meringue filled coffee cake

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

I tried on saturday to make the cake, but something went wrong twice and the dough never rose. It wasn't the yeast, as it's from the same jar I used a couple of weeks ago to make whole wheat bread, and that worked, so I don't know what went wrong and wasn't up to washing the bowl again, so I'll try it later and hope it works. :(

I tried again and it worked! YAY! I halved the recipe and forgot to halve the sugar, which was too much for the yeast, I think. I spread the dough with sweetened red bean paste before I spread it with the meringue. We LOVED it!

YAY! for Papas Rellenas!!!

Kathlyn of Bake Like a Ninja was our Daring Cooks’ March 2011 hostess. Kathlyn challenges us to make two classic Peruvian dishes: Ceviche de Pescado from “Peruvian Cooking – Basic Recipes” by Annik Franco Barreau. And Papas Rellenas adapted from a home recipe by Kathlyn’s Spanish teacher, Mayra.

I made the Papas Rellanas, but changed the filling. Raisins and hard cooked eggs don't go over well in my house, so I made a filling of onions, mushrooms, spinach, bacon, and cheese. It was fantastic. I served it with sausages and homemade pretzels (I was recipe testing for something later in the week)

YAY! for Panna Cotta!!!

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies. I made mine a raspberry panna cotta with chocolate ganache with heart shaped florentine cookies.




I changed the recipe a bit to make it raspberry flavored:


1/2 cup raspberry puree
1/2 tablespoon unflavored powdered gelatin
1 cup whipping cream (30+% butterfat)
1/2 cup half and half
1/3 cup granulated sugar

Pour the puree into a saucepan and sprinkle gelatin evenly and thinly over the top Let bloom for 5 minutes.
Put the saucepan over medium heat on the stove and heat until the gelatin is melted.
Add the cream, half and half, and sugar and heat until the sugar is dissolved.
Remove from heat and cool before pouring into ramekins.
I used creme brulee dishes, so they set in about an hour and a half.

They were creamy and not too sweet, but the fat content got in the way of our enjoying the dessert, it kind of coated our mouths and stopped us from tasting anything else.


So, I tried again, with yogurt instead of cream to keep the texture and loose the fat, and it was much better. I made a Meyer lemon panna cotta with raspberry sauce and chocolate filigree.



Lemon Panna Cotta

1/2 cup meyer lemon juice
1/2 tbs gelatin
1/3 cup sugar
zest of 3 lemons
1 cup Greek style yogurt
1/2 cup half and half

Sprinkle the gelatin over the lemon juice in a saucepan. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Blend the sugar and lemon zest in a food processor until fragrant, add to gelatin mixture. Heat over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved.

Measure the yogurt into a mixing bowl. Add the half and half slowly, stirring after each addition to avoid making yogurt lumps. Add the warm gelatin mixture and stir to combine.

Pour into serving dishes and chill 1-2 hours, or until set.

Top with raspberry sauce and chocolate filigree if you'd like!

YAY! for Japanese Food!!!

The February 2011 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by Lisa of Blueberry Girl. She challenged Daring Cooks to make Hiyashi Soba and Tempura. She has various sources for her challenge including japanesefood.about.com, pinkbites.com, and itsybitsyfoodies.com

Japanese food has long been a favorite in our house. My dad lived in Japan in his late teens and developed an appreciation for the food, which he and my mother learned to make while living in Frankfurt, Germany from some Japanese friends.

Soba salad is a frequent dinner in the hot summer months, and tempura a popular treat for birthdays or New Year's Eve. The first time I made tempura on my own was 10 years ago, when I was just 16.

This month's recipes didn't feel like challenges, but they were sure family favorites!

YAY! for Fancy French Desserts!!

The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.

I did mine to be kind of like a Princess Cake, with raspberry and custard and marzipan.


I piped the colored paste in a scroll design to mimic the pink marzipan rope often around the bottom of a princess cake. I made an almond genoise and layered it with a gelatin set vanilla bavarian cream and a gelatin set raspberry mousse. I topped it with the traditional green marzipan and roses.



I decided to do a square because I knew I couldn't make a single piece go all the way around like I would want (and the design would be harder to match up) so I built a cardboard frame, wrapped it in plastic and put it on a square plate to set in the fridge. I forgot to take a picture of it in the frame, but I took one after I removed the cake.


It was delicious, and fun to make.

Poaching

Jenn and Jill have challenged The Daring Cooks to learn to perfect the technique of poaching an egg. They chose Eggs Benedict recipe from Alton Brown, Oeufs en Meurette from Cooking with Wine by Anne Willan, and Homemade Sundried Tomato & Pine Nut Seitan Sausages (poached) courtesy of Trudy of Veggie num num.

As I don't like runny yolks (or really yolks at all) I decided to poach fish. I looked high and low for a recipe that didn't call for wine, then someone suggested I use a Court Bouillon. This sounded great. So I looked up recipes and found a few and decided on one. I won't bother posting the recipe because it was totally bland and flavorless, even with added seasoning. Part of this was probably the fish I used (I'm poor, so went with the cheapest thing at TJs) I thought, hey, a flavorful broth would be great to make risotto with, but it was so bad we didn't eat it (my sister added ketchup and pronounced it "edible")

I'd definitely poach fish again, but next time I'd just use water, it would add about as much flavor. And I'll try risotto again with something flavorful.

YAY! for Tarts!!

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.

I added orange zest to my crust and made a cranberry jam. I cut out circles of dough, piped jam on top, and pinched corners to make tiny tartlets. Everyone loved them.