The Daring Bakers Challenge, January 2009: Graham Crackers and Nanaimo Bars

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and http://www.nanaimo.ca/.

I was really excited about this challenge when the recipe was revealed. I was in Canada at the time, skiing at Whistler and getting completely swept up in Olympic fever. Learning to make a Canadian speciality like Nanaimo Bars seemed timely and appropriate.

For the graham crackers, I decided to go with the non-gluten-free (or glutenous?) version as I had a lot of whole wheat flour on hand. Let's just say that now I understand why graham crackers come in sheets that you have to break into individual crackers. When I started making the dough for my grahams, I had a beautiful vision of lovely round biscuits in my mind - something similar to a British disgestive. Then I discovered that graham dough is STICKY! I rolled out the dough on a silpat carefully, making sure that all sections were of even thickness and then cut circles into the dough with a biscuit cutter.

Everything was going according to plan until I tried to pull away the excess dough and line the circles up on a cookie sheet for baking. What a mess!  The dough stuck so badly that I had to scrape it up with my nails. The majority of the dough ended up in a scrap pile to be rerolled, though I did manage to salvage a few of the round crackers.

After baking, the graham crackers did not get as crisp as what you would buy in a store. The exterior was hard, but inside they were chewy. They were delicious to snack on, but not ideal for making the crumbs for the Nanaimo Bars.

The Nanaimo Bars were easy enough to make, but the end product was VERY rich and not something I think I will make again. The creamy filling tastes almost like an american buttercream that you might use for icing a birthday cake. The entire thing was too sweet for my taste and reminded me of something that children would go crazy for (behaving even crazier after eating from the sugar high!). Both A and I were only able to nibble a small square before pushing them away and running for a glass of milk.

 

Though the challenge recipes won't make it into my regular rotation of desserts and baked treats, they were a lot of fun to make and got me to try something I might not have otherwise tried. With hindsight, I wish that I had tried the gluten free version. I just started a new job and learned that one of my team mates has celiacs, which means that a few gluten free recipes could make their way onto this blog in the future.

Recipes after the jump!

Challah Bread and a Dessert Free Weekend!

Dessert free weekend... dessert free weekend... means that I guess I will be writing about bread this week. It was a really busy weekend anyway. It was antiques weekend in New York City, which is always full of activity in our household, as A and I have a tradition of visiting all of the fairs to drool over the wares. It also coincides with our anniversary, meaning that the fairs are following by some sort of extravagant dinner out on the town (though I think the economy means cheap pasta, not Michelin stars this year). On top of that I had dinner with D to chat about my first week on the new job. See? No time for baking. Or at least that is what I am telling myself. In the back of my mind, I know that if A was not holding firmly to his dessert ban I would have tried to squeeze a cake in somewhere.

So... on to bread. I decided that this weekend would be a good time to whip up a challah loaf, or egg bread. My new job is in the Jersey suburbs, which means I no longer am able to indulge in the delight that is the tasty, but also very bad for you, lunch of street meats. No more greasy lamb over rice for me. Instead I get to choose from salads in the company cafeteria or a brown bag special. A and I didn't cook much this weekend so the brown bag special for Monday would be a cold-cut sandwich with a banana. To spice things up a bit, I thought that home-made bread was in order in lieu of pre-sliced sandwich bread from the grocery store.

One of my biggest frustrations I have with home made bread is that it goes stale ridiculously fast. Sometimes I feel like my bread has already gone stale by the time I reach for a second slice. To help mitigate this problem, A bought me a bread box from King Arthur Flour last year when I first became serious about bread baking. If you like making bread and having fresh, home made loaves on hand but dislike eating an entire loaf in a day, this box is the solution. I was surprised to learn that a bread box actually helped to partially solve the problem. While the crusts of my loaves do lose some crunch in the box, the bread stays soft for a few days.

Challah is basically an egg bread. It is one of my favorites because the dough is pretty forgiving and the bread has a sweet flavor that goes well with just about anything. Most importantly, it is not necessary to allow the dough to ferment overnight. A beautiful loaf can be put together from start to finish in less than 5 hours. (That is pretty quick for bread. If I have learned anything about bread, it is that a good loaf CANNOT be rushed!)

Recipe after the jump!

Yeasted Banana Waffles and Gingered Orange Macarons

"We've gained weight! NO MORE DESSERTS!" were the words coming from A's lips that brought horror to my ears.

Now that the Christmas party is over and we are diving into the new year, A has decided that I shall be banned from baking desserts (with the exception of my monthly daring bakers challenges... I managed to get a pass for those). Fine. We have gained some weight. We should probably start the diet now. But no more desserts??? Can't I just make them? I don't have to eat them.

To be honest, I don't really love eating them anyway. I am sure that many bakers would agree when I claim that I like baking for the joy of seeing what I can create and the pleasure of watching others enjoy what I have created. I don't bake so that I can eat sweets every weekend. Quite the contrary - if you knew how many times I asked A if I could just throw my latest creation away so that we wouldn't have the sugary calories tempting us on the counter.

Let's see how long this ban on sweets lasts. I have already managed to get around it for this weekend as we have guests arriving from out of town. (A said I could still bake for guests, just not for us!). Next weekend is the antiques fair, and he has asked me to prepare macarons for all of the generous dealers who have set aside tickets at the front door. So I guess the moratorium starts in February?

Having out of town guests for us means a tremendous amount of advanced planning on our part - whether it is one guest or four (I should add that this is something we love doing!). I spend the weeks before pouring over recipes and restaurant reviews and concocting an itinerary around home cooked meals from a carefully selected menu, as well as a number of meals out at our favorite restaurants. As New York has no shortage of excellent restaurants, A and I usually lean heavily on brunches at home that will keep stomachs satisfied until dinner so that we can avoid expensive NYC snacks during the day.

So the menu for this weekend includes 3 brunches, and of course some sort of welcome cake to nibble on arrival. In addition to some of my go-to brunch items (quiche, scones, etc), I decided this was the perfect excuse to try a recipe I had been eying for awhile - yeasted banana bread waffles served with a fresh fruit salad. Waffles are sweet, but not dessert, right?

I originally found the recipe that I used on Seven Spoons. It caught my eye for two reasons - first, it was a recipe that could be prepped the day before, and second, it offered a new twist on an old favorite. The scent of spiced banana bread wafting through the air was enough to make this recipe worth it. The waffles themselves were delicious. Light, fluffy and not too sweet.

Finally, for our guest's wife who was left back in LA, a batch of gingered orange macarons packed for the plane.

Recipes after the jump!

Easy Weekend Breakfast: Cinnamon & Oatmeal Scones

There are few things I love more than lazy weekends at home with nothing to do but relax on the couch and enjoy the break from work. These are the days that I would love nothing more than to indulge in a home-cooking breakfast with fresh-out-of-the-oven baked goods. Of course, who wants to wake up in the morning and pull out the mixer first thing? Ok, me on occasion, but not usually. The answer - baked goods that can be prepared in advance and go straight from freezer to oven. To avoid giving in to an unsatisfying but effortless bowl of cereal, I like to keep my freezer stocked for bouts of laziness or mornings where lingering over coffee isn't really an option.


Scones are the perfect answer when I can't be bothered to cook a real breakfast or brunch but still want something a little more gourmet than cereal. The dough freezes beautifully, and frozen scones can be popped directly in the oven from the freezer. A few times a year, I like to mix up giant batches of dough so that I always have some on hand. I cut the dough into mini-scones and freeze it in zip-lock bags. When it is time for breakfast, I pull out what I want and put them on a cookie sheet into a pre-heated oven for about 20-25 minutes. A spot of jam, and voila, breakfast! 

The secret to this recipe is the cinnamon chips. I used to think that a chip is a chip is a chip... boy was I wrong. A few years ago my mother-in-law introduced me to Wilbur Chocolate and their wide array of chips or "buds", ranging in flavor from milk chocolate to butterscotch. I picked some up and started baking with them, using them as a substitute for Nestle, my previous go-to brand. While there was a noticeable improvement in the flavor of the stuff I baked, I did not realize just how much better the Wilbur buds were until I ran out and had to temporarily switch back to Nestle. A and I, spoiled, found the Nestle version nearly inedible. Now I order the Wilbur buds in bulk to ensure that I always have some on hand. 


There are several recipes for scones that I rotate through, but I think this one is my favorite. These pair well with blueberry jam and a hot cup of coffee. Brushing the tops with buttermilk and sprinkling them with a little demerara sugar will give the scones the slightest crunch - just like the scones from your favorite bakery.
 The recipe is pretty simple - mix all of the dry ingredients together in a food processor...

Add the oats and pulse a few more times. Then add the butter and pulse until you have a fine meal. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and mix in the buttermilk and cinnamon chips. Mix until  the dough begins to come together. Turn out onto a floured surface and pat the dough into a large rectangle. Cut dough into desired size and shape. For this recipe, I like to cut bite-sized triangles.

Brush the tops of the scones with buttermilk and sprinkle them with demerara sugar. At this point you can either freeze the scones to eat later or bake them to enjoy immediately. Frozen scones will keep for months. I think I have cooked scones that have been frozen for up to two months with no deterioration in quality. If you plan to bake them immediately, stick them in a 425 degree pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden.

If you have a sil-pat, I recommend using it to line the baking sheet while the scones cook. I have noticed that the cinnamon chips have a tendency to cook quickly, and occasionally burn if the scones are cooked on parchment paper or directly on the baking sheet.

Cinnamon & Oatmeal Scones
Adapted from Gourmet


8 oz all-purpose flour
3 oz brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
5 oz old-fashioned oats (not instant)
6 oz butter
2/3 cup well shaken buttermilk (plus extra for brushing)
6 oz mini cinnamon chips


See above for baking instructions.

Christmas in Salem: How to Prepare a Dessert Party for More than Twenty People

The Christmas party in Salem has come and gone in a flurry of flour and powdered sugar. Months of planning and stress resulted in a near picture perfect event for my "catering debut". The menu consisted of nine different desserts presented in bite-sized servings for twenty-five people.

Menu

Pear and Hazelnut Tartlettes

Apple Tartlettes

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Cheesecake with Blueberry Compote & Pomegranate

Coffee Macarons

Citrus Macarons

Marzipan Cupcakes with Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache

Salted Vanilla Cupcakes

Buttermilk Pudding

Overall, a tremendous amount of organization prevented party preparation from being too strenuous. A's family had worried that I would spend our entire stay cooking. While I didn't leave the apartment for three days (whatever, it was cold and snowing), I still had enough time for Christmas dinner and a few rounds of Scrabble. The plan worked seamlessly and all of the cooking and preparation was actually finished hours before the party started. The guests ate until they could not eat anymore, and thankfully, nobody fell into a sugar coma.

Here is what my plan looked like. When pulling together the menu, I made sure to select a number of items that could be partially, if not completely, prepared ahead of time to prevent unnecessary baking on the day of the event.

One Month Before

Prepare crusts for tartlettes and freeze

Prepare hazelnut frangipane and freeze

One Week Before

Poach pears and refrigerate

Bake macaron shells, store in an air-tight container

3 Days Before

Prepare dough for cannoli shells; refrigerate

Prepare white chocolate ganache filling for coffee macarons

Prepare compote filling for apple tartlettes

2 Days Before

Fry cannoli shells

Prepare meyer lemon/cream cheese filling for citrus macarons

Fill all macarons; refrigerate

Prepare and bake flourless chocolate cakes; refrigerate

1 Day Before

Bake marzipan and vanilla cupcakes

Prepare bittersweet chocolate ganache and refrigerate

Prepare buttermilk pudding, refrigerate in serving glasses

Unmold and plate chocolate cakes

Bake cheesecakes

Day of

Assemble and bake apple tartlettes

Assemble and bake pear tartlettes

Cook strawberry sauce for puddings; assemble and garnish puddings

Prepare vanilla cream cheese frosting

Frost all cupcakes

Unmold and garnish cheesecakes

Prepare cannoli filling; assemble cannolis

Prepare fresh whipped cream

... and this is what everything looked like:

 

 

 

 

 

Off to Whistler for some New Year's skiing!