When you see the picture above, what do you see? Hopefully you’ll respond by telling me, “I see leaves” (lie if you have to). Because if you don’t see what I’m seeing I’m screwed. You see, I just finished baking and decorating a cake for The Daring Kitchen’s Cake Decorating Challenge for a chance to win a trip to the New York Cake Convention in NYC sponsored by the lovely people at the U.S. Confection Connection. {Entries can be found here} The challenge was to decorate a 9-inch cake in an Autumn inspired theme. For my entry, I decided to decorate my cake with chocolate fondant and gum paste leaves painted to look like Fall in Seattle. As I was making the leaves, it occurred to me others may want to know how to make these leaves as well. So grab a cup of coffee and lets get started. [click to continue…]
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THE DARING COOKS OCTOBER 2009 CHALLENGE: MACARONS
The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. from Baking Without Fear. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.
Introduction from the Daring Kitchen site:
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The September 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.
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The August 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers’ cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. [click to continue…]
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The June Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart… er… pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800′s in England.
Bakewell tarts…er…puddings combine a number of dessert elements but still let you show off your area’s seasonal fruits.
Like many regional dishes there’s no “one way” to make a Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding, but most of today’s versions fall within one of two types. The first is the “pudding” where a layer of jam is covered by an almondy pastry cream and baked in puff pastry. The second is the “tart” where a rich shortcrust pastry holds jam and an almondy sponge cake-like filling.
This version is a combination of the two: a sweet almond-flavoured shortcrust pastry, frangipane and home made jam. [click to continue…]
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