TWD: Cherry-Fudge Brownie Torte

This week's recipe was selected by April of Short + Rose who decided on Cherry-Fudge Brownie Torte.

The pictures are not the best, but in my defense, it was dark when we finished the torte and I need natural light to take pictures. There was no way my family was going to wait until the next day to eat this just so I could take decent pictures. Sometimes you have to take what you can get when it's one photographer against four hungry taste-testers!
This ultra rich torte features a fudge brownie base, laced with dried cherries, cherry preserves, black pepper and chocolate chunks. The brownie is then topped with mascarpone mousse. Rich!

  Although this was the perfect combination of a dense and fudgy brownie with light and creamy mousse there are two things I would do differently next time. First, I think the flavor of the cherry preserves got lost in the brownie batter. Next time I will use them as a separate layer between the brownies and the mousse. Secondly, this torte improved with age, so I would definitely make it the day before serving.

If you want the recipe for this wonderful dessert visit April at Short + Rose.

DB: Macaroons

THE DARING BAKERS OCTOBER  CHALLENGE: MACAROONS

The 2009 October Daring Bakers' challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macaroons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.
Thank you Ami for hosting this month's challenge. We really had a good time learning to make these delicious cookies. They were easy to make, and come with endless flavor possibilities for both the cookie and the filling. I will definitely be making these again!

Our first batch had a chocolate ganache filling and the second had a whipped white chocolate espresso ganache for the filling. Both were fantastic. I didn’t try to vary the flavor and color of the cookies because I  wanted to be sure that I could make them successfully before experimenting.

On the first attempt the batter seemed too thick; the resulting cookies had feet but didn't have a smooth and shiny surface. Even though they didn't look like Ami's picture, the cookies still tasted great. On the second and third batch I used the recipe on Syrup & Tang, which was simpler, since all the ingredients are based on the weight of the egg whites. Whenever I have extra egg whites I toss them into a cup and put them in the refrigerator until I have a need for them, and almost always forget how many egg whites are in the cup. The Syrup & Tang recipe solved that problem because it is based on a ratio of egg whites to the other ingredients so all you have to do is weigh egg whites and add the proper amount of sugar, almond meal and confectioner's sugar. This method resulted in cookies that had a smooth shiny crust and a chewy center, which is exactly how a macaroon should look and taste.

Macaroons with white chocolate espresso ganache filling.

Ingredients


Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5  (at room temperature)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.

2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.

3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning to add zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.

4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.

5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).

6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.

7. Cool on a rack before filling.

Yield: 10 dozen. Ami's note: My yield was much smaller than this. I produced about two dozen filled macaroons.

Macaroons with semi-sweet chocolate ganache filling.

If you want to try the Syrup and Tang method just follow this link.

TWD: Sweet Potato Biscuits

October 20,Tuesday's with Dorie recipe, Sweet Potato Biscuits was selected by  Erin of Prudence Pennywise.   They were light, tender, and creamy biscuits with a beautiful orange color.  The mild sweet potato flavor was enhanced by cinnamon or nutmeg.  A dab of butter and a drizzle of honey and you are good to go.

     Although they look like a hockey puck, that's where the resemblence ends. The biscuits were soft and moist, but not overly flaky and didn't raise very much. In order to make biscuits or scones flaky, I cut the butter into the flour, then I put the mixture in the fridge until the butter has hardened again, usually between 10 and 20 minutes.
    Would I make them again? Sure if I wanted to have the beautiful orange color.  The flavor of sweet potato was a little too mild and they weren't as flaky as I would like. With a few modifications they would make delicious scones for halloween breakfast.
     If you would like to try your hand at these beautiful biscuits stop over at Erin's for the recipe.

Hocus Pocus Pumpkin Cupcakes

Check out all of the entries and vote for the October Cupcake Hero now thru October 21 at

I Heart Cuppycakes

     When I ventured over to I Heart Cuppycakes! I met up with the cupcake heroes. What a fun and creative group of bakers! Their cupcakes looked so fantastic. I wanted to bake cupcakes; I wanted to be a cupcake hero.

   Booo-tiful Pumpkins is the theme for October. The cupcakes have a delicate pumpkin flavor and a velvety texture, and are topped with a light and airy caramel buttercream. I was so focused on creating pumpkin cupcakes that were rich and flavorful but didn't have the dense heaviness of pumpkin bread that I totally jelled on the decoration aspect of the theme, but I didn't have to worry The Frosted Cake 'n Cookie had my back. A visit to this very talented baker's blog taught me how to make these adorable witches hats.  If you haven't stopped by before, you should definitely make a visit.

Hocus Pocus Pumpkin Cupcakes

 with Carmel Buttercream

Makes 9 cupcakes

1 cup All Purpose Four
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
Pinch cloves

2.5 oz unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup canned pumpkin puree

In small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Set aside.

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy with an electric mixer. Add the egg and continue beating until incorporated. Add pumpkin puree and mix well. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with 2 additions of buttermilk. Mix well; batter will be fluffy.

Scoop batter into prepared muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes until golden. Let cool completely before frosting.

printable recipe

Caramel Buttercream Frosting:

2 egg whites
3 Tablespoons sugar

4 Tablespoons sugar
¼ cup boiling water

1 cup soft unsalted butter
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar.

In bowl of electric mixer beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly add the 3 tablespoon sugar while beating at high speed until thick and glossy.

In a heavy bottom pan evenly sprinkle 4 tablespoons sugar. Place pan over medium heat and cook, swirling pan by the handle, until the sugar melts and turns a golden brown.  Remove from heat and carefully stir in the boiling water, using a long handled wooden spoon . Caramel will sputter and bubble when you add the water. Stir to dissolve all of the caramel.

With the mixer on low speed slowly add the warm caramel mixture to the beaten egg whites. When all of the caramel has been incorporated, turn the mixer on high and continue beating until cool,scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.When the mixture is cool reduce speed to medium high and add the butter 1-2 tablespoons at a time until incorporated. Add the confectioner’s sugar, vanilla and salt and continue beating until light and fluffy.
printable recipe

Witches hat's are made with fondant and if you want detailed direction visit The Frosted Cake 'n Cookie

TWD: Allspice Crumb Muffin

This week's recipe, Allspice Crumb Muffins, selected by Kayte of Grandma's Kitchen Table, had a nice delicate flavor and a rich brown sugar crumb topping.
They were super easy to prepare, since no mixer  was needed.  If you're not an allspice fan, not to worry- you can easily subsitute nutmeg, cinnamon, pumpkin or apple pie spice mix. Around here everybody has an opinion and Boy Mimi thought I should add some grated apples, which I think would add a nice fall flavor.

If you want the recipe visit Kayte of  Grandma's Kitchen Table or find it in Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home To Yours.

Apple Raisin Cake with Caramel Sauce

 It’s officially autumn here in Southern California. They days are lovely and warm and nights are brisk and cool. I can no longer wear shorts and flip flops to Boy Mimi's Friday night football games. I actually need a jacket to stay warm (okay so it’s only a cotton jacket not a parka). I am not complaining - the cool weather is a welcome change. Besides needing long pants and a jacket, the cool weather makes a slice of this moist apple cake, drizzled with warm caramel sauce and paired with a hot drink a great way to celebrate a victory or console yourself after a defeat.

     This cake is one I have been making for many years. It's loaded with apples, raisins and toasted nuts.  The caramel sauce is an old stand by from Julia Child’s The Way to Cook.  It's one I always have on hand to dress up apple, pear and pumpkin desserts in the fall and ice cream sundaes in the summer.

 

 Apple Raisin Cake with Caramel Sauce

Cake

1/1/2 cup AP flour
½ cup cake flour
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch each cloves, mace and ginger
1 cup unsalted butter
1/1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 ½ cups peeled chopped granny smith apples
2/3 cup raisin, plumped in 1/3 cup bourbon and drained
½ cup chopped roasted pecans.

Plump raisins: Place raisin in a small pan, add bourbon and heat to a simmer. Turn off heat. Let raisins soak for at least 10 minutes. When ready to use drain, reserving the liquid.

Butter and flour a 9 inch spring form pan.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

In a medium bowl mix together the flours, baking soda, baking powder and all spices.

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add 1 tablespoon of the bourbon reserved from the raisin, beat until light and fluffy about 30 seconds.

Fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the apples, raisins and nut. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely.

While cake is baking make Caramel Sauce:

Caramel Sauce

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1 cup cream
2 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt

Blend the sugar and water in a 1 ½ qt sauce pan and bring to a simmer, brushing the sugar from the sides of the pan with a pastry brush and water.  Remove from heat and swirl the pan by the handle to make sure all of the sugar has dissolved and the liquid is perfectly clear. Return pan to moderately high heat; cover and boil for several minutes. After a minute or so peek at syrup, when the bubbles are thick uncover the pan.

Continue boiling, swirling the pan by the handle until the syrup begins to color. When it is a light caramel color remove from the heat and continue swirling and the color will darken more. To stop cooking place bottom of the pan in cool water.

Slowly add the cream, which will congeal the caramel. Return pan to low heat and simmer, stirring until the caramel dissolves. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and salt. Use warm or cooled. Refrigerated in a covered jar, the sauce will keep for weeks.
 printable recipe

 

TWD: Split Level Pudding

This week's Tuesday with Dorie recipe was chosen by Garrett of Flavor of Vanilla. This sophisticated two layer pudding was easy to make. The bottom layer is a chocolate ganache covered by a smooth and creamy vanilla pudding. What I really like about this combination is not just the flavors, but the fact that the ganache is much firmer than the custard but not hard and brittle the way chocolate gets when it is refrigerated. The ganache was creamy and firm yet still spoonable; it was like having a piece of chocolate in each bite followed by the cool silky texture of the pudding. The flavor combinations are endless; my next rendition will be to add orange zest to the pudding and Grand Marnier to the ganache. To help keep the layers separate when adding the second layer, use a teaspoon with bowl side up, position it just over the first layer, and then pour your second layer letting it gently slide off the bowl of the spoon. This is a perfect do ahead dessert for entertaining.

If you want to make this delicious  dessert stop on over at The Flavor of Vanilla,  or buy Dorie's book.