Crostata

The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.
Late again – I know.  Thanksgiving kept me busy along with bunches of other stuff and school and a missing camera to computer hook up cord…that’s still missing….thus no pictures yet, but I’m going to search all over and edit them in ASAP. 

Meanwhile, here’s the recipe, which turned out amazing as challanges usually do! I have yet to be dissapointed by the recipe chosen.  As soon as I saw this I thought ‘lemon’ I don’t know why for sure, but that’s what I think of when I think of tarts.  So I searched all over for a great lemon recipe which I posted below.

I think that this would make a great summer treat – lemon dishes seem summery to me – but they’re great every time of the year.

Pasta frolla

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. minus 1 tablespoon [105 ml, 100 g, 3 ½ oz] superfine sugar (see Note 1) or a scant 3/4 cup [180ml, 90g, 3 oz] of powdered sugar
• 1 and 3/4 cup [420 ml, 235 g, 8 1/4 oz.] unbleached all-purpose flour
• a pinch of salt
• 1 stick [8 tablespoons / 4 oz. / 115 g] cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• grated zest of half a lemon (you could also use vanilla sugar as an option, see Note 2)
• 1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl

Note 1: Superfine sugar is often also referred to as ultrafine, baker’s sugar or caster sugar. It’s available in most supermarkets. If you cannot find “superfine” sugar, you can make your own by putting some regular granulated sugar in a food processor or blender and letting it run until the sugar is finely ground.

Note 2: There are different ways of making vanilla sugar. I keep vanilla beans in a jar half-filled with sugar until I need to use them, for example, to make vanilla ice cream. After I remove the split bean from the custard that will go into the ice cream maker, I rinse it, dry it and put it back in the jar with sugar.

Making pasta frolla by hand:

1. Whisk together sugar, flour and salt in a bowl.
2. Rub or cut the butter into the flour until the mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs. You can do this in the bowl or on your work surface, using your fingertips or an implement of choice. (I used a pastry cutter)
3. Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten eggs into it (reserve about a teaspoon of the egg mixture for glazing purposes later on – place in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to use).
4. Add the lemon zest to your flour/butter/egg mixture.
5. Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, and then use your fingertips.
6. Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.
7. Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.

Then press it into your tart pan – preferably one with a removable base, but I didn’t have any and used a ceramic one – though a pie pan would word as well, just press the dough about half way up.

Lemon filling from here

Ingredients:

• 1 refrigerated 9-inch pie shell
• 5 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar, plus
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
• 1 cup heavy cream
• lemon zest (optional)

 1 Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2 Coat 9-inch tart plan with removable bottom with cooking spray; place on baking sheet.

3 Fit dough in pan; fold in extra dough, pressing against side of pan.

4 Prick bottom with fork.

5 Line with foil; fill with dried beans or rice.

6 Bake 5 minutes or until lightly brown; reserve.

7 Reduce oven to 350 degrees.

8 Whisk eggs and 3/4 cup sugar.

9 Whisk in juice, zest and 1/3 cup heavy cream.

10 Pour into crust.

11 Bake 25 minutes or until set.

12 Cool on rack.

13 Remove side of pan.

14 Beat remaining cream and sugar until soft peaks form.

15 If desired, transfer to pastry bag fitted with star tip; pipe or spoon over tart.

16 If desired, garnish with lemon zest.

17 For a pretty garnish, use a vegetable peeler to create wide strips of zest from a lemon.

18 Cut the zest into thin slivers.

DB October Challenge Nutmeg Doughnuts

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

And they are delicious! Seriously, my boyfriend said that he would eat them without anything on them! And the hint of nutmeg would make these perfect for the holidays!

I made a few minor changes to the recipe, mostly just cut back on the raise time in order to get them cooked in time, but they turned out perfect (did I mention my boyfriend who get’s teased for burning things can fry a doughnut to perfection? It’s true.) I may have rolled them out a little thinner too.  In the end it made about 30 or so.

So sorry this is so late – I did it, but didn’t have the time to get it online!  Enjoy though!

Preparation time:
Hands on prep time – 25 minutes
Rising time – 1.5 hours total
Cooking time – 12 minutes
Yield: 20 to 25 doughnuts & 20 to 25 doughnut holes, depending on size
Ingredients
Milk 1.5 cup / 360 ml
Vegetable Shortening 1/3 cup / 80 ml / 70 gm / 2.5 oz (can substitute butter, margarine or lard)
Active Dry Yeast 4.5 teaspoon (2 pkgs.) / 22.5 ml / 14 gm / ½ oz
Warm Water 1/3 cup / 80 ml (95°F to 105°F / 35°C to 41°C)
Eggs, Large, beaten 2
White Granulated Sugar ¼ cup / 60 ml / 55 gm / 2 oz
Table Salt 1.5 teaspoon / 7.5 ml / 9 gm / 1/3 oz
Nutmeg, grated 1 tsp. / 5 ml / 6 gm / ¼ oz
All Purpose Flour 4 2/3 cup / 1,120 ml / 650 gm / 23 oz + extra for dusting surface
Canola Oil DEPENDS on size of vessel you are frying in – you want THREE (3) inches of oil
(can substitute any flavorless oil used for frying)

Directions:
1. Place the milk in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat just until warm enough to melt the shortening. (Make sure the shortening is melted so that it incorporates well into the batter.)
2. Place the shortening in a bowl and pour warmed milk over. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let dissolve for 5 minutes. It should get foamy. After 5 minutes, pour the yeast mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer and add the milk and shortening mixture, first making sure the milk and shortening mixture has cooled to lukewarm.
4. Add the eggs, sugar, salt, nutmeg, and half of the flour. Using the paddle attachment of your mixer (if you have one), combine the ingredients on low speed until flour is incorporated and then turn the speed up to medium and beat until well combined.
5. Add the remaining flour, combining on low speed at first, and then increase the speed to medium and beat well.
6. Change to the dough hook attachment of the mixer and beat on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the bowl and becomes smooth, approximately 3 to 4 minutes (for me this only took about two minutes). If you do not have a dough hook/stand mixer – knead until the dough is smooth and not sticky.
7. Transfer to a well-oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
8. On a well-floured surface, roll out dough to 3/8-inch (9 mm)thick. (Make sure the surface really is well-floured otherwise your doughnuts will stick to the counter).
9. Cut out dough using a 2 1/2-inch (65 mm) doughnut cutter or pastry ring or drinking glass and using a 7/8-inch (22 mm) ring for the center whole. Set on floured baking sheet, cover lightly with a tea towel, and let rise for 30 minutes.
10. Preheat the oil in a deep fryer or Dutch oven to 365 °F/185°C.
11. Gently place the doughnuts into the oil, 3 to 4 at a time. Cook for 1 minute per side or until golden brown (my doughnuts only took about 30 seconds on each side at this temperature).
12. Transfer to a cooling rack placed in baking pan. Allow to cool for 15 to 20 minutes prior to glazing, if desired.

DB September Challenge: Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

The theme of the cookies was ‘September’ and whatever it signified for you.  Let me say that this challenge was perfect for right now.  One day this month is the 3 year anniversary of me and my boyfriend and unfortunately he was out of town for that week.  So since he loves sugar cookies and is continually begging me to make him some I decided to send some with him as an anniversary gift. 

 

Basic Sugar Cookies:
Makes approximately 36 x 10cm / 4 inch cookies
200g / 7oz / ½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
400g / 14oz / 3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose / Plain Flour
200g / 7oz / 1 cup Caster Sugar / Superfine Sugar
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
5ml / 1 tsp Vanilla Extract / Or seeds from 1 vanilla bean
Directions:
Cream together the butter, sugar and any flavourings you’re using. Beat until just becoming creamy in texture. Tip: Don’t over mix otherwise you’ll incorporate too much air and the cookies will spread during baking, losing their shape. Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms. Tip: I don’t have a stand mixer so I find it easier to switch to dough hooks at this stage to avoid flour flying everywhere. Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces. Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 5mm/1/5 inch (0.2 inch) Refrigerate for a minimum of 30mins. Tip: Recipes commonly just wrap the whole ball of dough in clingwrap and then refrigerate it for an hour or overnight, but by rolling the dough between parchment, this shortens the chilling time and then it’s also been rolled out while still soft making it easier and quicker. Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife. Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30mins to an hour. Tip: It’s very important you chill them again otherwise they’ll spread while baking. Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan Assisted) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15mins depending on the size of the cookies. Tip: Bake same sized cookies together otherwise mixing smaller with larger cookies could result in some cookies being baked before others are done. Tip: Rotate baking sheets half way through baking if your oven bakes unevenly. Leave to cool on cooling racks. Once completely cooled, decorate as desired. Tip: If wrapped in tinfoil/cling wrap or kept in airtight containers in a cool place, un-decorated cookies can last up to a month.

Royal Icing:
315g – 375g / 11oz – 13oz / 2½ – 3 cups Icing / Confectioner’s / Powdered Sugar, unsifted
2 Large Egg Whites
10ml / 2 tsp Lemon Juice
5ml / 1 tsp Almond Extract, optional
Directions:
Beat egg whites with lemon juice until combined. Tip: It’s important that the bowls/spoons/spatulas and beaters you use are thoroughly cleaned and grease free. Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps and add it to the egg whites. Tip: I’ve listed 2 amounts of icing sugar, the lesser amount is good for a flooding consistency, and the larger amount is for outlining, but you can add even more for a much thicker consistency good for writing. If you add too much icing sugar or would like to make a thinner consistency, add very small amounts of water, a few drops at a time, until you reach the consistency you need. Beat on low until combined and smooth. Use immediately or keep in an airtight container. Tip: Royal Icing starts to harden as soon as it’s in contact with air so make sure to cover containers with plastic wrap while not in use.

Decorating your cookies: Flooding
“Flooding” a cookie is a technique used when covering a cookie with Royal Icing.
1. You outline the area you want to flood which
helps create a dam
2. Then fill or flood inside the area you’ve outlined
Decorating your cookies: What you’ll need
Piping bags Elastic bands Piping tips (between sizes 1 & 5) Couplers Glasses (handy for standing your piping bags in) Clean clothes, dry & damp Toothpicks Gel or paste food colouring
Decorating your cookies: Royal Icing
The most important thing when it comes to decorating with Royal Icing is the consistency.
There are two ways of flooding your cookies. Some like to do the outline with a thicker icing and then flood with a thinner icing. Some like to use the same icing to do both which saves time and you don’t have to have two different piping bags for each colour you’re using.

The Same Consistency method:
Consistency: Mix your royal icing according to the recipe/instructions Drag a knife through the surface of the Royal Icing and count to 10 If the surface becomes smooth between 5 & 10 seconds, the icing is at the correct consistency Tip: If your icing is too thick, thin it by adding a few drops of water. Mix, do the 10 second test, then if it’s still too thick, add a few more drops of water, repeat, etc. Tip: To thicken your icing, add small amounts of icing sugar until thick enough for the 10 second test

Two Different Consistencies method:
Consistency: Mix your royal icing according to the recipe/instructions. Separate into 2 different bowls, one lot of icing for outlining, the other for flooding. For the outlining icing, drag a knife through the surface of the Royal Icing. If the surface becomes smooth at around 10 seconds, the icing is at the correct consistency. Tip: If your icing is too thick, thin it by adding a few drops of water. Mix, count to 10 seconds, then if it’s still too thick, add a few more drops of water, repeat, etc. Tip: To thicken your icing, add small amounts of icing sugar until thick enough for the 10 second test. For the flooding/filling icing, drag a knife through the surface of the Royal Icing. If the surface becomes smooth at around 3-4 seconds, the icing is at the correct consistency. Tip: If your icing is too thick, thin it by adding a few drops of water. Mix, count to 3-4 seconds, then if it’s still too thick, add a few more drops of water, repeat, etc.
Tip: To thicken your icing, add small amounts of icing sugar until thick enough for the 3-4 second test.

Colouring:
• Separate Royal Icing into separate bowls for each colour you plan on using.
• Tip: Make sure to cover the bowls with cling film or a damp cloth to prevent the top from setting and then making lumps
• Using a toothpick, add gel or paste colouring to each bowl and mix thoroughly until desired colour is reached
• Tip: You can use liquid food colouring but you might not be able to get the desired strength of colour, liquid colouring will also thin out the icing so you’ll need to add more icing sugar to thicken it again.
Prepping and filling your piping bags:
• Attach your icing tips to the piping bags using couplers
• Tip: You don’t need to use a coupler but it makes it easier if you want to change tip sizes
• Tip: A size 1 tip is best for doing intricate details. A size 2 tip is good for some details and outlining. Fill or flood with sizes 2 – 5.
• Tip: You don’t need a piping bag, you can use a ziplock bag with a tiny bit snipped off the corner. I would however recommend getting a piping set if you don’t have one as it will be much easier and more precise.
• Stand the piping bags in glasses with the tops of the bags folded over the top of the glass.
• Fill your icing bags with each coloured icing.
• Tie the ends of the piping bags with elastic bands.

Decorating: Outlining
• Fit the piping bag with a size 2 or 3 tip.
• Tip: Or snip a very small bit of the corner off of a Ziploc bag
• Hold the piping bag at a 45 degree angle above the cookie where you want to start the outline.
• Gently squeeze the piping bag and start moving in the direction you want to outline the cookie.
• Start lifting the piping bag away from the cookie so that the flow of icing falls onto the cookie, making it an even and neater outline.
• As you start to reach the beginning of the outline, bring the piping tip closer to the surface of the cookie to meet the start of the icing outline.
• Tip: If you’re doing an intricate cookie, like a snow flake, you won’t be able to lift the tip as far away from the cookie.
• If you’re doing a different colour border, eg a black border, let the outline dry before flooding. If using the same colour for the outline as you’re flooding with, begin flooding after doing the outline.
Decorating: Flooding Fit the piping bag with a size 2-5 tip, the bigger the area being filled, the bigger the tip. Tip: Or cut slightly more off the corner of a Ziploc bag to create a slightly larger opening. Quickly zigzag back and forth over the area you want to fill. Tip: You need to be quick when flooding the cookie so don’t worry too much if it’s not filled in neatly. Using a toothpick or clean paintbrush, push the icing around into the gaps that are still remaining. Either pick up the cookie and tip it from side to side to even out the filling, or lightly bang the cookie down on your kitchen counter.

Decorating: Melding colours
• If you would like to add lines or dots to the base colour that you flooded the cookie with so that they meld and dry as a smooth surface, you need to add the lines/dots/patterns as quickly as possible after flooding and smoothing the surface of the cookie.
• Tip: Make sure to have all the colours you’re planning on using ready and close by so that you can switch between colours quickly
• Simply pipe other colours onto the flooded surface in patterns or lines which you can either leave as that or then drag a toothpick through to make marbling patterns.

 
Decorating: On top of flooding
• If you’d like to do other patterns/outlines or writing on top of the flooded surface so that they are raised above the flooded background, simply allow the icing to dry, preferably over night.
• Fit the piping bag with tip sizes 1-3.
• Pipe patterns or write on top of the dry icing
• Tip: For writing, the consistency of your icing should be thicker rather than thinner, drag a knife through your icing and when the surface smoothes around 12-15 seconds, the consistency is correct.
Packaging and Storing: Once fully decorated, allow cookies to dry for 24 hours in a cool and dry area. Stack cookies in an airtight container, from largest cookies at the bottom, to smallest and more intricate at the top, with parchment or wax free paper in between the layers. Store in a cool and dry area with the container’s lid firmly sealed. Will last for about a month if stored this way.

Ice Cream Petit Fours

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alasa or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

I wanted to make the petit fours (though don’t worry Baked Alaska! You are on my list to bake as well). To be completely honest I haven’t had a run in with this dainty dessert since my 13th birthday party at which we had tea, petit fours and little sandwiches.  It was time to meet again.  While I was in the middle of making this I took some of the freezing time for the ice cream to research the history of these little squares.  It seems that they originated in the late 1700’s in France and the name actually translates “little oven”.  It turns out that they were actually named after their baking technique.  Back then all they had were those large brick ovens which became very hot and then took a very long time to cool down afterwards.  Large foods and meats were baked at grande four when the oven was hottest and smaller pastries were baked at petit four, which was the lower temperature.

Vanilla Ice Cream

1 cup (250ml) whole milk
A pinch of salt
3/4 cup (165g) sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise OR 2 teaspoons (10ml) pure vanilla extract
2 cups (500ml) heavy (approx 35% butterfat) cream
5 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract

1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan until the liquid steams. Scrape out the seeds of the vanilla bean with a paring knife and add to the milk, along with the bean pod. Cover, remove from heat, and let infuse for an hour. (If you do not have a vanilla bean, simply heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan until the liquid steams, then let cool to room temperature.)
2. Set up an ice bath by placing a 2-quart (2 litre) bowl inside a large bowl partially filled with water and ice. Put a strainer on top of the smaller bowl and pour in the cream.
3. In another bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks together. Reheat the milk in the medium saucepan until warmed, and then gradually pour ¼ cup warmed milk into the yolks, constantly whisking to keep the eggs from scrambling. Once the yolks are warmed, scrape the yolk and milk mixture back into the saucepan of warmed milk and cook over low heat. Stir constantly and scrape the bottom with a spatula until the mixture thickens into a custard which thinly coats the back of the spatula.
4. Strain the custard into the heavy cream and stir the mixture until cooled. Add the vanilla extract (1 teaspoon [5ml] if you are using a vanilla bean; 3 teaspoons [15ml] if you are not using a vanilla bean) and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, preferably overnight.
5. Remove the vanilla bean and freeze in an ice cream maker. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can make it without a machine. See instructions from David Lebovitz: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2007/07/making_ice_crea_1.html

You can add flavor to the ice cream if you want to. I personally wanted to do something a little more fun and as you might recall from my last ice cream post Chai Tea stood out to me so I decided to add some instant Chai powder to the mixture at the last minute.  Let me just say that it turned out AMAZING! I now have a new favorite ice cream flavor!

 

Brown Butter Pound Cake

19 tablespoons (9.5 oz) (275g) unsalted (sweet) butter
2 cups (200g) sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring) (See “Note” section for cake flour substitution)
1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
1/2 cup (110g) packed light brown sugar
1/3 (75g) cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C and put a rack in the center. Butter and flour a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan.
2. Place the butter in a 10” (25cm) skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark chocolate brown and the butter smells nutty. (Don’t take your eyes off the butter in case it burns.) Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed, 15-30 minutes.

3. Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Beat the brown butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and then the vanilla extract.

5. Stir in the flour mixture at low speed until just combined.
6. Scrape the batter into the greased and floured 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula and rap the pan on the counter. Bake until golden brown on top and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
7. Cool in the pan 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge and invert right-side-up onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

 

Assembly

1. Line a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) pan with plastic wrap, so that no sides of the pan are exposed and so there is some extra plastic wrap hanging off the sides. Spread 1 ¾ to 2 cups (450ml to 500ml) ice cream into the pan. Cover with more plastic wrap and freeze several hours.
2. Once the brown butter pound cake has completely cooled, level the top with a cake leveler or a serrated knife. Then split the cake in half horizontally to form two thin layers.
3. Unwrap the frozen ice cream. Flip out onto one of the layers of cake and top with the second layer of cake. Wrap well in plastic wrap and return to the freezer overnight.

4. Make a glaze, frosting, syrup, fondant, etc.  (I used a the recipe for Butter Cream Frosting found here.)
5. Ttrim ¾” (2cm) off each side of the ice cream cake to leave a perfectly square 7.5” (19cm) ice cream cake. Cut the cake into twenty five petit fours, each 1.5”x1.5” (4cmx4cm).

 

Chicken Kiev for Three

A few weeks ago I found myself home with my sister and future-husband and nothing for dinner.  However, my sister is also culinarily inclined so we decided to do a nice dinner for three using chicken as our main ingredient.  Thus became Chicken Kiev.

A picture will be coming, but it’s on my camera which I do not have access to at the moment, but should by tomorrow. 

3 Chicken Breasts
1/4 cup Butter
Garlic
Chives
1 cup Breadcrumbs
2 Eggs – beaten
Flour

First tenderize your chicken with a meat tenderizer, however, be very careful not to overdo it so that the chicken gets holes or begins to fall apart.  Mix butter, chives and garlic to taste (I prefer more garlic) and spread evenly in the center of the breasts.  Fold the sides of the meat towards the center then roll the chicken up tightly.  Secure in place with toothpicks or skewers. 

Have the eggs, breadcrumbs (I actually used crushed crutons for this and it turned out great), and flour in seperate containers.  Roll the chicken in the flour, then dip in eggs and then in the crutons, making sure that they are well covered. 

Heat oil in a skillet and brown the chicken until it is done all the way through.

WARNING: Toothpicks are best removed before serving!  You do not want a guest eating a toothpick and they can split when removing. 

Swedish Swirl Ice Cream Cake

 

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

First, this post is coming slightly late, it should have been up on the 27th, however, I lost track of when it was due as well as being gone for two weeks and having relatives last week.  There.  That’s my excuse for this month.

As I begin preparing for this recipe I get to the challenge right away – it is not making the dessert, but rather figuring out what flavors to make it with.  I need at least two flavors that will blend together in the right way, there’s chocolate & vanilla of course, but I want to do something outside of the usual.  Do I want something heave (chocolate & mocha/raspberry or another combo) or do I want something a little more ‘light’ (I’ve been wanting to make some chai tea ice cream for a while now)?

Eventually I decided to go with a raspberry white chocolate combination.  So here is what I came up with, all the recipes are following. 

Vanilla & Raspberry Swiss Roll:

This recipe is one I found via Google from Fun & Food Blog however, it was originally from About.com.

Recipe Ingredients
3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
1 tspn vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose
1 tspn baking powder
1/4 tspn salt
Powdered Confectioner’s sugar – for dusting
2/3 cup spreadable raspberry jelly/jam (or any other filling of your choice)
Method
Heat oven to 375 deg F. Line a baking pan, preferably (15 × 10 × 1) inches, with cooking parchment paper or aluminum foil. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Beat eggs in small bowl with electric mixer on high speed for about 5 minutes or until very thick and lemon colored. Gradually beat in the granulated sugar (the sugar will help the mixture to thicken more).

Beat in water and vanilla on low speed. Finally add the flour, baking powder and salt, beating just until batter is smooth. Pour into the prepared pan, spreading out well to form a thin even layer.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes (NOT MORE) until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Spread a clean kitchen towel on the platform and sprinkle some powdered sugar on it. I used lots of powdered sugar to be on the safe side.

Now loosen the edges of the cake, then turn the whole pan upside down upon the towel. Carefully remove the paper from the top. Trim off the hard edges of the cake, and while its hot, carefully roll cake lengthwise from one end to the other. Keep the roll as tight as possible, but apply very little pressure so as not to crack the cake a lot. A few cracks are normal, so don’t worry. it is going to be covered with frosting later! Now refrigerate the rolled cake for 40 mins to an hour. (This was the only change I made from the About recipe video)

Remove the cake from fridge and unroll it gently and remove the towel. Beat the raspberry jelly/jam slightly to soften; it’s better to use a spreadable jelly. Now spread it evenly over the cake. Do NOT use a lot of jelly as it would ooze out of the cake once you finish rolling it up again.
Now again roll up the cake, which should be fairly easier this time. If you are not ready to serve, place it in the fridge again, so it becomes a bit harder and easier to slice. When ready to serve, place it on a serving dish, with the seams facing down. Sprinkle generously with confectioners sugar, making sure you cover all the flaked ends or cracks and edges that you incurred while rolling it up. You can even cover the whole cake with chocolate icing or any other frosting. Gently slice at a 30deg angle to form beautiful raspberry swiss rolls.

White Chocolate Ice Cream:

This recipe, along with that for the raspberry ice cream came from Food.com the original recipe can be found here.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 (12 ounce) white chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Add the milk to a heavy medium-size saucepan; bring to a simmer.   Remove from the heat and slowly beat the hot milk in the the eggs in a medium mixing bowl.  Pour the entire mixture back into the pan and put over low heat.  Stir constantly with a whisk until the custard slightly thickens (be careful not to let the mixture boil or the eggs will scamble).  Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate; stir until the chocolate is melted.  Pour the hot custard through a strainer into a large, clean bowl.   Allow the custard to cool slightly, then stir in the cream and vanilla.

Cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight.  Stir the chilled mixture; freeze in 1 or 2 batches in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.  May eat ice cream immediately or transfer to a freezer container and freeze at least two hours for a firmer ice cream.

Raspberry Ice Cream:

Original Recipe can be found here.

Ingredients:

• 5 cups fresh raspberries or frozen raspberries
• 2 tablespoons water
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/4 cups whipping cream
  

   

Directions:

Prep Time: 5 mins

Total Time: 20 mins

1. Put berries into pan and add water and sugar. Cover and simmer 5 minutes until just soft (10 minutes for frozen). Puree fruit. Cool and chill. Churn puree in ice cream machine until thick (10-15 minutes). Gradually pour in cream. Don’t be tempted to mix together first. It will change the texture. Continue to churn until firm. Freeze for firmer texture if desired. Can also add a swirl of slightly heated raspberry jam before freezing in freezer.

Assembly:

Cover the inside of a bowl with plastic so that the cake will come out easily once it is finished.

Place the cake slices in the bottom of the bowl and stack up the edges one layer at a time.  Freeze this for about an hour so that they are hard and then spread the softened white chocolate ice cream in the bottom and up the sides.  Freeze again then do the same with the raspberry ice cream and let freeze until all is solid.   Turn out of bowl, remove plastic wrap, slice and enjoy!

Peanut Curry Chicken Over Rice – DC Challenge

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include

 

 

Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

 Wow, it was sort of difficult to fit this challenge in with all of the other busy things that I’ve had going the past few weeks, but I’m glad I did as this recipe was a hit among my curry loving family.  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera at home but my sister lent me hers, so there’s not as many pictures as I would like.

HOMEMADE NUT BUTTERS

The process for making various types of nut butters is essentially the same. Pour nuts into bowl of food processor. Grind the nuts in the processor until they form a paste or butter. The nuts first turn into powdery or grainy bits, then start to clump and pull away from the side of the bowl, and finally form a paste or butter. The total time required depends on the fat and moisture content of the nuts; grinding time will vary from roughly 1 to 4 minutes (assuming a starting volume of 1 to 2 cups [240 to 480 ml] nuts). Processing times for a variety of nuts are described below.

You may add oil as desired during grinding to make the nut butter smoother and creamier or to facilitate grinding. Add oil in small increments, by the teaspoon for oily nuts like cashews or by the tablespoon for dryer/harder nuts like almonds. You may use the corresponding nut oil or a neutral vegetable oil like canola.

The inclusion of salt in the nut butters is optional and to taste. If you make nut butters from salted nuts, peanuts or cashews for example, you will not need additional salt. We recommend making unsalted nut butters for use in the challenge recipes (and other savory recipes) since the recipes call for salt or salty ingredients. You can then adjust the salt to taste. If you are making nut butter for use as a spread, you should add salt according to your preference.

Roasting the nuts before making nut butters is optional according to your preference. To roast nuts in the oven, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C/Gas Mark 4). Spread nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet or roasting pan. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until nuts are fragrant and a shade darker in color. Allow nuts to cool before grinding. Roasted nuts will make butter with darker color than raw nuts.

It’s helpful to keep in mind that the yield of nut butter is about half the original volume of nuts. If you start with 1 cup nuts, you’ll get about ½ cup nut butter.

The consistency of nut butters varies from thin & soft (almost pourable) to very thick and hard depending on the fat content of the nut. (See links below for nutrition info on variety of nuts.)

Homemade nut butters will probably not be as smooth as commercial products. Homemade nut butters are more perishable than commercial products and should be stored in the refrigerator. The nut butters harden & thicken somewhat upon chilling.

See links at bottom of post for additional information about making nut butters at home.

 

 

Chicken with Curried Tomato Almond Sauce

Yield: 4 servings

Recipe notes: Substitute the protein of your choice for the chicken. This is a smooth sauce, so the onion is removed before serving. If you prefer, dice the onion and leave it in the sauce or substitute a bit of onion powder.

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil

4 (6 oz / 170 g) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

Salt to taste

Spice Blend:

1.5 tablespoons (20 ml) garam masala seasoning

1 teaspoon (5 ml) ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) black pepper

Sauce:

4 tablespoons (60 ml) butter

1 large onion, cut in half pole to pole

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (15-ounce/425 g) can tomato sauce

⅓

 

 

cup (80 ml) almond butter

⅓

 

 

cup (80 ml) milk ½ to ¾ cup (120 to 180 ml) chicken broth or water, more as needed

1 cup (240 ml) frozen peas (optional)

Hot basmati rice for serving

Chopped parsley (optional garnish)

Sliced almonds (optional garnish)

Directions:

1. Cook the chicken. If desired, pound chicken to ¼ inch (6 mm) thickness to promote even cooking. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Heat 1 teaspoon (5 ml) olive oil a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the chicken; sauté 3 to 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Cook the chicken in 2 batches, adding more oil if needed for second batch. Dice chicken into bite-sized pieces; set aside on clean plate and keep warm.

2. Prepare spice blend. Stir garam masala, ginger, cinnamon, and pepper together in a small bowl. Set aside.

3. Melt the butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook gently for several minutes to infuse the butter with onion flavor. Keep the heat low to avoid burning the butter; a little color is fine. Add the spice blend and garlic and cook for 1 minute or till fragrant, stirring constantly. Add the tomato sauce, stir well, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Whisk in almond butter and milk until thoroughly combined with tomato sauce. The almond butter is thick so it takes a while to make a smooth sauce. Return to simmer. Add broth (or water) to sauce to reach desired consistency; return to simmer. Add more broth (or water) as needed to thin sauce as desired.

4. Remove onion from sauce and discard. Stir frozen peas (if using) into sauce. Transfer sliced chicken to sauce. Simmer gently for a few minutes until peas and chicken are heated through.

5.

 

 

Serve chicken and sauce over rice. Garnish with chopped parsley and/or sliced almonds if desired.