The Full Montée
The May 2010 Daring Bakers challenge featured the croquembouche, a tower of cream puffs glued together with caramel or chocolate ganache. I filled my choux puffs with chocolate and vanilla praline pastry cream based on…
Tag Archives: bake
Thin Wheats
A homemade version of the popular Wheat Thin crackers, perfect for snacking.
Pocketful of Lamb
Grilled lamb with Mediterranean spices and seasonings was tasty on its own, but fantastic served in homemade pita with a smear of yogurt sauce.
The Cake Hunter
We celebrated my son's 2nd birthday with a decadent sour cream-chocolate cake, layered with cream cheese-peanut butter frosting and topped with a shiny flood of chocolate-peanut butter glaze. Do not attempt without a steady supply…
Orange Tian
The March 2010 Daring Baker's challenge featured homemade orange marmalade, pate sablee and caramel sauce in a French dessert called an orange tian. My variation used sweet Cara Cara oranges, a buckwheat-tinged crust, and a…
Tea-ramisu
The February 2010 Daring Baker's challenge featured that coffee-lover's dream, tiramisu, with homemade ladyfingers and mascarpone cheese. My version substituted vanilla and chai teas for the coffee and Marsala wine, since we don't drink either.
From Vienna to Dal
This smooth red lentil soup is seasoned with garam masala and other Indian spices, and garnished with dollops of garlicky yogurt and a rice timbale.
Nanaimo Bars
The January 2010 Daring Bakers challenge featured nanaimo bars, an iconic Canadian bar cookie that combines graham cracker crumbs, chocolate, coconut, almonds, and frosting. Very nearly too sweet, even for me, but still oddly addictive.
Filling in the Gaps
This is a summary post overviewing the meals and baked goods I made over the holidays, concluding with the highlight of my father making ebelskivers.
Chocolate Bellyflop
The October 2009 Daring Bakers challenge featured that delicate and refined French confection, the macaron. My ganache-filled chocolate macarons in no way resembled the classic cookie, but they still tasted great.
Muffin-Cup Gratins
This easy recipe for potato gratins built in a muffin tin, from the winner of The Next Food Network Star, Melissa d'Arabian, is absolutely brilliant, adaptable, and a new favorite side dish in our home.…
Huffing and Puffing
The September 2009 Daring Bakers challenge featured homemade puff pastry baked up into little cups called vols-au-vent. I filled mine with scrambled eggs, sauteed spinach and mornay sauce, in a breakfast-for-dinner riff.
Dobos Torte
The August 2009 Daring Bakers challenge featured a classic Viennese pastry, the Dobos Torte, in which five thin layers of sponge are stacked with chocolate buttercream and topped with a decorative caramel-glazed cake layer.
Stay-Puft
The July 2009 Daring Bakers challenge featured Milan cookies and mallomars with fresh marshmallow. I made the latter, and folded the extra marshmallow into homemade rocky road ice cream.
Pasta Pom and Popovers
This whole meal is composed of just a few pantry staples---the pasta's pomodoro sauce is made with canned tomatoes, ricotta cheese and dried basil, and the popovers just use flour, eggs, milk, and Parmesan cheese.
Tart Party, Sans Vicars
The June 2009 Daring Bakers challenge featured a traditional British "pudding," the Bakewell Tart, a dessert simply comprised of shortbread crust, jam, and almond frangpane. I tried my hand at homemade strawberry freezer jam, with…
Nolan’s Graham Crackers
My son's favorite snack crackers, made with minimal ingredients in fun shapes for tiny tasters.
Leftover Night, Volume II: Desserts
A compilation of several chocolate desserts: Alton Brown's The Chewy (Chocolate Chip Cookie), Dorie Greenspan's chipster-topped brownies, and millionaire's shortbread with chocolate and gooey dulce de leche.