Archive of posts from 2006

    Gingerbread Macarons

    2006-12-31

    The recipe for the macarons calls for grinding the almonds and sugar for one minute in the food processor to make a very fine powder. I noticed that this recipe uses icing sugar and ground almonds in a similar proportion (about 2:1) as David Lebovitz’ recipe. However, the reci...

    Spicy Apple Cake

    2006-12-30

    This cake is the result of my search for recipes to use up apples and half-and-half.

    Chocolate Jasmine Truffles

    2006-12-29

    I followed the linked recipe and substituted good quality jasmine tea leaves, increasing the steeping time to 10 minutes, and reheating the cream before pouring over milk chocolate. I didn’t want the strong flavour of bittersweet to overpower the delicate tea flavour. Even tho...

    Chocolate Pots de Crème

    2006-12-28

    I made a half recipe of this using 70% bittersweet chocolate. Do pay close attention to the temperature of the custard, as it is crucial to achieving the proper texture. I like that you don’t have to bake these in a water bath and they taste extremely smooth and silky. Portion...

    Chocolate Chestnut Truffles: Step by Step

    2006-12-27

    I got these hollow truffle shells from a cake decorating supply store. The tray is very flimsy so be careful when picking it up! Using a plain bittersweet chocolate ganache as a base, I added a small tin of sweetened chestnut purée. Let the filling cool until it is pipeable, t...

    Dark and White Chocolate Cheesecake

    2006-12-25

    First, a note about pans: the recipes call for a 9” round cake pan, but I went ahead with 8” ones. The devil’s food cake was easy, but I didn’t mix the eggs in very well, so I had to pick out a chunk of cooked egg white from the baked cake! I made the white chocolate batter fi...

    Suleika’s Torte

    2006-12-23

    The chocolate batter is quite thick, like a brownie. With only a single mixing bowl, this cake is labour intensive because the upper layer requires beating the butter and sugar, then whipping the egg whites separately. I would omit the raisins from the top half if I made this ...

    Slammin’ Citrus Squares with White Chocolate-Lemon Thyme Icing

    2006-12-22

    The shortbread crust is a no-brainer, although it is a bit dry. The citrus layer calls for a full quarter cup of orange zest; I should have used the full amount. The 3/4 cup of lemon juice is no match for all the sugar, and I found the filling to be too sweet. It uses flour as...

    Bolzano Apple Cake

    2006-12-20

    First, go read the mouthwatering description of this cake. Then, download the beautiful electronic cookbook from which this recipe is taken. The cake is quite simple and fast to make, provided you have a food processor or mandoline to slice the apples with. Do use a large bowl...

    Chocolate-Thyme Ice Cream

    2006-12-18

    Making the pâte â bombe was interesting to say the least. I don’t have a hand mixer, so I carefully poured the hot syrup into the running stand mixer. Droplets of liquid scattered all over the bowl and then immediately hardened on the cold steel surface. Also, I didn’t let all...

    Cashew-Caramel Cookies

    2006-12-16

    These cookies are just like peanut butter cookies, except made with fresh ground cashew butter. I used unsalted roasted cashews so I threw in an extra half teaspoon of salt: not necessary as it turns out. I refrigerated the dough overnight so it would be easier to shape. They’...

    Chocolate Works 6: Chocolate Box

    2006-12-14

    For the final class of this course, Chef began by showing us how to make a flat sheet by spreading tempered chocolate on top of a piece of plastic. Using an offset spatula, he made a thin layer that he let set until the surface was dull, then cut it while it was still soft. We...

    Ultimate Turtle Brownies

    2006-12-11

    Another time-consuming but ultimately satisfying recipe from CI. I’m glad they provided a target temperature for the molten sugar, I often overcook caramel. It thickens considerably after cooling, but a brief zap in the microwave makes it pourable again. I needed almost 20 ext...

    Lemon Bars

    2006-12-11

    I used an 8” non-stick pan lined with greased parchment; this isn’t an ideal pan as the surface is dark making it hard to control baking time (the crust closest to the edge browns first). Also, it has a rounded edge which makes lining the pan difficult. On the plus side, the b...

    Applesauce Fruitcake

    2006-12-08

    I was hoping this would be the fruitcake that I would be baking and selling this year, but it was a bit of a letdown. First, the recipe is supposed to be baked in 12 mini-loaf pans, but I tried it in two 8×4” pans. They turned out fine, but a bit small. With that size pan, I t...

    Chocolate Works 5: 3D Models

    2006-12-07

    For class last night, we tried our hand at making 3D molds. Chef first demonstrated how to trim the plastic molds so that we could affix binder clips to hold it in place. For molds like a Santa Claus or snowman figurine, he cut out a small hole in the bottom. The procedure was...

    Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

    2006-12-04

    The only differences from the recipe were that I used an 8” cake pan and used soy milk instead of cow milk. This cake requires much more effort than opening a tin of canned fruit, but I think it’s worth it. The caramelized fresh pineapple is vibrantly tart and sweet. I would c...

    Chocolate Works 4: Molded Chocolates

    2006-11-30

    The first order of business in class was to make a caramel filling. This was quite easy: caramelizing the sugar, then mixing in whipping cream and melted milk chocolate. We let this cool to a thick, but pipeable consistency. Unfortunately, I left ours in the fridge a little to...

    Free Range Fruitcake

    2006-11-29

    Grr, I made this cake twice this week. The first time, I forgot the eggs (!!!) and baked it in a 9” loaf pan. Of course, it didn’t turn out but I learned a few things: there is too much salt in the recipe, and it really does need a 10” pan.The second time around, I made a 1.5×...

    Black Mamba Cookies

    2006-11-25

    My substitutions: 19 ounces of bittersweet chocolate replacing 16 oz semi + 3 oz unsweetened; all pecans instead of half walnuts. The “dough” is indeed quite batter-like. I bought a cookie scoop (#24) to make these and it already feels like one of those indispensible gadgets. ...

    Baking Warehouses

    2006-11-24

    I learned about two (2!) baking supply warehouses this week that were previously unknown to me:David Roberts Food Corporation has an outlet store in Mississauga (Google Map). They have a huge assortment of packaged nuts (375 g tub of macadamia nuts for $8!), dried fruit, snack...

    Chocolate Works 3 / SHF #25: Truffles

    2006-11-23

    It happens that the class for this week coincides with the theme for this month’s Sugar High Friday: chocolate truffles.My partner and I began by chopping and melting some dark chocolate which we combined with cream to make ganache. Often, a recipe says to boil the cream and t...

    Azuki Bean Pound Cake

    2006-11-18

    My approach to recreating a wonderful cake I had in Japan has been to look for recipes using chestnut paste and then substituting azuki bean paste. For this pound cake, I replaced the sweetened chestnut purée with koshian, and added two tablespoons of cocoa powder. While the c...

    Flag-Raising Apple Pie

    2006-11-14

    The crust (butter and shortening) is easy to work with, but the quantity is barely enough to line a 9” pie plate. I used a mix of Northern Spy and Fortune apples; the latter are called Longo’s apple at Longo’s (?). For the streusel topping, I replaced almost all of the sugars ...

    Blue Cornmeal Muffins with Blueberries

    2006-11-11

    I didn’t have any sour cream so I used buttermilk with additional butter and flour. This turned out to be a mistake as the muffins had a pronounced buttery flavour. I also used sea salt instead of table salt and they were too salty. Tsk tsk, I know better than to make substitu...

    Apple and Walnut Cake

    2006-11-10

    The recipe in the link says to use self-raising flour, but the book calls for plain (preferably Italian 00) flour. In fact, I think there’s too much leavener already. 1 ½ teaspoons of baking soda is very noticeable; I would reduce it to 1 tsp next time. I also forgot the cream...

    Deep-dish Autumn Fruit Pie

    2006-11-06

    The recipe in the link is terribly transcribed: it doesn’t provide a recipe for the pastry (a pâte sucrée flavoured with orange-blossom water and orange zest); it also omits 3 Bosc pears from the ingredient list. The dough is very soft and I made the mistake of letting it warm...

    Chocolate Works 2: Cherries and Caramelized Almonds

    2006-11-02

    To start, Chef spent time explaining the ingredients we were going to use in tonight’s class for the cherries. He suggested we take store-bought maraschino cherries and let them soak in a flavoured syrup or alcohol for a few months to imbue them with even more flavour. Fresh, ...

    Oatmeal Waffles

    2006-10-28

    I put the oat bran and oatmeal through the food processor because I don’t like big flakes of oatmeal. This batter was thick to start with and became thicker as the oats absorbed the liquid. The flavour definitely tastes like oatmeal with its characteristic chewiness too. Not t...

    Chocolate Works 1: Almond Bark and Raisin Clusters

    2006-10-26

    Please take your ten fingers home with you. I didn’t expect a full class for this course, as it’s on a weeknight and is more expensive than the other Bakery Arts ones. Our instructor works during the day at a commercial bakery supply company and is quite knowledgable about ch...

    Chocolate Works

    2006-10-24

    Starting this week, I’ll be taking the Chocolate Works class. No baking involved, but lots and lots of chocolate so I’m told.Week 1: Almond Bark and Raisin Clusters Week 2: Cherries and Caramelized Almonds Week 3: Truffles Week 4: Molded Chocolates Week 5: 3D Models Week 6: Ch...

    Apple Frangipane Tartlets

    2006-10-22

    With some of the leftover baked shells from the quince tartlets, and some leftover frangipane made in class on Saturday, I improvised some additional tartlets. I filled the baked shells with frangipane, then topped them with thinly sliced Northern Spy apples, then sprinkled so...

    Breakfast Breads 6: Coffee Cakes

    2006-10-21

    For the last class of this course, we made two coffee cakes are included in breads, I guess, because they’re yeasted. First, we made a sponge that needed about 30 minutes to ferment. During that time, we made the same poppyseed filling that we used in a previous class, as well...

    Quince Tartlets

    2006-10-20

    I made 2/3rds of the syrup and only poached two quinces. This recipe uses the peels and cores in the poaching liquid; I think this adds more pectin so that it will gel. I oven roasted the fruit for the full 2 ½ hours. The poaching liquid turned a nice pink-orange after I reduc...

    Maple-Bourbon Apple Pie

    2006-10-15

    I was looking forward to a great tasting pie, but this one was just not very tasty. I made the double crust recipe with about three extra tablespoons of water. As a result, it was easy to work with, but came out quite crispy. The filling is made from many strong, competing fla...

    Breakfast Breads 5: Bagels

    2006-10-14

    Bagels should really belong in the Art of Breads course. I mean, lots of people eat toast for breakfast, so a Pullman loaf could conceivably be taught in this class too. There’s also a one-day bagel class teaching both sweet and savoury treatments so the college already has ba...

    Chestnut and Green Tea Macarons

    2006-10-10

    I had some chestnut pastry cream and egg whites left from Saturday’s cake, so I tried my hand at macarons again using Clement’s basic recipe. I added some green tea powder to the macaron batter, about 2 tsp. This attempt was pretty disappointing, as the first batch I made had ...

    Fall Charlotte with Apples, Quince and Golden Raisins

    2006-10-10

    I used the leftover pear poaching liquid plus a cinnamon stick for poaching the quinces. The fruit was tender but still held its shape when I removed it from the heat. Cooking the apples was problematic: there was a lot of liquid in the pan, so I drained about a half cup befor...

    Chestnut Cream Cake with Poached Pears: Step by Step

    2006-10-07

    For my Grandma’s 80th birthday dinner, I made a chestnut cake from a recipe that I had wanted to try for a long time. The addition of poached pear was an addition inspired by cream cakes from Chinese bakeries which often have fruit cocktail in them. Forthwith, the procedure:In...

    Coconut Saras

    2006-10-02

    A co-worker lent me her copy of this book and I was impressed with the range of chocolate recipes from simple hot chocolate to complicated ruffle cakes to asparagus and cocoa nibs! The macaroons came out a little sticky; I had some whites in the fridge but forgot how many so t...

    Breakfast Breads 4: Croissants and Danishes

    2006-09-30

    The rising sun painted the sky a wonderful orange and magenta on my way to class this morning. We came early in order to make up for time lost a few weeks ago when our croissant dough had to be tossed.First order of business: croissants. After two full days of thawing, our dou...

    Mile-High Apple Pie with Crème Fraîche Ice Cream: Step by Step

    2006-09-24

    This very involved pie with multiple time-consuming steps comes from The Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard. I don’t normally make complicated desserts unless it’s for celebrating a special occasion, or I’m hosting a dinner party, or I’m trying to impress a date. But I picked an...

    Breakfast Breads 3: D’oh

    2006-09-23

    In a disappointing (but not entirely surprising) turn of events, our class was set back a little bit because one of the freezers, the very one containing our croissant dough, broke down. We spent the morning re-making the croissant dough, as well as making the danish dough. Th...

    SHF #23: Lemon Muffins

    2006-09-23

    Alanna is hosting this month’s Sugar High Friday event and the theme is surprise (surprise!). Now a surprise isn’t something you usually want when baking or eating. No one likes to find out that she has forgotten to add the sugar when putting a tray of cookies into the oven, o...

    Lemon Bundt Cake

    2006-09-18

    An easy cake to make but, of course, being Cook’s Illustrated, there are a few tweaks. First, the lemon zest is Microplaned, then minced, then softened in lemon juice so that the little bits contribute flavour but not texture. Second, the glaze is applied in two stages, immedi...

    Buckwheat Waffles

    2006-09-17

    This recipe uses baking soda and buttermilk so the waffle batter is quite foamy. They have a strong buttery taste which I found too overpowering.

    Breakfast Breads 2: Chelsea Buns

    2006-09-16

    Another sub teaching us today (our regular Chef is in a dragon boat competition), an instructor that I’ve heard positive things about. The best thing about her instructional style were the sound effects and sarcasm. This was also the first Chef who bothered to talk about minim...

    Curried Peach Cobbler

    2006-09-16

    I found this old cookbook at the Mississauga Symphony Used Book Sale last night. Inside was a Curried Fruit Cobbler made with plums and peaches. In this rendition, I made half the recipe using all peaches, recycled leftover pie dough scraps for the topping and baked it in thre...

    Peach Sour Cream Pie

    2006-09-12

    Instead of the sweet pastry found in the magazine, I used the rest of the pie dough from last week’s plum tart. There are a lot of recipes for this pie on the Web with wildly differing proportions of sour cream, sugar and peaches. I only needed 10 minutes at the higher tempera...

    Buttermilk Bran Muffins

    2006-09-09

    Well, buttermilk in name only: the supermarket ran out (!) so I used a mix of yogurt and skim milk. For my own version of “fruit explosion”, I used prunes, dried cranberries, golden raisins, dates and walnuts. This is one of the easiest muffins to make, but not the tastiest, a...

    Breakfast Breads 1: Brioche

    2006-09-09

    Back to school again. This time, the class is focusing on yeasted products typically served during the first meal of the day. The regular instructor was away, but our substitute was a familiar face, the same Chef who I’ve had for both cake classes. Many of the students were fa...

    Peach Crumble

    2006-09-05

    There are two interesting techniques in this recipe: one is to macerate the peaches in sugar beforehand, to release excess juices and avoid a runny filling; the other is to prebake the crumble so that it stays crisp. Both contribute to a delicious result: the peach filling is ...

    Pineapple-Basil Sorbet

    2006-09-03

    La Paloma, a Toronto gelateria, was the inspiration for this sorbet. I tried their version of pineapple-basil earlier this year and was struck by the tasty combination. I used Thai basil (which contributed some anise-like flavours) and only half the quantity called for in this...

    Italian Plum Tart

    2006-09-02

    The crust is pâte sucrée, the filling is pastry cream enriched with ground toasted almonds and vanilla, almond and Amaretto. The roasted plums gave off a heady aroma right out of the oven, delicious. Wonderful flaky pastry, a surprisingly smooth and creamy filling, topped with...

    Banana Ice Cream

    2006-08-30

    I made a full recipe of the Banana Schmutz as directed and combined that with a half recipe of the Vanilla Ice Cream so that it would fit in my ice cream maker. The schmutz was slightly overcooked as the brown sugar made it hard to tell when to take the pan off heat. I omitted...

    German Plum Tart

    2006-08-26

    I baked this in a 13×9 baking pan which fit everything nicely. The plums I used were Damson ones, which are small and quite tart. Baking made them even more acidic so a good accompaniment for this is ice cream. My last batch of Crumble SurpriseTM, an odds-and-ends frozen baggi...

    Strawberry and Rose Macarons

    2006-08-24

    These didn’t turn out the way I wanted. I added a few drops of strawberry essence that I bought from Cuoca in Tokyo and a few drops of red food colouring. Neither contributed very much to the macaron batter. I let them sit for an hour but they didn’t flatten out: I should try ...

    Chocolate Macarons

    2006-08-21

    After reading so much about them via food bloggers, I finally had a chance to sample macarons while in Hong Kong at Le Goûter Bernardaud. They really are as good as everyone says they are. For my first attempt, I tried the chocolate macarons recipe from David Lebovitz. His bat...

    Chocolate Azuki Bean Soufflé Cake

    2006-08-19

    After tasting the wonderful cakes at Toraya Café, I wanted to try reproducing them in my kitchen. Armed with an ingredient list and a jar of their an paste, I tried modifying a chocolate chestnut cake, substituting sweetened, puréed red beans for chestnuts. I scaled back the s...

    Vanilla Ice Cream

    2006-08-15

    In the many years since I bought my ice cream machine, I’ve never made plain vanilla until this weekend. The recipe I used is fairly standard, using eight yolks to a quart of cream; I’ve seen some using a dozen! My canister of vanilla sugar had exactly one cup of sugar left pl...

    Apricot Tart Tatin

    2006-08-14

    I’ve never made the classic apple dessert but had a basket of apricots and tried this variation. The caramel was far too dark as I let it cook too long and made the sauce a little too bitter. As the recipe notes, apricots do turn quite sour after cooking. The pastry is very cr...

    Redcurrant Meringue Pie

    2006-08-05

    The crust is made with ground hazelnuts and was very easy to roll out between plastic wrap, although it was very thin. It’s unbaked when the filling goes in, so it comes it soft and tender. I hadn’t used redcurrants before and found the raw fruit to be very acidic, so I only u...

    Blueberry-White Chocolate Mousse Tart

    2006-08-03

    A delicious, well-balanced tart that is fairly simple to make. I thought the use of lemon juice in the mousse was odd, but it makes the filling a little tangy and not overly sweet. The blueberry topping was really runny, perhaps some cornstarch would have helped, or further re...

    Lemon Blueberry Tart

    2006-08-01

    This is a variation on the Cornmeal-crusted Lemon Tart recipe in her book. The crust is crumbly because it’s made with cornmeal and is just patted into the pan; it had a lot of cracks after baking. I cooked the filling in a glass bowl over simmering water; usually, I use a sta...

    Fruit Financiers

    2006-07-30

    A notable difference in this financier recipe (I used blueberries) is the use of softened, rather than melted, butter.

    Blueberry Buckle

    2006-07-29

    I bought $20 of cultivated blueberries at the market on Friday and have been trying recipes to use them up. This cake got good reviews online and wasn’t too hard to make. There’s no additional liquid like milk in it, all the moisture is from the blueberries. The crunchy streus...

    Danish Slices

    2006-06-12

    Taking a cue from Sherry Yard’s recipe in The Secrets of Baking, I added a half teaspoon of ground cardamom, a few drops of pure orange extract and a half teaspoon of pure vanilla to the Danish dough. Instead of the fillings recommended in the recipe, I used a 200g tube of mar...

    Layered Green Tea and Black Sesame Cheesecake

    2006-06-09

    I think the article is syndicated, as there are many abridged versions of the original column floating on the Web but the source article is no longer freely available. (Update: Article is back online and linked now.) For maximum flavour, I toasted the black sesame seeds in a s...

    Apple Date-Nut Bars

    2006-06-06

    The simmering apple and date mixture needs attention, so you may want to add a bit of water from time to time to prevent it from scorching. I only made half of the flour mixture and used it for the bottom, patting it firmly into the pan as suggested by one of the reviewers. Fo...

    Mediterranean Phyllo-Semolina Pie

    2006-06-02

    The authors say this is a Lebanese dessert but don’t give the name. I found recipes online for muhallebili baklava which don’t use egg, and galaktoboureko which is pretty similar to the one in this book. I only used 10 layers each for the bottom and top so it wasn’t very flaky...

    SHF #19: Coffee and Walnut Cake

    2006-05-27

    Ruth, a fellow Canadian food blogger, is hosting this edition of Sugar High Friday, with a theme ingredient of ginger. I must admit that while I enjoy ginger in its many forms (tea, candied, freshly grated, powdered), I don’t often seek out sweet recipes that use it. In fact, ...

    Banana Buckwheat Bread

    2006-05-21

    This makes an enormous bread, larger than most loaf pans; mine rose an inch and a half above the lip of the tin. Good thing I anticipated this and baked it over a tray. The recipe calls for 2 cups of mashed bananas and one cup of buckwheat flour, so this is a good way to use u...

    Crispy and Creamy Rice Treat: Step by Step

    2006-05-15

    Another cake from Desserts by Pierre Hermé by Dorie Greenspan; in French, he calls it Régal au Riz Basmati. There are six components: ladyfingers, lemon syrup, crunchies, rice pudding, chocolate cream and caramelized puffed rice. The madnessprocedure is described below:The ins...

    Sweet Potato Biscuits

    2006-05-14

    Ingredient notes: I used the blend of all-purpose and cake flours as I’ve never seen White Lily in Canada here but I found out later that I could have used Swan’s Down flour which I did see at Highland Farms. After a night in the refrigerator, there wasn’t much rise, but after...

    Chocolate Chestnut Cake

    2006-05-08

    If you have an earlier edition of this cookbook, it apparently does not mention what to do with the egg yolks. She also doesn’t say what type of chocolate: I used a mix of semi- and bittersweet. I used a can of whole chestnuts that I bought from Max’s Market a while ago. To ma...

    Lavender Ice Cream

    2006-05-04

    I saw some organic lavender (from Jacob’s Farm) at Whole Foods in Oakville on the weekend and thought I’d try making an ice cream out of it. There are several recipes online, many including orange, lemon or honey, but I wanted to try an ice cream infused with the herb alone. I...

    Sourdough Wheat Bread with Seeds

    2006-05-02

    I used the whole wheat starter I’ve been maintaining (roughly 85% hydration) and turned it into a stiff starter per her directions, adding half the weight in flour. Part of the directions say to knead at #4 on a KitchenAid but even my heavy mixer shook around on the table so I...

    Hazelnut-Carrot Loaf Cakes

    2006-05-02

    This one’s got a lot of steps: skinning and grinding almonds and hazelnuts, grating and drying carrots, steaming and pureeing more carrots, whipping egg whites! My loaves didn’t rise very much, perhaps I deflated it too much while incorporating the whites into the very dense b...

    Carrot Bread

    2006-04-25

    My first recipe out of this cookbook (which is currently on the discount table at Book City in Toronto and available at bookcloseouts.com online). I like how she gives volume, and Imperial and metric weights for every recipe. There’s also a little paragraph called Understandin...

    Lemon Blueberry Muffins

    2006-04-21

    I always cut down on the butter in this recipe, from 8 ounces to about 6.5. The colour is a bright yellow and comes from the cornmeal, eggs and lemon zest. Frozen wild blueberries work fine in this recipe. One of

    Pistachio and Dried Fruit Cake with Orange

    2006-04-15

    The author says her mother makes this cake during Lent so it is a coincidence that I made it for the Easter weekend. Due to ingredient shortages, I made all kinds of little substitutions: a handful of walnuts in place of pistachios, five-spice powder instead of ground cloves, ...

    Cakes-CtoM 6: Brownie Berry Tower

    2006-04-14

    For the final class of this course, we made a tall cake, with brownie layers sandwiching two kinds of cream and strawberries. First up, the brownies. We melted dark chocolate and butter in a saucepan, then whisked in granulated sugar to make a sandy brown mixture. In the mixer...

    Cakes-CtoM 5: Mango Mousse Cake

    2006-04-08

    Update: This is the 2nd most requested item on this blog, so here’s the recipe.The sponge layers for this cake were the definition of simplicity, just eggs, sugar, flour and vanilla. Using the mixer on high, we whipped the eggs with sugar for around 10 minutes until they becam...

    Passionately Chocolate Tartlets

    2006-04-05

    I had trouble rolling the sweet tart dough as it cracked and was very dry. The ground almonds probably make it very brittle. Next time, I’ll add a bit more egg white or water to help it hold together. Shaping them was an exercise in patience: my cookie cutter was only slightly...

    Potato, Cheddar and Chive Torpedos

    2006-04-02

    I am currently maintaining a whole wheat barm so I used that to make this bread, along with boiled red potatoes, a mix of chives and green onions, and Balderson Old Cheddar. It was quite warm yesterday so the loaves proved quickly. As a result, the outer layer of dough was thi...

    Cakes-CtoM 4: Tangy Berry Torte

    2006-03-31

    I guess I don’t really know what torte means because it seemes to be used to describe decorated layer cakes especially ones with a lot of ground nuts. The cake layers we made contained no nuts but part of the “tang” came from buttermilk and lemon zest in the batter. No one not...

    Grapefruit Sorbet

    2006-03-31

    The recipe gives the juice measurement in terms of a number of grapefruits and oranges which can vary in size, yield and sweetness. Since the base has about 2 cups of syrup, I aimed for around 4.5 cups of juice. I couldn’t find white grapefruit so I used bottled juice instead,...

    Tangerine Meltaways

    2006-03-28

    I had such high hopes for this cookie, but several things went wrong. I overworked the dough so the cookies weren’t light and I sliced them too thick. After baking for the prescribed time, they were still wet in the centre so I flipped them and put them back into the oven. The...

    Cakes-CtoM 3: Gateau St. Honoré

    2006-03-25

    The history of this cake is quite interesting, some saying it is named after the patron saint of bakers. After reading the description, I’m a little disappointed that what we made last night only vaguely resembles the original (I found one other recipe that uses puff pastry an...

    Bread 10: Raisin Bread and Bread Basket

    2006-03-20

    Yesterday, we started out by mixing the dough for the bread baskets. The pair at the bench next to my partner and I arrived much earlier than we did, so we teamed up with them, as the instructor asked us to work in teams of four. All of the Hobarts groaned under the strain of ...

    Cakes-CtoM 2: Sachertorte

    2006-03-18

    Class started with some advance prep work for the following week: puff pastry. Having already taken the Art of Pastry class, both my partner and I were comfortable with the technique. After making the dough, we rolled it into a large square, then rolled the corners a little th...

    Bread 9: Paska Easter Bread

    2006-03-12

    Chef announced that the bread we were making would be a complicated recipe with lots of steps. She described paska as a cross between a hot cross bun and panettone, but the Internet says it’s a traditional Ukrainian bread. In any case, we begin with a sponge made from warm mil...

    Cakes-CtoM 1: Crunchy Caramel Cake

    2006-03-10

    There weren’t as many students in this weeknight class as ones I’ve taken in the past, about 12 people. The instructor is the same one I had for Art of Cakes so I was very pleased. We started the class by making

    SHF #17: Blackberry Buttermilk Panna Cottas

    2006-03-10

    Andy is hosting this month’s Sugar High Friday with a theme of dairy (roundup here). My contribution for the 17th installment of this food blogging event is a blackberry buttermilk panna cotta. The original recipe includes a compote as well but I skipped making that.

    Oat Bran Muffins with Dried Pears

    2006-03-08

    I made a few subs: pineapple juice for cider, and yogurt (Danone Activia pear) for buttermilk. Most oat bran muffins tend to be really crumbly and dry. Sadly, this one was no exception. It’s made with egg whites and only a few tablespoons of oil, so the low fat content makes t...

    Bread 8: Italian Bread and Focaccia

    2006-03-05

    First up this morning was Italian bread. The only notable differences from our standard recipe was mixing up the slurry with cold water, then adding flour, lukewarm water, malt and salt. After kneading, this dough was incredibly easy to work with, very soft but not tacky at al...

    Vanilla Bread Pudding with Spiced Poached Pears

    2006-03-04

    The pudding recipe is from Caprial’s Desserts and includes 4 cups of half-and-half and a lot of eggs: 5 whole ones plus 6 yolks! I used the idea given in the Apple variation and poached some Forelle pears in a spiced red wine syrup from Schneider’s book. Her recipe for the poa...

    Bread 7: Pullman Bread and Cheese Bread

    2006-02-26

    Pullman bread, also known as sandwich bread, English bread or pain de mie, is commonly available in stores in North America as Wonder Bread. As a way to boost flavour, we started by making a sponge, a mixture of yeast, water, malt and flour. We let this rest in a covered bowl ...

    Dried Cherry (Beer) Muffins

    2006-02-25

    In addition to a 375 mL bottle of Belle-Vue Kriek beer, I also used some of the leftover brandy to make a double batch of these muffins. The cherries soaked for 24 hours, making them very plump. The batter was simple to mix up as it used melted butter. Some of the reserved soa...

    Chocolate and Brandied Dried Cherry Bread Pudding

    2006-02-20

    In addition to cherries, I used dried apricots, peaches, pears and cranberries too, soaking them overnight in the brandy. For the bread, I used some plain pandoro and reduced the sugar to about one-third cup. I didn’t mix in the unabsorbed alcohol, and just spooned out the mac...

    Bread 6: Sourdough Bread

    2006-02-20

    My disappointment with this class deepens.Sourdough has a rich history: natural leavening techniques were used in ancient times to make bread and many bakeries have starters that have been carefully nurtured and used for years. So when the recipe we used included commercial so...

    Guava Cheesecake with a Cashew Ginger Crust

    2006-02-16

    Argh, another poorly proofread recipe: there’s no mention of ginger anywhere except for in the title! In the crust mixture, I food processed some diced candied ginger (about two tablespoons) along with the cashews and also added a half teaspoon of ground ginger. Instead of a 9...

    Bread 5: Chop Suey Bread and Challah

    2006-02-13

    We started Saturday’s class by preparing chop suey bread. Fortunately, the bread did not contain assorted vegetables; rather, it was a yeasted fruit and nut loaf. The ingredients included eggs and sugar, and the cinnamon gave the kneaded dough a tan colour. After a period of r...

    Cocoa Nests with Caramel Mousse

    2006-02-13

    The nests were fairly simple, although by the time I made the last few, the meringue had started to warm up and I had difficulty making the rosettes form a nest. I had no trouble with the praline. The mousse proved to be straightforward, although I had apprehensions about what...

    Pistachio-Cranberry Florentines with White Chocolate and Orange

    2006-02-12

    The most time-consuming part was skinning the nuts; blanched almonds can be purchased, but I’ve never seen pistachios without skins. These spread quite a bit in the oven and will burn quickly so keep an eye on them. Even in airtight containers, the florentines’ edges lost thei...

    Bread 4: Whole Wheat and 9-Grain Breads

    2006-02-05

    We finally got to make some whole-grain breads today. The class is becoming a model of efficiency as everyone is showing up early to scale ingredients and try to finish as fast as possible. I don’t know if I’ve ever described how we scale in class but it usually goes something...

    Pear, Apple and Walnut Muffins

    2006-02-04

    This issue has an article featuring a master muffin recipe with ideas for different fruit/nut/chocolate combinations. I used chopped apple and pear, walnuts and ground ginger. Cinnamon would have livened the flavour some more. The batter is quite rich (melted butter and sour c...

    Bread 3: Vienna Rolls and Oatmeal Bread

    2006-01-29

    This class started with preparing the dough for Vienna rolls. I got to class late so I don’t know if Chef explained the name, whether it refers to a specific Austrian bread or technique (the Internet provides a clue here). Anyway, the recipe we used incorporated milk powder, o...

    Recipes for the new year

    2006-01-28

    Recent acquisitions, counter-clockwise from top-left:Home Baking: The Artful Mix of Flour and Traditions from Around the World by Jeffrey Alford & Naomi DuguidThe couple know a thing or two about baking (their first cookbook was about flatbreads) from their trips around th...

    SHF #15: Rosemary Honey Ice Cream

    2006-01-27

    This is my contribution for the January 2006 Sugar High Friday hosted by Sam; the theme is Sugar Low. I knew I wouldn’t make anything that used artificial sweetener, because, well, I try to use natural ingredients as much as possible. Plus, I don’t believe in low-fat or low-su...

    Layered Twenty-Hour Apple and Raspberry Crumble

    2006-01-26

    I wanted to make a dessert for someone who likes apples and raspberries and came up with this. The apple component is Hermé’s Twenty Hour Apples (10 hour bake in a very low oven, followed by a 10 hour refrigeration) which I made from organic Granny Smith apples (just under fou...

    Bread 2: Butter Crust and Baguettes

    2006-01-23

    I was a bit disoriented at the start of this session because we moved into a different lab and my partner was nowhere to be found, but the ingredients had all been scaled out on our bench. It turned out to be a classmate I hadn’t seen since Baking Basic who had registered late...

    Brioche Cinnamon Buns

    2006-01-21

    I used the middle-class brioche dough as suggested in the book to make cinnamon buns. The dough was a breeze to make in a mixer, just be sure to mix it until it becomes smooth as it starts out quite shaggy. It wasn’t clear how to proof or bake, so this is what I did: Made the ...

    Bread 1: Freeform Loaves

    2006-01-15

    The first Bread class began with our instructor having us introduce ourselves. The Chef herself has been teaching at the school part-time for about 6 years, and has been working at the Metropolitan Hotel (and its affiliate Senses Restaurant) for a long time. Other students I t...

    Lemon Pound Cake

    2006-01-15

    There is a serious typo in the hardcover edition, in at least the 1st printing: in addition to the all-purpose flour, the ingredients list should include 1 ¾ cups of cake or pastry flour (substitute an additional 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour). I found this out from the authors’ ...

    Art of Breads

    2006-01-12

    For the next ten weeks, I will be taking Art of Breads at George Brown.Week 1: Freeform loavesWeek 2: Butter Crust and BaguettesWeek 3: Vienna Rolls and Oatmeal BreadWeek 4: Whole Wheat and 9-Grain BreadsWeek 5: Chop Suey Bread and ChallahWeek 6: Sourdough BreadWeek 7: Pullman...

    Persimmon and Cashew Tea Cakes

    2006-01-08

    Very easy to make. I used some ripe Sharon fruit (a seedless Fuyu persimmon) in this. In the baked cake, the fruit chunks are bland, this would be better with mango or peaches. Anytime a recipe calls for dipping in butter then cinnamon sugar, I usually omit it, but I made the ...

    Crisp-Crust Pecan Pie

    2006-01-06

    My Dad bought a big package of pecans and asked if I could make him a traditional pie. He dislikes soggy crust bottoms, so I knew right away to try the crisp crust variation. The recipe in the link above is Kimball’s regular pie dough recipe. His version for prebaked pie shell...

    Almond Croissants

    2006-01-04

    Making croissants is hard. I knew this before embarking on my first attempt so I armed myself with two cookbooks and read various threads on eGullet (here and here). A few years ago, I successfully made Danish pastries and after making puff pastry this summer, I felt equipped ...

    Pistachio Cake

    2006-01-01

    I followed the advice of others on the forum and used only 1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter and this cake turned out fine. There’s a slightly different version on RecipeGullet which uses twice the cardamom and a smaller pan. Some people who tried it at the party said they could det...