Daring Bakers Challenge

After two savoury challenges, we're back to cakes again. I'm missing the savoury challenges already. This month's challenge is Caramel cake and it is hosted by Dolores from culinarycuriosity.blogspot.com

When I read this month's challenge, I knew that this was going to be a very sweet cake. I like cakes but not overly sweet ones so I normally reduce the sugar specified in cake recipes and I did the same here.

My cake turned out dense and heavy. But it tasted good because of the caramel flavour. I do not know where I went wrong. When it first came out from the oven, it seem okay but after frosting and putting it in the fridge, it became heavy. I was going to try baking it again. But because I'm also baking and decorating all my Christmas cakes, I do not have the time. I'll be posting some Christmas cakes soon.

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Last Minute Again - Pizza

Since I've started working, I've left all the Daring Bakers' Challenges till last minute. I only started mine challenge a day before it was suppose to be posted and the dough needs to be rested one day in the fridge. So this is a real challenge for me. This month's challenge is hosted by Rosa's Yummy Yums and the challenge is pizza. This is the brief version of the recipe. For more detail, visit Rosa's site. The topping was up to our imagination. These are the pizza I came up with for dinner. I think that if you have a pizza stone the dough would come out nice and crisp.

This pizza has tomato paste, roasted capsicum, mushrooms, fresh tomatoes and feta cheese. I sprinkled some basil before eating.

This pizza has tomato paste, salami and cheese.

This is a sweet pizza with mascarpone cheese and yohurt mixed with some icing sugar and apples and some brown sugar on the top.

~ BASIC PIZZA DOUGH ~
Original recipe taken from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.

Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter).

Ingredients
4 1/2 Cups (20 1/4 ounces/607.5 g) Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled
1 3/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Instant yeast
1/4 Cup (2 ounces/60g) Olive oil or vegetable oil (both optional, but it’s better with)
1 3/4 Cups (14 ounces/420g or 420ml) Water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C)
1 Tb sugar - FOR GF use agave syrup
Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting

Day 1

1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).
2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.
3. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).
4. NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.
5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.
6. NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.
7. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.
8. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to three days.

Day 2

1. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. 
2. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. 
3. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. 
4. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. 
5. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.
6. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).
7. 
8. NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.
9. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Flatten and toss it.
10. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.
11. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.
12. 
13. Place the garnished pizza on the parchment paper onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for about 5-8 minutes.
14. 
15. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

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Avacado, Mango, Tango

I've just started work recently after being a stay at home mum for four years. So I do not get the time to surf the internet as often as before. For September's Daring Bakers' challenge, I assumed that posting date is the last day of the month. So I was going to do it this week end. I found out yesterday after visiting FBB's website that it was yesterday. So, I made my lavash about 2 hours ago. This month's challenge was hosted by Shellyfish . These are the short description of steps to make lavash (to view the full description, I'm sure shellyfish would post it on her site) :-
Makes 1 sheet pan of crackers

* 1 1/2 cups (6.75 oz) unbleached bread flour or gluten free flour blend (If you use a blend without xanthan gum, add 1 tsp xanthan or guar gum to the recipe)
* 1/2 tsp (.13 oz) salt
* 1/2 tsp (.055 oz) instant yeast
* 1 Tb (.75 oz) agave syrup or sugar
* 1 Tb (.5 oz) vegetable oil
* 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 Tb (3 to 4 oz) water, at room temperature
* Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, or kosher salt for toppings.

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt yeast, sugar, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup + 2 Tb of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.


2. Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes. The dough should not be tacky.

3. Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading or mixing).

4. Roll the dough to about 15 inches by 12 inches. But I manage to roll into 1 1/2 sheets. One thicker and the other thinner. You might need to rest it every 5 minutes so that it relaxes and does not shrink back. Dust the top with some flour.
Transfer onto tray.


5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit(I used 180 degrees Celcius) with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough. I used sesame seeds on the thin dough and cumin seeds, sesame seeds and cracked pepper on the thick dough. I cut the dough using a pizza cutter. You can leave it in one piece and break it after baking.

6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).

7. When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.




These lavash can be served with dips or salsa. Mangoes are starting to get into season. So I've made 2 salsa to go with it. I've used mango and avacado in one and avacado, seeded tomato and capsicum in another. Mixed it with some olive oil, squeeze of lemon juice and salt. Could add some red onions, herbs and chilli too. Tasty, healthy and yummy. Big hit with the kids.

Ingredients used for my salsa.

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Daring Bakers Challenge #3

This month the challenge was host by Tony & Meeta of http://whatsforlunchhoney.blogspot.com/ and this month's challenge was Chocolate Éclairs by Pierre Hermé. The recipe can be found on Meeta's blog.
After the first 2 challenges, it is a relief to get something that I am familiar with. I have baked choux pasty many times so it was nothing new to me. Except the convoluted way of making way of making the chocolate glaze. It was a 2 part process and I've always made it all in one. Anyway it tasted the same as the one part process that I always make. The other thing this recipe is different to the one that I use is that the oven door is set ajar after 10 minutes which I did not follow. Instead, when the eclairs are nearly done (say another 5-10 minutes to go), I take them out and make a small slit on the side and put them back in the oven for the last 5-10 minutes. And mine always comes out nicely puffed up and crisp and no problem of deflating.
I waited till the last minute to make these because I made a big batch of round choux pasty just 1 week before the challenge was announced.
This is my result of the challenge :-

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Daring Bakers Challenge #2

My second Daring Bakers challenge is Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream. When I first read it, I did not know what Filbert is... sounds like a person's name. I let my fingers do the walking (ie. google) and found out that filbert is hazelnut. This recipe has as many steps as the first challenge.

It require us to layer a two inch cake into 3 layers. That is a challenge for me. So I decided to make a thin layer, cut and stack them on top of each other. Then cut them into mini round cakes using round cutters. The challenge with that is getting a smooth finish around the sides which I could not do(as you can see from the photos). I also omitted the butter in the praline buttercream and it turned out the way I like it.

I like the cake but next time I might use ready bought almond meal to save time and effort. The recipe can be found on this link.

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My First Daring Bakers Challenge

I have seen quite a few bloggers that are members of The Daring Bakers. Initially, I did not know what it was. Curiousity got the better of me and I found out that they(now we) are a group that bakes. There's a challenge every month to complete. This month's challenge was a Danish Pastry Braid.

I was excited when I received the email. But as I was reading the recipe, I started dreading it. I doubted myself. I have not baked such elaborate pastry before. Imagine, the pastry involved making it, put it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then rolling and folding and back in the fridge for another 30 minutes. Repeat the last step another 3 times. Then back in the fridge for 5 hours. Then rolling it and make the braid and other pastries. Then proof it for 2 hours before baking. But I suppose that is why it is call a challenge. And I suppose I'll learn something new. Da..da..da.. always look at the bright side of life da..da..da.

As it turns out, I surprised myself. The braid turned out delicious and no drama making the pastry except the long process.


The challenge was to make a braid which is I filled with apple filling. Then with the rest of the pastry I made a assorted Danish Pastry. The other two fillings are custard and black sesame seed paste. They are all delicious.


This is the recipe (you have been warned):-

Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

Ingredients
For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks or 225 grams) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

DOUGH
1. Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk.
2. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well.
3. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain.
4. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges.
5. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.
6. Put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

BUTTER BLOCK
1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.
2. After the dough has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour.
3. Spread the butter evenly over two thirds of the dough, the left side (ie 12 x 13 inches). Fold the left dough to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. The dough now measures roughly 6 x 13 inches.
4. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Repeat the rolling and folding 3 more times but without the butter. The 6 x 13 inches dough should be rolled to 18 x 13 inches dough. So the width becomes the length. After every rolling and folding, the dough has to be refrigerated for 30 minutes.
6. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.


APPLE FILLING
Makes enough for two braids

Ingredients
4 Fuji or other apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch pieces, I used granny smith
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat until slightly nutty in color, about 6 - 8 minutes.
2. Then add the all the other ingredients and sauté until apples are softened and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. If you’ve chosen Fujis, the apples will be caramelized, but have still retained their shape.
3. Cool completely before forming the braid. (If making ahead, cool to room temperature, seal, and refrigerate.) They will cool faster when spread in a thin layer over the surface of the sheet. After they have cooled, the filling can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Left over filling can be used as an ice cream topping, for muffins, cheesecake, or other pastries.

DANISH BRAID
Makes enough for 2 large braids

Ingredients
1 recipe Danish Dough (see below)
2 cups apple filling, jam, or preserves (see below)

For the egg wash: 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.
2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.
3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Egg Wash
Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.

Proofing and Baking
1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.
2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

Be patient if you want to try this recipe.

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