Daring Bakers--EXTREMELY late!

 I feel terrible! I've seriously been neglecting my blog. I've been working more hours lately, I'm getting over a cold, school's started, and I was so busy sewing my costume for an anime convection until a few weeks ago. But this is gonna change! Not to mention, just until a few days ago my compter has been down so I wasn't able to find the pictures I took.

Last months daring bakers challenge was Lavash Crackers. I didn't have the time or ingredients to make a dip, sojust salted crackers is what I made.

These crackers were delicious! I can't wait to make them again.

I'm sorry I haven't commented on anyone elses blogs!! This will change, I promise!

Daring Bakers and an award!

Okay, so this months challenge was Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream. I was excited to find out this cake was from Carole Walter's "Great Cakes".

To start, I made this cake on monday night. I had no idea I was making the cake, but I got an unexpected tip from work.

so I picked up the ingredients at 4 and got to work at 6, after dinner. That's the last time I'm ever staring a daring baker project at 6 in the evening! By the time I was done I was ready to break down and cry myself to sleep. It was almost midnight, and nothing was going my way!

When I woke up the next morning, I was feeling a little better and decorated the cake. The only pastry tip I have is very small, and it kept getting clogged. The big splatter on top were accidents because the butter cream came right out of the top and plopped right on my design...*sigh*







Taste review:
I didn't like it. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it.

My sister liked it! Maybe she has a more "adult palette"?

My friend Heather didn't like it, so she brought it home to her mom

My fron "Hollie" didn't like it very much but ate it anyway because she loves me. XD

Needless to say, I won't be making this again! But I'm glad I tried, it was worth the experience!

Luckily, "Hollie" brought over her peanut butter cup cheesecake! AMAZING. I'm seriously going to steel the recipe from her one of these days.



EDIT:
Karen of Do Better awarded me with the smiles award! It made me very happy and definitely put a smile on my face!

Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times–we are all human)
2. Must love one another3. Must make mistakes
4. Must learn from others
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world
6. Must love life
7. Must love kids

These are the rules:

1. The recipient must link back to the award’s creator (http://www.thebabblingsofmere.blogspot.com/)
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must chose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.

Now I'm not sure if I can do this, but I want to award Karen with the same award! So I give the award to

1. Karen of Do Better. She's an amazing baker and extremely nice. She has 2 children who take after her beauty and her family seems so loving.
2. My very own sister, Christina, of Stuff By Stina. She's beautiful, talented and of the nicest people I've met!! She's great with little kids and when she smiles the whole room glows. (sorry, that was cheesy...but true!)
3. is Mother Bliss. She has a wonderful family and I love reading about her life! She's a great baker and cook, and her kids are adorable.
4. is Daily Delicious! Everything she makes looks so incredibly delicious! I'd love to visit her house for tea one day.
5. is Christina of She Runs She Eats. She's an amazing athlete who knows good food! I lkove to read how she's doing and all her tips. Everything she posts looks great, wether she's eating it or making it herself!

The Perfece Cake, period.

Boy was I shocked to start visiting peoples blogs, only to realize today was the day to post the daring baker's challenge!

Well, I'm sure you know by now this months recipe Is the Perfect Party Cake, hosted by Morven.

The original recipe is a 4 layer white cake, with raspberry jam filling and white buttercream frosting, with a hint of lemon. Our hostess, Morven, let us take are creativity and do what we wanted with the cake. I was really excited since it didn't sound quite like my sort of cake.

I decided to keep the white cake, eliminating the lemon and using just vanilla extract, I then brushed each layer with a simple syrup spiked with a little rum. On each layer I used pastry cream and cover that with chocolate ganache. I added cocoa powder and melted semi-sweet and milk chocolate to the buttercream to make it chocolate, since cake isn't the same without chocolate frosting. (unless it's cream cheese, which was my second idea I never got to try)




Thanks SO MUCH Morven!!

Original recipe:
Perfect Party Cake:
For the Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour (updated 25 March)
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut

Getting Ready
Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean
Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.
Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream
Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.
The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.
Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.
On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.
You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake
Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.
Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.
Spread it with one third of the preserves.
Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.
Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).
Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.
Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

Serving
The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing
The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

Daribg Baker's Challenge, January 08: Lemon Meringue Pie!

This is it--my first Daring Bakers Challenge! I joined for the December challenge, but unfortunately I was unable to compete. But now January, 2008 is here, and it's a new year that I officially dedicate to making myself a better baker and artist. I hope joining the Daring Bakers willl help this, and so far I think it will, I really do!

This months challenge was hosted by http://canadianbaker.blogspot.com/

So, onto the story!

I started out with making the crust. I didn't have and fancy food processor or pastry cutter so I had to use the ol' two knife method, which I've only sort of witnessed, never practiced. I thought I wouldn't be able to get the "course meal" to stick together, but I somehow managed to force most of it into a ball long enough to put it in a container and chill it for the given time. half hour later, I rolled it out and put it in the pie pan. It was uneven and definitely not the prettiest, but when I tried playing around with it, it wanted to break. So I stuck with it. I used rice instead of dried beans or pie weights for the blind baking, as that was the only thing I had. First time doing a blind bake. After removing the tin foil I found a slight puttle of sizzling butter on the crust but let it continue baking a while longer. Pieces that were hovering out of the pie pan broke and fell onto the oven bottom, which caused a fire in the oven about 5 minutes before I baked the meringue. Thanks goodness for Daddy! LOL.

The filling cam out beautiful and delicious. Definitely a keeper!

Meringue: love, love, love it! SO fluffy and yummy with the sligt crisp brown parts.

I wanted to make this pie more eye-pleasing, but I was running out of time. The pie was in the oven at 6:08 and I hade to be somewhere at 6:30, and I hadn't even eaten dinner yet! Next time, I'll make sure I have more time.

First time ever tasting this kind of pie, I really couldn't stop myself from having two pieces! I had to make sure it was fit for my family, ya'know? ^-^

I had a tiny bit of left over pie crust, so I made my brother a little cherry tart-thing. Made me wish I did all tarts, no big pie!