Daring Baker's August Challenge Dobos Torte

Dobos Torte

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonfulof Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular DobosTorte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: ExquisiteDesserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. It is a long recipe and can be found on the Daring Bakers web site.

Thank You for such an enjoyable challenge.

Although this was not the prettiest cake we have made it, was delicious. We only made 1/2 the recipe, which made 6, 6-inch layers of cake. We used semi sweet chocolate in the butter cream, but next time I would use a darker chocolate to balance the sweetness of the butter cream and the orange syrup. This is a relatively easy torte to make. I used a pastry bag to pipe the cake batter on a cookie sheet, this made for layers of an even size and thickness. When assembling the torte we brush the layers with an orange syrup. The key to this cake is the caramel layer, it need to be thin and crisp. We pre cut the cake layer, and quickly poured the carmel over it. The extra caramel was used for decorations.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

In late summer you never know when zucchini might make an appearance in your meal. Zucchini is great in casseroles, pasta, or bread. It's delicious grilled and topped with olive oil, Italian parsley and garlic. You can even serve it stuffed with cracker crumbs and cheese. But the best way to use up your supply of zucchini is in this easy, moist chocolate cake.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
½ c. soft butter
½ c. vegetable oil
1 ¾ c. sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ c. Buttermilk or sour milk*
2 ½ c all purpose flour
4 tablespoons Hershey’s cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
½ teaspoon each clove, cinnamon and salt
2 c. grated zucchini
¾ c. chocolate chips
1/3 c. chopped nuts.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour or spray with cooking spray a 9x13 inch baking pan.
In a small bowl mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and spices.
Cream together butter, oil and sugar.
Add eggs, vanilla and buttermilk; blend well.
Add dry ingredients and mix to combine.
Add zucchini and stir until incorporated.
Pour batter in prepared baking pan, sprinkle with the chocolate chips and the chopped nuts.
Bake for 40 minutes. Let cake cool in pan.
When cake is cool drizzle with icing.

Icing
1 tablespoon butter
1 ½ tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
Powdered sugar

Combine butter and milk in a mixing bowl and heat in the microwave until butter melts, about 30 seconds. Stir in vanilla. Add enough powdered sugar to make a glaze that forms ribbons when dripped from the end of a spoon. Drizzle icing over the top of the cake.
*sour milk;1 teaspoon vinegar to ½ c milk let sit about ten minutes.

I have made this cake with both sour milk and buttermilk with no difference in the cake texture or flavor.

printable recipe

Hamburger buns

I bake bread. I always have. I don't use a bread machine. Sometimes I use my KitchenAide to beat a dough that need to develop a lot of gluten, but mostly I use my hands. Since we usually hang around the house on Sunday, it has become our family bread day . In the winter months, we have a soup and bread dinner, but in the summer it's buns. The buns are soft, buttery, slightly sweet and they make anything (pulled pork, chicken patties, or hamburgers) taste great.

You don't need any special skill or equipment to bake bread just a few hours of time. Always proof your yeast (step 1). Most doughs mix up in under twenty minutes, then you need time to allow it to rise, shape and bake. Easy to do when pulling weeds, doing laundry or reading a book. It you have dry yeast left over you can store it in the freezer to keep it fresh longer.

Hamburger buns

Makes 12
Step 1:

1 Tablespoon Yeast
¼ cup warm water
1 teaspoon sugar

Dissolve yeast in warm water stirring to make sure all of the yeast is dissolved. Add teaspoon sugar, mix and let sit until creamy about 5-10 minutes.

Step 2:

Add to the yeast mixture:
1/3 cup soft margarine
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup warm milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
3 ½- 4 cups unbleached flour.

Mix well.

Step 3:

Knead dough 5- 10 minutes, until smooth and soft, but not sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double in bulk, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When double, punch the dough down, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double again, about 45 minutes.

Step 4:

Punch down dough and divide in to twelve equal pieces. Shape each piece in to a smooth ball and flatten with you hand to form your buns about ½ inch thick and 3 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on greased or silpat cover cookie sheet, cover with a clean towel and let rise until double, about 30 minutes

Before rising

After rising

While buns are rising, pre heat oven to 375 F. When buns have risen, bake for 9-12 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and rub a pat of butter over the surface of the cooked rolls, this creates a soft crust.Cool, slice and enjoy.

printable recipe

Lemon Blueberry Marble Cake

Lemon Blueberry Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

Why an empty cake plate you ask?

Well, there has been an abundance of blueberries in our area, so I searched the web for a lemon blueberry cake and found this recipe for Lemon Blueberry Marble Cake on Monica's blog, Lick the Bowl Good. It's a beautiful three layer cake, with homemade blueberry jam as the filling and a light lemon buttercream frosting. I made a few minor modifications to the original Sky High recipe, my tasters (the kids) thought the buttercream tasted too much like butter, so I added 1/2 cup powdered sugar and that seemed to please them. Also, as per Monica, I omitted the ginger and added lemon zest. My version of the recipe is below. The cake was so good that by the time I went to photograph it, all I had was an empty cake plate. It truly was an excellent cake. So, if you want to see pictures of what this beautiful cake looks like, drop by Lick The Bowl Good and while your there you'll see an awesome blog get more great recipes.

Lemon Blueberry Marble Cake

adapted from Sky High

Cake
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1½ tsp lemon extract
7 egg whites
3 cups cake flour
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1¼ cups milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter the bottom and sides of three 8 inch round cake pans(I used 9 inch pans). Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.

1. In a mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, lemon zest and lemon extract until light and fluffy. Gradually add the egg whites 2 or 3 at a time, beating well between additions and stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, whisk gently to blend. In 2 or 3 alternating additions, beat the dry ingredients and milk into the butter mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl several times. Beat on medium-high speed for about 1 minute to smooth out any lumps and aerate the batter.

3. Scoop 1 cup of the batter into a small bowl. Divide the remaining equally among the 3 prepared pans, smoothing the tops with a spatula. This gives you a smooth surface to work with.

4. Add 2½ tbsp of the lemon blueberry jam to the reserved batter and blend well. Drizzle heaping teaspoons of this blueberry mixture over the batter in the pans. Use a skewer to swirl the blueberry mixture in short strokes to drag it down through the lemon batter without mixing it in.

5. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester or skewer stuck in the center comes out clean and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Let the layers cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack, peeling off the paper and leaving to cool completely.

Blueberry Lemon Jam

3 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
¾ cup sugar
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1½ tsp grated lemon zest

1. Puree the blueberries with any juices that have exuded in a blender. Pass the puree through a coarse strainer to remove the skins.

2. In a heavy medium saucepan, combine the blueberry puree with the sugar, lemon juice, and zest .

3.Bring to a gentle boil over a medium heat, stirring often for 20 minutes, or until the preserves have thickened and are reduced to 1 cup.

To check the proper thickness place a small amount of a saucer and put in the freezer until cold. Drag your finger through it. If a clear path is made through the preserve then it is ready. Let the preserves cool before using. (Can be made up to 5 days in advance).

Lemon Buttercream

1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
2 eggs
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
1/2 cup powdered sugar


1. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue to boil without stirring, occasionally washing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush until the syrup reaches the soft-ball stage, 238 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Immediately remove from the heat.

2. In a large mixer bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs briefly. Slowly add the hot syrup in a thin stream, pouring it down the sides of the bowl; be careful to avoid hitting the beaters or the syrup may splatter. When all the syrup has been added, raise the speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is very fluffy and cooled to body temperature. This can take 15-20 minutes.

3. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and gradually add the softened butter 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time, beating well between additions. As you’re adding the last few tablespoons of butter, the frosting will appear to break, then suddenly come together like whipped butter.
Beat in the lemon juice, zest and powdered sugar, the frosting is ready to use.


Assembly: To assemble the cake, place a layer, flat side up, on a cake stand. Spread half of the lemon blueberry jam over the top. Place a second layer on top of the first and spread the remaining jam over it. Finally place the third layer on top and frost the top and sides with the lemon buttercream. Decorate with fresh blueberries and serve.

Blackberry Pies Squares

Blackberry pie squares

Summer in California is synonymous with fresh produce. Back yard gardens are a real treasure. If you don't grow it yourself, someone you know will. We don't have a blackberry patch, but we have a friend who does, so we were blessed with some fresh blackberries.

Just when the blackberries arrived I saw this recipe on Ingrid's blog, 3 B's .... Baseall, Baking & Books, so I decide to give it a try.

It was super simple to make and you could use almost any fruit (fresh or frozen) in place of the black berries. Don't skip the lemon sugar, that is what makes this pie a standout.

Blackberry Pie Bars with Lemon Sugar

Crust and Topping
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes
zest of two lemons

Blackberry Filling
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
2 (16-ounce) packages frozen blackberries, defrosted and drained
(You can also use 6 cups of fresh blackberries, or 1 (16-ounce) package frozen blackberries and 3 cups of fresh blackberries)

To make the crust and topping-

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch backing pan with butter or cooking spray and set aside. Zest two lemons. Measure out the sugar onto a clean work surface. Rub the lemon zest into the sugar with a bench scraper or the back of a spoon. Rubbing the zest into the sugar will release oils from the zest and create a lemon scented sugar.
Combine lemon sugar, flour, salt and butter in an electric mixer fit with a paddle attachment. Beat the ingredients on medium speed until the mixture looks dry and crumbly.
Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crust mixture to use as the topping. Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust for 12 to 15 minutes until it is golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes while you make the filling.

To make the filling-

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add the sugar, sour cream, flour and salt. Gently fold in the blackberries. Spoon the mixture evenly over the crust. You may have to distribute the blackberries evenly around.
Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture evenly over the filling. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes until the top is lightly browned. Cool for 1 hour before slicing.

July Daring Baker's challenge Milanos and Mallows

Milanos and Mallows
The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network. Thanks for such a fun challenge!

Having made Marshmallows many time before we tried the milano cookie first. They were very easy to make and delicious to eat. We did tweak the recipe slightly on our second batch by adding 1/4 cup more flour, this made them more like the original cookie.

As you can see they looked like the real deal.

Milan Cookies

Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 1 hr 0 min
Serves: about 3 dozen cookies

• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar
• 7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon extract
• 1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour

Cookie filling:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
. 1 orange, zested

1. In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.
2. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.
3. Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.
4. With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.
6. While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream.
7. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.
8. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).
9. Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.
10. Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.

Next we made the mallow cookies. We were sure these would be a winner, because we love homemade marshmallows, but as it turns out these cookies were a big disappointment. The marshmallows were much chewier that those we usually make and the biscuits were a bit bland. All in all, for the amount of work required, this recipe is not a keeper. Also we found that the quantities we produced did not match with those predicted by the recipe, we had many more cookies than marshmallows.

Waiting for chocolate

The wait is over

Cute, but not tasty!

Mallows(Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)

Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website.

Serves: about 2 dozen cookies
.• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

. 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter

• 3 eggs, whisked together

• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows

• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.

2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.

3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.

4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.

5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.

6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.

8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.

9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.

10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.

11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.

12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.

13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Homemade marshmallows:

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:

• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil
Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

Peach Kuchen

Peach Kuchen

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 oz. cold butter
• 1 oz. cold shortening
• 2 tablespoons plus 1/3 cup sour cream
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 to 1 1/2 pound fresh ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and thickly sliced.

Preheat oven to 375F
1. In the food processor, using metal blade, process 1 1/4 cups of flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, butter and shortening until crumbly. Add two tablespoon sour cream and let machine run until the dough forms a ball.
2. Press dough into a tart pan. Bake 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool while making the filing.
Reduce oven temperature to 350F.
3. In food processor using metal blade, process the egg yolks, 1/3 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup flour, sugar and 1/4 tsp. salt for 5 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and process about 10 seconds.
4. Pour 2/3 of custard mixture into prepared crust. Arrange the peaches on top of the crust. Pour remaining custard over the peaches.
5.Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until custard is set and top is lightly browned.
printable recipe

Add flour, salt, butter and shortening to bowl of food processor

Pulse until crumbly

Add sour cream and pulse to form ball of dough.

Press into 9 inch tart pan . Bake @ 375F. for 20 minutes.

Mix remaining flour, sugar,sour cream and egg yolks in bowl of food processor, pulse.

Pour into baked and cooled crust

Top with sliced peaches.

Bake @ 375F. for 40-50 minutes. Cool and eat!

Sliders and Fries

Thanks to Bakerella for the inspiration. These were fun and easy to make. Both cake recipes were from Martha Stewart's new Cupcake book."Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes" for the buns (fill them only half full) and "Devil's Food Cupcakes", baked in a half sheet pan and cut with a biscuit cutter for the meat patties and for the condiments butter cream frosting.The Fries are a basic sugar cookies from Betty Crocker's Cooky Book.