Berry Galette

I apologize for not participating as often in the challenges. I had a baby about six weeks ago and he has been getting all of my attention. However, once Oliver has more of a schedule it will leave some time for me to bake during the day. I am looking forward to doing some more baking. I did manage to go see Julie & Julia at a Movies for Mommies event. Julia is such an inspiration.

I made the Berry Galette one week before my due date and took it for dessert for our annual Shakespeare in the Park picnic. It got rave reviews so I made it again. I love making galettes period.

I thought I had already downloaded the pictures....I will have to upload them later this week as I have an infant attached to my arm. Tina and Misty however can attest that I made it!

Until next time happy baking!

French Strawberry Cake

Our baking challenge this week was a French Strawberry Tart. The cake is a genoise which is the most important cake a french pastry chef learns to make. When I read about it - I felt the pressure. Is this something that I could do? The recipe seemed reasonable, but I was still anxious about how fragile the batter seemed to be.

According to Julia, the eggs and sugar should take about 5 - 6 minutes until the batter is complete (when a ribbon of batter stays on top for about 10 seconds). My mixture took almost 10 minutes to get to that point. Unfortunately, I don't have a whip attachment for my mixer which is why I think it took so long. For the majority of Julia's recipes I have had to extend my baking time, but not for this one - I baked the batter for 25 minutes exactly.

The whipped cream was easy and simply delicious. I did not need all the whipped crean, so that I can use it for my left over strawberries. I only cut the cake in two layers, as I was not confident enough to cut it into three.

I brought the cake for Baba's birthday party tonight, and the cake seemed to be a hit, as there were no pieces left. This only means that I have to make another cake soon as the family went strawberry picking today and I have so many strawberries that need to be eaten.

On a side note, I wanted to let my fellow bakers know that I have made at least three batches of the cantuccini - my husband can't get enough of them. I think he ate at least 6 tonight!

Until next time beauties, happy baking.

Cantuccini

I absolutely LOVED this recipe...so much so that I am making another batch as I write this blog. I have always wanted to make biscotti but have been a little timid too, never realizing how simple it is.

I did make some changes to Julia's recipe (if I should dare). I halved the recipe and made one with a little less flour and added cocoa powder, removed the almonds and added chocolate chips...the end result was delish. With the other half, after the biscotti has cooled, I melted some semi-sweet chocolate and dipped them.

I didn't quite get the eight dozen cookies that the recipe called for (thank goodness)...but I did donate the majority of the cookies to my son's daycare for their bake sale. I am happy to report that the bake sale started at 5pm and by the time I got there at 5:15pm they had already disappeared. This is the exact reason why I am baking some more...I am a sucker for this low fat cookie...

I have decided not to modify this new batch, although I am sure that I am going to dip or drizzle them with chocolate for an added touch and I plan to leave some of them naked. I am sure that this is a recipe I am going to make over and over again (with modifications).

Until next time beauties...Happy Baking!

Lemon Pound Cake

Yum! I could not wait to make this delish cake, but unfortunately I wasn't able to make it until last night. Sorry that I am one day late....and I should let you know that I haven't yet been able to take a picture - so hopefully there will be some left by tomorrow so I can upload some shots.

What an easy recipe and simply yummy. I baked the cake for 55 minutes and it was done to perfection. I made no modifications. With a little whipped cream and some strawberries....delish!

Can anyone tell me what they did with their lemons? I'd hate to throw them away....

Until next week beauties, happy baking!

Boca Negra

So, I have determined that I have an unequipped kitchen. Tina, the professional chef probably would have told you this many years ago. However, I thought that I had enough stuff to get me by. However, since starting this "challenge" I have come to realize that I need to go to Caynes to buy some much needed kitchen items.

This challenge requires a cake pan and a roasting pan, both of which I don't own. So, I used my spring form pan which was 9.5 inches. The only other item that I owned which this pan would fit into was a baking sheet - not quite high enough for water to be of any significance. Plus, when I attempted to put water in it - it just leaked through my pan -disaster number one. Luckily I had some foresight and hadn't added the cake mixture into my pan.

My arms were extremely sore from stirring, stirring and more stirring. I thought that the butter pieces would never end. I exchanged Canadian Club for bourbon, since we didn't have any on hand. The syrup was nice and fragrant and added a nice touch to the end result.

I decided not to make the white-chocolate cream, I thought it would be a little too sweet and would make whipped cream instead. Plus I am not a huge fan of white chocolate.


I placed my pan in the oven with a pot of water in the rack below. I had called Tina for some advice since I didn't have the necessary equipment. Tina assured me the water was needed for moisture. I baked for 30 minutes. After checking it - my instinct told me I needed to wait a little longer - so I baked it for about 5 more minutes or so as I did not want to over bake this dessert. I knew that this cake was to be somewhat of a brownie consistency. I followed Julia's instructions to a tee. When I attempted to flip it over - disaster #2....the cake was raw inside. So, not wanting to waste and after working so hard - I placed the mixture in dish and placed in the oven for at least another 20 minutes.

My plan was to bring this dish to a friend's house on Saturday afternoon, but the end result looked so ugly, I could not bear to do so. That is also why I did not include a picture of the cake on the blog, I am just too embarrassed. I am looking forward to next weeks lemon loaf!

Until next week, happy baking ladies!

P.S. I am trying to convince my friend Stephanie to join us - she is an excellent cook and baker....

Brownies

I have a soft spot for brownies, I LOVE them! I started making them on my last maternity leave. I had a fantastic recipe that I always used and never had to try any others. So, even though it was Julia Child I never thought that it would compare.

Yes, Julia's recipe is a little more labour intensive, but the results are DIVINE. I had to cook mine a little longer than suggested. I also could not find bittersweet chocolate, so I used semi-sweet instead. I will say that I will make this recipe again and again. However, I may add some chopped nuts next time. YUM.

Until next time Happy Baking!

Crispy Cocoa Cookies

What a nice easy recipe! It took me no time to assemble the cookie dough. I placed half of the dough in the fridge and the other half in my freezer for a later date. Saturday morning I did my baking. I do have to say that I didn't really enjoy rolling the dough (it was crumbly) and I didn't have a cookie cutter so I used a sake cup. Ten quick minutes in the oven and voila they were completed. It's a great small cookie that I can give Truman with little guilt!

Sorry no pictures this week ladies (I need to find my camera!).

I have decided that I will try to make the croissants...I can't say that I am not a bit worried...but it will be a good challenge for me.

Until next time, happy baking!