Daring Bakers Challenge – October
This months challenge was brought to us by Rosa from Rosa’s Yummy Yums. Rosa decided to give us a nice change of sweet pace and had us all make Pizza! I was so excited for this challenge. It was so nice to try something different. Our challenge was to make pizza like the pros. Which meant a little tossing action. I wasn’t so good at that action, but I tried anyway. We were supposed to catch that in a photo, but since I only had my 3 1/2 year old and my 1 1/2 year old around, I didn’t exactly think I could trust them with my very expensive camera. Yes, I got my camera back if you were wondering. That is another story for another time. Anyways, trust me that I did try it out. But I think I’m just a rolling pin kind of girl. It was still a delicious recipe.
We had to make 2 different kinds of pizza, using sauce and toppings of choice. I decided on a savory and sweet, of course. My savory was delish, but let me tell you a little about my sweet. Oh. My. Despite the fact that I almost burnt it to smithereens, it was the best tasting sweet piece of heaven I have ever experienced in my life. Sounds like I’m exaggerating, right? I’m not. Picture this. A nice thin sweet dough brushed with melted butter and topped with sauteed apples smothered in cinnamon, brown sugar and butter. Top that with a brown sugar, cinnamon crumble and top that with a sweet glaze. I know that words to not give this even remotely justice, but let me tell you that it was absolutely delicious. Mouthwatering delicious. I will definitely be making this again and again. My photo’s do not give it justice either, but if you are in the mood for a sweet treat, give this one a try. You won’t be disappointed. My savory pizza was topped with a white sauce and than topped with a 6 Italian Cheese blend. I added tomatoes and Italian sausage to make it over the top tasty. And it was. If only I owned a brick oven, that would have made my pizzas perfect. For the recipe for this challenge, visit here. Check out the other Daring Bakers here. Here is my recipe for my Apple Pizza.
Apple Pie Pizza
pizza crust
¼ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 apples, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1. In a skillet, saute apples with the brown sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and butter until soft, about 10 minutes. Brush some melted butter over the crust. Pour apples evenly over the pizza crust. In a small bowl add ¼ cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon cinnamon and 1 tablespoon melted butter and mix until all is combined. Crumble over the pizza. Bake at 400 degrees for about 10-15 minutes or until crust is lightly golden. In a small bowl add confectioners sugar and a dash of milk. Stir until smooth. Drizzle over the pizza.
Daring Bakers Challenge- September
So…I had this challenge in the bag. I had done a beautiful photo shoot with my beautiful food. The pictures were perfection. I was so excited to post them for you all to see. You would have wanted to eat the computer screen! And than…last night I was attempting to upload the pictures from my beautiful, expensive camera on to my computer. I was going to have the post all ready to appear at midnight. And as I was sitting there very frustrated in front of my computer waiting very patiently for the photo’s to upload…they wouldn’t. Yup, something is wrong with my camera. I had to take it back to the store today to figure out what was wrong with it and I got the very bad news that they have to send my camera back to the manufacture to get it fixed. I will now be without my most prized possession for 3-4 weeks. Yah, I’m pretty distraught at the moment. Bummed. Devastated. And although I could go out and buy something to get the pictures off the card that was in my camera, the pictures that I took with great care, I really can’t spend the money right now. So I had to come home and use my old point and shoot and re-do the pictures. They are not good at all, and I apologize. They do not give my food justice. But, it is what it is and I can’t do anything about it right now. So please bear with me for the next 3-4 weeks, as I will be using my old camera for my photo shoots. I’m sure you will notice when I get my beautiful camera back. Now onto the challenge!
This month’s Daring Bakers Challenge comes to us from Natalie from Gluten A Go Go and Shel of Musings From the Fishbowl. And for a special addition, we have gone vegan! It was a lot of fun trying something new, and it turned out to be absolutely delicious. The recipe was for Lavish Crackers, a snappy Armenian style cracker, with a Vegan dip/relish/salsa of your choice. I chose to make my Lavish Crackers covered in cinnamon and sugar. And for my dip, I made a fruit salsa. This was such a sweet treat, but since I’m a fan of sweet, if worked out perfectly for me. The salsa gets better everyday, because it marinades in all the sweetness and the flavor becomes something out of this world. The crackers were very simple to make in my opinion, and worth the time it took for them to rise (3 hours). The recipe stated it would take 90 minutes, but for some reason in my house it always takes twice the amount of time that it is supposed to. And that is even placing it my warm laundry room with the dryer running. But the dough came out beautiful. The trick is to roll it out paper thin, and than the crackers turn out perfectly crispy. For the Lavish Cracker recipe go here. Be sure to check out the other Daring Baker’s crackers here. My recipe for Fruit Salsa is below. Have a great weekend everyone!
Fruit Salsa
recipe
by Stephanie
2 small kiwis, diced
2 small apples, diced
1 medium peach, diced
1 cup strawberries, diced
1/4 cup raspberry preserves
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
dash of ground cinnamon
fresh mint, if desired
1. Mix all of the ingredients together and let sit for at least 1 hour before serving.
Daring Bakers Challenge – August
I was so excited for this challenge. So excited that I literally waited until 2 days before posting day to spend my day in the kitchen. I really was stoked for this one though, because this month’s challenge was Eclairs. I LOVE eclairs. I adore eclairs. If I didn’t have any self control, I could have eaten every last one before letting some other’s try them. I actually only ended up eating 2. Yup, just 2. I was pretty proud of myself. My neighbor’s and my hubby’s co-workers got the rest. Lucky ducks, huh? You’ll just have to move next door if you want a piece of the action around here!
Daring Bakers Challenge
This month’s Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Kelly of Sass & Veracity and Ben of What’s Cooking. The recipe of the month…Danish Pastries. When I first saw what the challenge was, I got really excited. Pastries are on my list of favorites, and anytime I can make something from scratch that you can buy in a delicious bakery, I’m in. And than I started to read the recipe and instructions. My enthusiasm quickly fell to a startling hault. I was very overwhelmed and didn’t know if I could pull this off. That is why I love the daring bakers. I would never even attempt something like this on my own. But I love to reach outside my box and try new things when I have the motivation. So, after reading the recipe over about 45 times, I realized that I was building it up to be something so difficult, when really, it was so simple. I started to break the recipe down, and as soon as I got my hands in it, it became a cinch! It was time consuming, but after the dough was made, everything else was a piece of cake! And it was so much fun too! Thanks for the great recipe, and I will definitely make these again and I am dying to try new variations.
For the actual braid, I decided to go with the traditional apple filling, because apple is one of my favorites. It was soooo delicious! Than I made some different little pastries filled with raspberry preserves and cream cheese, lemon curd and of course, chocolate croissants! I just have to say that I am really proud of myself for giving this a go, and actually succeeding!
DANISH DOUGH
Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough
Ingredients
For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (I used cinnamon)
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped (I omitted this one)
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
DOUGH
Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Without a standing mixer: Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.
BUTTER BLOCK
1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.
2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.
APPLE FILLING
Makes enough for two braids
Ingredients
4 Fuji or other apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Toss all ingredients except butter in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat until slightly nutty in color, about 6 – 8 minutes. Then add the apple mixture and sauté until apples are softened and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. If you’ve chosen Fujis, the apples will be caramelized, but have still retained their shape. Pour the cooked apples onto a baking sheet to cool completely before forming the braid. (If making ahead, cool to room temperature, seal, and refrigerate.) They will cool faster when spread in a thin layer over the surface of the sheet. After they have cooled, the filling can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Left over filling can be used as an ice cream topping, for muffins, cheesecake, or other pastries.
DANISH BRAID
Makes enough for 2 large braids
Ingredients
1 recipe Danish Dough (see below)
2 cups apple filling, jam, or preserves (see below)
For the egg wash: 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk
1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.
2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.
3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.
Egg Wash
Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.
Proofing and Baking
1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.
2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.
Don’t forget that Cookie Week starts Monday, with a great giveaway and some awesome cookie recipes! Be sure to check in everyday and enter the giveaway!
Sorry Daring Bakers….
So, today is posting day for the Daring Bakers Challenge, and as you can see, there are no photo’s of a magnificent opera cake awaiting you. I feel bad about it, but honestly, I just didn’t have the time this month. This recipe was very challenging to say the least, for me anyways. I bought all the ingredients, and tried to set aside the time, but things just kept coming up. I know, excuses excuses. I will try this recipe soon, because I will feel like I accomplished something very much out of my comfort zone. But this month, it just didn’t happen. I will try to post when I finally complete the task. If you are curious about what this months recipe was, you can go here. Also, be sure to check out all of the other Daring Bakers Challenges! But, I will show you another fabulous recipe anyways! I made these lovely White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Blondies from Paula Dean’s Chocolate Magazine and they were divine. I’ve actually never been a fan of the macadamia nut or white chocolate for that matter, but these have changed my mind. Very good. These are blondies that are best the day they are made. But, you can always half the recipe so they go unwasted! Very chewy, and tasty, and the chunks of white chocolate and macadamia nuts, make you coming back for more!!!
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