start to split.  All I have to do is pull the cherry apart, toss the pieces in one bowl, and put the pit in my trash bowl.  Ta-da!  I will admit it gets a bit messy - by the end the board and my apron look like evidence of a cherry massacre.  And I guess that's what happened.

 

Next up - the rhubarb.  I bought rhubarb this time, although we do have a rhubarb plant in the garden.  But for some reason, our rhubarb hasn't been as big and mighty as it has been in the past, and I'd already used a bunch of it for a strawberry rhubarb pie or something, and I didn't want to wipe out the entire plant.  So I bought a rather large bunch, and I think I'll have to chop and freeze the rest of it because I only needed the two biggest stalks for this cobbler.  Look - exactly 12 ounces!

I trimmed the ends off and then I peeled the stringy bits from the stalk.  And, being me, I thought the little stringy bits looked kind of interesting...so I took a few pictures.

And then, after play time was done, I got around to chopping up the rhubarb.

Then I got the rest of the filling ingredients measured out and ready to go - sugar, ground ginger, and cornstarch.

I whisked the dry ingredients together first, and then stirred it all together in a big bowl.

It looked kind of grainy initially, but by the time the topping was ready, and I had stirred this mixture around a few times, all the dry ingredients had soaked in the juices and everything looked lovely and juicy and ready for baking.

The topping came together just as quickly and easily.  I didn't use a food processor - I just did it in a bowl, by hand, and it was just fine.  First the dry ingredients, and then the bits of cold butter...

and then the milk (please excuse the blur).

And then the rather sticky dough was turned out onto a floured board and cut into pieces...

And all the pieces were very gently shaped into balls.

Now, in her book, Dorie recommends using an 8 x 8 inch pyrex baking dish.  I had one - I don't know where it went.  So I used a deep, 8" diameter souffle dish instead, and that worked just fine.

And into the oven it went!

Oh - it smelled REALLY good while it was baking.  REALLY good.  Mine baked for 45 minutes.  I'd checked it at 35, and it looked cooked, but the berries weren't bubbling, so I put it back in for another ten minutes.  Bingo.  Dark red juice bubbled up in between the balls of the cobbler crust.  Yum.

I let the cobbler sit by the window for the rest of the day, and we had it for dessert later that night.  I took some photos of it when I served it up, but because the the (lack of natural) lighting, the pictures didn't come out to my liking. 

And so, for the sake of Culinary Artistic Aesthetics, I just HAD to dig out some cobbler this morning, and some ice cream, and do the pictures again.  And, yes, eat the cobbler and ice cream for breakfast.  To my way of thinking, it's not ALL that different from cereal with fruit and milk.  And that's HEALTHY, right?

   

Right!

Now go take a good long peek at how all the other Tuesdays With Dorie members (over 200 and something now!) did with their Cherry Rhubarb Cobblers.  And then go make one for yourself!  And don't forget to make some Cherry Vanilla ice cream to go along with it!

TWD: Chocolate Pudding

The funny thing is, Julia's been on a chocolate pudding kick lately.  So when I saw that Melissa of It's Melissa's Kitchen had chosen Chocolate Pudding (page 383 of Baking:  From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan), I was rather pleased.

The pudding went together very quickly, and the process was totally different from any way I've ever made pudding.  For one thing - no box!  (Just kidding.)  The biggest unexpected part of this recipe was utilizing the food processor to actually make the pudding.  Very different, but fun and effective.

I had all the ingredients the recipe called for without making any special trips anywhere - the only substitutions I made were 2% milk instead of whole, and 1 oz of semi-sweet chocolate because I only had 4 oz of bittersweet on hand.

I put most of the milk and half the sugar in a pot on the stove to boil...

Combined the cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt in one bowl...

And the rest of the sugar, the egg and two yolks in another bowl...

While my bowls of melted chocolate, softened butter and vanilla waited in the wings.

As directed, I ran the cornstarch/cocoa powder/salt mixture through the food processor and then poured that out onto a piece of parchment.

Next to go into the processor were the eggs and sugar, and after they were spun around for a minute, I poured in the remaining milk...

And then the cocoa powder mixture...

Now, ordinarily when making something like this, I would figure that the next step would be to temper the egg mixture with some of the hot milk in the pot and then pour the gently-heated egg mixture into the rest of the milk and cook until it thickened.

But not this time.  Instead, Dorie has you slowly pour the hot milk into the spinning food processor (okay, the contents of the bowl are spinning, not the appliance).  In this way, it is apparently incorporated slowly enough so the eggs don't cook/curdle, and this eliminates the whole tempering step.  Pretty cool, actually, as long as you can pour your hot milk with a steady hand.

It makes it harder when you're trying to pour left-handed and take a picture with the camera with your right hand.  But it can be done!

(okay, it's a bit fuzzy, but still - ACTION SHOT!)

Okay, once the milk is blended into the egg mixture (mine was very frothy)

You pour it back into the pot and whisk constantly until it begins to thicken and, to quote Dorie, "a couple of bubbles burble up to the surface and pop (about 2 minutes)."  Then it's back into the food processor for one more spin - this time you add in the vanilla and butter and melted chocolate, who have been sitting over there on the counter, watching all the fun.

Wheeee!  Everybody into the pool!

(I'm sorry - I was up late last night watching the Home Run Derby and then Julia had me up very very early this morning - I tend to get a bit silly when sleep-deprived.)

Okay, so now you spin it all around again to combine

Now comes the hard part.  You have to put the pudding into ramekins or cups or whatever and - put them in the fridge to chill for "at least 4 hours."  Yeah.  Four.  Hours.  That's what Dorie says.  Clearly she is off her rocker on that point.  But I'll cut her some slack, since mostly everything else she writes makes sense.

Anyway, I chose these coffee cups instead of ramekins, and I divided the pudding into 6 cups and let them all wait on the counter while I scraped the very last bits of pudding from the inside of the processor bowl and the blade and the spatula and made sure they all ended up in my mouth.  It was not a very pretty display, I'm sure, but no one was in the kitchen to witness it.  (So maybe it didn't really happen at all...)

I started putting them in the fridge, really I did, but then Miss Julia, the chocolate pudding princess, came in and saw me wiping chocolate evidence from the corner of my mouth.

"Mommy, what do you got?"  She asked in her best Law & Order interrogation room tone.

"Um...chocolate pudding," I confessed...weak-willed soul that I am.

"I want some chocolate pudding!"  She shouted - a four-year-old girl once more - jumping up and down.

"Well...okay."  So I gave her a cup and warned her that it wasn't exactly like the chocolate pudding she usually ate (she's a milk chocolate kind of gal at this point), but she grabbed a spoon and dug in anyway.

You've probably guessed that she didn't like it.  Oh darn.  I guess I'll have to finish what's in the cup.  I thought it was delicious - dark and lush and smooth.

A bit later, (still not 4 hours later, though.  Sorry, Dorie.) my husband was a little hungry and I asked if he wanted some chocolate pudding.  Oh he sure did.  With whipped cream?  Yes, please!  I poured some heavy cream in a bowl, got a whisk, and beat it by hand til it reached the soft peak stage. 

And then I made Bill wait while I took some pictures...

And then I finally allowed Bill to snatch the cup and spoon away and sample the pudding.

1 minute and 36 seconds later...

 

He liked it. A lot.

If you would like to see more glorious photos of chocolate pudding, go check out the enormous list of Tuesdays With Dorie members.  And if you want the recipe, go check in Melissa's Kitchen or better yet, go buy the book!

TWD: Double-Crusted Blueberry Pie

They don't get much fresher than this.  On Saturday my kids spent the day over at Joe and Em's new house (nephew and girlfriend - and she is SO much more to us than simply "Joe's girlfriend" but that's the quickest description), and in the back yard they have about 12-16 enormous sprawling blueberry bushes.  They've been allowed to just go wild before Joe and Emily bought the place a couple of months ago, so these bushes are more like trees.  And best of all, there are a TON of blueberries out there ripening.  And - lucky for me - there were plenty of ripe berries for the kids and Emily to pick for this pie.  Over the next couple of weeks, there will probably be enough berries in total to supply all the TWD members with enough to make a pie or a crumble each.  Really.  TONS of them.

So anyway, the kids and Emily picked those berries on Saturday and I made the pie on Sunday.  I cut a  piece so I could take pictures, and Alex had a piece (half last night, half for breakfast this morning), and later today Bill will bring the rest of the pie over to Joe and Emily.  But I am sure there will be more blueberries in production at my house before the branches are bare.  Pies, tarts, jams, syrup...and frozen berries to have on hand for some distant "later."

Anyway - yay - I lucked out - fresher than fresh blueberries.  I added less than a quarter cup of frozen blueberries, and they really weren't even necessary, but my pie pan is rather deep and I wanted PLENTY.

And speaking of the pie - this week's recipe "Double-Crusted Blueberry Pie" was chosen by Amy of South in Your Mouth, and you can find the recipe on her site or in Dorie Greenspan's book Baking From My Home to Yours on pages 361-363.  The recipe for the "Good For Almost Everything Pie Dough" is on pages 442-443.

I absolutely love blueberry pie, so when I saw this selection I was VERY happy.  I bought several bags of Wyman's frozen blueberries, but didn't really need them in the end. 

I will admit I kind of raced through the recipe and the edges of my crust didn't look as pretty as they could have.  But I was trying to get the pie done quickly so I could bring Alex to a birthday party later in the afternoon.  We're also in the middle of cleaning and reorganizing the house because we've got a few sets of relatives coming to stay with us beginning later this week and running through the rest of the month. 

Anyway, first up, I made the dough for the crust.  I didn't use my food processor (it was in the dishwasher), I just used a pastry blender and my hands, and the dough came out fine. 

I could have chilled my shortening longer, but it didn't really seem to matter - the dough is lovely - flaky and tender.

I chilled the dough for maybe half an hour while I rinsed off the blueberries and picked off the few bits of stems that remained.  Then I combined the blueberries with the rest of the filling ingredients - the flour and sugar and pinch of salt, and the zest and juice of a lemon - only I didn't have a lemon, so I used a small orange, and actually, I really liked the flavor of orange in combination with the blueberries.

  

There seemed to be a little too much of the mixture of flour and sugar, and even though I combined it all pretty well with the blueberries, there were still some floury areas in the finished pie.  They didn't taste off or different, but they didn't look right. 

Anyway, as Dorie instructs, I sprinkled a layer of plain bread crumbes on the crust to absorb juices and prevent the bottom crust from getting soggy,

and then I poured in the blueberry mixture.

Then I draped the top crust over the whole thing, "glued" the two crusts together with water, pressed to seal them, and this time around, instead of crimping the edges, I used the tines of the fork to decorate the edges.  I cut slits in the top crust, and cut a small hole in the center.  Then I put the whole thing in the fridge for half an hour to chill.  Right before I put the pie in the oven, I brushed the top with egg wash and sprinkled sparkling sugar over it all.  Then the pie went onto a baking sheet and into the middle of my oven.

About an hour later I took the pie out and set it on a rack to cool.  It looked and smelled wonderful.

I started wishing we didn't have to share with anyone.  (Sorry Joe and Em!)

About half an hour later, I cut one slice of pie, you know, so I could take my pictures.  That's the only reason, of course.  And I had to eat some, too, again, for my pictures.  It was all done in the name of art, and science, and baking and all that.

 

Overall, this was a yummy pie.  And I was very happy to HAVE to make it for TWD this week.  It wasn't necessarily any better than any other blueberry pie I've made, and certainly no worse.  It was simply a really yummy pie.  My only dissatisfaction - and it was pretty minor - was that there seemed to be more of that sugar/flour mixture than the berries required.  I should have trusted my own instincts and just not used all of it.  But oh well, I'll do that next time.  And like I said, the pie tasted just fine.

I'll probably make it again, since there are SO MANY blueberries available to me, and next time, I'll use my own judgement about the flour/sugar addition.  I'll keep you posted.

And in the meantime, you might want to go check out what all the other - well over 200 now - members of Tuesdays With Dorie have done with this recipe. 

TWD (make that WWD in this case) Apple Cheddar Scones

Yes, here I am, late to the party.  But at least I got here before NEXT Tuesday.

Apple Cheddar Scones.  The recipe is from Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking From My Home to Yours", and can be found on page 32, or you can visit Karina's blog, The Floured Apron, if you don't have the book right there in front of you.  (Of course, if you DON'T have it in front of you, that just must mean it's way in the other room, or at home - if you're at work.  It couldn't POSSIBLY mean you don't own a copy, because by all accounts, no home should be without one.)

Anyway.

I made the scones this morning at a bit of a rush, because a) I should have either done them yesterday or I should have done them BEFORE yesterday, and b) because I had a dentist appointment at 9:30 and I wanted to get them done and photographed before I had to leave.  And I was up at 5:30, went for a walk, back by 6:30, so you'd think I could even have managed to post before the dentist appt, but if you thought that even for a fraction of a second, well, you'd be wrong. 

So shut up, Jayne, and get to the scones.

Or "stones" as Alex was calling them.

First of all - yum - the apple/cheddar combination sounded great to me from the start.  I bought dried apple slices yesterday and put my block of cheddar in the freezer so it would be easier to grate.  Of course (note to self) I didn't need to put it in the freezer yesterday, because this morning when I was trying to grate it, it was like grating a stone with a piece of chamois.  I got it done, but the cheese came away from the grater in little wispy bits that pretty much disappeared into the mix.  So no lovely melty cheese shots.  Next time I'll know better.

My favorite part of the recipe was the quarter cup of cornmeal in the dough, which gave a nice bit of crunch to each bite.  And even though I couldn't see the cheese, the flavor was there, along with the bits of apple.  Both my kids liked them - Alex had two for breakfast, topped with strawberry jam.  Bill and I liked them as well, so I'll make these again.  Probably during the next several weeks, as we'll have various family members staying with us.

Julia helped with the mixing, as she often does.  She wanted me to take a picture of her as she stood on her chair, ready to whisk dry ingredients together. 

Like so:

She also cracked the egg and mixed all the liquids together for me, while I took forty days to grate the 3/4 cup of cheddar.

No pictures of those steps - sorry.  I'm off my game today, apparently.  Probably was dental terror.

Anyway.

Once I had the cheddar grated and the apples chopped up, I cut the butter into small cubes and added that to the bowl...

and used my fingers to mash up and combine the butter with the flour mixture.  Big bits and little bits and all kinds of in-between bits resulted.

Julia poured in the liquids and the apples and cheese, and I stirred quickly and gently to combine everything into a very sticky dough.

I turned the dough out onto my floured counter and Julia and I each took a turn kneading the dough.

Then, departing from Dorie's instructions just a tad, I cut the dough into three roughly equal pieces and patted each piece into a circle half an inch thick, cut each circle into quarters, and placed all the pieces on my parchment-lined sheet pan.

Then I baked them for 23 minutes, let them cool for another ten, and then we ate.

While they were baking, my kids came into the kitchen sniffing the air, and asking what I was cooking.  (Julie didn't really know what she was helping me with - she just likes to crack eggs and mix stuff.)  I told them "apple cheddar scones" and Alex asked what "stones" were and I explained, and he said he thought he would probably like them.

And, of course, before anyone was allowed to EAT a scone, I had to take some pictures.  So I set up a few different shots...

and kicked myself for not having some fresh berries handy to add a bit of color to these shots...

and what was I thinking, using an off-white plate for these pictures, anyway?

Hey, Jayne, sure you've got enough butter on there?  It's not overflowing from the plate yet...

And then I thought - oh, yeah, I need some JAM in this picture.  So I got out the strawberry jam and added a welcome splash of color to the neutral shades...

 

And THEN - we ate!

TWD - Later Today

This week's recipe - Apple Cheddar Scones - was chosen by Karina of The Floured Apron.  I'll be posting my photos and feedback later today, but in the meantime, go see what all the more punctual Tuesdays With Dorie members have done and said!  You're sure to be impressed, as they are a fabulous and entertaining bunch of bakers!

TWD: Mixed Berry Crumble

This week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe, the Mixed Berry Cobbler, was chosen by Beth of Our Sweet Life, and if you'd like to see the recipe, you can head on over there or - better yet - go buy Dorie Greenspan's Baking:  From My Home to Yours.

Anyway.  I was really, really happy to see that this is the one Beth picked - perfectly summery and easy as anything to throw together.  And yeah, I mean throw.  It was probably the fastest dessert I've ever assembled, and the overall response in my home was "YUMMY!"  (Except for Julia, of course, who only had ice cream because "I don't like pie any more.")  My husband and son LOVED it, in fact I think my little boy ate more than I did.  When he is enamored of something, you can't hold him back.

Like I said - the Mixed Berry Cobbler is perfectly summery, what with so many berries either in season now or on the horizon.  We actually have a sour cherry tree in our yard (the cherries are sour; the tree seems pretty friendly) and my kids picked a lot of the ripe fruit on Monday

the birds have been picking plenty as well), and so I used those cherries - 3 cups - and rounded things out with two cups of frozen blueberries. 

I had strawberries on hand as well, but Dorie's notes say those are a little too water for a crumble and to "go light" on them, so I just didn't use them at all. 

I combined the berries with the sugar, cornstarch and lemon zest as directed...

and poured the mixture into the buttered pie plate.

I got my already-made topping out of the fridge and covered the berries with it...

and popped it in the oven.

An hour later, the crumble was golden brown on top, bubbling away, and smelled mouth-watering.  In fact, it had smelled crazy good from about the half hour point on, and were it not for the surprise HAIL STORM we had, it would have been hard to do anything other than stand around in the kitchen inhaling the aroma of dessert as it baked.

We were eating dinner when I took the crumble out of the oven, which is good - the kids were distracted by other food and my lovely crumble could rest, undisturbed, for all of 27 minutes.  Dorie recommends 30 minutes, but she hasn't encountered my son.

Anyway, I dished it up (quickly, as the natives were getting restless, and topped it with some strawberry ice cream. 

Dorie recommends vanilla, but we had strawberry, and I figured the additional berry flavor would be acceptable.  It certainly didn't overshadow the dark, tangy flavor of my sour cherry/blueberry combo. 

The consensus?

 

I may have some for breakfast.

Anyway, if you haven't already, go see what all the other Tuesdays With Dorie folk served up!

TWD - Sorry - Not this week.

Hi - I'm not participating in this week's Tuesdays With Dorie challenge - I've got a lot of other things I need to catch up on right now.  But go check out all the other Tuesdays With Dorie bakers to see their gorgeous renditions of Dorie's Peppermint Cream Puff Ring! 

TWD: La Palette's Strawberry Tart

 

This week's TWD recipe was chosen by Marie of A Year in Oak Cottage and can be found on page 374 of Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.  We're not posting the actual recipes any more - all the members HAVE the book, and if you'd like to become a member, you'll need to GET the book, and even if you don't want to become a member, you really SHOULD just go out and get the book because it's big and beautiful and if you just look at the pictures, you don't gain ANY weight at all!  So there you go.

Anyway, this week's recipe was PERFECTLY timed.  Not only are strawberries coming into season (here in RI) but also this weekend marked the start of a hideous heat wave (still going unbearably strong) and baking the tart shell Saturday morning was about all I was interested in doing, oven-wise.

I don't really have a lot to write about this tart - it is so incredibly simple to put together that I figure if I keep some pre-made tart shells in the freezer through the summer, I can turn out a fabulously impressive summer dessert any ol' night of the week. 

I made the sweet tart dough with the addition of ground almonds - partly because I have a LOT of almonds in my freezer which I just noticed recently and want to use them - and partly because I thought the flavor of the nuts would be nice with the simple tart/sweet flavor of the strawberries.

After dinner, while everyone was outside, I just spread my strawberry jam on the tart, sliced it into 6 pieces, set each slice on a plate and topped it with a generous amount of strawberries and a dollop of fresh whipped cream. 

My sister's kids were here for the night, and so they got to partake of this glorious yet humble offering.

There wasn't a smidgen left.  I think I could have made two tarts, and there still wouldn't have been any left.

In fact, the above picture is the only photo I have - no process pictures because I did so much of this on the fly that day - but also - there's not a lot of process to photograph!

I used unsweetened whipped cream to top it, and the strawberries came from Ledge Ends Produce, one of the sellers at the Farmers' Market I go to on Fridays.

Aren't they lovely?

Anyway, for other glimpses of this lovely tart (and probably actual process photos), go check out all the other fabulous bakers on the Tuesdays With Dorie list - there are over 200 now!  So get going!

TWD: French Chocolate Brownies

    

This week's TWD recipe, French Chocolate Brownies, was chosen by Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook.

 I made these rather quickly yesterday - I'd planned to make them as part of a whole afternoon of chocolate-themed baking, but it didn't work out.  So I put these together in rapid time in between Alex's kindergarten class in the morning and Julia's gymnastics class in the afternoon and all the assorted kid-chaos in between.  Fortunately it's a very easily-put-together recipe, and the brownies were cooled and on a plate by the time the kids and I had to leave the house.

I have to say, I like raisins in things...but not in my brownies.  They just seemed...like they'd wandered into the batter while they were looking for a cinnamon bun to curl up in.  But that's just my opinion.  They don't taste bad in there, they're just...odd.  To me.

Other than that, these are yummy - kind of reminded me of a flourless (or nearly) cake - that kind of soft, melt-in-your mouth texture.  I enjoyed the flavor.  My husband had a bite last night (after we'd been out to dinner with the kids, and Bill was offered a free dessert by the water because he mis-heard Bill's order and brought him the wrong thing.  So Bill, who is not much of a dessert eater, and who was already stuffed from dinner, ate half of a bowl of grapenut pudding and was about ready to burst.  He gallantly ate a bite of a brownie, just so I could selfishly garner some feedback.  He said he liked it.  This morning I tried to get the kids to taste-test for me.  Julia refused (she is ornery in the mornings.  Well, okay, noon and night, too.), but Alex was a willing participant.  He pronounced his bite "Delicious!" 

So there you go. 

And here's the recipe and my little process photos....

French Chocolate Brownies

- makes 16 brownies -
Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours.

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1/3 cup raisins, dark or golden
1 1/2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 12 pieces
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil, place the pan on a baking sheet, and set aside.

 

Whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon, if you're using it.

Put the raisins in a small saucepan with the water, bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until the water almost evaporates.

Add the rum, let it warm for about 30 seconds, turn off the heat, stand back and ignite the rum.

Allow the flames to die down, and set the raisins aside until needed.  (I tried, but I didn't get any decent shots of my raisins a-flame.  Sorry!)

Put the chocolate

in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Slowly and gently melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally.

Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring so that it melts.

It's important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you've got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them—it's better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole. Set the chocolate aside for the moment.

Working with a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick and pale, about 2 minutes.

Lower the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter, mixing only until it is incorporated—you'll have a thick, creamy batter.

 

Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds—the dry ingredients won't be completely incorporated and that's fine.

Finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula, then fold in the raisins along with any liquid remaining in the pan.

(And yes, those are golden raisins in that picture above.  Not anything else.  Not something hideous that my small children might have dug up (or out of) somewhere and wiped on the bowl when I wasn't looking.  No.  It's not that.  Though this picture tells me I should have used dark raisins, if only because they would have looked more appropriate swimming in chocolate.  Ah well.)

Scrape the batter

into the pan

and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the brownies to cool to warm or room temperature.

Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles,

and transfer to a cutting board. With a long-bladed knife,

cut the brownies into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil.

Serving: The brownies are good just warm or at room temperature; they're even fine cold. I like these with a little something on top or alongside—good go-alongs are whipped crème fraiche or whipped cream, ice cream or chocolate sauce or even all three!

Storing: Wrapped well, these can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

To see how all the other TWD members did this week, start by going here.

TWD: Pecan Honey Sticky Buns

Oh YUM.  When I saw that Madame Chow, of Madame Chow's Kitchen, had chosen this recipe, I was delighted.  Some of my very favorite things are involved here:  pecans, honey, cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter.  What more could I ask of a pastry?

I decided to make them for Saturday of last week, beer brewing day for my husband and his friend John, because I figured John could help eat them and then I wouldn't feel obligated to eat all of them myself.  Heh heh.

Anyway, I made the brioche dough for this recipe on Friday evening, so it could have the requisite rest in the fridge overnight.  Then, next morning, I melted and rolled and sprinkled and baked, and oh, my, were there some happy folk at our house.  All but Julia, who, being Julia, decided that she didn't like them that morning.  She changed her tune later in the day.  She's funny that way.

Anyway, the recipe lives on pages 51-53 in Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Kitchen to Yours, and many thanks to Madame Chow for choosing it!

Here we go.

As I said, I made the brioche on Friday night, so I'll start there.

Golden Brioche Dough (pgs 48-50)

You will need:

2 packets active dry yeast (each packet of yeast contains approx. 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch water
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch whole milk
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature but still slightly firm

To Make The Brioche:

Put the yeast, water and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the flour and salt, and fit the mixer with the dough hook, if you have one. Toss a kitchen towel over the mixer, covering the bowl as completely as you can-- this will help keep you, the counter and your kitchen floor from being showered in flour. Turn the mixer on and off a few short pulses, just to dampen the flour (yes, you can peek to see how you're doing), then remove the towel, increase the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for a minute or two, just until the flour is moistened. At this point, you'll have a fairly dry, shaggy mess.

Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes, until the dough forms a ball. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter in 2-tablespoon-size chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next. You'll have a dough that is very soft, almost like batter. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a clean bowl (or wash out the mixer bowl and use it), cover with plastic wrap

 

and leave at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes, depending upon the warmth of your room.

Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap to the bowl. Cover the bowl with the plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Slap the dough down in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours, then leave the uncovered dough in the refrigerator to chill overnight. (After this, you can proceed with the recipe to make the brioche loaves, or make the sticky buns instead, or freeze all or part of the dough for later use.)  (You'll only need half the dough for the sticky bun recipe.)

Pecan Honey Sticky Buns

Makes 15 buns

For the Glaze:

1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup honey
1-1/2 cups pecans (whole or pieces)

For the Filling:

1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the Buns:

1/2 recipe dough for Golden Brioche loaves, chilled and ready to shape (make the full recipe and cut the dough in half after refrigerating it overnight)

Generously butter a 9-x-13-inch baking pan (a Pyrex pan is perfect for this).

To make the glaze: In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the brown sugar, butter, and honey to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar.

Pour the glaze into the buttered pan, evening it out as best you can by tilting the pan or spreading the glaze with a heatproof spatula. Sprinkle over the pecans.

To make the filling:

Mix the sugars and cinnamon together in a bowl. If necessary, in another bowl, work the butter with a spatula until it is soft, smooth and spreadable.  (For some reason I didn't have the patience for this that morning, so I mushed it around some and left it at that.  The sticky buns did not seem to mind.)  (HAHAHAHA - joke's on me.  I just this second realized I misread that direction while I was making these, and had attempted to mix the cinnamon and sugar into the butter.  Duh.)

To shape the buns:

On a flour-dusted work surface, roll the chilled dough into a 16-inch square.

Using your fingers or a pastry brush, spread the softened butter over the dough. Sprinkle the dough with the cinnamon sugar, leaving a 1-inch strip bare on the side farthest from you. (Or, if you're dopey like me, dot the dough with your blend of cinnamon, sugar and soft butter and smear it around a bit to distribute it evenly.) 

Starting with the side nearest you, roll the dough into a cylinder, keeping the roll as tight as you can.

(At this point, you can wrap the dough airtight and freeze it for up to 2 months . . . . Or, if you want to make just part of the recipe now, you can use as much of the dough as you'd like and freeze the remainder. Reduce the glaze recipe accordingly).

With a chef's knife, using a gentle sawing motion, trim just a tiny bit from the ends of the roll if they're very ragged or not well filled,

then cut the log into 1-inch thick buns.

(Because you trim the ragged ends of the dough, and you may have lost a little length in the rolling, you will get 15 buns, not 16.) Fit the buns into the pan cut side down, leaving some space between them.  (Goofy side note here - first time I ever made any kind of buns like this, years ago, I read that same directive - "fit the buns in the pan cut side down" and became paralized because, well, they're cut on TWO sides, so WHICH cut side are they talking about?  It took forever to get those things into the pan.  I have since recovered.)

Lightly cover the pan with a piece of wax paper and set the pan in a warm place until the buns have doubled in volume, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The buns are properly risen when they are puffy, soft, doubled and, in all likelihood, touching one another.  (And complaining to their mother about it.  "Mom, he keeps touching me!"  "Well she's on MY side of the pan!"  But I digress.  And anthropomorphisize food on occasion.)

Getting ready to bake:

When the buns have almost fully risen , center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees  F.

Remove the sheet of wax paper and put the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.  Bake the sticky buns for about 30 minutes, or until they are puffed and gorgeously golden; the glaze will be bubbling away merrily.  Pull the pan from the oven.

The sticky buns must be unmolded minutes after they come out of the oven. 

(That's the view through the bottom of my pyrex pan, in case you were wondering.)

If you do not have a rimmed platter large enough to hold them, use a baking sheet lined with a silicone matt or buttered foil.  Be careful - the glaze is super-hot and super-sticky.

Dorie should have added another warning in her notes.  "Be careful - these sticky buns are super-yummy and super-addictive." You know, just as a courtesy.

And on brew day morning, these were definitely a hit.  (Except, as noted above, with Julia the Ornery.)  Everyone (but Julia) had two.  Including my son.

(And it's not the camera - he's blurry from the sugar.  He looked like that for a while.)

I think it's safe to say I'll probably make these again.  As Dorie said in her intro to this recipe - "It's made of brown sugar, butter, honey and lots of pecans, and when it's baked, the pecans turn into pralines.  What's not to like?"

Indeed.

Tuesdays With Dorie (and Sunday With Julia - no, not THAT Julia, MY Julia): Perfection Pound Cake as Birthday Cake

Long enough post title for you?

 

This week's Tuesdays With Dorie challenge was to make the Traditional Madeleines found on pages 166-168 of "Baking, From My Home to Yours," and was chosen by Tara of Smells Like Home.   We were also given the option of choosing one of the past TWD recipes if we didn't have the correct pan to make the madeleines. 

And so for two reasons, I didn't make the madeleines.  First off, I don't have the right pan, and though I could pretty easily get one, there was reason number two - my daughter's birthday party and the requisite cake for that.  So, in my merry two-birds-with-one-stone killer way, I picked the Perfection Pound Cake, which was chosen back in January, long before I was a member.

Pound Cake, as Dorie mentions in the "Playing Around" section of the recipe, "lends itself to variations minor and major."  And that's exactly what happened with mine.  I had asked the soon-to-be Birthday Girl what kind of cake she wanted.  Asked her several times, in fact, because I know how often her mind can change.  Ultimately it boiled down to these three requests:  Strawberry cake, Purple on the outside, with Pink flowers on it.

Purple on the outside was simple enough - just color some fondant and that would be that.

Pink flowers - nothing I couldn't accomplish with some pink royal icing.

And the strawberry cake?

I used Dorie's Perfection Pound Cake recipe - tripled, because there would be at least 14 people, if not more, and I generally make about twice what I realistically need because I'm insecure that way.

To the cake, I added some orange zest, because, well, I've been using lemon (and lime) a lot lately, and I needed a change in citrus. 

And I sliced about 3 pounds of strawberries or so and macerated them briefly in some sugar.

And so here's how it all went down....

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour or 2  1/4 cups cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Getting Ready:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Butter a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan or an 8  1/2 x 4  1/2 inch loaf pan.  Put the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked one on top of the other. 

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until pale and fluffy, a full 5 minutes.   

(Add in the orange zest.)  Scrape down the bowl and beater and reduce the mixer speed to medium.  Add the eggs one at a time,

beating for 1 to 2 minutes after each egg goes in.  As you're working, scrape down the bowl and beater often.  Mix in the vanilla extract.  Reduce the mixer speeed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it is incorporated--don't overmix.  In fact, you might want to fold in the last of the flour, or even all fo it, by hand with a rubber spatula. 

Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and smooth the top.

(And scatter the strawberries on top and press lightly into the batter

Put the cake into the oven to bake, and check on it after about 45 minutes.  If it's browning too quickly, cover it loosely with a foil tent.  If you're using a 9x5 pan, you'll need to bake the cake for 70-75 minutes; the smaller pan needs about 90 minutes.  The cake is properly baked when a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. 

(The heart-shaped pans ranged in bake time from about an hour to an hour and a half.)

Remove the cake from the oven, transfer the pan to a rack and let rest for 30 minutes.

Run a blunt knjife betwene the cake and the sides of the pan and turn the cake out, then turn it right side up on the rack and cool to room temperature.

So those are my Perfection Pound Cakes - with strawberries pressed into the tops.  They smelled phenomenal, and I had to fight my family off in order to keep the cakes safe for Julia's party.

Once the cakes were cool, it was time for the construction.  I couldn't exactly level the surfaces of the cakes, because I'd end up slicing away a lot of the all-important strawberries.  And I could have put the strawberries in the bottom of the pan...and I had thought about it...but I forgot until I'd filled the first pan, so I just pressed them on top.

I also didn't want to cover the whole thing with fondant because - again - the strawberries.  They looked so yummy...I couldn't hide them.

First, I sliced each cake in half, so I'd have two layers per cake...and I slathered seedless strawberry jam in between the layers.

I also wanted to enhance the appearance of the strawberries, so I melted down some apricot preserves and glazed them with that.  Nice and moist and shiny.

Then I wrapped ribbons of fondant I'd colored with "aster mauve" and "delphinium blue" around the edges of each layer.

And to all that, I added some fondant ribbons and royal icing leaves and flowers, and this was how it looked:

Later on, after we'd sung "Happy Birthday" and Julia had blown out the candles, I started to cut the cake.

And in that momentary silence, my little Birthday Princess said,

"I don't want any cake.  I just want ice cream...I don't really like cake."

~~~~~

Everyone else seemed to like it.  And of course I'd made way too much, but I gave everyone a chunk of it to bring home, and this was all that was left:

So Happy 4th Birthday, Julia! 

Next year you get pie.

A Closer Look at Meringue

Just because.

TWD: Florida Pie

This week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was selected by Dianne of Dianne's Dishes, and I have to say I was SO glad to see that she had picked Dorie's "Florida Pie."  I love lime, love coconut, love cold and tart anything, so I was really looking forward to making this one.

The pie was pretty easy to put together, however I got distracted by one of my kids (can't remember which, so I can't blame one in particular) and as a result my meringue was overbeaten and kind of dry.  It sort of resembled polyfil - that fluffy stuff you find inside pillows and stuffed animals.  So the top of my pie didn't have smooth, elegant swoops of meringue as much as it had sweepings from the groomer's floor after she'd trimmed the coat of a white poodle.

   

See?

But enough of that.  It still tasted really, really good.

Ingredients:

1 9-inch graham cracker crust (page 235), fully baked and cooled, or a store-bought crust
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
4 large eggs, seperated
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh Key (or regular) lime juice (from about 5 regular limes)
1/4 cup of sugar

Getting Ready:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment of a silicone mat.  (I used a springform pan for some reason.  I think I like to make things just a bit more complicated than they need to be.)

Put the cream and 1 cup of the coconut in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly. 

Continue to cook and stir until the cream is reduced by half and the mixture is slightly thickened.

Scrape the coconut cream into a bowl and set it aside while you prepare the lime filling.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl beat the egg yolks at high speed until thick and pale.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the condensed milk.  Still on low, add half of the lime juice.  When it is incorporated, add the reaming juice, again mixing until it is blended.  Spread the coconut cream in the bottom of the graham cracker crust,

and pour over the lime filling.

Bake the pie for 12 minutes.  Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes, then freeze the pie for at least 1 hour.

To Finish the Pie with Meringue:

Put the 4 egg whites and the sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, whisking all the while, until the whites are hot to the touch.  Transfer the whites to a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer in a large bowl, and beat the whites at high speed until they reach room temperature and hold firm peaks.  (Don't overbeat or you'll end up with poodle hair!)  Using a rubber spatula, fold the remaining 1/2 cup coconut into the meringue.

Spread the meringue over the top of the pie, and run the pie under the broiler until the top of the meringue is golden brown.  (Keep an eye on it - if you get called away, for instance, by your daughter who wants to get out of the bath NOW, bribe her to stay put until you take the pie out of the oven.  It burns quickly, and some of your golden brown will become blackened black.) 

 

(Or, if you've got a blowtorch, you can use it to brown the meringue.)  Return the pie to the freezer for another 30 minutes or for up to 3 hours before serving.

Dorie also suggest you let the pie sit at room temp for about half an hour before serving, so it will be cold but not frozen solid when you serve it.

My taste-testers were Bill and Alex - Julia was in bed early for a variety of reasons. 

Alex also helped out with some slice-of-pie shots...

Alex, to his credit, tried to like the pie.  He likes pie, he likes citrus, and he likes coconut.  But despite his open-mindedness, he just does not like white creamy foods.  He didn't like the meringue (because he's not a fan of poodle fur on food), so we scraped that off.  And he had several bites of the pie and then, very reluctantly, he admitted he didn't really like it.  I know it's a texture thing with him.  But at least he tried it.

Bill LOVED this pie.  And as for me?  I loved it.  And it would be really delicious without the coconut, if you're not a fan.  But I love the chewy layer of coconut on top of the crust, and the icy cold lime filling is lovely.  I think I'd like to intensify the lime flavor next time around - maybe some lime zest in the filling.  Florida Pie would be perfect on a very warm summer evening.  Outside.   On the deck.  I will definitely make this one again.  Yum!

Oh - and don't forget to go check out how all the other Tuesdays With Dorie bakers did with this one!

TWD: Not This Week - Sorry!

Sorry, I didn't make the Peanut Butter Torte - this week's Tuesdays With Dorie challenge.  I have too much else on my plate right now and just couldn't squeeze it in. 

But go check out all the other members (listed on the TWD site) and take a look at all of their mouth-watering renditions!

See you next time!

Tuesdays With Dorie: Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake

Since I've joined Tuesdays With Dorie - and this is only my fourth week as an official participant - I've gained approximately 700 pounds and the eternal devotion of my sugar-addicted children.  I just hope the other members have worked out some sort of group discount rate with a reputable weight loss program.  Maybe...Tuesdays With Dorie...and Thursdays With Jenny...or something along those lines.  Just curious.

Anyway, all of my own self-control issues aside, this is a really interesting cake.  The crunch of the polenta and the fig seeds...

the fragrance of the lemon zest...

and the seductive sweetness from the honey...

are all woven together in a moist, golden crumb. 

The cake is, at first glance, rather plain, and my initial urge was to figure out how to add to it.  How to pretty it up.  But then...even though I came up with a few lovely ideas...I couldn't do it.  Not the soft dollop of chantilly cream and a few thin and crunchy curls of lemon zest...not a scoop of lemon sorbet...not even a dusting of confectioners' sugar.  They would have looked nice...but really, this cake doesn't need them. 

And speaking of "this cake" - the Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake for this week's post was chosen by Caitlin of Engineer Baker and can be found in Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours on pgs 200-201.

I made mine Sunday morning, ably assisted by my petite sous baker, Julia. 

The cake was easy to put together, and though the recipe calls for a 10  1/2 inch tart pan, I used my trusty 8" model plus a 6" springform pan and things worked out just fine. 

Let's make a cake, shall we?   

Ingredients:

About 16 moist, plump dried Mission or Kadota figs, stemmed

1 cup medium-grain polenta or yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup ricotta

1/3 cup tepid water

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup honey

grated zest of 1 lemon

1 stick (8 T) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus 1 T, cut into bits and chilled

2 large eggs

Hang on...I'm missing something.  Oh yes...forgot to put the lemon zest in the picture.

That's better.

Getting Ready:  Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Butter a 10  1/2-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and put it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Check that the figs are, indeed, moist and plump.  If they are the least bit hard, toss them into a small pan of boiling water and steep for a minute, then drain and pat dry. 

If the figs are large (bigger than a bite), snip them in half.

Whisk the polenta, flour, baking powder and salt together.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the ricotta and water together on low speed until very smooth. 

With the mixer at medium speed, add the sugar, honey and lemon zest

and beat until light. 

Beat in the melted butter, then add the eggs one at a time, beating until the mixture is smooth.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are fully incorporated. 

You'll have a sleek, smooth, pourable batter.

Pour about one third of the batter into the pan and scatter over the figs. 

Pour in the rest of the batter, smooth the top with a rubber spatula, if necessary, and dot the batter evenly with the chilled bits of butter.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

The cake should be honey brown and pulling away just a little from the sides of the pan, and the butter will have left light-colored circles in the top.  Transfer the cake to a rack and remove the sides of the pan after about 5 minutes.  Cool to warm, or cool completely.

And that's all she wrote.

Now, I will say that the butter didn't exactly leave light colored circles...but I also didn't cut the butter in uniformly tiny bits.  My bits were rather haphazard, both in size and placement atop the cake.  So maybe, if I wanted to do anything different, I would improve my butter bit technique. 

But I don't really think it's a huge deal.

I used the 6" cake (Julia's cake) as the tasting cake, because I wanted to use the larger one for my slice-of-the-cake photos. 

I had a small piece, and gave each of the kids a small piece.  Once they were in the dining room with theirs, and I was still chewing my small portion, I quickly sliced another thin wedge for myself and, yes, I gobbled it down shamelessly.

The kids seemed to enjoy the cake, too.

In order to stop myself from eating the rest of the small cake, I quickly sliced it up into wedges, arranged the slices on a pretty little plate, and race-walked them across the street to share with our friends.   Based on the response, I think they'll remain our friends for a while.

I left the final photos (with the bigger cake) for Monday, and it was nice to have a legitimate reason to cut a standard-sized slice of cake

and,

after photographing it from various angles

and with various props,

eat the whole thing myself.

 

I think I'm gonna have to bring some of that large cake across the street, too.

I could use the exercise. 

Tuesdays With Dorie: Bill's Big Carrot Cake

Yum.  I absolutely love this cake.  It's moist and chewy with raisins and coconut and shredded carrots, and the frosting is smooth and creamy...and cream-cheesey...with a nice zing from the lemon juice.   

When I saw that Amanda of slow like honey had chosen Bill's Big Carrot Cake for this week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe, I was delighted.  I love carrot cake, and so does my husband who, coincidentally, is named Bill.  It was kismet.

I actually made the cake last week (rather than at the last minute on Monday as I'd done with my first two TWD challenges).  My husband brews beer, and several of his beer-brewing squad were coming over last Thursday to brew up about 20+ gallons.  Bill was making spicy fish tacos for lunch, and what better to follow the inferno of a Red Thai Curry Paste (which I have to post here some time - it's so good) than something sweet and moist and soothing.

I made mini cakes because I have 12 mini-springform pans that I haven't used in ages, and this seemed the perfect time to trot them out. 

And, since my mini cakes would be photographed, I decided (and I sort of blame Mari of Mevrouw Cupcake and her girly pink reversable cake plate for this) that I needed some cute interesting little inexpensive plates on which to display my mini cakes and other subsequent baked goods.  So I also went shopping at The Christmas Tree Shop and got as many cute and pretty and interesting little plates as I could carry in the shopping basket.  All I can say is it's a good thing I didn't grab a shopping cart when I walked into the store.  I'd still be washing the price tags off 'em.

Anyway, armed with springform pans and cute plates and a mission to feed a lot of people,  I got out some carrots and started shredding....

The recipe is below, with my own notes typed in italics and embraced by parentheses.

"Bill's Big Carrot Cake"

Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Yields 10 servings

Ingredients:

For the cake:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

¾ teaspoon salt

3 c grated carrots (about 9 carrots, you can grate them in food processor fitted w/ a shredding a blade or use a box grater)  (I used a microplane to grate them, and I didn't use all 9 carrots to reach 3 cups.  My kids ate the extras.)

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans  (I had almost enough pecans, but no walnuts, so I used sliced almonds with the pecans.)

1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

 

½ cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden) or dried cranberries (I had both dark AND golden, so I used half and half)

2 cups sugar

1 cup canola oil

4 large eggs

Getting ready:

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter three 9-x-2-inch round cake pans, flour the insides, and tap out the excess. Put the two pans on one baking sheet and one on another.  (I buttered and floured 12 mini springform pans, but I only ended up using 10 of them.  5 on one baking sheet, 5 on the other.)

To make the cake:

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

In another bowl, stir together the carrots, chopped nuts, coconut, and raisins.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the sugar and oil together on a medium speed until smooth.

Add the eggs one by one and continue to beat until the batter is even smoother.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing only until the dry ingredients disappear.

Gently mix the chunky ingredients.

Divide the batter among the baking pans.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until a thin knife inserted into the centers comes out clean.  The cakes will have just started to come away from the sides of the pans.

Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes and unmold them. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

The cakes can be wrapped airtight and kept at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.

*I made the cakes last Wednesday night, and then made the frosting and assembled the cakes Thursday morning.

For the Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 stick ( 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 pound or 3 and ¾ cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or ½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

½ cup shredded coconut (optional)  (I didn't use this in the frosting)

Finely chopped toasted nuts and/or toasted shredded coconut (optional)  (I did use both of these suggestions - I used toasted slivered almonds and toasted shredded coconut.)

To Make the Frosting:

Working with the stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together

until smooth and creamy.

Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until the frosting is velvety smooth.  Beat in the lemon juice or extract.

If you'd like coconut in the filling, scoop out about half of the frosting and stir the coconut into this portion.

To Assemble the Cake:

Put one layer top side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.  If you added the coconut to the frosting, use half of the coconut frosting to generously cover the first layer (or cover generously with plain frosting). 

Use an offset spatula or a spoon to smooth the frosting all the way to the edges of the layer.  Top with the second layer, this time placing the cake top side down, and frost with the remainder of the coconut frosting (or more plain frosting).  Top with the last layer, right side up, and frost the top - and the sides, if you want--of the cake.  Finish the top with swirls of frosting.  If you want to top the cake with toasted nuts or coconut, sprinkle them on now, while the frosting is soft.

Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes, just to set the frosting before serving.

I used one of the 3-layer cakes for the guys on brew day.  They were so full from the fish tacos, that they didn't devour the entire thing, which was good news for us.  But what they ate - they LOVED.

And brought the other one over to our friends across the street.  Kathleen raved about it.  On more than one occasion.

My parents and my sister and her husband and two kids got most of the rest.  But not ALL of the rest.

 

I think if I make this cake again (which, you know, I am pretty sure I will...a lot) in the mini springform pans, I'll double the frosting recipe.  Even though the frosting/cake ration per bite was perfect, I still think I would like to see more of it on the cakes.  But that's more a cosmetic urge than a culinary one.

Now go check out what all the other TWD bakers have done with this recipe!

Tuesdays With Dorie: Marshmallows

This week's challenge recipe was chosen by Judy of Judy's Gross Eats.  You can find it in Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours on pages 404-405.

I actually took two of Dorie's "playing around" suggestions and combined them so I could have Raspberry Chocolate Marshmallows instead of original vanilla.

Here are the ingredients and Dorie's instructions.  My own notes are in italics.

Ingredients:

About 1 cup potato starch or cornstarch

3/4 cup cold water

1/4 cups plus 1 T sugar (I didn't see any mention of this add'l tablespoon in the written recipe.  I assumed it was supposed to go in with the egg whites, so that's what I used it for.)

2 T light corn syrup

2    1/4-oz packets of unflavored gelatin

3 large egg whites, room temperature

1 T vanilla

GETTING READY:

Line a rimmed baking sheet--choose one with a rim that is 1" high--with parchment paper and dust the paper generously with potato starch or cornstarch.  (I used a 10" square pan instead.)

Have a candy thermometer at hand.

Put 1/3 cup of the water, 1  1/4 cups of sugar and the corn syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat. 

Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.  Once the sugar is dissolved, continue to cook the syrup--without stirring--until it reaches 265 degrees F on the candy thermometer, about 10 minutes.

While the syrup is cooking, work on the gelatin and the egg whites.  In a microwave-safe bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the remaining water (a scant 7 T) and let it sit for about 5 minutes, until it is spongy,

then heat the gelatin in a microwave oven for 20 to 30 seconds to liquefy it.  (Alternatively, you can dissolve the gelatin in a saucepan over low heat.)

Working in the clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in another large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until firm but still glossy--don't overbeat them and have them go dull.  (I added the tablespoon of sugar once the egg whites were foamy and starting to thicken.)

As soon as the syrup reaches 265 degrees F, remove the pan from the heat and, with the mixer on medium speed, add the syrup, pouring it between the spinning beater(s) and the side of the bowl.

Add the gelatin and continue to beat for another 3 minutes,

so that the syrup and the gelatin are fully incorporated. 

Beat in the vanilla.  (And at this point I also added half the raspberry puree

and half the melted chocolate/cocoa powder mixture.  I poured them each into the bowl with the mixer on low,

and then finished up with a rubber spatula.)

Using a large rubber spatula, scrape the meringue mixture onto the baking sheet, laying it down close to a short end of the sheet. 

Then spread it into the corners and continue to spread it out, taking care to keep the height of the batter at 1 inch;

you won't fill the pan.  Lift the excess parchment paper up to meet the edge of the batter, then rest something against the paper so that it stays in place (I use custard cups).  (I filled the pan - it was smaller and square, and so perhaps my marshmallows were more like 3/4-7/8 of an inch tall, rather than the full inch.)

Dust the top of the marshmallows with potato starch or cornstarch and let the marshmallows set in a cool, dry place.  They'll need about 3 hours, but they can rest for 12 hours or more.

(Um...clearly I wasn't actually "dusting" in this instance.  More like "bombarding.")

Once they are cool and set, cut the marshmallows with a pair of scissors or a long thin knife.

Whatever you use, you'll have to rinse and dry it frequently.  Have a big bowl with the remaining potato starch or cornstarch at hand and cut the marshmallows as you'd like--cut into squares, rectangles or even strips (as they're cut in France).  As each piece is cut,

drop it into the bowl.

When you've got 4 or 5 marshmallows in the bowl, reach in with your fingers and turn the marshmallows to coat them with starch,

then, one by one, toss the marshmallows from one hand to the other to shake off the excess starch;

transfer them to a serving bowl. 

Cut and coat the rest of the batch.

For Raspberry Marshmallows:

Fruit purees are excellent for flavoring these candies.  For raspberry marshmallows, you'll need a generous 1/3 cup of puree;

reduce the vanilla extract to 1/4 tsp.  After the batter is mixed, gently fold in the puree with a rubber spatula.  You can use the same measurements and technique for other purees, such as strawberry, mango and passion fruit.

For Light Chocolate Marshmallows:

Melt 3 oz bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate and stir in 2  1/2 T unsweetened cocoa powder.

Reduce the vanilla extract to 1/4 tsp, and after the marshmallow batter is mixed, fold in the chocolate mixture with a large rubber spatula.

I used half of the raspberry puree and half of the chocolate in the marshmallows, and saved the rest.

~~~~~

I've made marshmallows before, but just the vanilla ones, and I gave them all away as parts of Christmas gifts, so I don't even remember tasting them.

These were wonderful - light, soft, flavorful (chocolate and raspberry is such a lovely combination)...my kids didn't want to wait the 3-hour minimum to sample them.  They kept asking "Can we have the marshmallows now?"  No.  No.  After dinner you can.  Not yet.  Okay - NOW.

Alex wanted me to make S'mores.  Well, I didn't have graham crackers, and we didn't have a fire going either.  We did, however, have some Girl Scout cookies left - the shortbread ones - so I set one on a plate, put a marshmallow on top, and a bit of a Hershey bar on top of that, and put it in the microwave for a couple seconds.  The marshmallow kind of melted, but Alex didn't care.  Neither did Julia when I made hers.

But I was thinking...when you make S'mores, you don't put them in the oven.  You cook them over fire.  So what could I use to approximate the effects of flames licking at the sugar?

Aha!

My little butane torch!

I drizzled some of the leftover raspberry puree on a plate, and then some of the chocolate mixture...placed a cookie in the middle and put a little dollop of more chocolate on that. 

And then I topped that with a marshmallow and gently bruleed it.  Actually, I did it twice.  The first one looked too burnt on top to make a nice picture, so I topped it with a cookie and took a picture from the side - and it looked like I'd made some strange, meatball-in-a-cookie sandwich. 

See what I mean?

So I did the whole thing again, and this time I took my time with the flame and made sure I didn't blacken any of it.

This one looked better.

And I got a little more artful with the top cookie, too.

I gave this one to my husband after I'd taken all my pictures, and then plugged my camera into my laptop so I could upload the pictures.  Alex came into the room and was especially drawn to the raspberry puree.  Bill shared the plate with Alex, and just as I'd finished uploading pictures and unplugging the camera, I turned around and here's what I saw:

That blur you see between the plate and his face is his right hand, swooping down to the plate to scoop the remaining chocolatey-raspberry glop and bring it up to his mouth.  Very little remained on the plate.

So I'd say the marshmallows were a big hit with my little family.

 

Tuesdays With Dorie: The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart

This week's challenge was chosen by Mary of Starting From Scratch  - "The Most Extraordinary French Cream Tart" from Baking, From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, pgs. 331-332. 

(I made mine with the "Sweet Tart Dough" on pg. 444.)

The first of my Tuesdays with Dorie!

I actually doubled the recipes.  Our nephew and his girlfriend just closed on their first home, and I thought this tart would be part of a nice housewarming gift.  And, of course, I would then need a second tart to keep for the family.

I've made lemon curd many times, and this lemon cream is similar in some ways, but oh so very different in mouth feel.  It's soft and smooth and light and lush.

**(I'm just writing out the directions for a single tart, though all my pictures will have twice as much of everything.)

Oh, and as is often the case, my daughter, Julia, helped out.  Dorie's instructions are in normal type, my own notes will be in italics.

Here's what you will need:

1 cup sugar

grated zest of 3 lemons

4 large eggs

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 4-5 lemons)

2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons (10  1/2 oz) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces, at room temperature

1 9-inch tart shell made with Sweet Tart Dough (page 444), Sweet Tart Dough with Nuts (page 444), or Spiced Tart Dough (page 447), fully baked and cooled

Getting Ready:  Have an instant-read thermometer, a strainer and a blender (first choice) or food processorat hand.  Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.

Put the sugar and zest in a large heatproof bowl that can be set over the pan of simmer water.  Off the heat, rub the sugar and zest together between your fingers

until the suar is moist, grainy and very aromatic.

Whisk in the eggs,

followed by the lemon juice.

Set the bowl over the pan and start stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch.  Cook the lemon cream until it reaches 180 degrees F.  As you whisk--you must whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling--you'll see that the cream will start out light and foamy,

then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as it gets closer to 180 degrees F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks.  Heads up at this point--the tracks mean the cream is almost ready.  Don't stop whisking or checking the temperature, and have patience--depending on how much heat you're giving the cream, getting to temp can take as long as 10 minutes.  (Sorry, no pictures here - hard to hold a camera with a thermometer in one hand and a whisk in the other.)

As soon as it reaches 180 degrees F, remove the cream from the heat and strain it into the container of the blender (or food processor); discard the zest.  Let the cream stand, stirring occasionally, until it cools to 140 degrees F, about 10 minutes.  (Since I'd doubled the recipe, and neither my blender nor my food processor had the capacity, I used my stand mixer from here on out.)

Turn the blender to high (or turn on the processor) and, with the machine going, add the butter about 5 pieces at a time. 

Scrape down the sides of the container as needed as you incorporate the butter. 

Once the butter is in, keep the machine going--to get the perfect light, airy texture of lemon-cream dreams, you must continue to blend the cream for another 3 minutes.  If your machine protests and gets a bit too hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest between beats.

Pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.  (The cream will keep in the fridge for 4 days or, tightly sealed, in the freezer for up to 2 months; thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.)

When you are ready to assemble the tart, just whisk the cream to loosen it and spoon it into the tart shell.  Serve the tart, or refrigerate until needed.

And for the Tart Shell:

Ingredients:

1  1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 tablespoons) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 large egg yolk

And the directions:

Put the flour, confectioners' sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. 

Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in--you should have some pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas.  Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition.  When the egg is in, process in long pulses--about 10 seconds each--until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds.  Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change--heads up.  Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.

To Press the Dough into the Pan:  Butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom.  Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan, using all but one little piece of dough, which you should save in the refrigerator to patch any cracks after the crust is baked.  Don't be too heavy-handed--press the crest in so that the edges of the pieces cling to one another, but not so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture.  Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, perferably longer, before baking.

To Partially or Fully Bake the Crust:  Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. 

Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. 

(Since you froze the crust, you can bake it without weights.)  Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 25 minutes.  Carefully remove the foil.  If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon.  For a partially baked crust, patch the crust if necessary, then transfer the crust to a cooling rack (keep it in its pan).

To Fully Bake the Crust:  Bake for another 8 minutes or so, or until it is firm and golden brown.  (I dislike lightly baked crusts, so I oftenkeep the crust in the oven just a little longer.  If you do that, just make sure to keep a close eye on the crust's progress--it can go from golden to way too dark in a flash.)  Transfer the tart pan to a rack an dcool the crust to room temperature before filling.

(I had issues with the crust - totally my own fault.  I should have rolled the dough out rather than just pressing it onto the pans.  My shells came out a bit lumpy in spots, thin in others, and therefore overcooked where they were thin.  You can see that particular problem in the shot below.)

I kept that one for us and gave the better shell to my nephew and his girlfriend. 

Anyway, I filled the tart shells a little bit before the 4 hour minimum chilling time was up, partly because of time constraints at home, but also because my son whacked his toe on the leg of the dining room table and he was on the verge of tears.  I said "I know what would make that feel better!  Lemon tart!"  And he nodded in agreement.  So I filled the shells at that point.

And my son forgot all about his pain...

And my daughter enjoyed the fruits (intended pun) of her labor.

And here's the tart we brought to Joe and Emily.

Couple other notes -

Exactly halfway through the first 25 minutes of baking the tart crusts, my kitchen was filled with the most wonderful buttery cookie smell.  And once the tart shells were out, my son came drifting into the kitchen, led by his nose, and wanted to eat the shells right then and there.

I had some of the cream left over - probably because my tart pan is an 8" and the rectangular pan is about the same in volume.  But that's okay. 

There's hardly any of our tart left now.  My husband had some, I'd had some with the kids, and we all agree it's one of the most delicious lemony creations we've ever tasted. 

And really pretty easy to make, too.  (Apart from my own self-created problems with the crusts.)  I'll definitely make this again.

Thanks Dorie!

Tuesdays With Dorie

I'm not much of a joiner.  It takes a long time for me to feel comfortable with new (to me) people, especially in a group.  I have this, oh, humongous batch of insecurities and it takes a lot for me to get past them.  I know - it's ridiculous.  But nevertheless....

So it comes as a bit of a surprise to me to realize that last week I went and joined two baking blog groups. 

The first is a group called Tuesdays With Dorie.  As of this writing, there are 124 members - and I'm sure that number will have grown by this time tomorrow.  Members are baking their way through Dorie Greenspan's book Baking - From My Home to Yours.

Each Tuesday everyone posts the results from the recipe chosen the week before. 

I'll be posting my results tomorrow, along with pictures (of course) and the recipe. 

This should be fun.

(Oh, and the other group?  I'll write more about that when the time comes.)