DB Challenge - Chocolate Eclaire

*A quick note to other Daring Bakers, or anyone who would like to continue to follow my baking debacles - I will be moving all baking related posts to my other blog - www.chowreview.blogspot.com - effective immediately. If no DB admin are reading this post, I'll e-mail them and give them the change of address later. Thanks for all the support! I know it's too late for most of my pregger friends, but I realize posting pictures of chocolate treats when I OUGHT to be posting pictures of my sweet babies is really not fair!! Alright. Moving on.*

Alright...yes...it's after 9 pm, Sunday night...August 31. Yes, I'm just now posting about this months' Challenge. And yes, since you twisted my arm, I only made and ate these eclairs this afternoon! We were traveling at the end of the month...and that's my excuse. We were invited to a friend's house for dinner...and that was all the motivation I needed to get these things done on time!

(Oh, one more excuse - I wasn't able to round up a few of the ingredients (like cream and chocolate!), so I played around a bit with the filling and the glaze.

I've included the recipes, in their entirety, below. You are welcome to keep reading if you'd like to know how these OUGHT to have been done. For my part, I'll just give you a quick run-down of my variations.

Eclair dough - I followed this exactly, changing only the baking times. I baked two baking sheets at 375 for 12 minutes, and then rotated them and baked them for another 12 minutes or so. I did not prop the door open - I was afraid they'd deflate! A few of the eclairs were piped down as cream puffs, and I found that those cooked up better than the longer eclairs! Oh, and I used a heavy duty zip-top bag to pipe these, without a tip.

Cream filling - I used a recipe for vanilla Pastry Cream that I found on Allrecipes.com. Since I did not have enough whole milk for the recipe, I used 3/4 coconut milk and 1 1/4 cup skim milk. I also added about 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom. This turned out great! I wouldn't eat it as a pudding, but as a pastry filling, it was DIVINE.

Glaze - I'd rather not talk about this. Since I had NO chocolate in the house, and we were required to have at least one chocolate element in this eclair, I mixed 1 tablespoon of cocoa into a small bowl of leftover praline buttercream (yes, THAT praline buttercream) that I had left over. This turned out alright, but it was not a shiny glaze, and the chocolate taste was a bit bitter.

These were a huge hit - even my friend's 1 year old devoured hers!

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs

Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé(makes 20-24 Éclairs)•

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Divide the oven into thirds by positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets withwaxed or parchment paper.

2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough.Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers.Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff.The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in theoven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continuebaking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total bakingtime should be approximately 20 minutes.

Notes:1) The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Assembling the éclairs:

• Chocolate glaze (see below for recipe)

• Chocolate pastry cream (see below for recipe)

1) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.

2) The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40 degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill thebottoms with the pastry cream.

3) Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry cream and wriggle gently to settle them.

Notes:1) If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water,stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create bubbles.

2) The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough

Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• ½ cup (125g) whole milk

• ½ cup (125g) water

• 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

• ¼ teaspoon sugar

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour

• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough.You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.

Notes:

1) Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

2) You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Chocolate Pastry Cream

Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by PierreHermé

• 2 cups (500g) whole milk

• 4 large egg yolks

• 6 tbsp (75g) sugar

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted

• 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted

• 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.

2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture. Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat). Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.

5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

Notes: 1) The pastry cream can be made 2‐3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

2) In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.

3) Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.

Chocolate Glaze

Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé (makes 1 cup or 300g)

• 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream

• 3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

• 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature

• 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

1)In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.

2) Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Notes:

1) If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly
 in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.

2) It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Chocolate Sauce

Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé (makes 1½ cups or 525 g)

• 4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

• 1 cup (250 g) water

• ½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream

• 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

1) Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.

2) It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

Notes: 1) You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using.

2) This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts.

Pastry Cream

Recipe from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
1/2 cup white sugar
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
6 egg yolks
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pinch salt

DIRECTIONS
Place the milk, half the sugar and the vanilla bean in a saucepan over medium heat.
Combine the egg yolks and the remaining sugar in a bowl and whisk until light in color. Add in the flour and the salt, mix to combine.
When the milk just begins to boil, remove from heat and remove vanilla bean. Very slowly dribble the hot milk into the yolk mixture, stirring all the time. When about half of the milk has been added, place all of the yolk mixture into the saucepan over medium heat. Using a spatula or a whisk, mix the pastry cream as it heats, making sure to reach all of the corners of the pan when you stir. Bring the mixture to a boil. Let boil for about 1 minute, stirring constantly. The mixture will be thick.
Remove from heat and add the butter. Strain if you wish for a smoother cream. Place into a bowl and cover directly with plastic wrap to stop a skin from forming on the cream. Chill and use within a few days.

A July DB Challenge!

Alright...so, I know, after the Opera Cake, I promised my husband I wouldn't attempt another crazy cake. I thought this would be different! I really did! (Is that cake sideways? Oh well - we'll call it intepretive art. You get the general idea.)

The important difference here, though, is that I attempted this cake when he WAS NOT HOME. Thus, my marriage is intact, my daughter survived the day, and...I made a cake. A gateau, to be exact.

Wow.


I wrote to one of the founders of DB before attempting this cake. She told me that her cake took about an hour and a half, from start to finish. HA! Mine took all. Day. Long.



I've come to two conclusions about that DB founder. 1) She knows what she's doing! 2) She didn't have a toddler "helping" in the kitchen.






Granted, mine probably would have taken less time had I multi-tasked a bit better and made the various ganache, glaze, cream and praline layers while the cake was baking.

We had Aunt SheShe and Uncle Glenn over for a piece of cake the night I made it. They politely ate their pieces, and pronounced it "very good." (Aunt SheShe is a cook by trade and probably prefers her own cooking, quite honestly. Uncle Glenn loves chocolate in any form, so I was happy to have two such willing guinea pigs!) The next day, the cake was much better, in my opinion. The sugar syrup had worked its magic through the thin layers of crumbly cake, cementing the entire thing into some sort of weird confection.

I foisted the remainder of the cake off on my book group last night. The girls there were so sweet, asking for the recipe and the name of the cake. The recipe I could give them. The name was more difficult. Originally called a Filbert Gateau, I had made a few changes. It was still a gateau, but filberts were difficult to find, so I substituted pecans. The cake ought to have had an apricot glaze, but I thought that would taste odd with the pecans, so I substituted marmalade and did not strain it. So, I suppose this was a Pecan Gateau with Citrus Glaze and Praline Buttercream. (The Praline Buttercream, by the way, was the only part of the recipe I told myself I WOULD make again. The tiny bits of carmelized sugar in the buttercream were DELICIOUS.)

Sorry, DBers everywhere. I seem to have an inability fo follow recipes exactly. I use what knowledge I've gained during 16 years in the kitchen, and what I have in my pantry or what's on sale. (Note: After checking the rules again, the only real rule "broken" was the shape of the cake. Round would have been much better, but I was afraid to change the size of the pan too much. I burned the cakes last time that way! I used a 9x13 pan. It was difficult to layer evenly, but...such is life.)

Originally, I told myself I would never make this cake again. When the girls at the book club loved it, though...it kind of changed my mind. So, to anyone out there - play your cards right, and this could be YOUR birthday cake!

The Recipe (with my adaptations :-))

Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream
From Great Cakes by Carol Walter

1 Filbert Gateau
1 recipe sugar syrup, flavored with dark rum
1 recipe Praline Buttercream
½ cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
1 recipe Apricot Glaze
1 recipe Ganache Glaze, prepared just before using
3 tablespoons filberts, toasted and coarsely chopped

Filbert Gateau
Because of the amount of nuts in the recipe, this preparation is different from a classic genoise.
1 ½ cups hazelnuts, toasted/skinned (I used pecans)
2/3 cup cake flour, unsifted (I used AP flour and it turned out alright.)
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
7 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar, divided ¼ & ¾ cups
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. grated lemon rind
5 lg. egg whites
¼ cup warm, clarified butter (100 – 110 degrees)

Position rack in the lower 3rd of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10” X 2” inch round cake pan. Using a food processor, process nuts, cake flour, and cornstarch for about 30 seconds. Then, pulse the mixture about 10 times to get a fine, powdery mixture. You’ll know the nuts are ready when they begin to gather together around the sides of the bowl. While you want to make sure there aren’t any large pieces, don’t over-process. Set aside. Put the yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, and beat until thick and light in color, about 3-4 minutes on med-high speed. Slowly, add ¾ cup of sugar. It is best to do so by adding a tablespoon at a time, taking about 3 minutes for this step. When finished, the mixture should be ribbony. Blend in the vanilla and grated lemon rind. Remove and set aside.
Place egg whites in a large, clean bowl of the electric mixer with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed, until soft peaks. Increase to med-high speed and slowly add the remaining ¼ cup of sugar, over 15-20 seconds or so. Continue to beat for another ½ minute. Add the yolk mixture to the whites and whisk for 1 minute. Pour the warm butter in a liquid measure cup (or a spouted container). * It must be a deep bottom bowl and work must be fast.*
(*Note - I used my Bosch for this whole recipe. For the folding, I simply changed the whisk out for the dough hook, pulsing to fold. This did not seem to deflate my dough. )


Put the nut meal in a mesh strainer (or use your hand – working quickly) and sprinkle it in about 2 tablespoons at a time – folding it carefully for about 40 folds. Be sure to exclude any large chunks/pieces of nuts. Again, work quickly and carefully as to not deflate the mixture. When all but about 2 Tbsp. of nut meal remain, quickly and steadily pour the warm butter over the batter. Then, with the remaining nut meal, fold the batter to incorporate, about 13 or so folds. With a rubber spatula, transfer the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the surface with the spatula or back of a spoon. **If collected butter remains at the bottom of the bowl, do not add it to the batter! It will impede the cake rising while baking.Tap the pan on the counter to remove air bubbles and bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. You’ll know the cake is done when it is springy to the touch and it separates itself from the side of the pan. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes.

Invert onto a cake rack sprayed with nonstick coating, removing the pan.
(*Note - I JUST noticed that part about spraying the cake rack. Don't skip that part! The top of my cake looked like someone had attacked it with a whip!)

Cool the cake completely.*If not using the cake right away, wrap thoroughly in plastic wrap, then in a plastic bag, then in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If freezing, wrap in foil, then the bag and use within 2-3 months.

Sugar Syrup
Makes 1 cup, good for one 10-inch cake – split into 3 layers

1 cup water
¼ cup sugar
2 Tbsp. dark rum or orange flavored liqueur (I omitted the liqueur)

In a small, yet heavy saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add the liqueur. Cool slightly before using on the cake. *Can be made in advance.

Praline Buttercream
1 recipe Swiss Buttercream
1/3 cup praline paste
1 ½ - 2 Tbsp. Jamaican rum (optional)

Blend ½ cup buttercream into the paste, then add to the remaining buttercream. Whip briefly on med-low speed to combine. Blend in rum.

Swiss Buttercream

4 lg. egg whites
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm
1 ½ -2 Tbsp. Grand Marnier or liqueur of your choice
1 tsp. vanilla

Place the egg whites in a lg/ bowl of a elevtric mixer and beat with the whisk attachment until the whites are foamy and they begin to thicken (just before the soft peak stage). Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with about 2 inches of simmering water, making sure the bowl is not touching the water. Then, whisk in the sugar by adding 1-2 tablespoon of sugar at a time over a minutes time. Continue beating 2-3 minutes or until the whites are warm (about 120 degrees) and the sugar is dissolved. The mixture should look thick and like whipped marshmallows.Remove from pan and with either the paddle or whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and sugar on med-high until its a thick, cool meringue – about 5-7 minutes. *Do not overbeat*. Set aside.
Place the butter in a separate clean mixing bowl and, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter at medium speed for 40-60 seconds, or until smooth and creamy. *Do not overbeat or the butter will become toooooo soft.*On med-low speed, blend the meringue into the butter, about 1-2 Tbsp. at a time, over 1 minute. Add the liqueur and vanilla and mix for 30-45 seconds longer, until thick and creamy.Refrigerate 10-15 minutes before using.

Wait! My buttercream won’t come together! Reheat the buttercream briefly over simmering water for about 5 seconds, stirring with a wooden spoon. Be careful and do not overbeat. The mixture will look broken with some liquid at the bottom of the bowl. Return the bowl to the mixer and whip on medium speed just until the cream comes back together.

Wait! My buttercream is too soft! Chill the buttercream in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes and rewhip. If that doesn’t work, cream an additional 2-4 Tbsp. of butter in a small bowl– making sure the butter is not as soft as the original amount, so make sure is cool and smooth. On low speed, quickly add the creamed butter to the buttercream, 1 Tbsp. at a time.Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or can be frozen for up to 6 months. If freezing, store in 2 16-oz. plastic containers and thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for several hours.

Praline Paste
1 cup (4 ½ oz.) Hazelnuts, toasted/skinless (I used pecans)
2/3 cup Sugar

Line a jelly roll pan with parchment and lightly butter. (*I used just my Silpat silicone mat and did not need to butter it.) Put the sugar in a heavy 10-inch skillet. Heat on low flame for about 10-20 min until the sugar melts around the edges. Do not stir the sugar. Swirl the pan if necessary to prevent the melted sugar from burning. Brush the sides of the pan with water to remove sugar crystals. If the sugar in the center does not melt, stir briefly. When the sugar is completely melted and caramel in color, remove from heat. Stir in the nuts with a wooden spoon and separate the clusters. Return to low heat and stir to coat the nuts on all sides. Cook until the mixture starts to bubble. **Remember – extremely hot mixture.** Then onto the parchment lined sheet and spread as evenly as possible. As it cools, it will harden into brittle. Break the candied nuts into pieces and place them in the food processor. Pulse into a medium-fine crunch or process until the brittle turns into a powder. To make paste, process for several minutes. Store in an airtight container and store in a cook dry place. Do not refrigerate.

Apricot Glaze
Good for one 10-inch cake
2/3 cup thick apricot preserves (I used marmalade)
1 Tbsp. water

In a small, yet heavy saucepan, bring the water and preserves to a slow boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. If the mixture begins to stick to the bottom of the saucepan, add water as needed. (*I set it aside at this point, skipping the straining step.)

Remove from heat and, using a strainer, press the mixture through the mesh and discard any remnants. With a pastry brush, apply the glaze onto the cake while the cake is still warm. If the glaze is too thick, thin to a preferred consistency with drops of water.

Ganache Glaze
Makes about 1 cup, enough to cover the top and sides of a 9 or 10 inch layer or tube cake **Ganache can take on many forms. While warm – great fudge sauce. While cool or lukewarm – semisweet glaze. Slightly chilled – can be whipped into a filling/frosting. Cold & solid – the base of candied chocolate truffles.

6 oz. (good) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, like Lindt
6 oz. (¾ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 Tbsp. Grand Marnier, Cointreay, or dark Jamaican rum (optional)
¾ tsp. vanilla
½ - 1 tsp. hot water, if needed

Blend vanilla and liqueur/rum together and set aside. Break the chocolate into 1-inch pieces and place in the basket of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer into a medium sized bowl and set aside. Heat the cream and corn syrup in a saucepan, on low, until it reached a gentle boil. Once to the gently boil, immediately and carefully pour over the chocolate. Leave it alone for one minute, then slowly stir and mix the chocolate and cream together until the chocolate is melted and incorporated into the cream. Carefully blend in vanilla mixture. If the surface seems oily, add ½ - 1 tsp hot water. The glaze will thicken, but should still be pourable. If it doesn’t thicken, refrigerate for about 5 minutes, but make sure it doesn’t get too cold!

Assembling Cake

Cut a cardboard disk slightly smaller than the cake. Divide the cake into 3 layers and place the first layer top-side down on the disk. Using a pastry brush, moisten the layer with 3-4 Tbsp. of warm sugar syrup. Measure out 1 cup of praline buttercream and set aside.Spread the bottom layer with a ¼-inch thickness of the remaining buttercream. Cover with ½ of the whipped cream, leaving ¼-inch border around the edge of the cake. Place the middle layer over the first, brush with sugar syrup, spreading with buttercream. Cover with the remaining whipped cream. Moisten the cut side of the third layer with additional sugar syrup and place cut side down on the cake. Gently, press the sides of the cake to align the layers. Refrigerate to chill for at least 30 minutes. Lift the cake by sliding your palm under the cardboard. Holding a serrated or very sharp night with an 8-ich blade held parallel to the sides of the cake, trim the sides so that they are perfectly straight. Cut a slight bevel at the top to help the glaze drip over the edge. Brush the top and sides of the cake with warm apricot glaze, sealing the cut areas completely. Chill while you prepare the ganache.Place a rack over a large shallow pan to catch the ganache drippings. Remove the gateau from the refrigerator and put it the rack. With a metal spatula in hand, and holding the saucepan about 10 inches above the cake, pour the ganache onto the cake’s center. Move the spatula over the top of the ganache about 4 times to get a smooth and mirror-like appearance. The ganache should cover the top and run down the sides of the cake. When the ganache has been poured and is coating the cake, lift one side of the rack and bang it once on the counter to help spread the ganache evenly and break any air bubbles. (Work fast before setting starts.) Patch any bare spots on the sides with a smaller spatula, but do not touch the top after the “bang”. Let the cake stand at least 15 minutes to set after glazing.

To garnish the cake, fit a 12 – 14-inch pastry bag with a #114 large leaf tip. Fill the bag with the reserved praline cream. Stating ½ inch from the outer edge of the cake, position the pastry tube at a 90 degree angle with the top almost touching the top of the cake. Apply pressure to the pastry bag, moving it slightly toward the center of the cake. As the buttercream flows on the cake, reverse the movement backward toward the edge of the cake and finish by pulling the bag again to the center. Stop applying pressure and press the bag downward, then quickly pull the tip up to break the flow of frosting. Repeat, making 12 leaves evenly spaced around the surface of the cake. Make a second row of leaves on the top of the first row, moving the pastry bag about ¾ inch closer to the center. The leaves should overlap. Make a 3rd row, moving closer and closer to the center. Add a 4th row if you have the room. But, leave a 2-inch space in the center for a chopped filbert garnish.

Refrigerate uncovered for 3-4 hours to allow the cake to set. Remove the cake from the refrigerator at least 3 hours before serving.Leftover cake can be covered with foil and kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Follow-Up to Danish Braids

Hey, y'all! So, a few of my more daring friends (get it...I'm a daring baker, you're my daring friends? Get it?) have asked for the recipe from our June Daring Baker's Challenge - Danish Braid. In the interest of supporting ALL the blogs I help write (ha!), I'm posting the recipe over at The Chow Review. Head on over. (If your name rhymes with McDommy, that includes you, too! Get your mama to help you, and make this danish! Your world will never be the same!)

Daring Bakers and Danish Braids

When I saw the Daring Bakers challenge for June, I was moderately excited. Bread is something I have been making for about 16 years. Not well, not often...but I have experience. (I even have the 16 year old Bosch to prove it, but that's another story for another day.)

With BBJ helping me every step of the way, I tackled this months' challenge - Danish Braid. It's a pastry made with laminated dough (dough layered with butter and follded and chilled and rolled and folded and chilled and...you get the idea. Think croissant, but with a little yeast added in.) flavored with orange juice, orange zest, cardamom and cinnamon. It was something I never would have attempted on my own (especially not in June, on the East Coast!) and I was very excited.



I followed the recipe, omitting the vanilla beans ('cause really, who's ever got those on hand?) and I used a home-canned apple pie filling instead of the one from the recipe. (It's still homemade, right?)




After two days and lots of waiting, the braid was finally done...and it is AMAZING. I expected to learn some new techniques with Daring Bakers...I never expected to find something I would plan on making over and over! This could be a signature brunch dish. Even Lo Gung liked it - and he doesn't like treats.

How Not to Bake a Cake

(OOOPS! I've never used the Publish Later Feature...and today, of course is the 29th...and this was due yesterday! My apologies.)

So, I joined Daring Bakers. I thought it would give me something to focus on way out here in East Coast Land, far away from almost EVERYONE that I have ever known. (Except you, Kim...hi!)

So, I joined, I was accepted (woohoo!). This involved a lengthy process of sending an e-mail to a few ladies and one of them checking out my baby to see if she was cute enough. (She said she was just verifying my blog address, but I know better. ;-))

Our first recipe was Opera Cake. I had never heard of it before, but it sounded long...not CRAZY difficult...and it seemed like it would fit the bill perfectly.

Ouch.

First off, I had to go shopping at least three times. Once to stock up on sugar and eggs. Another shop to get the chocolate and cream. Then, after I had put out all my ingredients and tools for the first part of the cake...back to the shop for powdered sugar. Not sure how I missed that one...but I only had 1/2 cup of powdered sugar in the house! So, put the baby to bed, and then head out to the store for my $2 worth of powdered sugar. (Seriously, I think the gas was more expensive than the sugar I bought!)

That night I got the cake (joconde) and the syrup pounded out. Let's just say the syrup is the ONLY thing that went right with this dish!

So, when a recipe tells you to fold in egg whites....do it until the egg white clumps are no longer visible. I'm just saying...some people might not know (ahem!) that egg white clumps will not melt back into the batter when you cook them. But you know, I'm just sayin...

Also, if a recipe directs you to divide the oven into thirds so you can bake two trays at once...make sure the bottom rack is MORE than four inches from the heating element. Again, I'm just saying. 'Cause I'm smart and I know what an oven divided into thirds looks like. (This is the point where my husband started threatening to throw my whole mess out and send me to bed. Seriously, at the end of Saturday, he blamed this cake for RUINING HIS WEEKENED. That is a serious accusation for a little cake!)

So, after perfectly baking my two layers (snort!)I called it a night and went to bed. All I had to do in the morning was make my buttercream and assemble the little beastie.



Hehehehe...someone sure has a sense of humour!

I'm sure, somewhere in the past 26 years, I have boiled a sugar solution...I know I was around my father one night when he decided to make taffy. (We don't speak of this incident anymore...it has since become known as The Time Daddy Gave Himself Second Degree Burns with Huge Gobs of Boiling Sugar.)

The sugar had to get it's sweet little hiney all the way up to 225F. The sugar quite happily dissolved, it even came to a nice gentle boil. It climbed...higher..higher...even higher. Suddenly, at 220, disaster struck. The top of the bubbles no longer...bubbled. It started to sort of crumble. (Note: crumbling is bad in a liquid!) Then it turned golden...then brown...and it still hadn't come to temperature! When it finally came to temperature, I proceeded as directed in the recipe, slowly pouring the hot sugar mixture into my beaten eggs. Little gobs of hard candy began appearing all through my mix! I gave up, threw it all out, and started again. I vowed to be careful this time. I rinsed my pot. I rinsed my thermometer. I rinsed everything. I got out a little pastry brush and washed down the sides of my pot while the sugar was dissolving. I washed down the sides while it slowly bubbled and climbed higher. Everything was looking great.

Until 220. That was the point where, in about 22 seconds, the entire pot turned back into sugar crystals.



It's interesting to note that, online, I found dozens of recipes for buttercream and not one of them called for eggs OR boiling sugar. I'm sure it would have been tasty, but butter, vanilla and powdered sugar is safer and easier! (Sorry, DB gurus...you did say I could substitute my favorite buttercream recipe! And I tried...I REALLY REALLY tried. But, like I said, at this point the buttercream was beginning to affect my marriage...and I chose my sweetie over your sweets. ;-))

The rest of the building of the cake went off without a hitch. Granted, it's a little hard to build a cake when one of your layers is paperthing in spots...because one, maybe, possibly...had to cut half the cake off. (Only the half that was kohl black!)

I built it, I chilled it, I served it. The guys all had seconds, the girls all said "mmm!" and ate around my sickly-sweet buttercream mess. We had a fun party with 6 adults, and even more kids. We ate a potluck dinner and then ate the cake. Everyone was appreciative. One even commented it would make a great wedding cake! (Have you ever seen a wedding cake that would only serve 20 people? Yeah, me neither.)




Thus ends the great Oper Cake Debacle of 2008, may it rest in peace. I hope next month isn't so hard, but I'm proud of myself for completing this first challenge.