TWD: Coffee Ice Cream Tart

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was Coffee Ice Cream Tart. There was considerable discussion about this on the P&Q Board. In light of that, I chose to bake the tart as indicated in the recipe.

First was the almond-based pastry crust. Using the food processor, it came together just fine and went into the tart pan just fine.



Next came a thin coating of dark chocolate on the baked crust.


The filling was a blend of coffee ice cream (one of our favorites), almonds, and almond extract. This became somewhat problematical, since my food processor balked at the coldness of the ice cream and seized up. Who knew? Rather than melt everything, I decide to leave pockets of nut paste in the ice cream and hope that the FP would recover. (It seemed to.)


Finally, came the fun part: flinging melted chocolate everywhere -- on the pie, on me, on the counter, on anything that was in the near vicinity. I'm still finding bits in unlikely places.



Cutting the tart was somewhat challenging, but after brainstorming different methods, I found the right solution -- a hot, sharp knife, poking into the crust first, then sliding through and across the cut to detach the piece. It was also easier to just pick up the piece of tart and eat it out of hand rather than chance sending it flying when trying to cut it with a fork or spoon.


While I'm glad I had a chance to make this in tart form, I believe it would work better made into small, individual tarts or ice cream sandwiches. No one really likes to struggle eating dessert.


This week's hostess was Jessica of Domestic Deep Thought.

Stop by the TWD website to see and read about the other bakers' adventures.

FFwD: Quinoa Fruit and Nut Salad

This week's choice for French Fridays with Dorie was a quinoa salad with dried fruits and nuts and a delicate lemon-ginger dressing.

I've been wanting to make something with quinoa for quite some time now. I have a bunch of recipes marked and this was just the swift kick I needed.


With all the flavors and protein, I thought it would be a good lunch dish, especially since it can be made ahead of time and the fruit and nuts can be varied. This time I chose almonds and walnuts, dried apricots, cranberries, and golden raisins. The fruits had such great flavor. I suspect it would also taste great with fresh fruit.


I served it on a bed of baby mixed greens with a dollop of Greek yogurt on top. Actually, for seconds, I skipped the greens and added more yogurt. Yum.


This is a delicious salad, good for potlucks, too, since it can be made the day before and is packed with flavor and texture.

BBD38: No Knead Breads

This just wasn't the week for successful bread baking. I wasn't pleased with either of the two breads I made, this one, a no-knead chocolate bread for Bread Baking Day 38, or the other one, Rewena Paraoa*.


I suppose I was a bit distracted. Having two friends die on the same day, unexpectedly, unrelated, and in different parts of the state, might just throw off one's baking mojo. Patience and time are the ingredients I need now.



With that out of the way, the bread I chose to make for the BBD38 No Knead Bread Challenge was a chocolate bread from Artisan Breads in 5 Minutes a Day. Usually these breads turn out just fine, so I'm not sure what happened with this one. My daughter thought it was fine, but I really didn't care for it, which is surprising, coming from a chocolate-lover.



It didn't rise much, although I probably let it over-rise because of a phone call. Perhaps, someday, I'll try it again, maybe using milk chocolate instead of dark.




The Bread Baking Day hostess this month was Cinzia from Cindystar. Thanks also to Zorra for creating one of my favorite events.


*The Rewena Paraoa was a big hit with my daughter, who has requested that I bake it again. I will oblige, since she will be heading off to college at the end of the summer to complete her degree. I just wish New York was closer!

TWD: Almond Powder Puffs

These bite-sized cookies are very similar to traditional Mexican Wedding Cakes/Russian Tea Cakes, which are frequently-baked cookies in this household. The major difference seems to be less butter (my recipes use two sticks) and a pinch of cinnamon -- barely detectable except by the Taste-Tester Daughter.


Usually I use finely chopped, toasted pecans. This time, I chose finely chopped almonds for a change, adding some almond extract along with vanilla.



They were good. They disappeared in a flash. But, we both agreed that we like my regular recipes better. My daughter was definitely not a fan of the pinch of cinnamon.


This week's hostess is Tia of Buttercream Barbie. Visit her blog for the recipe.


Please do stop by Tuesdays with Dorie to read about the other bakers' opinions.



(Assuming you are reading this on Tuesday, posting day, I will inform you that I am once again without electricity for the whole day. At least the electric company was kind enough to inform everyone ahead of time. However, I won't be able to read other posts until evening. And, to soothe my distressed feathers, since I can neither work nor bake, I'm heading to IKEA for the day.)

BBB: Maori Bread or Rewena Paraoa

A tale of the good, the bad, the ugly, and the good.



This month's Bread Baking Babes and Friends challenge was hosted by Lien, who chose Maori Bread, or Rewena Paraoa. What's really cool about this bread is that you make your own fermented potato starter.

That was one of the good things about this experience. The fermenting process takes about 48 hours after you boil and smash the potatoes. I put this mixture on top of the water heater, checking it once or twice a day. It was exciting to watch the bubbles form.





On baking day, I mixed the potato starter with more flour, some yeast, honey, salt, and finely chopped rosemary. I didn't want to add too much flour to the dough, but in retrospect, I should have added more than I did. The final dough was very slack, a lot like ciabatta dough. Even allowing an extra rise didn't help.



When I put the dough on the baking sheet, it spread into a big puddle. Pulling off the plastic wrap partially deflated it even though both surfaces were liberally oiled. There was no way a stencil would work.

This was the bad part of the experience.

Now, on to the ugly part.

The bread.

I finally gave up and decided to bake it as is. But, I was distressed enough that I didn't recheck the baking instructions, so the poor bread baked for a full half hour at 425 degrees.


One side was a bit darker than the other.

Whoops.


On to another good part: the texture.

This bread had great texture and flavor in spite of the rising/baking issues. The holes and cavities were terrific.



I'm considering making this bread again sometime, adding more flour to make a firmer dough. This will probably reduce the number of holes, but it's worth a second try.

Daring Bakers: Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

This was a tasty homemade bread challenge. It's always good to add another recipe to the collection. I did get so caught up in the preparation that I only remembered to take photos at the beginning and the end. The middle stage will remain a mystery.

After preparing the dough and letting it rise, the next step is rolling it out. (Although the recipe says the dough will only take about 45 minutes for the initial rise, mine took nearly two hours.)


Then the filling is added -- a fluffy meringue,


followed by cinnamon sugar,



followed by (imagine this) sliced almonds and mini cinnamon chips.

Next, you roll up the dough, form it into a circle, then make slashes around the edges so the filling shows through.

Once risen a second time, the bread is brushed with an egg wash before being baked. I added some sugar sprinkles for that sparkly effect.



It was a delicious bread, good for breakfast or for a snack. it didn't last long at all.


For the recipe, head over to the Daring Kitchen. There, you can also see all the flavor variations made by the other bakers.

TWD: Honey Nut Brownies

These brownies were a surprise hit. Honey is not the typical ingredient for brownies, especially one whole cup's worth, but the end result was mighty tasty.

I used mesquite honey, which gave an interesting background note to the chocolate. The chocolate flavor was on the mild side.




Instead of using extra pans, I melted the chocolate and butter in my 2-cup pyrex measuring cup, in the microwave, allowing me to pour it right into the sugar/honey/egg mixture.


The texture was extremely moist, somewhere between fudgey and cakey. And like many desserts, it improved with time. Day 3 brownies were still moist with a lovely honey-chocolate flavor.



While the nuts were a nice addition (I used pecans), my daughter thought that replacing them with chocolate chips would augment the mild chocolate flavor. Even so, this dessert disappeared really quickly, a sure sign of approval.

There were definitely strong opinions about this brownie recipe from the other TWD bakers. Stop by the Tuesdays with Dorie blog to see what they had to say.

This week's hostess was Suzy of Suzy Homemaker.